MEDITATIONS FOR LENT. THE following quotation, from a Sermon of the Bishop of Oxford, appeared to the Editors very suitable for the Sacred Season now so near at hand: "Only for ourselves let us seek earnestly our place in Christ; let us trust in Him as the source of our new life, and let us live as His redeemed; let us follow Him in his humility, self-denial,-let us fast as He fasted, not as though there were merit in the infliction of indignities upon the body, but that in us in our measure, as in Him perfectly, it may become the meet instrument of a regenerate spirit; that we may make it, in the strength of His grace, our servant instead of serving it! This is the true Christian intent of fasting, not as though God's anger could be turned aside by self-inflicted severities, but that herein we claim our right to bring ever under His holy rule, those bodies which He has washed with water and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. use; "And for this end, solemn times of self-denial are, no doubt, under His blessing, of especial for our lower nature, if we give it too free a rein, will soon rebel and draw us farther from the world above. To yield therefore to its base dominions is to draw back from the holiness of VOL. VI.-No. 3. D our redeemed life; whilst in a simple and humble reliance on His grace to assert in act the mastery of Spirit over flesh, or to seek that help which he will not fail to give to those who earnestly desire it." Let this, then, be our temper through Lent, and let us keep the short and simple meditations which follow ever before us.* "O God, by whose providence Thy Church hath set apart the sacred season of Lent, that in it we may confess and bewail and repent us of our sins; and may consider more seriously our mortality, and that dust we are, and unto dust we shall retum,-grant, that the meditations on the sufferings and Cross of our Redeemer may quench in us all proud conceits, and make us feel how highly favoured we shall be, if by any crosses or self-denial or mortification here, we may be made ready to partake of Thy eternal glories hereafter, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord." LENT. "I have meat to eat that ye know not of."-John, iv. 32. Sad, solemn Season! meet for thought, and prayer, His feast of duty in the wilderness. *We have taken the latter part from "Short Meditations for Lent," in Dr. Hook's invaluable "Devotional Library," which we presume, as a matter of course, all our readers possess.-EDS. Lone-yet not lonely, if my Lord is nigh; Dropt from the heavens, drawn from the waters still, Monsell's Parish Musings. THE BOY WITH THE "TOPPING." a WELL now, boys, if you will sit down quietly by me, I will tell you something which occurred when I was a Sunday School Teacher, a good many years ago. At that time the children in our Sunday School sat altogether in a gallery, and the gallery was so contrived that one Teacher was sufficient to look after them all. This was, however, only when they were moderately well-behaved, for when it happened that two or three in different parts of the gallery were disposed to act improperly, the poor Teacher had hard work to keep them in order. It was a duty, which you may suppose, the Teachers did not much like, and those who had not the art of managing the scholars well, liked it least, because they had always the most trouble. How I have seen a Teacher worried and teased; first one boy here tossing his handkerchief into another boy's face, and then, whilst the Teacher was trying to reach him to stop the impropriety, his ear was caught by a suppressed laugh, and looking round he perhaps saw two or three boys all gazing with grinning faces at a little boy, who, whilst his head had dropped down in sleep, some mischievous neighbour had pulled his pinafore over his head, so as to make it look like a nightcap. All this was of course very wrong, wrong on many accounts; it. was a dishonour to the place, the House of God, to the Day, the Lord's Day, the Service, which was the Worship of the Almighty, to the Minister, to the Congregation; besides being a bad example to the other children, and lastly, a sad trial to the poor Teacher, who thus not only was hindered from attending to the Service, but also had his mind annoyed and grieved by this disorderly conduct on the part of those he watched. I was considered to have the faculty of managing them better than some of the Teachers, and therefore was asked to undertake the duty, oftener than was my regular turn; but I thought it right to comply, in order to relieve those who felt it such a burden. It happened at the time I am speaking of, that we had in the School a boy of the name of John Smith. He was a fine, healthy lad; rather fat, for I fancy he lived well, with a handsome open countenance, a thoroughly roguish eye, and a fine curly head of hair. He used always to have his hair brushed off his forehead, turned over into, what then was called amongst the lads, and perhaps for ought I know, is so called yet, a topping. I think I see him now, coming into the School on a Sunday morning, as usual rather late, with a flower stuck at his button hole, and an easy, good-humoured how-d'ye do, I don't-care-for-you, air about him. I fancy he didn't like School much, and came more because he was required, and could not help it, than from any love for the place, or what was taught in it. Could he have had his own way, I think there is little doubt he would have been away in the fields, or rambling up to the barracks, to see the soldiers, and hear the band play; which, let me say by the way, is as dangerous a resort for young people as they can well find. All, It was a fine summer day when this occurred, which I am about to narrate; just one of those days when children are most disposed o be sleepy, and teasing, and bad to manage. I had the charge of them, and foresaw I should have a task to keep all right. however, did go right for a while, and I began to hope that the effect of my eye being constantly upon them, would be sufficient to keep them in check. I ought to say, I made it a rule never to move from my place, unless it was absolutely necessary. I have often seen that a Teacher by moving about made far more disturbance and noise than the offending scholars, whilst it distracted the attention of the better disposed from the Service, and allowed the mischievous to play tricks during the time his eye was thus withdrawn from them. But I was not to get over my task so easily as I had supposed. All at once a boy, near one of the top corners of the gallery, cried out, "Oh"! as though he was hurt. I looked and saw at once which was the one who had made the exclamation, for he looked red and angry, |