upon, a very short
portion of Scripture. At another, relate an anecdote, or fact, which
will tend to interest the scholars in the performance of duty. The
teacher should be very careful not to imitate on these occasions,
the formal style of exhortation from the pulpit. Let him use no cant
and hackneyed phrases, and never approach the subject of personal
piety,--i. e. such feelings as penitence for sin, trust in God, and love
for the Saviour,--unless his own heart is really, at the time, warmed by
the emotions which he wishes to awaken in others. Children very easily
detect hypocrisy. They know very well, when a parent or teacher is
talking to them on religious subjects, merely as a matter of course, for
the sake of effect; and such constrained and formal efforts never do any
good.

Let then every thing which you do, in reference to this subject, be done
with proper regard to the character and condition of the youthful mind,
and in such a way as shall be calculated to _interest_, as well as to
_instruct_. A cold and formal exhortation, or even an apparently earnest
one, delivered in a tone of affected solemnity, will produce no good
effect. Perhaps I ought not to say it will produce no good effect: for
good does sometimes result, as a sort of accidental consequence, from
almost any thing. I mean it will have no effectual _tendency_ to do
good. You must vary your method too, in order to interest your pupils.
Watch their countenances when you are addressing them, and see if they
look interested. If they do not, be assured that there is something
wrong, or at least something ill-judged, or inefficient, in your manner
of explaining the truths which you wish to have produce an effect upon
their minds.

That you may be prepared to bring moral and religious truths before
their minds in the way I have described, your own mind must take a
strong interest in this class of truths. You must habituate yourself to
look at the moral and religious aspects and relations of all that you
see and hear. When you are reading, notice such facts, and remember such
narratives, as you can turn to good account, in this way. In the same
way, treasure up in mind such occurrences as may come under your own
personal observation, when travelling, or when mixing with society.

That the spirit and manner of these religious exercises, may be the more
distinctly understood, I will give some examples.

Let us suppose then that the hour for closing schoo