{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37521/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37521","id":"gutenberg_37521","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37521","summary":null,"tags":["Brothers -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Children's stories","Christian life -- Juvenile fiction","Salvation -- Juvenile fiction","Sunday school teachers -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Larry B. Harrison, and the Archives and Special\nCollections, University Libraries, Ball State University\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Book Cover]\n\n  No. 435     IV. SERIES.\n\n  THE BROKEN BOUGH.\n\n  Revised by the Committee of Publication of the American\n  Sunday-school Union.\n\n  AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.\n  PHILADELPHIA:\n  146 Chestnut Street.\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  BROKEN BOUGH.\n\n  Revised by the Committee of Publication, of the American Sunday\n  school Union.\n\n  _PHILADELPHIA_:\n  AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,\n  No. 146 Chestnut Street.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BROKEN BOUGH.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\"What a beautiful afternoon it is!\" said little Charles to his brother\non a fine Sunday in the month of May, as they both rose from their\nseat in the class to return home. \"It is, indeed,\" replied John, as he\npeeped through the old casement window of the school, and saw the\npretty lambs feeding in the broad green meadow in the distance; \"it\nis, indeed, and a fine walk we shall have in the orchard, too.\"\n\nNow, little Charles loved his school and his teacher also; but the\nthought of going home had its own peculiar charms, for he loved his\ndear father and mother, and his little sister Jane: and now he\nthought, \"I shall soon be home, and tell them all that my teacher has\ntold me.\" Indeed, the children in the class had spent a very happy\nday; for Mr. Fulton, their teacher, was so kind, and took such pains\nto make the lessons plain, that all his scholars loved his company;\nsome of them even said that they had never seen the beauties that were\nin the Bible until he taught them.\n\nThey had been repeating that afternoon those verses in the 15th\nchapter of John's gospel, in which the Saviour compares himself to a\nvine, and his disciples to the branches. As the orchards were all in\nfull blossom, Mr. Fulton reminded his scholars of the beautiful change\nwhich had taken place in the appearance of the trees within the last\nfew weeks. He said, that though their growth and beauty arose partly\nfrom the vegetable life which God had given them, and partly from the\nsun's warm rays, and gentle dews and showers, yet that both their life\nand growth must be attributed to God.\n\nWhen they had done reading Mr. Fulton said, \"You see, my dear\nchildren, that the vine is intended to represent the Redeemer, the\nLord Jesus Christ; through whom spiritual life is conveyed to his\npeople, who are as the branches in the vine. Let me impress this truth\nupon your minds, that they who are made partakers of this life, are as\nmuch dependent on Christ to maintain its existence, as the branch is\ndependent on the vine for continued nourishment and support.\"\n\nIt is delightful to a teacher to find that his scholars are attentive;\nand Mr. Fulton was much pleased by a remark from John, who said, \"I\nthink, sir, the trees seem to explain the observation which you made\nthis afternoon, that all the followers of Christ love to follow his\nexample, and may be known by their fruit or conduct; for, sir, I see\nthat all the branches of a tree bear the same kind of blossoms, and\nthose of each sort of tree differ from all others.\" \"That is quite\ntrue,\" said Mr. Fulton: \"I am glad you notice these things; for they\nare both pleasing and instructive. But there is another lesson which\nmay be gathered from the trees, and it is this, that although the\nbranches differ much in size and strength, and therefore very much in\nthe number of the blossoms seen upon them, yet the smallest will go on\nincreasing until it may, in time, become very large. Thus you, though\nnow so young, and like the tender twigs upon the trees, with here and\nthere a blossom, will, I trust, as years roll on, grow up both strong\nand fruitful in the ways of God.\"\n\nTheir teacher was about to say something more on the same subject, but\nthe school-bell rang to prepare for an address: the children then put\nby their Bibles, and stood up to sing that pretty hymn:\n\n    \"How sweet the precious Saviour's words.\n    What solid joy this truth affords\n      To those who early pray;\n    They shall the heavenly boon obtain,\n    And Jesus and his favour gain,\n      Who walk in wisdom's way.\"\n\nAfter the address, they sang another hymn, and then the school was\nclosed with prayer.\n\nIt was at this time that little Charles and John began the\nconversation I have mentioned, about their walk in the orchard on\ntheir way home; and as Mr. Fulton overheard them, and had been\ninterrupted in his remarks by the ringing of the school-bell, he thus\naddressed them: \"My dear boys, as I am going up the green lane towards\nyour father's house, we will all walk through the orchard together;\nand perhaps I may there find something to supply a better explanation\nof this day's lesson, than I have yet given you.\"\n\nThe little boys were both much pleased with Mr. Fulton's offer, and\nwishing their school-fellows good-by, set off with him towards their\nhome.\n\nAs they walked through the meadows, and saw the young lambs feeding\nwith their flocks, and noticed their shepherd who watched them, Mr.\nFulton called their attention to the language of King David in Ps.\nxxiii., where he speaks with such confidence in the Divine protection\nand care, and says, \"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.\" Now,\nas both John and Charles seemed to be much pleased when their teacher\nreferred them to this very beautiful psalm, he proceeded to say, \"You\nsee, my dear boys, that every one of the sheep in the flock is equally\nthe object of the shepherd's care; and there is not a lamb, however\nyoung or weakly, but he is anxious for its safety. Just so, the Lord\nis the Shepherd and Keeper of his people; for it is said of him, 'He\nshall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with\nhis arm, and carry them in his bosom,' (Isa. xl. 11;) and if you are\nhis disciples, he will protect you as the lambs of his flock.\"\n\nHere Charles, who had seen some of the lambs pass through an opening\nin the hedge, and wander from the fold unseen by the shepherd, said to\nhis teacher, \"But the lambs of Christ's flock must be more secure than\nthese, sir; for this shepherd cannot see all his flock at once,\nalthough he may wish to do so: but you told us, last Sunday, that\nthose who love the Saviour, however young or poor, are each as much\nthe object of his care, as if there were no others in the world.\" \"I\nam very glad to find you remember that remark,\" said his teacher;\n\"for, as you grow up in life, you may find it a comfort to think, with\nJacob,'He knoweth the way that I take;' and to adopt the language of\nDavid as your own,'I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy\nservant: for I do not forget thy commandments.'\" Ps. cxix. 176.\n\nBy this time they had again entered the green lane, from which they\nhad departed to pursue the path across the meadow; and having gone\nover the stile by the village church, they entered the orchard through\nwhich Charles and John had expected such a pleasant walk.\n\nI do not wonder at their wishing to go home that way, for the trees were\nall so full of beautiful pink and white blossoms, and the birds sang so\nsweetly as they hopped from twig to twig, or fluttered on the branches,\nthat you could not have been there without rejoicing with them.\n\nIt was not long before Mr. Fulton invited the attention of his\nscholars to a little apple tree, on every twig of which were buds and\nblossoms. The two little boys, on seeing it, cried out together, \"O,\nwhat a beautiful tree!\" to which their teacher replied by saying, \"And\nI hope you will be like it.\" This remark surprised them both,\nespecially little Charles, who looked at his teacher as if he would\ninquire, \"How can I be like this tree?\" He was not kept long waiting,\nhowever, for Mr. Fulton, observing his astonishment, explained himself\nby saying, \"I wish that, as this little tree has so early put forth\nblossoms, so you both, my dear boys, may begin, while young, to show\nthat you are His, who said, 'I love them that love me, and those who\nseek me early shall find me.'\" Prov. viii. 17.\n\nAs they walked onward, the grass beneath the trees was strewed in some\nplaces with blossoms, which the recent thunder-storm had broken off;\nand whilst the little boys stooped to pick up some of them,\nexclaiming, \"What a pity! what a pity!\" their teacher availed himself\nof that opportunity, also, to teach them a lesson. \"It is a pity,\"\nsaid he; \"for each of them might have become a fine rosy apple; but\nthey will not have fallen off in vain, if we learn this truth from the\ncircumstance, that death sometimes calls away those who have scarcely\nyet begun to live to God. But it is cheering to see a young tree\npromising to be fruitful; and it is much more pleasing to see young\npersons likely to bear the fruits of wisdom and goodness.\"\n\n\"I remember, sir,\" said John, \"that last year our pear tree was full\nof blossoms; but father said the blight had killed them.\" \"Yes, my\ndear boy,\" said Mr. Fulton, \"storms, and tempests, and blights also\nfrequently disappoint our fondest expectations: so also there are\nmoral blights, as I have sometimes told you in the class at school.\nYou both remember poor George King, the orphan boy; how well he said\nhis lessons, and how serious and attentive he was; but when his pious\nmother died, he fell into bad company, and is now a sad evidence that\nthose who associate with the wicked have turned their backs upon the\nways of God. O, then, flee from bad people, bad books, and bad scenes,\nas from that which will blight the best interests of your souls.\"\n\nTheir teacher had never had such a happy opportunity of conversing\nwith them until now, and as they both seemed to look upon the trees\naround them as so many objects from which instruction might be\ngathered, he proceeded to point out a circumstance which had before\nescaped their notice; it was this, that where the branches had been\nsheltered from the passing tempest, there all the blossoms were\nunhurt. \"Now,\" said Mr. Fulton to his young companions, \"while\nthinking of our Saviour's language in this day's lesson, 'I am the\nVine, ye are the branches,' we may learn not only that the life of our\nsouls must be drawn from him, but that if we bring any fruit to\nperfection, it is the result of his most gracious and protecting care.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAt this moment, Mr. Fulton's attention was drawn to one of the largest\ntrees in the orchard, which seemed to surpass all the others in the\nbeauty and abundance of its blossoms; but the boisterous winds had\nbroken off a fine bough, one end of which lay spread upon the grass,\nwhilst the other continued hanging by a long strip of bark which it\nhad torn away in falling. It must have been some time in this\nsituation; for the tree was not only full of blossoms, but was putting\nforth its green leaves in every direction, whilst, on this poor\nbranch, there was not a trace of either bud or blossom; but it hung\nupon the ground both dry and dead.\n\nThis was too striking an object to be passed by without an\nobservation; therefore their teacher immediately availed himself of\nit, to explain that part of the chapter which his scholars had been\nlearning, in which the Saviour says \"If a man abide not in me, he is\ncast forth as a branch, and is withered.\"\n\nHe felt very anxious also to impress upon their minds that true\nreligion does not consist in being called a Christian, or in any\noutward distinction; but that it is a living principle in the heart.\n\n    \"Without the fruit the Lord expects,\n      Knowledge will make our state the worse;\n    The barren trees he still rejects,\n      And soon will blast them with his curse.\"\n\n\"Now,\" said Mr. Fulton, \"you see, my dear boys, that the broken bough\nhas no life, because it is severed from the tree, and therefore gets\nno sap or moisture from the root. And as our Lord remarks, 'The branch\ncannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;' so the\nbroken bough has not a bud or blossom, whilst the tree is full of\nboth. You see then that there must be life and union, or there can be\nno fruitfulness; and as the root supplies the living sap to all the\nbranches, so Jesus is the source of life to all his people. It is your\nblessing, my dear boys, to have godly parents; but do not think that\nthis will prove a substitute for true religion in your own souls. See\nhow the bough hangs to its parent tree by the strip of bark; it is\ntrue, they are not altogether parted; but, whilst the tree is living,\nthe broken bough is dead. Learn, then, that without an interest in\nChrist and union to him, you must perish. No Christian relatives can\nsave you; their life is drawn from him, but they cannot give that life\nto you. It is possible you may have thought yourselves almost\ndisciples, because you have kept company with those who are such; but\nthis fellowship, so long as you keep your hearts from Christ, is only\nlike the strip of bark which holds the broken bough; no life flows\nfrom it. Let us then, on parting, each go home, and pray to Him who\n'quickeneth whom he will,' (John v. 21,) to make us indeed living\nbranches of the true vine.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nA HYMN.\n\n\n    Another fleeting year\n      Has fled and passed away,\n    Since we were taught to worship here,\n      On this most holy day.\n\n    Years hurry quickly by,\n      And we are fading too;\n    And soon the year when we shall die,\n      Will come upon our view.\n\n    If we are ready then,\n      For us it will be well;\n    Removed from this low earth of pain,\n      With God in heaven to dwell.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\n\n  * Obvious punctuation errors repaired.\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"The Broken Bough: No. 435, IV. Series","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2456}