specially arranged for the children was held at the Congregational Chapel, Robertson Street, attended by more than 1,000 children. The Rev. J. C. New delivered a beautifully simple yet most impressive discourse from the text, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto Me, My Father, Thou art the guide of my youth?" In the evening the teachers were addressed by the Rev. W. Barker in the Baptist Chapel, Wellington Square. On Wednesday afternoon a conference of teachers was held at the Memorial Chapel, under the presidency of Mr. Wm. Ransom. A paper on "Discipline" was read by Mr. Welton. The addresses were short but pertinent, and most interesting and instructive. The speakers were the Chairman, Messrs. Barrick, Edwards, Middleton, J. Stewart, Hadland, J. O. Davies, Slade, H. Watson, Hobbs, Earley, Welton, the Revs. Messrs. Barker and C. J. Fishbourne. In the evening a well-attended public meeting was held in Robertson Street Chapel. T. Spalding, Esq., occupied the chair. The report stated there are now 173 teachers connected with the schools in union, and 1,531 children-an increase of 111 over last year. During the year, 33 Sunday scholars had united themselves in membership with Christian churches. The report also alluded to the fact that 22 petitions had been forwarded in favour of the Sunday and Ragged Schools' Exemption from Rating Act, brought in by Charles Reed, Esq., M.P.; and recommended the monthly publications of the Parent Union as an antidote to the pernicious literature of the day. The meeting was addressed by the Revs. James Griffin and J. C. New; Mr. Hadland, one of the superintendents of Surrey Chapel Sunday School; the Rev. H. Stewart; Rev. Archibald Brown; and Mr. Barwick. It is contemplated to extend the benefits of the union to the surrounding district. MATLOCK DISTRICT SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. This new union was visited by Mr. Denby, of the Parent Society, on the 4th September. He met the committee in the Methodist Free Church Schoolroom at Matlock Bank, and gave information respecting the operations of the Parent Society. The 18 schools in union were well represented. On Sunday, the 5th September, two schools at Matlock Bank were visited in the morning, and one school at Holloway in the afternoon. Afterwards an interesting service was held in Mount Tabor Chapel, Crich. Three schools were present to hear an address from the deputation. In the evening, Mr. Denby delivered an address in the Wesleyan Chapel, Lee, to the parents of the scholars; the attendance was good, the service solemn and impressive. On Monday, the 6th September, a tea meeting was held in the Free Church Schoolroom, Holloway, after which a public meeting was held in the chapel; the Rev. James Cleave presided. After a few appropriate remarks he called upon Mr. Denby to address the meeting. The visit to the schools, and the interesting services held were referred to, hints and suggestions were given to the teachers, and the operations of the Parent Society were alluded to. The Revs. H. Harmer and F. K. Bellamy, also Messrs. Wildgoose, Ward, Handford, Holden, Abbott, Kirk, and Pykett spoke. There was an animated conference on various Sunday school matters; the attendance was very good, and the meeting was a most encouraging and profitable one. SCARBOROUGH. SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS' EXCURSION FROM SCARBOROUGH TO WHITBY.-For some years past it has been the annual custom of many of the Sunday school teachers of Scarborough to make an excursion to some pleasant place in the neighbourhood, to enjoy the social intercourse afforded by such an occasion, and, at the same time, to experience the delight and the charm which are so universally felt in a journey taken purely for pleasure, whether the distance be long or short. On Friday, July 1st, the party comprised a considerable number of the teachers of the Sunday school union, who were joined by several other friends, and through the kindness of the North-Eastern Railway Company, they were conveyed to Whitby by special train starting from Scarborough at 8.30 a.m. As the day waned, the schoolroom of the Silver Street Congregational Church became the centre of gathering; and here the proceedings of the day were most agreeably wound up in partaking of tea. During the interval between tea and the party leaving, a meeting took place, presided over by the Rev. Mr. Jackson, Congregational minister. The proceedings commenced by singing and prayer, when, after a short address of welcome and congratulation to the Scarborough friends from the chairman, Mr. Woodhouse, the secretary of the Scarborough Sunday School Union, gave a brief sketch of the working of the union, and its connection with the Parent Society in London, and concluded by urging upon the Whitby friends to at once form themselves into a similar society, believing that good resulted from united efforts in this all-important work of training the young. An animated discussion on Sunday school work, and the advisability of forming a union at Whitby then followed, in which ministers of various denominations, and several other friends from Scarborough and Whitby took part. The result of the meeting was the great probability of a union being formed in Whitby. WESTBURY, WILTS.-On Monday, September 13, the annual meeting of this union was held in Providence Chapel. At five o'clock about 200 persons took tea in the schoolroom, after which the public meeting was held in the chapel, which was fully and more numerously attended than for many years past. The chair was taken by the pastor of the church, the Rev. W. Jeffery; and on the platform were the superintendents of the five schools in the union, the Rev. T. Gilbert, the Rev. J. Rudduck, and Mr. T. Brain, who attended as a deputation from the Sunday School Union. After the reading of the reports of the schools by the respective superintendents, which described distinct features of hope and blessing, Mr. Brain made a brief reference to the various topics touched upon in the reports, and gave an interesting sketch of Sunday school work in general but more especially on the continent of Europe. COLONIAL. HOBART TOWN, TASMANIA.-A correspondent writes :-"The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Southern Tasmanian Sunday School Union took place on 18th May, 1869, at Union Chapel Schoolroom, Hobart Town. After tea, in the absence of the President, Mr. Hopkins, the chair was taken by Mr. Rothwell, Under-Sheriff, and the business was commenced by the usual devotional exercises. On the 16th inst. sermons in connection with the anniversary celebration were preached by the Revs. W. C. Robinson, of Brisbane Street Congregational Church, and James Allen, of St. James's Baptist Church. The sta. tistical returns to 31st December, 1868, showed that there were 21 schools (12 in Hobart Town and 9 in the country) associated in union. The report having been adopted and ordered to be printed, the officers and committee for the ensuing year were appointed, H. Hopkins, Esq. (the venerable father of Sunday schools' here), being re-elected president and treasurer, and Mr. Weymouth secretary. Depositaries, Messrs. J. Walch and Sons. Addresses were delivered by Mr. Evan Jones on 'The Discouragements and Encouragements of our Work,' and by Mr. Benjamin Short on ' Progress.' Or the early history of Shushan but little is known. From references to the conquests of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in Gen. xiv., we may infer that Elam, the son of Shem, like the rest of his contemporaries, founded a kingdom in the region we are accustomed to regard as the cradle of our race. In Ezra iv. 9 we read that the Elamites were included in the Persian empire; and in Dan. viii. 2 that Shushan the palace was in the province of Elam. Herodotus ascribes the founding of the city to Memnon, the Ethiopian, who aided Priam in the defence of Troy, though to this honour there are other claimants. In the annals of the reign of Ashur-bani-pal, king of Assyria about 650 B.C., the capture of Shushan is represented upon some sculptures at Nineveh. From the number of bas-reliefs, and the prominence given to the subject, it would appear that Shushan had been a formidable rival of "Nineveh, that great city." Xenophon records how, in due course, the city came under the government of Cyrus, and from this period it became the favourite winter seat of the Persian kings. NOVEMBER, 1869. The estimation in which it was held may be gathered from a passage in the speech of Aristagoras to Cleomenes, king of Sparta, when the former wished to engage him as an ally of the Ionians against Darius; "Susa, where the Persian monarch occasionally resides, and where his treasures are deposited,-make yourself master of this city, and you may vie in influence with Jupiter himself." Frequent reference is made to Shushan in the books of Scripture of the period of the return of the Jews from captivity; and one of the most interesting episodes in the history of the great Persian capital is that recorded in the Book of Esther, where the Jewish maiden is elevated to queenly dignity, and by her influence over Ahasuerus enables her countrymen throughout the kingdom to defend themselves against the execution of the decree for their extermination. Still later, when Alexander entered Susa in triumph, he found in the treasury immense sums of money, and among other articles a portion of the property which Xerxes had carried off from Greece. During the five centuries of the predominance of the Parthian empire, Susa continued to occupy a foremost position. In the second or third century of our era a Christian see was established there; but the city gradually declined before the rising importance of Ctesiphon, Jundí Shapúr, and Shúster. The caliph Omar took it in 640, and shortly after the commencement of the following century it seems to have been deserted in favour of adjoining towns. The history of its former greatness alone remained in the recitations of Persian poets, the traditions of the people, and the vastness of its mounds. The area occupied by the ruins covers an extent of ground three and a half miles in circumference, and numerous small mounds spread over a very large extent beyond. The principal remains consist of four spacious artificial platforms, apparently constructed of earth, gravel, and sun-dried brick; the sides are so perpendicular as to be inaccessible to a horseman except at three places. At the eastern base of the ruins stands the building, shown in our illustration, to which local tradition has given the name of the Tomb of Daniel, and pilgrims resort to it in large numbers. The great mound occupies a remarkably commanding position; it is probably "the citadel of Susa," alluded to by Arrian. The central platform includes a space of about sixty acres, and rises in parts to the height of seventy feet. There are no traces of walls for the protection of the city, Susa probably depending much more upon its natural defences-the rivers of the province-than upon earthen ramparts. For an interesting account of investigation and discovery in the mounds of Susa, we refer to "Travels and Researches in Chaldæa and Susiana," by W. K. Loftus; and for a valuable résumé of what is known of ancient Persia, to Professor Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies." T. J. C. SUNDAY SCHOOL CRUTCHES.* BY THE REV. JAMES M. FREEMAN. CRUTCHES are certainly very valuable helps to the lame. By their assistance many walk who without them would have no means of progress. We believe, however, that many wise physicians are of the opinion that in some cases they do more harm than good; since without them the lame man would depend on the use of his limbs, which use would gradually bring strength, while a daily dependence on his crutches gives no opportunity for that exercise which is necessary for the development of the muscles. Crutches certainly should never be used where one can do without them; and no man should confess his inability to walk without them until he has made a patient and careful trial. Go without them when you can; use them when you cannot get along in any other way. There is reason to fear that crutches have been used in our Sunday schools in an unwise and unnecessary manner, until many of our Sunday school teachers are unable to walk at all without their help, and can at best but hobble in the presence of their classes. The highest development cannot be reached while we perpetually rely upon such helps. One kind of Sunday school crutches that we notice is to be found in COMMENTARIES. The right use of commentaries is not objected to; it is their abuse. Many are so addicted to the consultation of these works that they lose all independence of thought or of expression. Whenever they come to a hard place in the lesson, instead of trying to think it out for themselves, they run to their favourite commentator, and what he says has for them the authority of law. They may not be able to comprehend even the explanation given, but they can copy it, and quote it, and that ought to satisfy every reasonable mind. Now there are some reasonable minds that are not satisfied so easily; they even dare sometimes to dispute the position of a commentator. It may be very bold and presumptuous in them to do so, but we sometimes get that kind of folk into our Bible classes; and what is the teacher to do if young Mr. A. or Miss B. should take it upon themselves to question the position even of a commentator? It is not enough to quote the words of the reverend doctor; these bright, inquiring minds insist on digging deeper than that. They have doubts which they wish solved, and they expect help from their teacher. All the commentaries in the world are useless if we refuse to do our own thinking. In fact, they are worse than useless, since without them we should form some opinion of our own. The true use of the commentary is to assist thought, not to displace it. The teacher who * From the (American) Sunday School Teacher. |