EFFECTS OF PARENTAL OPPOSITION.

A Sunday school girl, ten years old, was spoken of as going to her school in opposition to the wishes of her parents. She persisted till she was actually forbidden, and told that if she continued to go, she would be turned away from home. Her father said that he was going to be obeyed or he would turn her adrift, and let her find a home for herself. Both her parents, and all the family besides this little girl, were exceedingly regardless of religion. They attended no place of worship, and all were banded together against this little girl. So on this Sabbath morning all were sitting together after breakfast, when she went up stairs and prepared herself for the Sunday school. On coming down, she told her father she was going to the Sunday school, that she hoped he would not be offended, that it was God's holy day, and God had commanded to keep the Sabbath holy; that she could not keep it holy and stay at home, and do as they all did; but when she went to the Sunday school she felt sure she was doing right, and when she stayed away she felt sure she was doing wrong. So she had made up her mind to go, and bidding them all an affectionate and pleasant "good morning," she started for her school. The father went to the window and watched her on her way for some time. At length he said "I think I will go after her." The mother said, "I think I will go too" So they both went to the Sunday school. There was a rule of the school that they would not receive visitors except on certain occasions. When these parents came to the door, they were told what the rule was, and they went on to state the reasons of their coming, and begged hard to be admitted, that they might see for themselves what the Sunday school was. They were admitted, attended to the exercises of the school, were well pleased, spoke kindly to their little daughter after school, and invited her to go home. She said, "Oh! no, not now, come into the church, let us hear the sermon, then we will go home." They went into the church, heard, were awakened, and went home in a state of deep anxiety. Their religious convictions deepened. They felt the need of pardon, sought and obtained it. That father, mother, and that little daughter, all stood together in a little time, to make a public profession of their faith in Christ.

PESTALOZZIAN PRINCIPLES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. THE actual substance of Pestalozzi's principles of education may be thus stated:

1. The basis of education is not to be constructed, but to be sought; it exists in the nature of man.

2. The nature of man contains an inborn and active instinct of development; is an organized nature; and man is an organized being.

3. True education will find that its chief hindrances are, passive obstructions in the way of development; its work is more negative than positive.

4. Its positive work consists in stimulation: the science of education is a theory of stimulation, or the right application of the best motives.

5. The development of man commences with natural perceptions through the senses; its highest attainment is, intellectually, the exercise of reason; practically, independence.

6. The means of independence and self-maintenance is, spontaneous activity.

7. Practical capacity depends much more upon the possession of intellectual and corporeal power, than upon the amount of knowledge. The chief aim of all education, (instruction included,) is therefore the development of these powers.

8. The religious character depends much less upon learning the Scriptures and the catechism, than upon the intercourse of the child with a God-fearing mother and an energetic father. Religious education, like all other, must begin with the birth of the child; and it is principally in the hands of the mother.

9. The chief departments for the development of power, are form, number and speech. The idea of elementary training is, the notion of laying, within the nature of the child, by means of domestic education (the influence of father, mother, brothers, and sisters,) the foundations of faith, love, of the powers of seeing, speaking, and reflecting, and by the use of all the means of education, according to the laws and methods of development included within nature itself.

The consequences follow of themselves. They are these:

1. The family circle is the best place for education; the mother's book the best school-book.

2. All instruction must be based upon training the intuitive faculty. The first instruction is altogether instruction in seeing; the first instruction on any subject must be the same, in order to obtain a fruitful, active and real comprehension of it. The opposite of this is the empty and vain mode of mere verbal instruction. First, the thing itself should be taught, and afterward, as far as possible, the form, the representation, and the name.

3. The first portion of instruction consists in naming things and causing the names to be repeated, in describing them and causing them to be described. After this, it should be the teacher's prime object to develope spontaneous activity, and for that purpose to use the forementioned progressive and inventive method of teaching.

4. Nothing should be learnt by rote without being understood; the practice of learning by rote should be confined to mere matters of form. In the method of oral communication with the scholars is to be found an adequate measure for estimating the clearness and activity of the scholar's power of seeing, and his knowledge.

5. The chief inducements to the right and the good are not fear and punishment, but kindness and love.

HUMILITY ONE SIGN OF GREATNESS.

I BELIEVE the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility doubt of his own power, or hesitation in speaking his opinion; but a right understanding of the relations between what he can do and say, and the rest of the world's sayings and doings. All great men not only know their business, but know usually that they know it; and are not only right in their main opinions, but they usually know that they are right in them; only they do not think much of themselves on that account. Arnolfo knows that he can build a good dome at Florence; Albert Dürer writes calmly to one who had found fault with his work, "It cannot be better done;" Sir Isaac Newton knows that he has worked out a problem or two that would have puzzled any one else: only they do not expect their fellow-men, therefore, to fall down and worship them; they have a curious undersense of powerlessness, feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them; that they could not do or be anything else than God made them. And they see something divine and God-made in every other man they meet, and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. The slightest manifestation of jealousy or self complacency is enough to mark a second. rate character of the intellect.-Ruskin.

THE ANIMAL ECONOMY,

You should remember that injustice to any one part of the frame is felt by sympathy with every other part of your animal household-Health is in equilibrium. If you unduly tax any one power or portion of the frame, you do it at the expense of the health and strength of some other portion. Look at a person with weak lungs, but large mental powers, Alas! alas! and this person will read, will think. The poor lungs say, we are very weak; take us out for a walk to-day." The brain says, "My dear, hold your tongue; I want to read this book." The lungs say, "We feel very hungry; you know we did not have our fair proportion of blood yesterday; you, dear brain, you took not only your own portion, but a large proportion of ours. O, now do pay us back to-day." "My dear lungs," says the brain, "I must master this section of chemistry to-day," "Ah, to-day," say the lungs, "we feel weaker than ever; really you do take so much blood, dear brain; you do require so much looking after, I am quite fagged and exhausted, and alas! I am very sorry to say it, but there is the lower portion of my right lung; I have not been able to send any blood to it at all, and it is getting very dangerous, very weak. Now, to day, throw aside the books; just let us take a gentle walk together." "Pooh! pooh !" says the brain, "I am in a most delightful reverie."-Records of a Water Patient at Malvern.

ACTUAL CONVERSIONS IN SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

UNDER this important head, the last report of the Sunday School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, presents the following very valuable statistical details:

During a period of eleven years the number of conversions in our Sunday schools corresponds with the whole increase of our Church members, nearly eight to nine. Or, estimating the per centage of these totals, we find that during the last eleven years nearly eighty-nine per cent. of the nett increase of our Church membership has been derived from our Sunday schools.

Eighty-nine per cent.! This is a very large proportion. Can any man, possessing a particle of real interest im the progress of the Church, study it without being profoundly impressed with the immense importance of the Sunday school as an evangelizing instrumentality? With such a fact before him, can any minister innocently neglect or despise the Sunday school? Can he abstain from diligent efforts to develope its capabilities for training the children of the Church and nation in the theory and experience of Christianity without offence to Him who says to all his ministers, "Feed my lambs?" Let every man answer these queries at the tribunal of his own conscience.

But there is another and less cheering view to be taken of these figures. While we rejoice over our one hundred and fifty thousand Sunday school converts, we cannot help asking why the number is not at least three times as great. By examining our returns, we find that during the period of eleven years the average number of children and youth in our schools has been, in round numbers, 460,000. Now, it is a well-ascertained fact that pupils do not average more than five years' attendance in Sunday schools; but to place these calculations above criticism, we will set down the average at eight years. Hence it follows that our Sunday schools have changed their pupils, during the eleven years past, at the rate of 51,250 per annum. In other words, 51,250 new scholars have come in, and 51,250 youths have graduated or gone out of our schools every year. In view of the mortality among children, we will deduct five per cent., or 2,562, from this number, so that the average annual number of our Sunday school graduates during the eleven years has been at least 48,688.

We will now compare the number of these graduates with the average of conversions during the same period. This we have found to have been in round numbers, 13,000 per annum. So that while our schools have annually graduated 48,688 youths, they have reported only 13,000 conversions. We are thus forced to the conclusion that during the eleven years past no less than 35,688 of our children have annually left our Sunday schools without professing faith in Christ!

Doubtless, many of these precious youths have been subsequently converted. Yet we greatly fear that the vast majority of them have continued unregenerate. Had it been otherwise, the accessions to our Church would have been vastly greater than our Minutes show them to have been. In the eleven years, these unconverted graduates would, if converted, have given over 300,000 members to our Church, in addition to those of our

144 LORD J. RUSSELL'S OPINION ON PARLIAMENTARY GRANTS FOR EDUCATION.

150,000 Sunday school converts who did join her fellowship, and who thereby gave her eighty-nine per cent. of her actual increase. Hence, our conclusion stands but too firmly. Over 35,000 of youths annually quit our schools without giving their hearts to Christ.

Now, although there is no doubt but that these youths become better men and women, better citizens, better sons and daughters, better merchants and artisans, better fathers and mothers, than they would be without the salutary influences of the Sunday school, yet the Church cannot be, ought not to be, satisfied with results only. Sunday school instruction must be regarded as only a means to an end, and that end the conversion of the soul. It can, therefore, only be deemed a real success when that glorious end is attained. Hence, we earnestly call the attention of every friend of children to this question, What can be done to make our Sunday schools increasingly efficient in bringing the scholars to Christ and into the Church?

If parents, teachers, superintendents, and pastors, would set the conversion of the children before their minds as the grand, almost sole, object to be attained by the Sunday school; if they would aim at this teaching; if they would earnestly wrestle for it with prayers and tears; if they would make every Sunday school a battle-ground for young souls, far greater spiritual triumphs would, doubtless, be achieved. Who questions but that faithful, judicious, believing efforts for this object, steadily persisted in by our hosts of teachers, and guided by our ministry, would quickly treble the number of our Sunday school converts? Let us, then, up and struggle for the regeneration of the children! Let the united prayer of the Church be, "Lord, save the children of this untoward generation !"

LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S OPINION ON PARLIAMENTARY GRANTS FOR EDUCATION,

A NEW light on this subject seems to have suddenly broken upon the mind of the ex-Premier. At a Conference on Education held on the 16th February, at the house of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, Strand, after a very intelligent paper had been read by Mr. Harry Chester, on Society of Arts Union of Institutes, and the examinations connected therewith."

LORD JOHN RUSSELL, M.P., spoke as follows:

the

The country should be jealous as to receiving Government aid. Govern ment aid and plans were very good, but they excited jealousy on the part of the people. It occurred to him, in the next place, and perhaps more so as a member of the House of Commons, but it ought to occur to every one else, that there were two questions that could not be separated in the consideration of the matter they were the giving of money in the shape of Government grants, and taxing the people heavily to get the money to give. People were apt to say, here is a great mechanics' institution that is about to be assisted by the Government; what a great, good, and benevolent Government it is! They have given £1,000 for Manchester, and £1,000 to Sir J. Kay Shuttleworth for the East Lancashire Union; the Government evidently intend to advance the education of the people. But then