had "lost" any good disposition which he formerly possessed; that he was more easily provoked, more selfish, less generous, less charitable to his neighbours, less sensible of the mercies, less careful of the approbation of his God, than he used to be. He would " sweep the house diligently," he would pray earnestly to God, that by His assistance he might be enabled to "cleanse the thoughts of his heart" from all impurity, from all that might hide and smother his good qualities. He would, like the shepherd, leave for the time in great measure every other care, he would apply his whole attention to remedy the evil, to "find" again that which he had lost-nor would he cease in his exertions, till, by the mercy and grace of God, following his prayers and resolutions, he had succeeded in finding it.

Henry.-O, Mamma! I see quite now what your second explanation means, and I think I understand it better than I did the first. And then how happy it

would be to call all one's friends and tell them that one was become so good!

Mrs. B.-There would be but little of a Christian spirit, my dear boy, in such boasting to our friends; for the very best of us must feel that they have many sins to answer for. "There is none good," says our Lord, "but One, that is God ;"* and our religion teaches us always to think rather of our many sins than of our few approaches to goodness. "Let nothing be done," says St. Paul, "through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves." I do not say, however, that you might not feel in your own conscience that happiness which always accompanies a successful attempt to conquer a bad inclination, or to encourage a good one. Our best endeavours to serve God, are but very imperfect, and cannot of themselves be satisfactory to Him; but for the sake of our Saviour Jesus

*Luke xviii. 19.

+ Phil. ii. 3.

Christ He will accept of them, if we make them honestly and though we must not call together our earthly friends, we may remember, with joy and gratitude, that we have heavenly friends rejoicing over every successful attempt that we make to become more virtuous, and less unworthy of the goodness of God. And this we have on the authority of the Bible itself; for each of these two parables ends thus, and the verse is repeated at the close of each. "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Henry. Then do you mean, Mamma, that whenever I am inclined to be naughty, and fight against my inclination, I may think, that the angels are really glad that I am trying to be good?

Mrs. B.—You may not only think, but be sure, my dear little boy, that not only the angels, but the great God Himself, sees you, and rejoices; and loves you with a love far greater even than

your earthly father or I feel for you. The best actions of the best persons on earth are unworthy to be considered by the great Governor and Father of all the universe; but the least good actions of the least among us, are not lost upon Him, who knoweth whereof we are made, who measures our capacities, and accepts our poorest endeavours in His service. Upon this subject, however, we will go more at length to-morrow, for to-day's reading has already taken us up nearly our usual time, and I think we shall have a good deal to say upon the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Mary.-Oh, Mamma! may not we go on to-day? I am not at all tired.

Mrs. B.-No, my love; I have other things to do, and I cannot go beyond our time; and it would be a pity to begin so beautiful a parable without going through it. So we will shut the book till

to-morrow.

FOURTH DAY.

Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Luke xv. 11.

Mrs. B. WELL, my loves, I see you are come very exactly at our time for the parables.

Henry.-Oh yes, Mamma, I do so like these readings! And Mary and I both think that we make out the parables better every day. But will you begin, Mamma, with the one that you said yesterday was so beautiful?

Mrs. B.-You are in a great hurry, Henry; but bring me the book, and we will lose no time. The parable immediately following those which we read yes