more scientific character, and are skilful in its performance. Though they have not yet given to the world a Beethoven or a Rossini, they can claim such distinguished names as Méhul, Herold, Halévy, Félicien David, and Berlioz. Besides which, the French have been the greatest patrons of the musical talent of Germany and Italy, which they have ever been ready to recognize and honour, even when it has been ignored or neglected in the land of its birth (as talent sometimes will be). They have fostered the genius of some of the greatest musicians of those two renowned musical countries-Gluck, Mozart, Meyerbeer, Paer, Spontini, Cherubini, Rossini, and Bellini. They may justly be proud of having patronized men like these; it gives them a share in the honour of their names. Genius sheds a lustre not only over the land which gives it birth, but over all lands in which it meets appreciation. Next to the man who has genius himself is the man who can recognize genius in others.

These facts proclaim (what we otherwise know to be true) that a large amount of refinement is widely diffused among the French nation. But their music is one-sided, and so is their civilization. They cultivate the secular side of music, in a greatly preponderating degree. They have only one celebrated sacred composer (Méhul), and only one celebrated sacred oratorio (Joseph), and that, we believe, is very rarely performed, except in small portions. The music of the Church is almost exclusively of foreign origin. The name of no French composer is known in connection with mass-music, nor have we ever seen any evidences that the French possess a peculiar church-music. The French musicians are mainly opera composers; and the opera is the species of music mainly pursued by the French people. The sacred side of French musical cultivation is thus defective; there is a want of that depth and seriousness of feeling which finds its appropriate expression in sacred music : and such we know to be the case with French cultivation generally. Now, Germany and Italy are great in both sacred and secular music, though there is a slight preponderance towards sacred in the former and towards secular in the latter, corresponding to the respective characters of the two nations, as at present developed. But France is great only in one species, and that the less dignified of the two; and in that species she is not so great as either Germany or Italy. France, accordingly, ranks third in music; and if we have interpreted the significance of the fact rightly, she also ranks third in general culture.

We shall next consider the condition of musical education in our own country. But, as our object is to do something for the improvement of that condition, we shall require to review it more fully than we are able to do on the present occasion, and must therefore defer the consideration of the subject to another article, which will appear in the next number of this Journal.

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GUIDANCE OF THE TONGUE.-He that cannot refrain from much speaking is like a city without walls and less pains in the world a man cannot take than to hold his tongue. Therefore, if thou observest this rule in all assemblies, thou shalt seldom err. Restrain thy choler, hearken much, and speak little for the tongue is the instrument of the greatest good and greatest evil that is done in the world.-Raleigh.

PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SCRIPTURE LESSONS.-No. 2.

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HERE is, especially on the west side of the kingdom, too much proneness, in many schools, to teach children, and very young ones too, the Old Testament before the New. This is wrong, for however

inestimable that vast store of historical truth and marvellous record of God's dealings with the early peoples of the world, the great truths of Christianity surely are to be taught first; and it is not enough to teach these by dogmas and sententious axioms; we should early acquaint the child with, and impress on his mind, the lifelike pictures which, in His divine wisdom, Jesus gave to man as the mode of revelation. His manner of teaching cannot be too closely followed: we do not follow it ; on the contrary, we very widely depart from it, when we set aside the words in which our blessed Lord spoke and taught; substituting human paraphrases, and postponing his parables and precepts, the epistolary doctrines of the Holy Apostles, and the pictorial narratives of His and their lives and deaths, for the reading of the Pentateuch. We have sometimes found little children reading the book of Genesis or Deuteronomy, who had no definite notion how Christ saves sinners, or of the duty taught by the commonest parable. This is the old blunder-poising the pyramid on its apex, and turning instruction upside down. It is not thus that our "babes and sucklings can be taught to know God and do His will. A very good plan is that of following the order of events in the New Testament; illustrating them, where required, by brief references to old Testament facts. The birth of our Lord being fully impressed on the child's mind, with all its attendant facts, and the prophecies bearing directly on and fulfilled by it having been fully brought out, one of the next lessons would probably be His conduct in the Temple when a child. We will therefore attempt to offer a few hints which may be useful to young and inexperienced teachers, on Luke ii. vv. 40-52.

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Filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him (v. 40).— It is well to bear this in mind, and comment on it with reference to what follows.

V. 41. Explain the Passover itself as the great type of Christ himself, and his crucifixion, and the ransom paid. Show the resemblances between the lamb then slain, and the Lamb of God; the efficacy of its blood, sprinkled then and shed at the final sacrifice it typified; the mode of killing the lamb; the unbroken bones, &c. The parents of Jesus showed their observance of the ceremonies of their Church. V. 42. Explain "fulfilled" and "tarried," neither of them words that children use. "He tarried, for He had another Father whose will was to be done."

Vv. 44 and 45.

Nothing in these but simple narrative.

V. 46. This is the beginning of our Lord's recorded work in His mission. Mark that He did not then teach it is a very common blunder to say He did. He was both "hearing them and asking them questions." It appears that at this epoch of His life, our Lord was feeding His understanding and filling His mind. His time for teaching was not yet come.

V. 47. Here, again, is a declaration of the mighty power innate in the Son of God.

V. 48. The humanity of the worldly parents of Jesus is here brought fully and beautifully out; and this alone suffices to show the entire human nature of the Virgin, and the absence of those attributes in her which are imputed to her by Rome; but which, if she had them, would have taught her, by inspiration, that of which she was evidently ignorant on this occasion.-(See v. 50.)

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V. 49. About my Father's business," has been translated also, “In my Father's House" (Sirach xliii. 10); meaning, "under my heavenly Father's care."

V. 50. They, the parents, were not then fully aware of the glory of their charge, or of the fulness of grace in Him.

He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them (v. 51). The words in the original still more strongly express that Jesus continued to submit Himself unto His parents. What a lesson here, and what a practical example of the force of the fifth Commandment ! This should be strongly commented upon. If the Lord Himself was thus obedient to his earthly parents, how much more ought we to serve, and succour, and obey ours? It is well to ask what portion of our duty to our neighbours, in the Church Catechism, as well as what Commandment, this reminds us of.

V. 52. We have in these few words all that we know, combined with those in the preceding verse, of our Lord's whole life from twelve to twenty-nine years of age. They afford, however, a very bright example of a Christian life, and of the cultivation by our Lord of those kindnesses and courtesies which tend so much, and are, indeed, indispensable, to make us grow in favour with man as well as with God. It shows how wrong it is to pique ourselves on the exaltation of our merits or virtues, and to neglect the common courtesies of life. Christ's condescension is a vast theme, and should never be lost sight of in this and in lessons on similar subjects. The perfect semblance to the ordinary course of manhood is beautifully exemplified, moreover, in this whole picture of Christ's life.

The more advanced pupils may be taught, as regards the offices of Christ in the Temple, how there were three several Councils there, in all of which questions might be asked concerning the law; and that the Doctors, in expounding it (as all good teachers should do), asked questions in turn. Lightfoot comments on this.

MODE OF TEACHING THE COMMANDMENTS.-They who explain the Commandments must themselves remember the greatness of the lawgiver; they must feel that his commandment is "holy, and just, and good :" or if they speak of the means of grace, they must have themselves experienced the value of them: if they wish the young listeners round them to call upon God at all times by diligent prayer, they must themselves delight in their Heavenly Father as the hearer and answerer of prayer.-Sermon on Religious Education by the Rev. D. Dale Stewart.

CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION PAPERS.*

HISTORY.+

1. State fully the benefits which you consider to have resulted—

(1) to Europe from the Crusades.

(2) to England from the Norman Conquest.

What were the claims

(1) of Edward III. to the throne of France?

(2) of Henry VII., and of James I., to the crown of England? 3. At what periods of English History did the principle of elective monarchy prevail over that of hereditary succession?

4. What were the Petition of Right, Instrument of Government, Act of Uniformity, Act of Settlement, and Act of Navigation ? 5. Explain fully the allusions contained in the following passage :"After half a century, during which England had been of scarcely more weight in European politics than Venice or Saxony, she at once became the most formidable power in the world; dictated terms of peace to the United Provinces ; avenged the common injuries of Christendom on the pirates of Barbary ; vanquished the Spaniards by land and sea; seized one of the finest West India islands; and acquired on the Flemish coast a fortress, which consoled the national pride for the loss of Calais."

6. What important constitutional questions were raised

(1) by the illness of George III. ?

(2) by the protracted trial of Warren Hastings?

7. State very briefly the occasions on which six of the following battles were fought, and discuss more fully their political results :—

(1) Agincourt, Bannockburn, Culloden, Dettingen, Hastings, Naseby. (2) Barnet, Jena, Nancy, Pavia, Pultowa, Tewkesbury.

N.B.-Three battles are to be selected from each class.

8. What wars were ended by the following peaces :

Versailles, Bretigni, Westphalia, Utrecht? Give the dates and principal articles of agreement.

9. When did England gain possession of the following places:

Canada, the Cape of Good Hope, Corfu, Ceylon, and New York?
From whom respectively were they taken?

10. Who was the first King of Prussia ?-Give his former title, and the circumstances which led to its being changed.

11. On what pretext did Charles VIII. of France invade Italy?

12. When was the Spanish power at its height, and what led to its decline?

* We shall give several of these papers (which have been actually used) as specimens ; but it must be rememberd that they vary in difficulty for different department of the service.-ED. E. J. E.

+ In questions 1 and 6 only (1) or (2) are to be answered.

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GEOGRAPHY.

1. Explain fully how latitude and longitude are measured. Between what limits of latitude is Great Britain included?

2. Describe the position of the principal British colonies and dependencies.

3. State the different articles of commerce we import from each of them respectively.

4. In what countries are the following places situated: Trafalgar, Elsinore, Estamboul, Beirout, Acapulco, Aboukir, Buenos Ayres, Belgrade, Abergavenny, Lima, Cayenne, Aden?

5. Describe the course of six rivers of France, mentioning the chief cities on each.

6. Name the principal seaports on the Mediteranean, and the countries to which they severally belong.

7. What was the population of Great Britain— 1. At the beginning of the present century?

2. At the time of taking the last census?

Give the population of any other country of Europe.

8. Mention the principal mountain ranges of Europe and Asia; and the height of some of the loftiest mountains.

9. Describe accurately the situation of the following islands: Malta, Corfu, Bermuda, Minorca, Lewis, Negropont, Borneo, Guernsey, Mauritius, Owhyhee, Juan Fernandez.

10. What are the most important natural productions of the following countries: England, India, Spain, France, China, Canada, and the United States of North America?

11. By what counties are Derbyshire and Wiltshire respectively bounded? 12. Through what counties would a person pass who travelled in a straight line from London to Exeter?

13. Name the Scotch counties and their capitals.

14. Draw a map of Ireland, marking the positions of Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Limerick, and Waterford.

HISTORY.

1. Mention some of the original sources from which information as to English History may be derived.

2. Give the dates of the following events: the Conquest; the destruction of the Spanish Armada; the Revolution; the accession of King George III.; the Union with Ireland; and the separation of the Crowns of Great Britain and Hanover.

3. Trace the descent of the reigning Sovereign from King George I. 4. Name the English Sovereigns of the house of Stuart, giving the dates of their respective accessions. State any particulars which you recollect as to the last effort made by a descendant of that family to recover the throne.

5. What was the cause of the American War? How did it terminate ? 6. Give a short account of the life of one of the following great men :Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Walter Raleigh, Oliver Cromwell. 7. Mention some of the methods anciently resorted to by English Sovereigns for the purpose of raising a revenue. What was the great subject of contest in the time of Charles I. ?