CHAPTER II.

THE BIBLE; OR, THE SAILOR BOY.

QUESTION II. _What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?_

ANSWER. The word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

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ANNA SHERWIN was an orphan child of Mrs. Dermott's deceased brother. For a year she had been residing in the family of her aunt, who treated her with all the tenderness which she manifested for her own children. With the buoyancy natural to youth, Anna had ceased to mourn her parents' loss, though she loved to call to mind their instructions, and to govern her conduct as she thought would please them.

With the enthusiasm of a child, she looked forward to "the catechising," as her cousins had styled the teaching of their mother, and was the first to take her seat and to be in readiness for the second question. When the others were in their places, Mrs. Dermott requested Anna to repeat the answer given at the head of this chapter, and then asked, "What volume contains the word of God?"

"The Bible, or 'The Book.'"

"How do we know it is the word of God?"

"Because—because—" The little ones looked at each other, but could not answer the question.

"I will ask another question. How do we know, Walter, that the Shorter Catechism was written by the Westminster Assembly?"

"Because we have always heard so," replied the boy. "I suppose people who lived then told their children, and they told theirs, until it has come down to us."

"I once saw an old gentleman," remarked the mother, "who told me some interesting circumstances respecting that most remarkable body of men. His father had told him that his great-great-grandfather was a member of the Assembly; that he knew and had conversed with those who wrote the Catechism, and that he had related many interesting facts, which, with letters and other papers, were now preserved in an antiquarian library.

"In the same manner we know that the books of the Bible were written by the men whose names they bear, and can distinctly retrace them to their authors, both by history and tradition. Besides, God enabled them to perform many miracles, such as healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead to life, to prove that they had received authority from him. Ha also enabled them to foretell many events which have since taken place, and thereby has set his seal to their commission.

"A poor negro was once asked, 'What reasons have you for believing the Bible to be the word of God?'

"'Me have no reasons, massa,' was the good man's artless reply. 'Me want no reasons. Me read the precious book, and me feel it in here,' putting his hand upon his heart. 'Me know God wrote it for poor creatures just like me.'

"The Bible carries its own arguments with it. Its writers often refer to this internal evidence of its truth. 'He that believeth shall know of the doctrine.' 'Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.'

"Multitudes have in this way learned the divine truth and power of the Holy Scriptures.

"Many years ago I read of a pious widow who lived in the northern part of England. She had one son. This boy, whose name was Charles, from being her pet and darling, became her scourge and her cross. He loved bad company, and at length declared his intention of going to sea. His mother, with many tears and sad forebodings, bade him farewell; but as she did so, she put into his hand a New Testament inscribed with her name and his own, solemnly and tenderly entreating that he would keep it and read it for her sake. Year after year elapsed, bearing to heaven the record of her prayers and tears, and still no tidings of her boy!

"At length her maternal anxiety could brook no longer delay. She set out alone for London, where she went about making inquiries concerning the vessel in which Charles had sailed. She one day mot a sea captain, who told her the ship had been wrecked long before, adding, 'They were a wicked crew, especially a cabin boy by the name of Charles—. He was so depraved and profligate, that it were a good thing if he and all like him were at the bottom of the sea.'

"Pierced to her inmost soul, this unhappy mother withdrew from the house, and hastened to her retired home. The language of her heart was, 'I shall go down to the grave mourning for my son.'

"Some years elapsed, when one night, a half-naked sailor knocked at her door to ask relief. He had seen great perils in the deep, had been several times wrecked, but, said he, 'I have never been so dreadfully destitute as I was some years back, when I and a fine young gentleman were the only ones saved of a whole ship's crew. We were cast upon a desert island, where, after seven days, I closed his eyes. Poor fellow! I never shall forget him;' And here the tears stole down his weather-beaten cheeks.

"'He read day and night,' continued the sailor, 'in a little book which he said his mother gave him, and which was the only thing he saved from the wreck. It was his companion every moment. He wept for his sins; he prayed; he kissed the volume; he talked of nothing but this book and his mother; and when he died, he gave it to me, with many thanks for my poor services.

"'There, Jack,' said he, 'take this book, and keep it and read it, and may God bless you; it's all I've got.'

"And then he clasped my hand, and died in peace."

"'Is this all true?' said the trembling, astonished mother, hope whispering to her heart that the dying youth was her own Charles.

"'Yes, madam, every word of it.' And then, dragging from his ragged jacket a little book, much tattered and time-worn, he held it up, exclaiming, 'And here's the very book too.'

"She seized it, descried her own handwriting, and beheld the name of her son coupled with her own upon the fly leaf. She gazed, she read, she wept, she rejoiced. She seemed to hear a voice saying, 'Thy son liveth;' and from her heart she was ready to exclaim, 'Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'

"'Will you part with that book, my honest fellow?' said she, anxious to possess the precious relic.

"'No, madam,' was the answer, 'not for any money—not for all the world. He gave it to me with his dying hand. I have more than once lost my all since I got it, without losing this treasure, the truths of which have, I hope, been blessed to my soul; and I will never part with it till I part with the breath out of my body.'

"The Bible," continued Mrs. Dermott, "has this transforming power, because holy men wrote it as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God put into their hearts what they wrote, and he renders it effectual to our salvation. What other names do we sometimes give to the Bible?"

"The Scriptures, or Testaments," replied Walter, quickly.

"A testament is a will or writing, such as persons leave to tell what they wish to have done with their property after their death. How many Testaments are there in the Bible, Helen?"

"Two; the Old Testament and the New Testament."

"Do you see why these two portions of the Bible are called Testaments?"

"No, mamma."

"It is because in them God has revealed to us his will. In them he tells who shall be heirs to his vast possessions."

"I should think every body would want to read them, then," exclaimed Walter in an animated tone.

"Yes, my son. If a book were now to be published, telling how any one who wished might inherit a crown, and be heir to an immense estate, how eagerly would the volume be perused! And how exactly would the directions be followed. But here is a book which God has given as a rule or guide to lead us to heaven, where a crown of glory, which cannot fade, is awaiting us, and where we may be co-heirs with Christ to an eternal and immortal inheritance. Alas, that so many should neglect it!"

"A little boy was once sent by his mother to a small shop to buy a bar of soap. The shopwoman took it from the shelf, and having received the money from the child, took a thick book from the floor, and was just about to tear out some of the leaves, when the boy exclaimed, 'Is not that the Bible?'

"'Yes; but what of that?'

"'O, do not tear the Bible! It is so precious.'

"'Pshaw! It is only fit for wrapping paper.'

"'O, will you not give it to me?'

"'Yes, if you will give me its weight in waste paper.'

"Leaving his soap, the boy ran swiftly home, and rushing up to his mother, exclaimed, 'O mother, the shopwoman will give me a Bible, a whole Bible, if I can get as much waste paper as it will weigh.'

"With his mother's consent, he then searched the house; but the quantity he obtained was far too scanty for him to procure the prize. Determined, however, not to give up, he went round among the neighbors, told them his story, and soon obtained a supply. He then carried it to the shopwoman, and watched her with breathless interest as she placed the precious Bible in one scale and the old newspapers in the other, gave a bound of joy as he saw the former was more than balanced by the latter, and received the precious volume in his arms.

"'It is my own Bible. O, what a treasure!' he exclaimed, pressing it repeatedly to his breast.

"We can easily imagine with what delight the dear boy sat down to peruse the sacred pages; how joyfully he adopted it as the lamp to his feet and the light to his path, as his only rule of faith and practice."