896
THE KING’S BUSINESS
the principle, that the nearer the ground, the sweeter the grass; for I should think that no people have their grass so near the ground as the weavers of Spitalfields. In an inquiry by the House of Commons last week, it was given in evidence that their average wages amount to seven or eight shillings a week; and that they have to furnish themselves with a room, and work at expensive articles, which my friends and ladies are wearing now, and which they buy as cheaply as possible; but perhaps they do not know that they are made with the blood and bones and mar row of the Spitalfields weavers, who, many of them, work for less than man ought to have 'to subsist upon. Some of them waited upon me the other day; I was exceedingly pleased with one of them. He said, “Well, sir, it is very hard, but I hope there is better times coming for us.” “Well, my friend,” I said, “I am afraid you can not hope for much better times, unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes a second time.” “That is just what we hope for,” said he. “We do not see there is any chance of deliverance, unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes to establish His kingdom upon the earth; and then He will judge the oppressed, and break the oppressors in pieces with an iron rod, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” IT CAME IN THE NIGHT I .was glad my friend had got a song in the night, and was singing about the morning that was coming. Often do I cheer myself with the thought of the com ing of the Lord. We preach now, perhaps, with little success: “the kingdoms of this world” are not “become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;” we send out missionaries; they are for the most part unsuccessful. We are laboring, but we do not see the fruits of our labors. Well, what then? Try a little while; we shall not always labor in vain, or spend our strength for naught. A, day is coming, and now is, when every minister of Christ shall speak with unction, when all the servants of God shall preach with power, and when
colossal systems of heathenism shall be scattered to the winds. The shout shall be heard, “Alleluia! Alleluia! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” For that do I look; it is to the bright horizon of that second coming that I turn my eyes. My anxious expectation is, that the sweet Sun of righteousness will arise with healing beneath His wings, that the oppressed shall be righted, that despotism shall be cut down, that liberty shall be established, that peace shall be made lasting and that the glorious liberty of the gospel shall be extended throughout the known world. Christian! if thou art in a night, think of the morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of the coming of thy Lord. A SWEET TOMORROW There is another sweet to-morrow of which we hope to sing in the night. Soon, beloved, you and I shall lie on our dying bed, and we shall want a song in the night then; and I do not know where we shall get it, if we do not get it from the to morrow. Kneeling by the bed of an apparently dying saint, last night, I said, “Well, sister, He has been precious to you; you can rejoice in His covenant mercies, and His past loving-kindnesses.” She put out her hand, and said, “Ah.! sir, do not talk about them now; I want the sinner’s Saviour as much now as ever; it is not a saint’s I want; it is still a sinner’s Saviour that I am in need of, for I am a sinner still. I found that I could not comfort her with the past; so I reminded her of the golden streets, of the gates of pearl, of the walls of Jasper, of the harp of gold, of the songs of bliss; and then her eyes glistened; she said, “Yes, I shall be there soon ; I shall meet them by-and-by;” and then she seemed so glad! Ah! believer, you may always cheer yourself with that thought. , Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it shall wear a starry crown directly; thy hand may be filled with cares—it shall grasp a harp soon, a harp full of music. Thy garments may be soiled with dust now; they shall be white by-and-by. Wait a little longer.
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