The Ingenious Carver [pp. 385]

THE CHILDRENV'S REPOSITOR X.
earth to the end, that poor sinners might be
pardoned and reconciled to God, the joy of our
young savage was very great.
"It is then this good Father," he exclaimed,
'"who has watched over me; it is he who led
me to the hut of the good Bugnane; it is he
who prevented my following him to be devoured
by the cannibals; it was hle, then, who protected me against the hyenas and tigers in the
cavern in which I found refuge. What have I
done, then, to deserve to be so loved by Him?
Nothing at all. And I have been saved as a
blade of corn that remains alone in the midst
of a field that the hail has destroyed. If I live,
I live because God has said I shall live, and for
all I have offended him so often. From this
moment I wish to be in him. I wish to love
and obey, and to live for him."
Some time after this converted child was baptized by the missionary Casalis. It was a beautiful ceremony. Imagine the young Moses
placed in the midst of more than a thousand
savages, his face expressing joy, and his eyes
turned toward heaven. He cried aloud, "What
love the Savior has had for me, and how happy
am I to be numbered among Christians, and to
acknowledge Jesus as my pattern, my Savior,
and my God! I have been unfortunate and
miserable; to-day I have peace, and am overflowing with happiness. Blessed be God my
Savior!"
And this is, my dear children, what happens
to a great number of these poor inhabitants of
Africa. Many suffer as much and more than
all I have related of the little Moses. These
people are constantly at war one with another,
the weak oppressed by the stronger, who bow
the knee and pray for help to their false gods.
Pray for them, and give each one of you his
mite toward sending to the poor, ignorant,
benighted heathen the good missionary, who
will instruct them, and convert them to the
Gospel faith like the little Moses whose history
I have related.
And do you, my dear little readers, learn a
lesson from the grateful Moses; and when you
recollect the innumerable blessings which, as
children of this Christian land, surround your
happy homes, remember who it is who gives us
all good things, and ask yourselves, what have
I done that God should love me so much? and
pray that you may be able to live for him, and
grow to be like the blessed Jesus, meek and
lowly of heart.
THE best way to do good to ourselves is to
do it to others; the right way to gather is to
scatter.
VOL. XXVIII.-25*
THE INGENIOUS CARVER-A HE BREW STORY.
A MAN of Jerusalem went traveling abroad,
and in a certain town took sick. When
now he felt that he must die, he called the host
of the house, and besoughlt him to take care of
his property till his son would come. But that,
then, he should not give it into his possession
till he had seen three ingenious things in his
conduct.
When now some time had passed, the son
came into the town; hle knew the name of the
host, but did not know where he lived. He saw
a man in the street who had a heavy load of
wood on his shoulder.
"XVWhat do you ask for your wood?" asked
the son. When they were agreed as to the
price he bought the wood, and directed him to
carry it to the man whose name he mentioned,
but whose place of residence he did not know.
And he followed him. When the laborer came
to the house and threw down his wood, the host
called to him and asked, "Why do you bring
me this wood? I have bespoken none."
The woodman pointed to the young man, who
now appeared and explained to him the riddle.
"You are a clever youth," said the host, and
invited him into his house, and bade him tarry
till the next day.
At the dinner hour there was a fine feast prepared, and the young man, with the head of the
family, his wife, two sons, and two daughters,
sat down to eat. The servant placed five roasted
fowls on the table.
"Now, my dear young man, will you be so
kind as to carve for us?" said the host. At
first the young man excused himself; but at
length, thanking the host for the honor, he
yielded to his request. He divided one fowl
between the host and his wife, one between
the two sons, and in like manner one between
the two daughters, and two hle retained for himself.
"That's a clever fellow! Two whole fowls
himself. Truly he must be very hun,-gry!" thought
the host.
Now, when in the evening they sat dclown
again to the table, with one fattened hen before
them, the host said to his guest, "Well, my
dear young man, to-day at noon you served us
excellently; please help us now again."
The stranger first cut off the head of the hen
and gave it to the host. The dressing he gave
to his wife. To each of the daughters he gave a
wing; to each of the sons a limb; and the rest
he kept himself.
Then the host was angry, and exclaimed,
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