usefulness-gleaning grapes upon the topmost bough, now glowing and ripening, as we trust, in the smiles of the Sun of Righteousness. But what of our own souls? Have we, unlike our Great Master, failed to learn obedience by the things which we have done and suffered in this good cause? Is our experience of no value? Do we forget the joy unspeakable, the high communion, the dear fellowship of Christ's sufferings, the seasons of refreshing, the timely, painful, but precious rebukings of our own presumptuous thoughts and purposes; the trials that bore fruit in prayer, the weakness, the tremblings, and the fears that were but answers to our petitions for the deep humility that ought to clothe the Christian? Do we not rather look back upon the tear-strown path and sing-"We went to teach, but God intended us to learn?"

Whilst we consider sound spiritual health as of paramount importance in the Sabbath school teacher, we would not altogether overlook

Physical and moral health. For on these things depend, in a great measure, that activity of mind and body, so desirable in all employments which are not purely mechanical. In the appointments under the Jewish law, due regard was paid to these things, and, as a general rule, there seems no good reason for neglecting them. There are, of course, exceptions in which the outward man affords no true indication of the inner; but where languor and weakness, and a drowsy, morbid state of mind, are induced by an enfeebled constitution, little good is to be hoped for. There are many, too, who have really no physical ailments, whose minds want that tone and energy so desirable in a Sabbath school teacher; kind-hearted, amiable, and even prayerful in the work, they live nevertheless in a world of their own-a land of dreams, the atmosphere of which floats undisturbed around them, even in the midst of their class. They never come out of themselves. They have all the quiet, considerate kindness, and all the pure affection of the thorough teacher, though they have only half learned their business: their doctrine may drop as the rain, and distil as the dew, but it does not tell; it has nothing to do with the children, or they with it. The contact, so to speak, is not made good.

An efficient teacher's character in his class is well described by

a term sufficiently intelligible in the world of business - he must be " 'wide-awake." The more we see of the apathy and indolence of professors, the greater beauty and propriety shall we discover in our Lord's commendation of the unjust steward. The wisdom of such a man directed to its legitimate object of winning souls to Christ, does wonders in a Sunday school. It is equally true of the physical and mental, as of the spiritual nature of man, that they do not live by bread alone; the mind and body are so intimately related to each other, that if one suffer, the other is affected more or less. Both thrive by use, and both are equally damaged by neglect or abuse, and yet how many omit to give them that active, healthy exercise so necessary to their true well-being. The voice, the manner, the movements of the teacher, are of much more importance than he is apt to imagine. His eye must be in every place. There must be a purpose in every inflection of his voice, he must speak not only as one having authority, but as pointing that authority to some definite and well understood end. When he speaks, he must speak to some body; when he looks, he must look at some thing; when he reads, he must read like Ezra, giving the sense, and causing the meaning to be understood. He must fall into no conventional tones or modes of accentuation, of which there is great danger in the last of these exercises; but "speak his book" with the same pointed and business-like emphasis as he would use in the counting-house, or the market. He should remember, especially in his class, that reading is only speaking by deputy-that he is the echo of the great and good men of past generations, removed from them by distance in time, instead of distance in space. We have known many men as keen and quick in their ordinary business as possible, who, on entering the pulpit, the desk, or the Sabbath school, seem so to lose all common sense and energy, as to lead those who only know them there, to suppose they are either plethoric or melancholy, or both; they become all at once actors instead of laborers. Every thing that tends to lull the senses, or interfere with the necessity for their exercise, and render reading or speaking more mechanical, should be studiously avoided; mind only will attract mind. If we do not ourselves fully feel and understand what we are about, it is useless to hope that others will do so.

In making these observations, it must not be supposed that we in any degree undervalue the work of the Holy Spirit. Without His blessing no Sabbath school labors can prosper, and it is for this reason that we recommend those appliances and means, which, it can be proved from Scripture, he has promised to make most useful; for, whilst it is admitted that He can prosper any instrumentality, however poor and feeble, it were idle to contend that He does most for those, who do least for Him.

The teacher in whom the wish of the beloved disciple is realized that soul and body may both prosper, and be in health, should be, thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work. His mind and spirit not only require to be thoroughly, but to be practically furnished; he must be a living "library of useful knowledge," in the highest and noblest sense, uniting fervency of spirit, soundness of doctrine, and christian utilitarianism--of all the "isms" in the world, about the best. Of spiritual furniture something has been said, though it includes very much more than has been hinted at. According to our view of it, however, it does not embrace all that pertains to the Divine mind and will, having reference mainly to personal, vital, and experimental godliness. Prayer, in its largest sense, is the life of Christianity in the soul, for without it the Bible itself becomes a dead letter. The Sunday school teacher must therefore read the Scriptures frequently in the light of the closet, and he must read them for Christ. Till he has by faith seen, and tasted, and handled the Incarnate Word of Life, he has done nothing, though he may have learned, as he vainly thinks, the whole Bible by heart. He may have it in the head, but nothing is learned by heart that is not learned at the foot of the Cross.

Independently of spiritual-mindedness, there must be, to constitute an efficient teacher, a thorough knowledge of all those collateral aids that go to make up the perfect man in Christ. He must be fully satisfied that the Bible is from God-convinced of its plenary inspiration, and determined to concede nothing to the neologist or self-complacent critic who, like the fly upon the carriage-wheel, ludicrously volunteers his assistance in expediting the free course of the Word of God. As with education, “nothing less than thorough will do it," so must it be with Revelation. But this firm conviction in the teacher's mind must be the

result of careful study, induction, and analogical reasoning; not a mere stubborn determination to believe without reference to fact or argument. One profitable mode of overcoming doubts and scruples on this subject, is to search for analogies in the other departments of God's government-Nature and Providence; and to shew by facts, obvious to the senses, and of universal knowledge and belief, the congruity and reasonableness of Scripture facts and doctrines. When, for example, it is urged that the Bible, as it has come down to us, is chargeable with certain imperfections and omissions, and cannot therefore be the work of a perfect and unerring God; how much more easy and conclusive is it, instead of resorting to erudite criticism and collation, to show that precisely the same characters of imperfection and omission are observable in creation-that thousands of animals, once tenants of this earth, are now entirely extinct; and that even in our own times there have been such lapses, not only on this earth itself, but amongst the heavenly bodies. Nor are there wanting amidst all the fair objects in animate and inanimate nature, instances of incomplete or monstrous organization. If, indeed, we restrict our enquiry to the human species, how many are there from whom knowledge is by one, or more than one entrance, quite shut out? These are, in fact, the exceptions

which establish the existence of the rule.

Again, the infidel has been loud in his denunciation of that scriptural doctrine-"The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge"- and asks us with all the effrontery for which such persons are remarkable, “Can any thing be more unjust than to make the child answerable for the sins or errors of the parent; and yet, you say the Bible speaks the language of a just and righteous God?" But is the Bible alone responsible for such a doctrine? Is it not a fact, independently of all revelation on the subject, that the child often does suffer in mind, body, or estate, from the improvidence, the licentiousness, or the folly of the father?

Or if it be urged by a third objector that such a revelation as the Bible is uncalled for by the state of mankind, is it not our most straightforward course to shew that the world in all ages and countries has thought otherwise, and prejudged the question, by actually inventing for itself what it so much desired?

In the investigation of Scripture truth, it must always be borne in mind that facts are only to be illustrated by facts; and it is surprising how many of these elucidatory facts come within the range of our every day knowledge and experience: common sense is often the best commentator. In the solution of the most perplexing passages it will never do to tamper with the original text; very rarely indeed will such a process enable you completely to overcome the difficulty, even where it is allowable; and it will generally be found that no need existed for the emendation.

Before busying himself to answer objections, let the Bible student be sure that they have, at all events, some shadow of foundation. Many accusations are brought against Scripture, on no better authority than absurd traditions, and anonymous opinions-the on dits of gossips and dreamers. The sacred writers, for instance, are often made responsible not only for the existence of the unicorn and the phoenix, but for all the fabulous nonsense which heathen authors have written on the subject of these chimerical nonentities, while the simple fact is, that they are never once mentioned in the original scriptures. The same remark will apply to many alleged chronological and historical discrepancies between sacred and profane testimony, which may be generally disposed of by the sweeping fact, that the uninspired authors of antiquity, begged, borrowed, or stole all their facts from the sacred penmen; giving us nothing in return but the falsehoods with which they interwove them for the purpose of disguising their origin.

To those who are over-ready to humour such objections, we recommend attention to the following anecdote.

When Charles II. chartered the Royal Society, it is recorded that he asked this question, "Why is it, my lords and gentlemen, that if you fill a vessel with water to the very brim, so that it will not hold a single drop more, yet, putting a certain kind of fish into the water, it shall not overflow the vessel?" Many learned conjectures were hazarded in explanation of this phenomenon, till it was modestly asked by Wren, whether the king were sure about the fact? "Aye there," said his majesty, laughing, "you have it: always find out whether the thing be true before you proceed to account for it, then I shall not be ashamed of the charter I have just given you."