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appeared in a glory eclipsing the brightness of the sun at noon, Acts xxii. 6. This sight of Christ after his resurrection, qualified him to be an apostle, 1 Cor. ix. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 8. Jesus showed that persecuting the saints is a sin against him, and ruin to us. During three days he was in a state of deep agitation about his soul. The vision had impaired his sight, and his anxiety had removed his appetite. His after life was eminently devoted to Christ.

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No. III. The devotedness of Sabbath School Teachers to their work. 'Give thyself wholly to these things, that thy profiting may appear unto all.'

By the devotedness of Sabbath school teachers, we mean a solemn pledging of themselves to God, to seek, by all the means and influences within their reach, the everlasting interests of the children, the charge of whose spiritual instruction they have undertaken; a pledging themselves to the children, to use every means for their spiritual good, nor leave them till Christ is formed in them the hope of glory; a giving of themselves wholly to this work, so far as they can do it, consistently with other needful employment. Having undertaken a charge so important, and involving so weighty interests, to teachers, scholars, parents, and multitudes of the present and future generations, nothing is more natural and necessary than this devotedness to the faithful and efficient discharge of its duties. ""Tis not a charge of small import, The teachers' care demands;

But what might fill an angel's heart,
It fill'd the Saviour's hands.'

In the fulfilment of these obligations there must be,-
I. Great diligence in preparation. The time occupied

in teaching is necessarily short; the minds of the children are habitually and proverbially volatile in letting instruction slip; and, therefore, the teachers should come the more fully prepared with truths and illustrations to catch the fleeting moments, and the vagrant thoughts of the children, that the lesson may be fastened as a nail in a sure place, by the master of assemblies. This preparation must be made at home, and be pursued through the week, in order that teachers may come to the school room fitted for their work. This preparation must be made,

1. By much and diligent reading of the Scriptures, with all the helps that the Concordance, Bible Dictionaries, Commentaries, and Paraphrases afford. Those teachers are favourably situated who have all these aids within their reach, that they may study to show themselves approved, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Something incomparably higher is required of a teacher than the correct reading of a verse, and the proper pronunciation of a word; he must be prepared to elicit the spirit and doctrine of the passage, to compare Scripture with Scripture and spiritual things with spiritual; illustrating and explaining one passage by another, and arguing the whole upon the consciences and hearts of the scholars, that they may believe and be saved.

In addition to much reading,

2. There must be much thought and study on the state and character and dispositions and habits and circumstances of the children, and upon the facts, narratives and doctrines of the word of God most likely to accomplish the desired end, the conversion of the children to Christ. If this may be supposed to require too great a portion of time and thought for the general class of teachers, who are dependent upon manual labour for their daily bread, let the writer suggest the practice of a very poor and pious weaver with a large dependent family in his neighbourhood. He is a most acceptable and useful local preacher, very generally employed on the Sabbath, in preaching the gospel; and the way in which he prepares for his work is, that he has his slate and pencil by him at his loom, and when a passage or an illustration of it strikes his mind, it is put down immediately upon the slate. Or, when awake upon his bed at night, any thought occurs that may be useful in a sermon he writes it down; and in the evening when the labours of the day are ended, his thoughts and illustrations are arranged and prepared for the work of the

Sabbath. How much valuable knowledge may be thus gained by the humblest individual; and how much to his personal advantage as well as to the advantage of those for whose good he labours. We should extend this essay beyond the limits which the Sunday School Magazine affords, to enter further into these illustrations. We shall, therefore, close our remarks upon the preparation with another observation, that,

3. There must be much prayer for the divine aid, influences, and blessing. The success of the whole work depends upon the blessing of God, in Christ Jesus; and should therefore be sought from the throne of grace, in much and earnest prayer. The teachers, like the high priest, should have the names of the scholars of his class upon his breast as often as he goes to the throne of grace for their conversion, or confirmation in the faith and hope of the gospel of Christ. Having thus furnished the mind by reading and study, and prepared the heart by prayer, observe, that,

II. There must be equal diligence in the performance of the work. The teacher who has made this laborious and prayerful preparation will go to his work with cheerful confidence in expectation of the blessing of God and success in the work he undertakes. Take the following hints for which we have not space for illustration.

1. Take a class under your own care, and teach every Sabbath. The practice of those who teach two Sabbaths out of six, or every other Sabbath, or only part of the Sabbath, is an idle, sinful, negligent, and most inefficient practice; bringing neither comfort, nor credit, neither benefit nor blessings to the teachers, nor the scholars, nor to the school, nor to the parents of the children. 'Give thyself wholly to these things.'

2. Visit the scholars of your class and the parents at their own habitations during the week; explain your plans and motives to them; interest them in your work and obtain their active and prayerful co-operation.

3. Exercise a vigilant oversight upon the children during the week; repressing every thing evil-inciting and encouraging every thing good.

4. Meet with the thoughtful and serious scholars by themselves, ask them questions about their spiritual state and feelings, converse with them on these topics; read to them, pray with them, lend them books suitable to the state of their minds, take them to the minister for further

conversation, counsels and prayers; and leave them not till you find them confirmed in the faith and united with Christians in a credible profession of the gospel of Christ.

5. Attend, with great diligence all the teachers' meetings for business, deliberation and prayer. Give them the whole weight of your countenance and counsels, and all the aid of your prayers. Gather from them all the instruction they are able to afford, in making you acquainted with the state of the school and the character of the scholars, with every thing likely to give you information and assistance in the work.

5. Cultivate the most friendly relations with the minister, superintendent and teachers, as fellow-labourers in the great work. 'See that ye fall not out by the way.' With such preparation for, and practical application to the work, success can hardly fail, in due time to crown your labours. ALPHA.

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THE last time John B. met with us, was on the 31st of May, 1839. The Sabbath evening before, I had requested them to bring some texts, proving it to be both our duty and advantage to seek God when we are young. Most, if not all, brought me a few appropriate ones; but, as in the former instance, he had collected the greatest number. Nor was this all; for, without any direction and without any help from any one, he had arranged them under three different classes. The following is a copy of the list which he brought :—

EXAMPLES OF EARLY PIETY.-1 Samuel, 3 chapter, 1, 8, and 19 verses; 1 Kings, 18 chapter, 12 and 13 verses; 2 Chronicles, 34 chapter, 1, 2, and 3 verses; Psalm 71, 5 and 17 verses; Luke, 2 chapter, 40, 46, and 52 verses; 2 Timothy, 3 chapter, 15 verse.

COMMANDS TO SEEK GOD.-Psalm 34, 11 verse; Psalm 148, 12 and 13 verses; Prov., 23 chapter, 26 ver.; Ecclesiastes, 12 chap., 1 ver.; Isaiah, 45 chap., 22 ver.; Isaiah, 55 chapter, 6 verse; Jeremiah, 3 chapter, 4 verse; Acts, 16 chapter, 31 verse; Revelations, 19 chapter, 5 verse.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOUNG CHRISTIANS.-Proverbs, 19 chapter, 17 verse.

After the texts had been read, I inquired how he con

sidered Isaiah 45th chap., and 22nd verse, 55th chap., and 6th verse, and Acts 16th chap., and 31st verse, to refer to the subject? His reply evinced that he had not without reason selected them. In the former of these texts, the word all, necessarily including the young, led to its adoption. The next, implying the danger of deferring this important work, proved the necessity of attending to it in youth. And the appropriateness of the last, consisted in the command to believe in the Lord Jesus, as connected with salvation, equally necessary for his house as for the jailer himself. From the readiness with which he stated his reasons for the selection of these texts, it was evident that the subject had received his closest attention. And when it is remembered that he was then not thirteen years of age, and had possessed very few, if any, religious advantages beyond those which the Sabbath school placed within his reach, it must excite considerable surprise that his knowledge of scripture truth should be so correct and extensive. But there is every reason to believe that he had been taught of God, who out of the mouth of babes and sucklings' can perfect praise.

An opportunity not to be neglected presented itself for enforcing the importance of the subject we had been considering, arising from the circumstance of one in the same class having fallen, the preceding week, from the mast of a ship, and been killed. I looked round upon my young charge, putting the question to them, Which of you will be the next? and urging to an immediate devotedness of their youth to the service of God. Little did I think that my most promising plant was the first, and so speedily, to be cut down. He was then in the full enjoyment of health, appearing as likely for life as any: but he was ripening for heaven. He seemed seriously to feel every word that fell from my lips; and the remembrance of that evening was not erased from his mind until disease rendered him completely insensible.

Before we separated, I appointed them the portion of scripture for our next meeting; but as I was then anticipating a journey from home, it did not appear likely that we should again meet till the 21st of June. On that day

we did assemble, but one was not-not indeed with us, for he had joined, I doubt not, the 'innumerable company' 'who are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.'

He died on the preceding day. His illness commenced

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