, is so true to our own life. For there is
nothing that more distastes and disrelishes many people among us than
just that we should name to them our favourite books, and read a passage
out of them, and ask them to say what they think of such wonderful words.
Samuel Rutherford's _Letters_, for instance; a book that smells to some
nostrils with the same heavenly perfume as Secret's own letter did. A
book, moreover, that is written in the same ink of gold. Ask at
afternoon tea to-morrow, even in so-called Christian homes, when any of
the ladies round the table last read, and how often they have read,
_Grace Abounding, The Saint's Rest, The Religious Affections, Jeremy
Taylor, Law, a Kempis, Fenelon_, or such like, and they will smile to one
another and remark after you are gone on your strange taste for
old-fashioned and long-winded and introspective books. "Julia has buried
her husband and married her daughters, and since that she spends her time
in reading. She is always reading foolish and unedifying books. She
tells you every time she sees you that she is almost at the end of the
silliest book that ever she read in her life. But the best of it is that
it serves to dispose of a good deal of her spare time. She tells you all
romances are sad stuff, yet she is very impatient till she can get all
she can hear of. Histories of intrigue and scandal are the books that
Julia thinks are always too short. The truth is, she lives upon folly
and scandal and impertinence. These things are the support of her dull
hours. And yet she does not see that in all this she is plainly telling
you that she is in a miserable, disordered, reprobate state of mind. Now,
whether you read her books or no, you perhaps think with her that it is a
dull task to read only religious and especially spiritual books. But
when you have the spirit of true religion, when you can think of God as
your only happiness, when you are not afraid of the joys of eternity, you
will think it a dull task to read any other books. When it is the care
of your soul to be humble, holy, pure, and heavenly-minded; when you know
anything of the guilt and misery of sin, or feel a real need of
salvation, then you will find religious and truly spiritual books to be
the greatest feast and joy of your mind and heart." Yes. And then we
shall thank God every day we live that He raised us up such helpers in
our salvation as the gifted and gracious authors we have been spea