M. And is it right to be naughty?
H. Oh, no, quite wrong; it is much better to be good.
M. Then are those right or wrong who see your naughty tricks, I mean your faults; or, as they really are, your sins; and do not tell you of them?
H. Certainly it is right to tell me of them; but then, mamma, it is so unpleasant to have Thomas always finding fault with me. He never is with me for a quarter of an hour without blaming me for something.
M. Do you recollect the day we went to Sir Edward Walton’s? When the carriage came to fetch us, and it was time to get ready, you ran and asked me for your best clothes.
H. Yes; for I should have been quite ashamed if I had gone to play with Sir Edward’s children in my old jacket and trowsers.
M. Suppose, just as you were getting into the carriage, Thomas had pulled you back, and told you there was a great spot of dirt upon your frill, should you have been angry with him?
H. Certainly not; I should have thanked him, and should have gone directly and put on a clean shirt.
M. Then your wish to be neat would have made you willing to listen to his advice! Ah, my Henry, tell me, is not there one who is much greater than Sir Edward, and before whom we must one day appear?
H. You mean, mamma, that we must appear before God.