A Tale of Carisbrooke Castle.
MANY of the readers of GOOD NEWS may have heard of the Castle of Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight, a picture of which is given above and some may have even enjoyed a visit to it if so, they will not easily forget the delightful spot. Often has the writer seen crowds of little children there with happy faces, enjoying their Sunday-school treat.
Well, he has many things of interest to speak of in connection therewith. And if the dear young readers of GOOD NEWS will give him their attention, he will endeavor to interest them this month by narrating the anecdote of the “Ruby Ring.”
Thank God, dear children, we live in quiet times! Not that the world is a bit better than ever it was. The character of its evil has altered, and is ever altering; but it is the same world in opposition to God and His beloved Son, and lies under judgment.
But many years ago our country was at perpetual war, one part of it battling with the other part; and the fair fields of our native land were moist with blood, and echoed to the groans of the dying and the tumult of the conflict. Ah, the sword made many a dear child fatherless then!
This was in the time of Charles, the first king of that name, more than two hundred years ago. Most of you have heard of that unhappy king, and of his revolting subjects, and how they at length defeated him in battle, made him a prisoner in Carisbrooke Castle, and at last cut off his head. Sad treatment, indeed, for a king to receive at the hands of his subjects. You may recollect that just before his head was severed from his body he said, “I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance can have place.”
Well, it is about this unfortunate king that I wish to relate the anecdote, as it shows that he had a tender heart, and a love for children, especially as his own boys and girls had been separated from him for a long, long time, as he had been a prisoner at the Castle for about nine months when this incident occurred.
The king was walking, one fine day in the month of September, on the beautiful green plat called the bowling-green, and there found the gunner’s little boy, then about eight years of age, marching up and down with a wooden sword, as little boys love to do. The king smiled, and said to him, “What are you going to do with that terrible weapon?” The little boy answered, “Please your Majesty, going to defend the king with it from all his enemies.” The kind king, surprised and pleased, patted him on the head, and gave him his blessing, and said, “Well, my little friend, I am soon going away from here, and I do not expect I shall ever return;” and then he put up his hand and unfastened a gold ring adorned with a large ruby, which held his neckerchief in front, and added, “And I should like to give you something in order that you may always remember me.” And he then gave him the beautiful ornament.
Now, don’t you think the little boy must have been very happy in receiving such a valuable gift from the king? To be sure he was. And how tenderly he remembered him whenever he looked upon the ruby ring.
But ah! dear children, there is a more touching remembrance of One more exalted than this earthly monarch, which, if you believe in Him, is yours; even the remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. You recollect that just before He left this world, —” the same night in which He was betrayed” the cross with all its sorrows before Him, He gave His disciples something by which to remember Him—it was a very simple service, the “Lord’s Supper”— at the same time expressing His desire that they should do it, as oft as they did it, in remembrance of Him.
But, unlike that which the king said to the little boy, He expressly tells us in His words from the glory (1 Cor. 11) that He is coming again, and that it is only “until He comes” the remembrance of Him is to be repeated. So you need not envy the loyal little boy. More than a ruby ring is given to you as a remembrance, if you have accepted the Lord Jesus, and have looked to Him as your Saviour—the bread and the wine here, and when He comes, to see Him, and be made like Him,
“In yonder bright regions of joy.”
A. M.