The feelings of the Board, on this subject, remain unaltered. No book, purporting to contain a narrative of facts, is published by the Society, without the author's assurance that it is what it purports to be. So far, therefore, as the churches obtain their Sabbath school books from the Depository of the Society, they may rely on books that have been selected with care, and that are believed to be suitable for Sabbath school libraries. Notices of New Publications by the Society. ALFRED MONTROSE: OR, THE WAY I SHOULD GO. Specially dedicated to youth. By J. W. BAYNES, author of "The voice of a Friend: or, Youth instructed from the Word of God." In nine parts, 153 pp. "The way I should go!" No subject can be more important for a book for the young. Alfred Montrose, when but a lad, one morning came to his pious mother, with the inquiry, "Mother, mother, which is the way I should go? can you tell me?" The object of this book is to give the mother's answer to that important inquiry, and to describe the manner in which she led her darling son into the way he should go, and finally into the ministry, and into his present field of labor, as a missionary of the cross. We are assured, in the advertisement, that this is not a book of imagination. "The instructions communicated," "and the results arising from those instructions, were virtually such as are here detailed, although the process was," of course, "somewhat slower than the events seem to indicate, when brought together within the compass of a little volume." In describing to her child the way he should go, the mother directs his young mind to the Bible,-the great fountain of wisdom and light,—and, in a familiar and very instructive manner, explains the first and second commandments of the law,-love to God and love to our neighbor,-on which hang all the other commands of the Bible. The SEVENTH PART consists of the eleven following Directions, explained and enforced, viz.: "1. Learn to respect yourself.-2. Rise early.-3. Cultivate habits of cleanliness.-4. Cultivate a cheerful disposition.-5. Form economical plans.-6. Seek to acquire a taste for reading and study, and especially for the reading and study of the Scripture.-7. Set apart stated times for private reading, meditation, and prayer.-8. Be upon your guard against temptations.-9. Avoid the very appearance of evil.-10. Aim at the glory of God in all things.-11. Live in the constant remembrance of death, and judgment, and eternity." The book is closed by a few brief remarks intended as an improvement of the narrative, addressed to children, parents, and teachers. No parent can read this book without deriving important assistance in the performance of parental duty, and no child or youth can give it a serious, attentive and prayerful examination, without obtaining a clear view of the way he should go,-the way of respectability and usefulness-the way of peace and salvation. New editions of the following books have also been published, viz., Hannah SWANTON, the Casco Captive; THE CEDARS OF LEBANON; ASTRONOMY, or the perfections of God displayed in his works. JUVENILE MUSIC. Furnished for this work by LowELL MASON, Professor in the Child's Morning Hymn. Words from Youth's Companion. { Cre a-tor Almighty! The morning is tnine; To praise and aGlad voices are waking, In vale, hill, and tree, To join me in -dore thee, Be nature's and mine; } Thy love bounteous giver Of raising A tribute to thee. all I enjoy, Thy love shall for-ev-er my praises employ. 2 For slumber refreshing, For peace in my dwelling, And peace in my breast, For the pure light of heaven O Father above. SABBATH SCHOOL VISITER. VOL. VII. AUGUST, 1839. Hymn for Youth. Eccl. 12: 1. REMEMBER thy Creator now: Thus Heavenly Love, thus Wisdom calls; Ere that fair form a wreck appear, Of her bright train of handmaids gone. Though now the golden bowl be filled But if, in thy glad early days, Thou think on God, thy staff he'll be Remember him, before thou feel The dimness gathering on thine eye, O, then, when weakened in thy way,. VOL. VII. 15 No. 8. The Young Prisoners. [CONCLUDED.] About twelve miles from my birth-place lived a family of loose principles and practices. The children were growing up in vice, stimulated by parental example and influence. They had not long resided there before complaints were made that property was stolen from one and another in the neighborhood, and this family was suspected. The man and his sons had occasionally labored at my grandfather's, and I had thus become acquainted with them. In the course of the summer, a store was broken open, and goods to a considerable amount were stolen. They were soon discovered, and James, the third son in this family, a lad of only 13, was proved to be the daring leader in this enterprise. He was shut up in jail with another boy whom he had led away and ensnared. James was a rough boy, and even older boys were afraid of him. He could neither read nor write; but he had wit for mischief, and hardihood for perpetrating any wickedness. A little before his imprisonment, an old negro man, who had some mixture of Indian blood, had been committed to the same jail on the charge of murder. had seen him often, for he had been with his wife, a strolling basket-maker; and at my grandfather's house, where he was sometimes employed, I had been obliged to draw cider for them more frequently than seemed proper, even in those cider-drinking days. I Somewhere in the region, when both had become drunk with cider, a quarrel arose, and he being the stronger, or the less drunk, inflicted the fatal wound. My first and only visit to that county jail was after the sentence of death had been pronounced upon this criminal, and he was to be executed in a few days. I gained permission to enter and see a man under sentence of death, -one for whom I had often drawn cider, and who had killed his wife under the influence of cider. I was but a boy, and I entered somewhat fearfully, for it was a gloomy place, aside from thoughts of murder, and of death by the sentence of law. The grated windows were rather small, and the light just strong enough to give a sombre appearance to the whole interior, and to give the worst possible expression to the human countenance. The old man knew me, and looked sorrowful. His arms were manacled, and a large chain was fastened to his ankle and to a large ring in the middle of the room, which would let him go nearly to the walls. The smell of the prison was very offensive, and the nest of straw, which was his bed, seemed more fit for the sty than the jail. At the opposite side of the room was a ragged, filthy-looking lad, chained to the same ring, and manacled in much the same way. I soon discovered that it was James. He was chained with a murderer, and compelled to nestle at night in the same dirty heap of straw. The effect on my feelings was overwhelming, and I soon hastened away. The day of execution soon arrived, and many thousand spectators assembled, and the day was a scene of drinking, horseracing and fighting. James was sentenced to serve for a time in the State prison,-the old "Newgate" at Simsbury, and there, in promiscuous intercourse with hardened and desperate offenders, he completed his education in crime, which had been commenced in the family, and came out a finished desperado, prepared for villany of the deepest dye. Had the presiding genius of the prison discipline reform been on the stage a generation earlier, the voice of instruction and kindness might possibly have reached and saved the desperate James. He had no father's counsel or mother's prayers to save him, and a Sabbath school he had never entered. His name has probably perished, or is recorded only in the annals of infamy and crime. Girls at the Sandwich Islands. C. On returning from a short walk to-day, I found a poor little girl at the door of my study, waiting for my return. She was accompanied by a friend, who said to me, "I have brought this little girl, who wishes to enter the school." And what reply do you think I made? I am grieved to tell you. But I could do no better. I said, We cannot admit her.-We are full.' So she has gone back to Hamakua, where there is no good school, and where she will probably live in darkness all her days. |