OURS is a smoky old town; at least so people say that visit it, and most of the houses do look rather brown, as if they were smoked. But be that as it may, I can assure you it looked very pretty one day last year. It was the last day of November, and a beautiful day; one could hardly believe it was November, the sun was so bright and the sky so clear. Almost every one, except perhaps the bell-ringers in the old church steeple, had holiday that day: that is, they did no work, and so had plenty of time to stroll about and admire the finely decorated streets. I could not, between the leaves of a little book, give you any idea of how many flags and flowers, and wreaths of evergreens adorned the houses of the merrymaking people on that day; and how many of them displayed mottoes, printed or painted very large, telling to all who read them their delight at the thought of our beloved Queen Victoria paying a visit to our town. For that was the cause of all this preparation, the queen herself was coming, and we were all very anxious to see her, and anxious too that she should know how very glad we were to have her in our midst, though but for a day. And she was pleased too, for she said so to our mayor before she left; and a day or two after she told her secretary to write to him, and tell him again; and he had the letter printed and put in the shop windows, and we were so delighted to know that our dear queen was pleased with what had been done to gratify her. And after she had left us, and the evening was come, and the daylight all gone, the town was lighted up with gas in a great many different and beautiful ways, making it almost as light as day; and in a large field just out of the town there were fireworks for the children. But the daytime was the best, the smoke had not had time to fade the paper flowers, or make the evergreen wreaths look anything different from their own beautiful color, and it was pretty: in some parts it was almost like being in a bower.
Then when the queen came, it was nice to see such a lot of horses and finely dressed men on them, riding before her carriage, and then to see Queen Victoria herself, with two of her daughters, and Prince Christian, her son-in-law! You would have liked to have been here, and clap your little hands as she went slowly by. “I wish I had been sure that I could secure a place where I might have seen her majesty; I would certainly have come over to W― on that day,” said a friend to me at Christmas. And I found that almost everybody who lived at all near had either seen her or wanted very much to have done so, and was sadly disappointed that they could not; and I suppose it was natural enough for them to want to see the great and good lady, for I was anxious to see her myself, and I did see her, and I waved my hat to her, and. I thought, How much I should like to shake hands with you, you dear queen, and perhaps I shall someday, when Jesus has come and changed your body and mine, and made us both like himself, and taken us both to heaven. There won’t be soldiers and policemen then to keep me from getting near to you, but the rich and the poor saints will all love each other, and be glad to speak to one another. But you are queen now, and I am only a poor subject, and as God has told, me in his holy book, to honor the king, I have, no doubt he meant me to honor and obey you, when the king died and you sat on the throne instead.
Now I wonder, my dear little friends, whether people would bear anxious to see Jesus, the Saviour, the Son of God, if he were to come and ride in a carriage through the streets of W―? Or, to come a little nearer to the point I want to talk to you about, should you be glad to see Jesus? It is right to love and respect and honor the queen; but Jesus is a king indeed; in the Bible he is called “King of kings,” because he is greater than all the kings that ever lived, and even they, however great they are or have been, are but his subjects, and some day they will all have to confess that he is Lord; for the Father of Jesus has said that every one in heaven and earth, and even in hell, shall bow down to Jesus and own that he is Lord of all. If any king or queen could get ever so many countries for his or her own, or even the whole world, they would not be so great as Jesus; for his kingdom extends over heaven and earth. Even the angels are subject to him, and by-and-by everything is to be made subject to his rule and authority.
But many wanted to see our beloved queen, not so much because of her greatness, as her goodness: she is such a kind, good queen, so different from many queens who have lived before her, in this and other countries. But, however good she is, and if she were the best lady, and the kindest mamma in all the world, there is one Person of whom you have often heard, and perhaps read, who is even more full of goodness and love and kindness: one who loves you even more than your own dear mother and father, although they love you so very, very much. I speak of Jesus: you have heard about how very much he loved poor sinners; how he was content to be a very poor man himself, without a place to rest his dear head, in order that he might do good to those who needed his kindness, and who would be lost forever and ever if he did not die instead of them; and how he did die, and such a cruel, painful death. You have heard of it all, and it was as much for you, your own little self, as for anyone else. Oh, think of that! Jesus loved you and me, and gave himself, his life even, and all that he had, for you and for me, and shall we not want to see Jesus? The queen had never done anything for me myself, but I was glad to see her, for she has been kind to many other persons, but Jesus has been very, very kind to me as long as I have been in the world, and so he has to you. Every comfort and pleasure you have ever enjoyed has come from him: but for him you would have been miserable all your young days, without a home, or any kind friends to love you or take care of you. Your life, and all the pleasant things of your life, and every hope you have or ever will have about your eternal happiness, you owe to Jesus, and it would be a shame not to care to see him. But I think almost every one of you will say, “Oh yes! I am sure I should like to see Jesus; I have heard about him ever since my mamma used to rock me in my cradle, and sing about Jesus. And before I could read in God’s book about Jesus, she used to tell me that when he was on earth he was very fond of little boys and girls, and took them up in his kind arms and blessed them. I should like to see Jesus.” Well now, I want to tell you that someday you will see him, perhaps very soon. And I want you to be quite sure, that if Jesus did come so very soon you would be ready and really glad to see him. Because it would be so sad to find out that you have been mistaken about your readiness to meet him: to find that, instead of being very glad to see him as you expected, you were terrified and afraid of him, and wanted to hide your little head under your mamma’s apron, so that you might not see Jesus, and he might not see you. And so I must tell you some of the things that are in the Bible about the coming of Jesus; about how he will come, and what he will come for, and whether people in general will be glad to see him.
T.
(To be continued.)