he went into the presence of his master, that Elisha might not suspect any thing from his absence.

But Elisha knew all that had passed. God had made known to him the sin of his servant, and the first words he said to him, were Whence comest thou, Gehazi ?"

E. Oh! mamma, how ashamed he must have felt then! I hope he was very sorry for what he had done, and that he begged the prophet to forgive him.

M. Foolish man! he still hoped to deceive his master, forgetting that Elisha was a prophet, and that God could enable him to read even his secret thoughts. He was unwise enough to answer, "Thy servant went no whither." What, then, must have been his terror, confusion, and shame, when the prophet said to him, "Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?" And what must have been the misery of his soul when he heard his master pronounce upon him the dreadful punishment of his sin!

E. What was that, mamma?

M. The prophet's awful words were these. "The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and to thy seed for ever." "And Gehazi went out from his presence a leper as white as snow." Poor wretched man! his covetousness and falsehood had, indeed, procured him riches; but what are they without God's blessing? What are riches if they bring his anger with them? Gehazi may keep them if he likes, but how shall he enjoy them? He remains a miserable leper all his life long: nor could he even have the comfort of hoping that his family might enjoy them

after him, for his children were to be lepers also throughout all generations.

Let us take heed, therefore, my child, and beware of covetousness: the happiness of our lives does not depend upon the abundance of things which we possess, but upon the blessing and favour of the Almighty. We may be very happy if we serve God sincerely, even though we are poor: and we shall be sure to be miserable in the midst of riches, if we have done any thing wrong in order to attain them.

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY EVENING.

SAMARIA BESIEGED BY THE SYRIANS.

M. Not very long, Edward, after the cure of Naaman by Elisha, we read in the Bible, that the king of Syria made war against the king of Israel. In this time of terror and distress, the king of Israel had great reason to rejoice that there was still a prophet in the land, for Elisha watched over his king and his country, and many times delivered them from

the enemy.

E. How did he do that, mamma?

M. By the wonderful power which God had given him, of reading even the thoughts of his fellow-creatures : for the king of Syria could not form a single plan for attacking Israel, but Elisha knew what he was going to do, and informed the king immediately of it. By this means he saved himself several times, " and the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled

armies of this world, but, by faith, he saw the hosts of the God of Israel, even armies of living angels, gathered round him, to deliver him.

E. Ah! if his servant had seen them, he would not have been afraid. I wish he could have seen those blessed angels.

M. Elisha prayed to God for him that he might see this comfortable sight. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, so that he could behold those glorious beings who were surrounding his master, and himself, for behold the mountain on which their dwelling stood," was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

E. I think Elisha must have thought of the horses and chariot of fire which carried Elijah into heaven. It makes me think, too, of the angels that surrounded Jacob when he slept on a pillow of stone at Bethel.

M. Yes, my love, it is another proof that the angels of God are employed to watch over the righteous. We cannot see them with our bodily eyes, as the saints of old were often permitted to do, but we can and may believe that these heavenly hosts delight still in attending upon the children of God; that they take a kind and tender interest in all that concerns us, and love us well enough to look down upon us frequently, and for our sakes even to turn away their thoughts for a time from the blissful world where they dwell, that they may attend upon us, and do us good.

To be able to believe this, my child, is a great happiness; and it ought to make us very careful that we grieve not these holy beings, and drive them from us · by our sins. Let us not imagine that the eye of man

is all we have to fear, but let us have faith enough to behold the glorious company in which we live; faith enough to believe that they see all our actions, that they hear all our words; that when we sin, we make them mourn, and that when we do well, they rejoice

over us.

E. Then the king of Syria could do no harm to Elisha, mamma?

M. No, my love; he had no power at all to hurt the man of God, who, on the contrary, could have destroyed his hosts if he had chosen. This the heathen king was soon made to feel; for Elisha struck all the Syrian soldiers who surrounded Dothan, with blindness, so that they could not see which way they went, and then he led them into the midst of Samaria, promising to guide them to the man whom they were seeking.

E. That was himself, mamma?

M. It was, Edward, and he did as he had said, for when he had led them into the very midst of Samaria, he prayed to the Lord to open their eyes again; and the Lord opened their eyes, and behold Elisha stood before them. But it was too late to attempt to take him; for he had brought them into the very midst of their enemies, and they would soon have been utterly destroyed, had not the prophet desired the king of Israel not to smite them.

E. Why would he not allow them to be hurt, mamma?

M. He had no desire to revenge himself; he had brought them there, just to show them how completely they were in his power, and how vain it was to fight against God: having done this, so far from