In enforcing upon your children attention to the word of God, we ask for your co-operation. Remember that the teachers have their youthful charge under their care but for a few hours on the Lord's Day; whilst they are under your influence the remainder of their time. In the school they are instructed to keep holy the Sabbath day; to attend upon the public worship of God; to read their Bibles and other religious books; to fear an oath; to be sober; to speak the truth; to be kind one to another; to love God; to seek for Jesus; to prepare for heaven. But what if you are Sabbath breakers? if you neglect the house of God? if you seldom or never read your Bibles, and put in the way of your children irreligious publications? if you are swearers? if you are drunkards? if y f you are untruthful? if you are morose or passionate, and your dwelling a frequent scene of discord? if you do not fear God? if you despise the Saviour? if you are in the road to eternal ruin? Will not these evil examples of home counteract the influence of the Sunday school class? May not your children reason, "if my parents are right in their conduct, then why do they send me to be instructed to avoid what they practice? But if my teachers are right in the instructions they give me, then how sad it is that my father and mother should set me such an evil example, and thus be seeking, not only their own ruin, but leading me also in the ways of sin, and perilling my soul's salvation."

You have, I presume, a Bible in your dwelling. Let me entreat you, if you are not in the habit of so doing, to read it with that devout thoughtfulness which a professedly divine revelation demands. Attend, I beseech you, to a general outline of its great truths which I now place before you in the very words of the book itself. "Lo this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions."-(Ecclesiastes 7th, 29th.) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."-(Romans 3rd, 23rd.) "This a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."-(1st Timothy, 1st, 15th.) "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."-(Isaiah 1st, 18th.) "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."—(1st John, 1st, 7th-9th.) "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."-(Romans 3rd, 24th.) "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see God."-(John 3rd, 3rd.) "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new."-(2nd Corinthians, 5th, 17th.) I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called; with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace."-(Ephesians 4th, 1st-3rd.) "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"-(Mark 8th, 36th and 37th.) Let the

wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”—(Isaiah 55th, 7th.) "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9th, 27th.) "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."-(2nd Corinthians, 5th, 10th.) "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal"-(Matthew 25th, 46th.)

These are the general truths in which your children are instructed every Lord's day. They are selected from that volume which has survived all the attacks of unbelievers and opposers of every class and name Whatever daring and unreasonable men may affirm to the contrary; this Bible, with its saving knowledge, has been, and still is, an invaluable good to countless numbers. Under its hallowed influence, attended by the power of the Holy Spirit, barbarians have been civilized ;-savages have been tamed ;the ignorant have been instructed; idolaters have been brought to worship the one true and ever living God;-the cruel have practised kindness;— infidels have been converted to Christianity;-the fraudulent have been made honest;-drunkards have been reclaimed to sobriety;-liars have become truthful ;-swearers have learnt to fear an oath ;-sabbath-breakers have remembered the Lord's day to keep it holy;-the quarrelsome have become peaceful;-the thoughtless have cultivated prudence;-the disobedient have been rendered dutiful. Individuals have been blest; families have been made happy, and even whole tribes and nations have been raised in the scale of intellectual and moral greatness. These are FACTS which no one can deny. They are recorded in the pages of indisputable history. They are attested by hundreds of thousands of living witnesses.

I fear that many of you are neglecters of public worship. If so; then let me urge upon you to act thus no longer. Take your children by the hand and bring them with you to the house of God. Go where you think proper. The design of the writer of these pages is not to draw you away from any other place of worship which you may now frequent, nor yet to induce you to forego your attendance upon any other ministry you may prefer. His object, and that of those in whose name he writes, will be attained if you are brought under the sound of the everlasting gospel by whomsoever it may be preached. But if you have no preference for any other building, then let me invite you to CowBRIDGE CHAPEL with which the schools are connected where your children attend. There are those there who, with myself, are deeply interested in your welfare. They are influenced by no other motives than those which relate to your spiritual and eternal good. You will there hear of that Jesus who is able to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."-(Hebrews 7th, 25th.) Come at once; come regularly, and may God bless the word preached to the good of your neverdying souls.

The time is approaching when you must die, and it may come very soon. Faith in Jesus Christ, as the only Saviour, can alone prepare you for this

solemn event. You will not think this a trifling matter then, in whatever light you may regard it now. I have been sent for by many a man and woman upon the bed of death, to speak with them upon their soul's salvation, who in health and strength scoffed at the Bible. I have never refused to attend to these applications. But they have often been very painful scenes. It is a fearful thing to have to learn the first principles of the gospel when its strongest consolations are most wanted. The repentance of a death-bed is often very questionable. Alarm is frequently mistaken for penitence. Life is the time to serve the Lord. The Bible knows nothing of delay in these all-important matters. Its language is, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."(Isaiah 55th, 6th.) "To-day if ye will hear voice, harden not your hearts." -(Psalm 95th, 7th and 8th.) "Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation."-(2nd Corinthians, 6th, 2nd.) Commending these things to your serious consideration ;—

I remain,

Your affectionate well-wisher,

WILLIAM SPENCER,

Minister of Cowbridge Chapel.

REMEMBER THE LITTLE ONES.

"MOTHER, I wish Mr. C would preach here all the time. I don't like to have Mr. P― come."

"Not like Mr. P, my son? I thought every body liked him. He is an excellent man. Why do you dislike him?"

"Why, mother, when he preached here last, he stayed here all the time from Saturday to Monday, and I was just as still as I could be, and he did not speak to me or look at me once; and Mr. C always puts his hand on my head when he comes, and says, 'How does Charley do to-day? just as though he loved me."

I have a choice rose bush in my garden, presented by a dear friend. This year it had but few buds, and my little ones could only have one rose each. "I will save mine," said little Carrie," "and carry it to my teacher. Do you think she ever saw such a beautiful tea-rose ?"

Day after day she watched her little bud, till it was half opened, and then it was plucked in the early morning, all fresh and dewy, and placed in water ready for school-time.

When she returned from school a cloud rested upon her usually sunny face; and upon inquiring its cause, she cried as though her little heart would break. "You know my beautiful rose. Well, I suppose the teacher didn't want it. She had a whole vase full of flowers, but none of them half so sweet as that; and when I carried it to her, she just laid it on her desk; and didn't look at it once, and said, ' Take your seat, Carrie !'"

How easy to have said, "Thank you, Carrie," and smiled upon the child, and filled her little heart with grateful love instead of grief.-REMEMBER THE LITTLE ONES.-American Messenger.

HOW TO ILLUSTRATE A SUBJECT.

ILLUSTRATIONS are most valuable to a teacher, because they assist him in every step of his work: they aid him in gaining the attention of his scholars, in reaching their understandings and influencing their hearts. It is not intended to speak at present, either of how they ought to be used, or how they frequently are abused; we only seek to show how illustrations for any subject may be most easily discovered.

The first essential to the suitable illustration of any truth or duty is a clear idea of what is to be illustrated.

The want of this is the real hinderance which prevents many an instructor from illustrating his subject. It is not sufficient that the words in which the truth lies couched are familiar to the eye and ear; the idea must be clearly and fully mastered; it must be seen by the mind in all its fulness and in all its parts. Illustrations consist in pointing out things which are "like" the subject to be illustrated: how impossible is it to find these similitudes when we are ignorant, or have but a dim perception of the original! "There is a gentleman in the gallery of the lecture-room yonder, very like my brother-in-law," said a friend to me the other evening, "try to point him out." "It is impossible," I exclaimed, "you forget I never saw your brother-in-law!" It is just as impossible to illustrate a subject, without having a clear idea of what it is.

We are sorry

And how is this distinct comprehension to be attained? we cannot suggest any easier or more expeditious way than by the oldfashioned and almost disused method called "thinking." May we recommend it to our fellow-teachers and to ourselves! When once this step is taken, and we have vividly before us the subject of our teaching, it is strange, often, how easily likenesses will start into our minds.

The second step useful to find illustrations, is to throw your subject into its most general form. Having examined your subject, you must next generalize it by losing sight of its individuality, seize the general principles involved in it. Thus, taking lesson 151 in the Union's series as an example, The facts to be applied are briefly:

1. God calls Samuel.

2. Samuel does not know God's voice. 3. Samuel most willingly offers service to Eli.

Now, the general forms of these facts

seem to be something like these:

1. God speaks to all men.

2. Men do not know God's voice.
3. The young ought willingly to
obey.

4. Samuel reverently listens to God. 4. Men ought reverently to listen to

5. God honours him above Eli.

6. Eli submits to God's judgment.

God.

5. The young may be better than the old.

6. Submit to God's will.

It is not difficult to throw these, or such facts, into the general form; and these examples show distinctly what is intended by the rule. The next step is a more difficult one. It may be thus expressed: collect from God's word, or God's works, all the illustrations of each general statement, and out of these select the most suitable.

Now, evidently, this depends upon two mental qualifications of the teacher: the amount of knowledge from which illustrations are to be sought, and the power of recalling such thoughts to memory.

Some individuals are undoubtedly naturally endowed with faculties which make such operations easier to them than to others, but all have some ability in this direction, and each one can augment his ability.

To explain this rule by recurring to the examples already employed :

1. "God speaks to all men."

In their consciences, and by His works. His word states this, and furnishes examples.

"God left not himself without a witness."

"For the invisible things of Him from the 'creation of the world are clearly seen," &c. Rom. i. 20.

"God also in sundry times, &c, Heb. i. 1,2.

God speaking to Adam in the garden, to Abraham, to Jacob, to
Moses, to Elijah.

Through Christ to the Jews. Through the Bible to us. To every child when conscience says, "that is right," or this is .wrong."

It is so obvious, it is unnecessary to show how God through his works speaks to us of his power, gentleness, long-suffering, and wisdom.

2. "Man does not know God's voice."

Samuel did not know it here.

Paul did not know Christ's voice.

The Jews did not know God's voice when he spoke through Christ to them.

How few who read the Bible know it to be God's voice.

How few know that the whisper of conscience is the voice of God.

3. "The young ought willingly to obey."

Such is God's law everywhere. He teaches the lamb to follow the
ewe; the lion's cub to follow the lioness; the chicken to run at
the call of the hen. Their safety lies in obedience.

The danger of disobedience. Eli's sons, David's sons, Rehoboam,
Lot's son's-in-law and their wives.

4. "Men ought reverently to listen to God."

All God's creatures listen, except devils and men.

God called "the light," and it was.

Fish-Jonah; Peter.

Birds-Noah's dove; Elijah's raven.

Beasts-Balaam's ass; the lion that slew the prophet; the lions that slew not Daniel.

Commanded the raging sea. Spoke to disease and death; they listened and obeyed.

Israel listened only when God spoke in thunder and storm. Pharaoh only when the plagues were on him.