cellars underneath the chapel for the purposes of a Sunday school. This was done at a cost of somewhere about £1,200; and the school was removed thither in February, 1814. The number of scholars during that year was 1,052, The old under-ground school rooms will have therefore been occupied exactly thirty-one years to the very day next sabbath, when the transfer to the new apartments will take place. The number on the books has, from that time to the present, fluctuated between 900 and 1,000. At present the school contains very nearly the latter number, who are under the care of two superintendents, and one hundred teachers, fifty-three of whom have been scholars in the school. In all, since the foundation of this Sunday school, there have passed through it 13,765 scholars. With respect to the results of so many years' labour upon so large a number of young people, it is impossible even to approximate to an estimate of them. I may just state, that when the school was in its fifth year the Youths' Auxiliary Society was formed, which, during the years that have intervened, has raised for the cause of God the sum of £3,568 2s. 9d., of which £1,208 13s. has been given to the London Missionary Society. Upwards of 260 of the teachers and scholars have been admitted into our church, from time to time, since the school began; thirteen of the teachers have engaged in the sacred work of the ministry, and eleven have been sent out by the London Missionary Society to carry the gospel to the heathen.

LIFE AND DEATH.-The population of the whole earth has been estimated at 946,080,000 souls, and assigning thirty years for the continuance of each generation, we shall find that the children of men' come into the world and go out of it at the following average :-Every second, 1; minute, 60; hour, 3600; day, 24 hours, 86,400; week, 7 days, 604,800; month, 30 days, 2,592,000; year, 565 days, 32,539,000; generation, 30 years, 946,080,000. It would thus appear that every stroke of the pendulum ushers a human being into existence, and heralds the departure of another to that bourne from which no traveller returns.'

The Voice of the Months.

No. 5, JUNE.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,

My very name tells you, that I am at your service, and that it will be your own fault if I do not contribute to your advantage and honour. If, indeed, I have not all the freshness of my predecessor, I have more maturity and a richer beauty; and it seems as if the elder should be especially interested in those who are in the spring-tide of life, and the younger contemplate the riper graces the beauty of the full blown rose.' Thus May is the month of the aged, and June that of the young.

The gardens now unfold their delights, and the air is perfumed from the hay-field;

'And boys and girls go forth to play,

On a sun-shine holiday."

Mine indeed is the season for poetic, arcadian innocence; but I fear, the conduct of many will prove, that even the lovely month of June, and fields, and meadows, and groves, must attest to the depravity of young people in the country, being almost as great

'In the wide waste as in the city full."

What is innocent scenery to a corrupt and guilty heart! The sun, after shining on the fruitful earth, and furnishing days longer and longer, arrested by Joshua's Lord, pauses, and then declines towards the winter tropic. Perhaps this backward motion, led the ancients to call me CANCER or the Crab. How humbling it is, that all creature glory, though bright as the very sun, must decrease. How much more painful is it to see young persons who daily rose in their religious feelings and character, and who promised to shine more and more unto the perfect day, falling away from their profession, and going back again into the world! I have, alas! seen many a youth, who, when at school, gave his affectionate and pious teacher bright promises, afterwards sink into carelessness and vice, and die in the wintry gloom of despair. Often

* June is derived by some critics, either from Junioribus, youthsfrom Junione, the goddess Juno-or from Jungendo, uniting. Most prefer the first derivation, and consider, that, as May was so called in compliment to the Senators, so Romulus named June in honour to Juvenum, of young persons to whom he was much indebted.

think of the crab, and dread its motion: often call to mind, If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him' often pray, Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.'

The Romans, who amidst all their valour, were cowardly superstitious, and afraid of omens and unlucky days, selected mine as a propitious month for marriage. While they said, May brides are worthless,' they commended June for the formation of this relationship.

I hope you, when old enough to think on this subject with propriety, will be most determined and prayerful, to be united to no one who does not love the Lord Jesus in sincerity. Reflect on the great importance of marrying only in the Lord, if you would enjoy the divine blessing, and hope for holy society in heaven.

Above all, would I commend the xxv. Matthew to your deep and frequent consideration. Think much of the mid-night hour, in which the cry shall be heard, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,'—of the wise and of the foolish virgins,-of the oil of grace in the heart, as well as the lamp of profession,-of the blessed, who shall be admitted with the Bridegroom, and of the cursed, who shall hear the door shut, grating harsh thunders, shut then into outer and everlasting darkness! Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.'

You will, my dear young friends, receive this faithful admonition, from

Your own affectionate month,

JUNE.

RAPID INCREASE OF ANIMALS.-Naturalists who have spent much of their lives in the study of very small insects, and have used the most powerful telescopes, relate wonderful stories of their rapid increase. A scorpion, they say, will produce 65 young at a time; a common fly will lay 144 eggs; a leech 150; a spider 170; a female moth 1100; a gall insect 5000. One naturalist found 12,000 in a lobster; 6000 in a shrimp. Another found 21,000 in a lobster. An insect like an ant has produced 800,000 in a day. Leuwenhoeck computes 4,000,000 in a crab.

CHURCH AND CHAPEL.-The Record states, that there are in Great Britain, ten millions of churchmen and fourteen millions of dissenters.

THE modern threshing machine was, of course, totally unknown to the writers of the Bible; so was the flail, generally used in this country. The ancient method of threshing is accurately depicted above. The ground chosen was hardened and levelled for the purpose.

The

The

wind drove the chaff away, the corn being beaten out either by the feet of oxen, or by a machine; Gen. 1. 10; Deut. xxv. 4. The machine was a board eight feet long, and three inches thick. On the under side of it pieces of stone or iron were fastened, projecting like teeth. driver of the oxen stood or sat on the board to give it weight, and the oxen being unmuzzled, often picked up pieces of straw as they went their round. If these facts are remembered, they will help our young readers to understand the following verses: Ruth iii. 2: Is. xli. 15; xxv. 10: 1 Chron. xvi. 23: 2 Kings xiii. 7: Matt. iii. 12: 1 Cor. ix. 7.

SHREWD ANSWER.

AT a Sunday school examination, held lately, a little girl being asked, 'what is the outward and visible form in Baptism,' innocently replied, please Sir, the baby.'

KNILL'S SKETCHES. No. 5.

HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE TO HELP THEMSELVES. NECESSITY is the mother of invention! A few years since almost every, manufacturing district in the kingdom was thrown into deep distress for want of trade. Many families who had lived in great comfort were gradually reduced to poverty and almost to ruin. Little hungry children cried for bread and bread they must have, though many sacrifices were made to obtain it. There have been instances when furniture was sold for bread. There were also instances where Sunday garments were pawned for bread; and thus comfort after comfort disappeared. Soon after this, the children disappeared from the Sunday school, and when enquiry was made by the anxious teacher, ، where are my boys, or where are my girls ? The answer was, we really have not clothing for our children, the old garments are worn out, and we have no means to replace them. The kind superintendent of one school thought, what can be done? Necessity is the mother of invention! Shall we try to set on foot a clothing club and help the children to help themselves?' The teachers were consulted and they said, yes, we will try !?

،

The first year realised £50-the second year realised £50—and the third year realised more than £50.

What the future may bring forth none can tell, but the advantages have hitherto been very great, and the plan is worth trying in every Sunday school, for the following reasons:

I. It teaches habits of economy-it is doubtful whether one of the scholars would have had a sixpence of all that fifty-pounds, if it had not been for the clothing society. All our money is made round, and it is astonishing to see how farthings and pence, and sixpences run away; but the Sunday school clothing fund lays hold of them and stops them.

II. It leads to habits of industry-young people are thus imperceptibly taught the value of money. They can purchase every useful article with money; and if they can get work and set about it with energy, they will never want for anything that is really desirable. Parents and masters have their eyes open to behold the industrious and careful habits of those around them, and will always be pleased to contribute to the happiness of those who deserve it. A lazy drone will see others pass by him and wonder how it is that