Juliana Horatia Ewing And Her Books Part 10

TRANSLATIONS.

+----------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------+ |A Child's Wishes |From the German of |_Aunt Judy's Magazine_, | | | R. Reinick | 1866. | | | | | |War and the Dead |From the French of |--October, 1866. | | | Jean Mace | | | | | | |Tales of the Khoja |From the Turkish |--April to December, 1874.| | | | | |The Adventures of an |Adapted from the German|--November and | | of an Elf | | December, 1875. | | | | | |The Snarling Princess |Adapted from the German|--December, 1875. | | | | | |The Little Parsnip |Adapted from the German|--January, 1876. | | Man | | | +----------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------+

LETTERS

TO MISS E. LLOYD

_Ecclesfield._ August 19, 1864.

MY DEAREST ELEANOR

It is with the greatest pleasure that I "sit down" and square my elbows to answer one question of your letter. The one about the Liturgical Lessons. Nothing (I find) is more difficult in this short life than to emulate John's example--and "explain my meaning!" but I will do my best. Beloved! In the first place I am going to do what I hope will be more to your benefit than my credit! Send you my rough notes. If you begin at the first page and read straight ahead to where allusion is made to the Apocryphal Lessons, you will have my first Course, and you will see that I was working by degrees straight through the Morning Prayer. But then (like the Turnip Tom-toddies!) we found that "the Inspector was coming"--and though the cla.s.s was pretty well getting up "Matins"--it knew very little about the Prayer-book--so then I took a different tack. We left off minutiae and Bible references and took to a sort of general sketch of the whole Prayer-book. For this I did not make fresh notes at the time--but when the Inspector came and I being too ill to examine them--M. did it--I wrote out in a hurry the questions and answers that follow the Apocrypha point for her benefit. My dear old Eleanor--I am such a bad hand myself--that I feel it perfectly ludicrous to attempt to help you--but here are a few results of my limited experience which are probably all wrong--but the best I have to offer!

Don't teach all the school.

Make up a "Liturgical Cla.s.s" (make a favour of it if possible) of mixed boys and girls.

Have none that cannot read.

Tell them to bring their Prayer-books with them on the "Liturgy Day."

If any of them say they have none--let nothing induce you to supply them.

Say "Well, you must look over your neighbour, but you ought to have one for yourself--I can let you have one for _2d._, so when you go home, 'ask Papa,' and bring me the _2d._ next time."

Never give the Prayer-book "in advance"--! (I never _pressed_ the Prayer-books on them, or insisted on their having them. But gradually they all wanted to have them, and I used to take them with me, and they brought up their _2d._'s if they wanted any. The cla.s.s is chiefly composed of Dissenters, but they never have raised any objection, and buy Prayer-books for children who never come to Church. The first prize last time was very deservedly won by the daughter of the Methodist Minister.)

If you know any that cannot afford them, give them in private.

Deal round the School Bibles to the Cla.s.s for reference.

One's chief temptation is to attempt too much. The great art is to make a good _skeleton_ lesson of the leading points, and fill in afterwards.

_Wait_ a long time for your answers.

Repeat the question as simply as possible, and keep saying--Now _think_--_think_. One generally gets it in time.

Lead up to your answer: thus--

_Eleanor._ "S. Augustine was a missionary Priest from--now answer all together?"

_The whole Cla.s.s._ Rome.

_Eleanor._ "Now who was S. Augustine?--All together."

The result probably will be that one or perhaps two will give the whole answer--and then you can say--

"That's right. But I want you all to say it. Now all together. Who was S. Augustine?"

Then you will get it from all.

If you don't mind it, the black board is often of great use. In this way--

[_Sketch._] X represents the black board.

Suppose you have undertaken for the day's lesson (a _long_ one!) to begin at the question of whether we know the exact date of the first introduction of Christianity into England and to go on to S.

Augustine's Consecration. When you first arrive take your chalk and write--

S. PAUL and draw a line; ---------------------------- then ARLES . . . . . 314 NICaeA . . . . . 323 ---------------------------- AUGUSTINE ROME ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY 597 ----------------------------

Make them read everything as you write it, telling them the words till they are familiar. Then "lead up to" the written words in your questions and point with the stick, so that they will finish the answer by reading it _all together_. Thus--"The Council of ---- (stick to Aries) in the year ---- (stick to 314)."

When you are _teaching_ a thing, make them answer all together. When you are examining what you have taught before, let those answer who can.

Of course my _notes_ give no idea of the way one teaches, I mean of course one has perpetually to use familiar examples, and go back and back--and _into_ things.

Put the more backward children _behind_ the others, and never let any of the _front row_ answer till the back row have tried.

If they are very young or backward, perhaps before you attempt anything like Church History, you might _familiarize_ them with the Prayer-book services--by making them find the places in their proper rotation--turn quickly to the Psalms for the Day. Make them find the Lessons for the Day, for Holy-days--Collect for the week--Baptism Service. In fact I should advise you to _begin_ so. Say for the first Lesson you take a CHRISTMAS DAY Service--make them look out everything in succession. Ask them what a Collect is--where the Lessons come from--who wrote the Psalms, etc. Make them understand how the Holy Communion is administered--suppose a Baptism--and make them explain--the two Sacraments in the words of the Catechism. (Never mind whether they understand it--one can't explain everything at once!)

Indeed I strongly advise you to go on this tack for some time.

Say that for the first lesson or two (the above is too advanced) you take _the Psalms_. Ask them what Book they were taken from, etc.--make them find them for the day, and show them where and how to find the Proper Psalms. In succeeding lessons, if you like, you can explain that the Psalms are translations--and why the Bible and Prayer-book versions are different--show which are the seven Penitential--(the three Morning and three Evening for Ash Wednesday and the 51st). Point out the latter as used as a general confession in the Commination Service--having been written on the occasion of David's fall. Also the Psalms of Degrees (the most exquisite of all I think!), which were used to be sung as the Jews came up from all parts of the land to Jerusalem--"I was glad when they said unto me," etc.

Tell them of any Psalms authentically connected with History--and any anecdotes or traditions that you can meet with connected with them.

How S. Augustine and his band of missionaries first encountered the King with his choristers carrying the Cross and chanting Psalms to those Gregorians that Gregory (birch in hand!) had taught him in Rome, etc., etc.

I find they like stray anecdotes--and they are _pegs_ to hang things on. (Trevor says that our Blessed Lord is supposed to have repeated the _whole_ of the twenty-second Psalm on the Cross.) The "Hymn" sung before they went out after the Last Supper was a Psalm. (See marginal Bible notes.) You can do no greater kindness than give them an appreciation and interest in that inexhaustible store of "Prayer and Penitence and Praise"--that has put words into the mouth of the whole Church of G.o.d from the days of David to the present time, which is used by every Church (however else divided) in common--and rejected by no sect however captious!

Point out what Psalms are used in the course of the services--(like the _Venite_, etc.)

Don't be alarmed if the Psalms last you for months! you can't do better--and you must go over and over unless your bairns are Solomons!

Make them understand that they were intended, and are adapted for singing.

_Get up_ your lessons beforehand--but teach as familiarly and as much with no book but the Prayer-book and Bible as you can.

Then you might take the Lessons in a similar fas.h.i.+on, and the Collects, etc.

Excuse all this ramble. I have no doubt I have bored you with a great deal of chaff--but I hardly know quite what you want to know. As to the subject--it is a Hobby with me--so excuse rhapsodies!

I don't believe you can confer a greater kindness than to make them well acquainted with their Prayer-books. I believe you may teach every sc.r.a.p of necessary theology from it--the Life of Jesus in the Collects, and special services from Advent to Trinity--Practical duties and the _morale_ of the Gospel in the twenty-five Sundays of Trinity. Apostles--Martyrs--the Communion of Saints--and the Ministry of Angels in the rest. As to the History of Liturgies--it is simply the History of the Church. I believe the Prayer-book contains Prayer, Praise, Confession, Intercession and e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n fitted to every need and occasion of all conditions of men!--with very rare if any exceptions. I believe in _ignorance_ of the Prayer-book the poor lose the greatest fund of instruction and consolation next to the Bible (and it is our best Commentary on that!) that is to be got at. And people's ignorance of it is _wonderful_! You hear complaints of the s.h.i.+fting of the services--the arrangement of the Lessons--and a precious muddle it must seem to any one who does not know--that Isaiah is skipped in the reading of the Old Testament--that as the Evangelical Prophet he may be read at the Advent and Nativity of Christ--that we dip promiscuously into the Apocrypha on Saints'