"No, my dear boy, not literally, but in a figure of speech; as the Lord,
when declaring he never will forget Zion, says, 'I have graven thee upon
the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.'

"The meaning of the passage you first read is, that we must have the
word of God as continually present in our minds as anything written on
our hands, and on every object around us, would be to our bodily sight.
And how are we to get our thoughts so occupied by it, Edward?"

"By continually reading it I suppose," replied Edward, rather sullenly.

"By reading it often, and meditating on it much," said his uncle; "and
that we can do without interfering with our other business. Without
prayer, you cannot obtain any spiritual blessing, nor maintain any
communion with God; and without reading the Scriptures you will have but
little desire to pray.

"We are like people wandering in the dark, while the Bible is as a
bright lamp held out to direct us in the only safe path. You cannot be
a child of God if you do not His will; you cannot do it unless you know
it, and it is by the Bible that He is pleased to have that knowledge
known. Do you begin to see, Edward, that the Bible is more suitable as
an every-day book than your profane history?"

"Why, yes, uncle; but the Bible is a serious book, and if I read it so
constantly, I never should be merry."

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"There is no merriment among the lost, Edward; and that dreadful lot
will be your portion if you neglect the great salvation which the
Scriptures set forth. Besides, there is no foundation for what you
suppose to be the effect of reading the Bible. I have known people
naturally melancholy and discontented, become cheerful and happy by
studying it; but I never in my life saw an instance of persons becoming
unhappy because they had a hope of going to heaven."

"I remember, uncle, that it is written concerning wisdom, that 'her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.'"

"Most true, my dear boy, 'quietness and assurance forever' is the
portion of God's people.

"'Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice.'

[Illustration]

"'The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs,
and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.'

"Are such expressions as these likely to make us gloomy, Edward?"

"O no, uncle; and I often wonder that you, who s