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Another Example of the Kind.

they are with her. The consequence is that she has acquired their love and confidence, as a wise and good mother ever acquires the love and confidence of her own family.

The influence of her labors, however, is as yet only beginning to be felt. Time must develop-no, not time; eternity alone can do it-the full and final results of these labors. This world is only the introductory of our existence-the merest infant school.

In the county of in Connecticut, is a young lady not much above thirty, whose mother died some twenty years ago, and left her sole mistress of a family consisting of her father and two brothers. For convenience sake we will call her

Emily.

As the mother was about to leave the world, she had called Emily to her bedside, and implored her, as her last dying request, that she would do her utmost to be a mother to her two brothers, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' This charge of her pious, dying mother, was not forgotten by Emily. She set herself immediately to the work.

What rendered her task more laborious was the fact that the father's influence in his family was exceedingly unfavorable. It is true, he could hardly be said to be a very bad man, openly and directly, except that he was a little intemperate. Still he was worldly and selfish; and what grieved Emily more than almost any thing else, he disregarded the Sabbath; seldom, if ever, attending public worship, or encouraging his sons to do so.

His example, in this respect, as we have already said, was exceedingly distressing to Emily. She saw how difficult it was to change, in any good degree, habits now become almost inveterate; and she saw, with more pain still, the danger of her brothers. The eldest was indeed well nigh ruined, in his temper, disposition and habits. Of the younger she had more hope; though her prospects in regard to him, in the hands of such a father, seemed at times quite dark.

Many a person as sensitive as Emily, but without her moral courage, would have given up. But it was not so with her. Difficulties, instead of discouraging her, only roused her to the performance of the little which remained in her power.

By example, by conversation, by instruction, and by all sorts of effort, she succeeded at length, in so far gaining the ascendancy over her younger brother, as to get him to church with her, and to induce him to join the sabbath school. In a few instances, too, but this was more rare, they were joined by the other brother.

A few months since we ascertained that by means of a bles

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sing on Emily's labors, an entire change of character had been effected in her young brother, and that she had prevailed with him to become a member of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, in Ohio, in order to prepare himself for an extended sphere of usefulness. It is also said that the elder brother is greatly improved in his character, and that hopes are even entertained by those who best know him, of his speedy entire reformation. The father is also in part reformed; so much so at least, as to cease to oppose good things, and to approve of the pious and dignified course of his daughter.

If you ask for particulars-by what means and methods she operates and has operated on the family in which Divine Providence has placed her as a missionary-we can only say in brief, that she is daily and hourly a pattern of industry and every christian virtue; that she is a supporter of every benevolent project with which she is acquainted; buys and reads good books, and lends or reads them to others; subscribes for and distributes all sorts of newspapers and magazines which she believes useful; encourages schools, and especially sabbath schools; and is thus a devout worshipper of the Most High, in all the various parts of his temple. Of the sabbath school, in the parish in which she resides, she has long been the faithful and efficient superintendent.

Is it asked how she obtains the means of procuring books and papers, for distribution, especially as her father is a selfish, worldly man? We reply by saying that, in the first place, his opposition to her efforts has long since ceased. In the second place, the pecuniary circumstances of the family are by no means limited. But, in the third place, if they were so, Emily would do good incessantly, by means of her self denial. She lives simply and temperately and economically; and the expenditures of the family for food, drink, dress, &c., are so much retrenched, that she saves many tens of dollars every year, to be expended in deeds of charity. Her own dress especially, without being mean or neglected, is a pattern of true christian simplicity and plainness.

But it is not by means of her money and books and papers, after all, that Emily does the most good. It is by the spirit she communicates. This is shown in all her actions and conversation;-nay, in her very countenance. Her industry, her temperance, her zeal, her love to God and man have given her such health and strength and energy, that it is impossible she should fail of influencing all with whom she comes in contact. Such example and character are contagious; it is impossible for the world always to resist them. They are the example and character of Christ.

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Hints to Parents and Teachers.

If all sisters, older and younger, were like Matilda and Emily, what a change would it ere long produce in this world! The wilderness would rejoice and be glad for them, and the desert would bud and blossom as the rose. But such sisters as these christianity is destined to make. Till the daughters in our families come to possess this spirit and temper, and to have a pretty large share of the same physical and moral energy, christianity has as yet achieved but half a triumph. Nor until this time, will the work of education make much progress. We

will even say more. Until every person considers it as his great work to so educate by example and precept, those around him, that they will bear the image of Christ, neither the work of education nor of redemption is much more than begun. This world will never be a perfectly happy world, till every person in it does all in his power to make it so.

IMPORTANCE OF DEFINING IN COMMON SCHOOLS.

NO. II.

In a former number we have endeavored to present a few of the advantages which would result from teaching, more extensively than is usual in common schools, the definitions of words which occur in ordinary books-not indeed as they are imperfectly defined in dictionaries, but in a way which is far better.

There is hardly a book which our pupils use at school, however dry it may be, or however uninteresting it may have become from having been repeatedly read over, which may not, by a teacher who has caught the spirit of defining, be invested with all the interest of a new book.-We say not this to encourage the disposition, already too common, to keep school children, year after year, reading over the same book, instead of furnishing them with several new ones every year; nor to discourage teachers who are benevolently disposed, from supplying the lack of parental interest, by purchasing a book now and then themselves, in order to read it to their classes. We would gladly have parents and committees come up to their duty, and teachers to theirs; and not merely do their duty-but become 'living sacrifices,' in Bible language, to the temporal and eternal good of those whom God in his wise Providence has assigned to their charge. But there are some schools and teachers to whom our remarks may still be useful. And it is to such that we address ourselves when we say that almost any book, however dry

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and uninteresting it is to our pupils, may be made pleasing and instructive. Alinost all depends on the spirit and ingenuity of the teacher, and his moral courage.

Of the moral courage of teachers we may perhaps say more hereafter. Our object, at present, is to show how a paragraph which has been read over to a class, may, in the hands of the right sort of teachers, be made a text or starting point whence may be drawn a rich fund of instruction.-Let us take as an example, the following passage.

'And seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him; and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit! for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

This is but a short paragraph, and has in most schools been read over and over, till it is regarded as conveying no new idea, at least; probably to most pupils as hardly conveying any ideas at all. And yet we shall see what can be made of it. We will suppose the teacher to have read it, himself, to his pupils. He then goes on to converse with them.

'And seeing the multitudes,' &c. Now children what are multitudes? Do any of you know? Those who do may raise their hands. I see several hands are raised. Samuel, (addressing himself to the first who raised his hand) what is a multitude. It is a great many people.' Well, there are a great many people in this city-seventy or eighty thousand of them, I suppose are the inhabitants of this city a multitude? They Alexander, did you ever see a multitude of people collected together, in one place? Yes, sir.' What was the largest multitude you ever saw? It was the multitude that collected together on the Common, once, to see the Indians.' Are you fond of seeing multitudes of people? Not very.' Are you, Susan? Yes, sir; when they are peaceable and quiet. I am not fond of noisy multitudes.'

are.'

6

And seeing the multitudes.' Who saw them? (Several hands raised.) Well, Susan, who was it? The Saviour.' How do you know this? I know it by what is said elsewhere.' Well, what is it which is said? You have the Bible in your hand and the place before you, will you tell me? Why, sir, it speaks of Jesus at the end of the chapter just before this, and tells what he did, and now in this chapter it goes on to tell us what he said to his disciples, who had just come to him. I know it must have been the Saviour, for who else had any disciples?'

And seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain.'Now what is a mountain? It is a very high hill.' Is it like

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Morality taught in this way.

any other hill, except that it is high? I do not know.' Elizabeth, what do you think about a mountain? Is it just like a common hill? I think not, sir.' And why not? A mountain I suppose has high steep rocks in it, or on its sides, so that we cannot get up it, but a hill does not.' Are there any others, in the class who think so? Those who do may raise their hands.

I know this is a very common notion among the young, in regard to a mountain; but it is a mistaken one. Some mountains contain perpendicular or craggy rocks, and some do not; and the same is true of hills. In short a mountain is nothing but a large hill; and a hill is in reality a small mountain, only we do not usually call it so. Just as a lake is a large pond of water; and a pond of water is also a small lake, only we do not usually call it so.

Now how many of you have ever seen a mountain? What mountains have you read of? What is the highest mountain you have heard of? Do you know in what part of the world the mountain was which Christ went up into? Which way from us? About how far?

There is indeed no end to the questions which might be elicited. One would suggest another; then the second would suggest a third; and so on. But we hasten to speak of the explanation of a few words of the short paragraph which we have selected.

'And when he was set, his disciples came unto him?' What is a disciple? Did you ever see one? Who else is a disciple? Whose disciples were here spoken of? Do you know how many disciples the Saviour had? Do you know the names of any of them?

Blessed are the poor in spirit.' Now what is the meaning of the word blessed? Children's ideas are usually exceedingly vague in regard to the meaning of such a word as this. The teacher may ask, What good men and women mentioned in the Bible are now blessed? Were any of them blessed while they lived? Are Christians nowadays ever blessed?

What is it to be poor? Did you ever see a poor person? If a man was worth a thousand dollars, do you think he would be rich? If worth ten thousand, what then? And if a hundred thousand, or five hundred thousand? You say that you think a person who has ten thousand dollars is rich; now if we were to ask a person who has five hundred thousand dollars, if he thinks the man who is worth ten thousand was rich, what do you think he would say ?-The teacher will here show what is being really rich.