They may be had of Mr. Nisbet, Berner's-street, Oxford-street, separately or together, at 1s. 6d. per volume. Magnall's Questions. A new and improved edition, by W. Pinnock. Lon. don, Partridge and Oakey. THIS is a favourite book, much improved by the additions and revisions of its present Editor. The work is one well suited to give a sound elementary knowledge of all questions of science and history; and ought to be found in the school-library of every Institution for the young. Magic: Pretended Miracles, and Natural Phenomena. Monthly Series. Religious Tract Society. WE cannot speak too highly of the spirited efforts of this useful Society, in presenting a series of such practically useful works as those comprised in this Monthly Series. Here is a work abounding with illustrations, and full of scientific wonders, making magic plain, and divesting of superstitious horror some of those phenomena by which the world has been scared for ages past. Think of sixty people being burnt in London for witchcraft in one year. What proof of ignorance, superstition, and irreligion ! A Harmony of the Four Evangelists, in the words of the authorised version, according to Greswell's "Harmonia Evangelica:" with references, notes, and a chart of our Lord's Life and Ministry: for Bible-class teachers, catechists, &c. Compiled by R. MIMPRISS. pp. 192. London, Varty. AMONG the numerous books which have within the last few years been commendably multiplied for the purpose of assisting and encouraging the labours of young Bible students, few have been characterised, in our judgment, by an amount of industry and ingenuity equal to that of the modest little volume before us. Mimpriss is a veteran in this department of literature, and on the basis of Greswell's excellent "Harmonia Evangelica," has constructed a little work which all our young friends who desire to make them Mr. selves intelligently conversant with the chronological order, and geographical localisation of every recorded event in our Saviour's life and ministry, will do well to consult. Mr. Mimpriss has reduced the price of this most useful volume, in order to extend its circulation, and we trust every teacher in our Sunday-schools will either purchase or borrow a copy. Every Sunday-school library must have one. A Dictionary of the Gospels, with Lessons: for Bible and Catechumen Classes. By the Rev. S. DUNN. Third edit. pp. 280. London, Tegg, Partridge and Oakey, &c. THIS is a very useful and carefully written little work; and the fact of its having already reached the third edition proves the estimation in which it is deservedly held in our schools. A vast deal of information has been judiciously condensed in this little volume, but the usefulness of the book is, in our judgment, not a little circumscribed by its very indifferent and incorrect printing. Two Letters on Schools for the Education of the Poor. Wertheim, London. WE have met with nothing lately, the perusal of which has given us more satisfaction than the reprint of these valuable and instructive letters. Answers to Correspondents. Student.-Yes; just as the ball you roll revolves on its own axis, while the centre progresses to the end of its journey. ton.-R. E. P.-A. M., Doncaster.-3. Eke. F. W. I., Totteridge.-W. I. C., Edinburgh. -J. Smither. Edward. — Error.-R. Taylor.-E. W.-F. T., Sunderland.-R. N., Manchester.-Humility, Received, with thanks.-T. M., Somer- Bath.-Two Biographical sketches, Leeds. IN Psalm lviii. 5, reference is made to the effect of musical sounds over serpents. Shaw, Bruce, and other travellers speak of the charming of serpents as a thing commonly seen. The much-dreaded Cobra di Capello, or good serpent of the Hindoos, is capable of being tamed; and the Malabar Jugglers have the art of teaching them to dance to the notes of the flageolet. The serpent first seems astonished, then begins to rear himself; and sometimes by a gentle undulatory motion of the head, and with distended hood, seems to listen with pleasure to the notes. Houses infested with these snakes, and smaller reptiles, are cleared by the employment of musicians, who charm them from their hiding-places to their own destruction. It is the "voice of the charmer" that the Psalmist refers to; and Eusebius says, that the charmers of his time employed a verbal charm. Mr. Lane says, that while under this charm, men seize the serpent when he puts forth his hooded head from his hole, and drag out the poison-fangs. Does not this explain what is said by the psalmist, Ps. lviii. 6: "Break their teeth, O Lord, in their mouth." This is usually done by the charmers; who then use them in various exhibitions, not fearing "To dally with the crested worm, To stroke his azure neck, or to receive The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue," NEW SERIES.] M [NOVEMBER, 1848. THE CHILDREN'S SEPARATE SERVICE. "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh."-EZEK. XXXVI. 26. THIS text, dear children, is called a promise. It was made by God, and declared to the Jews by the prophet Ezekiel. He spoke of the Saviour's coming, and of the sad way in which the Jews would receive the Lord of life and glory; then he told them how punishment must follow their sin they were to be driven away from their pleasant homes, and to become wanderers in strange countries, where no one would care for them or give them help; but his message was not all sorrowful, there was a comforting promise at the end, that God would not forget them; He will bring them home again at last; and then he says, "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh." There are two figures in this text: we will talk about the first one; and whilst we try to understand it, let us pray for the help of God's Holy Spirit that we may feel what we hear. We are going to describe a stony heart, but you must not think that our hearts are really made of stone, only that they are like stone. Stone you know is a hard, cold, dead substance; it has no feeling, no life. Trees and plants grow, they open their blossoms to the sunshine, and seem glad when it is warm. If the winter wind blows, and snow and ice appear, the leaves and flowers wither and fall from the tree to die. They are fed by the moisture from the ground, and the gentle rain of the spring-time makes them flourish; but a stone is the same in every season, it does not mind heat or cold, and one place is as good for it as another. You can love your little dog and your bird, and even your pretty flowers which make the garden look so gay, and send forth such delightful scents; but you cannot love a stone. Is it not a strange sad thing that we should have within us hearts like this? Let us examine if it is so: I. If the heart is like a stone it is hard. Suppose you take a piece of ice, which is very hard indeed, and bring it near a warm fire, presently it will melt and dissolve into water, but a stone cannot be softened even by the fire; and the heart that loves to sin is hard like this. No prayer, no teaching, can melt it. It was not always so, but doing wrong has made it harder and harder, until it is like a stone. Take one in your II. It is cold. Did you ever try to warm a stone? hand, how cold it is; if you hold it a little while it becomes warm; but as soon as you put it down it is as cold as before. It is the nature of the stone to be cold. So the heart of the sinner is cold; it may warm for a little time, just while it hears of Jesus, and of heaven; but as soon as it goes away from that good influence, it is cold again; it is its nature to be cold. III. It is dead. There is no sign of life in a stone; it does not breathe or move. If you hold a little bird in your hand, you can feel the beating of its tiny heart, as the breath comes and goes; but the stone is quite still. Just where you put it, there it must stay; if you knock it, it does not feel; it is of no use to take care of a stone, it neither sees, nor feels, nor hears; and just so is a stony heart. It is dead to every thing good; it does not feel or care. Oh! why should we who are alive carry within us hearts that are hard, cold, and dead. How does this happen? Did the good and holy God, who has made everything so perfect and beautiful, give us such hearts as these? No, we read in our Bibles, that God made man in his own image, holy and happy; but that we destroyed ourselves by sin. "God maketh the heart soft;" but we have made it harder than the mill-stone, which is the hardest stone of all. There are in our country, and in other lands, some streams of water which are so very, very cold, that when anything is put underneath them for a little time, it becomes stone. These waters are called petrifying waters. Can you remember that word? Peter means a rock or stone, and petrified means made into stone. If we were to put a basket of ripe fruit where these cold waters could pass over it, it would soon become quite hard, and feel like stone. I have seen fishes and other animals that have been petrified in this way. Now, these petrifying streams are a picture to us of the power of sin over our hearts. Slowly it gets hold of us. Once we thought we would love the Saviour: we felt what our teacher said; we tried to say, "Lord be merciful to me a sinner!" Almost we were persuaded to be Christians; but we have let in the petrifying waters, and now how is it? Does it make us unhappy when we sin? Are our consciences as tender as they used to be? Do we still feel anxious to follow Jesus? I fear not. There is one sad instance given to us in the Bible of a stony heart, let me remind you of it, that it may be a solemn warning. I mean the history of Pharaoh; when God commanded him to let his people go, at first he was ready to obey, but second thoughts made him change his mind. He said to himself, "it is too great a sacrifice to make, these people are such useful slaves, Í shall have no one to build me fine palaces, and high pyramids, if they go. I cannot spare them." The first step in disobedience made the second more easy; God sent many plagues upon him and his people; he had warning after warning, but still he hardened his heart, until his disobedience brought his destruction. Nothing could stop him; and when the Lord delivered his people, Pharaoh perished in his sin, whilst he was pursuing them. What an awful example, dear children; how dreadful it would be if our hearts should be hardened like his. Is there a child whose conscience says, "My heart is not so soft as it once was, I know I have trifled with the Saviour's kind offer of mercy. I have continued in sin, and I feel that my heart is underneath the petrifying stream." Is it so, dear child? then let me tell you what to do. Do not leave it there to harden into stone, or it will become quite cold and lifeless. Make haste to remove it from the place of danger, and give it into the care of one who promises to change the stony heart into a heart of flesh. Oh, what a change! we cannot think of anything more opposite. Flesh is soft, and warm, and full of life. It can feel. It knows the gentle touch of a loving hand; it is glad when a strong arm is near to protect it; it likes the warmth of the summer sun, and it is nourished by the blood which circulates through the thousand little veins spread over the body. The heart of flesh is like this. It belongs to the true child of God, and nothing gives it greater delight than to feel the love of Jesus. It is the Christian who says, "Doth not my heart with pleasure beat, The Saviour's voice to hear." Will you not turn the promise into a prayer, and ask the Lord to take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh? Then you will, indeed, be a blessed happy child, full of gentleness and warm love to Jesus. You will bring your body and spirit a living sacrifice to offer unto God, which is your reasonable service. PARENTS AND SABBATH-SCHOOLS. THE Sabbath-school is acknowledged to be an efficient aid to the cause of Christian education. Fears have been expressed, however, that it may lead to the neglect of parental instruction. This may be the case in some instances; but never, when the true design of the institution is apprehended, and the obligation of parental instruction duly felt. And it is seriously questioned whether those who now neglect family instruction, would not neglect it much more if there were no Sabbath-schools. The true design of the Sabbath-school is, to promote the private study of the Holy Scriptures; and where this is not made the main object, it will fail of its great end. But when the Sabbath-school is made to accomplish this high purpose, it must impose upon parents such a necessity of co-operating in the work, that they cannot neglect family instruction. The only way in which the Sabbath-school can tend to diminish parental instruction, is by diminishing the pressure of responsibility; by dividing it between the parent and teacher; but it can hardly be supposed that it would have any such influence upon the mind of an intelligent Christian parent. The direct tendency of the Sabbath-school is, to furnish an aid and an additional stimulus to parental instruction. The child has a portion of Scripture to study; and she has all the influence of association and sympathy, added to that of the parent, to induce him to make the effort. He only needs the parent's aid to complete the object; and when this aid is freely and judiciously rendered, the parent is in a great measure relieved from the necessity of devising and executing plans of religious instruction; for here the material is all brought before him, and the child is already interested. But if there is a failure on the part of the parent, in ordinary cases the interest in the mind of the child will fail to carry him through; and generally, the child will not be able alone to perform the duty assigned him by his teacher. But how shall the aid of the parent be so extended as to accomplish the desired result? My principal object, in this place, is to answer this question. It can generally be more easily done by the mother than by the father because she is more of the time with the children; but the father ought to co-operate with her in all suitable ways. The system now generally pursued in the Sabbath-schools is, to give out a limited portion of Scripture for a lesson. I believe this to be the best system of all; because it brings before the mind of the child a definite subject, and leads out his mind in reflection and investigation. It also gives him time to deliberate upon the questions that come up for conversation and inquiry in the class. If a portion of Scripture were given out without any questions, there are very few children, and perhaps not many youth, whose minds would originate |