teaching, if all felt equally with the holy Colonel, respecting this duty? We should put to flight the armies of the aliens, we should pull down the strong holds of Satan, erect the glorious standard of the cross so firmly, that all the powers of hell could not prevail against it.

I am well aware, that in the present day of zeal and activity, most teachers are fully occupied in the different societies, which may justly be called the glory of our country; and in short, Sunday Schools appear to be the reservoirs for activity, to which every cause resorts for help in the time of need; but it should be kept in remembrance, that if a christian wishes to be lastingly useful, he must not always live in a crowd, and therefore in the language of friendship and brotherly love, I beseech my fellow teachers to attend to their own souls, and let it never be said, " they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Zeal is praiseworthy, but it must be tempered with knowledge in order to be useful. Where is knowledge to be obtained? "when a king asked Euclid, the mathematician, if he could not teach him his art, in a more compendious way, he answered, there was no royal way to geometry. Other things may be seized by might, or purchased with money; but knowledge is only to be attained by study, and study only to be prosecuted in retirement."

May all our schools be filled with teachers who resemble Isaac of old, of whom it is said, "he went out to meditate in the field at eventide."

MINUTES taken at the QUARTERLY MEETING of the SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.

Question. What means are most adapted to promote the spiritual welfare of children who have left Sunday Schools.

A teacher stated, that he thought it very desirable that each child on quitting a Sunday School, should have a book publicly presented to him, and that the minister of the place should address him on the occasion. The publicity of this proceeding is useful, there is something in it singular and striking, and it may have a beneficial influence on their future conduct. thought an epistolary correspondence maintained with those children who had left Sunday Schools, would be useful, and particularly enforced the necessity of seeking their welfare at the throne of grace,

He

The proposer of the question thought the subject to be highly important, and deserving of the most serious attention. Teachers too frequently thought that their duties ceased when a scholar departed from the School; thus a child was left at the most important era of life, at a time when the character was just forming, and the active business of life commencing, without a suitable friend and director. He thought that a Sunday School teacher should be exceedingly careful to ascertain the situations of life in which his scholars were to be placed, when they no longer received his instructions. He should see that his child was placed in a family or situation where serious impressions might be cultivated and nourished, least all his labour be counteracted by pernicious examples, and vicious connexions. It was highly desirable for teachers to conciliate the regard and respect of the parents, so that they might unite with them in selecting situations for the children, where moral and religious instruction would be still continued. It was the practice in the School to which he belonged, of Enquiring for such situations, and recommending the children to suitable places. There might be a sub-committee from the teachers appointed for this purpose, and notice might be given from the pulpit that any friends who wanted such servants should apply at the School. On dismissing a scholar, if be has been in the School three or four years, and behaved well, he should be presented with a Bible or some serious book, as a token of regard. At the same time he should be publicly addressed, be cautioned of the many dangers to which he will be exposed in life, and exhorted now that he is able to judge for himself, to become decidedly the servant of the Lord. A child who has behaved well should likewise be permitted still to receive books from the circulating library, and be encouraged when he has an opportunity to visit the School. When the children are settled in situations in life, their teacher should still continue to follow them with the anxiety of a spiritual father, he should visit them at their abodes, he should see that they attend public worship, aud give them such advice and assistance as their circumstances may require. Occasional meetings of old scholars with their teachers, have been frequently found useful, and if properly conducted, are certainly likely to do good. Sunday School teachers should thus use all their exertions to give permanence and decision to the religious impressions they have endeavoured to impart, remembering that they will, at the last great day, have to give an account of their labours in this important part of the gospel vineyard.

A teacher said, that it was always a matter of regret to part

with the children, and very desirable to keep them as long as possible. They might therefore be employed as monitors, and thus continued under the care of their teachers. In his School a quarterly meeting was held, to which all the children who left the School were invited, and also many of them attended on the Sabbath evening.

A Friend thought that the examples which teachers set before the children had much influence on their minds, even when they had quitted the School. He recommended that they should be presented with religious tracts and good books, and be particularly warned against the peculiar temptations to which they would be exposed.

SPEECH of Mr. J. MONTGOMERY, at the ANNIVERSARY of the SHEFFIELD SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.

SCHOOLS for the instruction of adults in Sheffield, are the offspring of the Sunday School Union: it was in one of the meetings of your committee that the idea was first suggested, and Mr. Birks has told us who was the Author of the hint. At our last anniversary, a few experiments had been made in this way; now two hundred persons, between youth and old age, are under instruction. Small and fugitive indeed would be the advantage of the learning taught to such scholars, if it were a benefit for this life only; thank God! it is more; it is a benefit, which improved, will last for ever, and become as infinite in degree as eternal in duration. Some of the subjects of this benevolence, in the course of nature, must soon know its value.

"This is a day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."-Many of us remember the visitation of grace, that overpowered our assembly, in the neighbouring chapel, at the last anniversary of the Sunday School Union. "Our master, even Christ," was in the midst of us, and though we saw him not with our bodily eyes, he made his presence felt, and manifested himself to our hearts, as evidently as he appeared to his disciples, after his resurrection, shewing his hands, and his feet, and his side, while from our souls we were ready to exclaim, with Thomas, "My Lord! and my God! We went thither with little expectation; but our faith, which was only as a grain of mustard-seed, when we met, grew up into a tree of paradise before we parted. It was not a delusion; it was not the dream of an hour: it was a vision of glory, beginning indeed in time, but to be perpetuated

through eternity. Hitherto it has brightened upon our hope as often as it has been recalled to remembrance; and this day it is renewed in reality. He who was the master of our assembly yonder, is the master of our assembly here. We are come to his temple; we are surrounding his altar. But are we prepared to meet him? Recollect his own words: “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Is there ne envy, animosity, or strife among you, my dear brethren and sisters? Are there no jealousies between particular schools in this union? If there be, O renounce them immediately; renounce them for ever; you need not leave your gifts before the altar, and go hence to be reconciled: in this moment, in this place, while you are met together, fully and freely forgive one another; even as God, for Christ's sake, would forgive you. It is not at the peril of your own souls only, if you harbour evil thoughts against one another; it is at the hazard, it may be to the ruin, of the souls of the children under your charge. I speak according to human apprehension of the subject; we know, that the work of the Lord shall be done, but he may not choose to employ you to accomplish it; he may withhold his blessings from your labours. He went not up with the hosts of Israel to fight against the Canaanites, while "the accursed thing" was concealed in the camp: the man who retains malice in his heart against his brother, keeps " a thing" there more "accursed" than "a wedge of gold," or 66 a Babylonish garment." Come then, let us all offer our "gifts" together, at this altar; let us all make a covenant with the Lord our God, and may it be an everlasting covenant.

We live in an extraordinary age. Many of us are old enough to recollect the beginning of that dreadful revolution in the political world, which overthrew the establishments of centuries. All of us remember the tyranny that lately stood amidst this wreck of governments; its throne seemed as fixed as "the seat of Satan," and its dominion as extensive throughout Christendom, as the empire of "the prince of the power of the air." That tyranny we have seen instantly and utterly cast down, and ancient authorities are rising again in their places, with a renewal of strength, that promises the prolongation of their existence for centuries to come. Amidst all this uproar and tumult, the Lord has been carrying on a mighty work of his own, by unexampled means. He has created "a new thing in the earth;" the disciples of Christ not only love

as brethren, but those who from some difference in opinion acted separately before, now unite in one purpose to promote their Master's cause among men. There is danger in running with the multitude to do evil, when amidst the contagion of example, and the tumult of publicity, the sinner seems to lose his personal responsibility in the crowd, and the guilt, dividedamong thousands, appears to attach to none, though in truth it attaches to each, as if each acted alone. There is danger also in running with the multitude to do good; there is danger in trying to escape from ourselves among the people of God. We may have a name among christians; we may be affected by the external solemnity of divine worship; we may delight in the joy and animation of meetings like this, and yet be devoid of the spirit and power of godliness. This danger is most imminent at a time when religion is in fashion, and there is no cross of persecution to bear; it is most imminent at the present time, when the work of God is so multifarious, and engages the attention, and calls for the exertions of persons in every rank of life, and with every degree of talent, from the highest to the lowest. It would be the abuse of christian charity to presume, that all who appear zealous and active in Bible, Missionary, Tract, or Sunday School Societies, are truly converted in their souls. Remember the fleece that was dry, when the dew of heaven lay on all the ground. What said our Saviour to his apostles? "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you "Is there not a Judas in this large assembly? "Lord! is it I" Let each of us ask this question within himself; it will not be answered in thunder to our confusion, but "a still small voice" in our hearts will whisper the truth. It were better to deny Christ, like Peter, and repent, than to confess him, like Judas, when he said, "Hail, Master!" and betrayed him with the signal of friendship. O my dear brethren! if hitherto we have followed our Saviour in the spirit of Judas, it is not too late; henceforth let us love him with the affection of John.-We inay make speeches on occasions like the present; we may subscribe our money to send Bibles and Missionaries to the ends of the earth; we may teach the ignorant, and he that brings knowledge into a mind uninformed, casts out a devil, both dumb and deaf;" we may imagine that we do many such wonderful works,-and wonderful works may indeed be done through our agency,yet one thing, the main thing, may be wanting. "Not every one that saith, Lord! Lord! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that douth the will of my Father, which is in heaven."