The other day, in London, a waggon just before me turned suddenly up a side lane, out of the main street, and at the same moment two boys who were sitting on the tail of it, jumped off with a loud shout, and hastily untied a truck, which was being dragged behind. I saw that they had tied the truck to the waggon because it was going their way, and so saved them the trouble of drawing: but the waggon all at once turned out of the road, and so carried them and pulled their truck where they never meant to go. So they were obliged to jump off in a great hurry, and pull the truck back into the street. The Real Origin of Little Faults. Some faults and some sins, may seem to us much less than others do, but they all spring from the same evil, the fallen nature of man. In our eyes, a murderer is far more hateful than a Sabbath breaker, but if there were no sin in man's heart, he would neither be one nor the other; each is enough to shew that the heart is wrong. I was weeding in my garden one day, when I saw a small young dock-weed. I pulled it with my hands, but it would not come up. I then dug at its root with a little spud, but only part of it gave way, so that I was obliged to take more pains and use more strength; and at last I dug up a large old root, which had been cut down and cut down, but never rooted up, and had now again sent out a young shoot. I thought directly, that this great old root was just like sin in the heart. It may only shew itself in a little fault, but still it is there, and the only cure is to root it out altogether, which you must ask God to enable you to do. I. G. F. FIRST LESSON, SUGGESTIVE OF A MODE OF TEACHING CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES, TO BIBLE CLASSES IN SUNDAY SCHOOLS, Given by the Rev, GEORGE FISK. LL.B, Prebendary of Lichfield, and Minister of Christ Chapel, St. John's Wood: delivered on March 11th 1852, to a class of boys and girls, from several Sunday schools, and in the presence of the Sunday School Institute, and Sunday school teachers. [On reading over the short-hand writer's report of this Lesson, I at once perceived (what will equally strike intelligent Sunday school teachers) a want on my part of sustained force, and of continuity and exactness of detail. The novelty of the attempt must be my apology. I deemed it best, however, that the Lesson should be printed as actually given, rather than remodelled into a more perfect form; not only that teachers interested in the subject, might share in the encouragement, but, be made to see some of the difficulties of the experiment.-G. F.] My dear friends, you all know I have been invited here by the Sunday School Institute, as an old Sunday school teacher, to endeavour to give, in a series of Lessons, specimens of what I conceive to be a practicable mode of teaching the Evidences of Christianitya subject which is daily becoming of more importance, and will, I think, be of unspeakable importance to these our young friends, when they come to be of our age. I am convinced, that there will, by-and-bye, be a great, a powerful, and an extended conflict between the members of Christ's Church and an infidel world; and I feel, in regard to our young people, that when the very early period of childhood shall have passed, in which it is most suitable that Christian principles, and the great facts of Scripture should be taught dogmatically-then the ground upon which we are prepared to take our stand in defence of the eternal truth of God, against the infidel, should be fairly set before them. Those among us who have studied the Evidences of Christianity, know that there is great breadth in the subject. Let it not be thought, that because the Evidences of Christianity occupy a great space, and fill volumes, we are therefore to infer, that there is any difficulty in proving to a demonstration the truth of Christianity and of the Scriptures; but rather let us gather from it the assurance, that the very magnitude— the length and breadth and fulness of the Evidences, is a guarantee in itself that every point of contest which may be raised in regard to the truth, can be met in the minutest, fullest, and most satisfactory manner. At first, I was invited by this most valuable Christian Body, the Sunday School Institute, to give a specimen Lesson-having on a former occasion been permitted the privilege of address. ing to them a lecture on the subject ;* but I felt that it would be impossible in a single Lesson, to give a full specimen; and therefore I made a tender of such services as I might be able to render, for three additional Lessons, in order that I might present in the whole, a fair specimen of the mode of teaching. I need not say to you, my dear friends, who are in any degree aware of the strength and force of Christian Evidences, that I cannot profess in four Lessons, or fourteen, or forty-four, to teach-the Evidences of Christianity; that must not be expected of me. I can only in this first Lesson, endeavour to shew my dear young friends what Evidence is; how it is to be applied; and what is the effect of its application for the establishment of the truth of any given subject that is true; and then in future Lessons proceed to further views of specific portions of Christian Evidence, and endeavour to build up a little superstructure on the foundation to be laid to night. Be quite aware of this, that these are to be four specimen Lessons; and if they who are well acquainted with Evidences shall feel, as no doubt they will, that a vast amount of Evidence is untouched, they will understand that it is passed over, not because it is felt to be unnecessary, but because it is impossible to bring it within the space to be allotted to these Lessons. I think one hour is as much as we ought to take. I calculate on you my young friends, as forming the class for the four Lessons; and therefore, if you should feel interested in the subject, I trust you will put aside any other engagements, and meet me here on the following occasions, that I may proceed step by step with you, and do the best I can under the circumstances. Now, there is one thing I must request of all of you, and that is, that you will give me your whole attention. I can do nothing with half the attention. You know how all things fail, to which we give only half our attention;—how many mistakes arise in our minds for want of full attention. I am in the habit of saying to young people, “Whatever you do, if it is worth doing at all, give it all See Vol. III. of this Magazine, page 350. your attention; do it with all your might. If it is not worth doing, do not attempt it." Now, when I put a question to you, do not look at one another, but just look within, and see what you have got there. If you have been in Sunday schools to any purpose at all, there will be a great deal in your minds which may be brought out profitably in the course of these Lessons. There is another thing to which you must make up your minds. Be quite at ease with me; I shall be at ease with you. You must not be shy. I shall want you to answer the questions as quickly as the report of a gun follows the fall of the hammer. If you know how to answer the question, answer it at once. Do not look at one another; but give me the answer. If it is wrong, I will tell you so; if it is right, I will mark it down as right; and so, I hope, by united attention, we shall be able to produce something, which by God's blessing may be remembered. Now, then, in speaking to you I shall use frequently two terms, of which I wish you to retain a most perfect recollection. You will find me using the word evidence and evidences; and you will find me also using another word, proof or proofs. Now some people, in the ordinary use of language, confound these two things; but though they are intimately connected. and are inseparable from each other, yet they are in their signification, distinct. Proof is not evidence, and evidence is not proof. There may be evidence, but for want of its application, there may be no proof resulting; but proof cannot exist till evidence has been adduced and applied. Now then, we will mark down on the board these two words, " evidences," and "proofs"-1 and 2. Now evidence is the means whereby we are enabled to come to a conclusion that a thing is true. The proof is the result of the application of the evidence. I will give you the simplest idea of the matter. You (to the boys) all know what a I foot rule is; you (to the girls) what a yard measure is. A foot rule or a yard measure is an evidence. What is it an evidence of? It is an evidence of the length and the breadth of any object that is capable of being measured. may carry a foot rule in my pocket and not prove anything by it. A yard measure may stand up in a corner of a room and nothing ever be proved by it. So then there is a necessity that the foot rule or the yard measure should be applied (you know what I mean by applied-I mean, put against the object to be measured,) and repeated and repeated till you multiply the whole number of inches or feet of the thing that is to be measured; and when you have applied the foot rule, you say that this room is so many feet long; and when you apply the yard measure to a piece of cloth or calico, you say that it is so many-do you say inches long? A. No, yards. Q. Yes. If you have taken the yard measure or the foot rule, and if you have exactly applied it, length after length, till you have got through the whole of the thing to be measured, and if you sum up the amount, you (to the girls) say it is so many yards long, and you (to the boys) say that the room is so many feet long. Now after you have applied the foot rule yourself, with your own hand and eyes, and measured this room exactly, to a hair's breadth, as a joiner or carpenter does who is to be paid for his work, and when you have measured the piece of cloth you are going to work upon, and found by your own observation it is so many yards—if all the world were to tell you it is not so many yards long, you would still assert it to all the world. What would your answer be? A. I have proved it. Q. Exactly; so, as to the length, breadth, and height of the room, if any body were to say "I can guess the length of the room as well," what would you answer? A. I have proved it. Q. Yes; by which you would mean, I have got the evidence which the foot rule gives me on the point; and now, as often as I apply that evidence, there is a proof following; and that proof therefore establishes a truth which no one can dispute which no one in his senses would deny. And if a person should deny the length of the piece of cloth, you would understand that he did not know what a yard measure is, or what a yard in length is; and so if he denied the length of the room, you would say he did not know what a foot rule is, nor the use of a foot rule. There is a great variety of evidences, as I shall have to show you; but this gives you the idea that the proof which follows on evidence applied, is an irresistible thing;-it does not admit of denial. Every matter of fact admits of being proved in the same manner; and if Christianity be a matter of fact; and if the Bible be a matter of fact; and if all the matters recorded in the Scripture be separate links in the chain of factthen Christianity, and the Bible, and the separate matters of fact, are equally as capable of being proved, as the length of a piece of cloth by the yard measure, and the length and breadth of the room by the foot rule. If Now you can feel there is great importance in having your minds as well acquainted with the evidences of Christianity and the Bible, as with the evidence by which to prove the length and breadth of the room and the piece of cloth. it is any benefit to be able to prove those things, is it not of much greater importance to be able to prove that the Bible is true, that religion is true, and that every separate fact contained in the Bible is as true as God himself? Now to be possessed of evidence, and of proof resulting from evidence such as this, is to be put in a situation of positive firmness, under God, against all the assaults of Satan and of unbelievers, to which the people of God must expect to be exposed. Can you tell me the difference between evidence and proof? What is evidence? A. Evidence is to come before proof can. Q. But what is evidence? Q. And that which enables us to. come to the proof of any subject must be- A. Evidence. Q. What is proof? A. The application of evidence. Q. Proof is the application of evidence, and the instance we gave on your side (to the girls) was the application of the- ? A. Yard measure, Q. To the cloth ;-and on yours-? (to the boys.) A. The application of the foot rule to the dimensions of the room. Q. We must bear those things in mind, so that when I shall have occasion to speak to you on the subject of evidence, you must not have your minds confused about proofs; and when I am speaking of proofs, you must not let your minds be glancing off to evidences, but remember the distinction, and the connexion there is between them. Now, bearing these things in mind, I would ask you, do we require a thing to be proved that we can see? A. No. Q. When do we begin to require proof of anything? A. When it is absent from our senses. Q. Do I need any proof of the existence of a thing which I can handle ? A. No. Q.-Which I can see? Q. Then I need proof when a thing is absent from my senses? A. Yes. Q. If I have satisfactory proof produced to me by the application of proper evidence, am I compelled to believe. A. Yes. Q. Exactly; I am compelled to believe. If I do not believe when the evidence is sufficient, I shall be like the person who denies the length of the piece of cloth, or who denies the ascertained dimensions of the room. Well, now suppose a fact of an unusual kind were said to have taken place at a great distance, what should you think would be sufficient evidence to produce such proof as should compel you to believe it ? A. That some one had seen it. Q. In order to be satisfied of the truth of the matter, on the statement of some one who had seen it, what should you desire to know about that person who declared he had seen it ? A. Whether he told the truth or not. Q. If his character were open to suspicion in any way, what would be the effect on your mind? A. That it was untrue. Q. It would be very like a defective foot rule, from which half an inch had been broken off, or a defective yard measure. You could not say anything was such a length, by the application of that yard measure, or that the dimensions were so and so by the application of that foot rule; but you would say, Let me apply a correct foot rule or yard measure, and then I can affirm the length of the cloth to be so much, and the dimensions of the room to be so much. Then you would not deem it a sufficient proof if a person should come from ship board-from a distant countryand tell you he had seen such a thing transpire? A. Not unless I could believe him. Q. That is, till you had inquired into his character. Now, suppose you could trace any motive which he could possibly have for deceiving you and every body else in this country, how would that act on your mind? - would it weaken the effect of the evidence? A. Certainly. Q. Would it weaken your sense of Q. Very well. Is that the only evidence, then, on which everybody is to believe that the "Amazon" perished by fire and shipwreck ? A. No; there is the absence of the vessel itself. Q. But from what source do you get the information that the vessel itself is absent ? A. By those who have come from it. Q. But, then, suppose there are those among you who have never known any of these individuals who were on board, and who have never had an opportunity of conversing with such persons, what effect would that have on your minds in regard to the verification of that matter of fact?-undoubtedly, there is the evidence of eye witnesses, is there not? A. Yes. Q. If not a single member of the crew had lived to tell the tale, there would have been the absence of the evidence of- ? A. Eye witnesses. Q. Then you look to the evidence of eye witnesses as evidence of the highest order? We will mark down " eye witnesses"-that is No. 1. We are all of us inclined to look to the testimony of eye witnesses as the best kind of evidence; but then we must always have our minds quite clear that they have not been deceived in regard to the matter |