loved Jesus, and believed him to be the Son of God. Why did not Jesus make Lazarus well at once? He wished to show his power, that men might believe and trust in him and be saved; so he waited two days, and then went to Bethany with his disciples. As they came near the place, they found that Lazarus had been dead four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, and said, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; but I know whatever thou wilt ask of God he will give it thee. Martha knew that if Jesus wished he could raise her

brother to life again. Jesus said to her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha thought that he meant Lazarus would be raised up at the last day, when all people will rise again. Then she went and fetched her sister Mary, who was at home with her friends, weeping for her brother. Martha said to her, The master is come and calleth for thee. Then Mary came, and the Jews with her, weeping; and when Jesus saw them, he was sorry for their sufferings, and he was troubled and groaned in his spirit, and said, Where have you buried Lazarus? and they said, Come and see. Jesus wept; Then they

and the Jews said, See how he loved him. came to the grave; it was a cave or a hollow place, and there was a stone to cover the entrance. Jesus told them to take away the stone. What was he going to do? They did not know, but they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and thanked his Father for giving him power to do wonderful miracles to convert the people, and save them; and he stood and called with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. Then Lazarus came out of the grave alive. He had been dead four days, lying in the cold_grave. Linen cloths were bound about his legs, and arms, and face; but Jesus told them to loosen the grave-clothes, that he might walk. How happy must his sisters Mary and Martha have been to see their dear brother alive! and how they must all have loved Jesus for his goodness in

raising him from the dead! Many people who stood around, and saw this wonderful miracle, believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world; but some went away to tell the enemies of Jesus what he had done.

In the selection of subjects for Scripture lessons many will be found peculiarly suited to the minds of little children; such as the history of Joseph; the finding of Moses, and the great events attending the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and their journeyings in the wilderness; the calling of Samuel by the Lord; Elijah fed by ravens; and other subjects. In the New Testament, the birth, life, and miracles of our blessed Lord afford abundant materials for most attractive lessons to young children, and from which they will not fail to derive information and improvement, if care be taken by the teacher to explain those passages which relate to the manners and customs of eastern nations, or which may require illustration to bring their meaning more clearly within the comprehension of the infant mind. When once a little child is interested in any history, such as that of the crucifixion or resurrection of our Lord, he will frequently desire to have it repeated; always finding out some new point of interest, or seeking information on some part not yet thoroughly understood; and it is better to follow this natural impulse, as the mind, in its earliest development, requires to dwell much upon one subject for its perfect comprehension; and the greatest good must arise from this habit, if those subjects are presented which lead to the contemplation of the Divine goodness in the great work of salvation.

The teacher should take care to adopt an affectionate and familiar manner; to endeavour to draw out the children's thoughts; to be patient in answering questions and affording explanations, using always the most simple language. Good pictorial representations of Scripture history are great helps to little children; but

many of those prepared for school use are unfit for the purpose for which they were intended; yet they serve, however imperfectly, to assist children in realizing the action of the story which they might misconceive, or which might otherwise remain a blank to them.

READING.

The old difficulty of teaching children to read arose more from the moral government of the school or class, than from any error in the methods employed. We do not mean to undervalue the labours of those who have aimed at producing philosophical systems for teaching the elements of language; but we have found that in a well conducted Infant School, learning to read is rendered an easy, because a pleasant task.

That the acquisition of language is delightful to children, is proved by the rapid progress they make in it by their own unaided efforts; and this may be accounted for by considering the great need they have of speech in expressing their feelings and wants. On the other hand, the repugnance they generally exhibit to reading, no doubt arises from its apparent uselessness to them. To render it attractive, we must, from the first, remove all obscurity from the words read, by clearly connecting with them the ideas they are intended to convey, and also, by explanations and questions on the subject of the text, make the mere task of reading a secondary object with the learner.

In the Infant Model School the reading classes are divided into the sixth class, consisting of those learning the alphabet; the fifth, who spell and read monosyllables; the fourth, who read in the First lesson book of the Board, and from the corresponding tablets; the third, who read the first sections of the Second lesson book; the second, who can read the whole of the Second book; and the first class, who read in the Sequel and Third books. The Scripture Extracts are also read by this class.

THE SIXTH OR ALPHABET CLASS.

Happily the alphabet can no longer be characterized as the "first torment of children." Its acquisition in an Infant School partakes more of the nature of an interesting amusement than of a task. Every rational means must however be taken to facilitate the progress of the little learner; and as many infant scholars, when first admitted, cannot speak distinctly, a preliminary training has often to be gone through before reading can commence; for this purpose, the names of surrounding objects and of pictures of common things should be correctly repeated after the teacher; and very simple rhymes may be recited and sung with a similar view. It is a good plan to teach the first geometrical lines and figures before commencing the alphabet; for, as these forms are more simple, they prepare the eye to follow the more difficult shapes of the letters. This is a great assistance to the learner, as the separation of the letters into their elements serves to distinguish them more accurately, and fixes them in the memory. Take, as an instance, I, a perpendicular line; P, the same with a semicircle; B, a perpendicular with two semicircles. Or, in the small alphabet, 1, a perpendicular; b, the same with a small circle at the right; d, the same with a circle to the left. As the letters in themselves are perfectly unmeaning to infants, they are delighted to find that by this process they can make something definite out of them. In the same manner, when the teacher directs them to observe how the lips and tongue are placed in forming the different sounds. This is also a new subject of interest to them, and employs their imitative faculties. Sometimes, to attract their attention still more to this point, the teacher whispers the letters slowly, and the children do the same. The effort necessary to distinguish the sounds in this way fixes the attention of the children, and leads them to observe the movement of the lips. Several tablets should be used,

having the letters in large type arranged promiscuously to prevent repeating by rote. The black board may also be frequently referred to, and the letters written on it to produce variety. To assist the memory in first acquiring the sounds of the letters, they are formed into a song and set to music, as are syllabic sounds, each consisting of a vowel and a consonant, as ba, be, bi, bo, bu, &c. These are of great use in familiarizing the ear with the combined sounds of the letters, and are pleasing to the children. "It is incredible," says Pestalozzi, "to those who have not seen it, how much the attention of babes is excited by the repetition of a few simple sounds and their combinations, such as, ba, da, ma, la, and so on. But the charm which it has for them, is not its only advantage; it contributes to develop their faculties and prepares them for future greater exertions."

The alphabet class is usually taught in an Infant school seated in the gallery in open order, so that each child can easily come down when required by the teacher to point out the letters. Three points should be particularly attended to: first, to train the ear to a correct perception of the sounds of the letters; secondly, to make the eye acquainted with their forms; and thirdly, to secure a distinct and pleasing pronunciation. To these may afterwards be added the imitation of their forms. Nothing is more pleasing to little children than the use of a slate and pencil; and they may be occasionally employed to trace the letters, by way of fixing them in the memory, by each child holding a small slate on the lap, as they sit on the gallery.

While in the alphabet class, the children should be much exercised in spelling, after the teacher's dictation, either the names of surrounding objects, or of common well known things, or such easy words as will admit of interesting explanation. In this way, the ear becomes familiarized with all the principal combinations of the letters long before the child is required to know them on paper; indeed it appears surprising that it should

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