“How delightful it must be to have such a character, to be so good, and so humble, Mamma,” said Howard. “Yes, my child, and all may be so if they endeavour to keep the commandments of God, and ask his blessing on the endeavour. Howard, it is now your turn to answer. Can you tell me the object of our Saviour’s birth?” “He came to save all mankind from their sins, all that would repent, and believe.” “Were the parents of Jesus living at Bethlehem, at the time of his birth?” “No, mamma, they were living at Nazareth, a town in Galilee, but Augustus the Roman Emperor, made a decree, that all the world should be taxed, and that every one must go to his own city for this purpose. Now Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, the Scriptures say, belonged to the lineage of David, and Bethlehem was the city of David, and they went there to be taxed, just before our Saviour’s birth.” “Do you understand, my dear Howard, what is meant by the word _lineage_, and what was understood by their being taxed at this time?” “Not perfectly, will you explain it to me, mamma?” “The lineage, or _line of David_, which is the common expression, as applied to Joseph and Mary, mean that they belonged to his family. Many hundred years before Christ was born, the Prophet Isaiah, a man who was inspired by God, predicted in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that Christ would be born of one of the descendants of this family, that is of the _line_ or family of David, and that he would be born in Bethlehem, the city to which David’s family belonged, and here it was they came to be taxed, although they had been living at Nazareth, a distance of sixty or seventy miles from Bethlehem. Augustus had issued a decree, or law, that an account should be taken of the number, and situations, of all the subjects, or persons, in his vast empire, which from ostentation he called _all the world_, because it contained the best, and most civilized, and cultivated countries then known, this was the second decree he had sent out, and so many persons had they to number, and register or put down in a book, that they were three years before they came to Bethlehem. At this time, only their names were taken; they were not required to pay any thing till twelve years after: when they did pay, it was for the support of the kingdom, to enrich it, and enable its monarchs to live in splendour. Taxing is lawful, when the money, or other things required, is not so much as to bear heavily on the poor, who are not able to bear it. Our Saviour sanctions it, when he says, ‘render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s.’ But it has been carried so far, under despotic governments, and even in countries, which at this day we have constant intercourse with, that it is melancholy even to think of the distress it has occasioned the poor; who at some seasons, have scarce been able to get bread enough to keep them from starving.” “Thank you, mamma, I shall endeavour to remember what you have told me.”