SUNDAY-SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES. The exercises of the Sunday-school, in connection with the Two Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Church, were held on the afternoon of Sunday, October 6, at 3 P.M., in the church. Former superintendents sat upon an elevated platform in front of the pulpit, the school occupying pews in the main body of the house, the younger children in the front seats. The exercises were simple in their character, consisting of singing, prayer, responsive readings, and addresses by Rev. William H. Cobb and Rev. George M. Boynton, D.D., both of Newton Centre. There was also a paper on the "History of the Sunday-school," read by the Superintendent, Samuel Ward, which had been prepared at the request of the teachers, by Mrs. E. G. A. Lane. A pleasant feature of the occasion was the following "Historical Catechism," the questions being put by the Superintendent, and the answers given by the children of the primary department and some of the younger children from the main school, specially trained for the occasion. I. What is the name of our church? First Church, Newton. 2. When was it formed? 1664. 3. How many years ago? Two hundred and twenty-five. 4. With how many members? Eighty. 5. Newton was at that time a part of what town? Cam bridge. What was it then called? Cambridge Village. 7. Afterward what? New Cambridge. 8. The name was subsequently changed from New Cambridge to New what? New Town and then Newton. 9. 10. 11. 12. Where was the first meeting-house built? In the old burying-ground, Centre Street. The second meeting-house? On the other side of the The third? On the spot where we are now gathered. 13. Our present meeting-house, the fifth, which has been twice enlarged, was built in what year? 1847. 14. In the two hundred and twenty-five years how many pastors has this church had? Nine. 15. What was the name of the first pastor? John Eliot, Jr. 16. What relation to John Eliot, the "Apostle to the Indians"? His son. 17. What was the name of the second pastor? Nehemiah Hobart. 18. The third? John Cotton. 19. The fourth? Jonas Meriam. 20. 21. 22. The fifth? Jonathan Homer. How many years was he pastor? Fifty-seven. What was the name of the sixth pastor? James Bates. 23. The seventh? William Bushnell. 24. The eighth? Daniel L. Furber. 25. The ninth? Theodore J. Holmes. 26. How many of these pastors are still living? Two. 27. How many buried in the old burying-ground? Five. 28. When was the Sunday-school started? 1816. 29. How many years ago? Seventy-three. 30. Where? In a little red school-house on Homer Street. 31. By whom? Miss Mary Clark. 32. With how many scholars? About twenty. 33. Who was the first superintendent? Deacon Elijah Woodward. For how many years? Nearly thirty. 35. How many superintendents since then? Sixteen. 36. What is the grand object of this Sunday-school, church, and organizations connected therewith? The glory of God and the welfare of men. ADDRESS OF REV. W. H. COBB, NEWTON CENTRE. I am desired to speak ten minutes in answer to the question, "What did young people and children do before Sundayschools were known?" They studied the Assembly's Shorter Catechism. Here is one that is eighty-three years old. Here is another one that looks a good deal newer, but only because it has been newly bound. It was published in 1765, and is forty-one years older than the other. You cannot always judge a book, any more than a child, by the outside appearance. It is called "Shorter," because there was one that was longer; but the children thought it was long enough before they mastered its one hundred and seven questions and answers. Several of the answers are longer than the one which I will read to you: "The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it." I don't wonder that a little girl said one time, "Mother, this catechism is too hard for me; there ought to be a kittychism for little children." Well, there was; it was called the New England Primer. Here it is. "Who was the first man?" "Adam."-"Who was the first woman?". "Eve." Here are pictures that some of you have probably seen. One of them shows our first parents standing by the tree, with a serpent coiled around it. "In Adam's fall, we sinned all." The pictures go on to tell us that "The idle fool Is whipped at school." "Peter denied His Lord and cried." "Zac-che-us, he Did climb the tree, Our Lord to see." It was a very great change when Sunday-schools were established, a great change for the better. I don't believe with those who say that things used to be better in the old times, and that children were better brought up then than they are now. I don't believe they used to behave any better. I have in my hand a little book of reminiscences that speaks of those times. They used to have a tithing-man who went up and down the aisles keeping children still. They went to church, |