"O sweet and blessed country
That eager hearts expect."
One cold winter's evening about Christmas time, Charlie, a little boy of
six years old, sat reading with his mother. It was Sunday evening, and
he had been looking at the pictures in his "Children's Bible," till his
mother put down her own book and began to read verses to him out of his
_real_ Bible, in explanation of some of the pictures. With one of these
especially, Charlie was very much pleased. It represented a great many
people, men and women and children, and animals of every kind, all
together, looking very peaceful and happy in a beautiful garden.
Charlie could not pronounce the word at the foot of the picture; it was
so very long.
"The--what is it, mother?" he asked.
"The Millennium," his mother told him, and then she went on to explain
what this long word meant, and read him some strange, beautiful verses
about it, out of the big Bible. Charlie sat with his blue eyes fixed on
her, listening to every word, and thinking this the most wonderful story
he had ever heard yet. "And it is not like a fairy story, is it mother,
for it is in the Bible? Oh, I do so wish God would let the millennium
come now--immediately--mother, while I am a little boy, and you, just
like what you are! I should not care nearly so much for it if you were
old, mother, or if I was a big man."
"I hope, my darling, the bigger you get the _more_ you will care for
it," said his mother. Charlie looked puzzled, but seeing that he was
thinking so deeply, that she feared he would think away his sleep (as he
sometimes did, and it was nearly bed-time), she went to the piano and
sang his favourite hymn--
"Jerusalem the golden,
With milk and honey blest."
Charlie listened with delight; and when it was over went and kissed his
mother for good-night, and trotted off to bed, his mind full of the
words he had been hearing.
It felt cold at first, in his little crib, and he began thinking how
nice it would be if the summer were back again. But he soon fell
asleep. It seemed to him that he woke almost in a minute, and he felt
surprised to see that there was already broad daylight in the room.
Indeed, he felt exceedingly surprised, for these dark winter mornings he
always woke before dawn, and now the sun was shining brightly, as if it
had been at work for some hours. It looked so pleasant and cheerful
that he lay still to enjoy it. Now I must tell you that Charlie had a
baby brother, and that both these little boys were taken care of by a
good old woman who had been nurse to their mother when she was a little
girl. Nurse was very good and kind and true, but I must say that
sometimes she was very cross. Perhaps it was that she was getting old,
and that little boys teased her, not being always able to remember about
being gentle and good: that is to say, Charlie himself, for the baby was
really too little either to remember or forget. Nurse's worst time was
first thing in the morning; she nearly always had a cross face on when
she came to wake Charlie, and to tell him to get up. He once heard some
of the servants saying that nurse very often got out of the wrong side
of her bed; and that day he vexed her very much without knowing why,
for, after thinking a long time about what it could mean, he went all
round her bed to see if there could be any nails or sharp pieces of wood
sticking out at one side, which perhaps hurt her feet as she stepped
out. Nurse came in while he was examining her bed, and when he told her
what he was doing, and what he had heard Anne say, she was really very
angry indeed, though he could not see that he had done anything naughty.
But this morning I am telling you about that Charlie lay in bed thinking
how pretty the sunlight was, he was quite surprised to see nurse's face
when she came to the bedside to wake him. She spoke so sweetly, and
really looked quite pretty. Her face had such a nice smile and looked
so kind, and nearly all the wrinkles were gone.
"Dear nurse," he said, "how nice you look!" This seemed to please her
still more, for she kissed him, and then washed and dressed him, without
once pulling or pushing him the least little bit; just as if she had
never felt cross in her life.
When he was dressed he ran out into the garden, and, to his surprise, it
was quite changed from the night before. The grass was bright and
green, the trees were all covered with leaves, and the whole garden was
full of the loveliest flowers he had ever seen; and the singing of the
birds was prettier than he could possibly describe. There were many
butterflies and other summer insects flying about, and making a
delicious sort of sweet humming, which seemed to join in with the birds'
singing. Indeed Charlie could almost have believed the flowers
themselves were singing, for a lovely music filled the whole air, and
all the musicians, even the grasshoppers, kept in tune together in a
wonderful way. The song sounded to Charlie very like "Jerusalem the
Golden," only there were no words. He ran about the garden so much,
that at last he thought he would like a drink of new milk, and he went
into the yard to look for the dairy-maid. There was no one there; but
he forgot all about the milk, in astonishment at what he saw. "Tiger,"
the great fierce watch dog, whom his papa would never let him go near,
was unchained, lying peacefully on his back in the sun, and Charlie's
two lovely kittens rolling over and over him, Tiger patting them gently
with his paws, and looking so pleased that Charlie almost thought he was
smiling. And more wonderful still, his mother's pet canaries were also
loose in the yard, one hopping about close to Tiger's nose, and the
other actually perched on the back of Muff, the tabby cat, whom, all her
life, his mother had never succeeded in curing of her sad love of eating
canary birds. Charlie's first thought was to drive away Muff and rescue
the birds; but as he ran forward to do so, Muff came and rubbed herself
gently against him with a soft, sweet purr, and the canary flew off
Muff's back on to his shoulder, where it gave a little trill of
pleasure, and then flew back again to its friend the cat. Suddenly some
words flashed into Charlie's mind: "They shall neither hurt nor
destroy," he said slowly, and then it all seemed plain to him. "The
Millennium has come," he cried, with inexpressible joy, "Oh! how glad I
am; I must run and tell mother this minute," and off he set. But as he
ran towards the house, glancing up, thoughtful for others as was his
habit, to the window of his mother's room, he saw that the blind was
still drawn down, and remembered that he must not disturb her yet,
though his little heart was bursting with impatience to tell her the
beautiful news. "I might, any way, run and tell Lily at once," thought
he, and he set off at full speed towards the farm where his little
friend lived. But he had not gone half way when he recollected that to
get to Lily's home he must pass the smithy, a place he was frightened to
go near even with his nurse, for Black Tom, the smith, was a very
terrible person. He was often intoxicated, and used then to swear most
awfully; and, indeed, Lily had once told Charlie in confidence that her
nurse had said she felt pretty sure Black Tom would not think anything
at all of eating little boys and girls. Dreadful as he thought him,
Charlie could not believe that Black Tom was quite as wicked as this;
but still he trembled as he drew near the smithy. But how amazed he
felt, when he got within sight of it, to see Tom standing at the door,
washed and brushed up to such an extent, that the child hardly
recognised his old aversion!
Tom's employment was more wonderful still. He was playing with Lily,
who was sitting perched upon his shoulder, laughing and screaming with
delight. As soon as she saw Charlie she slid down, and holding Tom's
great rough hand in her tiny one, pulled him along the lane towards her
little friend.
"Tom is not exactly a bear or a lion," thought Charlie, with a somewhat
misty recollection of one of the verses his mother had read to him,
running in his head; "but he's quite as fierce, and it says `A little
child shall lead them.'"
"O Charlie!" exclaimed Lily, when she drew near, "Tom is so good. I
have been riding on his back up and down the lane ever so long, and do
look what a nice, pretty clean face he has got!"
But Charlie felt so eager to explain to Lily what he knew to be the
cause of this extraordinary transformation, that he could not wait to
speak to Tom.
"Come along the lane with me Lily," he said, "I have wonderful things to
tell you."
So the two trotted off together, Tom smiling after them. A little up
the lane the music of the birds and insects, and flowers, which Charlie
had been hearing all the morning, sounded clearer and fuller than ever;
and somehow Lily seemed to know of herself, without his telling her, all
about the Millennium having come, even though she was such a little
girl, only five years old.
"Isn't the music beautiful, Lily? Don't you think it is `Jerusalem the
Golden?'"
"_I_ have been thinking all the morning that it was `There is a happy
land,'" replied she, "but look, Charlie, at that great white thing
coming along the road." Just where they had got to, the lane ran into
the highway, and looking where Lily pointed, Charlie saw the great white
thing she spoke of, moving towards them. As it came nearer they saw
that it was a crowd of children, of all ages and sizes, dressed alike in
pure white, which shone in the sun as they marched along. They sang as
they walked, and Charlie thought he heard the words--
"For ever and for ever,
Are clad in robes of white."
One little boy, somewhat in advance of the others, as soon as he caught
sight of Charlie and Lily, ran forward to meet them, and Charlie saw
that it was his friend, little Frank Grey, the miller's son.
"O Charlie!" he exclaimed, "are you there already? We were coming to
fetch you and Lily. You must come with us."
"Where are you going to?" said Charlie.
"Don't you know?" said Frank. "We are all going to meet the Prince, who
is coming this morning to live among us."
"The Prince of Wales, do you mean?" asked Charlie.
"O no!" replied his friend, "a greater Prince than he is. The Prince of
the Golden City."
"Is that the same as `Jerusalem the Golden,' do you think?"
"I daresay it is," said Frank, "but the Prince has a great many names,
each more beautiful than the other. Some call him the `Prince of
Peace.'"
"I know that name," said little Lily, softly, "it is _very_ pretty."
"But," said Charlie, "you are all so beautifully dressed. Lily and I
must run home for our best frocks first."
"O no!" said Frank, "you are just as nicely dressed as we are." And
Charlie looked down at his own clothes and Lily's, and saw to his
surprise that both their dresses were of pure shining white, like those
of the other children. It puzzled him a good deal, for he felt sure he
remembered his nurse putting on his little plaid stuff coat and brown
holland pinafore that morning. But a new thought struck him. "Don't
you think, Frank, I had better run home and tell mother, for fear she
should not like me to go?"
"O no!" again answered Frank; "she is _sure_ to let you go, for _all_
the boys and girls in the country are coming, and we have several more
to call for still; besides the fathers and mothers themselves will soon
be coming after us in another procession, so you will see your mother
directly."
Quite happy now, Charlie and Lily joined the children, marching all in
twos and twos, keeping time to the music they were singing, which
Charlie felt sure was "Jerusalem the Golden," though Lily _would_ sing
"Happy Land," for all he could say to her. However, it did not matter,
for it seemed to do just as well, and all their voices suited
beautifully. They went on as happily as could be, not feeling the least
tired, though it was a good way. Charlie was turning to ask Frank some
more questions about the Prince they were going to meet, when he was
startled by some one calling him from behind, "Charlie! Charlie!" the
voice sounding rather sharply, and seeming to jar against the sweet
singing. He looked round, and there, hastening after him was nurse,
with, alas! her _old_ face on, not the pretty new one. She came on
quickly, and soon reached him, catching him rather roughly by the arm.
Charlie gave a cry of distress, and--woke! to find himself, poor little
boy, in his crib on a dull gloomy winter morning, and nurse shaking him
a little, to wake him, and speaking very crossly. It was too much. Six
years could not bear the terrible contrast, and little Charlie sat up in
bed and burst into tears.
"Oh, it's not true, it's not true," he cried, and nurse looked crosser
than before.
"The child's going out of his mind!" exclaimed she, vainly endeavouring
to stop his tears. His little heart bursting with sorrow, poor Charlie
got slowly out of bed, and sitting down on the floor, shaking with sobs
and cold, began to try to put on his socks. But just then a tap came to
the door, and a voice said, "Is that my Charlie crying, first thing on a
Monday morning?" And Charlie jumped up and ran, all shaking and
shivering, to his nice warm mother, who took him in her arms and carried
him off just as he was, to dress him in her own room, where there was a
beautiful fire; and there poor Charlie told his story. He could not
help crying again when he came to the end and tried to describe his
bitter disappointment. His mother did not speak, and he began to fear
she was displeased; but when he looked up in her face, and saw tears in
her pretty kind eyes, he knew she was not vexed with him.
"My poor dear little boy," she said, and then she comforted him so
sweetly that the tears went away. And after breakfast she talked to
Charlie again about the Millennium, and explained about it a little
more, to him. She said he must not be unhappy because his dream was not
true, for she thought it was a beautiful dream, and there was one way in
which he might make it true. Little boy though he was, there need be no
delay in his welcoming the Prince of Peace into the country of his own
heart, and year by year devoting himself more and more earnestly to that
blessed service, till in God's own good time he should be one of the
happy dwellers in the "Golden City" above.
So that, after all, Charlie's wonderful dream did not remain the source
of sorrow and disappointment to him. And I think it was one of the
things that helped him to grow up a good man, for he never forgot it.
One special good result it had, I know. It roused an interest in Black
Tom, whom every one had feared and hated, and no one had ever tried to
love, which never rested till gradually, and by slow degrees, the poor
smith became a very different being from the fierce man who had been the
terror of Charlie's childhood.