happen? All living things would die.-Can we see air? No.-Why? It is transparent.—Tell me something else that is transparent? Glass.-Something else? Water.-Can we feel ajr? Yes. (they wave their hands.) What is it then? A substance.-Is it heavy? No. Is it lighter than all other things? No.-What is lighter than air? Several kinds of air or gases, such as are put in balloons.-Why do balloons ascend? Because they and the gas in them do not weigh so much as the common air.—What other property has the air? It has density. What is density? Thickness.-Where is it thickest? At the earth's surface. Why is it thickest here? Because the air above it presses it down. Could you squeeze it more? Yes.-What does that show the air to be? Elastic.-Tell me something else that is elastic? Whalebone, the spring of a watch, cane, and a bladder when blown up.-What makes the bladder elastic? The air inside of it.—Tell me something that shows the pressure of the air? When we suck a thimble on the arm; when we make a sucker with a bit of wet leather on a stone.—What keeps the thimble on the arm? The air being taken out of the inside of the thimble, the air on the outside presses it down to the skin.—What is said to be formed in the inside of the thimble? A vacuum.— What do you mean by this? A place where there is no air.—How much air presses on every inch of our bodies? 15lbs.-How much then presses on our whole body? 30,240lbs. Why does not this weight kill us? Because the surface of a man's lungs, with which he breathes, is equal to the surface of his body, and that keeps up the balance.-What are the results of a knowledge of this property of the air? The making of pumps.—What is a pump? A machine to draw water out of the earth.-How is that effected? By creating a vacuum in the barrel by means of a sucker when the water rises up in its place.— Why does it rise up? Because the weight of the air without the well presses it up.-What is the further use of this knowledge of the air? We make barometers, and can foretell the changes of the weather by them, and can measure the heights of mountains.—Has the firmament a more extended meaning? Yes.— What is it? The whole expanse of heaven and of the blue sky above us.

VER. 9. And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.

In what state were the land and the waters at the end of the second day? Not yet separated.—What did God do with the waters? Called them together unto one place. What appeared then? The dry land.—What was the dry land called? Earth.-What are the names of some of the principal seas? North Atlantic, North Pacific, South Atlantic, South Pacific, Indian Ocean, North Sea. Some of the inland seas? Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf.—What remarkable place was near the Persian Gulf? The Garden of Eden.-What run into the sea? Rivers.-Tell me the names of some rivers? The Nile, the Euphrates, the Ganges, the Wolga, the Mississippi, the Rio de la Plata, the Thames.-What other kinds of water are there on the globe? Lakes.-What is a lake? A piece of water surrounded on all sides, or nearly so, by land.-Tell me some of the principal lakes? Lakes Superior, Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Winnipeg, in North America.*

When God called the waters together, what was left? The dry land.— Which is there most of, the dry land or the water? Water.-In what proportion? Three fifths is water, and two fifths land.—What is seen on the land? Deserts, plains, hills, rocks, valleys, mountains.†—What is the body of the earth formed of? Vegetable mould-gravel, clay, sand, bog, peat, coal, flint, stone, chalk, rock, basalt, salt, slate, gness, lime-stone, marble, quartz or rock

* These exercises may be extended at pleasure as the children become better informed on geographical points.

† All these names or words should be defined and illustrated in a similar manner.

crystal; precious stones, diamonds, amethysts, topaz, minerals, and metals— gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, mercury, zinc, plumbago, antimony, bismuth, arsenic, cobalt, manganese, nickel, &c.‡

VER. 11. And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so.

VER. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good.

VER. 13. And the evening and the morning were the third day. What did God next create ? Vegetables. What are Vegetables? All things that grow out of the earth.-What part of the earth do they grow out of? The top part, called the mould.—What have vegetables? Leaves, roots, trunks or stems, buds, blossoms, fruit, seed, pith, bark.-What is the use of the roots? They draw nutriment or food from the earth to support the plant.— What is the use of the leaves? Plants, breathe by them, and imbibe the vital qualities of the air and light.-What is the blossom for? To bring the seed to maturity. What is the fruit for? For the food of man or animals.—What else? To perfect the seed.—What is the seed for? To perpetuate the plant to the end of the world.§-What uses do we make of plants? All kinds of uses. Tell me the names of some of the principal grasses? Wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice.-What use do we make of wheat? Make bread of it.-What use do we make of rye? Make flour of it.-What of barley? Make beer of it-make gin of it-make brandy of it.-What do we do with oats? Make oatmeal.-What do we feed with oats? Horses.-Where does rice grow? In the East and West Indies. Tell me the name of some other vegetable productions? Hemp, flax, cotton.-What do we make of hemp? Ropes for ships-sacks. What with flax? Linen cloth.-What with cotton? Calico.Do we call vegetables all by the same name? No: some are trees, some are shrubs, some are plants, some are herbs.-What is the use of trees? To build houses and ships with, and make various things.—What trees are used for this purpose? Oak, fir, beech, ash.-Tell me some articles we have from vegetables? Tea, sugar, gum, pitch, tar, camphor, spice, opium, tobacco, oil, Indiarubber, chocolate, and coffee.-What do we make of herbs? Make medicine to cure people when they are sick.-Tell me the names of some medicinal herbs? Rue, rhubarb, foxglove, henbane, poppy, nightshade, saffron.-Name a few of the vegetables we eat? Cabbages, turnips, carrots, leeks, onions, potatoes, &c.— How many different species of plants are there? Above 50,000.-Can people dististinguish one from another? Some people can.—What people are these? Those who have learnt botany.-What is botany? A knowledge of the growth, situation, organization, properties, and uses of plants.-How do Botanists divide plants? Into 24 classes, 109 orders, 2000 genera, and above 50,000 species. —Are these all the plants in the world? No, only a few known and described. (To be continued.)

All these words should be spelled, and the properties of the different metals or minerals may be given in subsequent lessons.-See Martin's Christian Philosopher, p. 246.

This lesson may be extended by describing the organs of fructification in different plants, which are easily obtained by giving a few general rules for ascertaining the class and order to which any plant may belong, and by teaching the pupils the names of the different classes and orders, by the Linnean system, which will be found better than the French method for children.

SPIRITUAL SONGS FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS.

No. 4.

HYMN OF THE GRAVE.

BY WILLIAM MARTIN.

Earth to earth returns, and dust to dust

Falls down in wreck and ruin with our breath; Worms wait to feed, and rank corruption must Finish thy work, thou all-Destroying death! Take, take, oh take thy morsel, hungry grave! Close, close, oh! close thy hideous flinty jaws! All, all of earth 'tis thine to claim and have,

For thine are Nature's never changing laws.

Howl, nature, howl; look not on earth nor sky,
Nor bloom nor blossom gaze upon again;
All that is fair and bright but smiles to die,
And mock thy hope, and call thy longings vain.

We

eep, weep, oh weep! no more, oh! never more On him shall Nature's sun in glory beam; The waves of time, the gales of sense are o'er; Earth is a phantom shade; and life a dream.

Yet, oh! why weep for those that die

In Thee, oh Lord, and knew Thee here;
Have they not spirits born to fly
Unto a brighter, purer sphere-
By holiness their choice.

Angels and seraphs welcome sing,
And usher them before the throne
Of God, their Father and their King,
Who smiles and calls them all his own.
Rejoice! rejoice! rejoice!

Let Nature fade, and suns grow dim,
And worlds in darkness pass away,
Nought can eclipse the light of Him
Who leads us to a brighter day--
Our portal gate, the grave.
He is our God, our faithful Lord,
Our succour, help, and comfort too;
Our helm, our shield, our trust, our sword,
In life and death unchanged and true,
And mighty still to save.

Shout, joyous spirits, now set free

By death, to taste his love divine,

And throughout all eternity

In glorious rapture still to shine.
Sing! sing! with cheerful voice.

Sing, Hallelujah! joy on joy,

In multiplying ecstacies;

And Death, oh Death, cannot destroy

Your world of love, and light, and bliss.

Rejoice! rejoice! rejoice!

No. 5.

GOD FAITHFUL IN AFFLICTION.

When the heart is sore smitten by sorrow,
And the bosom is darksome and drear,
And when bright hope no longer may borrow
A smile from the future to cheer;
And the eye that would gaze on the morrow,
Is constrain'd to gaze on through a tear:

Even then there's a hope that can brighten
The soul in her darksome abode-

That can dry up her sorrows and lighten
The weight of its wearisome load;

'Tis that hope, which no new joy can heighten,-
That leads it to trust in its God.

ON THE UNION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE WITH

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

TRUE religion is always more triumphant when the faith of its disciples is supported by knowledge, and enlightened by scientific research. It may be, that in some things, the mind cannot reach nor compass the mysteries of the divine manifestations; these go beyond reason, but they are never contrary to it. But the human understanding has been compared to a drunken clown attempting to get on horseback, who no sooner gets up on one side than he tumbles down on the other; and thus we observe, that men, when they are roused from one superstition commonly fall into another equally great. As Lord Bacon observes, "There is a superstition in avoiding superstition, when men think they do best if they go furthest from the superstition formerly received." The standard maxim of the devotee, is, "I believe, because it is incredible." The standard maxim of the sceptic, is, "I disbelieve, because others believe." Others there are, who say, "I believe, because I am afraid to doubt;" and between these three parties, and a fourth, who would add reason to faith, the world is divided.

The fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion, like all other fundamental principles of the Divine action, are involved in impenetrable obscurity. Whether we descend into the arcanum of nature, or whether we would dive into the mysteries of revelation, we are alike perplexed. But as in the natural world, all that is really good for us, becomes more truly valuable and serviceable the more we become acquainted with its properties and uses, so in the spiritual world all that is of importance to us is made doubly advantageous when it is separated and cleansed from the rust which ages have thrown round it, and is restored again to its native beauty and pristine purity. And as in the one case, society is benefited by the inquiry, and the research, and the experiment, so in the other is true religion improved; indeed, it comes out like gold from the furnace-the more pure from having been tried; and the man who rubs off the rust with which superstition has obscured truth, also rubs off the rust of prejudice from himself.

Christianity is broad and comprehensive in her views, her notions, and her means; which are instruments of the most stupendous moral grandeur-no less grand in their simplicity than in their loftiest workings. She has subjugated the fell spirit of mankind, and bound it in the adamantine chains of Love:-chains that, while they encompass, would render free; while they are shackles upon earth, are yet the links that connect man with the angels of light, and lift him towards heaven: uniform in her influences, universal in her operations, she embraces the wide universe in her grasp, and brings to her maternal breast her dear black, and red, and white children, and fosters them with the fondest emotions of love: she wills not that they should bleed on altars, or be empaled on spears, that they should pass through fire, or that they should hate, despise, and thrust each other from her embrace; nor would she haunt them with unreal visions, invade them with phantasies, distress them with omens, or perplex them with dreams, making night hideous, and them "fools of nature :" nor would she shut them up in darkness and leave them in the thick dun of ignorance: rather would she open the wide doors of knowledge, and throw the full flood of intellectual light over their brows, that they may shine to her glory, and make bright her coming. A foe to all that is limited, and all that is contracted, and all that is narrow among men, she does not hedge herself in this peculiarity, or that abstruse notion, nor fix her standard on the proud citadel of the bigot, or the crazy walls of the enthusiast; but enthrones herself calmly in the pure sanctuary of a temple, in which no foul thing can intrude, and where the Divine Shechinah, the intelligence of the Holy One, absorbs into its own essence the light of wisdom and of virtue, and blends together reason and truth.

Ignorance has been said to be the curse of God, and knowledge the wings wherewith we fly to heaven. "God said let there be light, and there was light,' "and in Him is no darkness at all." We are labouring to be restored to that image of Him we have lost. All knowledge of his laws and their modes of operation, is knowledge of Him, and leads to truth. When this knowledge is increased, it delivers us VOL. I.-March, 1835.

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