The development of the Bible-memory work, that, during the later years of this period, moved forward very rapidly, was one of small beginnings and slow progress at first. The meetings were held at half past two o'clock on Sabbath afternoons.

The girls were formed into one class and their meeting was held in the sitting room of the Girls' Hall. The boys met immediately afterwards in the office of the superintendent in the Boys' Hall.

The weekly lesson consisted in committing to memory five to seven verses in the more important chapters of the New Testament and Psalms, commencing with the ten commandments in Exodus XX, 1-17. The passages assigned were read and studied every week in the school under the direction of the principal, in order that all the younger pupils, as well as the older ones, might be able to repeat them on Sabbath.

At the meetings, which were conducted by the superintendent, the lesson assigned would have to be read over several times in concert before their voices would acquire the right movement and expression. The effort to train the memory, by committing scripture verses, was one from which many of them shrank as being too irksome, and the weekly lesson of one verse a day would have to be repeated a number of times, before most of them could continue to be heard to the end of the lesson. The previous lessons were then reviewed, to fasten them more firmly on the memory. The advance lesson was then read together that all might surely know its place and extent.

AIMS IN BIBLE STUDY

"Accurate Bible Knowledge" and "Character building" were the keynotes of the instruction given at these meetings. A third object, that was constantly kept in view, was the training and development of their youthful voices for public address in religious meetings. This was accomplished by making a large use of the concert drill, both in reading and repeating the classic and beautiful passages of the Bible.

The tendency of the new pupils to speak and act badly from sudden impulse, was freely admitted at these meetings. As a means of enabling them to put a check on their impulsive dispositions and acquire the art of self-control, the following questions were prepared and asked of each, at the opening of the lesson hour.

1. During the week that has passed, have you refrained entirely from the use of profane or quarrelsome words and actions?

2. Have you been uniformly respectful and obedient to all of your teachers?

3. Are you using your spare moments each day for some good purpose, that will promote your best interests?

The cordial and helpful co-operation of Miss Adelia Eaton, our first matron, in connection with this Bible memory work at the period when it was most difficult to awaken interest and enthusiasm in it, was very greatly appreciated. Although her presence was not required, she voluntarily arranged to be present at every meeting. She seldom if ever participated in the meetings, but she invariably arranged the room in the most convenient form for the meeting and continued to patiently aid and encourage those of the girls, to whom this memory work was the hardest, until the last moment before the meeting. The increased attendance of later years, made it advisable to hold these Bible meetings in the chapel, and there both classes met together.

TRAINING THE MEMORY

The memory, the natural power of retaining and recalling what has been learned, is the basis of all progress in study. It is the faculty that enriches the mind by preserving the treasures of labor and industry. The beauty and perfection of all the other mental faculties are dependent on it. Without its aid there can be no advancement in knowledge, arts and sciences; and no improvement in virtue, morals and religion.

Those who cannot read acquire knowledge by hearing, and their vision is occupied principally with large rather than small objects. It was soon a matter of observation that the children of illiterate parents in whose homes there are no books, find it very difficult to learn to read, after they have passed fourteen years of age. That which is natural and easy in childhood, becomes more difficult the longer it is delayed. They form the habit and find it much easier to acquire knowledge like their parents by the ear, or "by air" as it is sometimes called, than by poring over the letters and words of a printed line in a book. Many that are over fourteen before they are sent to school shrink from the mental discipline and labor of learning things so small as letters and words, and seek relief by looking elsewhere than on the printed page.

By the aid of a memory that has been trained for service in childhood, one is able to learn easily and rapidly; and also to express their treasures of knowledge in such a way as to give life and animation to every word that is uttered.

The memory is very responsive to training in childhood and youth. Its retentive power may then be very greatly increased by judicious exercise and labor, which have that distinct end in view, just as the limbs gradually grow stronger by daily exercise. If it is accustomed to retain a moderate quantity of knowledge in childhood, it is strengthened and fitted for more rapid development in youth. That is the golden period to learn the "form of sound words," that shall exert a moulding influence upon the entire life.

Repeated acts form a habit, and habits of thought may be aided by a methodical system in the arrangement of intellectual possessions. Frequent review, repetition, conscious delight in the things to be learned and association of the new with the known, are important aids to the memory, that may be profitably observed throughout the entire life.

DIVINE TRUTH THE NEED OF ALL

Truth is the natural food for the mind and does for it what bread and meat do for the body. The mental faculties include the intellect, the power of thought; the memory, the conscience, the power that enables one to distinguish between right and wrong; and the judgment, the power of decision. There are no truths so well adapted for the best training and development of all these faculties, as the great and important ones that God has so attractively and plainly revealed in His holy word. The poetic parts of the Old Testament and the words of Jesus in the New, are adapted alike for the comfort and instruction of childhood, manhood and old age. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever."