the knowledge of His will, the experience of His love, and the enjoyment of His favour and friendship. He will show them his covenant,' -the plans of His government, and the purposes of His heart. When the disciples on one occasion asked the question 'Why speakest thou unto the people in parables?' Jesus answered, 'It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.' In other words, parables were spoken to the multitudes to hide as well as reveal. But to the Twelve, He spake openly and plainly. His secret was with them; and the secret when revealed was for use, for after He had taught them He said, 'If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.' 'He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.' Love delights to obey, and in order that its obedience may be intelligent it must learn of Christ. 'Learn of me,' was His own gracious invitation, and this we are able to do only by receiving gospel truth. The Bible is the chief lesson book in Christ's school; and if

the book be neglected the learner cannot be taught. Every true Christian, therefore, should be an eager and devout student of the BookRevelation, that the Divine secrets which still lie hidden in its bosom may be increasingly known. And as these are embraced by the receptive heart, and embodied in character and conduct, he will personally grow in grace and in knowledge, and become to others an embodied Bible and 'a living epistle of Christ.'

"The bee within the blossom sings

When summer airs are sweet,

While fragrance gathers round his wings,

And bathes his happy feet:

So in the blossoms of the Word

Our spirits, like the bee,

Would feed upon Thy truth, O Lord!

And love and worship Thee."

CHAPTER V

THE DELIGHT of DISCOVERY

IT is a pure, satisfying, and uplifting pleasure which the ardent admirer of Nature enjoys, when he walks abroad amid her varied scenes of loveliness and extracts the sweetness they contain. How refreshing, for instance, to the jaded body and the wearied mind of a dweller in the city, to go for a season in spring, summer, or autumn, to the moors and mountains, where sweet peace gently distils its balm upon the mind and heart like dew upon the flowers in the evening hour! And who that has spent a quiet holiday at the seaside, "far from the madding crowd" and their feverish excitements, can ever forget the pleasure which it gave? To walk along the shore in the brightness and beauty of a lovely summer morning, when the face of the great deep shines like a mirror in the sunshine, and the little wavelets, all flashing and flickering as

with myriads of diamonds, seem to whisper strange things concerning the infinite and the eternal as they hasten onward to our feet, is, to all who are capable of appreciating it an enjoyment of a very delightful kind. How pleasant also and soothing to the soul, to wander in musing silence among the trees of the wood, and listen to the music-making footsteps of the Great Spirit, as 'he walketh upon the wings of the wind'-to look up into the firmament and observe the ever-changing movements of the clouds, which carry in their bosoms all the potencies of the ether and the sunshine, to distribute in showers of blessing upon the earthto go forth into the fields at eventide, when the air is laden with perfumes, and the western sky is made unspeakably glorious by the manycoloured rays of the setting sun; or later still,

when twilight grey has in its sober livery all things clad," to see the queen of heaven ascending the eastern firmament, brightening as she ascends, and the stars coming out one by one to glorify and beautify the night! As men look and listen, the grateful praises of their hearts ought surely to be given to Him who has overshadowed

and surrounded them with so much beauty and grandeur, and endowed them with so many senses. and faculties to enjoy them. Why should they covet and follow after the frivolous, exhausting, and corrupting pleasures of the world, when such scenes of wonder and beneficence are so lavishly spread out everywhere around them? The artificial excitements so eagerly pursued by multitudes are not to be compared, but only contrasted, with the pure and purifying joy to be derived from an habitual contemplation and study of natural things. The one class of enjoyments tends to blunt the tender sensibilities of the soul, while the other worthily gratifies them. The former presents the mental powers with delusions and distortions, which at the best are spurious pleasures and very short-lived; while the latter dispenses, with an open and generous hand, delights which are genuine and lasting. Many persons would gladly travel a long distance, and put themselves to much inconvenience and expense, to witness a display of fireworks, who have never seen the rising of the sun, nor wandered forth amid the voiceful silences. of Nature at the midnight hour, to gaze with rever