fable of the lion and the mouse, Victoire?"

"No, madame--never!"

"Then I will tell it to you."

Victoire looked up with eyes of eager expectation--Francois opened the
door to announce that the Marquis de M--- and the Comte de S--- were in
the saloon; but Madame de Fleury stayed to tell Victoire her fable--she
would not lose the opportunity of making an impression upon this child's
heart.

It is whilst the mind is warm that the deepest impressions can be made.
Seizing the happy moment sometimes decides the character and the fate of
a child. In this respect, what advantages have the rich and great in
educating the children of the poor! they have the power which their rank
and all its decorations obtain over the imagination. Their smiles are
favours; their words are listened to as oracular; they are looked up to
as beings of a superior order. Their powers of working good are almost
as great, though not quite so wonderful, as those formerly attributed to
beneficent, fairies.

CHAPTER VI

"Knowledge for them unlocks her _useful_ page,
And virtue blossoms for a better age."--BARBAULD.

A few days after Madame de Fleury had told Victoire the fable of the lion
and the mouse, she was informed by Sister Frances that Victoire had put
the fable into verse. It was wonderfully well done for a child of nine
years old, and Madame de Fleury was tempted to praise the lines; but,
checking the enthusiasm of the moment, she considered whether it would be
advantageous to cultivate her pupil's talent for poetry. Excellence in
the poetic art cannot be obtained without a degree of application for
which a girl in her situation could not have leisure. To encourage her
to become a mere rhyming scribbler, without any chance of obtaining
celebrity or securing subsistence, would be folly and cruelty. Early
prodigies in the lower ranks of life are seldom permanently successful;
they are cried up one day, and cried down the next. Their productions
rarely have that superiority which secures a fair preference in the great
literary market. Their performances are, perhaps, said to be _wonderful,
all things considered_, &c. Charitable allowances are made; the books
are purchased by associations of complaisant friends or opulent patrons;
a kind of forced demand is raised, but this can be only temporary and
delusive. In spite of bounties and of all the arts of protection,
nothing but what is intrinsically good will long be pr