Text: "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."--Proverbs 29:15.

HER SUCCESS: SHE REARED FOR GOD A FAMILY OF 10 CHILDREN: HOW DID SHE DO IT:

Listen to her--

"In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will and bring it to an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time… but the subjugating the will is a thing which must be done at once and the sooner the better.... I insist upon conquering the will of children early because this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education.... When this is thoroughly done, then a child is capeable of being governed by the reason and piety of his parents.

...As self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after wretchedness and irreligion.

"The one grand impediment to our temporal and eternal happiness (is) this self-will; therefore no indulgence of it can be trivial, no denial unprofitable.... The parent who studies to subdue it in his child works to gather with God... The parent who indulges it does the Devil’s work, makes religion impracticable, salvation unattainable and does all that in him lies to damn his child, soul and body, forever.

"By neglecting timely correction, children will contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever after conquered, and never without using such severity as would be as painful to me as to the child.... Whenever a child is corrected, he must be conquered, and this will be no hard matter to do if it be not grown headstrong by too much indulgence."

She started them reading by turning to Genesis 1:1. They were taught to spell the verse syllable by syllable, then word by word. They read it over and over before progressing to the next verse.

She started a school for her family right in her home. School was never interrupted even by visitors, business, and even accidents in the family. Hymns opened and closed each teaching session. And perfect order was maintained. Rising and leaving the room was pardonable only for necessities.

Within 3 months, her children were reputed to be better readers than most women are in their lifetime.

She made manners a part of education. Running into the yard, the garden, or the street without permission was a capital offence. All her children were taught to be mannerly even to the lowest of the servants, and if a servant allowed bad manners, he was reprimanded. Rudeness was always punished.

When the children were told to retire for the night, not a sigh or a pout was tolerated. Promises were strictly kept, too. There was not even the invasion of property for as much as the value of a pin.

THE EDUCATION SHE GAVE HER CHILDREN RESTED FIRMLY UPON WORD OF TRUTH.

"To open the mind to human science, to awaken the pleasures of taste, and to decorate the external man with all the adornings of a civil and refined life might be sufficient to occupy the office of education were there no God, no Saviour and no future (life). Were this life not a state of probation-- had man no peace to make with his God, no law of His to obey, no pardon to solicit from His mercy--then this would be education. But most affectingly deficient will the knowledge of that youth be found, and negligent in the highest possible degree must they be considered who have charge of his early years, if his mind be left unoccupied by other subjects and unfamiliarized to higher considerations."--Richard Watson.

This was the wisdom of Susannah Wesley. She knew every child to have a soul and that this soul was fallen in Adam, so it had to be instructed in all that relates to his responsibility to God and his necessary preparations for the life to come.

WHEN DID SHE TEACH THEM?

Before they could kneel or speak she taught them to ask for a blessing upon their food by appropriate signs. In this way they would realize their dependence upon Him.

As soon as they could speak they were taught prayers.

When rising each morning and retiring each night, they prayed the Lord’s Prayer, and when they were older, they added a short prayer for their parents, a short catechism on Bible doctrines, and portions of Scripture as their memory could bear.

As soon as they were able to understand, the Lord’s Day was distinguished from other days. They were taught a reverence for the assembly of believers by constant attendance as well as by quietness and devout behavior during worship.

WHAT WAS IT SHE TAUGHT THEM?

She taught her children Bible doctrines. She gave them a thorough theological training that they would be able to give a reason for their belief. To do this, she prepared a doctrinal manual. She taught them the existence of God as seen from the creation of matter, as seen from the arrangement of the world and also as seen from the stability in the order of nature. She taught the existence of God as seen from the

constitution of the human being and at the same time ably refuted the theory of the eternity of matter, the theory of chance, and the theory that creation occurred by a "fortuitous concourse of atoms."

She taught the absolute perfection of the Divine attribute, while she discussed with them the origin of evil, the fall of man, the sphere of reason in matters of religion, the moral virtues, the necessity of Divine revelation, and the theory of innate ideas.

She prepared an exposition of Bible doctrines in which she discussed the defectiveness of the light of nature, the evil of sin, the necessity of the atonement, the value of the Scriptures, the creation and fall of the angels, and the formation of man. She discussed the probation of the first human pair, their temptation and fall, this effect upon their posterity, the provisions for redemption, the nature of faith in Christ--

and in addition, she prepared a searching exposition of the Ten Commandments.

In the next edition of the Angelus we will see how she taught her children and conclude.