The Caledonian

For the Girls and Boys
George, the best Boy in School.

When George returned from school, he ran to his mother, exclaiming with a tone of exultation, "Only two more days, mother. I have not had a single mark for bad conduct, and I have had more good marks for perfect recitations than any boy in school." In two more days the month will be out.

George expected his mother to be as delighted as himself: but for a moment she looked grave, and seemed to be thinking. At length she said, "I am always glad when you have done well at school; but I do not know that I ought to be particularly glad because you have done better than any other boy. You read this morning the account of the Pharisee who thanked God that he was better than other men; and you know that God was not pleased with him. We may thank God for keeping us from sin, but we must wish and pray that all other men may be kept also."

"But is it wrong, mother, to wish to be praised? You very often praise me."

"Oh! no, it is right to love praise; but we must not do right merely for the sake of being praised. If praise is all we wish for, we shall be likely to neglect our duty, and to do very wrong things when we have nobody to praise or blame us. There are bad people in the world who would praise you for doing wrong; and it is often love of praise which leads persons to commit great sins."

George looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think it is very pleasant," he said at length, "to be praised by good people—by you and father and Miss Elliott. And sometimes," he added after another pause, "it would be hard to be good if nobody praised us for it."

"So it is," said his mother; "but I can tell you a motive which will always make us happy when we have done what is worthy of praise, even if no person in the world should know it: and this is, the desire to please God. He always knows our motives, and when he sees that we do right for the sake of pleasing him, he looks upon us with favor. This thought will make us happy, even if all the world blame us. Sometimes, you know, people are blamed for doing right; but that will not make them very unhappy, if they only remember that God, who looks upon the heart, is pleased with their conduct."

"I should think it was very hard," said George, "to be blamed for doing right."

"True, it is not pleasant, but we must not mind it. If a bad boy should blame you for wishing to please your father and mother, I hope you would care but little for it."

"I do not like to be laughed at," said George.

"Neither do I," said his mother, "nor does any one; and we should avoid doing things which are in themselves ridiculous: but when any evil minded person laughs at us for doing right, we must still do our duty, in spite of their laughing. If we have right feelings, we shall often feel happy in suffering for doing our duty. This is what the Bible means when it says, 'Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.' Blessed, means happy, and our Savior calls them happy who suffer for doing right. So we must always do as God commands, whether persons praise or blame us, and even if they treat us very ill. In all things we must seek the praise of God more than the praise of men. Whenever we feel it hard to be blamed for doing right, we must think of the Divine Savior, who all his life was blameless and perfect, and who yet was reviled and persecuted, and even put to a cruel death for teaching men how they might be saved from their sins. If Christ had not died for us, we must all have been miserable for ever. Shall we then think it hard to suffer a little blame or ridicule for the sake of pleasing him? We must ask God, for his sake, to deliver us from the fear of man, which bringeth a snare."

George sat for some time, thinking very seriously of what his mother had said, and then, taking his little brother and sister into the garden, to relieve his mother from care, he devoted himself very kindly and patiently to their amusement until dinner time. E. E.
—Am. Messenger