No. 435 IV. SERIES.
THE BROKEN BOUGH.
Revised by the Committee of Publication of the American
Sunday-school Union.
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.
PHILADELPHIA:
146 Chestnut Street.
THE
BROKEN BOUGH.
Revised by the Committee of Publication, of the American Sunday
school Union.
PHILADELPHIA:
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,
No. 146 Chestnut Street.
THE
BROKEN BOUGH.
"What a beautiful afternoon it is!"said little Charles to his brother on a fine[Pg 4]Sunday in the month of May, as theyboth rose from their seat in the class toreturn home. "It is, indeed," repliedJohn, as he peeped through the old casementwindow of the school, and saw thepretty lambs feeding in the broad greenmeadow in the distance; "it is, indeed,and a fine walk we shall have in the orchard,too."
Now, little Charles loved his school andhis teacher also; but the thought of goinghome had its own peculiar charms, for heloved his dear father and mother, andhis little sister Jane: and now he thought,"I shall soon be home, and tell them allthat my teacher has told me." Indeed,the children in the class had spent a veryhappy day; for Mr. Fulton, their teacher,was so kind, and took such pains to makethe lessons plain, that all his scholarsloved his company; some of them evensaid that they had never seen the beautiesthat were in the Bible until he taughtthem.
They had been repeating that afternoonthose verses in the 15th chapter ofJohn's gospel, in which the Saviour compares[Pg 5]himself to a vine, and his disciplesto the branches. As the orchards wereall in full blossom, Mr. Fulton remindedhis scholars of the beautiful change whichhad taken place in the appearance of thetrees within the last few weeks. Hesaid, that though their growth and beautyarose partly from the vegetable life whichGod had given them, and partly from thesun's warm rays, and gentle dews andshowers, yet that both their life andgrowth must be attributed to God.
When they had done reading Mr.Fulton said, "You see, my dear children,that the vine is intended to represent theRedeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ; throughwhom spiritual life is conveyed to hispeople, who are as the branches in thevine. Let me impress this truth uponyour minds, that they who are made partakersof this life, are as much dependenton Christ to maintain its existence,as the branch is dependent on the vinefor continued nourishment and support."
It is delightful to a teacher to find thathis scholars are attentive; and Mr. Fultonwas much pleased by a remark[Pg 6]from John, who said, "I think, sir, thetrees seem to explain the observationwhich you made this afternoon, that allthe followers of Christ love to follow hisexample, and may be known by theirfruit or conduct; for, sir, I see that all thebranches of a tree bear the same kind