wood. It is a rustic inn. How rejoiced he feels!— And you, believer, have had unexpected seasons of consolation, times of refreshing from the Lord, when you were weak and fainting through hungering and thirsting after righteousness. You have been brought into the King's banqueting house; you have sat under his shadow with great delight; his fruit has been sweet to your taste. Hope thou in God, and never be disquieted within, for in the darkest, dreariest moments of your wilderness journey, He can make it seem to you as none other than the house of God, and the very gate of heaven. So will you ever find

"That joys spring up amidst distress,

And fountains in the wilderness."

But sometimes the steps have to be retraced. When we are not at all expecting any impediment, one presents itself. There is no road. We have walked a considerable distance, and now we have to go back. How provoking! Ah, it will do no good to be provoked. You may as well go back at once, briskly, cheerfully. How often have you, dear reader, if you know anything of the Lord's dealings with your soul, had to retrace your steps? Perhaps the path was of your own selection. Perhaps you chose it because it had less of the cross in it. And you were mistaken. You had to return. This was not pleasant to flesh and blood. You were disappointed. You wanted to force a way. You almost thought God ought to work a miracle in your behalf. Perhaps you even prayed that something like this should be done. But the prayer was not answered. You went back, and you were wise if you went back immediately, cheerfully, promptly. For the future, let us caution you against turning into a path too hastily. Let us advise you always to ask for an intimation of the Divine will, gathered from God's word and his providence under the leadings of

his Spirit, and to wait till you hear the whisper of his love, "This is the way, walk thou in it."

I thought of the Believer's Life-as a history of appointed turnings.

The way is intimated by Divine providence. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." How shall it be known when this is the case? We answer, when our path is one which we evidently have not chosen, and which we naturally are loth to take; also, when events take place which we evidently have not brought about, and which compel a certain line of conduct; also, when we have prayed for Divine guidance, and have endeavoured to "take heed to our way according to God's word." We may believe that the way which appears right to take is marked out by God.

It is a way superintended by God's watchful eye. "Thou knowest," exclaims the believer, "the way that I take." How comforting the thought that your path is appointed; and that your proof of this is two-fold, your being led into it, and your being watched along it. Are you sometimes fearful about the road? Remember that God knows your way, and if He saw fit He would change it. His eye is upon you, and your way must therefore be a right one, and the one which leads to a city of habitation. We say all this under the supposition of your having committed your way unto the Lord. If you are walking in the paths of your own devising, we have no such consolation to afford. But if you are humbly, self-denyingly, prayerfully and believingly walking in complete dependence upon the will of God and the plain intimations of that will, then take comfort, "He will make room enough under you for to go, that your footsteps shall not slide." “He will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go, and He will guide thee with his eye."

It is a way terminated when Infinite Wisdom sees

H

fit. The journey is not only appointed as to its character, but also as to its duration, and the manner of its ending, Have you had a long journey? Are you tired of it? Are your feet weary and toil-worn? Do you anxiously desire the wings of a dove, that you may flee away and be at rest? Have patience. Take courage. When God pleases-would you wish it before He will receive you to glory. How soon that happy period may arrive! Perhaps two more turnings and then you will be at home! Soon, very soon, may you be called to turn into the way of sickness, and after a brief traversing of its narrow valley, you may come to the last turning of your eventful journey, the way that leads straight through "the swellings of Jordan." And then, as you gain its opposite bank, and leave behind for ever the dreary, dangerous wilderness, your heart will rejoice as you walk with cheerful haste through the green pastures and by the still waters of a new Eden-your Promised Land. And you shall be ever with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words, and think-as a thought cheering you onward through danger and toil-"Perhaps two more turnings and then we shall be at home!"

W. M. W.

THE USE OF SABBATH-KEEPING.

MR. WILBERFORCE was often heard to assert that he never could have sustained the labour and stretch of mind required in his early political life, if it had not been for the rest of the Sabbath; and that he could name several of his cotemporaries whose minds had actually given way under the stress of intellectual labour, who, humanly speaking, might have kept in health had they but observed the Day of Rest.

A LESSON AND ITS CRITICISM.

BY E. C. TUFNELL, ESQ.,

Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools.

[We are happy to give insertion to the following paper, thinking it may be of use to those of our readers who teach in Sunday Schools. Why could not they imitate the practice of a Training College, and meet sometimes for the friendly criticism of each other's class exercises ?-ED.]

AN important part of the instruction given at a Training College in the art of teaching is given by what may be denominated lessons for criticism, These consist of lessons given to a class of children assembled in a gallery by teachers in training, in presence of the other students. At the conclusion, the children being dismissed, the sketch of the lesson, previously prepared by the teacher, is read, and each student is required to give an opinion on the merits or demerits of the sketch, as well as of the lesson founded upon it. The treatment of the subject chosen, the language and manner of the teacher, the character of the questions asked, the extent to which the minds of the children have been brought into a state of activity, the educational principles illustrated or violated; and, when the lesson is from Scripture, the moral deduced, or the impression made, are all the subject of critical remarks.

The head master, or one of his assistants, is always present on these occasions, and by his questions, remarks, and a general summing up, aids the students in forming a just estimate of the sketch, and of the lesson. But the best way to give an idea of the manner in which these lessons are conducted, and the advantages to be derived from them, will be to describe minutely one at which I was present.

The subject chosen was the Passage of the Israelites

through the Red Sea; and the application intended to be deduced was the Goodness of God towards those who, like his chosen people, obeyed Him, and the Severity of his Judgments against those who, as in the case of the Egyptians, opposed his will.

The class consisted of thirty children, from about five to seven years of age. The teacher, one of those in training, was provided with a print, which represented the Israelites after they had safely passed over, and the Egyptians drowning in the midst of the Red Sea.

This print was made the ground-work of the lesson, in the course of which the teacher brought out, by questioning the children on the print, and partly by telling them, where the incidents were not represented, that the Israelites had been in Egypt many years, where they were ill-treated by Pharaoh; that they cried unto God, who ordered Pharaoh, by the mouth of his servant, Moses, to let them depart; that Pharaoh was unwilling to permit their departure, but at last consented, though when they were gone he immediately repented, and pursued them, to bring them back; that the Israelites, having been overtaken near the Red Sea, were alarmed at the sight of the pursuing Egyptians, upon which Moses prayed unto God for help. This gave the teacher an occasion incidentally to refer to the duty of prayer in affliction. The waters of the sea having been divided by the power of God, the Israelites passed safely through, but on Pharaoh's attempting to follow, the returning waves overwhelmed him and his army. By pointing to the two parties represented in the print, and dwelling on the condition and character of each, the conclusion was drawn, in the language of Rom. xi. 22, that God will show his goodness to all that love Him, and his severity to those who are wicked.

The most important part is the subsequent criticism on the lesson, in which each of the assembled teachers is expected to take a part.