Just at this very time Frank saw his dear Grandma appeared much better, coughed much less frequently, spoke much more easily, and moved about more freely.  So he thought the time was come to talk about “The Crystal Palace.”  He said “how much he wished to see it, when it was convenient, and that he should also like to show it to George Grant, if she had no objection, for that his parents had no time to take him to it.”

Pleased with his consideration, his grandmamma immediately complied with his request, and, as the day was very fine for winter, ordered the carriage to be ready in two hours, and promised to go round and take up his young friend.

Frank ran to smother her with kisses, and looking lovingly upon him she exclaimed—­“God grant that I may live to see my own dear boy a Crystal Palace!”

“Now, Granny dear, that is a funny wish,” cried Frank, “for why should I be made of glass, instead of flesh and bones, I wonder?”

“Let us take a little time to talk about it, dear; fancy yourself at school again, going to take an object lesson,” she replied.

“No, thank you, no!” said Frank, cutting a caper; “I would rather think myself at home instead.”

“Well, then, at home, but tell me the properties of Crystal.”

Frank seated himself beside her on the sofa, looked up wisely into the corner of the ceiling, and said, after a pause, “Is crystal glass, Grandma?”

“Why, not exactly, yet they have so many qualities in common, that you may almost think of them as one.”

“Glass, then, is clear, transparent, bright; what else, Grandma?”

“It is pellucid, that is, not opaque, or dark—­it gives admission to the light, and reflects it back again in all its beauty, brilliancy, and purity.  I do not wish to see my little boy a green-house, or a glass-house merely, for then he would be brittle, and not strong—­easily damaged, if not broken up.  But crystals are hard bodies; they resist all injuries, they can bear a beating without breaking; for they are regularly formed, and complete in all their parts.  And crystal glass is the firmest and the best, has fewest flaws and imperfections, and can best sustain a storm.”

“And so, for all these reasons, they call the great building we are soon to see, a Crystal Palace, I suppose?”

“Exactly so.  What more have you to add, my Frank?”

“Why, that for the same reason you wish to see me like it, I suppose, that I may be transparent, pure, and strong, and have the light of Goodness shining through me.”

“It is indeed my earnest wish, and daily prayer, my dear; and doubtless you can tell me, Who alone can cause you to resemble this beautiful and useful building?  I know your Governess agrees with Dr. Johnson, who once said that ‘the end of all learning should be piety,’ and therefore I feel certain she has taught you how true wisdom can be found.”