children in his class, he immediately begins to use means to bring about this desirable end. On the Lord's-day morning his closet is witness to his fervent and importunate prayers on the behalf of his scholars; he prays that the divine Spirit may bless and accompany his own Word with his enlightening and softening influence, whether that word may be presented to the childrens' minds by himself, by the addresses of the superintendent, by the minister in the house of prayer, or by any other means which it may please the Lord to bring to bear upon the children's minds. He does not wish to have the exclusive honour of being instrumental in their conversion. The language of his heart is, "Send, Lord, by whom thou wilt send;" only let the dear children of my charge be brought as lambs to the great Shepherd. The teacher performs his labours during the day under the influence of prayer and faith. His manner of speaking to the children is such as is calculated to gain their affection and confidence; he is condescending, kind, and affable. He endeavours to impress upon their hearts those portions of divine truth which he considers are best calculated to inform their judgments, and to bring them to see and feel their need of a Saviour. When the teacher sees indications of success in any of his scholars, he endeavours to nourish the kindling spark, and fan it to a flame. Those children whom he perceives are affected with their sinful state he takes by the hand, and with the utmost kindness and affection leads them to the Saviour, who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me;" and when some are brought to Christ, if proper means be used, he will in all probability secure the whole. Nor is the view, as taken above, of a teacher's success merely visionary : it is what has been done. I have read of an American female teacher being instrumental in converting several classes successively; and I know a Sunday-school, the teachers of which resolved at a meeting to try similar methods, and what was the effect? In a few months several almost entire classes were hopefully converted, and nearly forty of them became members of the Church; and if similar means, under similar circumstances, will produce corresponding results, why may not there be a revival in every school, and in every Church connected with it. I do not think that the conversion of the children in our Sunday-schools is so difficult as some imagine. I am of opinion that we have both Scripture, reason, and example, in favour of attempting their conversion while we have them under our care. The Saviour says, "They that seek me early shall find me," "Suffer little children to come unto me." Reason tells us that the most proper time for the conversion of individuals is before the corruption of their depraved hearts acquires great force, and leads them into the paths of vice; and if they do manifest giddy or untoward dispositions, they will be more easily broken now, than when they have acquired additional force from time and indulgence. The Scriptures encourage us to ask, and to look for, great things at the hand of God, "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it;""Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you;""All things whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, touching the affairs of my kingdom, it shall be done unto you;" "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting." We cannot read concerning the miracles of Christ without observing the great stress which is laid on faith. None were ever suffered to return disappointed from him after making application for his healing power. The favour asked was invariably granted them, how great soever, because they had confidence in his power and goodness. The most remarkable instances of faith recorded by the evangelists, are those of the Centurion, and the Syro-phenician woman; and the Lord granted their requests, and eulogised their faith. When Elijah was just going to be taken up into heaven, he said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me:" and though Elijah confessed that Elisha had asked a hard thing, yet it was granted. The apostle James reasons on the power of prayer and faith, and brings the instance of Elijah praying that it should not rain on the earth; and again, at another time, that it should rain, and both requests were granted. What are we to conclude from all this, but that "the effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ;" and that the Lord says to the believing request, "Great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Now, my dear fellow-teachers, I submit the above remarks to your candid and serious consideration. If I have been prolix, the importance of the subject must be my apology; and if what I have done be of any use to you in increasing your usefulness to your youthful charge, I shall have an abundant reward for the labour bestowed. I remain, yours in the bonds of the Gospel, A SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER. CORRESPONDENCE. REPLY TO SELF-DEFENCE.* reasons which he adduces in his Junius are To the Editor of the General Baptist Repository. others not to purchase the mansion in questhe only ones which influenced him and I little supposed when I was penning my tion for the purpose of a college? Let me strictures on Junius, that my antagonist just glance at those reasons, and it will was, like myself, a sermonizing knight of speedily appear that a bushel of them are the lancet. His dexterity in venesection of less importance than the dust in a no one will question; and equally unquestionable are his talents in verbasection, and crinesection. His sermon on self-defence, forcibly reminds me of an ingenious sermon on the word malt, which used to amuse me in my juvenile days. If it were not for misquotation, misconstruction,misapplication, misinference, his sermon would have remained a wondrous skeleton, leaving us completely ignorant of every ology except osteology. F. S., in the exordium to his sermon, prides himself in the weight of his arguments when writing under the shade of Junius. Surely my brother medical practitioner was in a profound reverie, endeavouring to ascertain the "modus operandi" of some recently discovered medicine when he penned arguments, intending to have written sophisms. Is he certain that the balance. 1. To purchase it was a dissention from the decision of the committee. 2. It proceeded from a wrong quarter. 3. The mansion was too spacious. 4. It was too expensive; and 5. (by the Rev. T. Yates) it would inflate our young ministers with pride. Machaon disposed of the first three 5th. It is too expensive-we cannot afford reasons; I will briefly refer to the 4th and it. single sister Church can afford not only to Oh shame, where is thy blush? One encounter the original cost, but also an additional outlay of about £1500 to convert it into a chapel, yet the entire connexion, consisting of fifteen thousand, six hundred, and sixty-seven members, are unable to raise about £4000. Surely it was a folly to put forth this reason. Surely it was the will, and not the power which was wanted to accomplish this object. Surely with a very little self-denial yon columns might have been reared with our superfluous wealth, and every cornice bought with the crumbs which fall from our tables. The last reason assigned for not appropriating the mansion into a college, is, It will make our young ministers proud. An argument the most cogent, if founded in fact. A proud ambasador of the Prince of Peace dishonours the dwellings, in the ornaments with which they are decorated, and in the erection of our places of worship, when we have the ability and inclination to have noble ones? No! Then why is our motto mean things in the education of our ministers, and in the place where they are to study to show themselves approved to be men of God. If we are inclined to cultivate contentment with mean things in preparing our ministers for the sanctuary, mean will be our instruments in propagating the truth, in defending the doctrines of grace, and in advancing our where an efficient ministry is enjoyed. I would reiterate the statement of the circular, which appears to have excited the risi ble muscles, and to have perplexed the "close thinking" capacity of my antagonist. If we are satisfied with "raising a small sum" when it would be "just as easy to raise a large one," what shame and confusion when our Lord and Master shall say, "Give an account of thy stewardship." Perhaps it is owing to my loose thinking that I am unable to perceive how I have unwarrantably "prejudged the question," or placed myself on the "bench of judicature." Perhaps F. S. may feel astonished that he is not allowed to cite scraps of poetry, to write quibbling paragraphs, and to misrepresent the sincere intentions of others who desire to promote the spiritual interests of our connexion, and yet escape uncensured and uncondemned. Better, far better, to preserve silence, than, without provocation, to open the mouth to sow the seeds of discord and strife. ministry in which he is engaged. But does it necessarily follow that because a minister is educated and trained in a mansion for the most important and glorious work to which a human being can be destinated, that his heart should be lifted up with pride? Then very naturally I may infer, that the esteemed pastor, in consequence of preach ing in the mansion when consecrated to the worship of God, will become divested of that garment of humility which has clothed and adorned him for a long series of years. Also the people who worship in this house of prayer, instead of having the " heart connexion, especially in populous towns, established with grace," they will be "puffed up in their fleshly minds," and thus exposed to the displeasure of the Great Head of the Church. Neither the premises nor the conclusions can I admit for a moment. Perhaps F. S. will pardon me if I suggest two reasons which I am afraid have produced a greater effect in preventing the mansion in question from being the "school of the prophets," than any which has been specified-jealousy and covetousness. Jealousy, I am fearful, has exercised a baneful influence in this business. It was not the mansion, but its locality. The remarks of the Rev. T. Yates in the October number are very significant: the love of money, appears to me, to have prevented, in a considerable degree, the realization of our hopes in having a spacious, convenient, and permanent place for the education of our min. isters. The flexors are disposed to yield to their antagonist extensors in providing houses of cedar to dwell in; splendid furniture to adorn them; and ample securities with which to invest our surplus capital, but remain rigid and grasping, when the extention of the truth requires liberality. The most frivolous excuses are advanced as a cloak for covetousness. Of my worthy brother (not merely in the medical profession, but in the bonds of the everlasting Gospel) I hope and believe better things. Yet, notwithstanding, he as well as the Rev. T. Yates, have furnished some plausible pretexts for individuals who love to grasp the glittering ore instead of parting with a little of their LENT treasure to have pur. chased the mansion as a "school for the prophets." It would "stint the widow of her meals." It would "erect a column by penury." "We cannot afford it." "An expense greater by far than the spirit of the Gospel and the precepts of the New Testament would justify." "A waste of our little property." Brother Yates endeavours to press into the service a scriptural argument, "Mind not high things, but be ye contented with mean things." I inquire, are mean things our motto in the construction of our With respect to "not dissecting the unsightly thing to which the disordered imagi nation of Junius had given birth;" the negative is a phrasealogical expression, signifying an intention not minutely to dwell on particulars, but to seize on some general topics for reply. My carping brother, I am fully persuaded, is sufficiently acquainted with this idiom of our language, but was willingly ignorant, that he might be furnished with matter for the second division of his sermon on self-defence. The sermon in its second division demands a few observations. The courtly moito, I confess, is opposed to the genius of our holy religion. How easy, Mr. Editor, it is to copy an evil example. Junius considered the circular, which excited his scribbling propensities, as offensive; but, instead of forgiving the offence, according to divine direction, he is guilty of retaliation. I cite his own words,-"You may think me severe in these remarks; I leave those who preceded me in the offence to make the apology for it." Those who live in houses of glass I should be careful how they fling stones. might easily enter into particulars respecting the appearance, accommodation, and range of studies pursued in our academies, and compare them with other educational institutions, but I resist the temptation, lest the emblems of shame should cover a connexion consisting of sixteen thousand members, for suffering and continuing the inferiority under the paltry plea, "The folly is, we cannot afford it." The little "impediment" is very useful, even to one who burlesques it, when used conveniently by an opponent. "If the young men rise in attainments and fall in virtue, we are better without them." What a marvellous discovery! What travail was experienced in giving birth to a sentiment, the truth of which is admitted by every pious mind. If-ab! there's the rub! But if the young men, as they advance in classic acquirements, and other useful accomplishments, maintain their principles of piety and devotion, do we not sustain a loss? Now for a misquotation. F. S., when stating the reason why on important public occasions we were desirous to secure the services of ministers of other sects, professes to give Machaon's reply, which in my opinion, is the truth, but not the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. "Because their minds are more enlightened, their un. derstandings are better informed, their judg ment is sounder, and their talents are of a higher order, entirely from a more effective college training," to which ought to have been added, "with few exceptions." Was the omission intended to represent me as slighting the enlightened and invaluable labours of a Jarrom, a Pickering, a Goadby, and others who were students of our academies? Or the instructive, persuasive, and evangelical preaching of a Pike, a Wallis, a J. Stevenson, a Burns, a Hunter, and others, who derived no benefit from them? No one esteems in a higher degree the ministers of our connexion than I do, in reference to their respectability and successfulness, but I yet maintain, what many of them have confessed, that if their scholastic advantages had been superior, their efficiency would have been more conspicuous. I hope the charity of our divine religion will ever pre. serve me from that spirit of censure and uncharitableness which pervade this part of the sermon on self-defence towards ministers of other denominations. If ever "hero quartered his arms with the emblems of his own shame," it is the one who could pen the last ten lines of this paragraph. Surely his boasted "soundness of thinking" had vanished like an airy dream, and his confessed "confusion of ideas" had created chaotic darkness in his understanding, when he penned lines which savour of any spirit but the meek and lovely spirit of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. Having finished the task of passing these few strictures on the body of this essay on self-defence, or uncharitable personalities, I now conclude the toil with a few observations on the extremities. The first extremity was unnecessaryvery unnecessary indeed. No personal reflection on the character of Junius could be intended, Machaon not knowing the real author until he had finished his production; and the opinion of others coincide with my own, that this second epistle will not redound to his literary fame. In the professional language of my antagonist, let us "draw up our sleeves, and taking scalpel in hand," amputate the unnecessary limb, and consign it to perpetual oblivion. The second extremity is untrue. A false limb is very treacherous and cumbersome; but sometimes an artificial extremity so closely resembles the reality, as to produce deception. It appears I was thus deceived, and supposed it was a real one, and possessed of the power and vigour of a giant. I am now undeceived: it is as feeble and frail as a reed. The owner, who entertains a very exalted opinion of every other part of the body, appears conscious that this limb is "untrue." The third extremity is true. It is powerful, vigorous, and capable of any enterprize; determined to be a flexor or an extensor at pleasure, and bent on resisting all controul. It is a limb of physic, not of the law. It is a young limb, and my sincere desire is, that it may long continue in the exercise of its proper functions, but be preserved from kicking against the pricks. It was said respecting our exalted Lord and Master, that he reserved the good wine for the conclusion of the feast. The most beautiful and lovely spirit is also reserved for the last paragraph of this essay on Selfdefence. The gall in which my medical friend had dipped his pen was exhausted, and its place supplied with the milk of human kindness. I thank him for that natural display of tenderness which induced him to sigh over the lily which he supposed had received some defilement in this controversy. If I am the lily, he shall be the rose; and if I have shaken too rudely, and caused it to lose some of its bloom and sweetness, I ain exceedingly sorry for it, and I sincerely hope that these excellent qualities will be revived, and for a long series of years shed fragrance and perfume in every direction. Wisbech, Nov. 12th. JOHN LILLY. HINTS ON THE PORTABLE EVIDENCE OF saint, and the learning of a profound his- "EVERY man who reads the Bible with attention, and observes the value and excellence of the books-every man who compares what it says of mankind with his own experience, and marks the fitness of its mighty scheme of doctrine to his own spiritual need as a sinner in the sight of God is furnished with practical proof of the divine origin of our religion. I love this evidence: I call it the portable evidence of christianity.' These enlightened sentiments, ascribed to Dr. Chalmers by the excellent author of this book, explain its object. He shows that "the Bible, considered alone, affords, in the purity, dignity, harmony, and practical importance of its contents, sufficient evidences of its divine origin;" and that "the accordance of the truths revealed in Scripture, with what we know in ourselves, and observe in the world around us, and more especially the adaptation of the Gospel of Christ to the condition of fallen man, supplies us with further conclusive proof, that the Creator and moral Governor of the universe is the author of the Bible." It is a delightful book, ably written, in an easy and attractive style. It should be in every christian's cottage, and in the hands of every senior Sunday-scholar. The advanced christian would derive much profit from its perusal. FIFTEEN SERMONS, by the Author of " Persuasives to Early Piety." Tract Society. 18mo., pp. 212. We need not inform our readers who is "the author of Persuasives," Mr. Pike and his work being well known and appreciated amongst them. Nor need we state more in connexion with this little volume, than that the sermons are so much in Mr. Pike's strain, that we might have recognized their author had no other clue been given to us. The subjects are various, interesting, and solemn. One of them," On Family Prayer," we recollect to have heard at a Midland Conference, when its author was requested to publish it. We trust this volume will be so useful as to call forth others from the same source. THE HISTORY OF THE ASSYRIANS AND CHALDEANS, MEDES AND LYDIANS. Tract Society. 8vo., pp. 72. THIS is a valuable and elaborately prepared number of a series of publications on ancient history. It displays the piety of a torian. It contains all that is valuable in Rollin, with the important information obtained from modern writers. THOUGHTS FOR THE THOUGHTFUL. By OLD HUMPHREY. Tract Society. 18mo., pp. 280. articles, essays they might be called, on as HERE are one hundred and eight short many different subjects, some new, some strange, some familiar, and all discussed in style which is peculiar to the productions that pious, good-humoured, and profitable bearing the name of Old Humphrey. For our parts, we are not ashamed to acknowledge Old Humphrey as a friend and fa vourite. He has often insinuated instrucgrandfather, he has blended with some little tion, and afforded profit; which, like an old amusing tale, or good-natured comparison. Old Humphrey may be recommended to the old, for he is wise; to the young, for he is ever be some good to be derived from him. simple and interesting; to all, for there will THE FRUIT. Tract Society. the Flower, and here is the Fruit, and a WE have had the Seed, the Leaf, and pretty fourpenny book it is, with beautiful embellishments. THE CHRISTIAN ALMANAC, for the year 1842. THE TRACT SOCIETY'S PENNY ALMANAC. THE SHEET ALMANAC. THE CHRISTIAN'S DAILY TREASURE. est and most complete we believe published THE first of these almanacs is the cheap in this kindom. Besides much astronomical information, there are tides-railwaysLondon banks-members of parliament, &c. Hints for the farm-garden-home. The second and third are equal to former years. The Christian's Daily Treasure is a very little thick book, about the size of a snuffbox, with a text, and a verse, arranged for every day in the year. LITERARY NOTICE. Preparing for publication, in one Vol., Sketches of Sermons, designed for especial occasions. By a Dissenting Minister, Au thor of Four Hundred Sketches and Skeletons of Sermons, &c., &c. The Vol. will be ready about the 30th January, 1842, and will contain sketches adapted to the opening and anniversaries of chapels, missionary, and Sabbath-school occasions, ordination of ministers, sacramental services, &c., &c. |