The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1902, Page 31

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31

The Persecutor’s Fate.

Dr. Eugenio Kincaid, the Burman mission- |

ary, states that, among the first converts in
Ava, were two men who had held respectable
offices about the palace. Some time after they
had been baptized, a neighbor determined to
report them to the government, and drew up
a paper setting forth that these two men had
forsaken the customs and religion of their
fathers, were worshiping the foreigner’s God,
and went every Sunday to the teacher’s house ;

with other similar charges. He presented the}

paper to the neighbors of the two disciples, tak-
ing their names as witnesses, and saying that
he should go and present the accusation on the
next day.

The two Christians heard of it, and went to

lees Indian friends of the deceased filed into}

the room, and as they passed the casket one
after another was heard to say in a depressed
| tone, ‘‘Friend and fellow.’? Then they took
up their positions round about the casket. A
prayer and the reading of a Scripture passage
| followed, after which the favorite hymn of the
| deceased was sung, which was, ‘‘Nearer, My
God, to Thee.’’ Dark Cloud then spoke in
eulogy of the deceased, and then gave utter-
ance also to the Indian’s conception of the
““Great Spirit.’’

In the course of his address he made some
remarks which should be well considered by
such as call themselves Christians, but deny
their God and Saviour by their works. He
said, ‘‘I am not boasting, but it is true that
there is no profane word in any Indian lan-

Mr. Kincaid in great alarm, to consult as to| guage. We marvel at God’s works, and won-

what they should do. They
said if they were accused to
the government, the mildest
sentence they could expect
would be imprisonment for
life at hard labor, and per-
haps they would be killed.
Kincaid told them that they
could not flee from Ava, if
they would; that he saw
nothing he could do for them,
and all. that they could do
was to trust in God. He then
knelt with them, and be-
sought God to protect them
and deliver them from the
power of their enemies. They
also prayed, and soon left
Kincaid, saying that they felt
more calm, and could leave
the matter with God.

That night the persecutor
was attacked by a dreadful
disease in the bowels, which
so distressed him that he roared like a mad-
man; and his friends, which is too often the
case with the heathen, left him to suffer and
die alone. ‘The two Christians whom he would
have ruined then went and took care of him
till he died, two or three days after his attack.
The whole affair was well known in the neigh-
borhood, and from that time not a dog dared
move his tongue against the Christians of Ava.

Is there no evidence in this of a special provi-
dence, and that God listens to the prayers of

His persecuted and distressed children?
Hi. L. Hastings.

_—_=-—P oe
A Timely Rebuke.

Evans Bradby, the last of the direct de-
scendants of the once powerful Indian chief
Powhatan, died but a short time since. A
number of his Indian friends witnessed the
funeral ceremonies.

The chief service lay in the hands of Aiga
Tahament, the medicine man of the Seneca
tribe. Just before the beginning of the service

a

A Village in Africa.

der that the paleface dares to speak lightly
of the Ruler of the lightning, the flood, the
gun, moon, and stars, and that in anger he
dares to use the name of the one who in His
anger can destroy all.”” J. K.

———

Worthy of Imitation.

Elizabeth Pellit, a widow lady, recently died
in New York. Her home was in the hall room
of a tenement house, and, at her death, all her
earthly possessions could be put in one com-
mon trunk. No executor or administrator was
needed. Living in narrow circumstances, she
had denied herself all luxuries, even many
comforts. Butin the forty years of her Chris-
tian life she had given $30,000 to the work
of the Lord. She had supplied the money to
send a missionary to San Salvador, and also
for another who is to go soon. Did you say
she needed no administrator ? It was because
the Holy Spirit had administered upon her
estate|in the name of the Lord, and He will
be her reward in heaven. — Selected.

Why He Could not Burn them.

A little boy came from school, carrying a
Bible, when a priest met him with the ques-
tion: ‘‘Do you attend that Protestant school
yonder?”’ ‘I do,’’ was the reply. ‘‘I thought
so,’’ rejoined the priest, ‘‘judging by the book
you have there. That is a bad book. Better
let me have it.’’ ‘That book is God’s Word,”’
protested the little fellow. ‘‘It teaches us how
to obtain God’s favor, and how to be saved
and go to heaven when we die.’’ ‘‘Come
along with me,’ demanded the priest. The
boy obeyed.

Upon entering his study, the priest took the
poor boy’s Bible and threw it into the fire,
saying, ‘‘You shall never read that book again.
It is a bad book; and remember, I do not want
you to attend that school any more.’’ Seeing
his Bible consumed by the
fire, the boy first looked
very sad, but when the priest
turned to him with a satisfied
air, remarking, ‘‘Now the
thing is gone,’’ the lad be-
gan to smile. ‘‘What are
you laughing at?’’ sternly
asked the priest. ‘‘I cannot
help it,’’ was the answer.
“Tell me, what you are
laughing for,’’ reiterated the
priest. ‘‘I cannot help it,’’
said the boy. ‘‘I was just
thinking that you cannot
burn those ten chapters I
got by heart.’’

Happy, indeed, are the
children who have such heay-
enly treasures stored away
in their hearts, where no-
body can get at them.

God is Just.

In Jerusalem there lived in the twelfth cen-
tury a pious bishop by the name of Narcissus.
Charges of the weightiest kind were brought
against him by three men. These charges
were, however, utterly false and without all
foundation. Being put under oath, the first
wretch declared that heaven should deyour
him if he spoke not the truth; the second
said, ‘‘May the plague destroy me, if I speak
not what is true;’’ and the third wished to be
struck blind if he spoke what was false.

Narcissus was deposed from his office.
Years passed; but a just God reigns above.
The first accuser was one day killed by light-
ning, the second was carried away by a plague,
and the third, overwhelmed by the awfulness
of his sin, wept day and night, and finally be-
came blind. ‘‘Vengeance is mine; I will re-
pay, saith the Lord,” Rom. 12) 19.
ers a 0

‘Wuat joyful blessing this must be,
To lead a soul, my God, to Thee!?