breakfast; she answered, 'Yes; Betsy has not any of her own this morning; her father's house was burned down yesterday.'

'And you give her half your breakfast, then? "Yes, sir," was the simple reply; she is very hungry!'

These people were neighbours in the Christian sense of the word.

Here then again good has come out of evil. The good, we have seen (and there is much which is known only to to our Father who sees the secrets of all hearts) has been mutually profitable,-blessing him that gives and him that takes.' Both the sufferers and they that relieved them may humbly accept the words which Christ addressed to the mul titude:

'Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

'Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.'

And there are those amongst us to whom may

劃

be applied another verse of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount:

'Blessed are the peace-makers; for they shall be

called the children of God.'"

12

LEAVE-FAREWELL TO LONDON-THE FOUR GREAT BLESSINGS

OF LIFE.

NOTHING has been said in this little history of Gilbert's faults; it must not, therefore, be supposed he had none; his present mode of life spared him from many temptations; he had no companions to try his temper by contradiction or interference with his own wishes and desires; he was timid and somewhat indolent, and not fond of the occupation that gave him trouble; he would have liked to understand many subjects, and to do a great variety of things; he thought it would be very pleasant to draw, and to understand French and German; but it would be more pleasant still, if these acquirements

་

could be attained through a little amusing occupation; he had no idea of real hard study, or work of any kind, and as soon as he found that he must give the whole of his undivided attention, day after day, to any subject, and that even then he could not discover what progress he made, he became vexed and discouraged, relaxed his efforts, and accomplished nothing. He wished to do much: but wishes and

words are not work.

He went one morning with Mrs. Duncan to call on a family named Egerton, who lived about four miles distant. She hired a small pony-chaise, and as the pony was a very quiet animal, Gilbert had the great satisfaction of driving. They arrived at Mr. Egerton's house about half-past twelve, and Gilbert was soon taken possession of by a little boy about eight years of age, named Archibald, and carried off by him into the garden to the rest of the children, some older, some younger than himself, for there was a large family. The morning studies were over; but still there seemed to

be so much going on amongst them, that Gilbert told Mrs. Duncan afterwards, they seemed at first to be working rather than playing. Two brothers, one about twelve, the other fourteen years of age, were in a roughly-built outhouse, in which was a carpenter's bench and tools; they were making stands or boxes for plants, covered with bark; and Archibald showed him a rustic seat in the garden which they had made of branches of trees, also a small shed for bee-hives. A girl about eleven was seated under a tree netting some shades for the fruit-trees. Little Archie, Gilbert's guide had rather a boastful disposition, and when he perceived that his new acquaintance was somewhat astonished at all that was going on, he made the most of it, and told how another of his sisters made the cakes and the bread, and a third took charge of the linen; and how they kept an evening-school three times a week for the poor children who went out to daily labour, and had no other time to learn to read and write. Archie's relation conveyed somewhat of a false im