and inquire what are its benefits, even in this temporal state, the great and the humble, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the learned and the ignorant reply, as with one voice, that humility and resignation, purity, order, and peace, faith, hope, and charity are its blessings upon earth.

6. And if, raising our eyes from time to eternity; from the world of mortals to the world of just men made perfect; from the visible creation, marvelous, beautiful, and glorious as it is, to the invisible creation of angels and seraphs; from the footstool of God to the throne of God himself, we ask, what are the blessings that flow from this single volume, let the question be answered by the pen of the evangelist, the harp of the prophet, and the records of the book of life.

7. Such is the best of classics the world has ever admired; such, the noblest that man has ever adopted as a guide.

DEFINITIONS.—1. Clăs'sie, a work of acknowledged excellence and authority. 2. Au-then-tiç'i-ty, of established authority for truth and correctness. Såne'tion (pro. sănk'shun), authority, support. 3. Vēr'sa-tîle, readily applied to various subjects. 4. Vìn'di-eāt-ed, defended, justified. E-văn'ġel-ist, a writer of the history of Jesus Christ. 6. Sěr'aph, an angel of the highest order.

CXVII. MY MOTHER'S BIBLE.

George P. Morris (6. 1802, d. 1864) was born in Philadelphia. In 1823 he became one of the editors of the “New York Mirror,” a weekly literary paper. In 1846 Mr. Morris and N. P. Willis founded “ The Home Journal.” He was associate editor of this popular journal until a short time before his death.

1. This book is all that's left me now,

Tears will unbidden start,-
With faltering lip and throbbing brow

I press it to my heart.

For many generations past

Here is our family tree;
My mother's hands this Bible clasped,

She, dying, gave it me.

2. Ah! well do I remember those

Whose names these records bear;
Who round the hearth-stone used to close,

After the evening prayer,
And speak of what these pages said

In tones my heart would thrill!
Though they are with the silent dead,

Here are they living still!

3. My father read this holy book

To brothers, sisters, dear;
How calm was my poor mother's look,

Who loved God's word to hear!
Her angel face, -I see it yet!

What thronging memories come!
Again that little group is met

Within the walls of home!

4. Thou truest friend man ever knew,

Thy constancy I've tried ;
When all were false, I found thee true,

My counselor and guide.
The mines of earth no treasures give

That could this volume buy;
In teaching me the way to live,

It taught me how to die.