VICTORIA. A.D. 1860--1872.
One more chapter, which, however, does not finish the history of good
Queen Victoria, and these Stories of the History of England will be
over.
All the nation rejoiced very much when the queen's eldest son, Albert
Edward, the Prince of Wales, married Alexandra, daughter to the king
of Denmark. Her father and mother brought her to England, and the
prince met her on board ship in the mouth of the Thames; and there
was a most beautiful and joyous procession through London. When
they were married the next day, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor,
the whole of England made merry, and there were bonfires on every
hill, and illuminations in every town, so that the whole island was
glowing with brightness all that Spring evening.
There is a country in Abyssinia, south of Egypt. The people there are
Christians, but they have had very little to do with other nations,
and have grown very dull and half savage; indeed they have many horrid
and disgusting customs, and have forgotten all the teaching that would
have made them better. Of late years there had been some attempt to
wake them up and teach them; and they had a clever king named Theodore,
who seemed pleased and willing to improve himself and his nation.
He allowed missionaries to come and try to teach his people what
Christianity means a little better than they knew before, and invited
skilled workmen to come and teach his people. They came; but not long
after Theodore was affronted by the English Government, and shut them
all up in prison. Messages were sent to insist upon his releasing
them, but he did not attend or understand; and at last an army was
sent to land on the coast from the east, under General Napier, and
march to his capital, which was called Magdala, and stood on a hill.
General Napier managed so well that there was no fighting on the road.
He came to the gates of Magdala, and threatened to fire upon it if the
prisoners were not given up to him. He waited till the time was up,
and then caused his troops to begin the attack. The Abyssinians fled
away, and close by one of the gates Theodore was found lying dead,
shot through. No one is quite sure whether one of his servants killed
him treacherously, or whether he killed himself in his rage and
despair. England did not try to keep Abyssinia though it was
conquered; but it was left to the royal family whom Theodore had
turned out, and Theodore's little son, about five years old, was
brought to England; but, as he could not bear the cold winter, he
was sent to a school in India.
This, which was in the year 1868, was the last war the English have
had. There has been fighting all round and about in Europe, especially
a great war between France and Prussia in 1870; but the only thing
the English had to do with that, was the sending out of doctors and
nurses, with all the good things for sick people that could be thought
of, to take care of all the poor wounded on both sides, and lessen
their suffering as much as possible. They all wore red crosses on
their sleeves, and put up a red-cross flag over the houses where they
were taking care of the sick and wounded, and then no one on either
side fired upon them.
An Act of Parliament has given the right to vote, at the election of
the House of Commons, to much poorer men than used to have it. It is
to be hoped that they will learn to use wisely this power of helping
to choose those who make the laws and govern the country. To give
them a better chance of doing so, a law has been made that no child
shall be allowed to grow up without any teaching at all, but that
those who are too poor to pay for their own schooling shall be paid
for by the State, and that their parents shall be obliged to send
them. The great thing is to learn to know and do one's duty. If
one only learns to be clever with one's head, without trying to
be good at the same time, it is of very little use. But I hope you
will try to mind your duty--first to God and then to man; and if you
do that, God will prosper you and bless you.