We must now return to the history of John the Baptist; he was about this time put to death by Herod, who, as we have already seen, had thrown the Baptist into prison to please Herodias, who was angry with him because he had reproved her and Herod for their sins. But this wicked woman was not satisfied with the imprisonment of this holy man; she wanted to destroy him, and watched for an opportunity of doing so. It is a terrible thing to determine in one's heart to do a wicked action: it is bad enough to give way to temptation, and so sin against God, but to make up one's mind to break His commandments, is far worse. After John the Baptist had been in prison for some months, Herod's birthday came round; and to celebrate this event, the king made a great feast to the officers of his household, and the chief men in Galilee. On this occasion, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before Herod and his guests, in order to amuse them. This was a very old custom among the kings of the East at that time, though to us it seems a very strange and bad custom. Herod and those who sat with him, were very much pleased with the damsel's dancing; and Herod, very rashly and foolishly, made a solemn promise, that he would, as a reward, give her anything she liked to ask for. "And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask?" Herodias had probably expected something of this kind; at any rate, she had an answer ready, and said, "The head of John the Baptist". It does not seem that Salome was astonished at this advice, or that she was at all unwilling to follow it: for she returned straightway with haste unto the king, and said, "I will that thou give me by and by in a charger, the head of John the Baptist". A charger was a large dish or tray: in some countries, even to this day, when the king orders a great man to be beheaded, the head is brought to him afterwards, to show that his commands have been obeyed. Such a request as Salome now made, startled even Herod himself: we read that "the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat at meat with him, he would not reject her." He therefore sent an executioner, who cut off John the Baptist's head in the prison, and brought it to Salome, who gave it to her mother. This history teaches us many things: first, although it is the duty of children to obey their Parents, they must obey God before them: thus, if Parents are unhappily so wicked as to tell their children to do anything that God has forbidden, they must please God rather than their Parents. Children should, be very thankful when they have Parents who will never wish them to break the Lord's commandments. Another thing we learn is, to be careful how we make promises. A solemn promise once made ought to be kept, however inconvenient it may be to keep it; and therefore we should never promise positively to do anything, unless we are quite sure that we can do it. But though it is displeasing to God