130 THE FIRST RIPE FRUIT. in Black-Town. There was no controlling the woman, and poor Chuntherum was carried further from the Missionary's house. A faithful school-servant went with her, and she watched her last moments; for, ere the light of day glittered on the sea-girt shores of Madras, the disembodied spirit of little Chuntherum had ascended to those mansions where it longed to be, and doubtless she now behoids the King in his beauty, being for ever with the Lord. On her way to Black-Town she revived so much as to be able to sit up in the palanquin, and also to greet her friends on her arrival there. At intervals, during the night, she sent messages of affection to the Missionary, and to a little friend in the school, called Chowree, begging her mother to regard this little orphan as her daughter. In the afternoon of that day the lifeless clay of Chuntherum was put in the ground, there to rest till the trumpet of the archangel shall sound, till dust shall be gathered to dust, and the glorified spirit shall find its own glorified body. Dear children, are you, like this little girl, longing to see God? If you were called away as suddenly, could you say, "I am not afraid to die ?" On the Sabbath evening, three days before her death, she was seated in the verandah of the Missionary's house, in perfect health, answering readily the Scripture questions proposed; and when the Missionary, as was his wont, said, "Now you shall each sing a hymn, and choose for yourselves," she, who had a sweet voice, sang, "My home is not here, 'tis above, where the poor, This sweet melody, as well as many others, she and her companions learned from a dear Christian lady in Madras, who kindly gave them lessons in singing once a week. Do you think she will thank that Christian lady in heaven for teaching her to sing? No doubt she will. Are you doing anything to make others happy? You may not be able to teach the singing of hymns; but there are many other things you can do. God's holy Book says, "Work while it is day;" and it would not say that unless it had given us some NEW ZEALAND WORSHIP. 131 work to do. Go, then, each little reader of this narrative, and find out what you can do for God, what you can do for yourself, and what you can do for your fellow-creatures. Much more might be written of Chuntherum and her family, to make the story interesting; but it would be too long. One thing must be noticed, that, whereas, in her days of health, she never could speak without stammering, all hesitation passed away when sickness came, and the beautiful truths it cost her so much trouble to utter here, either in English or Tamil, are now fully realized in that beautiful place where there is but one language spoken,-the language of the heavenly Canaan. Would that we were all learning more of it! Dear little ones, în the brightness and loveliness of youth, do you fancy it would make you less bright and happy, if you loved Jesus? Ah! no. He was a pattern of a perfect child. He read God's word often, he prayed often, and did what his earthly parents bade him; and he it was who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Do not believe those who tell you that little boys and girls are too young to understand anything about religion. Do you know these pretty lines? If not, try to learn them : "O say not, dream not, heavenly notes To childish ears are vain, That the young mind at random floats, Dim, or unheard, the notes may fall, And yet the heaven-taught mind And then, again, in that best of books is written, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.” Can I conclude better than with such a sweet text? Dear children, farewell. NEW-ZEALAND WORSHIP. THE New-Zealanders frequently worshipped idols, before the Gospel was preached to them, in a very curious way. Holding a string in their hands, which they had previously tied around the image, they would give it a jerk occasionally. Why? To 132 FRAY FOR HEATHEN CHILDREN. make their dumb god listen to their prayers! They supposed that he might be asleep, or thinking about something else; hence his attention must be drawn to their requests by a pull of the string. PRAY FOR HEATHEN CHILDREN. LITTLE children, when you pray Many little ones there are Who never heard of God above, Who do not know of Jesu's love; Children who have never heard From Christian friends this blessed word, O children! ask of him to send LONDON: PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS, HOXTON-SQUARE. |