The King of Sweden
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OSCAR II, KING OF SWEDEN. On 8th
December,
1907, there passed into the presence of the King
of
kings in the person of OSCAR II, King of Sweden, a
monarch who was remarkable, in that he was a converted
king, and a grandson of a French shoemaker.
Mr. JOSIAH NIX relates
that some years ago, at Bergen,
the King was on the point of leaving for Stockholm when
a party of Polytechnic visitors cheered lustily. Thereupon
the King said to Mr. Nix, their conductor: "Do you like
my country?" "No, your Majesty," was
the reply; "we
love it, and your people." Mr. Nix then thanked King
Oscar for his message to the Y.M.C.A. in London on their
celebration, and also for the Queen's greetings.
"Are you a disciple?" King Oscar asked.
"Yes, your
Majesty, the least of all the disciples," was the answer,
upon which the King said quietly: "Then please do not
refer to me as 'your Majesty.' We are one in Christ Jesus."
Touching details are given of the solemn moment when
the King of Terrors (though not in this case the terror of
kings) entered the royal chamber, When, at two o'clock
on the Saturday afternoon, His Majesty became conscious
for a moment, he recognised his family and said in a clear
voice: "God bless you
all." The Queen said: "Yes, the
Lord shall carry you through; His mercy is so great."
To this the King replied: "Yes, His mercy is
great." The
Queen then bent down over her husband's bed and whis-
pered in his ear the words of the First Epistle of John,
chapter 1, verse 7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is
in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
The King said in a distinct voice: "THANKS BE
TO JESUS."
These words were King Oscar's last. At four o'clock he
was "with Christ; which is far better" (Phil. 1. 23).
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