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said the king; "what have we got here? A little auger, straightening itself up for a speech! But it is not more strange," continued he, reconciling himself to the singular phenomenon -"it is not more strange than that old Pharaoh's bad corn should eat up all his good corn." (Gen. xli. 7.) Then addressing the little auger, which was still standing erect upon a workbench, drawn up to its utmost height "What have

you to say to the king?”

"Is not this house," said the little auger, "which you are building to the name of the God of Israel, designed to be very great?"

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"Yes," said Solomon ;'" to quote the language of my venerable father, David, The house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries."" (1 Chron. xxii. 5.)

"Great king," continued the little auger, "I beseech you to make me the only instrument that shall be employed in building this famous temple. I should love to have all the honor. I am grieved deeply with the present state of things. I see the workmen every day handling immense crowbars, great axes, long steel saws, hammers, chisels, wedges, planes, and an almost countless variety of implements, whose shape and fashion differ widely from my own. Now, great king, I have studied the subject thoroughly; and I have felt deeply; and I must say, that these instruments are all wrong. They are useless, and worse than useless. Great king, look at me!" here the little auger assumed the tallest attitude, and appeared to entertain marvellous conceptions of its own consequence, as though it were prodigious "great king, look at me! Am not I a

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model instrument? Am not I the only instrument that ought to be honored with bearing a part in the erection of this famous temple? Now, therefore, O king, hear my request, and grant my petition. Establish thou a royal statute, and make a firm decree, that every crowbar, poleaxe, steel saw, broadaxe, hammer, chisel, plane, wedge, and each and all other instruments whatever, shall be heated, hammered, and twisted, until they are brought into exact conformity with that model of perfection, the little auger; and further, let the royal decree go forth from the king's palace, sealed with the king's ring, that should any tool or implement, great or small, attempt to stand on its reserved rights, or should it shrink from the process of assimilation, or on any account fail to have itself transformed into the likeness of the model instrument a little auger each and every such refractory, obstinate, and contumacious instrument shall, without favor or affection, be banished from the dominions of King Solomon forever, and suffered to have no share in building the temple to the honor of the great name of the God of Israel."

"Little auger," said the king, "I have heard your speech with mingled emotions of astonishment and pity. It is true, that you have an important part to act in the building of this illustrious temple; otherwise you would never have been forged and fashioned out of the crude ore from which you were taken. Yes, the part that you are called to sustain in the erection of this house is not only important, but, I may say, it is commendable, honorable; but what ever put the idle conceit into your little head, that you are the only instrument needed in the putting up of this mighty

structure, or that you are the model instrument ? There is much, very much, to be done in forwarding this building, for which you, little auger, have no capacity whatever-work that is essential to the great enterprise, and that is wholly beyond your tiny powers. Behold that immense wedge of iron, and that great battering-engine, by which it is driven into the mountain quarry, to move the huge masses of stone from their ancient bed. Could you act the part of that strong battering-engine, or that great wedge of iron? See that heavy sledge, which can break the rock in pieces; that great iron lever, that can lift a weight that is beyond the strength of threescore men. Look upon that keen-edged axe, that can hew down the tall cedar of Lebanon; and that bright saw of steel, that can split the block of marble that is seven cubits thick and forty cubits long. Would you have all these, and many other necessary and valuable instruments, banished from the temple service forever, merely to gratify the senseless whim and foolish ambition of a little auger? Tell it not in Gath! Publish it not in the streets of Askelon! And now," said the wise king, "allow me, little auger, to show you a more excellent way. Be content to pass for what you are, and never take the flattering unction to your soul, that you shall be able to pass for what you are not.

"The great Architect of earth and heaven has not made all men alike. There is a vast variety of talents and of gifts among them. Yet he has use for them all. And each man, who is willing to do his duty, and honor his Creator, is important and honorable in his place. So in the building of this great temple. Many and various instruments are needed. No one

should aspire to be considered the only instrument, or the model instrument. Each is important and respectable in its place. Bear this in mind, little auger. Do your duty, and be contented in your station; and fret not your little soul because others can render service of which you are altogether incapable."

THE GREAT MEN OF THE BIBLE.

ABRAHAM.

A VERY strong argument in favor of the true religion might be drawn from the fact, that in no place does the human soul unfold its powers to such perfection as it does in that land where the light of revelation shines. Dr. Young remarks, concerning heathen Greece and Rome, that "half our learning is their epitaph." The fame of notable men who have risen in the heathen world has been blazed abroad in Christian countries; and very often it would appear, that even the children of the church are not aware that, in all the attributes of true greatness, no men, who have ever lived amidst the darkness of idolatry, will compare with the men who have worshipped the God of the Bible. "What

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manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? said the victorious Gideon to Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian. And they answered, “As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king." And he said, "They were my brethren.' "" (Judges viii. 18, 19.) Of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, it is recorded, that "his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord." Indeed, it is the uniform doctrine of the Bible, that true religion exalts the soul of man. I might go into specifications; true religion exalts,

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