oh come home! Come home, Come, oh come home! oh come home! Come home, Come, oh come home, come home! Come home! come home! Come home, oh, come home! Come home! come home! ORDER IN SABBATH SCHOOLS. (The substance of a paper read before the Teachers of the Glebe Sabbath-school, South Shields, by RICHARD GOODWIN, a Teacher of the School). RDER is said to be heaven's first law, but I sometimes think it is the last recognised in our Sabbath schools. Very few teachers seem aware of its importance. Most painful is the degree to which disorder at times prevails, and to attempt to teach amidst such tumult and inattention is like sowing seed in a whirlwind. I do not say that the teachers are always and alone biamable, for some children are so resolute in spirit, and so ingeniously mischievous, that they will, at times, baffle the most experienced teacher. Those who are tried have need of patience and grace. But is there not a great amount of disorder which by the teachers might be prevented? It is sometimes wonderful to know what a teacher does with his eyes and ears when he comes to school. His children may all be talking together, but he does not hear; their eyes may be going all round the room, or they may be playing each all kinds of tricks, or some may even leave the class for a time, and he does not see. Even in tolerably quiet and well ordered schools attention is very much lacking. A certain amount of inattention may be expected in large schools, but by proper care it may be reduced to a small extent. Order should be the natural and certain result of the internal arrangement, management, and proper discharge of duty by superintendent and teachers. I shall first notice a few of the duties of the superintendent, and then those of the teachers. Much has been said and written upon this subject. It is generally acknowledged that much depends upon the character and efficiency of the superintendent. One has said that 'the first look at a Sundayschool will, to an experienced eye, declare the character and adapta tion of the superintendent.' Another, that it is the superintendent's duty to enforce quietness and order, that discipline must be carried out with a firm hand, and that when he entered a noisy, disorderly school he never thought of attributing any blame to the teacher, for it is the superintendent's duty to remove them, if they do not enforce stillness and prompt obedience in their classes.' Doubtless the character, life, prosperity, and usefulness of the school depend more upon the superintendent than upon any other person. His position is a very important one. It is no easy thing properly and thoroughly to govern a body of voluntary adult agents, and at the same time rule children of all ages and dispositions whose attendance is often as voluntary as that of the teachers. To govern both rightly, to maintain discipline with an unfaltering hand without giving offence to any, to be firm yet ever kind, he must be a man of ready mind, sound judgment, and a most Christian disposition, he must unite the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove. I think a superintendent should not attempt to act on the children directly, but should reach them through the teachers. When a school is in disorder, how often the superintendent calls upon the scholars to be still and quiet, instead of saying, 'I would thank the teachers if they would kindly keep their classes in order. your class is unruly; secure quiet, please.' Mr. A., boy in He should see that the laws of the school are honoured, and for this he must scrupulously observe them himself. Unless he respect law and obey a proper government, the school cannot exist. Firmness in the execution of law is essential. Through the lack of this quality many excellent and intelligent teachers make but indifferent superintendents. Their feelings triumph over their judgment, and instead of inflicting the proper penalty on the offender, they say they will overlook it this time; yet as often as the fault is committed it is pardoned. Thus rule becomes only a thing of name. A superintendent should be a thorough disciplinarian, should not allow one jot or tittle of the law to be contemned. If he allow indifference to the smallest regulations, he will soon find that (the more important ones are neglected too. Every rule on the code should be honoured or abolished; if it has its use, obey it at all costs, if it has no use, remove it. Every superintendent who is consistent in enforcing rule, and will not allow it to be trifled with, will win the esteem of the school, and rarely have much difficulty in se curing obedience. The Mother's Last Letter. 143 Punctuality, regularity, a devout demeanour, and a respectful bearing to his fellow-labourers, are more necessary to him than to any other person in the school. His faults and his excellencies both are more marked than those of others. He should never be a minute too late in opening, dividing the work, or in closing the school. Punctuality in him will spread its influence over all the school, while his want of it will injure the school and his own best works. Order in arrangement, and in the execution of his work, is indispensable. Nowhere is this habit of more value or efficacy. (To be continued.) THE MOTHER'S LAST LETTER. A REAL INCIDENT. The golden hues of sunset illumed the quiet sky, They closed her eyes, and softly, as she herself had planned, When day once more had faded, and stars were bright and clear, The fond, pathetic counsels of her who now was dead, God blessed that mother's message, and ere the daylight dawned When the sweet tidings reached her of such a change as this ? The child for whom you wrestled safe gathered to Christ's fold. PAPERS FROM FERNANDO PO. No. IV. REMEMBERING the promise made in our last paper, we will now attempt to furnish the readers of the 'Juvenile Magazine' with a short account of a trip round the island. Having to attend the Quarterly Meeting at George's Bay on the 18th of January, we started from Santa Isabel at 9 o'clock on the previous evening, with a crew of five boys-viz., John, Tom, Dimminy, Friday, and Yellow Will. The moon shone brightly, and the atmosphere was beautifully clear; the sea was not only calm and placid, but also very phosphorescent; hence with each dip of the oars the 'feather'd spray' sparkled like fire. The boys, too, appeared to be in excellent spirits, chanting in capital time a series of disconnected, weird-like tones as they bent to their oars, the whole combining to form one of the many African experiences which cannot be easily forgotten. Winds and waves being so favourable, we had an easy passage to |