And the
careful parents felt much anxiety when they beheld their children
debarred from the advantages of education; but to remedy the want as
much as lay in their power, they devoted the greater part of what little
leisure time they could command to the instruction of their boys. They
had been regular attendants at their own parish church in the old
country; and very sensibly they felt the want, as Sabbath after Sabbath
passed away, with no service to mark it from other days. "It just
seems," said Mr. Ainslie, "that sin' we cam' to America we ha'e nae
Sabbath ava." In order to meet the want in some measure, he proposed to
the few neighbours which there formed the settlement, that they should
assemble at one house, on each Sabbath afternoon, and listen to the
reading of a sermon by some one present. "I think it our duty," said he,
"to show our respect to the Sabbath-day by assembling ourselves
together, and uniting in worship to the best o' our ability. I ha'e
among my books a collection o' sermons by different divines, an' I am
verra willin' to tak' my turn in the readin' o' ane, an' I'm sure you
should a' be agreeable to do the same." His proposal met with the hearty
approval of all his neighbours, and for some years each Sabbath
afternoon saw most of the neighbours collected together for the best
mode of worship within their reach.
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