know if God would like to hear them sing the beautiful hymns mamma had
taught them, without an organ accompaniment.

"Yes, my dear children," said I, "God is everywhere; and to bless him,
to praise him in all his works, to submit to his holy will, and to obey
him,--is to serve him. But everything in its time. Let us first attend
to the wants of our animals, and breakfast, and we will then begin the
services of the day by a hymn."

We descended, and breakfasted on warm milk, fed our animals, and then,
my children and their mother seated on the turf, I placed myself on a
little eminence before them, and, after the service of the day, which I
knew by heart, and singing some portions of the 119th Psalm, I told them
a little allegory.

"There was once on a time a great king, whose kingdom was called the
Land of _Light_ and _Reality_, because there reigned there constant
light and incessant activity. On the most remote frontier of this
kingdom, towards the north, there was another large kingdom, equally
subject to his rule, and of which none but himself knew the immense
extent. From time immemorial, an exact plan of this kingdom had been
preserved in the archives. It was called the Land of Obscurity, or
_Night_, because everything in it was dark and inactive.

"In the most fertile and agreeable part of the empire of Reality, the
king had a magnificent residence, called _The Heavenly City_, where he
held his brilliant court. Millions of servants executed his
wishes--still more were ready to receive his orders. The first were
clothed in glittering robes, whiter than snow--for white was the colour
of the Great King, as the emblem of purity. Others were clothed in