Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

the Col de la Croix. We were marvellously misinformed with regard to the undertaking. The ascent of the Col was tremendous; a burning sun was pouring down from above, and the ill-defined pathway was covered with loose gravel and fragments of rock. The transition was sufficiently agreeable on attaining the the upper Alpine region, where the rapid torrent which had thundered at our side during the ascent, lay slumbering in its cradle of eternal snow. Here we met two aged pilgrims-man and wife-from the Valleys of Piedmont, who were gladly hailed, to get some assistance in the prosecution of our route. The simple announcement of "English" pedigree, before

they were apprized of our Protestantism, kindled up a glow in the old man's countenance, accompanied with a friendly proffer of his hand. Copious tears rolled down the cheeks of the old woman, who stammered forth some heartfelt eulogium on the British nation as their kind benefactors, which, however, between her tears and her putois, was somewhat unintelligible. We parted under a shower of pious benedictions, and, after traversing a vast valley of virgin snow, half-an-hour longer brought us to the mountain summit, where a simple stone marks the boundary between Dauphiné and Sardinia, and where we bade farewell to France.

FOR THE AFFLICTED.

AFFLICTION is a great realiser in religion, occupying your mind as to how the or rather, a great detector of the want of affliction happened, or how it might have reality in religion. We perhaps thought been prevented. Think not of the overourselves Christians, and that we were, sight, or folly, or malice, which may apfounded on the Rock; and when an afflic- | pear to you to be the immediate occasion tion comes, we shake like aspen leaves. Could this be, if we were really on the Rock? We thought fondly, that God was the chosen portion of our souls, and that, though all created things were taken from us, we had enough when we had Him; and yet, when He crosses some desire of our hearts, or removes some of His own gifts, a friend, perhaps, or even a little of the world's trash,-we seem as if we had lost our all; and cry after it, as that Danite did after his idols; and thus we learn the fact, that our comforts before did not, as we only supposed, flow from the eternal fountain, (for that still remains for us,) but had been drawn from perishing cisterns; and, therefore, now that they are broken, we die of thirst. This is an important discovery; and it was to make this discovery that God sent the affliction. Let us, then, receive it in deep humility; let us receive it as a call from God, to leave the creature behind us, and go devoutly into his own more immediate presence,-into His inner chamber.

Reader, will you allow me to speak a word to you on this matter? Beware of

of it. God did it; and vou must bid away all second causes from your thought, and carry the affliction to His throne of grace, and cast it and yourself before Him; and ask Him to save your soul, and to deliver you from resting on any created portion; and pray Him to become Himself your real, and true, and everlasting portion. Take care that this affliction be not lost,-abide in His presence, and be jealous of receiving comfort from any other source;-you may lose your affliction if you do. And, oh! remember, that holiness is of more importance than comfort. Be still more anxious for profit from your affliction, than for support under it. You are an immortal creature, and eternity is your great concern. Holiness is eternal happiness--comfort may be the affair of an hour; and God sends affliction, "that we may be partakers of his holiness."

Let me conclude by saying, that all is to be looked for, and received from God. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." It is the soul that receives all from God; His property to guide and to command; His property to bless and to keep; His highly prized property, purchased at no

less a cost than the death of Christ; for this very end, that He might sanctify it in time, and glorify it in eternity. The soul that feels this, has peace; and it does not make haste, for it knows how secure it is. It possesses the secret of the Lord,—that secret which does for all circumstances

and contingencies; which does for life, for death, for duty, for suffering; which gives the spirit of a pilgrim, and yet a willing servant; which gives the foretaste of the joy of heaven, as it is the commencement of the character of heaven.-T. Erskine.

[ocr errors]

A SHORT FIRE-SIDE STORY ABOUT HONESTY.

ONE evening a poor man and his son, a little boy, sat by the way-side, near the gate of an old town in Germany. The father took a loaf of bread, which he had bought in the town, and broke it, and gave the half to his boy. "Not 80, father," said the boy; I shall not eat until after you. You have been working hard all day, for small wages, to support ine; and you must be very hungry. I shall wait till you are done."-" You speak kindly, my son," replied the pleased father; your love to me does me more good than my food; and those eyes of yours remind me of your dear mother who has left us, and who told you to love me as she used to do; and, indeed, my boy, you have been a great strength and comfort to me; but now that I have eaten the first morsel to please you, it is your turn now to eat." "Thank you, father; but break this piece in two, and take you a little more; for you see the loaf is not large, and you require much more than I do."-" I shall divide the loaf for you, my boy; but eat it I shall not; I have abundance; and let us thank God for His great goodness in giving us food, and in giving us what is better still, cheerful and contented hearts. He who gave us the living bread from heaven, to nourish our immortal souls, how shall He not give us all other food which is necessary to support our mortal bodies!" The father and son thanked God, and then began to cut the loaf in pieces, to begin together their frugal meal. But as they cut one portion of the loaf, there fell out several large pieces of gold, of great value. The little boy gave a shout of joy, and was springing forward

to grasp the unexpected treasure, when he was pulled back by his father. "My son, my son!" he cried, "do not touch that money; it is not ours."-"But whose is it, father, if it is not ours ?" "I know not, as yet, to whom it belongs; but, probably, it was put there by the baker, through some mistake. We must inquire. Run."-" But, father," interrupted the boy, “you are poor and needy, and you have bought the loaf, and then the baker may tell a lie, and”— “I will not listen to you, my boy; I bought the loaf; but I did not buy the gold in it. If the baker sold it to me in ignorance, I shall not be so dishonest as to take advantage of him; remember Him who told us to do to others as we would have others do to us. The baker may possibly cheat us; but that is no reason why we should try and cheat him. I am poor, indeed; but that is no sin. If we share the poverty of Jesus, God's own Son, oh! let us share, also, His goodness and His trust in God. We may never be rich, but we may always be honest. We may die of starvation, but God's will be done, should we die in doing it! Yes, my boy, trust God, and walk in His ways. and you shall never be put to shame. Now, run to the baker, and bring him here; and I shall watch the gold until he comes." So the boy ran for the baker. "Brotherworkman," said the old man, you have made some mistake, and almost lost your money;" and he shewed the baker the gold, and told him how it had been found. "Is it thine?" asked the father; "if it is, take it away."-" My father, baker, is very poor, and "Silence, my child; put me not to shame

66

[ocr errors]

by thy complaints. I am glad we have saved this man from losing his money." The baker had been gazing alternately upon the honest father and his eager boy, and upon the gold which lay glittering upon the green turf. "Thou art, indeed, an honest fellow," said the baker, and my neighbour, David, the flax-dresser, spoke but the truth when he said, thou wert the honestest man in our town. Now, I shall tell thee about the gold:A stranger came to my shop three days ago, and gave me that loaf, and told me to sell it cheaply, or give it away to the honestest poor man whom I knew in the

city. I told David to send thee to me, as a customer, this morning; and as thou wouldest not take the loaf for nothing, I sold it to thee, as thou knowest, for the last pence in thy purse; and the loaf, with all its treasure-and certes, it is not sinall!-is thine; and God grant thee a blessing with it!" The poor father bent his head to the ground, while the tears fell from his eyes. His boy ran and put his hands about his neck, and said, "I shall always like you, my father, trust God, and do what is right; for I am sure it will never put us to shame."

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

The song has bounded o'er the waters,
And India's plains re-echo joy;
Beneath the moon sit India's daughters,
Soft singing, as the wheel they ply,-
"Thanks to Thee, Lord! for hopes of glory, `
For peace on earth, to us revealed:
Our cherished idols fell before Thee;
Thy Spirit has our pardon sealed."

On Afric's sunny shore, glad voices
Wake up the morn of Jubilee;
The Negro, once a slave, rejoices,—
Who's freed by Christ, is doubly free.
"Sing, brothers, sing; yet many a nation
Shall hear the voice of God, and live;
E'en we are heralds of salvation;
The Word He gave, we 'll freely give!"

See the Memoir at the end of last number. The Rev. D. Maurice of New College, Oxford, well known for his great musical talents, as well as for his love and bold defence of Evangelical truth, has composed appropriate music for this

The sun, on Essignilio's river,

Shines bright midst verdant woods and flowers; And He who came man to deliver,

Is worshipped in those leafy bowers.-
"O Lord! once we by Satan captured,
Were slaves of sin and misery;
But now, by Thy sweet love enraptured,
We sing our song of jubilee."

Fair are New Zealand's wooded mountains,
Deep glens, blue lakes, and dizzy steeps;
But sweeter than the murmuring fountains,
Rises the song from holy lips,-
"By blood did Jesus come and save us,

So deeply stained with brother's blood;
Our hearts we'll give to Him who gave us
Deliv'rance from the fiery flood."

O'er prairies wild the song is spreading,

Where once the war-cry sounded loud; But now the evening sun is shedding His rays upon a praying crowd,"Lord of all worlds! Eternal Spirit! Thy light upon our darkness shed; For Thy dear love, for Jesus merit, From joyful hearts, we worship paid."

Hark! hark! a louder sound is booming,
O'er heaven and earth, o'er land and sea;
The angel's trump proclaims His coming,--
One day of endless jubilee.

"Hail to Thee, Lord! Thy people praise Thee; In every land Thy name we sing ;

On heaven's eternal throne upraise Thee,

Take Thou Thy power, Thou glorious King!"

hymn. Both the hymn and the music have been published in a neat and convenient form; and are sold for Is., to aid the Jubilee Fund of the Church Missionary Society. Any bookseller can procure copies from Seeley's, 54 Fleet Street, London.

Education.

DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE SCHEME OF GOVERNMENT
EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND.

THE question of Government education,
is one of great importance to the church
and country. But desirous as we are to
avoid, in our pages, the discussion of party
questions, we abstain from expressing any
opinion upon the subject. At the same
time, we are happy to print the following
documents, which convey information
upon matters of fact. The first is, an
Outline of the Government Scheme of
Education, reprinted from the Edinburgh
Advertiser, (28th April, 1840.) The
others are letters in answer to certain
queries requesting information upon the
several points of importance referred to in
them.

1. Outline.

The Grant is to be applied to three distinct purposes:-1. To aid in the erection of Schoolhouses and Schoolmaster's dwellings. 2. To encourage deserving pupils to enter into apprenticeship with the masters under whom they have been educated. 3. To increase the salaries of Schoolmasters.

1. GRANTS FOR BUILDING.-The only conditions ttached to the grants of aid for building, are-1. That the school shall appear to be required in the place where new accommodation is to be provided; and that the new accommodation is necessary.2. That the buildings cannot be erected without aid from the Parliamentary Grant.-3. That the site shall be conveyed to the School Trustees, upon a valid title, for the use of the school. The ordinary amount of grant is ten shillings for every six square feet of superficial area in the school-house; but in Scotland this proportion is sometimes exceeded.

II. APPRENTICE PUPILS.-The number of pupil teachers to be apprenticed in any school, is not to exceed one for every twenty-five scholars ordinarily attending. They may be admitted in schools of every description,-Parochial, Burgh, Subscription, or Adventure. The application is to be made by the Trustees, Managers, or Patrons of the Schools; and to be addressed to the Privy Council Committee on Education.

Before the apprenticeship receives the sanc. tion of their Lordships, the Inspector must report that the master is competent, or likely to become competent, to conduct the apprentice, through the course of instruction to be required; that the school is well furnished, and well supplied with books and apparatus; that the instruction is skilful; and that there is a fair prospect of the salary and ordinary expen. diture of the school being provided for during the apprenticeship. It must also appear, that

the candidate can read well; can write a sentence or two to dictation; is acquainted with the first four rules of arithmetic, simple and compound, and with the tables of weights and measures; that he possesses an elementary knowledge of grammar and geography; that he can repeat the Assembly's Shorter Cate. chism, and is acquainted with the outlines of Scripture history. The candidate for apprenticeship must be, at least, thirteen years of age; but when possessed of superior intellectual and moral qualifications, he may be admitted until the age of sixteen. The period

com

of apprenticeship is to be for five years; and
throughout the term, the master is to instruct
the apprentice for one hour and a-half daily, on
five days of the week, before or after the school
hours. The subjects on which the apprentice
is to be instructed, embrace, besides
mon elementary branches taught in all schools,
the first steps in Mensuration, the Rudiments of
Algebra, of Mechanics, and of Land-surveying,
and Levelling. On a certain prescribed portion
of these subjects, the apprentice is to be ex-
amined by the Inspector, and must be found to
have attained a certain degree of proficiency at
the end of each of the five years. No farther
conditions are attached to the admission of ap.
prentices, and to their enjoyment of the Gover-
ment bounty during the appointed term. The
masters themselves are not required to have
obtained any certificate of qualification from the
Committee of Council. They are, however, at
the end of each year of the apprenticeship, to
satisfy the inspector of their competency to in-
struct in the branches appointed to be studied
by the apprentice during the year following.

On the other hand, the advantages of the apprenticeship are threefold:-1. The school is benefited by the additional assistance thus pro. vided to the master in the work of teaching. 2. The apprentice receives from the Committee of Council an allowance, rising by degrees in each successive year, from £10 to £20 a-year. 3. The master is to receive, from the same source, the sum of £5 a-year for one apprentice; of £9 a-year for two; of £12 for three; and £3 a-year more for each additional apprentice. It is added, that very promising pupils, on completing their apprenticeship, will receive exhibitions of £20 or £25 a-year to a Normal School; such pupils being thereupon designated "Queen's Scholars."

As there are schools deserving of assistance, which yet may be unable to furnish pupils for apprenticeship likely to satisfy the above requirements in point of qualification, moderate as these are, their Lordships offer to encourage the Managers, Trustées, or Patrons, to retain the monitors in such Schools by small stipends,-such monitors to be continued to the age of seventeen, without apprenticeship.

The qualifications required for monitorship.

are somewhat less than those for apprentice pupils. The monitors are to receive extra daily instruction from the master. They are to serve for four years; and to prove, at the end of each year, a certain degree of proficiency in merely the elementary branches taught in all schools. The gratuities to them vary in each successive year, from £5 to £12, 10s. a-year; and to the master an annual gratuity is allowed of £2, 10s. for one monitor; £4 for two; £6 for three; and £1, 10s. for each monitor additional. Their Lordships do not sanction the admission of apprentice pupils and stipendiary monitors in the same school.

III. SALARIES.-The application for salary is to be made in the same manner, and by the same parties as the application for apprentices. It may be made also in behalf of schools of every description.

The amount of the grant for salary is to vary from £15 to £30 a-year.

The conditions of the grant are

1. Accommodation.-The Trustees, Managers, or Patrons of the school, are required to provide the master with a house rent free. For the masters of parochial schools, the house is to consist of four rooms each, containing 140 square feet of area; and where not more than the legal accommodation has been provided, an annual contribution of £6 will be accepted in addition. For the masters of non-parochial schools, the minimum of the accommodation required is a parlour, kitchen, scullery, and two bed-rooms.

2. Subscription and School Fees.-The Trustees, Managers, or Patrons of the school, or any party interested in it, are required to subscribe towards the master's salary a sum equal to the amount of the grant. The grant will be continned only so long as the master continues to have the benefit of that subscription; but to free him from the chances of any sudden withdrawal of income, the party subscribing is to engage, at the outset, to continue the subscription for, at least, a period of five years.

It is further required, that the teachers shall derive from school-fees an yearly sum equal to the amount of the grant.

annual subscription, which will be recognised pro tanto, as the subscription forms a condition of the augmentation.

3 Resignation of Adjunct Offices.—The teachers who are to receive the grant of salary, are required to resign all the minor offices they may choose to hold, excepting that of Session-Clerk, which is the one by far the most commonly held, and is said to be, on the whole, the most lucrative, with exception, only, of the office of Inspec. tor of the Poor, which is of recent origin; and when of considerable value, attended with much trouble. The average value of the retained office of Session-Clerk, is said to be about £10 a-year.

4. Examination of Candidates for Salary.-It is further required, that teachers claiming aug. mentation of salary, on fulfilment of the above conditions, shall undergo an examination by her Majesty's Inspector upon their knowledge of the various subjects commonly taught in schools. This examination is to take place at certain seasons of the year, and in certain of the large towns. It is to be conducted by means of printed questions, and written answers. The candidate may propose for one or other of three distinct orders of certificate, which entitled the possessor, respectively, to augmentation, of from £15 to £20, from £20 to £25, and from £25 to £30. The candidate for the third, or lowest certificate, is required to have attained a certain proficiency in all the common elementary branches, (Religious Truth included,) in the elements of Algebra, and first two Books of Euclid. A more advanced acquaintance with Geometry and Alge. bra, and some knowledge of Plane Trigonometry. Practical Mathematics, Elements of Mechanics, Popular Astronomy, Latin and Greek, are required of the candidate for the second certificate. In all of these branches, the candidate for the third is required to have made somewhat farther progress than either of the others.

It is farther intimated, that "their Lordships will grant in aid of the salary of every schoolmaster appointed to a school under their inspec. tion, and who has had one year's training at a Normal School, £15, or £20 per annum; in aid of the salary of every such schoolmaster who has had two years' training, £20, or £25 per annum; and of every such schoolmaster who has had three years' training, £25, or £30 per annum-provided he has, upon examination, obtained the proper certificate of merit in each year ;" those grants, however, to be contingent on the fulfilment of the other conditions, as to accommodations, private subscriptions, school-fees, and resignation of minor offices.

These conditions as to subscription and schoolfees, are, however, subject to three important qualifications:-1, That part of a parochial teach er's salary, which exceeds the minimum of £25, is considered as a voluntary contribution by the heritors. Supposing, therefore, that a parochial teacher has the maximum salary of £34, the dif ference betwixt that sum and the minimum being £9, only £6 of subscription is wanted to make up the contribution required as equivalent to an augmentation of £15; and so, whatever the exeess of the actual salary above the minimum, the amount of the required subscription will be regu. lated accordingly. The same principle is ob. served when the augmentation claimed is of any amount betwixt £15 and £30. 2. These require-butions of parents in the form of school-wages, ments, both of subscription and school-fees, may be abated in cases which may be reported to their Lordships as attended with special circumstances. 3. The salaries allowed to their teachers by Education Societies, whose funds are derived from

Such are the terms on which the Parliamentary Grant is to be applied to its several purposes. It is plain from the whole arrangement of the scheme, that their Lordships calculate upon the schools continuing to derive the greater part of the means of their subsistence from the contri

and from local subscription; and that the public grants are intended as merely supplementary to these resources, one of which is common to all schools, and the other by no means uncom

mon.

« VorigeDoorgaan »