d is consequently more
inexcusable than that of the daughters of King Lear, refuse to love
him, and to receive him as our friend. He entreats admission. He asks
to enter and be with you and you with him, that you may be happy. And
there he has stood for days, and months, and years, and you receive
him not. Could we see our own conduct in the light in which we behold
the conduct of others, we should be confounded with the sense of our
guilt.

Is there a child who reads this book, who has not at times felt the
importance of loving the Savior? When you felt these serious
impressions, Christ was pleading for admission to your heart. You
have, perhaps, been sick, and feared that you were about to die.
And, oh, how ardently did you then wish that the Savior were your
friend! Perhaps you have seen a brother or a sister die: you wept
over your companion, as her cheek daily grew more pale, and she drew
nearer and nearer to death. And when she ceased to breathe, and her
limbs were cold and lifeless, you wept as though your heart would
break. And when you saw her placed in the coffin and carried to the
grave, how earnestly did you desire to be prepared to die yourself!
Oh, how did the world seem then to you! This was the way the Savior
took to reach your heart. When on earth, he said, "Suffer little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not." And now he endeavors,
in many ways, to induce you to turn to him. Sometimes he makes you
happy, that his goodness may excite your love. When he sees that in
happiness you are most prone to forget him, he sends sorrow and
trouble, under which your spirits sink, and this world appears
gloomy, and you are led to look forward to a happier one to come. And
does it not seem very ungrateful that you should resist all this
kindness and care, and continue to refuse to submit yourself to him?
You think the daughters of King Lear were very cruel. Indeed they
were; but not so cruel as you. Their father had been kind to them,
but not so kind as your Savior has been to you. He stood long at the
door and knocked, but not so long as the Savior has stood at the door
of your heart. It is in vain that we look to find an instance of
ingratitude equal to that manifested by the sinner who rejects the
Savior. And it is, indeed, melancholy to think, that any child could
be so hard-hearted.

It is strange that any person can resist the love which God has
manifested for us. He has sent angels with messages of m