Boosy's language, would you try to read them to him? I will teach you the letters, or characters as they are called, in which they will be written.

HENRY. O! I will learn them with joy.

MR. SMITH. Well, my boy, come every morning into my study, and I will teach you the Persian characters; for those are what will be used in the copy of the chapters I shall put into your hands. Some time or other, the whole Bible will be translated in this manner.

HENRY. Will the words be Persian, sir? I know Boosy does not understand Persian.

MR. SMITH. No, my dear; the words will be the same as those you speak every day with the natives. When you have as much of the Bible as I can get prepared for you in this manner, you must read it to your bearer every day; praying continually that God will bless his holy word to him. And never fear, my dear, but that the Word of God will do its work; " For as the rain cometh down, and the snow, from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it." Isaiah lv. 10, 11.-" But do not, my dear boy," added Mr. Smith, " argue and dispute with your bearer about religion; you are not yet able. Only read the Bible to him, and pray for him continually; leaving the rest with God."

But, not to make my story too long; while Henry's mamma remained at Calcutta, which was more than a year, Henry received a lesson every day from Mr. Smith in his study; and Mr. Smith taught him the Persian characters, and provided him with as many chapters in the Bible in Hindoostanee as he could get properly prepared in a short time: these he had bound together in red morocco, and presented them to Henry, not without asking the blessing of God upon them.

How delighted was Henry when he received the book, and found that he could read it easily! He was in his place on the mat between Boosy's knees in a minute, and you might have heard him reading from one end of the house to the other, for he could not contain himself for joy. Nor was he contented with read

66

ing it himself, he must make Boosy learn to read it too. And this was brought about much sooner than you would have supposed it possible: for as Henry learned the Persian letters from day to day of Mr. Smith, he was accustoned afterward to write them on a slate, and make Boosy copy them as they sat together; and so, by degrees, he taught them all to his bearer before he was in possession of the Hindoostanee copy of the chapters. Now, my boy," said Mr. Smith, " you are in the safe way of giving instruction, in an ancient path cast up by God. Jeremiah xviii. 15. Do not trust to the words of your own wisdom, but to the Word of God. Hold fast to the Scripture, dear boy, and you will be safe. And be not impatient, if the seed you sow should not spring up immediately: something tells me that I shall see Boosy a Christian before I die; or if I do not see that day, he that outlives me will.”

Now the time arrived, when Henry's mamma was to leave Calcutta. Indeed, she had staid much longer there than she had at first proposed; but there were so many amusements going forward; so much gay company; so many fashionable dresses to purchase; that she could not find in her heart to leave them, although she was heartily tired of Mr. Smith's company. She respected him indeed, as an old friend and worthy man; but he had such particular ways, she said, that sometimes she had difficulty to put up with them.

She proposed, as she went up the country, to stop at Berhampore, to see Mrs. Baron. When Henry heard of this, he was greatly pleased; yet, when he came to take leave of Mr. Smith, he cried very much.

As they went up the river, Henry took every opportunity of reading his chapters to his bearer, when his mamma could not overhear him: and he had many opportunities early in the morning, and in the afternoon when his mamma was asleep, as she always slept for an hour after tiffin. He proceeded very well indeed, Boosy daily improving, at least, in his knowledge of the Bible: till the weather suddenly becoming excessively hot, Henry was seized with a return of violent pain in his side, and other very bad symptoms. He became paler and thinner, and could not eat. His mamma, having no company to divert her, soon took notice of the change in the child, and began to be frightened; and so was his bearer. So they made all the haste they

could to Berhampore, that they might procure advice from the doctors there, and get into a cool house, for the boat was excessively hot but, notwithstanding all the haste which they made, there was a great change in the poor little boy before they reached Berhampore. When they had come within a day's journey of the place, they sent a servant forward to Mrs. Baron's; so that, when the budgerow stopped the next day near the cantonments, Mrs. Baron herself was waiting on the shore with palanquins ready to carry them to her house. As soon as the board was fixed from the boat to the bank of the river, she jumped out of her palanquin, and was in the budgerow in a minute, with little Henry in her arms. " O, my dear, dear boy!" she said, my dear, dear boy!" She could say no more, so great was her joy: but, when she looked at him, and saw how very ill he appeared, her joy was presently damped; and she said, in her haste, to his mamma, "Dear madam, what is the matter with Henry? he looks very ill."

66

"Yes," said his mamma, "I am sorry to say that he is very ill; we must lose no time in getting advice for him."

66

"Do not cry, dear Mrs. Baron," said little Henry, seeing the tears running down her cheeks; we must all die, you know we must, and death is very sweet to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ."

"O, my child," said his mamma, why do you talk of dying? you will live to be a judge yet, and we shall see you with seven silver sticks before your palanquin." “I do not wish it, mamma,” said Henry.

The more Mrs. Baron looked at Henry, the more she was affected. For some moments she could not speak, or command her feelings at all; but after drinking a little water, she became more composed; and proposed that they should all immediately remove to her house. And when she found herself shut up in her palanquin, she prayed earnestly to God, that whether the sweet baby lived or died, he might not be taken from her in his sickness; but that she might, with the help of God, administer holy nourishment to his immortal soul, and comfort to his little weak body.

When they had arrived at Mrs. Baron's house, she caused Henry to be laid on a sofa by day in the sitting room, and at night in a room close by her own. The

chief surgeon of the station was immediately sent for, and every thing was done for little Henry that the ten derest love could suggest.

Berhampore happened at that time to be very full, and Henry's mamma, finding many of her old acquaintances there, was presently so deeply engaged in paying and receiving visits, that she seemed again almost entirely to forget Henry, and lost all her concern about him: comforting herself, when she was going to a great dinner or ball, that Mrs. Baron would be with him, and he would be well taken care of. But it is a poor excuse to make for our neglect of duty, and one I fear that will not stand at the day of judgment, to say that there are others that will do it as well for us.

Notwithstanding all the surgeon could do, and all the care of Mrs. Baron, Henry's illness increased upon him; and every one had reason to think that the dear little fellow's time on earth would soon come to an end. Mr. and Mrs. Baron were by turns his almost constant attendants: when one left him, the other generally took the place by his couch. It was very interesting, and rather uncommon, to see a fine lively young man, like Mr. Baron, attending a little sick child; and sometimes administering to him his food or medicine, and sometimes reading the Bible to him-for Mr. Baron feared God.

When Henry first came to Berhampore, he was able to take the air in the evening in a palanquin, and could walk about the house; and two or three times he read a chapter in the Hindoostanee Bible to Boosy: but he was soon too weak to read, and his airings became shorter and shorter; he was at last obliged to give them quite up, and to take entirely to his couch and bed, where he remained until his death.

When Boosy saw that his little sahib's end was drawing on, he was very sorrowful, and could hardly be persuaded to leave him night or day, even to get his khauna. He did every thing he could think of to please him; and, more as he afterward said, to please his dying master than his God, he began to read his chapters with some diligence; and little Henry would lie on his couch, listening to Boosy as he read (imperfectly indeed) the Word of God in Hindoostanee. Often he would stop him, to explain to him what he was reading; and very beautiful sometimes were the remarks

which he made, and better suited to the understanding of his bearer than those of an older or more learned person would have been.

6

The last time that his bearer read to him, Mrs. Baron sitting by him, he suddenly stopped him, saying, "Ah, Boosy, if I had never read the Bible, and did not believe in it, what an unhappy creature should I now be! for in a very short time I shall go down to the grave to come up no more;' Job vii. 9. that is, until my body is raised at the last day. When I was out last, I saw a very pretty burying ground with many trees about it. I knew that I should soon lie there; I mean that my body would; but I was not afraid, because I love my Lord Jesus Christ, and I know that he will go down with me unto the grave: I shall sleep with him, and 'I shall be satisfied, when I awake with his likeness.' Psalm xvii. 15. He then turned to Mrs. Baron, and said, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.' Job xix. 25, 26. O kind Mrs. Baron! who when I was a poor sinful child, brought me to the knowledge of my Redeemer; anointing me with sweet ointment (even his precious blood) for my burial, which was so soon to follow."

"Dear child!" said Mrs. Baron, hardly able to preserve her composure, "dear child! give the glory to God."

"Yes, I will glorify him for ever and ever," cried the poor little boy; and he raised himself up in his couch, joining his small and taper fingers together: "yes, I will praise him, I will love him. I was a grievous sinner; every imagination of the thought of my heart was evil continually; I hated all good things; I hated even my Maker; but he sought me out; he washed me from my sins in his own blood; he gave me a new heart; he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, and hath put on me the robe of righteousness; he "hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light." 2 Timothy i. 10. Then turning to his bearer he said, “O my poor bearer! what will become of you,' if you neglect so great salvation?" Hebrews ii. 3. "O Lord Jesus Christ," he added, "turn the heart of my poor bearer!" This short prayer, which little Henry made in › Hindoostanee, his bearer repeated, scarcely knowing what he was doing. And this, as Boosy afterward told