The Angel Children

  THE GARDEN OF GOD;

  OR,

  THE BABY'S FIRST SMILE.

  In a very lovely little cottage, around which grew sweet-briers androse-trees, and up whose windows climbed honeysuckles and jessamines,lived a mother with her baby.

  The mother was a young woman, with golden hair, kind blue eyes, and fairwhite skin. There was always a look of love in her eye, and in thegentle tones of her voice the most soothing tenderness. People said thebaby looked like her; but he cried so much that his face was continuallydistorted, and so the resemblance was not of any use to him.

  Now there was a great deal of discussion about the baby's looks, as towhich he most resembled, his father or mother; some decided in favor ofhis father, who was a tall man, with black hair, and black eyes, andlarge, sharp features. It was a difficult question to answer, inasmuchas the baby had yet but a very few hairs on his head, and his featureswere not easily distinguishable; and as each person's decision affectedonly his own opinion, there was a great deal of discussion and comparingof the poor baby's little face with those of his parents, and, throughdint of being often shown them, the father and mother began to find themost remarkable resemblance to each other in their little child.

  Well, one day he had been crying very hard, and his poor mother wasnearly worn sick with trying to quiet him. She had walked all over thehouse, shown him everything on the tables, taken up books and shakenthem before his eyes, carried him to the windows and cried "See there!see there!" with fresh tones of love and pity, without his seeming to bein the least edified by it all. She tossed him before the looking-glass;but he did not seem to be comforted by the glimpse of himself, done upin a blanket, which he caught; until, at last, after putting everythinginto every place in which it didn't belong, and trying to make him lookat things he didn't care to see, she resolutely put him in the cradle,rocked him with his head moving now on this and now on that side of thepillow, until he fell fast asleep.

  He had no sooner closed his eyes to sleep than he left his baby's bodyin the cradle, and ran straight off to the gardens of God in heaven,towards that place where dwell the angel-children who are yet to go downand live upon the earth. As he came near the tall flowers, whose goldenpetals were spread, and in whose cups lay sweet dew, he clapped hishands with joy, and a bright smile lay on his lips, which before hadbeen distorted with grief.

  Not far from him there rose a bright fountain, which, falling, dashedits water gently down into a broad, silvery basin beneath. In the midstof the falling spray a large bird, with long, blue plumage, played, nowdiving beneath the water, and now catching the drops as they fell fromthe fountain. Then came other birds, some in gay scarlet plumage, withwhite feathers about their necks and at the tips of their wings andtails; they, too, played in the fountain, and chased each other overthe sparkling waters.

  Then there were tall trees, of such a bright green as is seldom seen onthe earth, and on them were fruits which looked a little like those wesee here, but a thousand times more beautiful, for they shone likeprecious stones. About everything was a glory which it is impossible todescribe.

  At a little distance was a troop of fair children at play, and when theyhad seen the little child from the earth they ran towards him, and wouldhave kissed him joyously, but that they saw the tears he had so recentlyshed still standing upon his cheeks; at this, sorrow shone over theirfaces, and tears like pearls entered their own eyes, as, in thetenderest manner, they asked him the cause of his grief.

  "Do not ask me, dear brothers and sisters," he entreated; "I wish onlyto think how I am with you now for a little while, and I long to forgetthe earth-scenes." Speaking thus he kissed them all, and led them awayoff among the bright fields.

  Very gayly they played a long time; they plucked the golden apples fromthe trees, and threw them far up in the sky, and the apples bounded solightly that they still went on, till at last they dropped down to theearth into some dark rooms where poor people lived, who, when they foundthem, rejoiced exceedingly.

  Then they went riding on the clouds, and the light of their faces gave abrightness to the edge of the clouds, so that the people on the earthloved to stand watching them, never fancying what a troop ofangel-children were frolicking on them.

  At last they became weary of this sport, and bent their way quitetowards the earth. At this our earth-child saddened, and did not winghis flight as quickly as the others did. Upon this they looked aroundupon him and said:

  "Why tarry you? Do you not know we go to the earth, to do there what ourdear Teacher bids us? You have played with us, and will you not now dothe work which you have so often done with us before?" So he sped onwith them, but his voice was silent and his heart wept.

  They soon came to the earth, and then, unseen by any one, they madetheir way towards a little, dingy house, in one room of which sat alittle boy upon a bench, driving pegs into the sole of a boot. On oneside lay all the boots in which he had driven pegs, and on the other agreat many more in which he must still drive them. He looked sad andpale, and the sweat lay in large drops upon his forehead. By his sidesat a large, stout man, with his shirt-sleeves rolled up, displayingstrong, brawny arms, while his face was red and stern. He was also atwork, but watched the boy well, and if he saw his arm rested for amoment he would give him a little push, bidding him mind his work; andso the poor boy had to drive the pegs into the soles of the boots, eventhough he was weary and his face pale and sad.

  Then the angel-children, seized with one feeling of love and pity (forthey could remember how the poor boy used to be one of them and play inthe garden of God), soared above him. One came down and wiped off thedrops of sweat from his brow; another passed his soft hands over theboy's face, and rested him; and another put comforting thoughts into hissoul.

  Then the master looked up, and when he saw how the boy seemed suddenlyrefreshed, he told him it was good to work and silly to be tired; andwhen the boy heard these hard words, tears came into his eyes, and hethought of his mother who used so tenderly to care for him, but had nowbeen gone long to the home of the angels.

  Then some of the angel-children wiped away the tears which had come intothe boy's eyes, and another shook his beautiful wings over his head, sothat at once a cool breeze fell over him and hopeful words entered hissoul. Some of the children moved his arm up and down as he drove thepegs into the boot, and he wondered how easily he was able to work.

  All this time our earth-child stood apart, nodding his head sadly, andwhen the others asked him the cause, he answered, "O, you do not knowhow hard it is to live on the earth! See this poor boy; how fardifferent was it with him when he played with us in the gardens upthere!"

  The children were silent; they knew not how to comfort him. Theythought, too, of the time when they should live on the earth.

  Then they flew along and came to a large city, in which lived manyhomeless children, who were led about by unkind and evil spirits; andpassed constantly by men and women, who did not so much as give them onekind word.

  As the angel-children wandered among them they shuddered: such strangewords filled the air, and so dark and dingy looked the houses where theywent in and out. Could it be that these children, who talked together inangry moods, who rather sought the opportunity to trouble each other,had ever played in that fountain, and laughed together in the heavenlyfields? "O," they sighed, "could we but once drive the evil spirits fromone of them, and whisper in his ear of the kind love of God!"

  Then their wings fluttered and folded themselves over the head of alarge boy, whose clothes were dirty and tattered, his hair matted anddisordered, his body thin and wan, while the expression of his face wasvery old and vacant. A slight girl, holding a little pail in her hand,came along near him, and made as if she would go by him; but the boywould not suffer her to pass on, and, stopping her, said to her,

  "Well, and what have you got?"

  The child looked at him fearfully, and remained silent; but the boy didnot heed her half-imploring look, but proceeded to lay h
old of her pail,in which she had had hot corn to sell, and, opening it, discovered theresix pennies instead.

  "Ah," he cried exultingly, "that is what I wanted! You have done wellwith your corn; you may go on now;" and, despite the poor child's cries,he took away the pennies, and, in resisting the little struggle thechild was able to make, he threw her down upon the pavement.

  This was in a dark street, filled with people wicked like this boy, andwhere was no one who cared to take the child's part.

  But those angel-children were silent witnesses of this scene, and theyput out their hands, so the little girl was not much hurt in her fall.Then they looked at each other in dismay; the pearly tears again cameinto their bright eyes, and they asked each other what they might do forthis wretched boy. They remembered when the boy and girl played togetherin the fair garden of God; and it was not possible for them to rememberthat, and look unmoved upon this fearful change which had come overhim. "O, this is a sad earth-life!" murmured the baby's spirit; and henodded his head again in sorrow. "Why may not I, too, become like thisboy?"

  "But _must_ the earth-life bring this change?" asked another of theangel-children, who saw the anguish of his friend, but knew not how tocomfort him. "Do we not remember the poor boy who worked so hard, andhad no rest, yet he was patient and good, and kept bright, and hung thecord which tied his soul to heaven with the tear-drops which fell forhis dear, dead mother? When tried, he gave back no hard words. He wasbetter than we, who are happy always and have no trials."

  Not long after, they found the wicked boy asleep; he had thrown himselfdown, in the corner of a dirty alley, on a little straw. The childrenhovered over him, trying how they might approach him. They drove hencethe dark spirits, one by one, who hindered their approach, and then theycarried him off by the sea-shore in a dream; they made him sit upon thesand and listen to the roaring of the waters; the large rocks stoodscattered on the beach, and the sea-mosses and shells were thrown up bythe waves. Afar off, upon the water, he saw a long line of brightclouds, which seemed to climb up to heaven to meet the bright, twinklingstars. The moonlight shone softly down upon him.

  Then they laid him down upon the sand, and made him look up into the skyto feel the rest and peace of it; still more came the moonlight uponhim, and the stars seemed to open and close their eyes for pity. Thewind came towards him and passed along his brow and over his heart. Thencame into his soul an indescribable longing, such as he had never feltbefore--a longing which the noise of the sea, the beauty of the clouds,the peace of the sky, and the tenderness of the wind, had aroused inhim.

  He felt that something inexpressibly dear had been lost to him, and hefeared never again to regain it; the quiet moon and the pitying starsmade him fear. A deep grief entered his heart, and he wept as from aneverlasting sorrow. As he wept the angels rejoiced, and hovered over hishead in a halo of light; for they knew that these tears would bring himinto the path that led to heaven!

  Not far off lived a man who cared for destitute and ignorant children;the angel-band flew to bring him, and when the boy opened his eyes, inwhich the tears of repentance still lay, the ocean and bright clouds haddisappeared; but there was bent upon him a pitying, benignant look,which went to the boy's heart, and a kind voice lingered in his ear,subduing him by its very strangeness. So he at once received theproffered hand, and arose and went with him to his home.

  After that, the angel-children went into a splendid mansion, where, in alarge, handsome chamber, lay a little girl suffering under severe pain.Her little couch was hung in blue silk, and rich laces adorned herpillows. On a little table by the side of her bed stood golden goblets,to refresh her parched mouth with pleasant drinks. Yet, still the littlegirl moaned in pain. Her eyelids were closed, and her weary hand laystill upon the bed. At her side sat her nurse, watching her wants andlonging to relieve them. Costly toys lay uncared for on the rich, heavycarpet. The flowers had lost their charm, the delicious fruit lay, fulland ripe, neglected on their dish.

  Sleep would not come to the child; weary and in pain, she had laid therea long, long time, her poor little body wasting slowly away towards thegrave.

  "Let us give her rest and comfort," said the angel-children; and, wavingtheir wings over her, she fell to sleeping.

  The nurse said, then, there might be hope. Listen and hear,--what brighthope there was, indeed!

  They whispered to her, that soon her pain should cease, and that, forher trust and patience, she should go to God's beautiful garden. Theyshowed her the fountains and the birds; they told her how she shouldagain ride upon the clouds, and study from the great books of God. Thenin her sleep she smiled, and the nurse, who was watching her face, weptfor joy, and exclaimed,

  "There is hope! there is hope!"

  Yes, there was hope!

  When the little girl awoke, there was a more heavenly patience still,in her soul, and a longing to meet the loving glances of theangel-children again.

  As the children wended their flight back to the gardens, and sat downbeneath the green trees, and ate of their delicious fruit, they strovein vain to bring back the brightness to the face of the earth-baby.

  "Ah, it would be so beautiful to stay with you!" he said. "I would likealways to comfort these afflicted ones; but, alas! I shall need comfortmyself, and you will come to me, as we have been to others. When I am onthe earth there seems something gone and lost, and what is before me isconfused and dim. I find myself so weak and helpless, when here I am sosprightly and strong! I cannot move myself at all, and when I rememberthese gardens I have left, and you with whom I have played, I can butcry all the time! It looks cold and bleak there, as it never does here.Then, should I grow up to be wicked, like those children we have seen,and so go far away from heaven, how wretched should I become,--how muchbetter that I never had left these gardens!"

  Thus he complained, and the other children were silent, for they knewhow they, too, at some time, must go down and try their fortunes uponthe earth; and, too, they sorrowed to lose their companion, for theyknew that soon he could not come to them any more;--and while they toldhim, very eagerly, how they would come to watch over him, a soft treadfell on their ears, and their dear teacher approached them.

  Her hair floated in long curls upon the cool air, and her eyes were bentdown in sorrow upon the earth-child.

  "Have you so soon forgotten the lessons you have learned from the bookof God?" she asked; and the tones of her voice were like the softharmonies of heaven. She held in her hand a book, along whose pages theletters sparkled in the brightness of gold and silver. At the sight ofher, the earth-child threw himself at her feet, and besought her thus:

  "Keep me with you, dear teacher, and teach me from your book! Whyshould I go to the earth-home again?"

  Tenderly did the angel-teacher embrace and uplift the imploring child.She pointed to a distant part of the garden, towards a grate oflattice-work, in gold, silver and pearls, whence issued a gloriouslight. Beyond this they saw angels walking, in their hands bearing stillmore glorious books than the one she held.

  "When I taught you, long ago, how beautiful was the life there, how_pure_ the love, did you not long to go thither? And when I told youthat the way thither was only through the earth,--that it was long anddifficult and narrow,--that many troubles must make you strong to walkin it,--did you not long to go, promising not to complain? Do you sosoon falter? Have I not told you that the book you carry in your handsthere must first be formed on the earth?--that there you shall pick upone by one the shining letters which compose it? Why do youcomplain?--have you forgotten that your home is better than thosemiserable ones which have been given to those who were your belovedplaymates here? This is your last visit to the garden of God. Theangel-children shall come and whisper to you in your dreams; and, whenthey in their turns go down to live upon the earth, hold your arms outto them, and, when their steps are weak, help them along. And when yousee children with tattered clothes, in poor cottages, look not proudlyon your own, but remember that here, in the ga
rden of God, you playedtogether in the same fountain, drank the same dew; and think no more ofyourself or your beautiful earth-home, for God gave it to you for thesame purpose he gave the wretched cottage to the other. Remember, too,the good mother, who has patiently hushed your cries, and will yet bearyou through many dark places. She has never yet tired in caring for you,and you have given her little else but trouble. Go; be henceforthpatient and loving."

  Sorrow came into the heart of the child for his selfishness; and, as hethought of his beautiful mother, how she always smiled upon him, andwould help him to heaven, his heart filled up with love to her.

  At that moment he opened his eyes, and there by his side sat themother, watching for his awaking; a heavenly smile stole over hisfeatures, and he held up his arms to her. The mother caught him from thecradle, and wept over him in the ecstasy of a new-found joy and love;for it was the _First Smile_ her baby had given her.