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the full explanation and enforcing of which let us illustrate our subject by anecdote, simile, proverb, or parable. There must, however, be something to illustrate; the practice of illustrating nothing is too common in our Sunday schools to be passed over. Many teachers seek to purchase the forbearance--not to say the interest-of their scholars, during the ordinary exercises of the class, by promising to tell or read a story to them, if the sermon is quietly listened to afterwards-that is, the children shall each have a sugar-plum if they are good, and take their physic afterwards without any demur. This is a most mischievous practice. On the other hand, the taking up the attention of the class by relating tales and anecdotes, however good, merely to amuse and keep them quiet, is also an abuse; let our illustrations be AIDS to doctrinal truth, never substitutes for it-let them be short, simple, and pointed-carefully distributed throughout the lesson. The proper course of a lesson has been well described by Collins :"the beginning should arrest the attention; the middle should inform the mind; the end should affect the heart." Our illustrations may be gathered from figurative language-proverbs and wise sayingshistory and biography-profane history-manners and customs, the sciences, the arts, fiction and poetry: but we must especially, in our daily life, view all things through our Sunday school spectacles, and often ask ourselves the question we put to our scholars, What may be learned from that? To illustrate my meaning I need only remind you again of Old Humphrey.

Sunday schools were not established merely to gather children together, nor are they intended simply to teach them to read on the Lord's Day; but our one great and only object is, or ought to be, the conversion of the soul of EACH under our care. "What do you teach in your school?" was once asked of a teacher. "We read a chapter." "Oh, we read another." repeated the enquirer, "What do you do after you have read two chapters ?" hoping to hear something of explanation and application. "Why then" (opening his eyes very widely) "we's done." This, I fear, is by no means a solitary case.

"What next?

66

"Well,'

A clergyman once said to the Bishop of Cashel, "My Lord, I never know beforehand what I am going to preach about; even as I go up the pulpit stairs I often do not know what will be my text." 'Well," said the Bishop, "I am not surprised at what you say, for I hear from your people that when you come out of the pulpit they never know what you have said."

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But I must conclude by just running over one or two points upon which I could wish to have said more, for though last, yet not the least, especially would I impress upon you the duty of visiting at the homes of your scholars-get the parents to work with you-visit

regular as well as absent scholars-let your name be familiar as "household words,"-let the youngest child in the family rejoice in its very sound-gain the confidence and attachment of all the family, and be sure to visit when any member is sick; and rest assured your influence will be great. Above all, gain the confidence and attachment of your scholars, for without this you will fail; and to the teachers of senior classes I would say, write individually to your scholars, they delight in receiving letters, and encourage them to write to you.

Another important means which I have reason to believe has been blessed to many who have been under my own care, is, private conversation with each member of the class. "A word in season, how good is it." Many tears have I seen trickle down the face of a lovely youth on searchingly speaking to him on personal religion,—and if it has not brought forth immediate fruit, I am persuaded the seed of life is, at all events, sown, to appear, it may be, after many days, for we have the promise that his word shall not return unto Him void.

Be careful not to wound the feelings of a single member of your class by pointing out his faults before his school-fellows; do this privately between himself and you-be not in a hurry to run to the superintendent or parents of the scholar with every trifling occurrence, but be patient and persevere, endeavouring to settle the affair between yourselves, and take your difficulties more to the Lord, and obtain wisdom and help from above. Never pass your scholars in the street without a cordial shake of the hand, and enquiring after their welfare. Get to know how they spend their time, and who their companions are. Direct their amusements and leisure hours, and, if possible, give one night a week to meet them, either for a walk, play, or Scripture lesson.

Be not discouraged in this labour of love, do not expect too much; our duty is to work, it is not our part to complain and give up, because we do not see the result we wish; but rather be more faithful and diligent, remembering how Jesus laboured, although the Jews turned their backs upon Him.

With reference to books, I would especially recommend to you the Monthly and Quarterly publications of the Church of England Sunday School Institute, which are within the reach of all. The Sunday Teachers' Treasury, also issued monthly, is one of the best of its kind. Let the Bible be, in the first place, well and carefully studied, comparing Scripture with Scripture.

Be sure to bring up your scholars Churchmen, for I think the day is not far distant when we must know who are Churchmen, and who are not.

Say not you have no time to follow out the principles of this paper.

If

you think you have not, I would say make it, for where there's a will there is generally a way. After carefully looking into this sub. ject, I am compelled to say, many make this an excuse for not doing their duty, as the teacher who says he has no time to prepare his lessons, yet, forsooth, finds time to read " Adam Bede," "Dred," or some other book. Whatever, then, our hand findeth to do, let us do it with all our might, and let us esteem it a privilege to do something for Him who has done so much for us. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it;" or, as Coverdale translates the verse, "If thou teachest a childe what waye he should go, he shall not leave it when he is olde". Parents and teachers have here, in the word of God, ample encouragement for the fulfilment of their duties. Show the child at the opening, as soon as he can choose the way of life, the duties, the dangers, and the blessings of the path, direct him to perform the duties, how to escape the dangers, and how to secure the blessings which are before him; if you are a parent, let these be fixed on his mind, by daily inculcation, till their impression is become indelible, lead him to practice, by slow and almost imperceptible degrees, till each indelible impression becomes a strongly radicated habit; ask constantly the blessing of God on your teaching and discipline, and illustrate your instruction by your example, you will then have obeyed the injunction of the wisest of men, and there is no likelihood that such impressions shall ever be effaced, and that such habits shall ever be destroyed.

But I must close these somewhat lengthy and confused observations, by a few words on prayer. Pray daily for each member of your class, and get them to pray for you and for each other. Above all, let every effort be baptized with earnest prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit upon the works of our minds, and lips, and hands. Of Luther, it was said, "This man could have of God what he would." Can there be no more Luthers now? Yes, fellow-teachers, let us labour as though all depended on ourselves; but let us pray as though all depended upon God. "Labour is of noble birth; but prayer is the daughter of heaven. Labour has a place near the throne, but prayer touches the golden sceptre. Labour, Martha-like, is busy with much serving, but prayer sits with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Labour climes the mountain-peak, with Moses; but prayer soars upward with Elijah, in a chariot of fire. Labour has the raven's wing, yet sometimes goes forth in vain; but prayer has the pinions of the dove, and never returns but with the olive-leaf of blessing." They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” St. Ann's Sunday School, Manchester. T. W.

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The Teacher in his Study.

SCRIPTURE

PHILOLOGY.

No. VI. OUR LORD'S IDIOMS. (Continued.)

OUR readers will permit us to repeat that expressive and touching sentence quoted in a former number,-" It is one of the highest tasks on which the labour of a life can be spent, to bring the words of Christ a little nearer to the heart of man."

Will they kindly remember also, that in selecting some of our Lord's VERY words, we proposed to give ourselves somewhat more latitude than the term idiomatic strictly admits.

MATT. v. 1-12. The Beatitudes.

MATT. v. 3. "The Kingdom of heaven."

Let us suppose ourselves to be standing on a higher part of the mountain than that to which "He went up," when our Lord delivered this sermon. Here we stand then; and we now, first, see Him below us, the centre of attraction. We see next, the disciples lining the circle around Him. We see again, the dense multitude listening to an open-air preacher, as men seldom listen. Look attentively at their countenances; every man has the same national features, the same untrimmed beard, the same general style of dress. The women too, among them, are not less nationally remarkable.

Why-how-is this? Doubtless because they are all, every one Jews. Some of them are devout, in contradistinction to worldly; these have "laid their phylacteries" this morning; each has bound the tephillim on his left arm and hand, and for a frontlet between his eyes, Deut. vi. 8,-for they take this command literally. He has thrown too, the talith, or shawl, over his head and shoulders, and so veiling and arraying himself, he has repeated the four texts inscribed upon them, and sincerely called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the employment we imagine that Nathaniel was engaged in, that morning " under the fig-tree," when the same eye that now lovingly viewed this congregation, had from His divine invisibility watched him, as it watched you and me this morning, dear reader. Nor may we suppose that the falling in with these then established customs was incompatible with a worship rendered by some-few indeed it is to be feared-to "the Father, in spirit and in truth."

"Ah, foolish people!" ah, favoured nation! foolish the more, for being so favoured ;--for from all the other nations of the earth put

together, there could not be collected, looking at the inner as well as the outer man, such another multitude as this.

There they stand; and they are "the children of the Prophets, and of the covenant that God made with their fathers,”—therefore are there present here some careful, anxious, humble hearts, waiting for "the days of Messiah" (to use their own phrase), who from an acquaintance with the writings of those Prophets, and awakened by the voice of the Baptist still sounding in their ears, are aware that the long expected hour wavers in the balance, Luke iii. 15 In such a state of hope, and fear, and patience long delayed, how meet it was, and kind, and good, to address them in words like these,-" Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Doubtless the Gentile nations had a law, and a scripture, written in their hearts also; but so obscurely written in comparison, that it may be well supposed a discourse addressed to them, even by Christ himself, would, like St. Paul's at Athens, have been much more elementary, and have been based upon natural religion, the three chief principles of which are,—that God is; that His providence governs the world; and that man's actions are either good or evil, and dealt with accordingly, Heb. xi. 6. '

"The Kingdom of Heaven." Little could poor Gentiles expect a kingdom upon earth-the reign of Messiah-yet that dying discourse of their best man with one of his pupils, quoted before in this magazine, in which, from the reasonableness alone of a communication from the One true God to his ignorant creature man, he is led to predict almost the coming of a Just One, is very remarkable, and leads to the thought, that reason, true reason, is faith.

To arrive at a clear impression of the precise meaning of the phrase "the Kingdom of Heaven," we should observe,

1st, that "the kingdom of heaven," and "the kingdom of God," are synonymous terms. Compare for example this Matt. v. 3, with Luke vi. 20; and Matt. iv. 17, with Mark i. 15.

2ndly, that particular sayings, such as Mark ix. 47, "It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye;" and such again as Rom. xiv. 17, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost;" forbid us to entertain the notion that it always means the future state.

3rdly, that, on the other hand, some expressions, such as 2 Tim. iv. 1-" Who shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing, and his kingdom," forbids us to confine it to the present state, or " days of Messiah."

The conclusion therefore will arise, that the phrase "the kingdom of heaven," includes the state of grace and the state of glory, under the kingly reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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