There is no people in the world that have a greater regard for the Bible than the Scotch. The present of a copy of the Scriptures from a father or mother to a son or daughter, on leaving home, is considered the most sacred of all gifts. It will be read and studied not only for its own sake but for the sake of the giver, and kept sacred through life, and parted with only at death.

A few years ago, there dwelt in the south of Scotland a venerable couple, in comfortable circumstances, who had an only daughter. This daughter, at a suitable age, was sought in marriage by a respectable farmer's son, and the match being agreeable to all parties, the young people were united in wedlock. The bride received the usual present of a Bible from her parents, neatly bound, and covered with a strong cloth covering, which was sewed on with much care.

In a few years the aged parents were both called away from time and were numbered with the dead.

The young farmer, having heard much of America, the promised land beyond the broad Atlantic, gathered his little property together, and with his wife and one child, set sail for New York. The first thing done after landing in the New World, was to seek a boarding-house; where after unpacking their baggage, they took out the precious Family Bible, and after reading a chapter suitable to the occasion, they knelt down and thanked God for his goodness, and besought him to direct them to a new home in a land of strangers.

The young Scotchman's chief object is coming to this country, was to purchase a small farm, where he might follow the occupation which he had learned in his native land. After spending but a few days in the crowded city, he set out for the far West, and turned his face towards the setting sun.

Indiana, at that time, was fast becoming settled, and having heard of its cheap and fertile lands, he determined on settling within its borders. He fixed on a small farm on the banks of the Wabash, paid down one-half of the price in cash, and gave a mortgage for the remainder, to be paid in one year. Having stocked his farm, ploughed his ground and sowed his seed, he patiently waited for the time, when he might go forth and reap the harvest. But alas! no ears of grain gladdened his heart or rewarded his toil. He was seized with a fever, and before the harvest was ripe, death called him home, and his wife was left a widow, and his little boy an orphan.

Alas for the lonely young widow! Her husband gone, her crop rotting in the fields, the time for paying her unfeeling creditor, rapidly approaching. She flew to her Family Bible, the gift of her beloved parents, and there derived comfort and strength. She there read this precious promise, "All things shall work together for good to them that love God." "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths." She prayed and wept, and was strengthened. She now determined to give up her farm and furniture, and let all be sold at public auction, in hope of paying off all her husband's debts.

The day of sale arrived. Her few goods and chattels were, in due course, knocked off to the highest bidder. Unmoved she saw pass from her possession, article after article, without a murmur, till at last, the salesman held up the "Family Bible." This was too much. Tears flowed, and gave silent evidence of a breaking heart. How could she part with that precious gift, the only relic of a pious father and mother. She begged the officer to spare her this memento of her departed parents. But the unfeeling creditor declared that everything should be sold, as he was determined to have all that was due him.

The book was, therefore put up, and was being disposed of for a few shillings, when she suddenly snatched it, and declared that she would part with it only with her life. In the scuffle for the book, the thread by which the brown linen covering was sewed on, gave way, the covering was torn off, and out fell two thin pieces of paper. On examination, each of these papers proved to be a bank-note, good for five hundred pounds ($2,500) on the bank of England! On one of these, in her morher's handwriting were the following words: "When sorrow overtakes you, seek your Bible," On the back of the other, in her father's hand--"our Heavenly Father's ears are never deaf."

The sale was immediately stopped, and the family Bible returned to its faithful owner, the furniture restored, the farm fully purchased, and the balance of the money placed at interest for the education of the son. That Scotch woman's love for her Bible, the gift of her mother, saved her farm. It was a precious gift.