In a low but distinct voice, he replied, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." "What is the meaning of chief end?" "Principal object or business." "Yes; Isabelle is just beginning to attend school. Can you tell me, Helen, what her chief end is while there?" "To learn to read and spell." "I learn geography, too," lisped the little one, "and can tell which is my right hand, and which is my left hand." Mrs. Dermott and the children smiled, while she continued: "If Isabelle should go to school some day, and spend all her time in whispering or drawing pictures on her slate, what would be her chief end?" "To play." "Yes. She would be like a great many men, women, and children, whom God has sent into the world to glorify him, but who pass their whole lives in seeking their own pleasure. Would that be right?" "No, mamma. It would be very wicked." "The great object, business, or end, then, for which mankind were sent into the world, is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. How can little children glorify God?" "If they love him and keep his commands," replied Anna, seriously. "How can little children show that they love God, and that their chief end is to glorify him?" Anna blushed, and glanced at Walter, who replied for her. "If they are serious and devout in church and Sabbath school. If they listen attentively to what their teachers say about God, and are not thinking about their plays, toys, or fine clothes, but are trying to learn how to please him, I think that would be glorifying God." "Yes, my dear boy," replied Mrs. Dermott, gazing with moistened eyes upon the flushed, eager countenance of her first-born. "God would see in that child's heart a desire to attain the chief aim of his existence, and He would send his Holy Spirit to aid, comfort, and guide him, and at last would take him to the full enjoyment of himself in heaven." "Between two and three thousand years ago," added Mrs. Dermott, "there lived in Greece a great many wise men, called philosophers. These were divided into numerous sects, as Christian people now are into different denominations. The search of all these was for the highest good, or 'the chief end' of man. One sect claimed it was to be found in ease; another in pleasure; and still another in fame and renown. Some claimed the greatest good consisted in luxurious meats and drinks; some placed it in one thing, some in another. Their wisdom was but folly. None of them attained the true idea which God in the Bible has revealed to little children, and which this answer of the Catechism so beautifully and summarily expresses. But an incident will explain my meaning.