And then at last, e'en this delight
No more was to their love allowed:
Awhile he cheered their faithful sight,
Then vanished in a veiling cloud.
But long upon the vacant air,

Their sad, their straining eyes were bent,
In hopes that he who vanished there,
Again might to their view be lent.
Until, their ling'ring feet to chide,
The voice was heard of angels near,
"Ye men of Galilee," it cried,

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'Why stand ye idly gazing here? "He who along that shining track, In glory thus has pass'd away, In greater glory shall come back, But not till his appointed day.' Nor needed they the meaning ask,

Of that reproof, for well they knew, They had a great, a painful task,

Before his coming, to go through.
And well that task was all fulfilled,
Unwearied till their latest breath,
With hope unquenched, and love unchilled,
By toil, and shame, and pain, and death.
And when the annual day comes round,
When we are called with mental eye,
To trace our Saviour from the ground,
Ascending to the opening sky ;-
Be ours the angel voice to hear,
That on the first disciples fell,
To chide us for our idling here,
And of our waiting task to tell;-
Of Passions that must be subdued,
Of Graces that the heart must fill,
Repentance, faith, and gratitude,
Exalted hopes and chastened will.
Of duties heavenward pointing, when
In all the pride of earth we live,
Conversing with our fellow-men,

To cheer, to succour, to forgive.
Then, though alone with mental eye
To us in these late days is given,
To see the Son of man, on high
Ascending from the earth to heaven;
The glories of his last return,

In more than fancy we shall view,
Nor see as those who see to mourn,
But more than seeing, share them too.

A. FOSTER, PRINTER, KIRKBY LONSDALE.

THE

TEACHER'S VISITOR.

No. 2.

JUNE, 1844.

VOL. I.

HINTS ON SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.

It is one great object of the TEACHER'S VISITOR to elicit from Teachers such statements and results of experience as may thus be thrown into the general stock for the advancement of good amongst our Sunday-school establishments.

Hence, though no pledge will be given that every such communication will appear, but a wholesome discretionary power be exercised, yet the Editor strongly urges the cooperation of Sunday-school Teachers in this way, as well calculated to promote the usefulness of his undertaking.

And as a Sunday-school Teacher himself, who regularly for twenty years took his class, as well as the superintendence of his Sunday-schools, during the hours at liberty from the Services of the Church, he would now begin to lay before his readers the result of his own experience, and thus set an example for his correspondents to follow. And in thus taking the lead, he is far from thinking that the plans he has adopted have been the best. Conviction of what should be, may arise from a humiliating sense of defect, as well as from the appearance of success. But it is impossible to have had the mind turned fully to the subject for a lengthened period of human life, without gaining some knowledge which may be usefully imparted to others. From earliest youth, the Editor has been at work in Sunday-schools, and ho never ceases to regret that he found himself some years ago compelled to confine his Sunday labours to the public services of the Church; for he is satisfied that the more a clergyman can be at work in the actual teaching of the school, the more its efficiency will be promoted. Still, in ordinary cases, where a clergyman stands alone, with full services, it is not often that he can be found

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capable of superadding this labour, with safety to his health. And what is one man's rule, may not be applicable to the case of another.

And now, in offering such suggestions as occur to me: I. I would observe, in the first place, that the law of a Sunday-school must be the law of love: and in saying this, we take an extended range of observation. It is love that must put the Teacher to work in the first instance: love to his Saviour, to whom he is so much indebted, and whose gracious designs he wishes to be the humble instrument of forwarding, in feeding his lambs, and bringing them to his fold: love for souls, prompting the desire to rescue them from the wrath to come, and to make an effort to bring them into the way of peace and safety. A Teacher, to be efficient, must speak that which he knows, and testify that which he has seen. He must be one who has for himself been with Jesus; one who has known experimentally the baptism of the Spirit working in the soul that repentance whereby we forsake sin, and that faith whereby we stedfastly believe the promises of God. And thus, repentance forming the groundwork for faith, and faith laying hold of Christ, faith worketh by love. It cannot be that the discoveries which faith has made in Christ should not lead us to love him. Now, if any thing short of this controlling principle sends the Sunday-school Teacher to his work, he will fail. He may go there prompted by a sense of naked duty; he may go to please others, or the love of ostentation and display may actuate him; but if he go not with the love of Christ and souls in his heart, he will fail. He may keep up the machinery of a school, and be regular in his movements, but there will be the body without the spirit.

And, throughout, love must be at work. It must shine forth through the very countenance of the Teacher. There should be no paid Teachers, if possible, in a Sunday-school, nor would I have the week-day Teachers employed, if it could be helped, though I am aware how often this is indispensably necessary. But while it is due to the week-day Teachers to give them as much rest and relaxation from their arduous duties as possible, it is

an advantage to make Sunday-school teaching quite a distinct thing from week-day teaching. Every thing should wear a different aspect. The strictness and rigid discipline, so essential during the week, should now be made less perceptible. And to effect this, all should come through a new instrumentality, and the children should have the benefit of the thought, that Christian individuals step forward to give them their Sabbath food and guidance, prompted only to do so by the motive of love. The advantage of such an influence on young minds must be evident. It is natural for them to infer, that there must be something powerfully at work to lead the Teacher quite spontaneously to come regularly to his class; and thus the Teacher's instruction comes to them under circumstances very favourable for its reception.

I need not add, that the same law of love forbids the use of punishment in the Sunday-school. I do not like to see a stick in the hands of the Teacher, either in church or school, much less to hear the sound of it.

Nor must we forget that all the proceedings of the school must be in subservience to the objects and design of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a rest: a rest from wonted occupation and toil: a rest denoting all that is peaceful and pleasant. The school must be so characterized. And the teacher's very tone, his mode of addressing his class, his affectionate smile, his readiness to enter into the little particulars in the case of an individual child-all must tell that the law of love is operating and shedding a sunny and a balmy influence in harmony with the spirit of the Sabbath, as a day of rest and happiness.

A Teacher taking a lower standard may come into his class like a moon to impart direction and guidance to the understanding, while all is cold and barren; the sun alone can give warmth and fertility, as well as light; and, without such an influence, His gracious design will never be accomplished who is pleased to say, "My son, give me thine heart."

I have referred to the spirit of the Sabbath regulating the school. And this leads to another suggestion, viz: II. That, throughout, the adoption of plans must be de

termined their wrorriance with the spirit of the day. It is a freet and rminai iesecration of its sanctity to admit of secular earning at least, further than is absolutely necessary to form te groundwork for the communication of hat which is ous. Happily, in the present day, it can seldom ecur nat it can be needful to teach reading in the Sunday-school: there are few places where daily schools to not now sunniy the mechanism of learning. The chapter must be read in the Sunday-school, and care must be taken that it is read correctly; the stops, the speed, the distinct and audible pronunciation— none of these minor points must be lost sight of; not because the class has come to learn to read, but because correct reading is essential to the sense and the interest of what is read. It is astonishing what mangling is made of the Church Catechism, and handed down from generation to generation in schools, where, so long as the words were gabbled over, the punctuation was lost sight of, and the arrantest nonsense is the consequence. I fear, that in many of our northern schools, to this day, the children will be found to repeat thus: "Repentance whereby we forsake sin and faith: whereby we stedfastly believe," &c.

The minor points of correct reading must be attended to, for the sake of catching the sense; without which, religious knowledge must fail to be effectually imparted. But I would never allow of junior classes being taught to read and speak, unless it was really the case that they would not otherwise be taught. The design and spirit of the Sunday must pervade the whole proceedings of the Sunday-school.

And need I say that by this rule the teaching of writing and arithmetic are at once proscribed? Desirable as they are for their respective purposes, they can not, in any way, Be the stepping stones to religious knowledge; they can enly have their bearing on the worldly interests of the pupile, and therefore they are clearly inadmissible. I Tope that they are not allowed in any of our Church Sumber erhouse I do not remember, in latter years, to bute met with eich a flagrant desecration of the Sabbath; bur. I græte to eat. I have known cases, where, to throw