the country, so the word of God is preached to all men without respect of character or class. It is the word of God's grace offering salvation, and our Lord's command is, "Go," &c., Mark xvi. 15.

2. The result, or harvest, depends, not on the quality of the seed, but on the nature of the soil.-The seed is the same wherever sown; so that, if it 'bring forth" in one place, it could in another. Upon the state of man's heart depends the fruit or fruitlessness of the word of God.

soil; so that the word does not take firm root? v. 17.

(3.) Is the soil of our hearts productive. Is there nothing in us to prevent the fruitfulness of the word? O, what numbers of things there are to choke it; and how many people become "unfruitful" in consequence! v. 19.

(4.) Are our hearts honest and good? Have we a ready disposition, a strong desire, to do the will of God? Remember all is in vain, unless we bring forth fruit by repentance, faith, love to God, and holiness of life.

4. We are responsible for the state of our hearts when we hear God's word. They may be prepared by the grace of the Spirit, if we seek it in prayer.

Illustrations.-I. “ THERE WENT OUT A SOWER TO SOW."

See v. 3. "The expression implies that the sower, in the days of our Saviour, lived in a hamlet, or village, as all these farmers now do; that he did not sow near his own house, or in a garden fenced or walled, for such a field does not furnish all the basis of the parable. There are neither roads, nor thorns, nor stony places in such lots. He must go forth into the open country, as these have done, where there are no fences; where the path passes through the cultivated land; where thorns grow in clumps all round; where the rocks peep out in places through the scanty soil; and where, also, hard by, are patches extremely fertile. Now here we have the whole four within a dozen rods of us. Our horses are actually trampling down some seeds which have fallen by this wayside, and larks and sparrows are busy picking them up. That man, with his mattock, is digging about places where the rock is too near the surface for the plough; and much that is sown there will wither away, because it has no deepness of earth. And not a few seeds have fallen among this bellan, and will be effectually choked by this most tangled of thorn-bushes. But a large portion, after all, falls into really good ground, and four months hence will exhibit every variety of crop, up to the richest and heaviest that ever rejoices the heart even of an American farmer." -The Land and the Book.

II. FRUIT A HUNDREDFOLD.

See v. 20. "The return of a hundred for one is not unheard of in the East, though always mentioned as something extraordinary; thus it is said of Isaac that he sowed, 'and received in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him;' (Gen. xxvi. 12;) and other examples of the same kind are not wanting. Herodotus mentions that two hundredfold was a common return in the plain of Babylon, and sometimes three; and Niebuhr mentions a species of maize that returns four hundred fold. Wetstein has collected many examples from antiquity of returns as great as, or far greater than, that mentioned in the text."-Trench.

J. ROCHE, PRINTER, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, LONDON.

WESLEYAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL MAGAZINE.

PRACTICAL PAPERS.

INTERESTING TEACHING:

A WORD OF ADMONITION.

WE E take it for granted that Sunday-school teachers are anxious to do their work in the best manner possible, that they duly estimate its importance and responsibility, and intend (so far as their own diligence is concerned) to be workmen that need not to be ashamed. Unless this be the case, they lack one of the first requisites for their office. But, if they properly understand and regard their work, they will not be content with merely hearing a lesson repeated, or propounding some formal and illprepared instruction to their class, but will try to be impressive, and aim at making all they say tell upon the minds and hearts of their scholars. One very important step toward this end is to make their teaching interesting. Next to earnestness and love in the teacher, this is, perhaps, chiefly to be desired. The truths which the Sunday-school teacher has to impart are of the most vital importance; to make those truths as attractive as they are important, and thus, thoroughly to interest his scholars in them,-is no contemptible achievement. It is a noble aim, an end worthy of the teacher's best endeavours; for, when once the children are interested, the battle is half won. If their earliest sympathies are enlisted on behalf of the true and the good, they are not likely to grow up caring "for none of these things."

We have often thought that the phrase,-"plain truth," has done much mischief, both to the pupil and Sunday-school. In their earnest desire to make the truth plain, men are in some danger of stripping it of all beauty, and presenting it to us in a fashion calculated to repel rather than to attract. A specious fallacy often lurks in an expression; and, undoubtedly, it is so sometimes with that in question men think they have done a good thing if only they have made the truth what they call "plain," but are often blind to the fact that they may, at the same time, have done unwisely, by also making it repulsive,—bald and bare, cold and hard, dull and dry. Children frequently have active imaginations and ready sympathies; they can, and do, appreciate the beauty of wellchosen verses of poetry, interesting anecdotes, or telling illustrations. VOL. III. NEW SERIES.-February, 1868.

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We would not feed their bodies exclusively upon dry bread, even though it were made from "the finest of the wheat ;" neither let us condemn their minds to a dry and wearisome diet of miscalled "plain truth." The teaching of the Great Teacher, while usually simple in its doctrinal statements, is rich and varied in its illustrations ; and "the common people heard Him gladly."

If a teacher only aimed at making his duty pleasant, at saving himself from annoyance and weariness, he would find himself repaid for any pains he might take to render his lesson interesting. How different the work of teaching an interested class and an uninterested one! What a contrast between the kindling eyes, eager faces, and quiet attention of the one; and the dull, stolid apathy of the other, only relieved by occasional (or frequent) mischief-making, and taxing all the powers of the unfortunate teacher to maintain order and discipline.

But much higher results will often follow from successful effort to interest the scholars. What teacher has not had occasion to lament over some of his scholars, who have been enticed to spend the Sunday afternoon rambling in the fields, with godless, and often profane, companions? To interest them in what is going forward in the class will help to guard them against such temptations, and will draw them to the school; and this influence, a counter-attraction to the temptations that beset youth, becomes especially necessary as the scholars advance in years and intelligence: even for young children attractive teaching is most desirable, but for youths just beginning to have their own way, (often too soon for their own good,) such instruction becomes an absolute necessity, if the Sabbathschool is to retain its hold upon them. Το any one who has a practical acquaintance with Sunday-schools we need not enlarge upon the importance of this point: from a dull teacher, who comes with an unstudied, and therefore dull, lesson, how easy to turn away to the fields, especially on a bright summer afternoon. Then come the habitual Sunday stroll, bad company, religious, and often temporal, ruin.

Another reason for making the Sunday lesson attractive, by all lawful means, is to be found in the excellence of the teaching now given to many of our scholars in day-schools. There the children are taught from week to week by men and women who have carefully studied the art of gaining a child's attention, and of awakening in its mind an interest in what they teach; who do not merely give "precept upon precept, line upon line," but who know how to bring into play the mental faculties of their scholars, and seldom

rest until the minds of their pupils are aroused to care for the subject in hand, and to deal with it for themselves. It is a sad thing if the Sunday teaching be found dull and formal, while the Monday lesson is full of interest. The Sabbath-school teacher will find, in the master and mistress of the day-school, either most valuable auxiliaries or most formidable competitors.

We trust the reader will not mistake our meaning: we certainly do not intend to insist upon the cultivation of rhetoric by Sundayschool teachers; flowing periods and an elaborate style are quite superfluous as far as their work is concerned: least of all do we wish them to attempt

"To dress up truth with artificial flowers: "

nor should "an interesting lesson" be, in itself, the principal aim of the teacher. Interest in the lesson is to be sought as a means to an end; sought in the first place, it is true, but holding only a second rank in the teacher's mind and purpose: his great aim is to do the children good; and they are to be pleased, in order that they may be more effectually taught; and only so far as pleasing them will conduce to that end. The teacher is to set before himself the example of St. Paul, who pleased men "for their good, to edification." Never let unworthy concessions be made to any childish impatience of instruction and restraint. Never let religious teaching be sacrificed to mere amusement. The lesson is to be made interesting and attractive, if possible; but its sacred character must be preserved throughout, and instruction of a distinctly religious nature must be imparted, and must be kept pre-eminent. If the "tale" be "adorned," it is only that the "moral" may be more effectually "pointed;" if the teaching be rendered pleasurable, it is "for this cause," that it may the more readily become profitable. The teacher should be greedy of practical result, covetous of spiritual success, and his efforts to give pleasure and awaken interest are to be strictly subordinated to the one great end, which is, to find a readier entrance for that Divine truth which is able to make even children "wise unto salvation."

Some teachers, we grieve to say, seem to lose sight of this lastnamed aspect of the question; perhaps they have never considered its vital importance. Unable to command the attention and interest of their classes, they get through the lesson in less than the allotted time, and the remainder is spent in reading aloud to the class some light serial of a semi-religious character; and, at times, decidedly at variance with Methodist doctrine: others yield to the

clamorous request of the children, and "tell them stories!

Both of these courses are extremely questionable; they may make the teacher popular with the children for a time; but such popularity will often be gained at the expense of real usefulness: each of them departs widely from the purpose for which Methodist Sunday-schools were established; and, if adopted to any considerable extent, both of them tend to make Sunday-schools into a great sham. "But the children like stories," some one will answer, "and may be not only pleased but profited by them." Undoubtedly so; but let the story be interwoven with the lesson, and let all its interest be thrown into the lesson; let it be used as a help to the teacher in his great work of fastening sacred truth upon the minds of his charge. The story should always be incorporated with the lesson; and, if it will not bear that, had better not be told at all. Stories separated from the lesson, and set off against it, are mischievous in their tendency, they help to make it appear irksome; and if the children can persuade a teacher to hurry or curtail the Scripturelesson, in order that he, or she, may amuse them afterwards, they have gained a victory over discipline, and over that teacher's authority. It is not pleasant to say so; but we greatly fear that, in some schools, what with the disuse or neglect of the Catechisms, and what with curtailing Scripture-lessons, in order to make way for trivial reading and story-telling, very little distinct and systematic religious instruction is given; and that a careful examination of the scholars individually (which should be privately conducted, by some well-qualified person) would frequently disclose a very painful amount of ignorance, even of primary religious truth. We beseech our friends, the Sunday-school teachers, to "suffer the word of exhortation." We have often heard them assured, with much earnestness, on anniversary and festival occasions, how useful and important their services are; perhaps he may be as true a friend, and may have their success as sincerely at heart, who faithfully points out faults and dangers, and suggests possible improvements in Sunday-schools.

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"But how are we to make our teaching interesting to our scholars?" is likely to be asked; and the question is, certainly, a fair one. In the few hints that follow, the subject is by no means exhausted every teacher's own common sense, if applied to the task, may suggest to him some additional, and, perhaps, better means of improving his teaching and interesting his class; but we would venture to recommend, among other things, that the teacher should try to think and feel with his scholars. We do not mean that