150 THE SABBATH-SCHOOL. I WILL make there an altar unto God.— Gen. xxxv. 3. THE day is holy. The work is holy. The "holy book" is the book of the school. And to bring the minds of children into contact with the mind of God, to fix His truths in their memories, to win them to a reverence to His commands; in one word, to "save their souls"-here is the mark and aim of Sunday-school instruction.-Rev. Jno. Harding. Lord of the harvest! God of grace! In the last Report of the Sunday School Union, a valuable Society in connexion with the Nonconformists of England, I perceive returns from 1,583 Sunday-schools, in which were 239,429 scholars; whilst, by the inquiry of the National Society in 1846-7, it was elicited that there were, in communion with the Established Church, 3,641 exclusively Sunday-schools, and 404,550 children. Thus it appears there are upwards of 600,000 children in England and Wales, exclusively Sunday-scholars.Rev. J. Kingsmill, 1850. (Free Town, Sierra Leone.)-The day the new church-bell sounded for the first time the well-known call for the Sabbath-school, I had anticipated a goodly number being present, but when we reached the door we found the spacious rooms crowded to excess, so that we could hardly get to the table. I had with me nearly the whole of the students of the grammar school, fifty in number, besides ten girls living with us; but was still obliged to summon some of my former scholars, of Kissey-road, to assist in teaching the prodigious numbers assembled. When we had sung a hymn and bowed our knees, I must say that inexpressible feelings of gratitude filled my heart, whilst for the first time we dedicated this place to the service of God. Six or seven hundred adults must have been present; and many more could not gain admittance. Thus commenced our great work in the west of Freetown. May a gracious God watch over and direct the work to be done in this place, for the glory of His name, and the good of souls!-Rev. J. Beale, July 28, 1849. THE TRIUNE GOD. 151 AND God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.-Gen. i. 26. ¶ О THOU adorable and glorious Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which created the world through Thy grace, and the inhabitants thereof of Thy clemency; which hast saved mankind of Thy love, and hath shown great grace to man! Thou art worthy of glory from every lip, of confession from every tongue, and of exaltation by every creature! Thousands and thousands of the heavenly host bless and adore Thy majesty, O Lord; and tens of thousands of myriads of holy angels, the hosts of disembodied spirits, with the holy cherubim and the glorious seraphim, hallow and extol Thy name, continually proclaiming and praising Thee, and, with never-ceasing voice, cry each to the other, Holy! holy! holy! Lord God Almighty! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!-From the Nestorian Liturgy. Glory to God the Father be! As was of old, all worlds before, Is now, and shall be evermore, When time and change are spent and o'er- (From an Answer to the Elders of the Church in New Zealand, from David Taiwanga, one of the oldest of the Christian Natives.) -I pray to the Father to help me, to give me earnestness in prayer to Him, and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. I rejoice at your words, which come, through you, from the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who is the director of all things in heaven and earth. You are the sanctified people of that God. Jehovah has chosen you to devise means whereby His Word may be disseminated. My heart's desire is to bow down and cry, God, be merciful to me, a sinner "-a sinful man, O God! Thou hast seen, Thou knowest, my ignorance, nor are my sins hid from Thee. I will smite upon my breast, and say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"—Kakaha, July 12, 1849. 66 IF ye love me, keep my commandments.—John xiv. 15. HEAR what the Physician saith : "He that loveth me, he holdeth my bidding." The proof of love is the fruit of the working. . . . Verily, we love the beloved Lord, if we correct our evil courses by His commandments, and our errors by His words: neither gainsay His love, by doing that which displeases Him.-Anglo-Saxon Hom. ¶ O King of kings, and Lord of lords! let there be no end to the increase of Thy government over the kingdoms of the world. Make us in our hearts within us now the subjects of Thy kingdom of obedience, faith, and hope; that, in our glorified spirits hereafter, we may be the subjects of Thy kingdom of peace and praise for ever.-Canon Townsend. O send me from Thy holy hill Then seal it up, that, as none see, So none may enter there but THEE. O hear, my God! Hear Him, whose blood Speaks more, and better, for my good.-H. Vaughan. The obedient ear honours Christ more than either the gazing eye, the adoring knee, or the applauding tongue.-Burkitt. An old woman had been sick more than five years. She had long been unable to walk. On looking at her face, however, how glad, how cheerful! She uttered not a word of complaint; but rejoiced greatly in the Lord. I was struck on calling to mind what I heard this woman was fifteen years ago: once an idolater, now a worshipper of the true God; once a heathen, now a Christian; once a servant of sin, now a servant of righteousness; once alienated, now reconciled and adopted into the family of God. The power of the Gospel could be seen. After talking with her, I read part of Romans viii., and prayed. When I shook hands in parting, she said, "Master, me glad. If God will to-day, me lie down and die; if He will to-morrow, me wait to lie down to-morrow. Master, all peace here!" she added, pointing to her breast.-Rev. D. H. Schmid, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1850. . HOW can he be clean, that is born of a woman? -Job xxv. 4. ADAM, when Satan overcame him by his treachery and subtle wiles, was stript naked; he lost all his precious robes, his spotless and perfect righteousness; and, ever since, his natural offspringin bondage to sin, Satan, death, and wrath-while they remain unconverted, have nothing but their own righteousness to cover them, which is, by the Holy Spirit, fitly compared to "filthy rags." -Keach. Hark! from the throne comes down A voice which strength to sinking souls can give,— Weak, sinful, as I am, That still, small voice forbids me to despond; H. F. Lyte. The Karenes of the Birmah forests worship the " Nats," or spirits: in times of prosperity, their offering is a handful of rice laid upon a board near their cabins; but in adversity they offer up a hog to propitiate the demon. They have a great dread of death and evil spirits. Their tradition of the origin of sin is remarkabl for its analogy with biblical truth. "The first pair," it says, "dwelt in innocency and plenty. Then came Mokali (the devil), and tempted them to partake of forbidden food. They resisted the temptation, until the husband, becoming impatient, fled away; but the wife remained, and continued listening to the tempter. Mokali assured her that, if she would eat of the food, she would know all things, and have power to fly in the air and dive into the bowels of the earth. With this he offered her a slice of the forbidden meat. The woman, though still doubting, ate of it; and the devil loaded her with praise for her wisdom. She now went in search of her husband; but it required all the wiles she could invent to entice him to eat of the meat. But no change was wrought in them; they could neither fly, nor dive into the earth. And the next day God appeared, and cursed them, saying, ' Ye shall wax old, grow sick, and die.”—Hoffmann's " Missionary Hours,” 1845. 154 YE LOVE FOR THE HEATHEN. are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.St. John xiii. 35. LOVE, where it nestles in the inmost heart, is endued with power from above. It is the mirror and emanation of God's experienced love in Christ Jesus. He who is loved cannot but love in return. We, then, who have tasted of the love of God, are constrained not to cease from prayer and striving until the morning-star of grace has broken everywhere upon the heathen's night, as the bright harbinger of the broad daylight which the Sun of Righteousness shall diffuse around. Nor can we rest from our hallowed task till the angel-song, "On earth peace!" has melted every stubborn heart, and constrained it to pour forth its glad Hosannas to the Son of David. Oh, may the Spirit of love make and keep our hearts rich in the love of Christ, and cause them to gush forth in a living stream, watering the desert of dry bones and outcast souls. So shall the lively faith of the "Well-beloved" give unto the ends of the earth to taste of its ripened fruit.-Professor W. Hoffmann, in part. Behold, the blind their sight receive; Watts. Tell me, ye who would estimate this labour-the labour of "gathering fruit to life eternal,”—what is the value of the soul of man? Tell me, what is the happiness of deliverance from the curse and indignation of God, and what the bliss of illumination, pardon, reconciliation, acceptance, and holiness here, and of the glories of heaven hereafter. Say, what does "everlasting life" mean-that life which flows from the Eternal Word-which was purchased by the stupendous sacrifice of the cross-which is the gift of the Holy Ghost in regeneration—which is carried forward in all the means of grace, and is consummated in the fruition of God in heaven? . . Oh, infinite mercy, to be employed by the Lord of the harvest in such a labour,-infinitely more productive than any other that can engage the heart of man !-Rev. D. Wilson (afterwards Bishop of Calcutta), Church Missionary Anniversary Sermon, May 6, 1817. |