in my Sunday-school book of people's worshipping
animals, and plants, and the sun, and moon, and a great many of the
stars.'

'And gold and silver, and men, women and children, did you not?'

'Yes mother.'

'Well, if a man loves gold or silver better than he loves God, does it
make any difference whether he has it made into an image to pray to, or
whether he lays it away in the shape of silver dollars and gold eagles?'

Effie sat for a few moments in thought, and then suddenly looking up,
replied,--'Men don't worship dollars and eagles.'

'Are you sure?' inquired Mrs Maurice.

'I never heard of any one who did.'

'You mean you never heard of one who prayed to them; but there are a
great many people who prefer money to anything else, and who honour a
fine house, fine furniture, and fine dress, more than the meek and quiet
spirit which God approves.'

'And then money is the god of such people, I suppose, and they are the
ones that break the first commandment?'

'Not the only ones, my dear; there are a great many earthly gods, and
they are continually leading us away from the God of heaven. Whatever we
love better than Him, becomes our God, for to that we yield our
heart-worship.'

'I never thought of that before, mother. Yesterday, Jane Wiston told me
that her mother didn't visit Mrs Aimes because she was poor; and when I
told her that you said Mrs Aimes was very pious, she said it did not
make any difference, ladies never visited there. Is Mrs Wiston's god
money?'

'If Mrs Wiston, or any other person, honours wealth more than humble,
unaffected piety, she disobeys the first commandment. But in judging of
others, my dear, always remember that _you cannot see the heart_, and
so, however bad the appearance may be, you have a right to put the best
possible construction on every action.'

'How can I believe that Mrs Wiston's heart is any better than her
actions, mother?'

'In the first place, Jane might have been mistaken, and money may have
nothing to do with her mother's visits; and if she is really correct,
Mrs Wiston may never have considered this properly, and so at least she
deserves charity. I desire you to think a great deal on this subject,
and when you understand it better, we will talk more about it.'

'I think I understand it now, mother. Every thing we love better than
the God of heaven becomes our god, and if we don't bow down to pray to
it, we give it our _heart-worship_, as you said, and that