turn, as I walk on the banks of this pure river of life, and see on the opposite shore the lovely land where the blessed spirits are walking in white robes, having palms in their hands. The Bible is the telescope which brings that land so near, that in a moment I seem to be there; and when I lay it down, and look around me, I sigh, and say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest, and would join that blessed company who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, who are permitted to serve Him day and night in His heavenly temple !"

I have put a few incoherent, unworthy thoughts before you on a theme which ought to be handled only by lips touched with a coal of fire from the sacred altar, and I have only marred its beauty by attempting what I have no power to describe. Often I exclaim with St. Bernard,

"Good art Thou, Lord, to the soul that seeks Thee,

What art Thou, then, to the soul who finas Thee?"

And when I find Him, no language can even delineate the Altogether Lovely. I can only ask you to look at Him with me, and utter some such exclamation as the prophet's, "How great is His goodness! how great is His beauty!" and in

humble reverence fall low before His footstool. That blessed book makes me more and more acquainted with Him; and I believe I shall love it more every day, till I shall see Him whom it has taught me to love, and taught me to long unspeakably to behold in His glory. I find the day wearisome in which I cannot study its pages, or feed silently on them in my heart by faith; and hours are often spent, without consciousness of their flight, while I turn into different paths, and explore their innumerable beauties in this garden, where my Lord deigns to walk with me in the cool of the day.

I must hasten to a close, and I only hope my unconnected thoughts have not wearied you. I forgot to say that I always seek, as to the meaning to be taught in each passage, what is the mind and intention of the Spirit in that passage, and not to give it my own interpretation, or shape it to my state of feeling and circumstances, on which, nevertheless, it always is made more or less to bear, as if written for me; so wonderfully is it adapted to the human soul. And then, as to its scope and extent, I always strive to remember that the Bible is a book written to suit the whole world, in every age of the world, and

in every country, climate, and circumstance; and that if some parts appear unsuitable to me, or intricate, they are, notwithstanding, a part of the great whole, not one line of which is to be doubted, cavilled at, or disesteemed. My reverence for it grows together with my love, and it makes all other volumes and subjects seem poor. You must forgive the necessary egotism into which I have been led, and for which to any but a dear Christian friend and sister I should offer many apologies; but it is sweet to me to tell you, and sweet, I trust, it will be to you to hear, how good and gracious God is to one of the weakest, most unfruitful, and unworthy of His children; and while we speak good of His name, He will bless even the words so poor and low as mine.

WESTFIELD LODGE;
March 24th, 1841.

SHALL I in the customary phraseology wish you "Many happy returns," my loved friend? No; I have been asking for you (and it was sweet to me to plead with tearful importunity for these rich blessings to be showered down on you from

above) something you value far more than the prolongation of your earthly life,-even a brighter, nearer manifestation of the love of Jesus to your soul than has ever yet been granted to you,- -a closer union and oneness with Him,-more of His lovely image imprinted on your heart,-more of that mind which was in Him, formed in you by His blessed Spirit.

I have been asking for you a rich supply of heavenly and earthly wisdom in all your new and important duties at Dalkeith; and that you may be more abundantly blessed yourself, and made more abundantly a blessing to others, this year, than in any which has preceded it. And if these gifts are granted, whether you live, you will "live unto the Lord," dearest Jane, or whether you die, you will "die unto the Lord" so that living or dying you will be for ever and ever His own. Nothing else seems worth a thought to me, either for myself or those I love. Once, I felt absence from them painful, and inability to write to them painful; but now I have such an abiding sense of the shortness of time, and the nearness of eternity, -and so sweet and certain a hope of soon being united to them for ever,-and I feel so much more realizingly than ever I did the closeness, the

strength, the indissolubleness of the tie which binds together in one body all whose blessed Head is the Lord Jesus Christ, that I have no fear of losing their love now, how great soever may be my own unworthiness. I feel as sure of yours,

my beloved Jane, as if I had clasped your hand in mine yesterday, and taken sweet counsel with you, as I was once permitted to do, and gone with you to the house of God in sweet companionship!

How glad I am that I did meet you that once during our sometime weary pilgrimage! I have had the refreshment of hearing you speak the praises of Him our souls love, and whom I pray we may each love more and more every hour of our future lives. Oh, Jane, love Him above all things; give up your whole soul to be filled with His love; think unceasingly how you can best lead others to love Him, and to live solely for His glory.

These are my birthday wishes for my beloved sister in Christ, with whom I hope to dwell eternally. I have felt it so sweet to praise Him for His love to you, Jane, this evening,—for His having loved you with an everlasting love, and, therefore, with lovingkindness having drawn you,for all the riches of His forbearance and long