Carefully they took him up to remove him to the boat which
was to convey him to the river; but as they passed along, the anxious wife,
who watched the countenance of her husband, saw a change. Death had stamped
his signet on those pale features; and, when they arrived at the water
side, all that remained of Boardman was a cold, inanimate corpse. The
voyage down the river was a sorrowful one. Every cheek was flowing down
with tears and every heart was bleeding with anguish.
At Tavoy they were met by the sad disciples, headed by Moung Ing, the
converted Burman. Slowly they bore forward the dead body of the man of God,
and laid it down in the mission house in which he had so often discoursed
of Jesus. Around him in that hallowed spot gathered a company more precious
to God than ever assembled around the bier of a fallen emperor; there went
up to heaven a wail of sorrow as heartfelt as ever was uttered over the
grave of son or sire; and the death was as full of sadness and importance
as could have been the demise of a laurelled chieftain or a titled senator.
True, the throng who came out to see that pale form and marble brow were
not gathered from the proud and great of earth.
Pages:
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243