ndly beckoned him
to come near.

"Is not this a pretty place, uncle?" asked Edward, as he seated himself
beside him; "and do you not find the breeze from the water very
refreshing?"

"It is beautiful indeed, my dear boy; and I am refreshed and instructed
as I look around me."

[Illustration: _The Holy Bible_]

"Is that a Bible, uncle?"

"Yes. I always find it the best commentary upon His works;--they explain
each other."

"I love the Bible too, uncle," said Edward, "and got much credit for my
answering on Scripture questions last half-year."

"And which did you enjoy most, Edward, the Scriptures, or the credit you
got for studying them?"

Edward looked a little embarrassed and did not immediately reply.

"It is quite right to take pleasure in the well-earned approbation of
your teachers," continued Mr. Lewis, "and I was glad to hear that you
were given a premium at the last examination also."

"Yes, uncle, but not the prize I wanted most. There was a Roman History
that I should have liked better, and it was exactly of equal value with
the Bible that I got."

"Of equal value, Edward?"

"I mean that it was not reckoned a higher prize, and it would have been
a nicer book for me."

"Then you had a Bible already?"

"Why, no, uncle, not of my own, but it is easy to borrow one on the
Sabbath; and I had gone through all my Scripture proofs, and do not want
it on other days."

"Read these four verses for me," said Mr. Lewis, pointing to the sixth
chapter of Deuteronomy "commencing with the sixth verse."

Edward read: "And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the
posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

"To whom did the Lord give this command, Edward?"

"To the Jews, uncle."

"Yes; and the word of God, which cannot pass away, is as much binding on
us as on them, in everything excepting the sacrifices and ceremonies,
which foreshowed the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and which were
done away. For by His death He fulfilled all those types and shadows."

"Then," said Edward, "we are commanded to write the Bible on our hands
and on our doorposts."