The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1854-05-24
A Beautiful story.

"A beautiful Story. a
The most beautiful and effecting in
cident know, associated with ship
wreck, is the following: Tho Gros.
venoh an East lndianian, homeward
bound, goes ashore on the coast of
Caiiraria. 1t is resolved that the off.
GERS, passengers and crew, in number
one hundred and thirty five souls, shall
endeavor to penetrate on foot across
trackless deserts, infested. by wild
beasts and savages, to the Dutch set
Elements at the Cape of Good Hope;
with this forlorn object before them,
they finally seperate in two parties
never more to meet on earth.
There is "a solitary little child among
the passengers-a little boy of seven
years old, who has no relation there;
and when the first party is moving
away, he cries after some member Of
it who has been kind to him. The
crying ofa child might be supposed to
be little thing to men in such great
extremity, but if touches them, and he
is INN ediatey taken into the detach.
nents, from which time forth, this
child is sublimeiy made a sacred
charge; he is pushed on a little raft
acro-s broad rivers by the swimming
>ailors; they carry him by turns
through the deep sand and long grass,
the patiently walking at ali other
times;) they share with him such pu-
trid fish as they find to eat; they lie
down and wait for him when the rough
carpenter, who becomes his especial
friend, lags behind. Beset by lions
&'td tigers, by ,-sarases, by thfrst-nnd
hunger, by death i'll crowd ofghastly
shapes, they never-O Father Of all
mankind thy name be blessed for i'll
forget this child. The captain stops
exhausted, and his faithful coxswaln
goes back and is seen to sit down by
his side, ard neither of the two shall
be any more beheld until the great
last day; but, rs the rest go on for their
lives. they take the child with them.
The carpenter dies Of poisonous ber-
rles eaten in sta vation, and the stew
ard, succeeding ~ the command of
the party, succeeds to the sacred
:dianship Of the child.
God knows all he does for the poor
baby; how he chcerfuIly carries him
in his arms when he himself is weak
and i'll: how ho feeds him when him.
self is gripcd with want, how he folds
his ragged jacket round him, lays his
little worn face with q woman's ten.
dcrness upon his snnburnt breast.
soothes him in his suiieringS, sings to
him rs he lmps along, unnindlul of
his own parched and bleeding feet
Dividing 'or few days from the rest,
they dig grave in the land and bury
their good friend the cooper these
two companions alone in the wilder
ness-and then the time comes when
both are i'll, and beg their wretched
partners in despair, reduced and few
in number now, to wait by them one
day. They wait by them one day,
they wait by them two days. On the
morning OF the third they move very
softly about, ii making their prepara.
tIons for the resumption of their journ-
ey; for the child is sleeping by the
lire, and it is agreed with one consent
that he shall not be disturbed until the
last moment. The moment c mes,
the fire is dymg-and the child is
dead.
lis faithful friend the steward lin
gers but little while behind him.
Ills grief is great, he staggers ON for
few days, lies down in the desert
and dies. But he shall be reunited in
his immortal spirit-who can doubt
lu-with the child, where he and the
poor carpenter shall he raised up with
the words, lnasmuch as you have
done it unto the least of these, ye have
done it unto me-"