Sinners entice, and thus succeed. Let the children of light adopt their plan to obtain a very opposite end, doing so with pure motives, having the Lord for their strength.

Those who practically remember the enmity of the carnal mind, will endeavour to lead on wayward children gently, with Christian forbearance and love. We are not only to be harmless as doves, but wise as serpents.

A grand point with a Teacher should be, with every addition to her class, to gain first the affection of the new comers convince them of her good-will, by any little personal kindness, interest with their friends at home, &c., and there are few who, with this persuasion, will not yield something of self-will, and may, indeed, be ruled by the law of love, and seek to please their instructess, whom they find also to be a true and kind friend.

This, attended with a blessing from on high, (for it is not by might, or power, but by the Holy Spirit,) may lead to their hearing and receiving the truth as it is in Jesus; and the bread thus cast upon the waters, will be found after many days.

"He that winneth souls is wise."

RISING GENERATION.

How solicitous should we be in our endeavours for the religious improvement of the rising generation, since its character appears of so great importance.

We have all our concern in the thought, but I would peculiarly recommend it to those of you who are parents and masters, or have the education of youth under any other capacities. Imagine not, my friends, that it is an inconsiderable charge which is lodged in your hands: Providence has intrusted to you the hopes and the fears, the joys and the sorrows of many hearts, and of many families. Future generations will have reason to applaud or detest your memory, as your present duty is regarded or neglected; and, which is infinitely more, the Father of

the spirits of all flesh will require a strict account of those precious souls which he committed to your care.

It is not for me at this time to direct you at large, as to the particulars of your duty with regard to them. In the general you will easily apprehend that some methods are to be taken to inform their minds with Divine knowledge, and to impress them with an affecting sense of what they know. And if you find the work attended with great difficulty, I hope it will engage you thankfully to accept of the assistance of ministers, and other Christian friends, and earnestly to implore those communications of the Spirit, which are absolutely necessary to make them effectual.

And if God have any mercy in store for so sinful a nation as ours, we may humbly hope, that in answer to our united supplications, he will revive his work amongst us in the midst of the years; and, according to the tenor of his promises, will pour out his Spirit on our seed, and his blessing on our offspring; so that they may spring up before him as the grass, and as willows by the watercourses; and, calling themselves by the name of Jacob, and subscribing with their hands unto the Lord, may be acknowledged by him as a generation of his people.— Doddridge.

ILLUSTRATION OF SCRIPTURE.

"And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice."-JOHN X. 4. THE business of the day being over, we enjoyed a walk outside the Zion Gate. As we sat upon the brow of the hill, we were led to rejoice in the thought that, as certainly as Zion "is now ploughed as a field," the day is coming when "the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and before his ancients gloriously."

Two flocks were moving slowly up the slope of the hill; the one of goats, and the other of sheep. The shepherd was going before the flock, and they followed, as he led the way toward the Jaffa Gate. We could not but remember the Saviour's words: "When he putteth

forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice."

A traveller once asserted to a Syrian shepherd that the sheep knew the dress of the master, and not his voice; the shepherd, on the other hand, asserted that it was the voice they knew. To settle the point, he and the traveller changed dresses, and went among the sheep. The traveller, in the shepherd's dress, called on the sheep, and tried to lead them; but "they knew not his voice,' and never moved. On the other hand, they ran at once at the call of their owner, though thus disguised.

Another traveller informs us that shortly after leaving the city he met several flocks of sheep, preceded by their shepherd, walking slowly towards Jerusalem; and at once the full force of all the beautiful imagery and the many touching similes derived from such scenes and associations, and so often alluded to in Scripture, came vividly before me. These Arab shepherds, clad in the turbans and simple attire worn by their class, and carrying a wooden crook in their hands, walked in front. The sheep, which are a peculiar and very handsome breed, are mostly low sized; the fore parts of their bodies are of a fawn colour, the hinder parts white; they have long, pendant, silken ears, and sweeping tails; their faces are more oval and longer than the species in these countries, and they have altogether a more pleasing, docile, and mild expression of countenance. Not one of them ventured before the shepherd, but stopped or quickened their pace as he did; or if a young and froward creature lagged behind or strayed to either side, a single word from their leader, often a very look, brought it back and checked its wanderings. A few favourite lambs frisked about their master, rubbing themselves against his legs and garments. After the sheep came some young goats and lambs, and the whole procession closed with about two dozen of old patriarchial-looking goats who brought up the rear. These goats have long horns and pendant ears that hang almost to the ground, and their hair is a glossy black, and of the finest grain: the sheep and goats were perfectly distinct.

These shepherds are often to be seen about sunset

slowly approaching the city from all sides to seek shelter for their flock, during the night, in some of the deep valleys by which it is surrounded, carrying the lambs in their bosom. It is almost incredible the influence which the shepherds of Palestine possess over their flocks; many of them have no dogs, but a word is quite sufficient to make them understand and obey the will of their shepherd. He sleeps among them at night, and in the morning leadeth them forth to pasture; always walking before them, guiding them to those places where they can enjoy the best food, and resting when he thinks they have obtained a sufficiency, or during the heat of the day, in some cool, shady place, where they all immediately lie down around him. He has generally two or three favourite lambs, who do not mix with the flock, but follow close at his side, frisking and fondling about him like dogs; indeed the degree of intelligence and understanding that exists between the Arab and his flock is truly astonishing. "They know his voice, and follow him," and "he careth for the sheep."

One of those spots in which the shepherds make their flocks to feed is thus described:

"We broke up our encampment this morning by the dawn, and enjoyed a splendid sunrise. We left the vale of Hebron and its verdant vines with regret. In four hours we came down upon the pools of Solomon. Here we turned of to the right, winding round the hills, and following the course of the old aqueduct that carried water into Jerusalem. At this point a small but beautiful and verdant valley lay beneath us, called by the Arabs, 'the cup,' from its appearance. This may have been one of the spots where David loved to wander with his sheep, and where he meditated such Psalms as the 23rd: 'He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.''

How clearly do these descriptions of Eastern customs elucidate our Lord's parable or simile. He, as the good Shepherd, delights in his sheep, and they know and love him; they follow him, for they know his voice. feeds them in the green pastures of his word and promise, and makes them to repose in peace by the side of

He

the river of the water of life. They are now mixed with the wicked-God does not take them out of the world, although he will separate them ere long-yet he will keep them from the evil that is in the world.

"The desert was now of a more verdant character; and as we proceeded, many flocks of goats were feeding by the way, some of which had sheep mingled with them: forcibly reminding us of our Lord's parabolic account of the great day. At present the thoughtless and the hypocrites feed side by side with the children of God in the pastures of this world's wilderness; but the day is coming when he shall separate the rhteous from the wicked, ‘as a shepherd divideth his sleep from the goats.'”—Mission to Jews, and Wilde's Narrative.

May the Lord bless his people with grace in these perilous times to keep close to the Good Shepherd, and walk in his steps. W. A.

HINTS ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE

SCRIPTURES.

NO VII.

An attentive and serious reader of the Holy Scriptures cannot but feel that he has continually to encounter many difficulties interspersed through them, which elude his comprehension, and are incapable of solution on the best principles of interpretation. While many intricacies are cleared up, many labyrinths threaded, and many mists removed, by adherence to a few simple rules, he now and then strikes on truths which lie beyond the limit of his faculties, such as no ingenuity can unravel, and no exposition make plain. On such, and other difficulties, it is well known that infidelity and scepticism have laid hold, as furnishing their adherents with a sufficient plea for rejecting Christianity altogether. And in large places the instructors of the young are often taunted with objections of this kind, which are urged with great sophistry, and have need to be refuted with great sobriety. How often, too, the Teacher of a Bible