"And is that all the king requires of us? and does he give us so many good things for so light a service?"

"Yes," replied Agnes, "these are all; for if you attend to these two directions, all other duties will follow of course."

"It is very easy," said Ann, " to love so good and so kind a king, and as for loving my neighbour, I do that already, for I love every one that I am acquainted with."

Continue, my dear girl, to do so, and it will make you very happy while you continue with us here, and you will be more happy when you leave this; and go to live in the grand city."

All Agnes' scholars were so much in love with the description of the city of the Diamond Mountain, and the happiness and splendour of its inhabitants, that it became their chief object to please their great and good king; and from that moment, every thing prospered with them, so that in the case of Agnes's youthful scholars, the Scriptures were completely verified, which declare" that every thing shall work together for good to those who love the king of heaven."

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Light o'er the morning paths of youth he goes;
A thousand charms those early scenes disclose;
From ev'ry opening flower and airy wing
Fresh fragrance rises, and fresh pleasures spring.
No boding ills his smiling prospects blight;
His way is lovely and his toil is light:
But as the hours advance, his heart recoils :
He seeks some soothing rest to mitigate his toils."

THE YOUNG HEIR.

His

GEORGE DAVIES, on the demise of his father, found himself in possession of a clear income of ten thousand a-year. His father had been a violin maker, and in that line had saved a fortune to make his son a gentleman. The old father was not long dead, when the son took a house at the West End, and furnished it in the most expensive manner. establishment was most brilliant; he gave the finest parties of any in town, and had always the best company at them. But though the first people of the kingdom were to be met with at George Davies' parties, George Davis was never asked to theirs ; a circumstance which for some time puzzled the young heir not a little. He continued, however, his expensive parties until his fortune was nearly spent, when he found it requisite to change his mode

N

of living. He let his house, and set out upon his travels. Having crossed over to the continent, he resolved to travel on foot through Germany and Italy, and for some time proceeded on his journey prosperously. He came at length to a place where two roads met, and was bewildered which to take, but as he had no object in view except amusement, he thought it of little consequence which he took. While he was debating with himself which way to

go, all at once the road to the left became thronged with gay chariots, horsemen, and people, all laughing and making merry with one another. On each side of the road were trees loaded with fruit, which every traveller partook of freely. The young heir found the fruit most delicious, but after eating it he invariably found himself ill. He proceeded on the road, which became broader and more crowded the further he went; the sky lost its clearness, and became cloudy and gloomy; the fruit became less plentiful, and the people on the road less gay. At length the road terminated; there was no way of proceeding except by crossing in a boat a deep and rapid river, the water of which was muddy and as black as soot, and he heard the inhabitants of the country on the other side making dreadful lamentations and howlings, as if in great pain, and they accused one another as the cause of their pain, by showing them the road to that dreadful place. The young heir tried to get a peep of the inhabitants, but the smoke that arose from the place was

so thick and dense, that he could see nothing else, and the effluvia which proceeded from it was so disagreeable and offensive that it made him quite sick. He stood on the bank of the river for some time, in deep repentance that he had gone so far. Upon looking back on the road, he saw at a great distance a clear and bright speck in the sky, and he thought that if he could get out of the gloomy and pestilential atmosphere which surrounded him, and return to a clear sky, he should then be happy. He immediately began to retrace his steps, but the road was no longer the same; the fruit-trees were changed to briars, which tore his flesh at every step, and the only fruit he could see were sloes as sour as vinegar.

By unwearied perseverance the young heir succeeded in regaining the place he had started from. He sat down on a stone to contemplate the road which led to the right; it was narrow, and by no means inviting; the only people that were to be seen on it were a few grave looking matrons. As he proceeded, however, the road became smoother, and at each step the sky grew brighter and brighter, until at last he was surrounded with light more dazzling than that of the sun; and the shrubs and flowers perfumed the air with their fragrance. The fruit he gathered was most delicious, and had quite a different effect from that which he had eaten on the other road; instead of making him sick as it had done, he always felt lighter and better after

eating it, and every one on the road were friendly with him, and appeared to be as happy as himself: in short, the road that George Davis got into was so delightful, that he could have wished to sojourn in it for ever. George Davies went on his way however without stopping; his guides and fellow travellers assured him that the country they were journeying to was the most delightful place possible: he was determined, therefore, that nothing on the way to it should detain him a single moment. And indeed the way became so beautiful at every step he went, that those who travelled that way had every inducement to press forward. After a very long but most delightful journey, George Davies arrived on the banks of a river, the waters of which were as clear as crystal; and instead of the gruff, surly ferry-man, innumerable lovely beings hovered around to waft the travellers to the other side. The view he had of the other side of the water appeared most beautiful. The Diamond Mountain was on the bank of the clear stream, on the top of the mountain stood the great city which all the kings of the earth traded with, and brought their glory into it. The streets of the city were crowded with people, all young and very lovely, clothed in white robes, with crowns of gold upon their heads, and they seemed all so happy and friendly with one another, that the young heir quite longed to cross the river to join the joyous throng. There appeared to be no poor people in the city, all were clothed nearly