action, the other in conjunction with the verb to have expresses complete action. We do not like to call them, as some grammarians do, present and past. In what sense can loving' express present time in the phrase I was loving, or in what sense does 'loved' express past time in the phrase I shall have loved? It must now be allowed that these participles only attain these values as imperfect and perfect in conjunction with the two auxiliary verbs. Taken alone in their original and adjective character, they are still not present and past, but active and passive. If we think of a loving mother and a beloved child, the distinction will be clear to the mind, or compare ACTIVE. The army routing the foe. PASSIVE. The army routed by the foe. The original distinction between active and passive is still preserved in the formation of quasi-voices. Some languages have inflexions to express passive voices (voice properly means sound). The English again falls back upon phrases. To express the difference between active and passive, the two participles are added to all the conjugated tenses of the verb to be. [It will be observed that to form the imperfect tenses of the verb to be, by the strict rule laid down in page 518, they should be I am being;' 'I was being; ' "I shall be being,' but the participle being is left out, as manifestly redundant.] The natural tenses, then, both imperfect and perfect, corresponding to a passive voice will be thus tabulated. Corinth was a wealthy, beautiful and commercial city on the isthmus of the Peloponessus, and was the capital of Achaia. It was also the seat of the Roman Proconsul of that province. It was distinguished for its luxury and corruption of morals, owing to its maritime character, the influx of visitors at the great Isthmian games, and to the impure worship of the Grecian Venus, who had there a magnificent and unclean temple. Corinth was pillaged and destroyed by the Romans, B.C. 146, and restored by Julius Caesar, B.C. 66. The Christian Church was established by St. Paul on his first visit (see Acts xviii. 1-7), where he stayed a year and a half. It contained both a Jewish element (Acts xviii. 8), and more particularly a Gentile (1 Cor. xii. 2). To the former belonged Erastus, Gaius and Crispus. That it also contained a fair admixture of different ranks of society is seen from the account of the agapo or love feasts. (1 Cor. xi. 22). The state of the Corinthians was far from satisfactory. There were persons who attempted to disparage St. Paul's authority, not so much on account of the Judaising question which had agitated the Galatian Church; (for that was probably now set at rest), but from the love of party making. Some had rallied round Apollos, being attracted by his superior eloquence, others round Peter, as the Apostle of the circumcision, and one of the original disciples; others either from an affectation of superior spirituality, or because they had seen Christ in the flesh boasted, we are of Christ! In the second epistle we have evidence of false teachers who, bringing with them letters of recommendation from other churches, sought to build upon the foundation laid by Paul, while they rejected his apostleship. St. Paul had a double object in writing the first epistle. He wrote to answer their own special enquiries, and to rectify abuses of which he had been informed by members of the household of Chloe. To the former class belonged questions about meats offered to idols (viii-x.); about women being veiled in their public assemblies (xi. 3-16); about the exercises of spiritual gifts (xii-xiv.). To the latter class belong the charge of (1) schism and contention; of (2) gross incest in the case of an unpunished member; (3) carrying their disputes before heathen judges; and (4) irregularities and even insobriety at their Agapo. In addition to these moral charges, some had dared to interpret away the great cardinal doctrine of the resurrection. "In style, this epistle ranks perhaps the foremost of all as to sublimity, and earnest and impassioned eloquence. Of the former, the description of the simplicity of the Gospel in chapter ii.-the concluding apostrophe of chapter iii. (16-end)-the same in chapter vi. (9 to end)—the reminiscence of the shortness of the time, vii.-29-31-the whole argument in chapter xv. are examples unsurpassed in Scripture itself; and of the latter chapter iv.-8.15 and whole of chapter ix., while the panegyric of love in chapter xiii. stands, a pure and perfect gem, perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful thoughts in beautiful language extant in this our world."-(Alford's Greek Testament.) A PEEP INTO THE HANWELL SCHOOL. If our visitor should drop into the girls' department in the evening, he would find them unoccupied from half-past six to eight, with nothing to amuse them, and he would find that they have no one to complain to, or to communicate with, but the same superintendent, whose process is to take the child to the schoolmaster or superintendent, where, if you please, we will leave her, lisping her complaint in the ears of a sympathizing pedagogue. The visitor would further discover, if curious about minutiæ, that no one takes charge of the girls during the time the superintendent has her meals; that their clothes are mended at hap-hazard; for the giving out and repair of their garments the superintendent trusts to her memory alone; and that every girl has to undress at night in the presence of 279 other girls. This is not all. There is no winter, no summer, no spring, no autumn at Hanwell. We have heard of a village without a clock-here is a country without seasons. The children have the same garments all the year round. Mrs. Aubin says they have two new frocks a-year; they wear the same winter and summer, and the same under clothing! Ellen Rabbitt, Superintendent, says the girls' under-clothing is changed once a-week, pinafores every day; they wear the same kind of under-clothing and frocks winter and summer! We are not to inquire whether the garments are warm enough for January, or cool enough for July; we are content to pronounce the same clothing all the year round an abominable abnegation of physiology, an abominable outrage upon the plain necessities of human nature. We treat our horses and dogs with more regard to their preservation from inclement weather and burning heats. Have pauper children no feelings and no liability to disease? In the girls' school there is no basket or bag to put the dirty clothes in, the dirty things are left in the room with the 279 children, as is the case with some housekeepers, on whose doors strict people would write the word "slut," even as strict mistresses inscribe on dusty looking-glasses for the edification of careless housemaids, The undressing of 279 girls in public is very properly paralleled by 40 children going into the bath together.-City Press. [The above has been sent us, but we do not know whether this is a mythical school held up as a warning.-ED.] THE TRINITY OF LIGHT. In light we have a most remarkable illustration of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which is an article of faith with many, of doubt with some, and of disbelief with others: but if we can prove by occular demonstration that there exists in nature a trinity in unity and an unity in trinity quite as marvellous, it ought to confirm the faithful, convince the doubtful, and overthrow the sophistry of the unbeliever. An investigation into the laws and properties of light will enable us to do so. Light is easily separated into its component colours, by transmitting it through a glass prism, where it is resolved into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, which constitute when combined white or ordinary light. This band of colours is called the prismatic spectrum. Now it will be perceived that red, yellow, and blue are its primary colours, the others being merely produced by the admixture or overlapping of two adjoining primary colours: thus, orange is found between the red and yellow, green between the yellow and blue; so that, in fact, we have only the three primary colours to deal with, each of which has its peculiar properties and attributes distinct from the others; thus the red is the calorific or heating principle; the yellow is the luminous or light-giving principle; while it is in the blue ray that the power of actinism, or chemical action, is found. Now it is the trinity of red, yellow and blue which constitutes, when combined, the unity of ordinary or white light. When separated, this unity of light is divided into the trinity of colours. Although one and the same, neither can exist without the other; the three are one, the one is three. Thus we have a unity in trinity, and a trinity in unity, exemplified in light itself; and "GOD IS LIGHT." Plants will live and grow luxuriantly under the influence of the red and yellow rays; but however promising the appearance, the blossom dies, and no fruit can be produced without the enlivening power of the blue rays. When this invisible action is wanting, the trinity in unity is incomplete, life is unproductive until the three, united in one, bring all things to perfection. Thus each member of the trinity in unity of light has its special duty to perform, and is in constant operation, visibly or invisibly, although only one power. Even far beyond the visible violet ray of the prismatic spectrum the spirit of actinism prevails; its chemical influence can be proved to extend beyond the limits of our vision. Thus there is in light an invisible agency always in action; and the more the subject is investigated, the more sfriking is the illustration between the Holy Spirit of God manifest, and the wonderful properties of light which have been gradually unfolded by the researches of man.-From Temple Bar for January. CIRCULAR TO TRAINING SCHOOLS. Council Office, Rev. Sir,-In forwarding the accompanying six copies of the syllabus for 1861, I am directed to inform you that the only changes needing to be noticed (beyond those in the subjects which vary from year to year) are 1. That the paper on Arithmetic is now the same for all candidates whether of the first or second year, and no longer (in the second year) admits of any substitute. 2. That the higher arithmetic hitherto given as one of the indispensable papers of the second year, is now made part of "mathematics' alternative subjects. among the 3. That no candidates who have taken Latin in the first year must (among the alternative subjects) take mathematics or mechanics in the second year. I have the honor to be, Rev. Sir, your obedient servant, F.R. SANDford. To the Rev. the Principal. SPECIAL SUBJECTS IN WHICH MALE STUDENTS IN TRAINING, AND OTHER CANDIDATES FOR CERTIFICATES OF PROFICIENCY AS TEACHERS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ARE EXAMINED. The Examination for Certificates will commence on the 9th of December 1861. The fixed subjects will be found in our February number of 1859, which should be carefully examined by all who are intending to sit for a Certificate of Merit next December. FIRST YEAR. Holy Scripture,-The text of St. John's Gospel. Reading. Some passage from Mr. Warren's" Select Extracts from Blackstone's Commentaries," from Sir J. Herschel's "Discourse on Natural Philosophy," or a passage from The Spectator. English Grammar.-To parse a passage from the Chapters on Wills," in The Holy Scriptures.-The 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. Church History.-In England, The Book of Common Prayer: its history, language, and contents. [In Scotland, the History of the Church to the English Grammar and Composition.-To paraphrase (December, 1861), a passage from Milton's "Paradise Lost," Book II., or from Shakespeare's English Literature.-The first parts of “Bacon's Advancement of Learning," and three plays of Shakespeare, viz., "Julias Cæsar," "Richard II.,” and first Latin.-Cæsar de Bello Gallico, Book IV. ; and Virgil, Æn. 5. 1. The Book of Isaiah to the end of chap. xxxix. for 1861. Catechism, Liturgy, and Church History,* 1. The Catechism, with Scriptural Illustrations. The answers to be pre- pared in the form of lessons to girls between 10 and 13 years old. 2. The order and contents of the Daily Service. 3. First 12 Articles, with Scriptural proofs and illustrations. *For the Presbyterian colleges of Scotland, the questions will be confined to the |