RELIGION IN SCHOOL, _ 199

The little preliminary hum has ceased, for. the good
pastor, Mr, Mill, is entering from a private door behind
the platform of desks. He takes his place behind the
principal desk, where the teachers have made room for
him. At this hour of the week, M. Mill always visits
the school, opens its religious services, and gives the
first lesson of the week. It is a lesson in Scripture,
which the boys have learned on the preceding day.
It is always a time of quiet, order, and pleasant looks.
When Mr, Mill has large maps or plates to exhibit, he
calls Mr. Barry and Carl to his assistance. The wall,
back of the platform, is hardened like slate, to serve
the purposes of a black board. On this Barry draws
outline maps of Palestine, or the sea of Cinneroth ; and
Carl gives rapid sketches of oriental antiquities. This,
you may be sure, enlivens the lesson, and makes the hour
one of the most delightful in all the week.

“There is a recess of half an hour, for conversation
and amusement every forenoon. On Monday, it takes
place after the Bible-lesson, and, of course, the pastor
has an opportunity of being present. One day they
had been engaged upon the 127th section of Robinson’s
Harmony, in which there is much about the Mount of
Olives (Matt. xxiv. 1-14; Mark xii. 1-13; Luke xxi.
5-19). The little lecture had taken hold of the boys,
as a good lecture always does. The upper class had
much of it down in their note-books. Several clever
boys had taken rapid copies on their slates of the out-