ve the Book warms into life; and,
having proven well your loyalty, this teacher of the soul opens its soul
to you and whispers--Henceforth I call you not servant but friend. Wait in
these courts until the Eternal Wisdom, who walks within this temple, turns
her face upon you, "mystic, wonderful;" and the common places grow
refulgent with a new and heavenly beauty, and you humbly say--This is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

* * * * *

How shall we thus rightly read the Bible, for ethical and spiritual
upbuilding? Let me offer some plain and practical suggestions to this end.

(1.) _Read it daily._

Your soul needs its daily bread. Do not starve your soul. Do not try to
fatten it on chaff. Get the best soul-food, the long tried manna that
forms upon these pages day by day, for him who will be at pains to gather
it. He must be busy, indeed, who cannot find time to keep himself alive.

(2.) _Read it in the choicest moments of the day._

The best picture should have the best setting. Our fathers' symbol of the
opening of a new day was the opening of the Bible. Their symbol of the
closing of another day's duties was the closing of the Bible. Can we
improve upon their ritual? John Quincy Adams noted in his journal his
custom of reading in the Bible each morning, of which he well observed:

It seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.

Pitch the day aright with this tuning-fork, and hush the babel-voices of
the world to its tones of peace at night.

(3.) _Read the Bible whenever you need some special influence of strength
or cheer, amid the temptations and trials of the day._

It holds the unfailing corrective for the manifold disorders of our busy
lives. To think its thoughts and breathe its desires, even for a few
moments, is to have the horizon of the senses open, the heavy atmosphere
of earth clear, the illusions of the world evanish, the fever of business
cool and calm, the tempting appetites and passions slink down shamed into
their kennels. It is to have the dark look of life lighten, the sting of
disappointment lose its venom, the weariness of sickness forget itself,
and the sorrow of the stricken heart sob itself asleep within the
everlasting arms of One who, like a mother, comforteth his children, and
who with his own hand wipes away the tears from our eyes.

A few days after one of the battles before Richmond a Souther