CHAPTER XXXI.

GEORGE THE THIRD AND THE YOUNG MASON.

W

E have, in England, been favoured in our later History, with, as a rule, Christian Monarchs. What that means,—and what a curse to any modern Country it would be to have a Godless and corrupt Court-only those who possess a strong imagination can picture.

Compare for a moment, the noble life,-too soon cut short, -of that splendid man, Prince Albert,-whom the Nation never fully appreciated until he was taken from us,—and the Court of Charles the Second,-Philip II., Louis XIV;—or Louis XV. of France, &c. Fancy the amazing contrast in the influence exercised upon the times, and the people at large, by a good or bad Ruler! Probably the world will be spared ever again seeing in power such Rulers, who were, in the dark days of this World's History, too often, unhappily, on the Throne !

The advance in tone and enlightenment of Society would now render the rule of such Wretches impossible!

Before the terrible affliction which eventually deprived him of his reason,-George the Third,-during his long reign, well deserved the respect of his subjects as a just, well-meaning, and God-fearing King. Not possessed, it is true, of great talents, still his influence was ever on the side of the good. He took great interest in everything that tended to the welfare of England, especially in Agriculture and Farming, then considered, -as one day it will be again, of the very first importance to the greatness and well-being of every Country. So well-known was the King's interest in these matters that he gained the name of "Farmer George." Simple, homely and thoroughly English, were the days "When George the Third was King," though as to their being the "good old times,"-no sensible Reader,-living in 1907,-surrounded by comforts and advantages common to rich and poor alike, then unknown,—would ever desire to see those so-called "good old times" again!

A most simple and unassuming King,-" Farmer George" went amongst his Subjects in a truly patriarchal manner, with always a pleasant word, and enquiry, showing his interest in "all sorts and conditions of men.'

On one occasion while the Palace at Kew was being repaired, one of the Masons,-a young man, was cutting some work

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in the stone in a very skilful and rapid manner. His ability attracted the King's attention,-who paused to watch him,making some remark,-at the same time,-to his attendants. A week or so after the King came again to notice the progress of the work. Owing to the expected arrival of Royal visitors from abroad it was important that the work should be completed by a certain date. George the Third had then a good memory, and quick eye, and not seeing the young Mason at work he had before seen, inquired the reason of his absence. No one could say. The King desired them to make enquiries. In great haste, and in evident trepidation,-down came the foreman, and architect, and from them the King learned that the young man in question, though an able workman, was a pious young man, attached, they thought, "to the Methodists.' As it was important to conclude the Contract in the time, all the other workmen had agreed to come quietly, and work privately, on the Sunday. This the young man had refused to agree to, and he had been dismissed.

"Dismissed!"-exclaimed the King, "Then I beg that he may be again employed! This will never do! The man, -gentlemen, who resolves to please his God, rather than to please his King,-that is the man for me!" The young man was at once reinstated, and the King, ever after, showed the worthy Mason particular favour.

NOTE. The "Methodists." The followers of that saintly man,John Wesley, who appears,—with Whitfield, -to have been sent by God to save this Country, and true religion, from almost dying out under a sleeping, indifferent, and corrupt church. This Heavenlygifted man, evidently inspired, was born in 1703, and was spared,— in God's mercy,-for he was sorely needed, -till 1791, thus living in the reigns of Queen Anne,-George I.,-George II.,-and during twenty years of the reign of George the Third! What a dark and Godless age, a State Religion, and a State Church utterly corrupt,-had reduced true Religion to in England at that period, we,-in these days of toleration in religion and enlightenment, can never know!

"The World is my Parish!" said the great revivalist,―John Wesley. It was indeed! And like the other great Reformer in Religion,-Martin Luther," He shook the World!"

Though unconnected, in any way, with their Denomination, the Writer, in common with thousands of their fellow Christians, has ever felt for the followers of that man of God,-John Wesley,-the utmost respect and esteem.

It is impossible to overrate what "Methodism " has done for the true Religion of Jesus Christ!

Utterly unable to comprehend the difference between the "Wesleyan," the "Methodist," the " Primitive," the " United," &c., &c.,-these remarks apply to all their sub-divisions, as they are no doubt at one, as regards the main, fundamental points, and, in Essentials, are all followers of the saintly man who first brought Methodism to light.

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FARMER GEORGE."

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GEORGE THE THIRD AND THE SERMON.

On another occasion His Majesty attended Divine Service at a certain Church, and the Minister took occasion to allude, at some length, to the virtues, and goodness of the Royal Visitor, and to the blessings and advantages the Nation had derived from his long and illustrious reign. If the young Reader will turn to that fulsome " dedication" to James at the commencement of his Bible, he will obtain some idea of the affected, unreal flattery and adulation in vogue in former times. He will notice that King James,-in reality, a pompous and mediocre man,-is approached, as " Dread Sovereign,' capital letters are employed as if he had been Divine; he is alluded to as "the Sun in his strength;" while that worldly old body Queen Elizabeth, with her 3,000 or more dresses, is alluded to as "the setting of that bright occidental Star." It would be a boon if this fulsome nonsense could be altered, -or the dedication removed altogether from our Bibles. The old doctrine of the "Divine right of Kings" has been happily now long exploded, and they have been found on examination to be pretty much like other men, too often,-worse.

During the Sermon,-stiff and bolt upright in his pew sat old King George,-till, the Service being over, the Court prepared to leave, and all stood respectfully up to see the King go by. But good old George the Third,-ever anxious for the glory of God,-was not going to leave that Church without teaching all present a lesson. For just as he had reached the middle of the aisle, amidst profound silence,— George the Third," Farmer George," suddenly stopped, and bringing down his thick, oak stick, with a great bang, upon the floor of the Church,-called out in his big voice, "Friends! I came here like yourselves, a humble worshipper to this House of Prayer, to join in the praises of Almighty God, and not to listen to those of one of the weakest and most unworthy of His creatures!"-So saying the King signed to his attendants to proceed, and amidst breathless silence, slowly left the Church.

"They that honour Me, I will honour, but they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed."

T is very seldom, whilst studying History,-its scenes of war, outrage, and wrong,-that amidst the groans, the sins, the imprecations which have marked, too generally, the History of Mankind for thousands of years, one comes to a Royal Life so delightful to contemplate, as the engaging character of the Boy King, Edward

THE BOY KING.-EDWARD VI.

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the Sixth, of England. His short reign of six years-coming as it did after that of King Henry the Eighth, and before that of the bigoted and bloody Mary-must have seemed in that dark age a gleam of sunshine amidst the prevailing darkness and sin. What that boy performed during his few years of life, he died when a youth of sixteen,-must be looked for in the noble endowments which, ever since his time, have spread a blessing over our country! In the Chapter "Incentives to Piety in Youth," it was remarked how Almighty God chooses to peculiarly honour and bless the work of a young disciple; certainly this was the case with the young King Edward. The noble Institutions of King Edward Schools (the means of educating thousands), the noble foundation. of Christ's Church Schools,-the Prayer-Book of our English Church, our form of worship in the Church of England as opposed to the blighting mummeries of the Church of Rome, in those dark days,-all bear witness to the amazing influence for good this young boy's short life has had upon this Country.

A handsome delicate boy, tall for his years, graceful and winning in his deportment-Edward was placed on the throne of England at the age of nine years. So extraordinary were the boy's talents and precocity-his intelligence and goodness-that, amidst the cares and splendours of the Court, surrounded by intriguing courtiers, "the excellent graces and singular goodness wrought in the boy by the grace of God, enabled him (says a contemporary historian) to maintain over the Court, even then, the conduct of a youthful Christian, and to set an example to all around him in a way, which at times, moved even Godless men to tears."

The ardent youth, from his earliest days, bent his whole mind to study. In those days of intense darkness and ignorance, the young King's acquirements were considered to be little short of marvellous, for he acquired an accurate knowledge of French and Latin, to which he added the Greek, Spanish, and Italian languages; to form some idea of Edward's gifts in acquiring knowledge, we must remember the disadvantages he laboured under; we must remember that books in those early times, were practically unknown. Enormously expensive manuscripts, copied by hand, were alone to be found in the great families. Even the nobles of the land seldom knew anything-could not write-could not read— whilst the lower classes were plunged in the grossest ignorance. Thus Foxe-the Historian-informs us as a marvellous fact, that the boy-Edward the Sixth-actually knew the names of the Ports, Havens, and Towns of England, Scotland, and France-together with the time of the ebb and flow of the sea