ied
"yes," and "of course," he smiled, nodded his massive head amiably, and
continued:

"That the angels are full of pity, and glad to relieve the misery of the
unfortunate, whoever they are, and wherever they may be, goes without
saying, and it will not be necessary to tell you how diligently they
sought to remember some one good deed that might redound to the credit of
one of the lost. But St. Peter is a mild and just judge, and the gleaning
yielded but a small return, for only a few of the angels could recall any
act that was worth mentioning. It was also granted to me to look into the
place of torment, and the things I saw there were too awful. Picture it
to yourself as you will! When I recovered from the horror that fell upon
me, I recognized many men and women whom I had known on earth. Among them
were many whom I had been accustomed to consider pious and virtuous, and
whom I had expected to find in a high place in Heaven, rather than there
below, and yet of those very persons the Elect could recall the fewest
deeds that had been done from purely generous motives. An act was
mentioned of this one or that, which on the surface seemed good,
sometimes even great,--but there on high the springs of human actions are
open to view, as well as the real end, which the author had in mind, and
these were always such that those who had performed the best deeds could
be accredited with the least charitable intention. Their pious works had
always been executed in order to make them conspicuous in the eyes of
men, or to attain for themselves some distinction, or to flatter their
vanity, or to arouse the envy of their neighbours, or to contribute in
some indirect way to the increase of their riches. Perhaps you may not
altogether understand what I mean; but no matter, your mother may explain
as much as she thinks good for you.

"The poor things who were disappointed, as well as the unfortunate ones
for whom no voice was raised, made me very unhappy; but I could do
nothing for them.

"Among the latter I noticed a woman whom I had known well on earth, and
who deserved to be among the lost, I thought. I had never anticipated any
other sentence for her. You do not understand, children, what a cold
heart is; but hers had been either ice or stone. Although she had
possessed more than was needed to gratify her own wants, she could never
be moved by the most touching appeals of the poorest to relieve their
distress. She had used other