241. BIBLE, My Mother's.

This book is all that's left me now,

Tears will unbidden start,-
With faltering lip and throbbing brow
I press it to my heart.
For many generations past
Here is our family tree;

My mother's hands this Bible clasped,
She, dying, gave it me.

Ah! well do I remember those

Whose names these records bear :
Who round the hearthstone used to close,
After the evening prayer,

And speak of what these pages said
In tones my heart would thrill!
Though they are with the silent dead,
Here are they living still!

My father read this holy book
To brothers, sisters, dear;
How calm was my poor mother's look,
Who loved God's word to hear!
Her angel face,-I see it yet!

What thronging memories come!
Again that little group is met

Within the halls of home!

Thou truest friend man ever knew,
Thy constancy I've tried;

When all were false, I found thee true,
My counsellor and guide.

The mines of earth no treasures give
That could this volume buy;
In teaching me the way to live,
It taught me how to die!

George P. Morris.

242. BIBLE, Perversion of the. Many believed; but more the truth of God Turned to a lie, deceiving and deceived;Each, with the accursed sorcery of sin, To his own wish and vile propensity Transforming still the meaning of the text. Hear, while I briefly tell what mortals proved,

By effort vast of ingenuity,
[ble ;-
Most wondrous, though perverse and damna-
Proved from the Bible, which, as thou hast
heard,

So plainly spoke that all could understand.
First, and not least in number, argued some
From out this book itself, it was a lie,
A fable framed by crafty men to cheat
The simple herd, and make them bow the knee
To kings and priests. These in their wisdom
left

The light revealed, and turned to fancies wild,
Maintaining loud, that ruined, helpless man,
Needed no saviour. Others proved that men
Might live and die in sin, and yet be saved,
For so it was decreed; binding the will,
By God left free, to unconditional,
Unreasonable fate. Others believed
That he who was most criminal, debased,
Condemned and dead, unaided might ascend
The heights of virtue; to a perfect law

Giving a lame, half-way obedience, which
By useless effort only served to show
The impotence of him who vainly strove
With finite arm to measure infinite;
Most useless effort! when to justify
In sight of God it meant, as proof of faith
Most acceptable, and worthy of all praise.
Another held, and from the Bible held,
He was infallible-most fallen by such
Pretence that none the Scriptures, open
to all,

And most to humble-hearted, ought to read, But priests; that all who ventured to disclaim

His forged authority, incurred the wrath
Of Heaven; and he who, in the blood of such,
Though father, mother, daughter, wife, or

Unhealthy and abortive reasoning,
That brought his sanity to serious doubt,
'Mong wise and honest men, maintained that
He,

First Wisdom, Great Messiah, Prince of Peace,
The second of the uncreated Three,
Was nought but man-of earthly origin;
Thus making void the sacrifice Divine,
And leaving guilty men, God's holy law
Still unatoned, to work them endless death.
These are a part; but to relate thee all
The monstrous, unbaptized phantasies,
Imaginations fearfully absurd,
Hobgoblin rites, and moon-struck reveries,
Distracted creeds, and visionary dreams,
More bodiless and hideously misshapen
Than ever fancy, at the noon of night,
Playing at will, framed in the madman's
brain,
[proved,

That from this book of simple truth were Were proved, as foolish men were wont to prove,

Would bring my word in doubt, and thy belief

Stagger, though here I sit and sing, within The pale of truth, where falsehood never Robert Pollok.

came.

243. BIBLE, Philosophy of the. The lamp of revelation only shows What human wisdom cannot but oppose, That man, in nature's richest mantle clad And graced with all philosophy can add, Though fair without, and luminous within, Is still the progeny and heir of sin.

Thus taught, down falls the plumage of his pride,

He feels the need of an unerring guide,
And knows that, falling, he shall rise no

more,

Unless the power that bade him stand, restore.
This is indeed philosophy: this known,
Makes wisdom worthy of the name, his own;
And, without this, whatever he discuss,—
Whether the space betwixt the stars and us;
Whether he measure earth, compute the sea,
Weigh sunbeams, carve a fly, or spit a flea,-
The solemn trifler, with his boasted skill,
Toils much, and is a solemn trifler still;
Blind was he born, and his misguided eyes
Grown dim in trifling studies, blind he dies.
Wm. Couper.

244. BIBLE, Reading the.
Within this ample volume lies
The mystery of mysteries;
Happiest they of human race
To whom their God has given grace,
To read, to fear, to hope, to pray,
To lift the latch, to force the way;
And better had they ne'er been born
That read to doubt, or read to scorn.
Sir Walter Scott.

245. BIBLE, Rejecting the.
And can then true philosophy reject
As false, a book which the same sterling truths
As reason, following closely, brings to light,
Maintains with such corroborations? Seal'd
With the broad signet of the Eternal One
Stamp'd upon all its pages? Is it true
Philosophy, without examining,

Will scorn a book that purports to entail
Eternal bliss or everlasting woe

On its acceptance or rejection? Oh!

I could almost respond the prophet's words, Would that my head were waters, and my eyes Fountains of tears, that I might weep Nightly and daily through life's passing

To make his own; his thirst to satisfy [ply; From that pure well; must ear, eye, soul, apOn precept precept scan, and line on line; Search, ponder, sift, compare, divide, combine,

For truths that oft beneath the surface lie.
Yes; there are things which he who runs
may read,
[part,
Nor few there are, which yield a harder
To mark, discern, and know. With cautious
heed,
[chart;
'Tis God's command, survey thy safety's
Lest arduous things, distorted, death-ward
lead

The mind unlearned, and the unstable heart.
Bp. Mant.

248. BIBLE, Similes of the.
Thy word is like a garden, Lord,
With flowers bright and fair;
And every one who seeks, may pluck
A lovely nosegay there.

Thy word is like a deep, deep mine,
And jewels rich and rare
Are hidden in its mighty depths,
For every searcher there.

Thy word is like the starry host;
A thousand rays of light
Are seen, to guide the traveller
And make his pathway bright.
Thy word is like a glorious choir
And loud its anthems ring;
Though many tongues and parts unite,
It is one song they sing.

Thy word is like an armory,

Where soldiers may repair;
And find, for life's long battle-day,
All needful weapons there.

O, may I love Thy precious word,
May I explore the mine;
May I its fragrant flowers glean,
May light upon me shine!

O, may I find my armor there ;-
Thy word my trusty sword,
I'll learn to fight with every foe
The battle of the Lord!

Edwin Hodder.

249. BIBLE, Teachings of the.

The Author God himself; The subject, God and man; Salvation, life And death-eternal life, eternal deathDread words! whose meaning has no end, no bounds

Most wondrous book! bright candle of the
Star of eternity! the only star [Lord:
By which the bark of man could navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely; only star which rose on Time,
And, on its dark and troubled billows, still,
As generation, drifting swiftly by,
Succeeded generation, threw a ray

Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God,
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye:
By prophets, seers, and priests, and sacred
bards,

Evangelists, apostles, men inspired,
And by the Holy Ghost anointed, set
Apart and consecrated to declare
To earth the counsels of the Eternal One,
This book, this holiest, this sublimest book,
Was sent.-Heaven's will, Heaven's code of
laws entire
[bounds
To man, this book contained; defined the
Of vice and virtue, and of life and death;
And what was shadow, what was substance
taught.

Much it revealed; important all; the least Worth more than what else seemed of highest worth:

[true;

But this of plainest, most essential truth—
That God is one, eternal, holy, just,
Omnipotent, omniscient, infinite;
Most wise, most good, most merciful and
In all perfection most unchangeable:
That man that every man of every clime
And hue, of every age, and every rank,
Was bad by nature and by practice bad;
In understanding blind, in will perverse,
In heart corrupt; in every thought and word,
Imagination, passion, and desire,

Most utterly depraved throughout, and ill,
In sight of Heaven, though less in sight of
man;

At enmity with God his maker born,
And by his very life an heir of death;
That man-that every man was, farther, most
Unable to redeem himself, or pay

One mite of his vast debt to God-nay, more,
Was most reluctant and averse to be
Redeemed, and sin's most voluntary slave:
That Jesus, Son of God, of Mary born
In Bethlehem, and by Pilate crucified
On Calvary for man thus fallen and lost,
Died; and, by death, life and salvation
bought,

And perfect righteousness, for all who should
In His great name believe; that He, the third
In the eternal Essence, to the prayer [asked,
Sincere should come, should come as soon as
Proceeding from the Father and the Son,
To give faith and repentance, such as God
Accepts to open the intellectual eyes,
Blinded by sin; to bend the stubborn will,
Perversely to the side of wrong inclined,
To God and His commandments, just and
good;

The wild rebellious passions to subdue,
And bring them back to harmony with
heaven;

A name, a sect, that sounded in the ear,
And to the eye so many letters showed,
But did no more-gave value infinite;
Proved still his reasoning best, and his belief,
Though propped on fancies, wild as mad-
men's dreams,

Most rational, most scriptural, most sound;
With mortal heresy denouncing all
Who in his arguments could see no force.
On points of faith too fine for human sight,
And never understood in heaven, he placed
His everlasting hope, undoubting placed,
And died: and when he opened his ear, pre-
pared

To hear, beyond the grave, the minstrelsy
Of bliss-he heard, alas! the wail of woe.
He proved all creeds false but his own, and
found
[cause
At last, his own most false-most false, be-
He spent his time to prove all others so.
Robert Pollok.

252. BIGOTRY, Infallible.

He was of that stubborn crew
Of errant saints, whom all men grant
To be the true church militant;
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun;
Decide all controversies by
Infallible artillery,

And prove their doctrine orthodox
By apostolic blows and knocks;
Call fire, and sword, and desolation
A godly, thorough Reformation,
Which always must be carried on
And still be doing, never done;
As if religion were intended
For nothing else but to be mended.
A sect whose chief devotion lies
In odd perverse antipathies;
In falling out with that or this,
And finding somewhat still amiss;
More peevish, cross, and splenetic,
Than dog distract, or monkey sick;
That with more care keep holiday
The wrong, than others the right way;
Compound for sins they are inclined to,
By damning those they have no mind to;
Still so perverse and opposite,

As if they worshipped God for spite;
The self-same thing they will abhor
One way, and long another for.

253. BIGOTRY, Sin of

Samuel Butler.

O love-destroying, cursed Bigotry;
Cursed in heaven but cursed more in hell!
The infidel who turned his impious war
Against the walls of Zion, on the Rock
Of Ages built, and higher than the clouds,
Sinned and received his due reward; but she
Within her walls sinned more; of Ignorance
Begot, her daughter, Persecution, walked
The earth from age to age, and drank the
Of saints.
[blood
Robert Pollok.

254. BIRTHDAY, for a Consecration.
Away with my fears!

The glad morning appears
When an heir of salvation was born.
From Jehovah I came,
For His glory I am,
And to Him I with singing return.
All honor and praise

To the Father of grace,
To the Spirit and Son I return;
The business pursue

He hath made me to do,
And rejoice that I ever was born.
My remnant of days

I spend in His praise,
Who died the whole world to redeem:
Be they many or few,
My days are His due,
And they all are devoted to Him.
Charles Wesley.

255. BIRTHDAY, Noting a.
Why should we count our life by ycars,
Since years are short, and pass away!
Or, why by fortune's smiles or tears,

Since tears are vain and smiles decay!
O! count by virtues-these shall last
When life's lame-footed race is o'er;
And these, when earthly joys are past,
May cheer us on a brighter shore.
Sarah J. Hale.

256. BIRTHDAY, Thought for a.

It is my natal day! Another year

Is registered against me in the account Of time to me entrusted, and the amount Of that rich talent for my trial here

By one more year diminished. As more near My reckoning draws, does evil's inborn fount

Within me more subside, and, paramount To the world's love, the love of God sincere Reign arbiter?-Oh, may each year, each day, By Him vouchsafed, to Him its tribute