BIBLE AND MORALITY. 49 Heavens"-p. 272.) In the clearest night in this latitude you can only see 1,160 stars, and at the Equator, the most favorable point for observation, if you were to watch all night you would only see about 3,000. The truth of the Bible has been confirmed by the telescope. 40. Bible and Morality. Statistics that cannot lie prove that life is more secure in England than in any other European country, and that life is secure in those countries just in proportion as the Bible is circulated and'read. In England, a Bible land, there is one murder to every 178,000 inhabitants. In Holland, also a Bible land, there is one to every 100,000 inhabitants. In Austria, a half and half Bible land, there is one to every 57,000 inhabitants. In Spain, where there is no Bible, there is one for every 4,113 inhabitants. In Naples, where there is no Bible, there is one to every 2,750 inhabitants. In Rome, there is one to every 950 inhabitants. Equally suggestive are the following items. In London, a Bible city, for every 100 legitimate, there are four illegitimate children. In Paris, where the Bible is scarcely read, there are 48. In Munich, there are 91. In Vienna, for every 100 legitimate, there are 118 illegitimate. In Rome, for every 100 legitimate, there are 243 illegitimate. These are facts worthy of consideration when the Bible is being driven from the schools. "Wherewit hal shall a young man cleanse his way? By tak ing heed thereto, according to thy Word." 41. Bible Enough Knowledge Of It to Poison a Parish. A little girl being asked by a priest to attend his religious instruction, refused, saying it was against her father's wishes. The priest said she should obey him, not her father. "Oh, sir, we are taught in the Bible, Honor thy father and thy mother.'" 66 You have no business to read the Bible," said the priest. "But, sir, "Our Saviour said, 'Search the Scriptures. "John 5: 39. That was only to the Jews, and not to children, and you don't understand it," said the priest in reply. "But Paul said to Timothy, From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.'"-2 Tim. 3: 15. “Oh,” said the priest, “Timothy was being trained to be a Bishop, and taught by the authorities of the church." "Oh, no, sir," said the child; "he was taught by his mother and his grandmother." On this the priest turned her away, saying she "knew enough of the Bible to poison a parish.' 42. Bible-Sublimity of the. I have carefully and regularly perused these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion, that the volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more sublimity, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever language they may have been written.-SIR WM. JONES. BIBLE ECLIPSED. 43. Bible Eclipsed. 51 If all the rays of mental light which have streamed from the Bible could be fully brought back to it, and if it were to be as totally eclipsed as the sun has sometimes been, what would be the condition of the world of mind? It would be what Greece was when Homer sang, and Demosthenes spoke, and Plato taught, ignorant of God, of the nature and destiny of man, and groping its way like a bewildered, yea, blind traveller, towards the unknown land. For so great was the darkness which brooded over it that even Socrates, the best of the heathen, said, "It was necessary that men should wait for some divine teacher, who would instruct them regarding the gods. and one another." And to whom are we indebted for the Bible, but to him in whom all its light was concentrated? He who alone could say, "I am the light of the world." John 8: 12.-A. McAUSLANE. 44. Bible Marking. For seven years I have used different colored inks in marking my Bible, and have found such aids very helpful in locating passages, and finding them quickly. For sometimes when I cannot remember in which of Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians a chapter and verse are, I can remember on what part of the page, and which page right or left, the marked verse is located; and in turning over the leaves my eye very often catches on to the text by the color of the ink with which it is underlined. The following inks I have used in this way. All passages in which Atonement, Redemption, Sacrifice, Blood, occur, that is in which these topics are represented, I have underlined with crimson ink. With blue ink, I underline verses signifying Heaven, Hope, Promise. Blue I associate with the skies. All verses in which Love, Affection, occur I underline with violet. Violet I have associated with love-letters. Faith, Believing, Trust, I have underlined with green. When a boy I looked through a piece of green glass, at an eclipse of the sun. Then whenever Divinity is signified, gold ink serves to indicate at sight the topic of the verse; especially is this an appropriate color for the 365 titles of the Lord Jesus (and there is another for leap year), The Devil has only 35 titles, and black would best suit him, and sin, and temptation, etc., etc.-H. F. ADAMS. 45. Birthright-Selling One's. Gen. 2533; Heb. 12: 16, 17. The lesson from the story of Esau is the sin of undervaluing spiritual blessings, and the punishment that follows their final and irrevocable forfeiture. "He found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears." "The tissues of the life to be We weave with colors all our own, We reap what we have sown BLIND EYES OPened. 53 Jacob and Esau are very like men that we meet with every day; children of a weak father and a crafty mother. Esau is bold, frank, manly, fond of the sports of the field, but he cannot control his animal propensities, and he is destitute of religious susceptibilities. Brave, upright and honest, he is yet carnal, self-willed, profane; the type of many a man in a large city—a man whom many like, but no one respects. Jacob is quiet, domestic and timid; he hangs around his mother's tent; he is not without thoughtfulness and a certain amount of religious seriousness. But he is selfish, crooked, crafty, he tells lies, and does mean things. We have in these two lives the contrast of the good things in a bad man, and the bad things in a good man, with their contrasted issues. Esau growing worse and worse, till he becomes a profligate pagan becomes Edom; and Jacob, subjected to long and wholesome discipline, gradually developing into a godly man - he becomes Israel! 46. Blind Eyes Opened. A little boy was born blind. At last an operation was performed; the light was let in slowly. When one day his mother led him out doors and uncovered his eyes, and for the first time he saw the sky and the earth, "O mother!" he cried, "why didn't you tell me it was so beautiful?" She burst into tears, and said, "I tried to tell you, dear, but you could not understand me." So it is when you try to tell what is in the Bible. Unless the spiritual sight is opened we cannot under |