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dation is laid, with the Divine blessing, of sound religious knowledge, and of solid piety. Still, however, there is often but little of readiness in producing from memory the very expressions of Scripture. There is a wide departure from the spirit of the directions given to the Israelites:-"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." And yet on an ability to do this promptly and correctly, often depends our right and ready application of this our Divine rule, both in directing our own course through life, and in giving useful advice to those about us. Have not we all felt the prodigious advantage of an apposite passage of Scripture, striking the mind on occasions when temptation has pressed upon us, or when we have doubted as to the course we ought to pursue? Nor is the advantage less, when we can support our advice to others by the very words of Holy Writ. But the benefits resulting from this knowledge of Scripture, are by no means confined to such occasions; they extend to the general frame of the soul, and to its growth in grace; and, in this point of view, are far more important than in any other. What a rich treasury for a supply of holy thoughts, and for the cultivation of holy affections, with the Divine aid, does that man possess whose mind is well stored with the Word of God!— Now, how will this knowledge of Scripture be best attained? Beyond all doubt, by learning much by heart during the period of youth. It is in youth that the memory is most retentive and the stores it then lays up are the least subject to loss or decay from the lapse of time. Like certain flowers gathered at a proper season for preservation, they retain even to a late period much of their original freshness; while passages learnt in after-life, are apt to fade, and escape altogether out of the mind, if not frequently reinstated by repetition. Besides, by beginning early, there is ample time for laying in a large store of the more important parts of Scripture; and what is learnt will take deeper root, not only in the memory, but in the affections, and become more, if I may so say, a part of ourselves. The impressions thus received, will, with God's blessing,

"Grow with our growth, and strengthen with our strength," and contribute essentially to the formation, in due time, of the perfect man in Christ.

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