handled, the general interest is soon found to flag; because, in truth, such subjects are probably better treated at a literary or philosophical institution; while, if political or party polemics are admitted, a worse evil ensues; for discord and illfeeling soon spring up, and endanger, if not the existence, at least the usefulness and success of the Association. Fourthly-It has been found possible to combine in these Associations the teachers of National and Wesleyan with those of British schools. Great advantages arise from this union whenever it can be effected. The teachers of elementary schools, who all recognise the authority of the word of God, and who are all aiming to give a religious education to the children of the poor, have so much in common, and are so well able to render important services to one another, that we cannot help regretting to see them so far apart. In London and its neighbourhood the number of schoolmasters is large enough to justify the formation of sectional Associations; but in the country, we believe that a union has often been found to work well, and that at any rate it should be attempted, wherever circumstances will permit.

It is perhaps not generally known, that by a minute of Council of February 21, 1853, Schoolmasters' Associations may obtain an order to purchase books and maps for the library of the Association. The Committee of Privy Council are prepared to make a grant, under certain conditions, at the rate of 10s. for each subscriber to the Association, if the corresponding sum is raised by the applicants. Of course, any books or maps thus granted become the property of the Association, and not of any individual member of it.

This minute may serve to remind the managers and more wealthy supporters of schools throughout the country that they would render an important service to the cause of education, if they will make occasional contributions of such standard works as are too expensive to be procured by teachers privately, to the library of any local Association which may exist in their own several neighbourhoods. Many modern works of the highest value to teachers are yet practically inaccessible to the majority of them; and if the library of their own Association contained a store of the best historical, scientific, and educational literature, an additional source of usefulness would be maintained, which would be found to act most favourably on the general efficiency of the Association.

NOTES ON EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.
No. VII.

Chapter V.-(v. 1.) The hortatory portion of the Epistle commences with this chapter. The Apostle exhorts the Galatians to abide in that liberty or freedom from the bondage of the Mosaic law into which Christ had introduced them (v. 2.) if ye be circumcised -i.e. trust to circumcision. (v. 4.) are justified by the law-i.e. are trying to be justified in the law. Throughout the Epistle two states are contrasted, in the law' and in Christ' (see v. 6.) So again in the Lord.' (v. 5.) the hope of righteousness not the hope which the righteous have,' but the hope of being accounted righteous' (v. 6) in

Christ-opposed to in the law in v.4. Circumcision is contrasted with faith, but it is the faith that worketh by love; an influential, practical faith. (v. 7.) the truth-the pure undefiled Gospel. (v. 8.) persuasion-the attempt to seduce you.

Him who calleth youeither Christ or the Apostle himself (see chap. i. v. 6). (v. 10.) the Apos tle here tempers his reproof with words of confidence. (v. 11.) he attributes the false movement to the offence of the cross,' the dislike to the free and gracious offers of salvation through Christ. (v. 13.) called unto liberty-by the Gospel of Christ which liberates

from the bondage of the law, and inspires the sense of filial adoption. But this liberty must not be abused. In the element of the law, there was no play given to the higher motions of our better nature. The law was of the desh, fleshly. In the element of Christ, we find the real motives to that love which is the true fulfilment of the moral law, serve one another-if you | will have bondage, let it be the bondage of love. (v. 15.) the disputes and bickerings are attributed to this defection from the spiritual to the carnal element, from Christ to the law of the old dispensation. (v. 16.) I say -I mean this, the spiritual element and the carnal cannot subsist together

without struggling. (v. 17.) this argument is more fully carried out in 7th chapter of Romans, which carefully compare. (v. 18.) ye are not under the law-it was made for the disobedient and to restrain the works of the flesh, but ye are led by the spirit. (v. 20.) the works of the flesh are enumerated, and their own special sins are found amongst them-hatred, strife, heresies. (v. 24.) crucified the flesh-by profession at their baptisms (v. 25.) the living in the spirit involves the duty and secures the consequence of walking in the spirit. (v. 26.) special duty as applicable to their present state of provocation and envy.

METHOD IN TEACHING.

In order that the Sunday school teacher may be truly prepared to meet his class from week to week, some fixed and definite METHOD of study and preparation is needful, however young and ignorant may be his pupils, or however simple the lesson to be explained. Nay, we have sometimes thought that the more simple the lesson, and the less advanced the pupil, the more need of careful preparation, to impress the young heart with the great central truths of a vital religious faith. To teach a child the reality of a life separate from the bodily existence; of the being of God; of His constant presence and watchful care; of Christ's mission of love and salvation; of personal accountability, and of immortality,-do not these great truths need to be studied day by day, and to be realized by the teacher's own heart, that he may present them in a living manner to the inquiring mind of childhood?

And for the more advanced classes, how much need of a cultivated, active mind, awake to spiritual realities, and thoroughly furnished for the work of instruction, in order to meet the questions and arouse the spiritual interest of those entering on mature years?

This

But what method of preparation should be pursued by the teacher? must vary, in some measure, with the time that can be given to the work, the mental abilities of the individual, the previous advantages of education enjoyed, and his present opportunities for study and research.

Yet, however these may vary, much may be gained by keeping in view a high standard, and by adhering to some system in the weekly preparation for our work. This preparation we would consider under three heads:-1, the intellectual and critical; 2, the spiritual; and 3, the direct practical application of the dess on to the individual pupil.

The lesson for the day should first be carefully read and studied, the teacher using all such helps as may be within his reach to gain a thorough acquaintance with the true scope and meaning of the passage under consideration, its connection with the history of the times, illustrated by the prevalent manners and customs, the circumstances under which the incidents narrated took place, or the words of instruction were uttered. Possessing thus the needed outlines, by the aid of his imagination, he should then depict vividly before his mind the

scenes referred to, until he feels as though he had been a present witness to them-until they are so impressed upon the mind that they shall casily clothe themselves in words of life and reality.

This pre-supposes some accurate geographical and historical knowledge, with an acquaintance with the manners and customs of those earlier times, but such would be included in the needed intellectual preparation, and must depend, more or less, upon the natural vividness of imagination, and the power of so transferring past scenes as to make them present realities-always so attractive to the child's mind.

The lesson should then be studied in its highest spiritual bearing, the teacher not being content with the mere gathering of the riches that lay up on the outer surface, but seeking its hidden treasures, its inexhaustible mines of spiritual wealth and life-entering into those wonderful mysteries of the inner life, those deep, secret questionings of the soul, that find no response outwardly, that he may better understand the secret needs of those to whom he stands as guide and counsellor. While he needs ever to lead the life of daily prayer and spiritual communion, the needed preparation for his class duties has not been made, unless they be preceded by special supplication for guidance and help, by special communion with the Unseen. Did we all meet from Sabbath to Sabbath, having our hearts newly baptized with those holy influences that ever come in answer to sincere, carnest, fervent prayer, would not our instructions be more vital, our hour of communion together more spiritual ?

The teacher should then consider the subject of the lesson as applicable to the individual wants of his pupils, and study the best manner of presenting it to each, in order to render it of true nutriment to his spiritual needs.

This pre-supposes some careful study of the characters, dispositions, abilities, and spiritual wants of his pupils, for unless the heart be reached, unless the soul's needs are met, little is gained.

Thus furnished for the hour's instruction, he will speak with method and yet with earnestness, imparting knowledge, and awakening, with God's blessing, spiritual life, entering the widest arena of truth, and considering it in its abstract, highest bearing if needed, and yet applying it to the daily life and the simplest wants of the youngest and most ignorant.

He will never be at a loss what to say. for his mind will be so abundantly furnished for his work, that he will always have resources from which to draw, both to interest and to instruct.

Take, for instance, the incident in our Saviour's life, when, with His disciples, He was refused an entrance into the village of the Samaritans, and some among them indignantly exclaimed, "Wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?" Let the occasion when this event occurred be clearly understood, and the scene where it took place be vividly depicted; the deadly hostility of the Jews to the Samaritans, and the causes of it, the individual characters of the disciples, as there presented, the beauty of the Saviour's calm reply, and the contrast of His spirit with theirs, and His gradual influence in transforming their characters. &e. Then refer to Elias, and contrast his mission and spirit with that of Christ. Then point out how the whole occasion was one to lead the disciples to a truer self-knowledge and to rebuke in them all feelings of revenge and angry indignation. Then, for the older pupils, some such questions as these might arise: -Is it possible wholly to control our impulses ? Are we ever to yield merely to such impulses, or always to take counsel of reason and conscience? How can we distinguish between anger and just indignation-between good and bad impulses ? Are we accountable for our natural temperament, or only for the use we make of it? By what power was John transformed so truly into his Saviour's likeness and spirit? Is such a changle possible to all, and how?

Then apply these truths to the hearts of the pupils, the sluggish and cold, the impulsive and ardent, the generous and selfish, showing that outward circumstances develope character, reveal what manner of spirit we are of-that no injustice can justify anger, and no outward temptation cause us to yield, unless there is the discordant spirit within, and that only a Christian heart, a soul in harmony with the spirit of Christ can possess any true happiness.

Time-definite time-of course, is needed for such preparation, on the part of the teacher. But even where there is little leisure, some method, such as we have indicated, would ensure a noble, practical resuit, giving definitemess, force, and directness to what is now too often and generally indefinite, weak, and unimpressive, because so little study is expended on the lessons of

the hour.

Every school must rise or fall with the degree of spiritual life and intellec tual culture on the part of the teachers. There is no mysterious power to give it a healthy life and vigorous growth, other than the secret inward life, and progressive spirit of those who impart its instructions, Just in proportion to their united vigour, earnestness, mental power, and spiritual vitality, will be the true life of the school. Without this, all external appliances and arrangements will prove but a delusive show, deceiving the eye by hiding, for a little season, the inward decay that must sooner or later appear.

Those who receive, year by year, higher advantages of intellectual education among us, in our public schools, will not rest satisfied or continue their interest in the Sunday schools unless they are conscious there of progress and life. Older pupils cannot be retained among us, unless there are those who strive to advance themselves, and to learn. year by year, more of those secret questionings and doubts that so often perplex the young mind, the same in substance (but differing often in form) with the intellectual and moral developments of each succeeding year.

Be it ours, each in his own individual sphere, to fit himself for this holy office of leading even one soul to Christ, and thus still to maintain and carry onward the work, sanctified to many among us, by the remembrance of the high intellectual abilities and the noble spiritual powers that, from the commencement of our school, have here been consecrated to the Master's work.American Sunday School Journal.

NOTES ON METAPHOR.

The foun lation of metaphor is the desire of comparison. Comparison may be either explicit, as where we compare things directly by stating the point of resemblance, or implicit, as when we indirectly compel the mind to contemplate them together, by using of one of them language which primarily is appropriate to the other. In the first case we are said to employ a simile, in the latter a metaphor..

Now things resemble one another either by possessing common qualities or attributes, or else by acting alike. If, therefore, we mentally transfer (Gr.metapherien) the quality or attribute of one thing to another, by transferring

The

the words or phrases which express them; or predicate of one thing what is only appropriately predicable of another, we thereby indirectly institute a comparison between them. attribute and the predicate must, however, be primarily unsuitable, and only on the basis of the intended analogy appropriate to the things to which they are assigned, or they will not necessarily bring the other idea before the mind. Thus, the nature of a horse being not really that of fire, the term fiery is primarily inapplicable, and is appropriate only on the supposition of an analogy being drawn between his spirit and the indomitable leapin

energy of flame: whereas to apply state itself, as-The ship ploughs the such an epithet as indomitable, though waves-That man is always snarling though other things may also be indo-His mind is eracked: or we may mitable, does not bring them simulta- transfer an idea which is merely acneously into view. And here it will cessory to the action or state, as-The be seen why the adjectives, which are moon shone sadly-The stream flowed thus used metaphorically, must almost lazily-He led on his hearers by easy of necessity be such as point unmis- stages. takably to the thing from which they were transferred; as, a rosy cheek, a frosty reception, an aquiline nose, harmonious ideas whilst those which do not say emphatically where they came from, can only institute a kind of general comparison, as, for instance, between things spiritual and material. Examples are such as, a bright idea, broad opinions, an inflexible will; of which many become in all civilized languages what may be called perma-pect, and has almost realized the nently metaphorical.

There is still a class of expressions, usually called metaphorical, not yet noticed. Sometimes a resemblance strikes the mind so forcibly that the name of the one thing is substituted boldly for the other. For instance, we call a man a pillar of the state, a bullet the messenger of death, a camel the ship of the desert. In such expressions the mind has gone beyond the rocognition of mere similarity in this or that res

identity of the two things. Though The same limitation must be en- philosophically for this reason it stands forced when we predicate of one thing last, it seems to have been, in the what is strictly applicable only to history of language, the most radianother. In all other respects, how-mentary form. This is probably beever, the scope of metaphor is remark- cause it does not assume the analysis ably wide. So long as it is character- of impressions, but simply implies istic, we may predicate an action or a vigour of perception.

PARAPHRASING.

Few exercises are better adapted to improve the taste of children, and to increase their power of using words judiciously, than that of paraphrasing. Great stress has of late been laid on this class of exercise, by teachers generally as well as by examiners. There is good reason for this. It used to be a common practice to make children learn the meanings of words in columns from dictionaries or spelling-books. T..is practice is now generally abandoned, not because it is an unimportant or a useless thing to know the meanings of the words we use, but because such meanings can never be understood when learnt separately. An isolated meaning to an isolated word is of no use to a child. lays hold of nothing which he knew before, and so secures no place in his memory. It seems like a barren and worthless piece of knowledge. But let him come upon a difficult word in reading, and he will feel the need of a definition, and know how to make use of it. All good teachers now give explanations of words in connexion with their other teaching, and not apart from it. Meanings of terms have, in fact, no value, until the terms themselves have to be employed.

It

But accurate and concise definitions of words are, after all, very difficult things to give, and are still more difficult to remember. Our language contains but few synonyms, therefore some circumlocution is always necessary, in order to give an adequate definition even of the commonest words. In truth. it is often far easier to construct one sentence which is equivalent to another, than to give a word or phrase which is exactly synonymous with another word. Any one may convince himself of this by examining his own mind. We learn to