their money. They are under a strange mistake. It is true that the calf is worshiped, but only worshiped because he is of gold. If the rich man would acquire the consideration and respect of the world, the best method to accomplish it is to show that though his fortune is large, his soul is larger. Let him be meek in converse, modest in behavior; let hiin "mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate." Let him use the means that have been put into his hands in aiding the worthy, relieving the necessitous, patronizing merit and improving by liberality the condition of the country in which he is placed. Fortune thus disposed of, does not so much adorn the man, as the man adorns the fortune; and it is a happy thing when it falls into hands that instead of making it pander to pride and uselsss luxury, make it to dispense blessings all around.

LEARNING is another thing of which some are proud, but it is mostly confined to that class who have but a very moderate share of the commodity. They generally make a show of it, as dealers in small articles hang up the best part of their stock in the windows, to invite the customer to their shops; but if he is tempted to go in, he finds the shelves empty. True learning united to good sense, does not puff up with complacency of feeling that it knows so much, but rather induces humility from the consideration that so much remains unknown. To those who are unhappily intoxicated with "shallow draughts," we know no better remedy than that prescribed by Pope, "drink deeper."

And now we have arrived at the last article in the catalogue, BEAUTY. It is a delicate thing to handle, and we will put on our kid gloves. That elegance of form and comeliness of feature are very attractive, it is in vain to deny, and none but an ogre would be savage enough to fault them; and when there is a corresponding beauty within, so that the expression of the soul shines out upon the features, we see the most perfect specimen of divine workmanship that the earth affords. But in all this there is certainly no cause for pride. The merit of the picture is not in the canvass or the colors, but in the artist who lays them on. Let this reflection come home to all who are disposed to feel the swellings of pride on the score of personal charms. Let them remember that they are the image, the marble that bears the form, but that He who framed and fashioned it, and to whom they are indebted for its symmetry, must have all the praise. Next let them reflect how frail

are the colors, how fragile the form. In a few years the roses of the cheek will have faded, the fair, polished brow, will be indented with wrinkles, the stately form will be bent, and all outward charms perish. Perhaps this reflection will stimulate them to acquire charms that are not so transient. The beauties of the mind, the still greater beauties of the heart, "the scent of the roses that hangs around the ruined vase," as Thomas Moore charmingly expresses it-these may be successfully cultivated. In this respect all can be beautiful. There is no need of cosmetics, nor rouge, or similar nostrums to hide the ravages of time. If we improve the understanding, discipline the affections, woo the three most lovely graces, a kind disposition, a pure spirit and an affectionate heart, we may defy the attacks of time and "count his darts as stubble." And when finally the great destroyer shall come, he can only claim the earthy part. He may pull down the old building, but the tenant has left it. His perquisites are flesh and blood and earth born passions; but all that is spiritual, good and heavenly, is not to be destroyed; it is only transferred. It passes off to be improved and sublimated till it is perfected in immortality. These, then, are the beauties we should covet, and then, when form and feature shall be consigned to the dull earth and go out in night, these fadeless charms shall increase in splendor; charm shall be added to charm, and beauty to beauty, so that like the stars they shall shine in the firmament forever.

SPRING.

C. F. LE FEVRE.

[This communication comes from the correspondent whose article on Prayer appeared in our last. This was written under the influence of a hope of recovery from invalidism, after being confined in bed and to one position in bed, five years. ED.]

SWEET Spring! in my childish days I loved
Thy pleasant face to see,

When through the changing woods I roved
With wild and careless glee;
And plucked the flowers by murmuring brooks
Meandering free and clear,

Or dwelt awhile in sequestered nooks
The wild birds songs to hear.

Aad when bright Hope, to the future borne
On Fancy's dazzling wing,

The notes of thy feathered minstrel's song
Ne'er seemed so sweet before,

As he gaily chants, at early morn,

His glad lay o'er and o'er :

For sad and dreary the moments passed
Of Winter's sterner reign,

As I listened here to the chilling blast
On my weary bed of pain:

Or watched from my window the drifting sleet,
Or the Sun's pale, cheerless ray?

But now thy welcome return I greet

With grateful thanks, sweet May!
The meadows all fanned by thy gentle breeze,
Resume their verdant hue;

And the tiny leaves, on my favorite trees,
Are bursting forth anew.

While the earth was enwrapt in winter gloom,
With wasting pain opprest,

I felt, this side of the silent tomb

Remained no place of rest;

But to breathe thy fresh and balmy air
Revives my drooping heart,

And fain would my wearied spirit share
The joys thou canst impart.

Their delicate petals the vernal flowers
Are striving to display,

And I long once more 'mid the fairy bowers

To wander far away!

May ceaseless thanks to His glorious name,
And endless praise arise,

Who formed this wondrous rolling frame,
And gemmed the ambient skies.
Willoughby, O.

S. W. E.

CHURCH PAPERS. NO. VIII.
READING OF THE SCRIPTURES.

THE Bible we profess to regard as the holiest and the best of books; as filled with the purest wisdom, the divinest truth; as the record of the will of our Father in heaven, and of the life and teachings of our blessed Savior; as the guide to our faith, the only source of sound doctrine, the inexhaustible fountain of consolation and promise, the Revelation of the moral laws of the

Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, and of the duties we, his children, owe to each other; as filled with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit-as the Word of God.

We profess so to regard the Bible. We rejoice that all may possess the sacred book. That the humblest and poorest have access to its priceless treasury, and that it has a place in every dwelling, and is forbidden to none who seek to read its pages. We bless the labors of those who send the Word of Life to the destitute and ignorant, and who thus testify their conviction of its worth and preciousness. We believe the Bible is the great instrument of the civilization, the regeneration and salvation of man; that the Gospel is the way, the truth, and the life; the light of the world, the best gift of God to man.

We profess to believe this. But have we not need to ask ourselves if we believe as we ought? Can one say and realize the great truth-"The Bible is a Revelation of my God unto me-of the Infinite and Eternal Spirit of truth and holiness unto my soul! God has thus spoken unto me— as truly as if he had sent an angel from His presence, commissioned to bear to my waiting spirit the message of His love and mercy, His grace and salvation. The Bible is full of wisdom and instruction, of counsel and reproof, of light and guidance, of cheering promises and sufficing consolation for me. 1 am thankful unto God for this inestimable boon. By it, God still and ever speaks to me. It is holier and diviner than all other teaching-purer than all institutions and creeds-the uncorrupted and undefiled stream from the fountain of living waters fast by the throne of God."

Are the authority and value of the sacred Scriptures realized among us as they would be, could they be possessed only by a few at a great cost, or we were but seldom permitted to behold them; or, rather, do we not practically regard them as the property of the race, the Revelation of God to the world, than as our own personal possession, and an immediate communication of the Divine Will unto us? And is it not true, that the commonness of the Scriptures has detracted from the reverence in which they should be held? If the position assumed by the Protestant would be true, they are the highest source of spiritual wisdom; and it is not only our pricilege, but our duty, to read and study them by the aids of such powers and means as God has given us. That the Bible is not so read, and studied, and interpreted, we know. It is not a familiar book to many; nay, we know, that to

some, who claim the Christian name, it is almost a sealed volume; and we fear that many professing Christians seldom peruse its pages. And that it is a book of daily study even to the devout, may well be questioned.

Such is the light in which the reading of the Scriptures is regarded by many, that it is considered a Christian profession must be made before one shall be entitled to read them habitually or frequently. By many, the belief is entertained, that if they have not made a Christian profession, they are absolved from all reading of the Scriptures; or, they satisfy their consciences with the occasional or incidental, and indifferent or desultory reading, heedless alike of the portion they peruse, or the significance and teaching of the language they repeat.

Some, having a regard for the well being of children, justify the use of the Bible in schools, but think it should always be read without explanation or commentary, as if it were the simplest and most intelligible of all books; and, at the same time, abstain from reading it themselves, as if it were peculiarly adapted to youthful minds, and they had quite outgrown its teachings.

Others seek its pages, and turn them over with a frequent assiduity, but only to extract texts to sustain their theological views, and to exercise their ingenuity and research in finding supposed proofs of their preconceived doctrines. and theories.

And there still are those who examine the Holy Book only to dissent from its teachings and discover discrepancies and contradictions only to explain its marvellous miracles by some rationalistic theory, and to strip it of what they conceive to be its errors and crudities. These will teach us how the most astounding Christian miracles are simple and natural occurrences, magnified by the credulity and ignorance of the narrators; and they will not hesitate to question the authority of the record when the statement of the facts will not yield to their systems of interpretation. These will tell us how much more perfect guides than the Holy Oracles are to be found in what they call Spiritual Intuitions and impulses, in what they erroneously conceive to be their own unaided perceptions and discernings. And some of these claim also to be especially entitled to the Christian name, and even rank themselves among the most zealous of the advocates of the religion of Christ and his Apostles.

having read some portion of the Bible, do not now read it, because they have no time or inclination; or because it teaches them nothing new, or is dull and uninteresting; or they have no taste to become biblical students, or much of it is merely ancient history, and unimportant in this age of the world; much of it is quite obsolete or improper to be read, and the greater part is unintelligible, and quite incredible and mystical. It is well enough for the piously disposed to read the Bible; but as they make no pretensions to piety, they hold themselves excused. By these persons, the authority of the Old Scriptures is considered quite problematical. The New Testament is all that is needed in their view, but the inspiration of the writers they are very far from being ready to adınit. Some of it they can believe, but it teaches, they think, various and conflicting opinions and doctrines, and they regard its language as so vague as to suit equally all sects and creeds; they have neither the desire nor ability to determine its true meaning, and would rather abandon the book to theologians and professional students, keeping it in their dwellings, however, in rich binding, though. it is unopened and unread by them, and might as well lie upon their tables in effigy, or be printed in an unknown language. It is considered as a book of reference, never referred to. A good book, but they find better. And some of these who thus ignore the Bible, think there is a great danger to be apprehended of becoming Bible worshipers and idolators; that the study of it leads to careless controversies and disputes, fosters the spirit of uncharitableness and self-righteousness; induces a bigoted and superstitious reverence for the text of the sacred Book, and produces an incalculable evil and mischief. Theological controversy is full of acrimony and acerbity, they tell us, and any peculiar doctrines avail little. The standard of morality is about the same in all churches, and they think the true wisdom consists in a calm self-possession, selfreliance, and an easy indifference to the whole subject. These are governed by the lights of nature and reason, and think faith and prayer and the study of the Scriptures, are quite vain and profitless.

And there are those who think the reading or study of the Bible is quite incompatible with mercantile pursuits, and an active business life; who suspect the weakness of the intellects of those who love to study the Scriptures, and hold them as quite feeble minded and imbecile, well

trade-no skill in bargaining and selling, in getting gain or doing business; this class devote themselves to their callings, and hold man to be a kind of money-getting animal, or money-making machine, and believe that tact and policy, shrewdness and economy, industry and self-interest, are indispensable to success, and the highest of human attainments, the best of virtues, the true ends and objects of life and being. But we are not of any of these. We believe the Bible to be a Revelation to man of the Father's will, His immutable truth and wisdomthe holiest and most precious boon vouchsafed to us; the richest treasure possessed by man; better than fine gold and precious stones; the wealth of all lands and the seas; the unexhausted and inexhaustible treasury of the riches of grace and mercy, of peace and blessing; the soul's most immediate and imperishable possession. We believe this! Do we? We profess to believe it, we hope we believe it. We sometimes believe that we believe it; but does our action warrant our profession? Do we know what is the revealed will of God concerning us? Have we read and understood the precious teachings of the Holy Scriptures, and manifested the soundness of our faith by the thoroughness of our reading? Or rather are we not still unpersuaded of the authority and excellence of the Bible, and do we not now need (above all things else) a full persuasion and conviction of these truths which we so unhesitatingly and inconsiderately admit? Do we not need to examine the proofs of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and gain some clear and definite conception of their value and office? Or perhaps the subject is distasteful and uninviting to us, and we are ready to confess that we take no especial interest in the subject, and doubt the necessity of any investigation? Are we not ready to say that we grant the point, we admit all that is claimed, but we do not perceive that the admission imposes any further duty upon us, or increases our responsibility and obligation. The Bible is a Revelation, indeed, but its moral and spiritual teachings are simple, and well apprehended, and its essential doctrines are few and comprehensible by all. We decline only its critical or labored examination, and doubt if it would be practicable even if it were desirable.

Why should we thus deceive ourselves, and attempt to impose upon others? We do not read our Bibles habitually, because we are insensible to religious influences-because, notwithstanding our ready admission and acquiescence, we

are at heart sceptical as to the character of the Bible, and its whole authority and genuineness. We believe that it is optional with us to read the Bible or not-to believe it or not--to obey its precepts or not-and we know that the Holy Scriptures are not attractive and inviting to us -that they are no resource for us in our leisure hours; and least of all things have we designed any systematic method of reading, or appointed any season to be devoted to this specific purpose. Religious insensibility, spiritual sloth, engrossing worldliness, moral apathy, false philosophy, coldness of heart, scepticism and practical infidelity, are the causes why the Bible is disregarded and neglected. These are the true reasons (startling as the assertion may be) why the Bible is not prized and studied as it should be.

It is doubtless true, that some of the prevalent disinclination, not to say aversion, to the reading of the Scriptures, may have arisen from false culture; from the forbidding gloom which invested the Scriptures in early life, or from the unconcern and neglect of parents or those who guided our education. The Bible may have been a task book in childhood, bringing now no pleasant memories or associations to us; or it may have been often spoken of with levity and irreverence; the infection of evil example may have deadened our sensibilities and perverted our judgment; but, whatever the cause, one thing remains undeniable and conclusive, viz., that the neglect of the Scriptures is proof of religious insensibility, if not of indifference and irreligion.

But we ought to read the Bible; that is admitted; and the question presents itself. How shall the Bible be read? What course shall be adopted to make our reading profitable and efficacious? How can we best pursue the study of the Scriptures? The need and value of this study cannot be doubted if we have any desire to at tain to a religious life, and a Christian faith; for it is evident that the most fruitful cause of the lukewarmness of faith is that it has not been self-sought, and self-attained. It has been wrought out for us, and is not wrought in us; the faith of many is a dead faith without works; without hope or blessing; an acquiescence to the prevailing doctrines without examination or question, granted to escape personal scrutiny and conviction-a faith, not of one's own soul, but of the church, of the age or latitude in which the man's lot is cast, or of his spiritual adviser. It appears to be an inexplicable mystery, how one can believe that the Bible is a Revelation

from God,-that Jesus is the Christ,-that He had the words of eternal life, and that the prophets and evangelists were moved by the Holy Spirit, and yet be indifferent to their teaching and precepts. The faith of another cannot become ours by any imputation or transfer, any more than his knowledge or mental acquisition or experience, his virtue or character can be ours. Nay, it is the faith that moulds and stamps the character; and of all things, nothing so much needs to be personal and individual, self-accomplished and self-possessed, as faith. Faith is the first want of the soul. Without it, life is devoid of purpose or progress-an inextricable maze and confusion; inexplicable, devoid of meaning, and a dread, dark and fathomless problem and mystery. How shall a true faith be gained? What are the reliable sources of faith? Where and how shall it be sought? Who can teach us? Has the Ordainer of the lot of man ever given to his creatures any key to the mystery of existence? ever manifested himself except by the general teaching of Nature and Providence? Has He ever granted the prayer of the human heart, and empowered or commissioned any to alleviate its sorrows, and establish its hopes, and satisfy its yearnings and aspirations? Whither shall we go for strength and guidance, for consolation and counsel, for light and blessing? These questions, and such as these, will arise in every mind which looks beyond the present, and is not utterly engrossed in the immediate objects of sense and the world around it. Nay, it is inconceivable that they should not at times come up unbidden from the depths of every human soul with fearful reality and power, demanding an answer, and imperatively claiming to be heard. And by many we doubt not these questions have been silenced and banished only after a stern struggle and sore inward conflict-a conflict which is as painful as defeat, and which has hushed the strife only for a season, leaving the enemies of our peace still unvanquished and undismayed, retiring only to gather new strength, to summon new energies, and returning at length to subdue and triumph.

The Gospel and Christ offer us the God-given answers we seek. Here we find a balm for every sorrow, a support for every trial, strength for every temptation, a shield from every evil, and salvation from every sin. But the Bible is no talisman without we read it, imbibe its holy spirit, and obey its teachings. And Christ is no VOL. XX. 55

Jesus unto us, until we sit at his feet with docile hearts, and commune with him, the gentle, loving, and lowly, and walk in his footsteps as faithful and humble disciples. If we would have the spirit of the Master, we must, so to speak, seek his companionship and instruction; we must often meditate upon his life and example; read the wondrous story of his sufferings, death, and resurrection; and thus, by communion with him, become partakers of his faith and fidelity, having his image formed in us the hope of glory.

And let us not think we can ever, even with the most assiduous and patient study, exhaust the treasures of the Bible, or become the masters of its wisdom. Let us not think that we can easily fathom the depth of the fervor and devotion of the old Hebrew bards and prophets, or the single hearted faith of the early disciples. Let us not think to measure the stature of Christ, or outgrow his teaching, or the example of his spotless and unblemished holiness. Nor let us think that Jesus is inaccessible and unapproachable, and stand in awe before his immaculate purity and perfection; but think rather that to no one can we go more freely in our need and sorrow, than to him who was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," who was perfected through suffering, and who tasted the bitterest cup ever offered to human lips, and drank of the cup his Father gave him, saying, "Not my will, but Thine be done." how the Bible shall be read? of the study of the Bible? Why should we inculcate a love and reverence for the Scriptures? Why should we submit to its guidance and teaching? Why should we feel it to be a duty to search its holy pages that we may appropriate its treasures of spiritual life and blessedness?

Do we ask now

What are the uses

We fear that the reading of the Bible is often wearisome and profitless because of the unmeaning and mechanical manner in which it is read

read without thought-without a desire to know its truth-without comprehension of its significance without preparation or headwithout the spirit of docility or prayer; read without love or faith, or any effort to realize its great facts, to conceive of the scenes and events it narrates. It has a meaning deeper than meets the eye, an interpretation of the spirit. It speaks to us in the unavoidable imperfection of human language; often in bold, poetic utterance, or gorgeous, oriental phraseology; often in simple and unadorned forms of child-like speech. Now it comes in a lofty strain like a majestic anthem, swelling with many voices and instruments;