towards the hour of closing, and wish for some unseen hand to hurry it in its progress and set you free. Think of this! and you will not leave a healthy scholar unappealed to, nor a sick one unvisited. Think of this! and go to your work as though you could see both yourself and your scholars standing on the very brink of Eternity!

In conclusion, dear friends, let us take one thought of rich consolation to sustain us amidst the fearful struggle which has been our subject. We are told that when Solomon was building the temple at Jerusalem, every stone in the walls was "made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building." 1 Kings vi. 7.-So it is with us; we are yet in the quarry, and the struggle which I have attempted to describe is to us, and may we not hope to many of our scholars, part of the preparation by which we are made ready for the spiritual house which God is building up in heaven.

We shrink beneath many a rough blow and many a deep cut, the need of which is known only to the Mighty Architect himself, but in his eye all tends to the beautifying of his work. A few short years at most, and the last touch will have been given, the last blow struck, and we shall each be silently taken away to our appointed place in that glorious temple which is even now fast rising to completion, on the sure and strong foundation stone, Christ Jesus. A little onward still, and the last tiny stone of the topmost pinnacle shall have been dropped into its place, and then, whilst the glory of the Lord fills the house, creation will resound with the cry, "For He is good, for mercy endureth for ever."

his

J. E. F.

HOW TO CHOOSE A TEACHER.

A CROSS teacher will have a thin class; they will not come to be scolded or frowned upon; and as they are easily touched by words of love, so are they easily affected by looks of kindness. "An instance in proof of this," says a Liverpool Clergyman, "I had in my own school. A youth sought admission into the boy's room, and requested to be not only admitted into the school, but into a particular class. When asked why he selected that class, he answered, because I think, from the look of the teacher, he is a kind man. I have often seen him in Church with the boys, and he seems very good natured!' I brought him to the door of the school myself, and asked him to look round the room, and point out the class into which he wished to be admitted, and he instantly, without hesitating, pointed out the class with the kind-looking teacher."

"DARKNESS, THE SHADOW OF DEATH."

An illustration; in which this sublime figure of Hebrew poetry is applied both naturally and spiritually.-Compare Aмos v. 8-and Ps. cvii. 10-with MATT. iv. 16—and LUKE i. 79.

I ROSE, and earth in vesture bright
Reflected Heaven's unclouded light.
Eve came too soon-the glory past;
Death over all his shadow cast!

Man I beheld-his troubled mien
Betrayed what yet he wished unseen :
A heart, the seat of sad despair-
Death, too, had flung his shadow there!

I looked again, and One had shed
A Heavenly unction on his head:
Care from his breast was gone: his brow
Death's gloomy shadow veiled not now.
A vacant Cross-his eye, dismayed,
And Tomb-had thoughtfully surveyed:
Death's form lay gasping on the floor;
His shadow could oppress no more!

Life's lamp, yet quivering to expire,
Was touched as with etherial fire.

I saw him pass a portal fair;

Death, nor his shadow, followed there.

A BLIND

GUIDE.

G. N. S.

A SUNDAY School teacher once asked me, as we came out of school— 66 Have you ever been at the Theatre ? "

"No!" I replied, somewhat surprized.

"I slipt out the other night," he said, "when our folks were gone to bed, and went—and you have no idea how beautiful it was, and how I was enchanted."

What

My heart aches now at the recollection of this avowal. would this teacher have thought if he had met one of his scholars on the steps of the theatre? Would he not have shrunk into himself for very shame? And how would he enforce on his class the duty of renouncing "the pomps and vanities of this wicked world? ' how urge them not to stand in the way of sinners ?

When will teachers learn that inconsistency is fatal to themselves, and deeply injurious to their scholars ?

I.

The Teacher in his Study.

THE USE OF SECULAR KNOWLEDGE.

CECIL remarks "Nothing is easier than to talk to children; but to talk to them as they ought to be talked to, is the very last effort of ability. A man must have a vigorous imagination. He must have extensive knowledge to call in illustration from the four corners of the earth, for he will make little progress but by illustration." When a mind hitherto bent on acquiring secular knowledge, and which has found much enjoyment, and expected more in exploring various fields of science or philosophy-when such a mind first awakes to the perception of spiritual things, and sees how vastly superior in importance spiritual attainments are to the highest mental cultivation, the next idea-(for the human mind is continually prone to rush into extremes)-that will probably occur to him is, that all the time spent in his previous studies has been wasted. Acting on this idea, some years since, a Cambridge student, hitherto of sober mind and religious character, after hearing a sermon preached by a follower of the mistaken Irving, immediately returned to his room, and commenced burning a most valuable library! The student of history will be reminded of the well-known sentence said to have been passed by the Mahomedan conqueror of Alexandria on its famous library, which he commanded to be destroyed, saying, "that if its volumes contained anything contrary to the Koran, they ought to be destroyed, and if they agreed with the Koran, they were useless."

Now, the fact is, that no knowledge is useless; and it is a great mistake to suppose that time spent in its acquirement is necessarily wasted. If knowledge be followed for its own sake—if we look for happiness in the search, we shall meet with disappointment. But this is not the fault of the knowledge, but of the expecting from it that which it never was intended the soul should find in anything but God. Here we know but in part, and the more we know the more we feel our ignorance. It is only the superficial who are conceited with their knowledge. The profoundest and best stored mind is always the most humble. But once have a right aim, namely, to glorify God in everything, and study will be useful and delightful for God's sake. Especially if we are engaged in the work of tuition, we should bear our pupils in mind in all our studies, and we shall find many an anecdote, many a fact, and many a biography which will serve to

illustrate some Scripture doctrine, and recall by its narration the wandering attention of our little ones, who are easily weary of abstract truth.

In natural history we can trace the fatherly care which the Creator exercises for the comfort and happiness of his humblest creatures— the wonderful adaptation of means to the desired end-the simplicity of the causes which produce such grand effects. In profane history we mark the great moving course of those events which statesmen believe to be under their own controul; the littleness of the highest earthly fame; the fleeting nature of all that this world has to bestow of honour, wealth, and power-the retributive hand which may often be traced in the rise and fall of nations., Even the common events of every day life, if our minds are but alive and awake, may impart useful lessons. The inspired writers in the Bible, our blessed Lord himself, made use of these to fix religious truth on the minds of their hearers, and the natural history of animals, and the page of history, are also employed in illustration of spiritual things. To give a very few instances. The sower sowing the seed, is the ground of one of our Lord's most instructive parables. The fields whitening for the harvest; the husbandmen labouring in the vineyard; the well of water; the lamp and candle, are all made to impart instruction. The habits of the ox and ass, Is. i. 3; of the ant, Prov. vi. 6–9; of the spider, Prov. xxx. 27, 28; of the sheep, John x. 3—5, are mentioned with a similar intention. St. Paul evidently alludes to the heathen games which had existed for centuries, in 1 Cor. ix. 24; Heb. xii. 1; nor does he think its undesirable to make use of heathen poets, in Tim. i. 12; Acts xvii. 28.

The Book of Revelation cannot be understood without constant appeals to profane history, and if the Spirit of God gave to Daniel a concise account of the four great empires of the world, it cannot be contrary to his will that we should seek to trace their history in after times, and our faith must be strengthened by seeing the exact fulfilments of these wonderful prophecies, delivered ere the second of those empires had scarcely commenced its destined course.

It is certain that the mind that would cultivate others, cannot be too much cultivated; and that as the bee gathers honey from even poisonous flowers, so the renewed mind may collect wholesome food from the most unlikely sources. Not that we should be understood to recommend light and frivolous reading-few things we believe are more injurious; but we would entreat the really devoted teacher, to sanctify his past studies by causing them to tend to present profit, and then to study useful and intellectual pursuits wisely, watchfully, and prayerfully; taking care that everything is undertaken and followed to, and for God.

BRIEF HINTS ON CATECHISING.

THE adjective catechetical is derived from the Greek. The verb κατήχεω from which it is formed, is said to be used in the earlier Greek writers in the sense of "to resound or make a pleasant noise," &c., but in the later Greek writers, and in the Fathers it signifies "to instruct in first principles-especially the first principles of religion." The verb occurs several times in the New Testamentfor instance, in Luke i. 4; Acts xviii. 21--25; xxi. 24; Rom. ii. 18; 1 Cor, xiv. 19; Gal. vi. 6—and is translated according to the context "to instruct,' "to inform," "to teach."

The catechetical method, as we employ the phrase, is the method of teaching by questioning. Yet all questioning does not come under this title. Questions may be asked for the purpose of proving whether what has been previously learned, has been rightly understood and is remembered by the pupil. This is examination, not catechisation. Catechetical questioning implies teaching. Examinatory questioning, merely testing, or proving. In practice they readily blend, but it is better to consider them separately.

In employing this method, the teacher should previously decide in his own mind the track that he intends to pursue in imparting his information: and this will necessarily differ according to circumstances. A few general remarks are therefore all that can be here offered on the subject.

The first class of questions may have reference to the meanings of the words singly. All language is more or less figurative, and words frequently make a more vivid and lasting impression upon us when we know their precise literal meaning, as well as their ordinary signification. But the extent to which this analysis ought to be carried must, of course, depend upon the age and general attainments of the scholars, &c., &c.

The second class of questions may refer to the expressions employed, that is, the words taken in the relation which they bear to one another their syntactical relations. Peculiar collocations of words or idioms are to be found in every language, and they abound in the English language, in which it not unfrequently happens, that we have to employ three or four words to convey an idea, which in other languages may be expressed by a single word.

The third class of questions may aim at eliciting the facts or doctrines taught in the subject, with their relations and bearings to collateral facts or doctrines.

In the fourth class of questions, an endeavour may be made to elicit the inferences which ought to be drawn from the full consideration of