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And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him * The Centurion answered and said, Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,† having soldiers under me; and I say to this man go, and he goeth; and to another come, and he cometh; and to my servant do this, and he doeth it.

When Jesus heard it he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the Centurion, go thy way; and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.

Luke 7.

And it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain ;§ and many of his disciples went with him, and

* The original words are, I am coming, and will heal him. Our Lord did not go into the centurion's house, but went near it. See Luke 7. + Under the authority of others, and yet have servants completely subject to me: How much more then canst thou who art under no controul, accomplish what thou willest.

As the kingdom of heaven is here represented as a nuptial festival, at which the guests sat down in a reclining posture with the master of the feast, so the state of those who were excluded is represented as deep darkness, because the nuptial solemnities took place at night. The house was filled with light; the outside was in darkness; and those who were shut out were exposed to shame, hunger, and cold, which occasioned the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Nain was about 12 or 13 miles from Capernaum: it does not appear that our Lord ever went there except on this occasion: and he seems to have taken this journey on purpose to perform the compassionate miracle here recorded.—[Clarke.

The two last portions of Scripture are exquisite examples of our Lord's readiness and willingness to do good; he was as prompt to ge VOL. I.

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much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her, and said unto her weep not. And he came and touched the bier and they that bare him stood still. And he said, young man I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF OF POOR WIDOWS, &c.

MR. EDITOR,

New-York, December 16th, 1823.

In perusing a newspaper published in this city last week I observed a statement of a fact which deserves a place in your Magazine; and therefore I send you a copy of it.

The statement appears in the 26th annual report of the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children; a society which, with the aid of only about 2000 dollars, gives assistance in clothing, firewood, provisions, and in sickness, to upwards of 200 widows and nearly 600 children, now on the books!!

"To the Sunday Schools the widows are much indebted: and in families where the children regularly attend there is a marked difference, not only in the acquisition of religious knowledge but in the desire of useful occupation; while the habit of reading and reflection there acquired has a great tendency to preserve them from the company of vicious and vagrant children. " I am, sir, your, &c.

AN OBSERVER.

from home to restore a poor servant to his kind and compassionate master as an only son to his disconsolate and widowed mother, and in the latter instance, appears to have travelled twelve miles for that very purpose. The simplicity of the narrations, as well as the majestic manner in which the Saviour performed these miracles, cannot fail to affect the heart with love and veneration towards him.

Particulars relative to the late Rev. Richard Raikes. 51

THE ORIGINAL SUNDAY SCHOOL.

A few Particulars relative to the late Rev. Richard Raikes, Brother of the Founder of Sunday Schools.

The Teachers of the Sunday School founded by ROBERT RAIKES, ESQ. at Gloucester, (England,) have communicated some particulars relative to his brother which are accompanied with the following note addressed to the Editor of the London Sunday School Teachers' Magazine.

"SIR.-If one name can be more dear than another to a Sunday School teacher, duly impressed with the importance of a religious education, and, at least, an elementary initiation into the relative duties of life, it is certainly that of RAIKES, the immortal founder of those institutions, which will ever tend, in no inconsiderable degree, to advance the moral condition of the labouring classes of society, and be engines, under the Divine blessing, through which many of the faithful disciples of Christ will be enabled to gather around them the children of the poor, and impart to them the vital and saving truths of the Gospel, which to most of them would, in all probability, have remained both unknown and unfelt, but for the existence of Sabbath School instruction.

"As teachers of the original Sunday School, we feel it a duty we owe the memory of the late Rev. Richard Raikes, to transmit to you the following testimony, relative to his unwearied attention, and persevering diligence, in promoting the interests of that institution, which, as the first of its kind, we hope, while Sunday Schools exist, will never cease to take its part in the education of the juvenile poor of Gloucester. Hoping the example of such an honourable character, and aged Christain, may prove a stimulus to your readers in the diligent prosecution of their duties, we request it may have an early insertion in your useful publication. We are, Sir, your's &c.

Gloucester, (Eng.) Oct. 6th, 1823.

THE TEACHERS."

"We have every reason to believe that from the first instituting of Sunday Schools, the late Rev. Richard Raikes ardently seconded the efforts of his revered brother; and if one institution of the kind could have a greater claim on his attention than another, it was that in which we have the honour to be engaged; and as if assigned to him as a sacred trust, he never ceased to watch over it with the most paternal care. From its first

establishment to the present time, it has experienced many reverses, and at times has been reduced very low, consisting of not more than twenty-five or thirty children-has been sometimes destitute of pious teachers--and its internal management principally devolved on a person paid for taking care of the children. At present it consists of about eighty boys and girls, and is well supplied with teachers. Being situate near the residence of the late Mr. Raikes, he invariably came once or twice every Sabbath, unless prevented by illness or other duties; and although called to discharge the duties of pastor at a neighbouring village every Sabbath morning, he previously spent half an hour or more at the school. He generally took one of the lower classes, frequently that in the alphabet, and with patience and perseverance, worthy the imitation of all, he imparted the first knowledge of letters to those who constituted a part of his endeared charge. In all his instructions he evidently made the spiritual interests of the children his principle aim, not only by explaining that which they committed to memory, but by collectively and individually addressing them on the leading doctrines of the Gospel-he endeavoured to lead their tender minds to the knowledge of the Saviour. He appeared to regard the interest of the school in a very important light, and made considerable sacrifices, on his own part, to give his personal attendance, and when prevented would sometimes intimate his regret to one or more of the teachers; and on leaving would frequently express his gratitude for their assist

ance.

"He attended the school the last Sabbath he lived, viz. Sunday, August 31. He was taken ill on the following day, and expired on the ensuing Friday, in the 80th year of his age.

"Humility was his striking characterestic-of this he was truly a bright example; added to which, Christian benevolence shone very conspicuously. A desire to alleviate the circumstances of the poor, and to promote their spiritual interests, appeared to run through his whole conduct; and the petition of the poorest child he met was seldom urged in vain. In fine, a character at once so disinterestedly benevolent and pious we have seldom known. In his death the poor have sustained an

almost irreparable loss-society is deprived of a bright ornament-Sabbath Schools of a zealous promoter, and the church of a venerable and pious minister.”

FIRST SABBATH SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES.

MR. EDITOR,

New-York, December 18th, 1823.

BEING desirous that your useful Magazine should contain the best information that can be obtained on the subject of Sabbath Schools, I beg leave to state that the city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania claims the honour of establishing the first Sabbath School in the present form in the United States. In the year 1809, a small moral society was formed in that city, (then only a borough,) for the suppression of vice, reformation of manners, and propagation of useful knowledge.

This led to the adoption of measures for instructing and improving the moral condition of the poorer classes of the community, who appeared to be in a very deplorable state of ignorance and vice. A benevolent individual suggested the advantages of a school for religious instruction on Sundays; and such a school was accordingly instituted on the 22d August, 1809, which was publicly notified by an address soliciting the attendance of scholars, and the co-operation of the citizens. This excited a considerable degree of interest, and the first school was opened on the first Sabbath of September, and attended by two hundred and forty scholars, children, and adults. This school was constituted without the knowledge of the mode of organization in Europe; and coincided in its principal features with the schools now established.

In 1811 a similar school was established in Philadelphia, under the auspices of the Rev. Robert May, a London missionary, who does not appear to have had any knowledge of the school at Pittsburgh. In 1813 a school was established by a gentleman in Albany, and continued for some time. In June, 1814, two benevolent ladies of New-York opened a school for adults and children, in which were collected between eighty and ninety. In the autumn of the same year a school was established in Wil

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