Christ? Oh! as the preacher said, "There's peace to the troubled conscience in Christ." Do pray for me.' We knelt down, he responding, 'Lord help me.' I left, and wished him to continue praying. I may add that he has been a constant attendant at my open-air services, and has been to the present services again carried on at the Oxford." These are only a few of the illustrations that might be given of the results of this Christian work. To the poor the gospel is preached, and God accompanies the word with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost and power. Divine love seeking and saving the lost is proclaimed. Jesus is lifted up, and men are as of old drawn unto Him. Brethren, let not souls be ruined because we are buried so deep in the grooves of our ordinary activity that we cannot reach them. Consecrated men doing consecrated work is consecration enough for any building. By all means let us save men. This is our work. Sorrowing over their great loss, rejoicing in the hope of enriching them with the riches in Christ Jesus, let us do it, bending custom and opinion to our energetic will and work, and not bending ourselves and our labours to them. God said to His servant of old, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Have we this true mark of the servants of God? J. CLIFFORD. HISTORICAL NOTES ON OUR SUNDAY SCHOOLS. No. III.-Results. BY B. BALDWIN. AT the sixth of these United School assemblies, held at Loughborough, May 19, 1812, the subject of improved modes of teaching writing was discussed; and a practice was strongly enforced, which in our day we should think it strange to omit, viz., that of opening and concluding the school with prayer. It was recommended as an essential part of Christian duty, tending to impress the minds of the scholars with seriousness, and to direct their thoughts to the Great Fountain of every good. In the afternoon the Rev. T. Stevenson, afterwards the always ready and energetic pastor of the Loughborough church, delivered a very animated address to the teachers, encouraging them to proceed with zeal and ardour in their important undertaking. After this date I have not been able to meet with any continued record of these assemblies of delegates at Loughborough; and whether they were still held or not I cannot say, but a meeting was held at Loughborough on Monday, June 19, 1815, to form a Sunday School Union Society, embracing schools of different denominations, at which nineteen of the General Baptist schools already named were represented and joined this newly formed Union. The Rev. T. Stevenson presided on this occasion. Accounts of the schools were given, and addresses delivered by several ministers and friends. In the evening, after prayer by the Rev. Mr. Felkin, of Kegworth, the Rev. R. Alliott, of Nottingham, preached a sermon from John xvii. 21. This sermon was of so appropriate and excellent a character, that it was printed at the urgent request of the Committee of the Union. This general view of our Sunday school progress in the Midland Counties might be almost indefinitely extended, but it will suffice to show that the churches of our Connexion were striving to fulfil the duties so forcibly indicated by Dan Taylor in his letter to the churches at the Association held at Loughborough in July, 1801:— "Not only let us to the utmost of our ability encourage and assist Charity schools and Sunday schools, but let us exert ourselves by every means, 'in season and out of season,' to take all occasional and incidental opportunities to inform the minds of youth, and engage their hearts to attend to the things which belong to their everlasting peace' and felicity. We trust, brethren, that you will have pity on the children of your neighbours, and even of your enemies, and will unite with us in doing all that can be done, that they may be brought to the knowledge of 'the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent,' whom to know 'is life eternal." Thus early did this good and far-seeing man depict that which must ultimately become the sole object of Sunday school instruction. This plan of mutual conference soon became common. In 1810 a union of the Sunday school teachers of Nottingham and its vicinity was formed, and the Rev. T. Stevenson, of Loughborough, preached a sermon at their assembly, which was said to contain "too many oratorical flourishes," but was printed for general circulation. The teachers belonging to South Lincolnshire and part of Cambridgeshire also established a union in 1814. By these means, and by the frequent insertion in the denominational magazine of Sunday school information, letters on the necessity for religious instruction for the young and ignorant, suggestions as to the best means of communicating it, the work of the schools was increased in its efficiency and usefulness. And though the teacher was compelled at first by the sheer ignorance of the scholars to spend his time in the merest A B C of instruction, it soon became questioned whether there was not a more excellent way. Rev. Robert Hall wrote a vigorous article showing the necessity of seeking the salvation of the children by teaching them the religion of Jesus Christ. Conscious of this being the grand aim of their work, the teachers of our Sunday schools, the rank and file of the battalions of the Lord's hosts, have bravely and patiently toiled on from week to week, from year to year, with varying but with sure success. They have adopted a religious machinery, which, combined with that of fellow-labourers in other sections of the church, has in the short space of little more than half a century changed the whole moral aspect of the country. Their quiet plodding work has not brought them into public prominence, and therefore few special names can be mentioned, although in several districts in our Connexion there seems to have been one servant of God manifestly raised up and specially qualified for this service. Many earnest, self-denying men and women having given themselves to this sphere of labour, are now inheriting the faithful servant's reward; and many more are now in like manner patiently serving their generation, the church, and God. As we thus look upon their labours, and feel a thankful pride in what has been accomplished by them, one cannot but feel amused at some of the quaint customs and modes of government in their earlier history; such as the giving to boys shoebuckles, and to girls pieces of ribbon, as prizes for good attendance and rewards for diligence. At one unmentionable place, not a hundred miles from Leicester, the school was conducted in the large kitchen of an old-fashioned farm-house, in which was a capacious oven for the family bread-baking, and probably for the neighbours also. Into this oven a refractory boy would be placed, and with the culprit a gander was sometimes also shut in, so that the frightened bird might peck his fellow-prisoner for his sins! In these old times it was not uncommon for Sunday school teachers to be paid for their services; but I record it to the honour of our General Baptist schools that I have not met with a single instance of a school being taught by any but voluntary teachers. The information handed down to us in the records of our General Baptist schools, which I have been able to gather, and facts treasured up in the memories of many of our aged friends which have been communicated to me, shew that these institutions have proved most important agencies and auxiliaries to our churches from the time of their adoption unto the present day. (1.) They have exercised an important influence in inculcating a more reverential regard for the Lord's-day, and an observance of public worship. (2.) They have not only created a vast demand for the printed word of God, but have been a most extensive means of the circulation of the Bible in all parts of our denomination. (3.) They have done very much, but more during the last twenty-five years than ever, in familiarizing the minds of the young with Bible history and gospel truth. (4.) They have taken no small share in inspiring amongst the rising race an ardent attachment to religious liberty, and freedom of thought and worship; and thus have widened the basis and strengthened the position of our hearty and generous nonconformity. (5.) They have awakened and incited to activity the dormant intelligence and talents of our churches, by offering a fair and inviting field in which they might find ample scope and exercise-a field which presented the tempting, virgin soil of the youthful mind; and it is no small advantage to the Sunday school teacher to be oftentimes the firstbefore the parent, before the schoolmaster, and before the minister too-to sow in such fair and untenanted soil the seeds of religious truth. (6.) They have laid claim to the most kindly consideration and generous help, by being, as they are often termed, "nurseries to the church;" for I believe it will hardly be questioned that of the thousands who have been gathered into our churches during the seventy years past of the present century, the majority have passed through our Sunday schools. (7.) They have proved spheres of labour which have brought out the latent talents and capacities of many who have become ministers of our churches, and ambassadors for Christ amongst the heathen. (8.) They have also constituted a sphere which our Christian sisters have found especially adapted to their warmhearted zeal, their tender love, and patient energy, and in which they have been able to render signal and eminent service in the cause of Christ. Here they are not forbidden to speak, and they have used their opportunity well. They have been, and still are, most worthy and devoted helpers of their brethren, who have gladly and cordially welcomed them as invaluable co-labourers in this holy and useful toil. (9.) It would be ungrateful not to record the pleasing fact that our Sunday schools have rendered most seasonable and substantial help to our Orissa Mission, not only in furnishing several of our devoted missionaries, but also by giving material pecuniary aid. They support many orphans in our Mission Asylums, besides contributing largely to the general fund. Our last year's Mission Report acknowledges considerably more than £200 as direct contributions from our Sunday schools; and I have no knowledge of how many hundreds more are raised by our Sunday scholars under the headings"Little Books," "Juvenile Society," "Missionary Boxes," &c.; and I may not without reason ask, "What would the treasurer of our Orissa Mission say, if the amount raised through the instrumentality of our Sunday scholars were suddenly to be withheld?" But the blessed influences of our Sunday schools have not been bound by the limits of our English "rock-bound coast," for I suppose there are few of them from whence some have not gone to distant lands, and they have been followed by the earnest sympathies of those whom they have left behind them in the father-land. Oh! that it were possible to summon here to-day, not those who have already crossed the Jordan of death and are safe-landed on the everlasting shore, gratefully and for ever wearing their starlit crowns of victory. Not these! we would not bring them hither again, even for a moment, for our communion and joy to-day is not comparable to their ecstatic and unspeakable bliss; but I would that we could gather with us on this unique occasion, those who have gone forth from this land, and from our own Sunday schools, and in the far East and the nearer West, in distant Northern and in sunny Southern climes, are now filling spheres of usefulness and honour, having carried with them into their chosen homes, away from the land of their fathers, that stern, unyielding, General Baptist love of liberty, of God, of His Gospel, His House, and His ordinances, which has been burnt into their hearts, and woven into the habit of their lives, by the earnest words of Sunday school teachers, in the old England of their bye-gone days. Doubtless many of them are thinking of us, as we are here gathered in Leicester in this Centenary year, and we will also think of them, grown up as they are into stalwart bearded men, and motherly women; and while we pray for their faithfulness to their convictions and their God, we will see in them the bright prospect of harvests of souls in foreign soils, and the gleaming of the approaching day, when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the deep." FAMILIAR TALKS WITH OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. "MOTHER, I really can't endure this tor- Such was the plaintive and impatient appeal of a youth of some fifteen summers to his affectionate and sorrowing mother, as they wandered foot-sore and heart-sick, oppressed with a weary sense of homelessness and hopelessness over the hot and parched soil of a dreary and desolate wilderness. For years they had revelled in the warm and genial shade of an abounding prosperity; and had scarce known a single want, or felt a solitary grief. A generous father had loaded their table with benefits, and made their cup run over with good; but owing to a slight domestic disturbance, occasioned by the lad's behaviour towards his younger brother, they were driven With rudely and harshly from their hospitable sunken faces; till the youth, losing all heart, cried out, as well as his swollen tongue would let him-" Oh, what shall I do! I'm dying. This tormenting thirst is fast killing me." "Be patient a little longer, my boy," says the distressed mother, getting strength to battle with her own pains from her warm love and eager efforts for her son, "let us walk on and we shall find water soon. I remember, years gone by, before you were born, wandering in a neighbouring desert for hours, but at length I refreshed myself at a fountain in the wilderness. God sees us, and He will not forget us." Soothed a little by this statement, which he had heard so often that it was becoming a familiar strain, they walked a few paces further: and then, almost crazed with the maddening fever of his thirst, he fell prostrate on the ground, muttering in an indistinct manner, "I'm dying, oh! mother, I'm dying." Her heart breaking with anguish, she hastes away to every patch of green herbage within sight, fondly hoping to find the life-giving draught; but at length, recalled by the pitiful moans of the dying lad, she returns, almost exhausted by her fruitless efforts, and in her despair moves him from the hot glare of the sun to the shelter of a kindly protecting shrub, and then, for she cannot bear to see his death-agonies, she moves off a little distance till the fierce struggle is ended. Burying her head in her lap, the mother, doubly desolate, laments the loss of her only hope and joy in all her wanderings. Why should such a cruel fate overtake me? Was it not enough to be banished from my home? Must I also be robbed of my child? When lo! she starts! A gentle voice is heard, in sweet and winning tones, calling her by name, and saying, "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is! Arise, see yonder is a well of water; fill your bottle again, and give the lad to drink." With an energy born of heaven, away she starts for the well of water, and bounds back to her son, swift as an arrow to its post, and just in time to save him from the grasp of death. Thus the life of Ishmael was preserved by God; "and God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer," and the chief founder of the great Arab nation. Could anything picture to us a richer pity or a deeper compassion? Is there a scene anywhere that shows so forcibly the tender heart of God our Father towards the distressed and suffering? The lad did not even pray. No supplication escaped him. He is too much rent, and torn, and agonized by his thirst for that. He simply moans out his anguish, and his cries and tears reach God in the heavens, and He comes out of His place at once, and tells the despairing mother where the waters flow. God is very pitiful towards the young and feeble, and needy. He delighteth in mercy. He will help in your extremity, for he is full of compassion. Things that you can do yourselves He will not do for you: but He will surely send you aid when other sources fail, and water when other streams are dry. God secures a friend for the baby-boy that is cast into the river Nile, and Moses gets in Pharoah's palace part of the skill and the wisdom that enable him to deliver Israel from Pharaoh's iron rule. He gives back to the weeping widow of Nain her one and only son from the coffin, without a prayer, without a sigh from her or her friends, and from the simple impulse of his deep compassion. Josiah Wedgwood, the founder of the Staffordshire potteries, lost his father when he was eleven years old, but God took care of him, and made him a great and good man. Samuel Drew, bereft of his mother and neglected by his father, was left in the hands of God, and he became a clever writer and a useful member of the Wesleyan Church. Joseph Hume's father died whilst he was a mere child, and he was sorely put to it to gain a livelihood, but he toiled on, became a Member of Parliament, and made himself a name and a fame for persevering energy that could not be defeated. Hugh Miller's father was drowned at sea, and he was left to be brought up by his widowed mother, but not without many witnesses to the care of his Father in heaven, and he became a famous geologist, a skilful author, and a good man. Francis Chantry, the Sheffield sculptor, William Smith, the father of English geology, Fowell Buxton, the friend of the slave, John Kitto, the workhouse boy, who became the writer of many good books; and hundreds more who, like Ishmael, have been cast forth into the desert of poverty and suffering, have found that God has been with them, supplying their needs and making them prosperous. Never doubt God's compassion. Cling to His mercy to the last. It is infinite. It endureth for ever. ""Tis sure in God the fatherless and forlorn may find mercy." "When my father and mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up." With a special care he watches over and provides for the young. Look up to Him and fear Trust His love in Jesus, and do His will, remembering-" It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." not. J. CLIFFORD. Reviews. THE MEMORIALS OF THE REV. W. BULL, OF NEWPORT PAGNELL. By J. Bull, M.A. Cheap Edition. Elliot Stock. THE Rev. William Bull was a man endowed with more than ordinary powers, of more than ordinary industry, and blessed with an intense, fervid, and zealous piety. He was (and this is his chief claim to live amongst us still by this interest. ing biography,) the centre of much of the Christian activity of this kingdom during the latter part of the last century and at the beginning of this, in so far as that activity was not associated with Methodism on the one hand, or Dan Taylor and his colleagues on the other. His familiar friends were John Newton, the eminent preacher at St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London; William Cowper, the poet; Rowland Hill, of Surrey Chapel; Thornton, the wealthy and generous Christian merchant, and their letters, as well as his own, preserved in this volume, reveal the genuine piety by which they were distinguished. William Bull, amongst other qualities, possessed a keen wit, and did not fail to exhibit it at College. On one occasion when the beer had become unbearable, the students unanimously voted, that it was not only small but dead; and that being dead it ought to be buried. A large can of the liquor was obtained and carried at the head of a procession of all the students, wearing the tokens of mourning, preceded by William Bull, arrayed in a surplice formed of sheets of white paper, who delivered a funeral oration over the departed beer. Again, preaching to his afternoon congregation, and observing many asleep, he took out his Greek Testament and began to read. The sleepers were at once aroused; and then looking up from his book, he said, "Well, I thought you could understand Greek as well as English when you were asleep." This is a fascinating piece of Christian biography: well adapted to minister to religious zeal and earnestness, as well as to give a vivid picture of the movements of some of the most noteable Christians of our land from 1770 to 1814. A HISTORY OF WESLEYAN MISSIONS. By Rev. W. Moister. Second and Revised Edition. E. Stock. COULD any other body of Christians send forth such a volume as this? From first to last it is a clear, methodical, and intelligible record of work for the Lord, of earnest, self-sacrificing, high-principled and successful endeavour to preach the message of God's universal love to the uttermost ends of the earth. The names of the sections of the work show the widely extended fields traversed by the enthusiastic followers of John Wesley. They are as follows: Europe, America, West Indies, Western Africa, Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Friendly Islands, Figi Islands, India and China. Where are they not? May God bless them abundantly! They carry the precious and incorruptible seed, the true gospel of Divine Love, and we rejoice with no common joy in their harvest. Why (this book suggests to us) should not we have a brief, racy, and vigorous history of our Orissa Mission, sold say for ninepence or a shilling? The tale is worth telling: for the beauty of the Lord our God has been upon us in the mission field in an extraordinary manner. Will not some well-qualified brother write it at once? It would be sure to do great good. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS IN THE LIFE OF KING DAVID. By Chas. Vince. Elliot Stock. WE give a cordial welcome to this elegant and useful volume. It is, so far as we know, the first that Mr. Vince has published. May it soon have a companion! The discourses are of high merit, characterized by freshness and force of thought, felicity of illustration, occasional flashes of wit, chasteness of language, and fervour of feeling. They are genial, attractive, and suggestive, full of practical wisdom, and eminently devout. Readers of these sermons will discover, amongst other things, the intrinsic value and superior character of the Old Testament Scriptures, and will have their minds fortified to meet the depreciators of Hebrew history, by the reception of imperishable and ever-needed truths gathered from the career of the Psalmist King. THE PHYSICAL CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. By W. Stroud, M.D. Second Edition. Hamilton, Adams, & Co. FOR several years past we have anxiously looked on every book-stall we came across in this city, and inquired at not a few booksellers for a copy of Stroud on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ; but all in vain. Having borrowed the first edition, published in 1847, and read it with great satisfaction and profit, we ever afterwards wished to possess it. The appearance of a second edition is very welcome. It is a most able and exhaustive treatise, intended to prove that the immediate cause of the death of the Lord Jesus was-medically |