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"Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind,
To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix
The generous purpose in the glowing breast."

-So sung the enchanting poet of the "Seasons;" and the sentiments which he utters are as just as his lines are beautiful. But if to communicate the principles of general knowledge to the young mind be so delightful, so pleasing to those who are engaged in the

192

ON SABBATH SCHOOLS.

work, and so profitable to society at large, what shall we say of that noble exercise of the mind, which consists in sowing the seeds of an immortal harvest-training the soul to the love of God and of man-and directing all its powers towards that heaven, where knowledge and piety in perfection dwell? Were man the creature of a day, and destined only to labour for present subsistence, and then to sleep for ever with the clods of the valley, then, indeed, would it suffice him to be taught the ordinary branches of elementary education. But man occupies a higher place in the universe of God. He has an understanding, and that understanding must be enlightened by the rays of spiritual knowledge. He has a heart, and that heart must be given to God, who demands it as his own. He has affections, and these must be placed" on things above." He has a will, and that will must be made to beat in unison with the will of his Creator. He has the seeds of an immortal life within him, and these seeds must, under skilful culture and a genial influence, be made to spring forth and to display an abundant harvest. These are the objects which religious parents have in view, in the instruction of their children; and these also are the objects which enlightened and pious teachers have in view, in those interesting seminaries called Sabbath Schools. Within their walls, many ignorant and neglected young persons are trained to knowledge and to godliness, and the sum of spiritual instruction provided for the rising generation is unspeakably increased. By these institutions, the labours of ministers, of teachers, and of parents, are aided and encouraged. By them, knowledge of the most valuable kind has been communicated to multitudes who might otherwise have perished in ignorance; and by the lessons and examples of Sabbath Schools, many have been guided through life, and cheered and comforted at death.

"School of the Sabbath! vineyard of the Lord!
Be thine the bands of love, the silken cord
That twines in stronger ties the human mind,
Than all the chains which tyranny can bind.
Freedom herself would surely laud the plan,
When cords of love are made the bands of man,

ON SABBATH SCHOOLS.

And the proud spirit own the soft controi,
That bends the heart to free the captive soul."

198

Of these valuable seminaries, there are at present, (1822) in connexion with the Sabbath School Union for Scotland, 1232, attended by 68,300 pupils. In England and Wales there are, at the lowest calculation, 3000 schools, attended by upwards of 400,000 scholars. In Ireland, there are supposed to be nearly 1500 schools, attended by 160,000 pupils. In France, the first Sabbath School was established at La Garde, in 1817; and, since that time, they have been formed in connection with nearly all the Protestant churches. In Holland, they are very numerous; and they are to be found in various parts of Germany, throughout the Russian Empire in Europe, and in other countries on the Continent. In India, they are established at Calcutta, Chinsurah, Bellary, Chittagong, and Malacca. In Ceylon also, the Missionaries have 80 Sabbath and day schools, containing 4908 children. Schools have also been opened in New South Wales, the Mauritius, and in West and South Africa. In the American United States, the seminaries are numerous and successful, At New York, they have 3500 boys, and 2798 girls; and the scholars connected with the Sunday School Union of Philadelphia are no less than 19,481. Ten schools have been formed in Newfoundland, and several in Upper Canada; but Lower Canada is slenderly provided. In Antigua, and the other West India Islands, the Moravians, the Methodists, and the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, have conspicuously distinguished themselves, and the beneficial efforts of their labours of love have been ample and encouraging. We shall close this short sketch with the following appropriate lines of the poet.

"School of the Sabbath! nursery of love,
Thy labour here is register'd above.

Favour'd and holy is the valued spot

Where vice is conquer'd, virtue studious sought.

One soul instructed and reclaim'd by thee,

Repays the world for all its misery.

K

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Pain ends in death, affliction fades away,
The soul outlives earth's changeful scenery."
"Lasting as heaven, the soul shall ne'er decay,
When and
sun,
and stars must melt away."

moon,

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS.

"YEA, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming."-JEREMIAH.

THE migration of birds, which is common to the quail, the stork, the crane, the fieldfare, the woodcock, the cuckoo, the martin, the swallow, and various others, is justly considered as one of the most wonderful instincts of nature. Two circumstances, Dr. Derham observes, are remarkable in this migration: the first, that these uninstructed creatures should know the proper times for their passage, when to come, and when to go, some departing while others arrive; and, secondly, that they should know which way to steer their course, and whither to go. Birds of passage are all peculiarly accommodated, by the structure of their parts, for long flights; and it is remarked that, in their migrations, they observe a wonderful order and polity. They fly in troops, and steer their course, without the aid of a compass, to vast unknown regions. The flight of wild geese, in a wedgelike figure, has often been observed; and it has been noticed that the three foremost, who are the soonest tired, retreat behind, and are relieved by others, who are again succeeded by the rest in order. At the approach of winter, the wild ducks and cranes of the north fly in quest of more favourable climates. They all assemble, on a certain day, like swallows and quails, decamping at the same time. Their flight is highly curious: they generally range themselves in a long column, like an I; or in two lines united in a point, like a V reversed. It is observed by Shaw, in his travels, that storks, about a fortnight before they pass from one country to another, constantly resort together from all

REFLECTIONS UPON DEATH.

195

the circumjacent parts, to a certain plain, and there forming themselves daily into what, in the popular phrase, is called a dou wanne, determine the exact time of their departure, and the places of their future abode. Swallows have often been observed, in innumerable flocks, on churches, rocks, and trees, previously to their departure from Great Britain; and their return, in apparently equal numbers, has been witnessed in a variety of instances. In Sweden, the starling, finding, after the middle of summer, that worms are less plentiful, goes annually into Scania, Germany, and Denmark. The female chaffinches, every winter, about Michaelmas, go in flocks to Holland; but as the males stay in Sweden, the females come back in the spring, except such as do not choose to breed any longer. In the same manner, the female Carolina yellow-hammer, in the month of September, while the rice on which she feeds is laid up in the granaries, goes towards the south, and returns in the spring to seek her mate. The aquatic birds of the north are forced by necessity to fly toward the south every autumn before the water is frozen. Thus the lakes of Poland and Lithuania are filled with swans and geese in the autumnal season, at which time they go in great flocks, along many rivers, as far as the Euxine Sea. In the beginning of spring, however, as soon as the heat of the sun molests them, they return back, and again frequent the borders of the springs and lakes, where the females deposit their eggs; for there, and especially in Lapland, a vast abundance of gnats-insects which live in the water before they get their wings afford them an excellent nourishment. By these migrations, birds become useful to many countries, and are distributed over almost every part of the globe.

REFLECTIONS UPON DEATH.

THE records of time are emphatically the history of death. A review of the whole world, from this hour

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