following one, taken from the second chapter of the Song of Solomon :

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'Lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear upon the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell."

Do you love to collect from history the strongest and most affecting instances of enduring attachment, where can you find any more touching and pathetic than the friendship of Naomi and Ruththe love of Jesus for Lazarus that faithful follower to whom in his dying moments he commended his mother, "and from that hour that

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disciple took her to his own home." Is sublimity your search, in addition to the passages previously quoted, where can you find a specimen superior to the following:-"I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them."

Has the terrific the only charm for your imaginations,-" Behold! a PALE HORSE! and his name that sat on him was DEATH, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

To these indisputable evidences of interest, beauty, and unequalled sublimity, a thousand others from the same hallowed source might be easily added; but to peruse the Bible on account of the beauty or grandeur of the composition, is of small importance compared with the study of it as a rule of life and conduct.

The rule of life to be found in the Scriptures is the best that can be discovered, both for our temporal and eternal happiness.

In the Old Testament, the punishment of the world by the flood for its iniquity-the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah-the destruction of Pharoah-and of the idolatrous nations

of Canaan the prosperity of the

good kings of Israel-the punishment of the wicked monarchs: all these are warnings and beacons to us "to flee from the wrath to come." In the Proverbs, what lessons of wisdom,-what a store-house of experience! And in the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we may obtain every principle whereby our moral conduct should be regulated.

Do we wish to know our duty to God? This book will tell us, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." Do we wish to know how we are to act towards our fellow creatures? We are told "to love our neighbour as ourselves." Are we in doubt how to act

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in any case of difficulty? "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do also unto them; for this is the law and the prophets." Are you at a loss how to act in case of provocation? The Bible will tell you to forgive even if your brother should sin against you seventy times seven. "Search the Scriptures," then.-They are a mine in which you may dig for ever, and still discover rich, and precious, and sterling ore! With "the Scriptures" we have a rule of life, and the means of salvation; a way to live and a way to die; we have a helper in adversity, a moderator in prosperity, a guide in youth, a monitor in manhood, a refuge in old age!