Away we went by the help of a safety lamp, sometimes creeping and sometimes jumping under and over the great masses of coal, till presently we came to a large circular shaft. My little boy told me that this was one of the places where the vein of coal had been lost, and therefore there was no working nor blasting there, and "Teacher,' he said, 'sometimes when work is over and I can get away I come to this place to pray and think about good things.' 'My dear boy,' I said, 'I am very glad to find that you remember the great God about whom we talk on the Sabbath day, during the week; are there any of the other children that pray too? Yes, I hope so,' said the little boy, ' and there are some that love to hear about Jesus Christ and the Missionaries who have gone out to heathen lands, so we meet here Teacher, and tell each other all we have heard at our different Sunday Schools, and this, said the boy, his eye brightening as he spoke, and this is our Missionary box!' There was a little hole about the size of a penny cut in the black rock coal' and it led down to a space at the back of the ledge which had been hollowed out and was now carefully fastened up with dried mud. I said nothing, but looking at the dirty but lovely countenance of this little servant to the great master's vineyard, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude. Last year they had collected nearly four shillings, and this year he hoped they would get twice as much, and this from the farthings and halfpence of the poor collier children whose scanty pittance and cruel usage has attracted recently so much of public attention, and sympathy. My little friends, what are you doing for the poor heathen? Think of the missionary box many hundred feet below the surface of the fair earth on which you dwell, and ask yourselves, 'If such things are done there where poverty and vice-ignorance and cruelty prevail, what ought I to be doing who have so many blessings and mercies to be thankful for. This is the third time I have asked you what you are doing for Missions? Can you say we are beginning to do something.' The little China boy's letter must wait till next month, for I have already written more than at first I intended. Good bye, says your affectionate friend,

'WHO LOVED CHINA WHEN HE WAS

A VERY LITTLE BOY.'

London, February 13th, 1843.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AT HOME.

(Continued from page 58.)

Second.-Teach YOUR CHILDREN rightly to regard the Sunday School. It is to be feared, that parents are generally very guilty of neglect in this particular. Some children, when questioned, can give no other reason for coming, than because it is customary, and their parents send them. They do not seem to have the slightest idea, from what they have learned at home, that they have a soul in danger of perishing, and that it is to save this soul that the Teachers meet. We cannot therefore wonder, when not taught better at home, that many come in a very careless spirit, and mind nothing about being either irregular, or late. They are trained at home to look upon coming, as forced upon them, and that too, as a matter of course, merely to read a little, and learn a little, and sing a little, and then leave, to spend the rest of the Sabbath just as they please, or else be dragged to a place of worship in the same spirit as they were sent to the school. Can the Sunday School be looked upon by such, in any other light than that of a place of restraint? and will they not be glad of a holiday as they call it. A kind lady, much interested in Sunday Schools, writing on this subject, asks, 'Should not parents teach their children to look upon it as a pleasure to come to school, and not offer to give them a holiday as a reward, or a treat? Dear friends, are not you very much to blame for your children's wrong notions and evil conduct in this respect. How much would their minds be prepared to receive instruction, if they were previously taught at home, the nature and seriousness of what they were about to do, and the spirit in which they should go. The same lady requests of parents, that they would never allow their little ones, to leave their doors on their way to school, without lifting up their hearts to God in prayer, for his blessing to go with them, and rest upon the instructions they are about to receive.' Oh! that children were taught to do this, both for themselves and their Teachers -how would the children come with hearts ready to receive the good seed-how would the spirit of prayer lead them to good behaviour both at school and at home, how would it sanctify and increase diligence in their appointed lessons, and bring a rich blessing on the sower and his work. A little girl, who seemed to take great pleasure in learning her catechism, was noticed by her teacher, who wished to ascer

tain the motive and principle of the child, and so remarked, 'I hope you do not come to school without prayer.'—' Oh, no madam, I dare not do such a thing.'-' What do you pray for? That God would bless you and me,' was the reply, and the instructions I shall receive.' Would that all children were taught this, it would make them both fruitful in diligence, and bring a blessing upon Scholars, Teachers, and Parents. How cheering would it be to the Teachers to know, that the seed sown on the Sabbath, was harrowed in during the week, and the ground again made ready for the sower, and also how instructive both to your little ones and yourselves.

(To be continued.)

Poetry.

HYMNS FOR THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY, OF THE HULL SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION,

Easter Monday, April 17th, 1843.

WRITTEN FOR THE OCCASION BY MRS. GILBERT, OF NOTTINGHAM.

HYMN I. (For the Children.)

It seems but yesterday

Since thus we met before!
Yet throngs have passed away,
To see the light no more!
Thousands, within the year, have died;
But we, in mercy, still abide!

And O, from heathen lands,
What countless souls have fled,
With blood upon their hands,
To join the guilty dead!
Laden with every hateful crime
They sunk forlorn, from earth & time!

In dark idolatry,
Delusion, or despair,

They laid them down to die!
No gospel hope was there!
O can we not that hope obey,

Ere thousands more, shall die, as they!

Jesus, what thanks we owe,
That we thy name have heard!
Thy Spirit's help bestow
To bless to us thy word:
And give us work to do for thee,
At home, or over many a sea.
When, men and women grown,
Be this our happy choice,
To make thy mercy known,
By life, and deed, and voice;
So may we all thy servants be,
At home, or over many a sea.

HYMN II. (For the Teachers.)
Saviour, the world is filled with woe,
And sin hath ruthless sway;

Many are going to and fro,

But none the plague can stay!
By millions down to death they go,
And pass from hope away.

From time to time, is briefly heard
The faithful, warning cry,
But sinners, from the saving word,
In heedless folly fly;
And, year by year, in hope deferred,
Thy mourning servants die!

Thus we, who faintly yet pursue,
Ere long the toil must yield;
Saviour, with bleeding hearts, we view
The wide and whitening field;
Behold the throng! what can we do
These rising ranks to shield?

Forth in thy strength, Omnipotent,
Come thou, thy church to aid;
For these, may Zion stretch her tent,
Her sons and daughter's made;
From these, be many a mission sent,
When we in dust are laid.

So, while thy servants, one by one,
From hopeful toil retire,
Still may thy will on earth be done;
Still feed thine altar's fire;
And still descend to many a son

Thy truth, from many a sire.

Then come the day! the long decreed!
To prophets dimly shown,
When Christ the Lord shall see his seed

And gather in his own;

When all, the voice of love shall heed,
By all, its power be known.

Forgive my folly, O Lord, most holy, Cleanse me from

stain; For thee I languish, Pity my anguish,

Nor let my sighing be vain.

NEW EDUCATION BILL.

In the most earnest and solemn tones we call the immediate attention of every Sunday School to the Education Bill, recently introduced to Parliament. With much that is plausible about it, there is much that is unjust and unchristian. It has "a thread of candour in a web of wiles." If that bill become law, thousands of Sunday Schools will, in five years, be completely extinguished! We sound the alarm! We foretell danger! We call to instantaneous action! Before this Magazine is forty-eight hours old, let the committee the teachers—the friends of every Sunday School assemble, and resist the bill, by Memorials to their Representatives, and by Petitions to Parliament. Whether intended or not, the operation of this bill will compel myriads of children in our Manufacturing Districts to leave their own Sunday Schools, and to be placed under a system of religious instruction which they can neither approve nor control. We have no wish to disturb the unsectarian character of this Magazine; when, however, we see a plan in preparation of such an insidious and illiberal character, we are bound to enter our solemn protest against it. Sunday School Brethren, of every name and sect and party, awake, arise, and use every lawful exertion to frustrate a measure fraught with danger for both worlds!

The Fine Arts.

PORTRAITS OF WILLIAMS AND MOFFAT.

Mr. Baxter, the Patentee of Oil Coloured Engravings, has submitted for our notice his Portraits of these eminent Missionaries. They are beauty itself. The likenesses are perfect, while the execution eclipses, in our opinion, any thing that Mr. Baxter has ever yet effected. In these days of succession' we must claim for him the honour of being a 'descendant' of Aholiab and Bezaleel, who, 'filled with wisdom of heart,' beautified the Tabernacle of God. To every drawing room in Christendom these Prints would be an ornament. They are worthy of the men, and of the ten thousand glorious scenes which they call to mind. Each print has to pass under above twenty blocks. Moffat, with the Landscape and Parliament in the distance, is the most exquisite gem we ever saw.

Notes on Books.

SCOTTISH BIBLES.

The scrutiny which the scriptures are now undergoing-the facilities for their diffusion in the earth, and the happy cheapness in their price, are among the auspicious signs of the times. We think it at once the duty and interest of all Sunday Schools to obtain supplies of Bibles from the Scottish board. Specimens have been submitted to us. Their cheapness really surprises us. The Bible at one shilling, and that at one and threepence will, we expect, have an immense sale. Let us entreat teachers to encourage their scholars in obtaining each a Bible. It now my be done and it ought to be done. Every school should put itself in communication with Dr. Thomson, of Coldstream-a man who deserves the thanks of the whole kingdom.