stay where he is, notwithstanding the famine, and he will be with him to bless him and to keep him. At the same time, he assures him that he will make good in him the promise before given to Abraham, although his present distress might tempt him to think that he is deserted of God. Now, look at the passage, and tell me what are the promises it contains. C.-Isaac is promised the land in which he is, and all those countries; and that his seed should be as the stars for multitude. the 27th verse, and tell me what kind of promise is there made to Jacob. C.-It is only a temporal promise. But is it a promise at all? for a promise is from God to man, and this is only a blessing from man to man. P.-God does not speak all his promises himself, but most frequently employs men to do so for him, who are, therefore, called prophets; and Isaac, in thus blessing Jacob, was a prophet declaring the will of God concerning his Son. Had not God before said that Jacob should be preferred to P.-And what kind of promise is Isaac? Look to chapter xxv., ver. 23, this? C.-It is a temporal promise. But I thought that the land of Canaan was given to Abraham and his seed, and here it is the land of the Philistines. P. The land marked out to Abraham was from the great river, the river of Egypt, to the Euphrates, and all countries within these limits were to belong to his posterity, and Philistia was one of these. What other promise is here made to Abraham ? C.-That in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. P. And what kind of promise is this? C.-An eternal promise; for it is the same as that before made to Abraham. P.-Yes, the same promise is renewed to him; and thus the succession of the promises is confined to the family of Isaac alone, separate from all the rest of the children of Abraham. B. C. 1760. THE FIFTH PROMISE OF A SAVIOUR. GENESIS XXVIII. 13-15. P.-Do you remember the circumstances under which Isaac blessed Jacob? C.-Jacob, at the instigation of Rebekah, deceived his father, feigning himself to be Esau, whom Isaac loved and had determined to bless, and thus Jacob obtained the blessing which was intended for Esau. P.-Very well; then turn to the 27th chapter of Genesis, and read at and you will see how this was. C.-He says that the elder should serve the younger. P.-Where was he at this time? C.-He was sleeping as he journeyed on his way from Beersheba to Haran. But how, then, could he hear it, if he was sleeping? P. Because God did not always come as he did to Abraham, and speak with him openly, which was a favour granted to him; but he sent visions or dreams in the night to make known his will, as he did in this case, when renewing to Jacob the promise before Imade to Abraham and Isaac. Now look at the promise, and tell me of what kind it is. C. It is like those spoken to Abra- / ham and Isaac before, and is both temporal and eternal. P.-In fact, it is but the renewal of the promise before made of God to Jacob's fathers; and as, after it had been made to Abraham, it was restricted to his son Isaac in preference to his other sons, so is it in Jacob's case confined to him in preference to Esau. The Almighty had his own purposes to fulfil in thus directing, and these, we may be sure, were wisest and best. Poetry. BIRTH-DAY LINES. THERE is a Guide,-a Friend divine, Who on my path has deign'd to shine; His guiding hand through life I trace, And love the teachings of his grace. Through every year, 'tis He sustains; Ten thousand thousand gifts enjoy'd; My all to Thee I now resign; Should gloomy clouds o'erspread my sky, I'd own thy hand,—on Thee rely; To Him my vows I now renew; While on this lower sphere I dwell, Reviews. Remarks on Education in 1847. Dedicated, by permission, to the Queen and to the Prince Consort. By the Hon. AMELIA MURRAY. Henry Colburn. COMING from the quarter they do, we are glad to see such wholesome views upon the great subject of Education; and though we cannot agree with all the opinions expressed by our fair author, the work, as a whole, does receive our commendation. We are told that, during the last thirty years, exceedingly good notions on Education have been tortured into exceedingly bad practices. As an illustration,-Sunday-schools, which are admitted to be good and useful where no better means can be found for training neglected children to habits of reverence and love, are charged with having been made to desecrate the Sabbath by their "hours of toil and gloom, and their stifling atmosphere." Now, had our author been writing thirty years ago, we could understand the force of her objections in some measure; but, that this is a fair picture of the state of things amongst us in 1847, we cannot allow. That part of the work which refers to the art of teaching, and qualification of teachers, is quite consonant with views; and we rejoice to find one in high station pleading for training, rather than our "letter-and-word" teaching: as in a most comprehensive and enlightened view, our author insists upon the duty of establishing good principles, forming good habits, giving good tastes; and that for all this, this, teachers are wanted and something (we should place) above all "constantly actuated by Christian principles." And the day is coming when it must be so. The Mirror of Sunday-school Teachers: containing Biographical Memoirs of One Hundred eminent Sunday-school Teachers with Two Essays-On the importance of Sunday-schools, and On the office of Sunday-school Teaching. By the Rev. T. TIMPSON. pp. 376. Book Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge. THE nearly seventy years that have elapsed since the immortal Raikes essayed his first Sunday-school, at Gloucester, have not passed away without enrolling many persons of distinguished talent and respectable attainments, in this laborious but useful portion of the Christian vineyard. Here the piety and talents of many a future minister and missionary developed themselves; here many a youth attained that aptness to teach which soon was brought to bear upon adult minds at home and abroad; and from the humble Sunday-school arose a Bishop Burgess, a Joseph Hughes, a Legh Richmond, a John Williams, a Mrs. Ellis, and a host of others of minor celebrity. To present at one glance a record of these worthy benefactors of the world, a complete chronicle of their Christian devotedness and holy enterprise, (for the emulation and encouragement of their young successors,) was a task which, though difficult in accomplishment, was a desideratum in Sundayschool literature. With upwards of forty years' experience in Sunday-school teaching, enjoying an extensive acquaintance with the members of the religious world, and possessed also of a painstaking unweariedness, which could overcome any difficulty in gathering the necessary materials and facts for treating the subject, no one was more fitted to fill the void than Mr. Timpson. Upwards of one hundred biographies of eminent teachers are here collected; and we are sure no Sunday-school teacher can review in its pages the lives and labours of his devoted predecessors, without deriving fresh strength for labour, and fresh incentives to usefulness. In the concluding essays we could, perhaps, find one or two opinions with which to disagree, but we have no inclination to find any fault with a volume which exhibits marks of so much industry and good sense, and which is so well calculated to stimulate our Sunday-school teachers to deeper resolutions and more unreserved devotedness. BOOKS RECEIVED. Rev. T. TIMPSON'S Mirror of Sunday- First Lessons in Prayer. A Faded Flower gathered from the Sab- The Thirty-eighth Annual Report of the The Jewish Herald, February, 1848. The Autobiography of Thomas Platter. Prayers for Little Children. By the Rev. Intelligence. LAMBETH.-On Monday, the 17th | Mr. B. Gough. It was one that told on of January, the annual meeting of the the audience. There was a strong feelLambeth Wesleyan Sunday-school was ing in favour of its being printed and held in the school-room attached to the circulated; but there being no funds chapel, China-terrace. The weather for that purpose, it was not resolved on. was wet and unfavourable; but still, The chair was then taken by the Rev. nearly 100 persons assembled early to T. H. Squance. Addresses were delitake tea together. At six, the meeting vered by Messrs. J. and E. Corderoy, commenced with singing and prayer. and by Messrs. Horton, Bowman, SyThe chair being taken, reports were mons, Reynolds, and other representaread from all but two schools, de- tives from the various schools; after scriptive of their present state, and which, the meeting was closed by singthe blessings resulting from their prac-ing and prayer, at half-past nine. The tical operations. From Lambeth, Vauxhall, Broadwall, Southville, and from the smaller schools, there were faithful reports. Such has been the influence of sickness and other causes on the schools, that only two, Nine Elms and Norwood, presented any increase; while in the larger schools the decrease was very large. The annual report was then read by one of the secretaries, Lambeth circuit led the way in this organization. Its influence has encouraged the small schools, and helped towards their continuance at times when else they would have been discontinued. HULL, EAST CIRCUIT. The anniversary sermons for the Sunday-schools were preached in this circuit on Sun-mittee:" Mr. Russell having seconded day, the 23rd of January; the congre- the adoption of the report, it was gations, on the whole, were good, and agreed to by the meeting. Mr. Ingram the collections equal to last year. The proposed the committee for the fol report states that there are four schools lowing year: the motion was seconded in the circuit, containing 1000 children. by Mr. Fraser, and approved by the It deplores the scantiness of the means meeting. In the course of the evenwhich the committee have at their dis-ing, the chairman made some approposal; and, it appears, with their pre-priate remarks. The meeting closed sent income, they are hardly able to with prayer before nine o'clock. maintain the schools in any thing like efficiency. With their present resources they are unable to make any advancement; a large amount is annually contributed by the teachers, but for which this very useful institution could not be upheld in this place. We are sorry that our people and our congregations, generally, do not sympathise as they ought in this matter. The ardour of the teachers is somewhat damped, their hands are hanging down, in consequence of the apathy of those who ought to give them that pecuniary aid which it is their power to contribute. We could like to see our leading people emulating the example set by our friends in the West Riding of Yorkshire; they appear to be alive in these matters, and act accordingly. · THE GLASGOW CONGREGATIONAL SABBATH-SCHOOL SOCIETY. The thirty-eighth annual meeting was held in North Hanover-street Chapel, on the evening of Tuesday, 25th January,Mr. William Wardlaw, President, occupied the chair. After engaging in praise and prayer, the annual report was read by Mr. Wm. Goven, jun., and an abstract of the treasurer's account, by Mr. R. Goodwin. The report read was deeply interesting: it stated that the schools at present under the superintendence of the Society number 40. There are 134 teachers, and the rollbooks of the classes show the numbers in attendance to be 2586, giving an average of about 20 children to each teacher, and of nearly 65 for each school. Mr. Gilfillan moved, "That the report now read be adopted by this meeting, as the thirty-eighth annual report of this society, and that it be printed and circulated by the com BUTLEIGH, SOMERSET.-The annual tea-meeting, in behalf of the Sabbathschool, was held in the Independent chapel, on Wednesday, February 16th. The chair was afterwards taken by the Rev. A. Oram, of Othery, and addresses on Sabbath-school education were delivered by Messrs. Moody, (Wesleyan,) of Charlton Adam Academy; Eades, Giblett, Tapscott, Syms, Kick; and the Rev. Mr. Little, Baptist minister, of Street. It was a very interesting meeting, and the platform presented a pleasing example of the Evangelical Alliance. The children were gratuitously regaled with cake and tea on the day following. SHEPTON MALLET CIRCUIT. -The annual Wesleyan tea-meeting was lately held in the school-room adjoining the chapel, in Paul-street, Shepton Mallet. A selection of pieces was recited by some of the Sunday-school children, and several ministers and friends addressed the meeting. At take a number of shares, at 17. 108. this meeting, many persons engaged to each, to be paid in five years, in order to liquidate the debt on the chapel. A similar plan was adopted at a meeting held some time before, at Wells, in this circuit, and we believe that if such schemes were more generally devised, they would prove an easy and efficient¦ mode of removing the debts on our various places of worship. KEIGHLEY.-We can now boast of having a day-school, a Sunday-school, infant, and industrial schools, which, for conveniency of arrangement, efficiency of instruction, and general be |