Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1854-04-02
4 Beautiful Siory.

: s The most beautiful AM eiftcting incident knoy
associated with a shipyreck, is the following: I'll
; Governor, and East 1ndiaman, homeward boun,
goes ashore on the coast Of Caifraria. 1t is RI
solved that the officers passengers and crew, i
number one hundred and rhirty-gve souls, shall en-
deavor to penetrate foot rackless deserts
infested with wild beasts and cruel 5ayages to the
pntch settlements at the Cape of Good Hope
W ith this fororn object before them, they finally
separate into two parties-neyer more to meet on
earth.
There is a solitary child among the nassan,,er,
a little boy OF seven years old who has no ralo+;o
there and when the FIRST party is moving away he
cries after some member of it who has been kind
to him. The crying of a child might he supposed
to be little thing to in such great extremity
but it touches them, and he is Immediately taken
| into that detachment
| From which time forth, this child is sublimely
made sacred charge. He is pushed, on a little
raft, across broad rivers by the swimming sailors:
they carry him by turns through the deep sand and
long grass he patiently walking at all other times
they share with him such putrid fish as they find
to eat; they lay down and wait for him when the
rough carpenter, who becomes his especial friend.
lags behind Beset by lions and tigers by savages,
by thirst and hunger, by death in crowd of ghast
y shapes, they never-O Father of all mankind
thy name be blessed for it,-forget this child -
The captain stops exhausted and his faithful cox
swain goes back and is to sit down BIZ his side.
and neither of the two shall be any more behe!d
ntl the great last day; but, the rest go on for
tbair Al
penter dies of poisonous berries, eaten in starva-
ton; and the stewart succeeding to the command
Oft party succeeds to the sacred guardianship of
the child.
God knows all he does for the poor baby; how
he cheerfully carries him in his arms when he him.
sell is weak and ill; how he folds his ragged Jacket
round him, lays his little worn face with womans
tenderness upon his sunburnt breast soothes him
in his sufferings, sings TO him as he limps along
unmindful of his own parched and bleeding feet
Divided Tor few days from the rest they dig
grave in the sand and bury their good friend the
cooper-these two companions alone in the wilder
then the time comes when thev both
are i'll and beg their wretehed partners in despair
reduced and few in number. to wait bv 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, in making their
preparations for the resumption of their journey;
Tor the child is sleeping by the fire. and it is agreed
with one consent that he shall not be disturbed un
til the last moment. The moment comes. the fire
Is dying-and the child is dead
His faithful friend, the steward, fingers but a
little behind him. His 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 it?-with the child, where he and
the poor carpenter shall be raised up with the
words, "lnasmuch as We have done it unto the
least Of these, We have done il unto Me-"