d. We
are sent into this world to serve: to serve God first, and after to
serve man for God's sake. And every blow of the chisel on the stone
doth but dress it for its place. God's chisel never falleth on the
wrong place, and never giveth a stroke too much. Every pang fitteth us
for more service; and I think thou shouldst find, in most instances,
that the higher and greater the service to which the varlet is called,
the deeper the previous suffering which fitteth him therefor. And God's
greatnesses are not ours. In His eyes, a poor serving-maiden may have a
loftier and more difficult task than a lord of the King's Council, or a
Marshal of the army.

"And after all, every sorrow and perplexity, be it large or small, doth
but give God's child an errand to his Father. Nothing is too little to
bear to His ear, if it be not too little to distress and perplex His
servant. To Him all things pertaining to this life are small--the cloth
of estate no less than the blade of grass; and all things pertaining to
that other and better life in His blessed Home, are great and mighty.
Yet we think the first great, and the last little. And therefore things
become great that belong to the first life, just in proportion as they
bear upon the second. Nothing is small that becomes to thee an occasion
of sin; nothing, that can be made an incentive to holiness."

"O mother, mother!" said Philippa, with a sudden sharp shoot of pain,
"to-morrow I shall be far away from you, and none will teach me any
more!"

"God will teach thee Himself, my child," said Isabel tenderly. "He can
teach far better than I. Only be thou not weary of His lessons; nor
refuse to learn them. Maybe thou canst not see the use of many of them
till they are learned; but `thou shalt know hereafter.' Thou shalt find
many a thorn in the way; but remember, it is not set there in anger, if
thou be Christ's; and many a flower shall spring up under thy feet, when
thou art not looking for it. Only do thou never loose thine hold on
Him, who has promised never to loose His on thee. Not that thou
shouldst be lost in so doing; He will have a care of that: but thou
mightest find thyself in the dark, and so far as thou couldst see,
alone. It is sin that hides God from man; but nothing can hide man from
God."

And Philippa, drawing closer to her, whispered,--"Mother, pray for me."

A very loving smile broke over Isabel's lips, as she pressed them fondly
upon Philippa'