Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1850-03-09
The Dead Child and The Angel.
ny HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

As soon ms a good child dies, one of Gods
angels descends upon the earth, takes the
dead child upon his arms, spreads out his
large white wings, and flies over all the
places that were dear to the child and
plucks handful of flowers, which he then
carries TO heaven, in order that they may
bloom still more beautifully there than they
did here on earth. The loving God press
eth all these flowers to his bosom; but the
flower that he loveth best he kisseth; and
then it receives n voice, aud can sing and
Join in the universal bliss.
An angel of God related this as he bore a
dead child TO heaven; and the child heard
as in dream; and they flew over all the
spots around the house where the little one
lad played, and they passed through gar
dens with the loveiest flowers. (which
one shall we take with us and plant in heav-
Ell Z" asked the angel.
And beautiful slender rose-tree was
standing there but a wanton hand had bro
ken the stem, SO that all the branches full of
large halfopen rose-buds hung down quite
wlthcrcd.
"The poor tree" said the child "take il,
so that it may bloom again on high with the
loving God"
Aud the angel took it, and kissed the
child; and the little one hafopened his
eyes. They gathered some of the superb
flowers but they took the despised daisy
aud the wild pansy too.
"Now we have flowers" said the child,
and the angel nodded; but they did not yet
fly up TO heaven.
IL wus night; il was quite still. They
stayed in the great city, they iloated to and
fro in one of the narrowest streets, where
great heaps of straw, of ashes and rubbish
lay about; there had been removal. There
lay broken potsherds and plates, plaster fig
ures, rags, the crowns of old hats nothing
but things that were displeasing to the
sight.
And amid the devastation, the angel point
ed to the fragments of flowcr-pot, and TO
a clod of earth that had fallen out of it, and
which was only held together by the roots of
great withered flower; but il was good for
nothing now, and was therefore thrown out
into the street.
"We will take that one with us" said the
angel, "and | will tell you about it while we
are flying"
Aud now they flew on and the angel re-
lated:
"Down yonder, in the narrow street, in
the low cellar, lived once poor sickly boy.
lie bad been bedridden from his very infhn-
CIV. When he was very well indeed, he
could just go a few times up and down the
little room on his crutches; that was all.
"One day in spring his neighbor's son
brought him some wild flowers, and among
them was by chance one with root; il was |
therefore planted in a flower pot and placed |
in the window close by his bedside. 1t |
thrved, put forth new shoots, and every year
had flowers. To the sick boy it was the
most beautiful garden-hs little treasure
upon earth he watcrcd and tended il, and
took care that it got every sunbeam, TO the
very last that glided by on the lower pane.
And the fiowor grew up in his very dreams,
with its colors aud fragrance: TO it he turned |
in dying, when the loving God called him to
himself. lie has now been a year with God
Ia year has the flower stood in the window
withered and forgotten, und now, at the re-
moval, it has been thrown among the rub
bisll into the street. And that is the flower,
the same poor faded flower, which we have
taken into our nosegay; for this flower has
caused more JOY than the rarest flower in the
garden of n queen"
But how do you know all this:" asked
the child which the angel was carrying up to
heaven.
al know it," said the angel 81 was my
self the little sick boy that went on crutch-
es; must surely know my own flower
again"
And the child opened his eyes and looked
in the beautiful calm face of the angel and
at the same moment they were in heaven,
where was only joy and blessedness.