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greater miracles than those witnessed while Jesus was on earth. v. 12.

7. By Christ's departure we enjoy the privilege of coming to God and presenting our petitions in Christ's name, sure of a successful suit. v. 13, 14.

English Teacher's Notes. THERE are few who do not know something of parting, who have not seen some relative or friend start on a long journey, to be absent for months, and perhaps for years. Those who have not personally experienced this severance from loved ones must have heard of it from others who have. Marriage, business, profession, circumstances of all kinds, tend to bring about these partings. What is there that can give comfort to those who are left

behind?

Imagine a vessel shortly to be loosed from her moorings to take her way across the wide ocean to some distant land. On the deck stand little groups of friends. There is a young man bidding adieu to his parents. There is a husband parting from his wife. There are sisters holding one another in what may be a last embrace. A few moments more and they must separate. The daily intercourse, the happy converse, face to face, is over. But is there nothing left? Are they going their different ways

to forget one another? No. Love will be the stronger for the parting. Their thoughts will be constantly of one another. Their relation, their affection, their solicitude for each other's welfare, will be the same. Here is one ground of comfort. Again. Listen to that sister's whisper: "I shall come back one day and we shall be together again." What is the young man saying to his parents, and the husband to his wife? "I am going to make a home for you in that distant land. When it is all ready you must come out to me, or I will come and fetch you myself." What a strong ground for comfort is that!

But suppose the hearts of the relatives fail as they think of the far, far distance of their dear ones, going to a land which is strange to them, and where they know not a creature. How pleasant it would be to be told about the country and the way thither, and to find they really had some friend already in that distant region, though they had almost forgotten it! That would be yet more confort!

And again. They might be left, as they thought, poor and needy. But suppose the departing one says: "You shall want for nothing. Only let me know if you are in any need. I will send and supply it." Would not this also be true comfort?

We shall find all these considerations in the passage for to-day. There never was such a momentous and sorrowful parting as that of our Lord from the apostles whom he had chosen, who had surrendered themselves and their lives to him, who looked to him as Teacher, Friend, Saviour, and Lord. Apart from him there was nothing in the wide world for them. Its pleasures and its treasures could charm them no more. And they now began to realize that he was going to leave them and that they would lose their all. It was all so strange too. Their hopes

and desires had centered in him, but they had notbeen turned toward the invisible world. They had not thought of looking beyond death and the grave. Yet this was where he was going.

Now see how he comforted them. He told them: He should still be mindful of them. Imaginefriend saying to friend as they bid one another farewell: "Ah! you will forget me when you are settled in your distant home!" Might not the other, if a true friend, reply: "Trust me; I will never forget; believe in me?" So said our Lord to the sorrowing disciples, who thought they were to lose him altogether. "Believe in me"-in my love to you,

though absent-in my power to care for your interIn this respect the parting ests, though unseen. was to make no difference. See how often the words "you," "ye," occur in verse 2-4.

He was going to make a home for them. In some parts of the world there are wide stretches of land, where is the "dew of heaven and the fatness of the

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earth," all unoccupied, while in England people are crowded together, and can hardly subsist. So in heaven, there are many mansions," room for all, health, strength, riches for all who come. Yet Christ sent none of his people alone there. "Igo ready and home-like when they came. to prepare a place for you"-so that all should be And not only that, but

He would come and fetch them. emigrant who manages to do this.

It is not every Some send for

their families to follow them. But Jesus said: "I will come again and receive you unto myself." For his Church as a whole he will come in glory, but for each believer the coming will surely be as real, although after a spiritual manner. A youth who had prospered in Canada came over to England to fetch his sister. He had some trouble in finding her out, and at length discovered her in the workhouse, and carried her off in triumph. And Christ will not do less for each of his people; no matter where they are, he will find and fetch them.

It was not a strange place where he was going. There are few emigrants who can say this, however much they may have heard about the country for which they are bound. But to Jesus it was his "Father's house," and could not therefore be a strange place to his friends. "Whither I go," he says, "ye know, and the way ye know." The doubting, trembling hearts of the disciples failed to respond to this. Thomas thought both place and way utterly strange. Philip wanted to be shown "the Father." And yet, in beholding Jesus they beheld the Father's likeness, and in following him they were actually following the "Way." Again he had to say as to these things,

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thing, here was a promise to cover it all-a bank on which they might draw: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it."

Here are some of the grounds of comfort which our Lord gave his disciples-not all, for we have gone through but a few verses. But what has it all to do with a class of boys and girls now? are not losing Christ from their midst. not situated like the disciples.

They They are

No. But they will have to face other partings, other sorrows. And Jesus meant his words of comfort for all his people, through all the time (just as his prayer was for all). Chap. 17. 20. To those who are truly his, we may say: Whoever leaves you, Jesus still loves and cares. Whatever happens, there is a home above for you. Wherever you are, he will come and fetch you. However unlearned, your home shall not be strange. However weak and needy, you have a sufficient supply promised. And to those who are troubled because they are not his disciples, he still says, "Let not your heart be troubled: : BELIEVE IN ME."

Berean Methods.

Hints for the Teachers' Meeting and the Class. Show what were some of the troubles in which Christ undertook in this lesson to comfort his disciples.... What are some of the troubles in which we need comfort....The comforts which Christ offered to his disciples. 1. A Comforting Faith. v. 1. In trouble there is nothing like having some one in whom we can trust. So Christ says, "Believe in me." 2. A Comforting Place. v. 2. The wanderer looks on home as a place of rest. 3. A Comforting Hope. v. 3. That is, the hope of meeting Christ, and being with him. 4. A Comforting Way. v. 4-6. How many comforts we find in the way which Christ reveals to us! 5. A Comforting Father. v. 7-11. When we know Christ we know God as our Father. 6. A Comforting Work. v. 12. There is joy in the consciousness of power to do Christ's work in the world. 7. A Comforting Privilege. v. 13, 14. Though Christ may be absent, yet we have the privilege of prayer in his name....Another line of thought is that in the Analytical and Biblical Outline, where the heads form an acrostic, which may be written on the board. 1. Comfort; 2. Heavenly mansions; 3. Returning Jesus; 4. Intimate companionship: 5. Showing the way; 6. The Father seen....Still another plan of treatment may be found in the Thoughts for Young People, "Benefits from Christ's Departure."

References. FREEMAN. Ver. 6: "Truth," the seal of God, 797.

Songs from the Epworth Hymnal.

137. Look up.

143. Jesus, my portion.

157. O holy Saviour.

160. Take the name of Jesus with you.

173. I need thee every hour.

188. Lead, kindly Light.

209. Will Jesus find us watching.

261. Heaven is my home.

264. When I can read my title clear. 271. Jerusalem the golden.

Primary and Intermediate.

LESSON THOUGHT. The Way to the Kingdom. To be taught: 1.) How to be happy. 2.) How to find the way home. 3.) How to get help from God.

1. Tell that the disciples were troubled when Jesus told them at the supper-table that he was going away from them. Call for Golden Text. Jesus does not want his disciples now to have troubled hearts. We shall have trouble because there is sin in the world. We shall have troubled heads, because there are so many things we cannot understand. Perhaps our bodies will be troubled with pain and disease. But our hearts never need be troubled, for Jesus says, "Let not," etc. There is but one way to keep from having troubled hearts sometimes, and that is just to believe in God our Father, in Jesus, his dear Son our Saviour, and to rest in the simple faith that wise, strong, kind hands have hold. Tell story of a child who walked over a rough road in the night holding her father's hand, who said she was not afraid because she had hold of father's hand! How much stronger and kinder is our heavenly Father than any earthly father!

2. Where was Jesus going? Yes, to heaven. He had work to do there. He was going to prepare a place for them, so that some day they could be with him there. He said he would come back for them when he was ready. Illustrate by a father leaving his little family in the east and going west to make a home for them. How they would think about him, talk about him, and wonder what the new home was like. And how they would watch for his coming! Thomas was afraid he could not find the way. Give the answer of Jesus in verse 6. Suppose when the father came from the west to take his family to the new home one had said, "But, father, how can we find the way?" He would have said, "Come with me, my child, I am the way, I will lead you." The way to our home in heaven is just to follow Jesus.

3. How can we follow him? It is true that we cannot see Jesus with these earthly eyes, and so we may lose the way. But Jesus told his disciples that night at the supper-table how they might always learn what they wanted to know, and where they might always get help. Read verse 14, and teach that prayer is simply asking for what we need. If we need teaching, ask for it. Jesus will give the Holy Spirit to teach us. If we need faith, love, patience, whatever it may be, ask for it.

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Still at the supper-table, all save Judas, and you can count them one by one, reclining on the couches. In what tender tones Jesus speaks to them, their faces darkened by some strange fear aroused by that mysterious going away of the Master! What a supper this has been, Judas marked as the traitor, Peter announced as one who would deny Jesus, and this the last supper before the strange going away! He tries to comfort them. With what hope shines the Saviour's lifted face as he draws back the veil from the Father's house, whose windows are the stars, whose tenants they shall be, and whither he goes to prepare a place for them! Goes? Look at Thomas's face. A ques

tion is in his look, and he asks about the way. How
majestic the Saviour's utterance as he declares himself
to be the way! And hark! That is Philip who is
How
speaking. He wishes to know the Father.
earnest are the tones of Jesus as he asks if Philip has
not known him. Hear him pleading that they may be-
hold God in him, and lovingly promising to do all
How in-
things for them through prayer in his name.
tently they listen! How silent the spot! And Geth-
semane, the judgment-hall, Calvary-what nearing,
deepening shadows they throw into that supper-room!

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We are receiving many inquiries concerning graded Sunday-schools, and how the plans for grading may be carried out. The article in The Study, on "The Grading of the Sunday-School," is now issued as a tract in the Magazine Series, and will be forwarded to any address for two cents in stamps, sent to the Methodist Book Concern. It will be found to contain answers to almost all the questions which are asked on these subjects.

... And while mentioning this tract, it might be well to call attention to the entire Magazine Series of tracts. These contain valuable articles upon various departments of Sunday-school work, normal lessons, concert exercises, etc. Send to the publishers of the JOURNAL for a catalogue of them, inspect it at leisure, and see what are the ones among them that you need. ... The "Mary Palmer Methodist Episcopal Church" in Detroit, Mich., has one of the most unique and most convenient edifices that we have ever seen. It might almost be called an India rubber church, such is its remarkable power of expansion. When the audi

windows, and the entire Sunday-school hall is revealed, with seats for three hundred people, all able to see and to hear the speaker in the pulpit. If still more room is needed, a further set of sliding doors is pulled apart, and a couple of hundred more people can be accommodated. We consider this a model plan for churchbuilding. It stands as a memorial of the late Mrs. Mary M. Palmer, mother of Senator Palmer of Michigan.

Book Notices.

The Logic of Introspection: or, Method in Mental Science. By Rev. J. B. Wentworth, D.D. New York: The Phillips & Hunt. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe. author has been known for years as a bold and independent thinker, and in this volume he gives the results of his thinking on the important subject of the science of mind. He does not hesitate to assert his disagreement with some of the most eminent philosophers who have preceded him in this line of investigation, assigning his reasons therefor, and proposing what he considers a better solution of the problem than they can give. He does not favor the inductive method in investigating mental facts, laws, and causes, but proposes a new psychologic method which he claims to be rigidly scientific, and thus in contrast with the inductive method. He names his new method the "consciential." Dr. Wentworth's work deserves the attention of all who are interested in psychological studies.

King Arthur: Not a Love Story. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." New York: Harper & Brothers. Any story by Mrs. Craik is sure to possess both interest and a good moral purpose; and this is no exception. It relates the history of an adopted son, who grew up to comfort the mother who had taken him in his infancy, and illustrates some important principles in the training of children.

Joseph the Prime Minister. By the Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D. New York: Harper & Brothers. Another of those plain, practical, interesting volumes by the pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle; a series of studies upon the life of the captive who became a prince. The Sunday-school teacher will find this book useful in preparing for some of his lessons next winter.

The Man with the White Hat; or, The Story of an New York: Unknown Mission. By C. R. Parsons. Phillips & Hunt. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe. A stranger comes into a neglected section of an English city, and begins mission work among the degraded people. For a time he is known only as "The Man with the White Hat," and the curiosity which he awakens helps to draw attention to his work. He wins souls, and lifts up the fallen, and becomes the means of transforming the neighborhood. The story is interesting, the Christian atmosphere of the book is healthful, the characters are strongly drawn, and the pictures make the incidents seem more real. We recommend this book to senior scholars in the Sunday-school and to Christian workers.

The Camp at Surf Bluff. By Edward A. Rand. New York: Phillips & Hunt. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe. This is "Round Four: Vacation" of the "Upthe-Ladder Club Series; " and therefore needs no inCharlie Macomber and his companions troduction.

are now young men, spending their summer vacation under a tent by the sea. This book well sustains the interest of the earlier volumes, and will be welcome wherever the "Knights of the White Shield" are

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Life in a Parsonage; or, Lights and Shadows of the Itinerancy. By W. H. Withrow, D.D. Toronto: William Briggs. Dr. Withrow is well-known to many of our readers as an interesting writer

In this volume he gives an account of the work of a Methodist preacher in Canada. The pictures he graphically draws will be easily recognized as counterparts of what we are accustomed to in "the States."

The Railways and the Republic. By James F. Hudson. New York: Harper & Brothers. This is an interesting as well as a timely book. It presents the economic, political, and social results of the American railway system, and especially shows the dangers which menace the republic from the railway power. There is another side to all these subjects, undoubtedly, but our author makes his side very clear. Let some able pen now write for the public the same case from the railroad point of view.

The School-Room Chorus. By E. V. De Graff. Syracuse, N. Y. C. W. Bardeen. A small but choice collection of standard songs for the week-day school.

Dick, the Captain of the Family Ship. By the Author of the "Win and Wear Series." New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.

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Nan the Missionary. By the Author of the Wear Series. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. If all the stories of the series, "The Gillettes," are as good as these two initial books, they ought to have a large popularity, for they are interesting, pure, elevating, and suited to both boys and girls. They will find good use in the Sunday-school libraries.

Temperance Song Herald. A Collection of Songs, Choruses, Hymns, and other Pieces for the use of Temperance Meetings, Lodges, and the Home Circle. Compiled by J. C. Macy. Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co. The title sufficiently indicates the scope and design of this collection of songs and music.

Sketches from the Romance of American History. By George L. Curtiss, D.D. A little book of true stories from the lives of La Salle, Columbus, King Philip, and other remarkable names in early American history.

In the Golden Days. By Edna Lyall. New York: Harper & Brothers. An historical novel, of the times of King Charles the Second, presenting among its characters Algernon Sydney, and relating the incidents of the "Rye-House Plot."

First Healing and then Service, and Other Sermons preached in 1885 by C. H. Spurgeon of London. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers. The thirteen sermons in this book are characterized by the great preacher's terseness of style and apposite illustrations. They are full of rich thought and profitable spiritual suggestions.

Household Remedies for the Prevalent Disorders of the Human Organism. By Felix L. Oswald, M.D. New York: Fowler & Wells Co. Dr. Oswald believes in diet, air, and exercise rather than in drugs as curative agents. He has a very lively chapter on alcohol.

Economics for the People. Being Plain Talks on Economics, especially for Use in Business, in Schools, and in Women's Reading Classes. By R. R. Bowker. New York: Harper & Brothers. In plain language and simple style the writer gives a little manual on a very important subject. The title of his first chapter very fitly characterizes the whole book: "A common-sense study for every body." If the subjects here considered were more generally understood we should have less conflict between capital and labor.

Notes of Triumph. For the Sunday-school. By Rev. E. S. Lorenz and Rev. I. Baltzell. Dayton, O.: United Brethren Publishing House. This book of hymns and music has been prepared for the use of the Sundayschools of the United Brethren and contains many excellent evangelical hymns.

Hubbell's New and Improved Record Book for Superintendents and Secretaries. New York: Ward & Drummond. This is a very convenient arrangement for keeping the record of the Sunday-school, and seems to supply just what is needed in many schools.

Tommy's First Speaker, for Little Boys and Girls. Edited by Tommy himself. Chicago: W. H. Harrison, Jr. The old-fashioned Sunday-school exhibition, with declamations and dialogues, seems to be coming into Vogue again. We see no harm in it, so long as it does not degenerate into a weak imitation of a theatrical entertainment. Those who seek short pieces for little children will find them in this volume.

George Eliot and her Heroines. A Study. By Abba Gould Woolson. New York: Harper & Brothers. In certain intellectual traits, George Eliot was the most remarkable woman that ever lived. If she had been a Christian instead of an agnostic, her place in literature might have been beside Shakespeare instead of below him. This book contains the most thorough analysis of her writings and her character that we have yet seen, and its judgment upon the whole seems to be just, though severe.

Essays on Educational Reformers. By Robert Herbert Quick. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. The principles of instruction are the same in both the Sunday-school and the secular school; hence the teacher who wishes to do good work in the Sunday-school will study the methods of successful educators, and the theories of those who have generalized on the subject of teaching. This little book contains an admirable series of essays upon teachers from Ascham to Herbert Spencer.

Dave Marquand. By Annette L. Noble. New York: National Temperance Society and Publishing House. A young Jew escapes from a cruel father, through the help of a good-hearted physician. The youth finds a home and friends in a village in western New York, becomes a Christian, and rescues from drunkenness the physician who had aided him years before. The story is well told, the characters are clearly drawn, and while the religious undertone is plainly felt, it is not made too strong for average readers. We commend this book for Sunday-school libraries.

Chantry House. By Charlotte M. Yonge. New York: Macmillan & Co. This is a story, autobiographical in form, of life in an English family of "the upper-middle" class. The time is in the early part of the present century, and incidentally much information is given concerning the literature and social life of the period, the tractarian movement, the reform-bill riots, and other events. It is well-written, and interesting; but we object to the ghost which from time to time makes its appearance in a harrowing manner.

Additional to the above, the following books have been received from Harper & Brothers, New York: Barbara's Vagaries. By Mary Langdon Tidball.

A Victorious Defeat. By Wolcott Balestier.
East Angels. By Constance Fenimore Woolson.

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CLASS RECORD FOR AUGUST, 1886.

Weather

Teacher

PUPILS.

Aug. 1.

Aug. 8.

Aug. 15.

Aug. 22.

Aug. 29.

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July 4. JESUS AND THE BLIND MAN.....John 9. 1-17.
....John 10. 1-16.
JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD
John 11. 1-16.

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12. THE MISSION OF THE SPIRIT....John 16. 5-20.
19. JESUS INTERCEDING..
26. SECOND QUARTERLY REVIEW.

THE

SUNDAY-SCHOOL JOURNAL Is published Monthly by Phillips & Hunt, at New York, and Cranston & Stowe, at Cincinnati. TERMS: SIXTY-FIVE CENTS a year for single subscribers, and FIFTY-FIVE CENTS each for clubs of six or over sent to one address. This includes the postage, which the publishers are obliged to prepay. If the names are to be written on each copy they will be charged at same rate as for a single copy. Subscriptions may commence at any time, but must expire with March, June, September, or December. Subscribers will please send their orders at least one month in advance.

Orders may be directed to PHILLIPS & HUNT, New York and Detroit; CRANSTON & STOWE, Cincinnati. Chicago, and St. Louis; J. B. HILL, San Francisco. Cal.; J. P. MAGEE, Boston; J. HORNER, Pittsburg; H. H. OTIS, Buffalo; PERKINPINE & HIGGINS, or F. B. CLEGG. Philadelphia; D. H. CARROLL, Baltimore.

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