welcomed the new recruit! how carefully he put him in possession, as far as could be done, of the features of the great work in which he was come to take a part! how cheerfully he introduced him to his little charge, and committed them to his care! And when, in a few Sundays, the chair was empty, and the boys were looking out every time the door opened, but in vain, till the superintendent heard that his new friend was gone only three or four miles to hear the bishop preach—and soon after, that he had a slight cold in his head, followed with alarming rapidity by a long catalogue of maladies, each of which wiped out a Sunday's work from that teacher's diary, till it was almost blank pages-how slowly did that kind man's sensitive regret for the afflicted teacher decline into a mournful conviction that it was a disease of the will in various shapes! how slowly did his first misgivings assume a clear and unmistakable certainty! how slowly he learnt the lesson that wayward teacher gave him! But he learnt it at last; there was no escaping it. He learnt that he could not reckon on that teacher. He learnt that there was one in that band who had no real love for the work, no sympathy in the school, or in the teachers' meetings. He learnt that he must have a substitute ready, and that at all times. How long he bore that teaching I cannot say, nor whether he had stood in need of it. But one good came of it, after all; though no thanks to the unintentional teacher for that! He learnt to thank God for steady perseverance in well-doing, whenever he looked on those who did their duty; and he learnt to appreciate and esteem them for God's grace in them. But our friend's fellow-teachers came in for a share of his good offices, and you will have half guessed what he taught them. Thoughtless man! he never meant to do such mischief. I am sure, that had he seen himself in a faithful mirror, he would have been quite shocked. But so it was. He taught them by his example how to get through their work with the least possible amount of trouble and exertion. He taught them to look on the teachers' meeting as a needless drain on their time. He taught them to evince a brave disregard of all rules and regulations. He taught them how to excuse themselves: as Franklin would have said, "he was a capital hand at that." But he did better, too; for he taught them to exercise forbearance to an erring companion; and frequent indeed were the demands he made on that christian grace in them. He taught them besides to pray; to pray that the harmony of the school might be preserved, or rather restored; and that he, the blind agent of the mischief, might see, repent, and amend. But the most painful part of the story remains behind. He taught his class. Ah! that indeed he did; and many more lessons he gave them than were ever allotted. First, he speedily taught his boys that he did not much care if they came or not; for if they played truant he never looked after them; and if they were ill, he never inquired for them. They quickly learnt that lesson, and very soon he had but a skeleton of a class. Then he went a step farther, and taught them that ten or fifteen minutes after school time was quite early enough. You can hardly imagine how soon they gained this knowledge, and how entirely they approved of an arrangement which left them a little time to play at hide and seek round the schoolhouse, with the superintendent poking his head out now and then to try and catch them, until the cry, Here comes teacher!" sent them pell-mell into the school, to the utter confusion of the other poor teachers. 66 But, alas! there were worse things than this. He taught the boys to think but lightly of the sacred day, the holy book, the solemn prayer, the cheerful hymn. Why should they think so much of all these, when his manner was evidently that of a man on whom these things made but slight impressions ? Why should they prize their bible lesson, when he evidently had no heart for it? or the hymn, when he never looked at his hymn-book? or the prayer, when he walked about, rapping their heads ? But, quick observers as they were, there was one thing in him that puzzled them exceedingly, and that was, why he was a teacher at all? They looked at others, and saw that they were busy, active, regular, and interested; they looked at him, and he was none of these. Why then did he teach? He soon solved the question, and relieved them from their cogitations, for he resigned! I. G. F. Church of England Sunday School Quarterly Magazine. waking, Our homes with joy for saking, To join the Sabbath School. waking, Our homes with joy for saking, To join the Sabbath School. Shout, shout, shout, We hail the Sabbath School, Shout, shout, shout, We . 1 Shout, shout, shout, We hail the Sabbath School, Shout, shout, shout, We HYMNS FOR THE SHEFFIELD SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, Whit-Monday, May 31st, 1852. HYMN I.-ST. JOHN's. AROUND the throne of grace we meet, In pentecostal bands, With christian love each other greet, At once upon ten thousand flowers So may the Sun of Righteousness And showers of consolation bless Hence, when we to our homes return, "Did not our hearts within us burn, The Mount, April 2, 1852. HYMN II.-HINGHAM. O GOD, we pray thee to revive Among our schools thy work of grace, For more success in every place. O give us, as of old, to feel More of thy truth, thy love, thy power; Increase our faith, and let us be Co-workers toward one glorious end. That end,-to seek, to find, to know, First, our own sins through Christ forgiven; And then, with ceaseless aim to show To others, the same way to heaven. [HYMN III. is inserted in the " Bible Class Magazine."] J. M. J. H. 66 SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATION, FOR MAY 30. 'The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."-Matt. xi. 12. The word THIS verse may be regarded as a brief parable. "violent," it has been remarked by students of the original, is a technical term applied to the besiegers of a city; and the phrases, “suffereth violence," "take it by force," refer to the storming of such a city, with the forcible entrance of its conquerors. Our Lord pictures his kingdom as a place hitherto unentered and inaccessible; but from the time when John the Baptist began to proclaim, "Repent ye!" there had been among the people an earnest and eager rush towards its privileges; and soon the siege would be successful, the kingdom opened. In Luke xvi. 16, we have the same word* that is here rendered "suffereth violence," used in an active sense, and translated " every man presseth into it." The Saviour's words undoubtedly point forward to the day of Pentecost, when in the full sense of the word his kingdom was first constituted. So mighty then was the rush, that three thousand of those who had been pressing around it entered in and took full possession. That was the great era in which (according to the figurative language employed in Hebrews iv.), the spiritual Israel entered on their rest—the true promised land. The entrance to Canaan of old was, moreover, signalized by a siege and capture; a fact that furnishes our Lord with his expressive metaphor. The falling down of the walls of Jericho at the sound of the trumpets of the ministers of religion, was an emblem than which none could more expressively set forth the irresistible power which attended the first proclamation of the completed glad tidings by the apostles. Every obstacle of unbelief, ignorance, and prejudice gave way at once-"fell down flat ;" and the three thousand triumphantly entered the city, and took possession of the kingdom. * We may be allowed very earnestly to recommend to teachers who can procure it the "Englishman's Greek Concordance." Its use is to show to those who do not understand Greek, the different ways in which the same word is rendered. Much light, it is evident, will often, as here, be thrown upon corresponding passages. |