SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. SCRIPTURE LESSONS FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, SEPTEMBER. MORNING SUBJECTS. SUBJECT. Third Quarter. FOR READING. 7 God's Covenant with David 2 Sam. vii. 1-11, 1814 Absalom's Rebellion...... 2 Sam. xv. 1-14 [29 2 Sam. xviii. 9-17, 24- AFTERNOON (International) SUBJECTS. SUBJECT. Third Quarter. FOR READING. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. Acts xiii. 23. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. 7 The Coming of the Lord..[1 Thess.iv.13-18,&v. iv. 17. Review of Quarter's Lessons Matt. xxii. 21. OCTOBER. MORNING SUBJECTS. SUBJECT. Fourth Quarter. FOR READING. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. 5 David's Charge to Solomon 1 Chron. xxviii. 1-10. ver. 9. 5 Our Great High Priest....[Heb. iv. 14-v. 10 .. vii. 25. A woman remarkable for cruelty and revenge. In her zeal against an innocent people, she counselled her husband to have the instrument of his own destruction made. A SUBJECT. 1. The most fatal instance of curiosity recorded in the Bible. 2. An instance of many people dying from indulging in curiosity. 3. A city celebrated for the curiosity of its inhabitants. A PUZZLE. 1. A tree named by Isaiah as set in the desert. 2. A plant named by Bildad as needing mire. 3. A tree named by Solomon as among the trees of the wood. 4. A tree named by Solomon as growing in a garden. 5. A tree named by Ezekiel as remarkable in its branches. 6. A tree that springs out of the wall. 7. A tree named by Hosea as having incense burned under it. 8. A tree named by Christ on which faith might be tested. The initials form a name given by Christ to his disciples. ANSWERS TO JULY QUESTIONS. A character-Mordecai. A subject-1. Moses, Exodus iii. 11. Isaiah vi. 5. Jeremiah i. 6. 2. David, 2 Samuel xxiv. 2. Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx. 12-19. Uzziah, 2 Chronicles xxvi. 16-19. 3. 1 Kings ii. 19 and iii. 7. 2 Chronicles ii. 6. A puzzle-1. Abraham. 2. Abednego. 3. Raamses. 4. Osee (Romans ix. 25). 5. Neapolis. Initials: Aaron. Finals: Moses. Several of the answers of our young friends on the subject though not the above, are correct, as there are many more instances of humility, and any three make a correct answer. FOR OUR LITTLE READERS. ABOUT CHILDREN. "How greedy you are!" said one little girl to another, who had taken the best apple in the dish; "I was going to take that." "We had a short-cake for tea," said a little girl to a neighbour's boy, to whom she was talking through the fence. "So did we," he answered; "very short-so short it didn't go round." A little Cincinnati girl when asked what God had made her for, replied, "To wear a red fedder in my hat." Many an older person of her sex has, to all appearance, pretty much the same conception of Heaven's designs. 66 66 "Ma," said a thoughtful boy, "I don't think Solomon was so rich as they say he was.' Why, my dear, what could have put that into your head?" Why, the Bible says he slep with his fathers; and I think if he had been so very rich he would have had a bed of his own." Poetry. WILLIE MCGEE. THERE'S a boy in our town-'tis Willie McGee- At play in all weathers he dares to be out; He has high rubber boots, and his clothes are so warm You'd think he might face the worst kind of a storm; Yet often I've heard his teacher complain, "He's absent from school for fear of the rain." "My fine little fellow," I called him one day, "Come, do me an errand; I'm willing to pay; "Tis only to run to the house on the hill.” With hands in his pockets thus answered brave Will: "I like to earn money, and when I'm a man I mean to be rich; I'll get, if I can, A million of dollars in silver and gold; But I can't go to-day, 'tis so awfully cold." A prize to his class was offered last year: Will was sure he would win it--he had not a fear; But winning a prize is not done in a day, And to work on with patience was never his way; He's late in the morning at breakfast and school; At play he excels, but at study or work A RURAL SCENE. HAT a contrast there is between town life and country life! And how conflicting have been the opinions as to which is the preferable life! Great and wise men have given the preference to towns; art has had more charms for them than nature; and they have found more pleasure in intercourse with their fellow-men than in converse with brooks and trees and flowers. But others equally great and wise have loved the country more than the city, and have employed their tongue and their pen in descanting on the enjoyment to be found amongst rural scenery. To our thinking, town and country should not be put in competition in this way, for the two are complementary to each other. The world cannot spare its great cities. Their existence is necessary to the growth of mankind in civilisation, that is, to the refinement and full development of our nature. It is chiefly in cities that man attains to all that dignifies his character and blesses his condition. And yet it would not do for all the inhabitants of the earth to reside in towns. In fact, the human race could not exist thus congregated, for it is only from the country that the materials for our food and clothing can be obtained. In human life and experience, too, the perfection of enjoyment is attained by variety. As a rule, monotony is a dull and dreary thing. We have an innate desire for change. New sights and sounds have a charm for us, though the sights be not more beautiful, nor the sounds more melodious than those we have been accustomed to. Bring one who has been brought up in the country into a large town, and with what wonder he looks upon the creations of man's skill and power there to be witnessed. He has got into a new world, and it is like a fairy scene to him. Supposing he visits London for a few weeks, or even for a few days, he goes back to his retired village home with a sense of grandeur in his soul which he had never known before. And equally impressed, though in a different way, is one who has been born to life in a town when he visits scenes that are wholly rural. In our day it has become practicable to most persons to combine the experience of both conditions of life. Even the poorest have the opportunity of seeing a great deal of the world they live in, and large numbers avail themselves of the opportunity. During the last month thousands upon thousands have been on the wing. The inhabitants of towns have spread themselves over the country; and the inhabitants of the country have been poured into our towns. As the former have passed along on our railroads, what spots of beauty their eyes have rested upon. In one direction there has been the stately mansion, in another the elegant villa, with all their appropriate surroundings; here is the substantial farm-house, and there the neat peasant's cottage; and what can be |