we owe to the young. Perhaps if we divide the words, and dwell upon them a little, we shall recognize this duty yet more strongly.

Take this child. Wherever, in any neighbourhood, a child is born, whose parents, from poverty or any other cause, cannot duly provide for its instruction, God says to us who live around it-Let not this little one be lost —take it—take it in its helplessness and ignorance, and feed it with the sincere milk of the word, that it may grow thereby. Take it from its dangerous situation in a world lying in wickedness-draw it out of the current, that must else hurry it to destruction. Take it, and treat it tenderly, as a precious vessel made to honour, fit and prepared for the Master's use.

And not only does God say, Take this child, but He says also, Nurse it for Me-bring it up from a child to be one of Mine-let My name be on its forehead. Let it be taught to know Me the only true God, and to tremble at My word, and to shape its life by My commandments—give it that teaching which will make it wise unto life eternal.

This, and more than this, we may be allowed to draw from the charge which God makes to us in the text. To sum up shortly what has gone before, we may say that God requires from us to watch and guard the young; to give them that early religious training which is ever the best security for their happiness both in this world and in the next.

Remember, then, the words of the text-they are spoken to you all-most particularly are they spoken to

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those of you whose means and opportunities are the greatest-to whom God has committed much.

They put before you a plain duty. May your hearts be quick to allow it! And, from the experience of past appeals, I have no right to charge you with backwardness to help in this matter-Take this child, and nurse it for Me!

So far of the command.-Let us proceed to observe what is said of a faithful obedience to it—And I will give thee thy wages. Here is a promise that God will not forget our labour of love in the service of the young. He will recompense it to us with a full reward.

And in bringing this thought before you, let me guard against being misunderstood. It is, I believe, our bounden duty to do as we are asked to-day, to provide a Christian education for the children of our poor-it is a duty that we cannot neglect without danger. After we have done it, we have no cause of boasting-we have but done what was commanded us. In doing it there should be this motive uppermost-the glory of God, and the good of our brother's soul. To help in such a work from lower motives only, in order to stand well with God, or to secure the praise of our fellow men, or only to secure self-approval, ill suits with our Christian profession. If ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

Still, brethren, though the motive to works of charity should always be that high and holy one I have named, we need not overlook the fact that such unselfish charity seldom or ever goes unrewarded.

And so certainly it is with this particular work of educating the young. What we so lay out comes back to us many times doubled. It comes back to us in the improved habits of our people, in the love of order, in the self-respect and industry which usually accompany sound early teaching. It comes back to us in the greater security of our property, in the respect for the laws, in the love of our common land, in the sense of mutual dependence, which arises from the same source.

For, brethren, be assured of this-it is an ignorant, and not an educated people, that are most to be feared in any state. It is the ignorant, untaught class that, in troublous times, are the ready tools of sedition.Credulous and unused to reasoning, they are easily led by unscrupulous agitators, and easily stirred up to violence and wrong. In giving them a better knowledge, above all, in giving them religious knowledge, we give them the real freedom--we break the yoke-the worst yoke that any human being can wear-the yoke of blind ignorance, and that which attends it, bondage to every kind of tyranny, from off their necks.

I would that we more constantly remembered this. People sometimes take exception to schools for the poor, and say they cannot see the use of them. But look at what Sunday and National Schools have done for England-they have, under God, kept alive a seed of piety in the land—they have been the means of giving to multitudes, who had else wanted it, the beginning of all saving knowledge, of all true wisdom. To them-to these schools-we owe it that there are planted early in a large portion of our youth, those good principles of

honesty and fair dealing, that idea of duty and individual responsibility, which keeps society together, and enables all classes and degrees of men amongst us to live, as is happily the case very generally in England, in peace and harmony together.

So far, then, of the recompense which God makes to a nation that cares for the early religious training of its youth. His wages for such a service are a peaceable, orderly, contented, because an understanding people.

And while upon this point, let me glance for a moment at the recompense which God also makes to those actually engaged in the work of teaching. For to them I feel that the words before us may very truly be addressed-Take this child, and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages.

But what wages? Not the mere salary they receive for teaching-that is often very small, and inadequate for the work they have to do. For a schoolmaster or a schoolmistress-if they do their duty—have a hard life of it, and an anxious life-a life with little change, and subject to many disappointments. As soon as they have trained up one set of children, and spent their strength upon them, they have to begin again and train up another. They have to roll up the stone once more. Add to this, they have other discouragements—they have to bear with waywardness in parents, unruliness in children -fault-finding on all sides—perhaps ill-health in themselves.

The pay that they receive for such a service is often, I repeat it, but a poor measure of their deserts. Their real recompence is in their pupils-in the boys and girls

who have left school-whom it may be they never see again, but who are doing well in the several stations of life they occupy-bearing witness boldly for Christ before men, making a stand against sin, carrying out into practice the lessons of godliness, temperance, and brotherly kindness which were taught them at school.

These are ever the Christian teacher's best wages-his hope and comfort now, his crown of rejoicing hereafter. These are the proofs that his toil and pains have not been all lost labour-God, we are sure, will not forget it in that day when the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is!

In concluding, I have only now to ask you, as on former occasions, to contribute to the maintenance of your parish school. The work is one in which we all have an interest, and therefore one in which all should aid-not a work to be left to a few individuals, however willing, but rather to be performed by a joint effort, by the united hands of all who live in this place.

Let all, then, now take part in it-let none refuse his mite-and some might give more than a mite-for the service of the young-the young who are born and brought up even at our door.

I have spoken of the recompense which attaches to such a service-hear how that recompense is further announced in words that come from our Lord Himself— Whoso shall receive one little child in My name, receiveth Me. Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward!

And, brethren, it is not only your alms that I solicit,