TO illustrate is to throw light upon, to illumine, to make clear and plain. Illustration has, also, a decorating power as well as an enlightening power.

Illustrative teaching is not merely entertaining or amusing the children with stories and anecdotes, but may comprise them incidentally. Explanation appeals to the understanding, while illustration appeals to the observation of the young. Says one writer: "It is by illustration alone, which appeals to their observation, that ideas are conveyed to children's minds." Anecdotes and stories are generally too long for Sunday-school teaching, and the danger is that they will overshadow the truth. Illustrative teaching should be employed in the Sabbath-school to make divine truth glow and become plainer, clearer, and better understood—nothing else. It must never displace the lesson, but be held in strict subordination to it. Illustrations of divine truths are very useful—in fact, indispensable; but dangerous, unless well guarded so as never to withdraw attention from the Bible.

This was one of our divine Saviour's chosen modes of teaching, as we see in the beautiful parable of the sower, and, in fact, in almost all of His inimitable parables. Mankind, as well as children, delight in this form of instruction. Says Mr. Groser, in his excellent work on this subject: "Children have a passion for details and revel in analogies. Mark their fondness for stories, however frivolous; word-pictures, however meagre, and comparisons, however commonplace." Tupper says:

Illustration is something laid alongside of—parallel—for comparison, and should be short, obvious, and appropriate. There must always be something to illustrate.

For instance: If we were teaching, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes," etc., we could illustrate the danger and influence of little evils or sins by saying: Chemists tell us that a single grain of iodine will color 7000 times its weight in water; so a little sin may discolor and destroy a good character. A ruined man once said: "It was that ten minutes on the street-corner, reading a bad book, that destroyed my whole life." "It was that penny I stole when a very young boy," said an old man, "that sent me four times to prison, and confined me twenty-eight years out of sixty of my life, and all for stealing less than thirty-eight dollars."

Or if the lesson was, "No man can serve two masters," etc., let the teacher say: "The other day I saw two men together walking down the avenue, and a little dog was running behind them; so they went on for a while, and I wondered to which of them the dog belonged. When they came to the corner of a certain street they shook hands and went opposite ways. Then I saw at once to which of them the little dog belonged. He could not follow both; so he trotted after his master. So, dear children, it is with you; you may try to be Christ's servants and the servants of Satan at the same time, but it will be in vain; 'You cannot serve God and mammon.'"

If on the subject of falsehood, we would impress our pupils with the fact that the degree does not affect criminality. An apt illustration will be found in "Eve and the forbidden fruit."

The Bible is full of perfect examples, if rightly selected. "Old Humphrey," the English writer for children, abounded in pertinent illustrations. I copy one: "Think not that because you look like other teachers or scholars, and undertake the same duties, that no difference is seen by those around you. You may look alike and be altogether different."

Illustration 1. "I came to two frozen ponds, so much alike in size and form that at the first view one might have been regarded as the counterpart of the other. This was, however, very far from being the case; for, after making a hole in the ice, I found one to be only a few inches deep, while with my stick I could not reach the bottom of the other."

2. "I picked up two walnuts as they lay among the dry leaves, under the tree on which they had grown; both were large, and I thought that each would be good; but, no! one was altogether hollow, while the other contained a capital kernel."

3. "I bought two apples at a fruit-stand—ruddy and ripe; I do not believe the man who sold them to me could have pointed out any difference between them; and yet, for all this, when I came to turn them around and examine them, I found one of them to be firm and sound, and the other rotten to the very core."

"As it was with the ponds, the walnuts, and the apples, so it may be with you. Some are shallow, while others have depth of understanding; some have depth of understanding, while others are shallow; some are full of knowledge, while others are empty; and some are firm and to be relied upon, while others are unsound at their hearts." These are short and very simple, but excellent and to the point.

The Bible is full of perfect examples of illustrative teaching. The parables are mostly of this order. The parable of the sower, with the field and husbandman before him, as is probable, is a striking example of illustrative teaching. In the gospels, how constantly our Saviour began His parables with, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto," or is "like," etc. Said an old divine to a young preacher: "I see you do not follow Christ's example in your preaching; for you have no 'likes' in your sermons." Do we liken Bible truth to something with which our scholars are familiar, and thus help them to understand it?

Illustrations abound all around us. Some years ago there was published a work entitled "Spiritual Honey from Natural Hives." I do not know but it is now out of print; but it contained no less than 258 illustrations of various passages of Scripture—all drawn from the honey-bee, and most of them were valuable. For example: "Mercy comes naturally from God, like honey from the bee; but justice, like the sting, only when she is provoked." "If nature teaches the bee not only to gather honey out of sweet flowers, but out of bitter, shall not grace teach us to draw, even out of the bitterest condition, something to better our souls?" "Many hate not sin, nor fly from it, because it is sin; but as children do bees; not because they are bees, but because they have a sting. So do these persons flee from sin; not because it is sinful, but because it is hurtful."

The following convey important lessons to Bible-students: "If you do but take and pierce God's word, and do but stay upon it, as the bee doth on the flower, and will not off till you have got something out of it; if you still be digging in this mine, this will make you rich in knowledge; and if you be rich in knowledge, it will make you rich in grace." Finally: "Some use flowers only for the beauty or the smell; the physicians, for health; the bees, for honey; so do wise and prudent persons apply their studies for the enriching and feeding of their minds."

The late eloquent Rev. Dr. Payson was accustomed to illustrate under the form of apt suppositions. For instance, said he: "Suppose you wished to separate a quantity of brass and steel filings mixed together in one vessel; how would you effect this separation? Apply a loadstone, and immediately every particle of iron will attach itself to it, while the brass filings remain behind. Thus, if we see a company of true and false professors of religion, we may not be able to distinguish them; but let Christ come among them, and all His sincere followers will be attracted towards Him, as the steel is drawn to the magnet, while those who have none of His spirit will remain at a distance." Again: On a visit to a weeping mother, who refused to be comforted for the loss of a beloved child: "Suppose, now," said he, "some one was making a beautiful crown for you to wear, and that you knew it was for you, and that you were to receive it and wear it as soon as it should be done; now, if the maker of it were to come, and in order to make the crown more beautiful and splendid, were to take some of your jewels to put into it, should you be sorrowful and unhappy because they were taken away for a little while, when you knew they were going to make up your crown? He can take better care of them than you could." The mother smiled through her tears at the thought that her jewel was taken from her but for a season, and said, in meek submission: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

The question here arises, From whence shall Sunday-school teachers gather illustrations for use? I reply, generally, everywhere, and from everything; but to particularize: 1. From the home-surroundings, circumstances, and home-life of the pupils. 2. Facts and incidents that are constantly occurring around us. "Facts are the arguments of God," said Rev. Dr. Chalmers. 3. History, biography, and geography—sacred and profane. 4. Agriculture, horticulture, and botany. 5. Proverbs, maxims, wise sayings, and poetry. 6. Emblems, similes, metaphors, etc. 7. Science and art; manners and customs.

I need not extend this list, for these will readily suggest many others to the teacher.