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    taught ? " is then , very justly , the connexion between religion and morals . " Affection , respect , obedience , truth , kindness , justice , diligence , constancy , attention , good-humour , disinterestedness , generosity , gratitude , patience , humility , self-respect , these and similar traits of disposition and character furnish the subjects on which we should be

    most desirous of aiding the minds of our pupils . " To effect this , it is proposed , that " one of these topics should enter into one of the lessons of every Sunday , whatever else may be attended to in the way of scientific or scriptural attainments . " " Questions may be put to each of the children in a class , so as to draw their attention to the subject , and

    ascertain what they understand or feel about it , and what assistance they need in forming correct notions of it / ' All this , unhappily , depeuds for its good effect upon the judgment , the patience , and the penetration of each individual teacher . No rules can reach it , and when the next question appears , ' * What are the requisites in a Sunday-school teacher ? " we

    are quite prepared for the answer , " We do not think them few or small ; " and perhaps not quite for the conclusion , that " they are attainable by the humblest Christians , provided they set out with the most important of all qualifications , a real and heartfelt interest . " If it be indeed , as it is afterwards

    described , a living , intimate , affectionate interest in the characters , and for the everlasting happiness of the children they undertake to teach , " it will do much , because it will produce kindness of manner . There may still be great want of Judgment and great deficiency , but the encouraging smile and the tone of affection cannot be useless . It is

    common to say , as an apology for rough treatment at school , ' They are used to it at home j if we spoke to them gently they would not mind us . " They are used to it at home , and only those who have made the experiment can be aware of the effect of treating them otherwise . To those who seldom hear It , the voice of kindness is music ; it works like enchantment . We have seen

    those of whom their parents complained , that " they beat them all day long and could do no good with them , "—we have seen these very children obedient to a word or a look from a teacher who never attempted to punifth them otherwise than by word or b y look . It is became they have been used to severity that it is so easy and so important to rule them by love . We do not surely expect that the imperfect knowledge of reading and

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    spelling , or the still more imperfect knowledge of Scripture History that we can communicate , is to form the minds of these children and give them good habits of thinking and acting . The real advantage of school is its regularity and order , its cheerful and steady discipline , the opportunity of mixing with a more

    educated class of society , and the sym pathy which is thus produced with those who are evidently labouring to " shew them what is good . " This is true of the education of the poor in general , but it applies more especially to Sundayschools and religious instruction . Nothing harsh or irksome should ever be united

    with these lessons ; there should , if possible , be no punishment ; there should , at all events , be no anger or scolding , all should be considered and remembered as a privilege . We do a great and irretrievable mischief if we suffer religion to be associated with any thing unpleasant : for this reason tedious addresses , unintelligible passages of scripture , and Jong or mystical prayers , are not only useless , but bad . A child should never be

    weaned with any thing sacred , and forced to say in its heart , " When will it be over ? " As in heaven , so neither on earth , are we heard for our much speaking . There are some pretty specimens in the Teacher ' s Manual of the manner in which information may be communicated , and important truths made familiar to children . See "

    Lessons on the Mind ( in the third number )—** On the Properties of Seeds , " ( in the second ) . The account of the origin of Sunday Schools is also very pleasing . Since they were ftrst instituted , Lancastrian schools have sprung up , and thrown ( them in some measure into the shade . Sectarian zeal perverted them , so as to excite In the intelligent a doubt whether they were worthy of support ; and at the , present moment it is obvious that those who

    are most capable of conducting them , do not come forward . Dr . Ohanning remarks of the late Mr . Gallison , that ** he was one of the few" ( in his own country ) " who saw that the initiation of the poor into moral and religious truth , was an office ) worthy of the most cultivated understanding and

    that to leave it , as it is aoiirotlmes left , to those whose seal outstrips their knowledge , was to expose to haawd and reproach oue of the most powerful nwans of benefiting society . " If the opinion of Dr . Channing have any weigta with the intellectual and -refined , they nifty perhaps he induced to reconsider th « subject . To those who complain of

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    710 Crideal Notices .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 710, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/54/