s a natural wish, my child; but God knows what is best, and if He
should see fit to remove it, we have no right to murmur.'

'No, father, but poor Mrs Gilman will feel so dreadfully, for then she
will be entirely alone. She told us, you know, that before she married
James Gilman she was a poor servant girl, and an orphan, and she don't
know whether she has any relatives or not. It will be very hard for her
to see everything she loves taken from her and buried in the grave.'

'So it will, my dear boy, and she deserves all our sympathy; but it may
be that a kind Heavenly Parent, since she has no earthly ones to guide
her, is using these means to draw the poor widow nearer to Him. If this
chastisement is sent by His hand, it will undoubtedly be in love and
mercy.'

'Do you think, father, that Mrs Gilman loves her little James too well?'

'I will answer your question by asking another, Harry. Do you think her
love for the child interferes with that she owes to God?'

Harry was for a few moments silent. At last he answered, 'She certainly
loves him better than she does God, and that is not right; but you
always told Effie and me that we could not love each other too well.'

'And I told you right, provided _that_ love is made subservient to a
holier one. But your first duty is, in the words of our Saviour, "to
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." Obedience to this precept
involves a great many other duties, but none of these should interfere
with the great first command.'

'But, father,' inquired Harry, 'if Mrs Gilman should become a Christian,
would she love her baby less.'

'No, she might love it more, but not with the same kind of affection
she bears it now. This is a blind idolatry--her child is her all, and
she cannot bear to part with it, even though it should join her lost
husband, and wear a crown in glory. If she were a Christian, she would
be able to say, "Thy will be done," and to place entire confidence in
the Divine Master, and bow in submission to His requirements, even
though they should call on her to resign this treasure.'

'Oh, how happy we should be, if we loved God better than anything else!'
said Harry.

After they had arrived at home, and while Mrs Maurice was engaged in
preparing some comfortable things for the poor woman, Harry was heard to
whisper in his sister's ear, 'Poor Mrs Gilman makes a god of her baby,
Effie.'

CHAPTER VI.

GENEROSITY AND JUSTICE.

Several days pas