Yes, father, she replied; Madame is very kind to me.

And have you nothing to complain of? I asked.

Nonė, father, she replied, if I might have my book again.

Why do you love that book so much? I asked.

It was my brother's, she replied; and she wept again. May I not have it?

But it is not a proper book, Aimée, I said; and I think you know that it is not proper, otherwise why did you go into a retired place to read it?

I always do, she answered.

And why do you, I asked, if you do not think you are doing wrong when reading that book?

Because nobody here cares for the things that are in that book, she answered mildly; and those are the things which make me happy.

What things? I asked.

The things I learned when I was a babyI cannot forget them, she replied.

E

I again asked, What things?

The things papa and mamma taught me, father, she answered.

Please to explain yourself, Aimée, I said. What things did your parents teach you?

They taught me that my heart is bad, sir, and that I can do nothing good without God's help.

Go on, I said.

And that God had sent his Son to die for me, and his Holy Spirit to make me good; and they taught me to read-and told me that I was to love my Bible, and follow all that is written in it.

But how, I asked, can a child like you understand the Bible?

I don't know, father, she meekly answered. Do you pretend to say that you do understand it? I asked, and drew her near to me as I sat.

I have not got a large Bible, she answered; there are only small bits of the Bible in my little book; but even my little Bible tells me many pleasant things.

What pleasant things, Aimée? I asked.

It tells me, she replied, what my Saviour has done for me, and I find in it the promises of that happy world where I shall enjoy a home more pleasant than that which I have lost, and see my papa and my mamma, and my brother and sister again. And sometimes, my father, when I have been reading that little book all alone in the garden, or wherever I can get unseen, I have had such sweet dreams and such delightful thoughts; I fancy I see the world in that time when Christ shall be king over all the earth. And then I fancy -I see places like what I remember of my happy home, and my papa and my mamma, and brother and sister, all glorious like angels, and the Lord Jesus Christ in company with them, and I am so glad to see them happyand every thing that is pleasant in this place. brings these things fresher into my mind; and there is a valley, sir, in the forest, which I often visited last summer, which reminds me too of these things. And when I hear music, or the bells ringing, or the organ at mass, all these things fill my heart with pleasure, and make me wish that the time would

come when I might go to my dear parents, but I know that I ought not to be impatient to leave this world, where you and Madame and so many people are kind to me.

You talk of much kindness, Aimée, I said; have you no unkindness to complain of? have you no feelings of malice or envy in your heart? you know that if you have such feelings it is your duty to confess them.

She looked very earnestly at me, and repeated the word malice, as if she did not understand the signification, or at any rate as if she did not take in the purport of my ques

tion.

To be plain with you, Aimée, I said, are the young ladies your companions so kind to you never feel any thing like anger or ill will towards them? are you in charity

you

that

with every one?

They were cross with me last night, my father, she answered.

And are they not so often? I asked.

I don't think they are, she replied.

That is, you do not think much about them, I said.

I do, she replied; I love them, yes, I hope I love them.

Then you have not perceived that they are unkind to you? I added.

Not to me particularly, she answered; they sometimes quarrel a little amongst themselves; but is not that what we must expect? Are not our hearts bad, father, and do we not all do wrong at times? but when they are cross I think of my happy home, and then I do not mind it; and I have such delight sometimes when I am alone in my room and see the sun set, and think of that distant time when I shall be with my beloved Saviour, as I could not describe.

Then it is because your mind is fixed on the world which is to come, that you do not enter into the quarrels of your companions. My little Aimée, I said, if this be the true state of the case, you are a happy child indeed, happy and blessed beyond all the children I have ever known; and tell me, my little girl, how long your mind has been thus devoted to heavenly things?

་

I do not think that I am devoted to heavenly