worth many times in the day, but now they are all taken off the road.

S. But how is that? I understood the Sheffield and Manchester railway was not completed.

S. S. It is not sir; the trains can only run as far as the entrance to the Woodhead tunnel-that is about half the distance from Manchester-where coaches meet the trains for Sheffield, Huddersfield, Barnsley, &c. Hark! sir, that is the engine whistle, and the train from Manchester will soon be in sight.

S. Are we then near the railway?

S. S. No sir, you may see the steam from the engine as the train comes from between yonder hills; it will proceed in a strait line to the viaduct, and so forward to Woodhead.

S. Oh, yes, I see the direction of the line: and that part of the work in sight appears to be a noble

structure.

S. S. That, sir, is the Dinting Vale viaduct; it was only completed a few months since, and the tunnel a few miles farther on, will be three miles in length when it is finished: it is very wonderful, sir. Before I left home this morning, I was reading the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, and Solomon there says, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, see, this is new? It hath been already of old time which was before us." I thought about the railway, sir, and committed the verses to memory. It puzzles me; I should think to travel

by steam, and ride in a railway carriage for three miles, under the Derbyshire moors, are new things.

S. Why, what might be true in the days of Solomon, in regard to the arts and sciences, may not be true in our day; and his remarks may not apply so much to discoveries and works of that kind, as to the stores and operations of nature, and the objects and revolutions of the heavens, but "It is certain that no new plant, or flower, or fish, or animal, or mineral has been introduced into the world since the creation." But, after all, whether railways and tunnels, &c. are new things, is questionable. Some men think there were such things ages ago: but this we know, since Solomon's time, we "Have had boldness to approach to God, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us," Heb. x. 19-20. And now, no man nor child can be saved but by this "new way." Whatever changes take place around us, my boy, let us pray to God that he may give us new hearts, and that in us all old bad things may be done away, and all things beThen, when the greatest of all changes "And according to his promise, there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth,” we shall have a part in the first resurrection, and shall be with God and the Lamb for ever. Oh, that will be joyful; blessed be God!

come new.

are past,

S. S. It will, sir; oh that I may have a new heart, and live a new life, that I may through Jesus Christ rejoice in hope of that happiness.

S. Amen, and amen. But stop, let us rest awhile against this gate: there is here a most

pleasing prospect; and I delight to contemplate the quiet and calm scene around us. Oh, this earth would be a paradise after all, were it not for the bad passions and practices of its inhabitants. Pray what is that large building near to the viaduct?

S. S. That, sir, is Dinting-Vale Print-Works." S. And the other buildings nearer to us, what are they?

S. S. The farthest is Brookfield Cotton Mill, and the other is the Cotton Mill of Mr. Lees, of Wooley Bridge, and a few fields below us there stands the Old Paper Mill.

S. Well then, what ancient looking church is that on the high ground to the right?

S. S. It is the parish church of Mottram in Longden-dale. There is also a chapel belonging to the Methodist New Connexion in the village, but unfortunately, JB, who 66 denies the Lord that bought him," led the people astray, and they occupy the chapel.

S. Indeed! I have heard a great deal about that unhappy man, and the mischief he has wrought; but surely the Mottram people are not his followers now?

S. S. No, sir, I believe very few approve of him: they have been sadly deceived, and it is expected after a while that all will be right again.

Stalybridge.

A. THOMPSON.

(To be continued in our next.)

BY MRS. J. BAKEWELL.

"Do, mamma, tell me something that happened when you were a little girl," is a request so often made to me, that I think there may be other young folks beside my own, who would like to hear one of my fireside tales.

My little readers must not however suppose that they will hear any marvellous adventures, for, when

I was a little girl, there were neither railroads nor steam-boats, and children used to sit quietly at home, or run about in the lanes and fields when they had holidays, instead of taking Whitsuntide trips with their teachers and superintendents.

The first Sunday-school I ever saw was at Halifax, in Yorkshire. Salem chapel was then a small place compared to what it now is; and a few children were collected together round the communion table, under the pulpit. I remember feeling much surprised to see my mother sitting there teaching some very great girls the alphabet; and those girls seemed more surprised than I was, to hear so young a child as myself, read without spelling. In different parts of the chapel gentlemen were teaching a few boys to read; and after the children were dismissed, I heard these gentlemen with their wives and sisters talking about a regular school-room being provided for the boys and girls to be taught in every Sunday.

Many were the inquiries I put to my mother as to whether she and the other kind friends who were so much interested in teaching the poor children, were to be paid for their labour; and great was my amazement to learn that instead of being paid, they would have to give money to buy books, and to build a school, for the use of children who had no means of paying for their education. At that time there were not more than twenty scholars, and now, I doubt not, there are several hundreds.

"When I was a child," there were no British, National, or Infant-schools, and very few free schools, so that parents had to pay for having their children