shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took them in? or naked, and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer, and say unto them, Verily I Inasmuch as ye say unto you, have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he

say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in naked, and ye clothed me not: sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."1

Mary. Thank you, dear Mamma, that is very beautiful indeed; but there is one thing that I want to ask you: If none can be rewarded, but those that feed, and clothe, and visit the poor and naked, what is to become of the poor themselves? for they cannot afford it.

1 Matt. xxv. 31-46.

Mrs. B. My love, God will not require of any that which they cannot do; we shall be judged according to that which we have, and not according to that which we have

not.

But there are few, if any, who have not some means of relieving, or assisting, or showing kindness to others; what God requires is, that we should show mercy, remembering His mercy to us; and if we give in this spirit, our gifts, however small, will be accepted by Him. He has even told us Himself, that "Whosoever shall give a cup of cold water to drink, in his name, verily he shall in no wise lose his reward." But we must put off any further discussion till another day, for it is already late, and we must not enter upon any fresh subject.

1 Matt. x. 42, and Mark ix. 41.

1

Mrs. B. WELL, Henry, what is it that has given you that very triumphant look to-day?

Henry. Oh! Mamma, I think we have. made a good use of your parables; I think Mary and I have been like the good Samaritan, and I think I know somebody that has been like the rich man that you told us of yesterday.

R

Mrs. B. It always gives me pleasure to hear that you have acted rightly; but why should you be glad that you have seen somebody act in a very unworthy and unchristian manner?

Henry. No, Mamma, it is not that that I am glad of, but only.

only...

Mrs. B. Well, my love, let me hear the case, and then I shall be a better judge.

Henry. Why, Mamma, as we were walking just outside the gate, we saw a very poor very wretched looking old man

Mary. No, Henry, he was not an old

man.

Henry. Well, but he was very poor, was not he, Mary? And so, Mamma, there was a gentleman coming on horseback, and the poor man began to beg of him-and the gentleman did not give him any thing, but said, he ought to be ashamed of begging, when he might work; and so, Mamma, when the gentleman said so, as soon as he was gone by, I went up and said, Here, poor man, if that gentleman won't give you any thing, I will—and so I gave him the new