crease if he were acquainted with the homes from which his children came. One might have parents who were drunkards; others live in places almost lost in dirt, and a knowledge of these circumstances must give the teacher the deepest interest in his work.---The Rev. J. WRIGHT, of Bury, said that there were two subjects he wished to mention. First, it would not do to depend upon the ministers. The cry was often raised, "If only the minister is active in the school, all will be well." If only the congregation was active it was sure to be well; though, in many instances, the fact of the minister being active induced the congregation to work in the matter. He also thought the schools would be very much improved if we could get rid of the idea that they were only adapted for poor children. He believed the only way in which our congregations could be made what they ought to be was by bringing the children of rich and poor together, in the same schools of religious education. BIRMINGHAM OLD MEETING FRIENDLY SOCIETY.On the presentation to Mr. F. Williamson (secretary for 25 years of the society) of his portrait, on May 21st, a report was read, detailing the progress of the society's growth from a small seed to a spreading tree. In 1819 the subscriptions did not realise £7; in 1859 they were more than £480, the members having increased from 12 to 320, and having a funded capital of £3,418. Of the benefit conferred by the society, example may be given by the fact that a member received sick pay at the full and reduced rates for 19 years, by which aid his difficulties were no doubt much alleviated. Similar societies exist at Norwich, Taunton, Stourbridge, Cradley, Mansfield, &c. THE MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY at Bowlalley Lane, Hull, held its first anniversary a few weeks ago. It had increased in six months from a debating society of 25 members to an association of 80. Fortnightly lectures had been delivered by members and friends, discussions had been held, a library commenced, and one or two concerts given. GRAHAM-STREET SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM, boards, lodges, and teaches forty girls, who perform all the household work, cooking, and (with some aid) washing of the establishment. It is founded on a catholic basis, the children being instructed in religion by their own ministers; but, unless they wish otherwise, they attend at the Old and New Meeting Ïouses. It has now been established for a century, and wishes to celebrate the occasion by increasing the number of scholars to fifty. THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. On the 18th of this month there will be an eclipse of the sun, visible in England. In the north of Africa and in Spain it will be total; in England it will only be partial, but as more than two-thirds of the sun's disc will be obscured, it will be an interesting phenomenon. It will begin about half-past one o'clock, will be greatest at twenty minutes to three, and will end about a quarter to four. Teachers should take this opportunity of interesting their scholars in such subjects. Explain the cause of an eclipse, and why it is total, partial, or annular. Try to awaken a confidence in the calculations of astronomers. The facts of astronomy are so wonderful that young people have a difficulty in believing them. It will save them from much future doubt if they can be shown that, whatever their own impressions may be, they may safely rely upon the teachings of those whose knowledge is so much greater than their own. Amongst unenlightened people eclipses have created great alarm. In some Hindoo villages it is believed that, when the sun is eclipsed, it is being swallowed by some great dragon, and the whole population turn out and begin to shout and scream, and beat the gongs, in order to frighten the monster away. Others have thought a terrible poison was darkening the air, and have covered up their wells to prevent it affecting the water. They have frequently been regarded as expressions of God's displeasure, and "armies in battle array have sheathed their swords, and dispersed in the sudden darkness." Even Christians have attributed them to the malignity of the Jews, and have persecuted them accordingly. Relate these and similar facts, and then show the evils of ignorance and the blessings of knowledge. What to the ignorant is a cause of alarm and dread, to the wise is an occasion of wonder and admiration. The superstitious see tokens of God's anger in natural phenomena, which the scientific man knows to result from those laws which, more than anything else, stamp upon the universe marks of God's unbounded wisdom and love. SPIRIT VOICES. Our seasons of joy Are the flowers on the mountain; Up! brave hearts, try again, Aiming at better life, Front we all hardship, all trial, all pain. Clouds gather round,— Yet faint not,-but trust That new light will be given, Not till earth's fruits have failed Comes the manna from Heaven; Fellow-men! Faint not, but try again! Life's one long conflict from birth to the grave; Once having borne the shield, "With it, or on it," is one to the brave. Thou standest alone In the desolate waste; All dried the sweet fountain, The palm-trees all passed; Yet, yet there is comfort, Thou nearest the goal, Where the world pales before thee, Then on high, To the sky, Rises Faith's triumph cry, "The Father is with me; I am not alone!" The drop of the mighty sea, Shrouded in mystery, Joins the vast waters, and rolls with them on. K. B. *This speech was made by a Roman mother to her son, as she gave him his shield on going forth to the battle. ON PLANTS. CHAPTER IV., AND LAST. THE SEEDS OF PLANTS. Those useful and pleasant fruits, the currant, strawberry, apple, plum, &c., that are so familiar to us in our English gardens, as well as those that grow in hotter climes, such as the melon, grape, and pine-apple, are all the receptacle or seed-vessel of the plant on which they grow. But the principal part of our food is obtained from the seed of a species of grass. Wheat, barley, rye, oats, and maize, or American corn, are all different varieties of plants, that in their wild state were only species of grass, but have been improved by care and cultivation, till they now afford the chief food of man. These plants are all annuals, requiring to be sown every They send up a tall, hollow stem, with long, narrow, pointed leaves, the last of which surrounds the flowers, and protects them until they are fully open, and when they wither and die, the seeds, in their turn, form and ripen into what we call the ear of corn. year. Wheat flourishes best in a temperate climate like our own, and is killed by great heat or cold; but the small round seed of a plant called millet supplies its place to the inhabitants of the hot sandy plains of Africa. Oats will grow on the bleak hills of Scotland, or the sheltered vallies of Norway and Sweden, and the people of these countries seldom or never taste wheaten bread. The most nourishing kind of bread is formed of the whole seed ground down together, but in order to make our flour look white, the husk of the seed, called bran, is generally taken out, and thus a great part of the nourishment is lost. The rice plant is also a species of grass, but one which requires both great heat and moisture to ripen the seed, and the crops are obliged to be flooded with water two or three times in the year, so that the rice-growing districts are generally very unhealthy. Rice forms the chief food of the people in the East Indies, but the finest is obtained from Carolina, one of the United States of America. The coffee of our shops is the dried berry of a small tree that grows in Arabia and other hot Eastern countries, and also in the West India Islands. It is a very pretty shrub, with bright green leaves, snow-white blossoms, and berries of a rich deep scarlet. A coffee plantation must be a beautiful sight when in full flower, for berries and blossoms eluster together amongst the green leaves. The berries are gathered and dried in the sun, and the husks broken with heavy rollers till the two oblong seeds contained in each fall out. These are again dried before they are packed up and sent to the colder countries where the coffee tree will not grow. The berry is roasted, and ground in a mill before it is fit for use. Since 1660, when it was first brought to England, more and more has been consumed each year. The French drink far more of it than we do, and drunkenness is happily almost unknown there, where a cup of refreshing hot coffee takes the place of the heavy beer, of which we English people are sadly too fond. 66 Cocoa, pepper, and some other spices, are also obtained from the seed of different trees growing in the tropical countries of Asia and America; but I must now go on to tell you of one of the principal sources of the wealth and manufactures of England, which is found in the seed-vessel of a plant. This is cotton, or tree wool," as the Germans call it. It is obtained from the pod of a shrub that grows to the height of about twenty inches, and bears a large yellow flower. The pod is nearly the size of a fine walnut. When ripe it bursts open, showing within a number of small brown seeds, embedded in soft fleecy wool. It is gathered, by the negroes on the cotton plantations of America, as soon as possible after sunrise, as the colour soon becomes yellow in the great heat. It is then sorted and dried, and the seeds have to be picked out of the wool. This is a very long process in India, where it is done by hand; but in America the cotton is cleaned by a machine called a gin, which combs out the seed. It is then conveyed to the packing-house, where, by means of powerful screws, it is tightly packed into the large bags in which it is conveyed to this country. seed of the cotton plant is sown in April or May, and the crop is gathered in during the month of September, and the greatest part of that used in England is obtained from America and the West Indies, but some also from Egypt. The We can now hardly imagine how our large population |