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NOTES ON THE SCRIPTURES.

John 3.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,* a Ruler of the Jews :-The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi,† we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered, and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again!! he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 4.

Then cometh he (that is Christ) to a city of Samaria, T which is called Sychar,** near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to

* See chap. 7. 50. and 19. 30. He was a member of the Grand Sanhedrim.

Master or Teacher, a title of respect given to the Jewish Doctors.
It is generally acknowledged, for thy miracles prove it.

The repetition of the word verily was considered of equal import with the most solemn oath.

Born from above: man is composed of a soul and a body; he is destined to live in two worlds, and must therefore have two births, one from earth, the other from heaven; one of the body, the other of the soul. Without the first he cannot see nor enjoy this world; without the last he cannot see nor enjoy the kingdom of God. Reader, have you been born again? If you have, you must know it; if you have not, then do not rest until the spirit of God beareth witness with your spirit, that you are born of God. Romans, 8. 16.; then your life and conversation will be holy, your death happy, and your future existence perfect pleasure, for evermore.

¶ Our Lord was on his journey from Judea to Galilee. It was a three days journey, and Samaria lay between.

** Sychar was anciently called Shechem. It seems to have been situated at the foot of Mount Gerizim, in the province of Samaria, on which the temple of the Samaritans was built; it was 40 miles from Jerusalem; and was probably called Sychar, (which signifies drunken) from the drunkenness of its inhabitants. Its present name is Neapolis, VOL. I.

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his son Joseph.* Now Jacob's well was there ;† Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink.

Luke 10.

and

Jesus said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,§ which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way, when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him. and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, T as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine,** and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two-pence,tt and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.

*See Gen. 33. 19.-Gen. 48. 21. 22. and Josh. 24. 32.

A late Traveller visited this well, and found women there drawing water, as they were accustomed to do 1800 years ago.

Twelve o'clock, the ordinary time of dinner among the Jews; the disciples were gone into the city to buy meat.

At this time the whole land of Judea was much infested with hordes of banditti; and probably many robberies were committed on

that road.

The original words mean a coincidence of time and circumstance —that is, the priest came while the man was in that state. Priests and Levites were frequent travellers on that road. It is said that 12,000 priests resided at Jericho.

¶ A Jew had no right to expect relief from a Samaritan, there being great enmity between the two nations

**These were beaten together, and used formerly as a common medicine for fresh wounds.

†† About 30 cents, which were probably of ten times more value at that time than at present.

ON CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION.

[For the Amer S. S. Teachers' Magazine.]

THE following simple mode of catechetical instruction has been found beneficial with the younger children of a Sunday School, and it is offered to any who will make trial of it, simply with a desire of extending the benefit to others. Its entire plainness and simplicity will be no objection to those who are experienced in teaching poor and ignorant children. It is designed for very young children who cannot read; and has been prov ed a good foundation for farther instruction. Should the first Jesson be thought worthy of insertion, the following ones will be added.

Who made you?

Where is God?

Does God live higher than the sun?

Who made the sun and the moon? Who made the stars and every thing?

Who takes care of them now they are made?

Who takes care of you?

Can your father and mother take care of you all the dark night when every body is asleep? Who is never tired, and never asleep, and always takes care of good children?

Does God love bad children?

not. But suppose their mothers or teachers did not see them, did nobody else?

Who can see all over the world,

and is looking down at us now? Well then, God sees bal children when they steal, if nobody in the world sees them; and who hears them when they lie too?

And what do you think he will do to such children? I can tell you-if they do not pray to him to make them good, he will send them to a place where they will be miserable for ever. But good children will go to a place where they will be happy for ever.

Who are bad children, what do What are those places called?

they do?

Do they pray?

Do they love God?

Do they mind their fathers and mothers?

Bad children tell lies: if they lose any thing, or if they break any thing, they tell a lie and say they did not: will God have such children to live with him up in heaven?

:

Oh, no! I'm sure not—and I'll tell you what bad children do besides lying they steal; when they see any thing they want, they take it, when it does not belong to them, and then again they tell a lie and say they did

There is another thing that bad
children do they swear, and
then they fight, and call bad
names, and say dirty words, and
make faces at each other.
Does God love children and people

that swear and say bad words? Will God ever do any thing to them for it?

What will he do?

Don't you remember what I told
you he would do to children who
tell lies?
Children that fight and quarrel,
what are they like?
Did you never see dogs and cats

fight, and scratch, and bite? Well, children that fight look like

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dogs and cats and wild beasts. Oh, how dreadful it is to see little children whom God has made to be peaceful and mild and good with their faces ail red with passion, tearing each other's hair, and beating each other! It is enough to make any ne cry, and think how the blessed Lord Jesus who was so good and kind looks upon them; and especially, brothers and sisters. Did you ever hear about Cain and Abel?

They were brothers, and Cain got angry at Abel, and at last killed him-killed his own brother.When you learn to read you can read about it in the Bible. If any body strikes you, may you strike them back again? Can any of you say the little Hymn beginning"Let dogs delight?" you hear any body swearing, or see them drunk, do not stay with them, but go away by yourself; for if yon stay with them, you will grow bad too, and then God will not love you. Do good people get drunk?

If

dren called him Bald-head, and said "Go up Bald-head, Go up Bald-head ;" and God sent two bears out of the woods, and they tore forty-two of the children to pieces, or killed them.

Does God love children who call

names?

What did he do to the wicked chil

dren who mocked the good old man?

If any body is cold, and has no wood to make a fire, may be go and steal it from his neighbour's yard or out of the woods? You had better ask people to give you work, and then when they pay you for doing the work, take the money and buy wood, and do not steal, for God says you must not. You must not think you are too little to work: there are many little things you can do, and you should never be lazy: the little Hymn says Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do!" Do you know who Satan is? Here repeat the Hymn, doth the little busy bee."

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How

Will people who get drunk go to The little bees are never idle, but

heaven?

Will God love them?

Don't say bad words and call names

and make fun of people. There were once a number of children playing together, and a good old man came along, a man that God loved, and these chil

fly about from flower to flower gathering honey, which they put up in a hive, and you must be like them, have something to do all day; and if you have nothing to do for yourself, try to help somebody.

These questions are not intended to supersede any catechism or lesson the children may be required to commit to memory, but as an exercise to keep up attention when the stated lessons

are over.

METHOD OF INSTRUCTING A CLASS.

""Tis education forms the common mind,

Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined."

This sentiment can never be more aptly quoted than when Tatended to apply to that instruction which, by the blessing of

Divine Providence, can now be obtained in our numerous Sunday Schools. To exercise the reasoning faculties, and as they gradually open, to inculcate the first principles of religion-in this manner to form their minds and carefully to bend them, that they may ever after incline to good-to improve the heart as well as enlarge the understanding, is the truly laudable design of a Sabbath School education. That this design has been perverted I do not say; for useful information of any kind is better than total ignorance, and attention to any intellectual faculty preferable to its neglect. But I do say, that an important part, that of improving the understanding has been almost entirely overlooked. Among many Sunday School teachers there is but one criterion by which they judge the talents and measure the improvement of the scholars. Those who are able to recite the greatest number of verses, or answer the greatest number of M.Dowel's questions, are considered the brightest ornaments of the school. This art of committing to memory two or three chapters of the Bible in the course of a week, is not surely the only means of improvement. Our success in teaching depends not upon the number of verses recited, but upon the number of passages understood. Teachers are expected to explain as well as to hear. Any boy in the school who can read is as well qualified for a teacher as the most experienced man, should a mere listening to a number of verses be the only duty. To hear a lesson and to teach one are very different things. If it require the study of a week to comprehend and explain one passage of holy writ by a man of experience and talents, we may form some idea of the religious information gained by a child who has committed to memory two or three chapters in the same time The following extract from the preface to a work, written by a man who has evidently made juvenile improvement his study, may give some useful information on this very interesting subject.— "It is to be regretted, that the practice of committing to memory words alone has prevailed to so great an extent: it is injurious in the extreme. If children be accustomed to learn without understanding what they learn, there is no doubt but that superficial views of things will satisfy them. Prone to indolence, the intellectual powers receive rather than inquire or examine.

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