r any one to hesitate to admit the duty, without denying
altogether the existence of a God.

How vast the responsibility of _giving form and character to the human
soul_! How mighty the influence of which the unformed minds of a group
of children are susceptible! How much their daily teacher must
inevitably exert upon them! If we admit the existence of God at all, and
that he exerts any agency whatever in the moral world which he has
produced, here seems to be one of the strongest cases in which his
intervention should be sought. And then when we reflect upon the
influence which would be exerted upon the future religious character of
this nation, by having the millions of children training up in the
schools, accustomed, through all the years of early life, to being
brought daily into the presence of the Supreme, with thanksgiving,
confession, and prayer, it can hardly seem possible that the teacher who
wishes to be faithful in his duties, should hesitate in regard to this.
Some teacher may, perhaps, say that he cannot perform it because he is
not a religious man;--he makes no pretensions to piety. But this can
surely be no reason. He _ought to be_ a religious man, and his first
prayer offered in school may be the first act by which he becomes so.
Entering the service of Jehovah is a work which requires no preliminary
steps. It is to be done at once, by sincere confession, and an honest
prayer for forgiveness for the past, and strength for time to come. A
daily religious service in school may be, therefore, the outward act by
which he, who has long lived without God, may return to his duty.

If, from such considerations, the teacher purposes to have a daily
religious service in his school, he should by all means begin on the
first day,--and when he first calls his school to order. He should
mention to his pupils the great and obvious duty of imploring God's
guidance and blessing in all their ways, and then read a short portion
of Scripture, with an occasional word or two of simple explanation, and
offer, himself, a short and simple prayer. In some cases, teachers are
disposed to postpone this duty a day or two, from timidity or other
causes, hoping that after becoming acquainted a little with the school,
and having completed their more important arrangements, they shall find
it easier to begin. But this is a sad mistake. The longer it is
postponed, the more difficult and trying it will be. And then the moral
impressions