With the Children on Sundays Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul — Edition Insights

Object Lessons as Moral Tools

The excerpts center on a single object: a “soft plastic face” that the teacher squeezes to produce long or short expressions. This prop is used to argue that character becomes permanently written on the face through repeated emotions—anger lengthens it, kindness shortens it. Stall extends the analogy to ministers, claiming that Bible study inscribes itself indelibly on the countenance, even to the point of revealing denominational affiliation. The lesson then pivots to a spiritual promise: Christians grow into Christ’s likeness, culminating in the Resurrection. The object is not merely illustrative; it is treated as evidence of a moral law. The teacher’s tone is confident and directive, leaving little room for ambiguity. The physical manipulation of the face mirrors the desired manipulation of the child’s inner life, making the lesson both vivid and prescriptive.

The Child as a Passive Vessel

Throughout the excerpts, the child is positioned as a recipient of truth rather than an active inquirer. The teacher controls the prop, the analogy, and the application. Phrases like “Do you know, boys and girls” and “I will tell you how it is” establish a one-way flow of instruction. The lesson assumes that children can be molded like the plastic face—through repetition and external pressure. This aligns with the catalog subject of moral education, but the excerpts suggest a pedagogy of imprinting rather than dialogue. The teacher’s authority is absolute, and the child’s role is to absorb and conform. The closing promise of resurrection likeness reinforces this: the goal is not critical thinking but transformation into a predetermined image.

Evidence of a Scripted Performance

The excerpts read like a transcript of a live demonstration. The teacher describes squeezing the face, holding it in position, and observing the result. The language is present-tense and instructional: “If I were again and again to press this face… after a time it would retain this expression.” This suggests that the book was designed for oral delivery, possibly in a Sunday school setting. The props—bottles with pictures, a rubber doll head—are simple and accessible, reinforcing the idea that moral lessons can be taught through everyday objects. The structure of each lesson likely follows a pattern: object introduction, physical demonstration, moral analogy, and spiritual application. The excerpts show only one lesson, but the table of contents lists 52 topics, from “Oyster and Crab” to “The Eye,” each presumably using a similar method.

Readers should approach this text as a historical artifact of early 20th-century religious education, not as a modern pedagogical guide. The object lessons reveal a specific worldview where character is visible, malleable, and tied to denominational identity. The excerpts offer a window into how moral instruction was enacted through physical props and repetitive analogies. For those studying the history of childhood or religious instruction, this book provides rich primary material.