-the moral, the spiritual sublime! You will discover, by its revelations, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; and comparing it with the boldest claims and the noblest productions of literature and science, may you learn to "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord." Phil. iii. 8.

The truths of the Divine' word are conducive to our delight,

2. As they are adapted to exert a tranquillizing and pleasurable influence on the feelings of the heart.

Intellectual pleasures can only be enjoyed when the heart and conscience are at ease. If there be disquietude of mind, and especially if there be alarm of conscience, no capability can there be of enjoying the pleasures of thought; no security can there be against the intrusion of reflections which disturb, and of feelings which distract. A single recollection, brought to the mind by a casual occurrence, or a fear suggested by a single word, or by the sight of an object scarcely noticed by others, may produce a gloom, which no external or internal source of pleasure can have power to dispel. Under thèse depressing conceptions, the first and the grand requisite is, to obtain tranquillity of conscience, And who is able to remove far away its burden of guilt, and to introduce the peace which passeth all understanding? It is He, and He alone, "who himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree," who redeems us from the curse of the

violated law, by "being made a curse for us," and who, "having made peace through the blood of his eross," says to his believing followers, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." 1 Pet. ii. 24; Gal. iii. 13; Col. i. 20; John xiv. 27. Without this peace, we have no preparation of mind for the enjoyment of those intellectual pleasures which arise from the study of the word of God. In the entire absence of this peace, and of Scriptural efforts to obtain it, the man who feels the consciousness of guilt might say, "Why do you direct me to read, as a source of pleasure, that book which reveals the terrors of the Almighty? It is the thought of God which fills my mind with dread. Why do you direct me to read for delight, a volume which sets before me the representations of a future judgment? The thought of that tribunal overpowers my soul with dismay. Why do you direct me to read the descriptions contained in the Bible of the happiness of heaven! I have no hope of its felicity." But, on the contrary, suppose the conscience to be at peace, by "the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus," 1 Pet. i. 2; and suppose a good hope through grace to have banished every torturing fear, then will the word of God be found a source of the purest and most abundant. delight. Now it is the direct and designed tendency of the Scriptures to prepare the mind for the joys of a sanctified intellect, by removing from the conscience the tremendous burden of guilt. The word of God testifies,

throughout its extended pages, of Him whose name is called Jesus, because he saves his people from their sins. Matt. i. 21.

The truths of revelation are sources of delight,

3. As they are congenial to the taste of the renewed mind, under all possible varieties of feeling and of condition.

You have access, I will suppose, to a wellselected library. Many of the works which it contains, belong to the class which is congenial to your prevailing taste, while others which you there find excite in your mind no desire of perusal. Now of those to which you feel attracted, you frequently make a choice, which is influenced by the tone and feeling of your mind, at the moment of making the selection. The book, which at one time you read with great delight, would probably at another time excite scarcely any feeling of interest, or might perhaps be altogether dissonant from the emotions of your heart. The very sight of a volume seems sometimes to rouse a train of thought, which does violence to the feelings you are disposed to cherish; and these feelings may be dependent on a variety of causes which it might not be always easy to trace, but which have more or less connexion with the passing events of . almost every day. But when is there a day, or when are there occurrences, or when are there feelings, in which it would seem uncongenial to the mind of a Christian to take up his Bible, and to meditate upon some of its

interesting contents? All that he can at any time find necessary is, to consult his feelings and circumstances, by a selection of such parts of the Bible, as may correspond with the prevailing frame of his own mind.

Are you at any time disposed to apply the full vigour of your understanding to an investigation of the grand doctrines of redemption? Imploring the guidance of that Spirit who leadeth into all truth, study such parts of the volume of inspiration as the epistles of Paul to the Romans, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, and to the Hebrews. Are you at any time peculiarly disposed to. yield your hearts to tender and deep impressions of the Saviour's love? Read his farewell discourse to his disciples, his intercessory prayer to his Father, and the affecting recital, given by the Evangelists, of his mental anguish, and his sufferings on the cross. Are you desirous of practical directions, for guidance in the path of duty and obedience, in all the relations and transactions of life? Collect and study the precepts interspersed throughout the sacred volume," that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," 2 Tim. iii. 17. Do you need the assistance of the word as well as of the Spirit of God, in order to sustain and direct the devotional efforts of the soul at the throne of heavenly grace? Avail yourselves of those admirable models of prayer and thanksgiving which abound throughout the Old Testament and the New, and especially of the effusions of

David's heart, when there descended upon his spirit the richest unction from above. Are you at any period of life depressed by trouble, or enfeebled by affliction? Let your recourse be to the exceeding great and precious promises, which are applicable to every species of distress, and which have poured the balm of consolation into many a wounded heart.

In health, there is a pleasure to be enjoyed in the study of the word of God, which far surpasses the gratification to be derived from any human author; but who, except instructed by actual experience, can conceive aright of the value of the Scriptures in the chamber of sickness and of languishing? In health, the Bible is the best book, but in illness it is perhaps the only book which the Christian can read. Every other becomes insipid and uninteresting; or, perhaps, the effort to read or to think costs too much to be repaid by any book, except by that which is Divine. Oh, this is the book which he then needs, which he is then taught more than ever to prize. Precious, beyond expression, are the consolations it imparts, and the hopes it inspires; so that many, under all the languor induced by the most debilitating and depressing maladies, have been able to exclaim, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." Jer. xv. 16. It was in perfect unison with the sentiments now expressed, that a Christian of distinguished eminence in professional life and in scientific attainments, who now