Chapter 2

"Now happened that at that very time there was in England a very good king, called Edward the Confessor, who was an enemy to all bad men; therefore the Scottish princes determined to go to his court, and tell him what Macbeth had done; for they did not doubt that when he heard of it, he would render them some assistance; and they were not mistaken. The English king declared that he would revenge the death of Duncan, and place Malcolm on the throne; so he sent a large army into Scotland, to fight for the young prince, and Macbeth was killed in a battle, which gave great joy to the people, who were very glad to have Malcolm for their king. All this happened nearly eight hundred years ago, and Malcolm, who is called in the history of Scotland, Malcolm Canmore, was one of the best kings that ever reigned over that country."

By the time Mr. Barker had finished this story they had arrived at the theatre, and were just seated in the front row of a box, as the curtain drew up. The two boys liked the play very much, although it made them rather dull; but they were merry enough when the pantomime began, for it was full of fun, from beginning to end, and Charles could not help exclaiming every now and then, "Oh, what capital fun!"

He was very much astonished at the wonderful tricks performed by harlequin with his magic sword, for to those who have never seen a pantomime before, it must be rather surprising to see a wheelbarrow turned into a steam carriage, and an umbrella into an arm chair. But what amused Charles and Peter more than all the rest, was a large pie which was brought in and placed on a table, where the king and queen, with several lords and ladies were sitting at dinner, all seemingly very anxious to taste of this pie. But the moment it was cut, a whistling noise was heard, and a number of little birds hopped out of the pie, and flew away, leaving the dish quite empty, to the great amusement of all the boys and girls in the theatre, who laughed very loud indeed.

But pleasure cannot last for ever. The pantomime was soon over, and as Charles went home, he said he should like to go to the play every night, all the rest of his life--"Ah, Charles,"--said his papa, "we are all apt to like what is new to us, but you will find out, my boy, that people get tired even of pleasure, if they have too much of it."

CHAP. IV.

CONVERSATION ON HISTORY.

On the morning after the play, Charles was thinking about the king of Scotland, and he asked his mamma why there was no king of Scotland now, as there used to be, and she told him that England and Scotland were now considered only as one kingdom, and called Great Britain.

"Yes," said Charles, "I know that the queen of England is queen of Scotland too; but I want to know how it came to be so; because you see, mamma, that when Duncan was king of Scotland, there was a king of England as well."

"Yes, my dear," and for five hundred years after Duncan was murdered, there were kings of Scotland and England also; but when Queen Elizabeth died, her nearest relation happened to be the king of Scotland, James the sixth; he was her cousin, and as she left neither brothers nor sisters, nor children, James became king of England as well as of his own country; and since that time there has been but one king to govern both kingdoms."

"Thank you, mamma," said Charles, "I could not think how it was before; but do you think it is best to have one king or two?"

"I think it is best to have but one, because, if you look at your map, you will see that England and Scotland together make one large island; and while they were separate kingdoms, they were frequently at war with each other."

"What did they go to war for, mamma?"

"I believe, Charles, the true cause generally was, that the English king thought he should like to have the whole island for himself; but what made the matter worse was, that as the people who were fighting against each other, all lived in the same island, it was almost as bad as a civil war."

"What is a civil war, mamma?"

"It is when the people of any country cannot agree among themselves, and so make war upon each other: there have been civil wars in all countries at different times; they are the most dreadful of all wars, because relations and friends are often fighting in battle against each other."

"Oh, what a shocking thing!" said Charles; "But why do they do it mamma? I cannot think why people should fight battles with one another."

"I will try to explain it, my dear: There is at present a civil war in Spain, because when the last king died, some of the people said that his daughter should be queen, and others said his brother should be king; so the daughter was placed on the throne and crowned; but the brother, whose name is Don Carlos, is very angry at this, because he thinks he has the greatest right to the crown; so he has persuaded all who are on his side, to go to war with all who are in favour of the queen, therefore the Spaniards are now fighting against each other."

"Which do you think will win?" said Charles.

"I cannot possibly say, my dear. But I wish to show you, Charles, the terrible consequences of a civil war. It may happen that fathers and sons are of different opinions, and that one fights for the queen, and the other for the king; and then it is possible that in battle the son may kill his father, or the father his son."

"Oh, that would be shocking!" said Charles.

"And yet it has sometimes happened," said his mamma; "there have been brothers too, who have fought against each other, and many persons who were friends before, have become the bitterest enemies."

"Was there ever a civil war in England, mamma?"

"Yes, my dear, more than once. The last was because many people thought they should like to have no king at all; I am going to buy you a little history of England, and then you will read about it."

"I shall like to read about it," said Charles, "but what did the people do when they thought they should like to have no king?"

"They said the king had done a great many things that were wrong, and so they put him in prison, and at last had his head cut off; do you know, Charles, which king it was who was beheaded?"

"Yes, mamma; it was Charles the first."

"Well, after Charles the first was beheaded, some of the people declared that his son should be king, and others said they would have no king at all, but that they would have somebody instead to manage the affairs of the country."

"And I know who that was, mamma," said Charles, "it was Oliver Cromwell, I know he was not a king, but I did not understand how it was before."

"And I suppose you also understand now, why this caused a civil war?" said his mamma.

"Of course I do," replied Charles; "some people fought for the king, and some for Oliver Cromwell."

"Yes," replied Mrs. Barker, "and for a long time the country was in a very unhappy state. The king was obliged to hide himself, for if he had been caught he would perhaps have been beheaded, as his poor father was. But at last he got away in a ship, and went to Holland, where he lived for some years; but at last his party was victorious, and he came back to England."

"Then there was a king again," said Charles.

"Yes, then there was a king again, he was Charles the second; and now every year on the day that he returned, the bells ring, and the guns are fired, it is the 29th of May, and is called king Charles's restoration. When May comes, if you listen on that day, you will hear the bells ringing very merrily, and then you will know what it is for."

"So I shall," said Charles, "I am glad of that, I like to know things, I wish I knew the history of every country in the world."

"It is a very good thing to know a great deal of history," said his mamma; "and the best way of gaining this knowledge, is to read with attention the books that have been written on purpose to teach little boys history; they are the best for you to read now; then, when you are older, you will be able to understand the large books that are in your papa's book-case, and you may become acquainted with the history of the whole world, if you like."

CHAP. V.

MISSIONARIES.

"Papa," said Charles, "I should like to know what a missionary is."

"Your desire can very easily be gratified," replied his papa; "but what has made you think of missionaries just now?"

"Because I read in the newspaper, this morning, that the day before yesterday there was a great crowd at St. Katharine's docks to take leave of a missionary who was going to one of the South Sea islands; and it said that a great deal of money had been given to him, and that when the ship began to sail, all the people waved their hats, and wished him success. Now I want to know what he was going for, and why every body was so glad?"

"Then I will tell you, Charles. Missionaries are good and religious men, who go out to different parts of the world, on purpose to benefit those poor ignorant creatures whom we call savages, by teaching them religion, and also such arts as they are capable of learning."

"That is very kind of them," said Charles; "for it cannot be very pleasant to live among savages."

"No, my dear; but these good men do not consider what is pleasant, they only consider what is right; and that is the proper way to think, is it not?"

"Oh yes, papa, I know that we ought all to do what is right, whether it is pleasant or not."

"Certainly, Charles, and in the end it is sure to be the most pleasant, because it is a great pleasure to know that we have done what is right. But we were talking of missionaries. For several hundred years the people of England and Germany, and other Christian countries, have considered it a part of their duty to teach the Christian religion in all parts of the world; for in many nations, Charles, they are so ignorant that instead of praying to God, they worship images, which they make themselves."

"They are very wicked, then?" said Charles.

"No, they are not wicked," replied his papa, "because they know no better; they do what they believe to be right; and as long as we do what we think is right, we cannot be wicked, although we may be mistaken."

"Then the missionaries go to teach them better, I suppose?" said Charles.

"Yes, my dear, these good men are so anxious to do good to their fellow creatures, that they do not mind the difficulties and dangers they meet with; and it is no easy matter I assure you Charles, for many of them have been cruelly murdered by the barbarians they were trying to instruct."

"Poor men," said Charles, "how sorry I am for them; but why do any more of them go, papa, if they are so badly treated?"

"Because though some have been unfortunate, others have done a great deal of good; for instance, the missionary you read about this morning, went out a great many years ago to some of the South Sea islands, which he found inhabited by savages who knew nothing, and lived more like wild beasts than men; but he contrived to make friends of them, and has taught them to build houses, cultivate the earth, build ships, and make many useful articles of furniture, and tools to dig and plant the ground; and although all these things are of a very rough kind, it is better than not knowing how to make them at all, you know."

"To be sure it is," replied Charles; "besides, perhaps they will go on making them better and better, till at last they will make very good things indeed."

"Yes, my boy, that is the right way, not only with the savages, but with ourselves: When once we know the manner of doing a thing, we may then improve upon it as much as we can, the same as with your writing, each copy ought to be done better than the last."

"But now you have not told me why they have given money to the missionary, papa."

"Because he has come to England to buy clothes, tools, seeds, and other things for the use and improvement of the South Sea Islanders. The English people are always ready to assist in any good work; and so numbers of persons have given money, till it has amounted to several hundred pounds, which has enabled the good missionary to take back with him a large store of useful articles."

"Well, that is an excellent plan," said Charles, "I should not wonder if these poor savages in time become very clever fellows, and make their island a capital place, and all through this good missionary."

"Yes, Charles, so we see how much may be done by one person alone, if he will take the pains. But there is one thing that the missionary has taught the savages, which is better than all the rest; he has taught them to know that there is a God, who made the world, and all that is in it, and that those who love him, and keep his commandments, will be rewarded in the world to come."