demands the greatest humility and zeal, so also calls for the utmost exercise of patience, forbearance, and love. In his relation to his scholars this is absolutely necessary to success, and it is also necessary with respect to his Superintendent and fellow-teachers. It is necessary towards his Superintendent, for he needs to exercise the utmost forbearance towards one upon whom the weighty cares of the school depend. He should be earnest and faithful in fulfilling the duties marked out for him; and if at any time he perceives lack of zeal and activity towards his Divine Master, in the conduct of his Superintendent, he should be earnest in prayer, that God would be pleased to uphold and strengthen his servant in the discharge of his arduous and wearing duties. It is necessary also towards his fellowteachers, in order that the spirit of union and love may pervade all their intercourse and all their self-denying labours; that no injury may happen to the work committed to them; but that all may be united in one great effort, to root out the kingdom of Satan, and to hurl the tyrant from his throne.

Superintendents, Teachers, and all engaged in the work of bringing souls to Christ, to one and all I would say, The time is short-work while it is called to-day. Let nothing on your part step in to disturb the harmony and order which should exist among you, and let prayerfulness and intense zeal animate you onwards. The great enemy of mankind is too ready to take advantage of the least breach or inconsistency on any of your parts. Watch therefore unto prayer, and fight manfully against his soul-destroying machinations. Souls are daily, nay hourly, dropping into the grave, without hope-without Christ! Let us be up and doing. We shall reap if we faint not. And while we strive earnestly to promote the glory of God in the salvation of the immortal souls committed to our charge, let us prayerfully see to it, that no obstruction, no fracture, creep in to disturb the harmony, the unity, and the peace which should prevail among us as followers of the Prince of Peace. J. W. B.

THE CHARACTER OF A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER.

SOCRATES (as Xenophon tells us, in the "Memorabilia,” III. i. 6) used to state, that the following qualities were requisite to make a good general.

"He should be quick in contrivances, and hard-working; careful, capable of endurance, and shrewd; gentle, and yet severe."

“ Εἶναι χρὴ μηχανικὸν, και ἐργαστικὸν, και ἐπιμελῆ, και καρτερικόν, και ἀγχίνουν, και φιλόφρονά τε και ὠμὸν.”

May not the Sunday School Teacher take a hint from this description? A. F. G.

PIETY AMONG SABBATH SCHOLARS.

THE Sabbath school teacher, who really has the glory of God and the eternal interests of his pupils at heart, will often be found enquiring what effect his instruction has on the hearts of those committed to his charge. Often will this enquiry force itself on his attention, and lead him to seek some demonstration of the growth of religion in the souls of those committed to his spiritual care and teaching. Yet alas! the great majority of Sabbath school teachers are often complaining that they see no fruits of their labours, and, in too many instances, we exceedingly regret that this is true. But we must be allowed to observe, that we think it possible to mistake the playful thoughtlessness of the pupil, for levity, irreverence, and irreligion. We maintain that a teacher cannot plainly judge of the piety of his class, by merely watching their conduct amongst their school-fellows. No, he must, if possible, be acquainted with the sentiments of their souls in their thoughtful moments, when (it may be) no eye is upon them, save that of Him who is about their path, and about their bed, and spies out all their ways.

We believe that if many a desponding teacher knew all that passes in the minds of his young charge, he would be oftener led to "thank God and take courage." We are fully aware that it is a difficult matter to ascertain the real spiritual state of each child, because children are naturally timid and reserved on this point. There must

be on the part of the teacher, an untiring perseverance to win their confidence and love, to lead them, if possible, to unbosom their wants and wishes to him; and when this is the case, how much more advantageously is his work carried on!

Not long since, at a meeting of Sabbath school teachers, and friends of Sabbath schools, a gentleman, in addressing teachers, offered some very valuable suggestions as to the best means of ascertaining the growth of piety in Sabbath scholars. He remarked that a familiar and affectionate correspondence, by letter, had, in his own experience, been attended with much spiritual good, and concluded by urging it on the attention of all teachers present. Such suggestions appeared to us too valuable to be lost sight of, and as soon as convenient we determined to try it amongst our scholars. We are thankful to add that the result has exceeded our most sanguine anticipations. Certainly the epistles are not adorned with flowery language, or poetic sentiment, yet they breathe tones of candour and simplicity which amply repay us for our exertions; they shew us that the story of the Cross has not altogether been told in vain. We pray God that the expression may not be only the mere effusions of the head, but the

abiding convictions of the heart. Let us still continue to teach Christ and Him crucified, and trust God for the results; and to any teacher who considers that the observations we have offered have any force or truth in them, we recommend to “go and do likewise.”

Ashbel. [Our correspondent has sent a few of these children's letters, as specimens; and we have certainly read them with much interest.—EDS.]

THE BIBLE AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

SEARCH the Scriptures! How few really do this. Charles Simeon, during his residence at King's College, invariably rose every morning, though it was the winter season, at four o'clock, and after lighting his fire, he devoted the first four hours of the day to private prayer, and the devotional study of the Scriptures. I do not suppose many could follow him in this practice; but how few really give a full hour in the morning to the close and thoughtful study of the Word of God; and yet, perhaps, of all the means of grace this is the most sanctifying. “He (the man who meditateth in the law of the Lord night and day) shall be like a tree planted by the water side, that shall bring forth his fruit in his season.' The Word of God dwells within him as a living stream-cleansing, refreshing, and strengthening him. He engages in his duties, mixes with his fellow-men, and contemplates the hourly recurring events of life in its light; and in that light he sees a harmony in all things, and a design to which they tend, which explains to him life's perplexities, and reconciles him to life's evils.

But chiefly the word of the Lord is precious, because it reveals Jesus Christ in all the diversified features of his beautiful character. Christ as the Creator,-for "by him were all things made:" Christ as the Controller, -for "the government shall be upon his shoulder:" and Christ as the Redeemer,-for " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." These truths it is the office of the Bible to unfold, and to the purged eye they shine forth in every history, and type, and prophecy, and promise. The seeker after goodly pearls, here alights on the pearl of great price; and the hungry

enquirer after food and strength, here gathers the hidden manna. But this can only be by much pains. It is "in labour” that “there is profit." The word of God read cursorily will be as vapid and as uninfluential upon the heart and life as if it were a mere list of dates and names; it must be deeply, and constantly, and prayerfully pondered. Read over simply the eighth chapter of Hebrews, the sixth chapter of Romans, or the fifteenth chapter of the First of Corinthians, and they will come upon the ear with no more power than

would the noise of sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. But take these passages, sentence by sentence, and word by word,-ponder them with the deep conviction that golden treasure is enshrined in their unattractive exterior,-get Owen on the Hebrews, and Hodge on the Romans, and Scott on the Corinthians, and try to concentrate upon the passage you are reading the remarks of all the great and good men who have worked the mine before you, and you will find a beauty, and a glory, and a vigour in these passages which, while it refuses to manifest itself to the cursory seeker, waits to bless the laborious and the prayerful.

Sometimes a single word contains in itself an amazing depth of meaning. I have by me a hymn, written by a lady who was the sister of the late Archdeacon of Bombay, in which she describes the power upon her heart of the word “freely.”

"When to my inmost heart
Thou didst one word impart,
Mighty in strength
Large and yet larger grew
On my astonished view,

Its breadth and length."

Ithink I once found something of the same kind in meditating on one of the passages I have named, viz., the eighth chapter of Hebrews, and especially on those words in it, "I will be to them a God." So strikingly indeed was the whole passage opened out to me, that I moulded it into a Sunday school lesson; which, though I have taught it often, I do not think I have ever taught more than once to a class who did not seem to be interested in it alike with myself. The passage in itself (from the seventh verse to the end of the chapter) would not seem adapted to teach children; but any passage thoroughly thought over, prayed over, and talked over, will eventually shew itself in clear outlines, and enable a teacher to communicate it intelligibly and interestingly to all who have an ordinary capacity and an ability to read with fluency.

I would say then,-Read, read! Strip the tree of life of its fruits, bough after bough. As you advance, you will find one crowding behind the offered luxury of another, and when you have found a prize, the natural result will be a desire to run and tell of its glories, and induce others to come and share your gladness. There are one or two very useful books which I do not think teachers generally know. Blunt's "Undesigned Coincidences" is a most valuable aid in inducing an attention to the less prominent facts of Scripture. It is clearly and elegantly written, and with me, in parts, it had much of the charm and power of a romance. Its title conveys an idea of its nature. The Coincidences ad

duced are most marvellous, from their evident bearing upon the authenticity of the Scriptures; while they help the student on in the field of Bible knowledge, they furnish him with weapons, either aggressive or defensive, against the assaults of infidelity.

There is also another book, or rather two, one on the Old and the other on the New Testament, by the Rev. W. Pinnock; extensively used at Cambridge by Undergraduates preparing for examination ; and which, from its succinct and minute epitomes of Scripture narrative, forms a valuable treasure to the student of the Bible.

And now having said thus much on the exclusive study of the Bible, I would make a remark or two on its collateral study.

"He will be a wretched theologian who reads nothing but theology," was a sentiment, and I think a true one, of the late Dr. Arnold. God's word is a focus within which the rays of ethics, of science, and of literature may be made to converge to the mutual illustration and advantage of themselves and it. "If men of piety were also men of science, and if men of science would search the Scriptures, there would be more faith in the world, and also more philosophy."

I would urge every Sunday school teacher to adopt some one branch of secular knowledge as his favorite branch, and to bring from thence, mainly, the illustration with which he makes his lessons familiar and interesting. Every tribute the Bible will acknowledge. It casts a friendly eye upon each branch of knowledge, and in each hails a confirmation of its own veracity. If natural history, or botany, be a teacher's favourite study, he will find in its pages every variety of allusion to animals and plants. The camel and the bear; the stork and the swallow, and the turtle; the cedar of Lebanon, and the wild grapes of the field, all have their appropriate place; and the incidents in the life of Israel which they illustrate will receive both force and beauty from the confirmatory discoveries which these sciences have brought to light. It was only the other day that I had a discussion with a class of lads about birds' nests. The lesson was the Eighty-fourth Psalm, which refers to the fact, that the sparrow and the swallow built their nests around the Tabernacle; and by enumerating the locality where every bird, from the ostrich to the wren, settled as her home, we saw the correctness of the Psalmist's observation, viz., that these birds chose the eaves or thatches of houses to build in, and came to the conclusion, that in his walks he had carried about with him his eyes, and did not disdain even to observe the habits of the little songsters who were fluttering around him.

If antiquities be a teacher's taste, what wonderful proofs of Bible veracity have Nineveh and Babylon brought to light! Let a teacher read Layard's Nineveh attentively, and then go back to Nahum's prophecy, and see how literally have those frowning denunciations