ow feel, my dears," said Mrs. Fairchild, "is not exactly
envy, though it is very like it; it is what is called ambition.
Ambition is the desire to be greater than we are. Ambition makes people
unhappy and discontented with what they are and what they have."

"I do not exactly understand, mamma," said Emily, "what ambition makes
people do."

"Why, my dear," said Mrs. Fairchild, "suppose that Betty was ambitious,
she would be discontented at being a servant, and would want to be as
high as her mistress; and if I were ambitious, I should strive to be
equal to Lady Noble; and Lady Noble would want to be as great as the
duchess, who lives at that beautiful house which we passed by when we
went to see your grandmamma; the duchess, if she were ambitious, would
wish to be like the Queen."

_Emily._ "But the Queen could be no higher, so she could not be
ambitious."

_Mrs. Fairchild._ "My dear, you are much mistaken. When you are old
enough to read history, you will find that when Kings and Queens are
ambitious, it does more harm even than when little people are so. When
Kings are ambitious, they desire to be greater than other Kings, and
then they fight with them, and cause many cruel wars and dreadful
miseries. So, my dear children, you see that there is no end to the
mischief which ambition does; and whenever this desire to be great
comes, it makes us unhappy, and in the end ruins us."

Then Mrs. Fairchild showed to her children how much God loves people
who are lowly and humble; and she knelt by the bedside and prayed that
God would take all desire to be great out of her dear little girls'
hearts.

[Illustration: "_Dressed._"--Page 52.]

The All-Seeing God

[Illustration: At last she fell asleep]

I must tell you of a sad temptation into which Emily fell about this
time. It is a sad story, but you shall hear it.

There was a room in Mrs. Fairchild's house which was not often used. In
this room was a closet, full of shelves, where Mrs. Fairchild used to
keep her sugar and tea, and sweetmeats and pickles, and many other
things. Now, as Betty was very honest, and John, too, Mrs. Fairchild
would often leave this closet unlocked for weeks together, and never
missed anything out of it. One day, at the time that damsons were ripe,
Mrs. Fairchild and Betty boiled up a great many damsons in sugar, to
use in the winter; and when they had put them in jars and tied them
down, they put them in the closet I before spok