them not, teach them to rely for pardon and eternal life upon the sufficiency of his merits. Inculcate upon them the necessity of that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."

To religious instruction Mr. J. states that religious impression should be added.

By every thing solemn and every thing pathetic; by every thing awful and every thing attractive, and how much is there of each in the New Testament, Jabour to impress them in favour of religion. Their hearts are more susceptible than you are apt to imagine, for although they are strongly under the influence of original and inherent corruption, they are not yet rendered so callous as others, by the hardening process of actual sin.

There is not a child before me but has a soul, which millions of ages hence will be towering from heighth to heighth in glory, or sinking from depth to depth of despair in hell; shall I make no effort, drop no hint to-day to save them from the latter and elevate them to the former, especially when I consider that, with respect to many of them, all the religious instruction they ever reccive is imparted to them here?. I will watch for their souls as one that must give account.

Under the second head "the possession of real personal religion" is considered as a pre-eminently important and indispensably necessary qualification.

The lamp of Christian zeal should in every case be fed with the oil of genuine piety, without which it will soon be exhausted in fitful flashes, or languish to extinction in a glimmering and useless spark.

Provided other qualifications are possessed in tolerable competency, those will be the best teachers whose hearts are most deeply under the influence of personal religion. The fatal cause of that indifference towards the spiritual concerns of the scholars, which is so lamentably prevalent, is the languid state of the teachers' own piety. Luke-warmness has unnerved the arm of zeal and smitten its tongue with the destructive paralysis. Cultivate religion more is your own breast. It is from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Seek to have the love of God shed abroad in your hearts, and you will then evince more of its constraining influence in your lives, Meditate more seriously the worth of your own soul, and you will then be more affected by the value which attaches to those of your children. Love God more, and you will be more anxious that they should love him too. Grow in grace, and you will then increase in zeal."

In describing the manner in which the duty should be performed, the following exhortations are illustrated. "You should engage in this work with the deepest interest and solicitude. Let your efforts be accompanied with earnest prayer. Let your exections manifestly appear to be the labour of love. Pursue your labour with unremitting constancy. Commence your duties with the greatest punctuality. Observe the strictest regard to order and peace."

The following extract on the accompaniment of our exertions with prayer, is peculiarly beautiful and appropriate.

Did you come to the school every Sabbath, direct from the fountain of celestial mercy, where, with all the importunity of prayer, you had been wrest ling for the welfare of your children, what a character would be imparsed to all your deportment. What an impressive seriousness, mingled with the most

engaging tenderness, would imbue your spirit, and pervade your conduct.
The children would mark something of the solemnity of eternity, the sweetness
of heaven, and the mercy of the gospel in your very countenance.

Mr. J. then proceeds to encourage Sunday School teachers
with the hope of success.
How often does the mind of a pious,.
active teacher transcend the bounds of mortality, and enter by
faith into the celestial world; there he conceives himself sur-
rounded with some of the poor children, who have been the
objects of his care on earth, to resume the employments of praise
which they began on earth. Heaven would scarcely be heaven.
in the anticipation of such a teacher, if he could not hope there
to behold some of his pupils, whom he has been made instru
mental in conducting into that path which has such a blessed ter-
mination. The following exquisite sketch on this subject needs
no comment of ours, it appeals directly to the heart.

I have sometimes drawn in my fancy the following picture of a pious, faithThe closing hour of mortal life ful teacher's entrance upon her celestial rest. is at length arrived. The dying scene of agony and triumph is finished, and the conquering spirit hastens to her crown. Upon the confines of the heavenly world she meets a form divinely fair, awaiting her approach. Wrapt in astonishment at the dazzling glory of the messenger of the throne, she exclaims, 'tis Gabriel, chief of all the heavenly hosts, sent to conduct me into the presence of my God. With a smile of ineffable delight, such as gives fresh beauty to an angel's face, the unknown form replies, "Dost thou remember little Elizabeth, who, when in thy youthful days thou wert employed as a Sunday school teacher in yonder world, wept as thou talkedst to her of sin, and directed her to the cross of a merciful Saviour. God smiled with approbation on thine effort, and sealed it with his grace upon the poor child's heart. Providence early removed her from beneath thy care. "Twas another's business to water what thou didst plant. She grew in grace. Religion first guided her in all the snares of youth, and cheered her in all the trials of her riper years; and after supporting her under the afflictions of a checquered life, sustained her amidst the agonies of her last conflict; and now behold before thee the glorified spirit of that poor child, lately arrived in heaven before thee, who under God owes her eternal life to thy faithful labours, and who is now sent by our Redeemer to introduce thee to the world of glory, as the first and least reward for thy guiding the once ignorant, thoughtless, wicked Elizabeth to the world of grace. Hail! happy spirit! Hail! my earthly deliverer! now my heavenly companion! Hail! to the world of happiness and holiness!"

I can follow the scene no farther. My fancy drops her pencil. It cannot trace the glorified Elizabeth and her glorified, her beloved, her honored teacher to their mansion in the skies. It cannot describe to you the joys of such a meeting. It cannot set forth to you the gratitude of the former, nor the ecstasy of the latter. It cannot unfold to you what it will be to enjoy your own heaven and witness others in the full possession of their's, with the sweet consciousness in your own breast that you were the honoured instrument of their obtaining it.

The extracts which we have made, almost render it unnecessary for us. to recommend this address to every Sunday School · teacher: and we wish that its exhortations may dwell in all our hearts, and be exhibited in our conduct in the employment to which God has called us.

The two following notes are too important to be omitted.

I take this occasion to bewail what has long appeared to me considerably to lessen the benefit which otherwise would result from the Sunday School system. I mean the inattention with which it is treated by the leading persons of most congregations. One would be ready to imagine from their neglect, that the business of these institutions was either below their notice or beyond their duty; and to be left exclusively to the hands of youth and inexperience. This arises from the opinion that they are intended merely for the purpose of teaching reading and writing; than which a more mistaken notion was never imbibed, nor one more injurious to the best interests of myriads of immortal beings. 1 heave what I fear will be an unavailing sigh, while I consider what would be the blessing that these dear children would derive, could they but enjoy the benefit of that matured experience, that enlarged knowledge, that exemplary piety, which most of our congregations possess in many of their leading members. I am aware that many of them have families of their own that prefer large and sacred claims upon their time. This, however, is not the case with others, whose children are perhaps at boarding schools, or are either too young or too old to be the subjects of parental instruction; while in some cases there are no children at all. Did such persons consider how much they could benefit an institution, the spiritual advantages of which have never yet been a thousandth part known; did they but know what a negative injury they are doing to innumerable immortal souls, by withholding the benefits of their knowledge and experience; did they but know how much their assistance, either statedly or even occasionally, would encourage their younger friends, and especially did they but recollect how speedily the day of their usefulness is running on to a close, they would no longer deny that which would not impoverish their own souls, but which would be likely to make others rich indeed."

Our schools have been very often deprived much sooner than was necessary of the valuable assistance of many excellent teachers, by the foolish practice of young persons giving up their attendance immediately after marriage. I acknowledge that the secession of females in such circumstances becomes very frequently a matter of propriety; domestic arrangements requiring their presence in their own habitations. But for a young man to withdraw his assistance merely because he is a husband, is an absurdity too manifest to be justified. Till such time as a rising family of his own demand his attention, there is certainly no reason why it should be taken away from the children of the poor. There is no divine law that I am acquainted with which makes it a crime, nor any human ordinance which makes it a disgrace for a married person to be a teacher in a Sunday School.

NOTE. We rejoice to inform our readers that Mr. J. is preparing for the press, in the form of a small pocket volume, price about 2s, or 2s. 6d. The Sunday School Teacher's Guide, containing

Introduction,-A brief survey of the origin, progress, and improvement of the Sunday School system.

Chap. 1-The ultimate object which every teacher should keep in view as the end of his exertions.

Chap. 2-The necessary qualifications for properly discharging the duties of a teacher.

Chap. 3-The manner in which the duties of a teacher should be performed. Chap, 4-The duties of Sunday School teachers to each other.

Chap. 5-The discouragements of teachers.

Chap. 6-The best means of keeping up the spirit of the work in a teacher's mind.

Chap. 7-Some motives which should excite to diligence in the work.

"The ADAPTATION of MONITORIAL ASSISTANCE, to accelerate the ATTAINMENT of the OBJECTS of SUNDAY SCHOOL TUITION examined." 12mo. 41 pages, 1s. 6d.

THE title of this publication may serve as a sample of the affected and inflated style in which it is written; an evil too common among young authors.

The English language abounds more than any other with plain words, calculated to convey our ideas with force and certainty; why then should such words be used, as "impactation," "der. nier resort," "secularziation," &c. which occur too frequently in this little work. It appears from the preface that the question concerning the utility of monitors. in Sunday Schools, remained for discussion after this publication appeared; and we know not how the author can clear himself of censure, for having prejudged, and in such a conclusive manner, condemned the plan before it had been thoroughly investigated; and for confining himself, according to his own account, to a statement of the system of monitors, which he attacks, that appeared in the Teacher's Magazine two years ago: when he might have gone to the Sunday School he mentions, and have seen it in effectual operation among nearly one thousand children, there he would, by scrutinizing it closely, have had an opportunity of judging fairly of its effects. Having neglected this, nearly all his arguments are unsupported by facts, and for want of more plainness, they, in some instances, appear to have a doubtful application.

Sunday Schools, both in a political and religious view, are of far greater importance than Christians in general consider them. They serve as a medium through which the sublime truths of the gospel are conveyed to the youthful mind; and in numerous instances we observe children deriving incalculable benefit from them, who but for such institutions, would have remained in total ignorance. Sunday Schools embrace two kinds of instruction; first, religious; secondly, mechanical, or the art of reading &c. The time most children remain in them is but short, perhaps on the average not more than two or three years. It is therefore a matter of serious concern, that this period should be employed to the best advantage, and by introducing the monitorial system to assist the teachers in the mechanical part of their work, and to preserve order among the scholars, the attainment of this object is rendered more certain.

In the pamphlet before us the author has endeavoured to shew the danger of introducing the plan of monitors into Sunday Schools; but here, alas, he argues upon most mistaken notions. He supposes the monitors interfere in the religious instruction of the children, that they are the " immediate governors" of the scholars; that they are the sole dispensers of rewards and pu nishments; that they will become proud, conceited, arbitrary and liars: from which we naturally infer, that the superintendent

and teachers must be unconcerned spectators, capable of being imposed upon, and dictated to by the monitors; which fully proves, that he knows nothing of the system practically, and the operation of which he does not appear to understand.

We here leave this little work, hoping that before our author attempts to write for the public again, he will more closely investigate any subject that may come under his notice; and study plainness and simplicity in communicating his ideas.

SUNDAY SCHOOL INTELLIGENCE.

SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, at NEW YORK, in AMERICA. Copy of a Letter from a Lady to her Friend at Bristol. New York, January 24, 1816.

Dear Sir,

I CANNOT resist the desire I feel to employ my pen in thanking you for your presents to myself and children of so many interesting publications, from which I trust we have derived both profit and pleasure.

I believe I cannot express my gratitude in a manner better suited to your liberal soul, than by giving you an account of a meeting held this day in this city. Mr. B. published one of your letters in one of our daily papers, I lent the different publications relative to Sunday Schools to a number of our friends, and was in hopes the gentlemen would have come forward in the business; but, after waiting a number of weeks, I conversed with several of my own sex, who expressed a wish to unite with me in a "Female Sunday School Union;" accordingly, we called a meeting of the female members of all denominations, who met this day in the lecture room of one of our churches, although the notice was not as general as intended, several hundreds were present. Dr. R-opened the meeting with a very appropriate prayer. When he withdrew, the ladies were pleased to call me to the chair. I addressed the company in a few words, stating for what purpose their attendance was requested, the great need of such an institution in a city where numbers of one sex were training for the gallows and state prison, and of the other for prostitution. Likewise the great want of religious instruction in our small schools; the parents of children attending such, not having time to teach them, would probably gladly avail themselves of Sunday Schools, if within their reach. I said, in order to stimulate them to so good a work, I would read them several extracts from British publications, which would shew them how