But  in  the  midst  of  all  his  juvenile  sports  and  adventures,
he  never  lost  sight  of  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  Hence,
a  portion  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  reading  and  study.  His
library,  though  small,  contained  one  very  valuable  book;  and
fortunately  for  him,  in  that  book  he  was  greatly  delighted :
it  was  the  Bible.  He  read  it  with  much  interest  and  prayer-
ful attention.     Such  was  his  fondness  for  the  inspired  records


VALENTINE    COOK.  185

that  his  mind  became  thoroughly  imbued  with  their  sacred
teachings,  though  he  was  but  a  stripling.  "When  far  ad-
vanced in  life,  he  could  repeat  chapter  after  chapter  with
the  utmost  facility,  and  always  appeared  to  take  great  delight
in  letting  his  brethren  and  friends  know  that  he  had  memo-
rized these  portions  of  Scripture  long  before  he  embraced
religion;  and  in  some  instances,  as  he  was  in  the  habit  of
saying,  he  could  not  recollect  the  time  when  he  was  not  able
to  repeat  them.  Of  him,  it  may  in  truth  be  said,  that  from  a
child  he  knew  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  was  from  the  careful
and  constant  perusal  of  the  Bible  that  his  heart  became  so
deeply  impressed,  even  in  his  boyhood,  with  the  importance
of  an  early  and  unreserved  consecration  of  himself  to  God
and  his  cause.
