leave it. If she share not the fame of the ruler and the blood-shedder, her good works, such as 'become those who profess godliness,' though they leave no deep footprints on the sands of time,' may find record in the 'Lamb's book of life.""

6

O, yes, that is it, to find record in the Lamb's book of life. Will the reader find such a record? In Christ there is ample opportunity, a glorious privilege. 'Tis only, Believe and be saved; look

and live.

"O, how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan!
No meretricious graces to beguile,

No clustering ornaments to cloy the pile;
From ostentation as from weakness free,
It stands like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portal, from afar
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,

Legible only by the light they give,

Stand the soul-quickening words, Believe and live.
Too many, shocked at what should charm them most,

Despise the plain direction, and are lost;

'Heaven on such terms!' they cry with proud disdain;
'Incredible, impossible, and vain!'

Rebel, because 'tis easy to obey,

And scorn, for its own sake, the gracious way.”

CHAPTER VIII.

THE DISAPPOINTED ONE.

ABIGAIL.

There's hope for thee, poor erring one,
With sin and sorrow cursed and crushed;
Through the thick darkness gleams the sun,
With pale, sad beauty flushed;

The lone wind sobbeth not so loud;

Heaven's breath is kissing flower and tree;
The blue sky bursts through yonder cloud :
There's hope, poor soul, for thee.

NOW THE NAME OF THE MAN WAS NABAL; AND THE NAME OF HIS WIFE ABIGAIL; AND SHE WAS A WOMAN OF GOOD UNDERSTANDING, AND OF A BEAUTIFUL COUNTENANCE, BUT THE MAN WAS CHURLISH AND EVIL IN HIS DOINGS; AND HE WAS OF THE HOUSE OF CALEB. 1 Sam. 25: 3.

THERE is one class of women that makes irresistible demands upon our sympathies. It is a class that has always been numerous in the world, and will continue to be numerous, until the woes of intemperance shall be done away. That class is composed of the great array of drunkards'

wives, of which Abigail is a fair representative. It is indeed a sad sight to see a lovely, intelligent, refined, and gifted woman bound for life to a rough, coarse, brutal husband, who devotes his time to dissipation and violence. We have some gauge of the feelings of a man who, under the laws of ancient Rome, found himself chained to a dead corpse, which every day became more offensive; but we have no gauge of the sorrow of her who is bound by marriage vows for life to a living mass of drunkenness, a vice which includes every thing vile and repulsive, and which, like a corpse, becomes every day more offensive and hideous.

Abigail was the wife of Nabal. She was doubtless married to him in very early life, when he was fair to the eye, and pleasant to the ear. The marriage was doubtless one of great joy, and the wealthy bridegroom and the beautiful bride entered upon their new relations with the brightest hopes of a happy life. But ere long, the young wife began to see a change in her husband. Now and then he would return from his journeys in a state of intoxication, and his formerly pleasant, agreeable intercourse with her was changed to coarse brutality. Reproaches, instead of compliments, were heaped upon her, and with woman's meek and quiet spirit, she lived in sorrow and

regret. Too late to remedy the evil, she found she had united herself to a man whose mind was greatly inferior to her own, and with confidence in God, she endeavored to fulfil her contract, though he might be faithless to his.

Thé circumstances under which Abigail is brought to our view are somewhat peculiar. David, who was arrayed against Saul, was in want; and hearing that Nabal was a man of wealth, he sent to him a kind message, urging him to bestow of his property for the public good. The messengers reached the house of the rich man, and told Nabal how David had guarded his flocks, and from what losses he had saved him, and then, in the name of their master, made their request. The rich man was in a state of mind not remarkably adapted to induce him to comply with the request of David. With the greatest insolence, he said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse, that I should give him of my bread?" With indignant words and angry looks, he sent the messengers back to their master. When David heard all this, he was wroth, and arming himself and his warriors, prepared at once to pour out his vengeance upon the head of the offender. In the mean while, intelligence of the affair came to the ears of Abigail. She was told by a servant what the messenger of David had requested, and the

ground on which his claim had been based. Abigail was a wise woman. She knew something about David, and was well aware that he would not bear meekly the treatment of her husband. She expected he would soon be on his way to reward her lord according to his deed. To guard against this calamity, she took loaves of bread, corn, wine, and fruit, and with numerous servants hastened to meet David. She had not gone far ere her suspicions were confirmed, for she met David coming against her home. She alighted from the beast on which she rode, and fell down before the young man, and addressed him in the most touching manner, assuring him that Nabal did not mean a wrong, and entreating him to accept the gift she brought. "Upon me, my lord," she said, "upon me let this iniquity be. Let not my lord regard this man of Belial, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him but I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. Now, therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and those that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it