The Fairy Godmothers. 29

and then came between her and her ufual feeling
of felf-fatisfaction.

Prefently her young friends came—feveral little
girls of various ages, and now nature once more
revived in poor Julia. The children felt and ex-
preffed fuch hearty pleafure at the fight of her
treafures. “There were fuch joyous exclamations;
fuch burfts of delight; fuch {pringing and jumping
about, that Julia became infected with the general
pleafure, and was a happy child herfelf. Yes!
even though the fillagree box had been fhown off
and admired. But what do children in general
know about the value of things and how much
they coft? Ah, much more juft in their judg-
ments than we elders are apt to be, a bird of
Paradife fuch as adorned the topof Julia’s cabinet,
or a peacock’s tail, fuch as fhe had in a drawer,
is to their unprejudiced eyes more defirable than
the gold of Ophir itfelf !

So now you fee this triumph of fimplicity over
art, defpoiled the fillagree box of all its horrors,
for the innocent children admired her fhells yet
more—unfophifticated, and infenfible to the long
{tory about the value of the rubies, the thaid of
honour, and even the queen’s hairs.

Still the Fairies felt and faw that it was not Eu-
phrofyne’s gift, but rather the forgetfulnefS of it
which caufed thefe hours of happinefS to Julia, and
fomewhat puzzled as to the refult they left the vo-
tary of riches, not quite without a fenfation that
little Aglaia’s propofal of moderate health and