"Oh yes, Sir, "said Ellen, tearfully; and then added, "Do you know my mother, Sir?"
"No," said he, smiling, "not at all; but my own mother has been in many things like this to me, and I judged yours might have been such to you. Have I described her right?"
"Yes, indeed, Sir," said Ellen "exactly."
"And in return for all this, you have given this dear mother the love and gratitude of your whole heart, haven't you?"
"Indeed I have, Sir;" and Ellen's face said it more than her words.
"You are very right," he said, gravely, "to love such a mother to give her all possible duty and affection; she deserves it. But, Ellen, in all these very things I have been mentioning, Jesus Christ has shown that he deserves it far more. Do you think, if you had never behaved like a child to your mother if you had never made her the least return of love or regard that she would have continued to love you as she does?"
"No, Sir," said Ellen "I do not think she would."
"Have you ever made any fit return to God for his goodness to you?"
"No, Sir," said Ellen, in a low tone.
"And yet there has been no change in his kindness. Just look at it, and see what he has done and is doing for you. In the first place, it is not your mother, but he, who has given you every good and pleasant thing you have enjoyed in your whole life. You love your mother, because she is so careful to provide for all your wants; but who gave her the materials to work with? She has only been, as it were, the hand by which he supplied you. And who gave you such a mother? There are many mothers not like her; who put into her heart the truth and love that have been blessing you ever since you were born? It is all all God's doing, from first to last: but his child has forgotten him in the very gifts of his mercy."