THE AUTUMN PUBLIC MEETING

OF

SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHERS

AND OTHERS INTERESTED IN THE RELIGIOUS TRAINING OF THE YOUNG,

WILL BE HELD IN THE

CITY HALL,

On TUESDAY, 16th OCTOBER, at 7.30 p.m.

SIR WILLIAM COLLINS, President of the Union, will occupy the Chair.

Addresses will be delivered by

REV. J. H. M'CULLOCH, B.D., Parish Church, Gourock.-Subject, "The Family in Relat to the Sabbath School."

REV. JOHN TORRANCE, St. George's Road Free Church.-Subject, "The Sabbath School its Relation to Evangelistic Work;"

AND OTHERS.

A SELECT CHOIR, under the leadership of MR. D. S. ALLAN, will conduct the Praise and render several Anthems.

COLLECTION ON ENTERING.

PROGRAMMES, with full particulars, will be issued in due course to all the Schools.

CONFERENCES OF SABBATH SCHOOL TEACHERS.

THE Directors have much pleasure in intimating that a series of CONFERENCES have been arranged for, to be held in No. 7 Room, CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, on the Third Thursday of each Month, at 8 p.m., commencing in November. To suit the convenience of Teachers whose places of business are in the centre of the city, and who reside at a distance, it has been arranged that Tea be supplied in the adjoining Room, from 7.30 till 8 p.m. The expenses to be met by a Collection.

Feb. 21.-" Purity of Speech: with Special Reference to the Advanced

Lads of our Schools,"

Mar. 20." On Reaching the Parents through the Children,"

REV. ALEX. GRANT.

MR. SAMUEL MENZIES.
MR. T. H. WATSON.

The attendance of Sabbath School Teachers (ladies and gentlemen) is earnestly requested. The Committee would urge, especially upon Junior Teachers, the importance of the opportunity now presented to obtain a more intimate acquaintance with some of the more pressing questions of Sabbath School life.

TRAINING CLASS FOR TEACHERS.

THIS Class meets every Saturday Afternoon, in the LESSER HALL of the CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, 70 Bothwell Street, from 5 till 6 o'clock.

Scheme will be taken up as under :

Oct. 6, MISS KATE M. ALEXANDER,

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13, Miss M. S. WILSON,

20, Miss A. L. RITCHIE,

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27, JOHN WATT, ESQ.,

Nov. 3, Miss M'WILLIAM,

IN Sabbath school teaching, more than in any other, it is needful that the teacher should win the friendship of the children,-more needful than in other kinds of instruction, because it is the heart rather than the head that is to be dealt with, and without reaching the heart, all mere intellectual teaching is ineffectual; and the teacher should employ all possible means to promote this friendship. For this end it should not be forgotten that the social relation of teacher and scholar may be very effectively promoted on Sunday afternoons, as well as in week-day visiting. It implies that the teacher must make a point of being in his or her place, not only in time for the opening exercises of the school, but some minutes before, the extra time being devoted to the cordial greeting of each scholar, and to the manifestation of the teacher's interest in the personal affairs of those in the class. Often such little snatches of conversation will be found very helpful to the teaching of the lesson that follows, giving insight into thoughts, feelings, or circumstances, that would otherwise remain unknown; and serving, indirectly, but most decidedly, to the promotion of order and attention in the class through the influence of affection.

There was a boy in the city of Chicago who had attended Sabbath school regularly for ten years, and who had a very good teacher. At last his teacher had to leave, and the next was one of the indifferent sort. John thought there was a great contrast between the two, and finally left. A few months later the superintendent met him, and asked him why he did not come to school? "Well," said John, "I am going over to the north side now." "But that is farther," said the superintendent. "Yes, it is farther; but then they seem to love a fellow over there." That was what attracted him.

But the interest must be real, not simulated, for children are quick to detect anything "put on" for the occasion. Therefore, to win them we * A paper read at a meeting of Teachers in connection with Park Church, Highbury.

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must seek to obtain and cultivate a love in our own hearts, like to that which filled the soul of our Lord, when, through His whole earthly life, He followed, with yearning affection, those who refused to receive His teaching and rejected himself; a love like to that which prompted the Master to leave the ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, searching for it until He found it. No love thus given will be lost; the repayment will come certainly, and in rich abundanceperhaps all the richer in blessing that there has had to be long waiting.

The opening exercises of the school being finished, the direct teachingwork of the afternoon commences. How shall it be performed? For this no special method can be laid down which shall suit all classes; for as different dispositions require different treatment, so different minds need different styles of teaching. Therefore, the endeavour of each teacher should be to become so well acquainted with each scholar, as to be able to adapt the class-teaching to their varied requirements.

Whether the lesson shall be read by the class or not, must be decided by the circumstances of the class. If the children can only read slowly and imperfectly, a vivid narration by the teacher of the subject of the lesson is preferable to a reading, in the progress of which the connection between each verse is lost in the difficulty of mastering the words. The same thing may be said about classes in which carelessness and inattention are so strong as to make the reading merely a matter of amusement, or even mockery, — endeavour being made to shew the children that the Bible comes to us, not as any ordinary book, but as the Word of God.

Do we fully realize what this work is to which we have given ourselves? That we have not simply to keep the children quiet and attentive while we tell them about the lesson appointed for the day, but that to us is given the privilege of having a share in the education of those who are placed under our care. Our aim should not be to impart a given quantity of information during a given time, but to employ the time and the subject in drawing out the thoughts that may already be in the minds of our scholars, and in leading into exercise the powers of mind and heart which they possess, so that, instead of needing to be told everything, they may learn to grasp and take possession of information presented to their consideration, and gain from it, not merely the truth we had hoped to teach, but all the truth contained in it that is suited to their need. Probably we have all had personal experience of this. A word is spoken, a remark is made, which to the speaker may seem but a little thing—not, by any means, an important part of his subject, nor one of the thoughts he wished to bring out most prominently-but to us it comes with a flash of glorious light, bringing comfort, and help, and healing to our soul in a time of need.

To me such experience has come frequently; yet, when referring again to the subject to the friend whose words had been thus helpful, the reply has generally been, “I was not thinking of it in that way.” "A lesson for us, I think, to give our words and thoughts unreservedly to our Lord, that He may give them His meaning to carry, not ours alone.

But before our thoughts can convey any meaning at all, we must get them; and for this, careful, earnest preparation of the lesson is needed

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a preparation that shall not only enable us to know the facts of the lesson and the truths to be learnt from it, but which shall make these truths our own, so that, entering and taking possession of our hearts, they may be spoken out again, not as mere information, but as living reality. One writer says, The true preacher can always be known by this, that he deals out to the people his life-life passed through the fire of thought." And a true teacher must do the same: knowing his subject and the truth it contains so thoroughly, that even some interruption to the continuous class-work, which may come through the necessity of dealing specially with some troublesome scholar, shall not cause him to "forget what he wanted to say."

In dealing with any class it is necessary to adapt method and style of teaching to the condition of the scholars, being careful to avoid two errors that of making a lesson for elder boys or girls so childish that they have no interest in listening to it; or the opposite one, of employing language which they cannot comprehend. And the preparation of the lesson should be so complete, that the teacher, watching the effect upon the class, shall be able to modify or alter his style of teaching at will. Indeed, to avoid falling into monotony, the teacher should be careful to vary his method-employing and combining precept, illustration, and question; only, the style adopted should be personal, individual, not borrowed from some one else. Much help we may get from each other; but any teacher who attempts to make his lesson and his mode of teaching exactly like that of some one else, may be quite sure that the attempt will be a failure, however well he thinks he has succeeded.

Another thing to be avoided is dependence upon books, or notes fully written out. A few note jottings of chief points in the lesson, or references to be turned to, may be helpful, but reading in class is weakness, not strength. For one thing, it takes the teacher's eye and attention off the scholars, thus depriving both of the intercommunion and sympathy that are quietly, yet surely conveyed by looks; and it prevents the teacher from seeing if his lesson is interesting his children. I use the pronoun "his," for convenience; but the worst case of this sort which I know, was that of a lady teacher, who, much against her inclination, was persuaded to take charge of a very nice class of senior girls. She was painfully nervous about them, and distrusting her own power to teach, she took the notes of lessons published by the Sunday School Union, and read them to the class. The reading was not appreciated.

In explaining or giving an account of any part of the lesson, the teacher should let his statements be clear and easy to be understoodsuiting his words to the capacity of those with whom he has to do; being careful, too, that his words have a meaning; for there is a way of explaining which carries a thing, once not very difficult to understand, into cloudland, and we look at it through a fog of words that very much perplexes. Clearness of expression, however, essential as it is to success in teaching, is dependent upon clearness of thought; the idea in the mind must be so vivid that the teacher can see distinctly just what it is about which he is to tell his class; and this clearness of thought is, in its turn, dependent upon thoroughness of preparation, so that what the teacher is in class, is very much the result of the way in which the previous