OF THE FOREST. 25

“ Does the first commandment forbid us to
give any kind of honour to the saints and
angels ?

“No: it only forbids us to give them
supreme or Divine honour, which belongs to
God alone ; but it does not forbid us to give
them that inferior honour, which is due to
them as the faithful servants and special
friends of God.

“ And is it allowable to honour relics, cru-
cifixes, and holy pictures 4

“ Yes, with an inferior and relative honour,
as they relate to Christ and his saints, and
are memorials of them.”

But, as I have already. remarked, when
kneeling before these crucifixes and images,
I fear that I too often retained but very
imperfect ideas of these metaphysical dis-
tinctions, and in the too visible type or repre-
sentation too often lost the recollection of the
antitype.

To return to little Aimée. She was a child

. exactly formed to be the delight and joy of

some venerable grandmother, or of some

widowed and bereaved wife and mother.
c