counsels, and arranging for friendly meetings with the old scholars, which were held annually, and (perhaps without a parallel in institutions of a similar kind) for a period of at least eight-and-twenty years.

The example of this devoted man teaches an impressive lesson to the teachers of Sunday schools. Your efforts may not yield the same abundant fruit, they may not be followed with the same magnificent results, and many may be the difficulties and discouragements that meet you at every step. But

Judge not

Look far

continue in prayer. Guard against despondency. Rely upon the faithful promises of God. of your labours by immediate results. before you into the coming eternity. Work with all your might while the day lasts, and, depend upon it, you shall not be permitted to spend your strength in vain.

The seed that is sown in the autumn is not lost, though it is laid in a cold grave, and all covered up and concealed by the winter's snow. It is only preparing for the coming change; and when the spring comes round, it displays the symptoms of life, and, bursting forth in freshness and in beauty, it brings forth eventually, in some thirty, in some sixty, and in some an hundredfold.

Therefore, in circumstances the most inauspicious, be not ye backward in using the appointed means. 6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening

withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.' And abounding in the work of the Lord, and never wearying in well-doing, in due season you shall reap you faint not. For to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.'

if

'Ye have not sowed in vain,

Though the heavens seem as brass,

And piercing the crust of the burning plain,
Ye scan not a blade of grass.

Yet there is life within,

And waters of life on high;

One morn ye shall wake, and the spring's soft green
O'er the moistened fields shall lie.

Went ye not forth with prayer?

Then ye went not forth in vain ;

The Sower, the Son of man, was there,
And His was that precious grain.

Ye may not see the bud,

The first sweet sign of spring,

The first slow drops of the quickening shower
On the dry, hard ground that ring.

But the harvest home ye'll keep,

The summer of life ye'll share,

When they that sow and they that reap
Rejoice together there.'

K

"Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.'-JOB viii. 7.

O William Brodie Gurney belongs mainly, if not exclusively, the high honour of originating the Sunday School Union; but James Nisbet, almost in the days of his boyhood, and very shortly after his arrival in London, formed one of the noble band who heartily co-operated with the founder in the establishment of an institute, than which it would be difficult to fix on any other, whether in ancient or modern times, that has acquired a wider influence, or been productive of more magnificent results.

'On the 13th of July 1852,' as appears from the Annual Report, a meeting of the ministers, superintendents, secretaries, and representatives of schools, assembled in Surrey Chapel schoolroom, the site

where, forty-five years previously, the Union was formed. Mr. Gurney, who has filled successively the offices of secretary, treasurer, and president, the latter of which he still retains, took the chair. There were also present Mr. James Nisbet and Mr. Thomas Thompson, the only other survivors of those who took part in the proceedings of that day. It was a gratifying circumstance, and one which correctly marks the catholic character of the institution, that these three survivors of the little band, who, animated with love to the Saviour and to the souls of the young, met together on the 13th July 1803, and formed the Sunday School Union, should represent respectively three important sections of the Christian church.'

At the same jubilee meeting, the Rev. James Sherman, the successor, in Surrey Chapel, of the venerable Rowland Hill, made a striking reference to the example of Messrs. Gurney, Nisbet, and Thompson, as specially deserving of the imitation of young men. His speech, as reported in the British Banner, contains the following passage :

'What a happiness it is to see three men that are here to-day! Young men that are buckling on the harness, look at these three men. There is the chairman, who has contributed to the Queen's interest ever since he formed this society, and to your interests, by the reports of speeches which he delivers from the

House of Lords, and from the House of Commons. Look at him. Does he look as if he were worn out? He is as fresh as a daisy. And he is as ready for work now, though not quite so strong, as when, forty-nine years ago, he undertook the formation of this institution. God bless him, and spare his life for many years to come, and crown his latter days with peace and joy, and that salvation which he has attempted, under the blessing of God, to impart to the youth and children of our beloved land. Then there is my excellent friend Mr. Nisbet. Does he look worn out? Why, he is as strong as any good Scotchman in England, and he has maintained that excellent character of a Scotchman-when he once comes to England he never likes to go back again. For all these years he has been labouring in this good cause, and he stands there as a monument of God's mercy, in the preservation of the piety which first helped him in forming this society, and in the relation in which he has stood against the errors of the age, endeavouring to circulate truth in a literary, in an evangelical, and, I believe, in a prosperous Then there is our excellent friend Mr. Thompson. If you measure his girth, you would not think he was any the worse for his age. He looks well. Now, here are three men who, by the providence of God, assisted in the formation of this institution; and they tell me they tell all young

manner.