scholars might justly wonder whether he possessed one, and, in consequence, whether he studied the Word of God at home.

I have seen a teacher quite ignorant of his scholars' homes, whether his scholars were orphans, &c., &c. Every teacher should endeavour to discover the circumstances, favorable or unfavorable, under which each scholar is placed, that he may the better regulate his reproofs and commendations. I have seen a teacher neglect to keep his promise with a scholar respecting some little matter. However trifling the matter itself may have been, the promise was binding; and the neglect of it was likely to raise a doubt respecting the teacher's veracity.

I have seen a teacher evade a question put to him by a scholar. Far better to have promised a reply on the next Sunday.

I have seen a teacher even angry with a scholar for giving a wrong answer. Far better to have said, kindly, "No; try again."

I have seen a teacher sit cross legged, and put the duty of the four legs of his chair upon two of them. Scholars are required to sit orderly. Teachers should teach by example.

I have seen one teacher's chair in the middle of the class, and another's outside. The back of the chair should be in a line with the ends of the side forms.

I have seen a teacher break the Sabbath by purchasing milk, beer, &c., or by sending his dinner to the baker's. How very inconsistent! How very sinful!

I have seen a teacher quit a school because some little thing displeased him. Better out of the school than in it.

I have seen a teacher occupy the whole time of teaching without a word about the Saviour.

I hope my readers will examine themselves by, but not take unkindly the above observations of

(Church Sunday School Quarterly Magazine.)

CORRECTION OF ERROR,

BROTHER JOHN.

To unlearn is harder than to learn; and the Grecian flute-player was right in requiring double fees from those pupils who had been taught by another master. "I am rubbing their father out of my children as fast as I can," said a clever widow of rank and fashion. Sir Thomas Browne attributes the belief in fallacies to the want of knowledge; and, speaking of the persons who are under the influence of such belief, says:-" Their understanding is so feeble in the discernment of falsities, and averting the errors of reason, that it submitteth to the fallacies of sense, and is unable to rectify the error in its sensations. Thus, the greater part of mankind, having but one eye of sense and reason, conceive the earth far bigger than the sun, the fixed stars lesser than the moon, their figures plane, and their spaces from the earth equi distant. For thus their sense informeth them, and herein their reason cannot rectify them; and therefore, hopelessly continuing in mistakes they live and die in their absurdities, passing their days in perverted apprehensions and conceptions of the world, derogatory unto God, and the wisdom of the creation."

THE CALL OF THE CHILD.

A SHORT SERMON BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON.

"And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them."-Matt. xviii 2.

Oh, what a beautiful sermon our Saviour preached to His disciples from that curious text! That little child suggested four lessons which Jesus wishes all His disciples to learn.

First, then, look at that little child, and think of the importance of the new birth. "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." The question about being "greatest" need not trouble your thoughts. It is only by becoming "little" you can enter at all. Be little if you would be saved.

Secondly, look at that child as an example of artless simplicity. Jesus says, "Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Just as in our social circles, when a new-born babe is introduced to your notice, all eyes, all hearts, and all attention, are directed to the child; so, in our Heavenly Father's mansions, the highest court is paid to the most child-like spirit.

Thirdly, look at that child, ye disciples of Jesus: your Master Himself hath set him in your midst. Love him, fondle him, train him for Jesus's sake. For He saith "Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me."

Lastly, look at that child, ye enemies of Christ, and, as ye value your own souls, take heed, lest ye injure one whom the Saviour so affectionately regards. For He saith, "Whoso offendeth one of these little ones that believeth on Me, better a millstone were hung about your neck, and you were drowned in the depths of the sea."

THE MAN OR WOMAN-NOT THE MEN AND WOMEN. IN our great schemes for setting the world right in its physical as well as its moral aspects, we are apt to merge the work of the individual man or woman in the work of the society or corporation that is made up of a large number of men and women, and who act by their authorized agents. It is, and will continue to be, the business" of every man to say to his neighbor, and every man to say to his brother, 'know the Lord,'" until the time come when the necessity for this individual work will be done away by the universal diffusion of such knowledge.

A Sunday school is an excellent and indispensable organization for the instruction of ignorant and neglected children in the knowledge of the scriptures, but its virtue resides, (under God,) in the competency and fidelity of each individual teacher. It may be that the reading of a passage of scripture by the superintendent, or the singing of a hymn by the whole school, or some providential event in the neighborhood, may awaken an unusual religious interest in a child's mind, but it will be generally found that the agency which (humanly speaking) sets the ball in motion, is that of an INDIVIDUAL ACTING UNDER A SENSE OF PERSONAL DUTY.

How comes a bad man abroad in the world? "Society has neglected him," says some one. That may be; when he was found by the public authorities in the way of temptation with none to care for his soul or body, it may have been the neglected duty of some public officer to have rescued him and put him under the control of some reformatory institution. But how came the neglected boy or girl in vicious or dangerous associations? Because the father did not chasten him while there was hope, or because that mother did not gently whisper the counsels of wisdom into her ear when she was laying her weary head on her lap. Is it replied, that the father was a drunkard and the mother ignorant and degraded. This is only removing our position one stage back without weakening it. There may be defects or wrongs in the organization of society which indirectly contribute to the existence of the evils to which we refer, but whatever they are, ninety-nine of every one hundred cases are traceable to what some one person has done or left undone at some anterior stage of their history.

We hear a very interesting account of a child rescued from a filthy and degraded cellar or garret-taken to the mission-school-cleaned, clothed, taught, and perhaps fed by charity, brought under gracious influences, awakened, converted, and becoming a preacher of righteousness to his fellow-men. We naturally and properly admire the wisdom which ordained an agency so benign and so well adapted to its end, and the grace that gives it such striking efficiency; but when we come to look into the working of it do we find that the mission-school saved the outcast? In one sense it did, because without it, there would have been no such appropriate provision for the case. But the mission-school does not go to the outcast children any more than the hospital goes to the wounded man. Some individual heart must be touched with pity and act with promptness. In the case of the rescued child, probably some woman, possibly some man, buttons his coat about him-buffets the sharp wind, or the driving sleet, finds or makes his way to some remote street or obscure alley, to see a sick or distressed family, whose condition has been incidentally revealed to him. His kindness wins their hearts-though made almost callous by long struggles with poverty and misfortune, unsanctified by divine grace. He sees to the relief of their most urgent wants, and when spring opens, he invites the children to go to Sunday school. They come; and what then? Is the Sunday school, as such, to accomplish the great work which is to be done for them in enlightening their minds, awakening their consciences, and softening their hearts? If it is well organized and conducted, it will certainly contribute to such an end; but (so far as human instrumentality is concerned,) it is some individual teacher who is to assume this office. It is not the hospital which restores the sick man to health or heals the wounded man. It is the blessing of the Great Physician on the skill of the medical or surgical officer, and the attention and fidelity of an individual nurse. So in the assembly of children, it is the individual voice or smile or act of some one teacher, that is scen and felt in the marvellous transformations which are sometimes beheld in our Sunday schools.

There is an individual duty incumbent on every parent, în relation to his own children which is not transferable, except in cases of absolutte inability.

The relation itself imposes the duty. It is not society, nor the laws of society, that create or can dissolve or modify it. If neither of the parents are competent to instruct and guide the child, it then becomes their duty to seek the best substitute that is within their reach, and avail themselves of its aid this is a faithful Christian teacher in a well organized Sunday school. Then the teacher (not the school,) assumes the individual responsibility; and while occupying the place of the parent, is subject to the obligations of that most important relation. Dinton, the minister of public instruction in Prussia, once uttered the following memorable words:

"I promised God that I would look upon every Prussian peasant child as a being who would complain of me before God, if I neglected to furnish him with the best education, as a man and a Christian, which it was in my power to provide." If such a sentiment became the director of the public schools of a large empire, how much more does it become the parent or the teacher, whose province of duty is limited to a circle of half a dozen?

And so it is in all other spheres of human influence and action. The aggregate of the good or evil that presents itself to our view, is made up of what is done by Mr. Smith or Master Jones, or not done by Mrs. Smith or Miss Jones. And even in the more elevated and imposing stations of duty and responsibility-the same principle holds. It is not the administration that is corrupt or mischievous. It is some one man of selfish, ambitious, or corrupt design, who drops a word or suggests a course which others of like passions stand ready to take up and carry out. Gathering numbers and strength from the wayside in its progress, it ultimately becomes mature and formidable enough to cope with any rival interest or party. History, if it could minutely analyze the initiation of the measures which form its chief projecting points, would show that the bloodiest persecutions, the most desolating wars, the most appalling revolutions, not less than schemes for the amelioration of human suffering, and for the promotion of truth, liberty and love-have originated in the breast of an

INDIVIDUAL.

From all which we infer that every man and every woman has an individual work to do in the world, which no combination of their strength or influence can accomplish. Each has a claim of his fellow creatures as well as of his Creator to answer, sooner or later. Whether it may be urged by a little child or a particular class or family, or a neighborhood, or the great bulk of society-it is his business diligently to inquire. And when the sphere of duty is ascertained, he is the happiest and most useful man who labors most contentedly, cheerfully, and constantly within it.American Sunday School Journal.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN SPAIN.

THE Daily News states that Sunday Schools instituted in Madrid, under the auspices of several ladies of rank, have given rise to establishments of the same kind in many of the principal cities of Spain. A letter from Saragossa mentions their having been established in that city, under the direction of a committee, of which the Marchioness of Ayerve and Ñiviano and the Countess of Sobradial and Ataves are active members.

AN EXAMPLE OF EMBLEMATIC TEACHING.

66 THE STING OF DEATH IS SIN."

Paraphrase.-Death is said to have a sting, that sting is sin. Sin is the........sting of death.

Emblem.-You know some animals which have stings. Bee, Wasp, and Serpent. And you are afraid of these animals because of their.........sting. Whether you would have a needle or a sting put into your flesh? A needle. There is something then about the sting that you are very much afraid of.........the venom, the poison. Your hand is not only pierced by a

sting, but venom is put in with it.

You are at all times afraid of a dog's bite, but when are you most afraid? In hot weather; for then a dog may get.........mad, and its bite in such a state has driven people mad too.

You have heard of the people called the serpent charmers. They can handle the most deadly serpents, as they try to make people believe. But they take out first.........the sting; and then of course there is no danger. Proposition.-Death is said to have.........a sting. If that sting is taken away, we need not be afraid of.........death. I can do no more harm.

Application.-You have heard of death-beds of wicked men. They were miserable in their last moments, and as they passed away they groaned "Lost! lost! lost!" There the sting was, and it had not been taken out. Others have died in peace; they were indeed glad to die, because they were going to heaven. The sting had been taken away. If this sting is taken away, it matters not what pains we suffer. The martyrs, as the flames gather about them and burn them up, rejoice.

Who takes away the sting-sin? Christ. and thou shalt be saved."

Near Swansea.

'Believe in the Lord Jesus,

J. S.

PRIZE ESSAY ON SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHING.

A PRIZE of books, of the value of five guineas, is offered to Sunday-school Teachers, by the Rev. Anthony Crowdy, M.A., Honorary Secretary to the Sunday-school Committee of the Winchester Diocesan Board, for the best essay on the subject, "What is the best method of teaching children the special doctrines of Christianity, as they bear on a child's daily life, his duties, his difficulties, and his faults?"

The Adjudicators are, the Rev. J. F. SERJEANT, Curate of St. Mary's Bryanstone Square, London; the Rev. J. J. BOLTON, Minister of St. Paul's Chapel, Kilburn; and the Rev. J. SMITH, Rector of Little Hinton, Wilts, and late Principal of the Training School, Winchester.

The Essays must not exceed 300 lines foolscap. They must be sent in to the Rev. A. CROWDY, West Hill, Winchester, by 31st March, 1859. Each essay is to be distinguished by a Motto, and to be accompanied by a sealed Envelope, having on the outside a corresponding Motto, and containing the writer's name and address.-Winchester, December 1858.