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2ALDERMAN LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

 

 

PRESENTED BY
PAUL B. VICTORIUSJACK, THE DUMB BOY;

OR,

CHRIST’S KBD HAND,”

FROM ‘‘CHABRBEOTIE, ELIZABETH.

 

PUBLISHED BY THz

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,
150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK.JACK, THE DUMB BOY.

Ir was at the close of a chill day,
October, 1823, that Jack Britt, the deaf
mute, was brought to the house of Mrs.
Tonna, better known to the Christian
world as ‘“‘Charlotte Elizabeth.” This
excellent and gifted lady, who was to
become the best friend and benefactress
of the poor boy, was then residing near
Kilkenny, in Ireland, and describes the
impression made upon her by Jacks
first appearance.

He was nearly eleven, but looked to
be scarcely nine. He was a puny little
fellow, heavy in aspect, and wholly des-
titute of the life and animation usually4 JACK, THE DUMB BOY.

found in those of his class, who are
obliged to use looks and gestures as sub-
stitutes for words. His uncouth, bristly
hair fell in a straight mass over his brow,
concealing one of the finest foreheads
ever seen. Fora time he seemed una-
ble to comprehend any of the efforts I
made to reach his intellect, and his grin
of unmeaning acquiescence was more
provoking to me than downright rebel-
lion would have been. My friends all
declared that the attempt to teach him
must prove a complete failure, and I
was beginning secretly to agree with
them, when chancing one day to put
aside his hanging hair that he might see
better, | was so struck with the nobly
expansive brow, that I exclaimed to a
friend, “No, no; with. such a forehead
as this, I will never despair of success.”

Still, with all his stupidity, Jack was
modest, quiet, and affectionate; andJACK, THE DUMB BOY.

something in his smile gave his kind
friend courage to proceed with her dif-
ficult task. She cut out large lettéPs,
placing them before him, and requiring
him to pick out the letters M, A, N, and
D, O, G, until familiar with them; then
by pointing out a man and dog, she suc-
ceeded in teaching him the connection
between the word and the thing.

When this was done, and he could
spell the words on his fingers, his mind
seemed all at once to burst from its
prison, and to look about as if every
object it beheld were utterly new. He
had never before manifested any curios-
ity ; now his eager and rapid ‘‘ What?”
spelled with the fingers, met his teacher
at every turn. specially was he de-
sirous to know the difference between
himself and Barrow, a favorite dog, who
was his constant playfellow. Both, he
said by signs, could eat and drink andees
ee:

          
 
  
 
  
     
    
  
  
  
    
    
   
   

G JACK, THE DUMB. BOY.
sleep and walk; neither could talk ; and
yet he was sure they were not alike.
“What? what?” with an angry shake
of the head when she failed in explain-
ino to him the difference.
S FIRST LDMAS OF - Goe.

I do not remember how long it was

after his coming to me, that Jack bega

to inquire about God. He seemed full
of restless thought, and coming up to

~

me, pointed to the sun, asking by a
movement of the hands, as if kneading
something, if I made it. I shook my
head: Did my mother? No. Did
either of the two Protestant clergymen,
or thé -priest? expressing each by a
sign. No, Then ‘‘ What? what?” with
a frown and stamp of fretful impatience.

With a look of solemn reverence I
pointed upward, and spelled the word
‘“God.” He said no more then, but nextday overwhelmed me with ‘‘ whats,

JACK, LHE DUMB, BOY.

” and

seemed resolved to know more about

ie Eh tote

him as well as I could how .

cood and great God was, and that he

was always looking at us, and taking

care of us.
reply tha

He smiled, and said in
he could n’t look at the sun

long enough to tell how that was made,

but the moon was rolled like a dumpling,

and sent over the tops of the trees. The

stars were

cut out with large scissors,

and stuck up into the sky with the end
of the thumb. Having thus settled his

system of astronomy, he patted his chest

in self-applause, and seemed quite happy.
The next day Jack came to me in

great wratl

1, intimating that my tongue

ought to be pulled out. This was his

mode of saying that a lie had been told

him. 1 looked innocent, and _ said,

oy hat?’

day’s conv

He reminded me of yester-
ersation, telling me he had8 JACK, THE DUMB. BOY.

been everywhere looking for God. He
had been down the street, over the
bridge, through the fields, past the bar-
racks, and had even got up in the night
to look out at the window to see God.
All in vain; he could not find Him. He
saw nobody big enough to put up his
hand and stick the stars into the sky.
I was ‘“‘bad;” my tongue must be pulled
out; for there was ‘‘no God, no;’
he repeated the words, ‘‘No God, no,”
so often, it cut me to the heart. What

and

could I do? Here was a poor dumb
boy rising from his bed at night to find
God, while Satan was evidently at work
to strengthen unbelief. What way could
be found of resisting him ?

I sat silent on the opposite side of
the fire, and a plan having struck me, I
shrugged my shoulders and seemed con-
victed of deception. Jack shook his
head and frowned, as if greatly offendedJACK, THE DUMB BOY. 9

at my delinquency. Presently I took a
small pair of-bellows, and after puffine
at the fire a while, suddenly directed a
rough blast at his little red hand, which
hung near me. He snatched it back,
scowled at me, and when I repeated the
operation, was much displeased, shiver-
ing, and letting me know he did not like
it. I renewed the puff, saying ‘‘ What?”
and looking unconscious of having done
any thing; he blew hard, and said it made
his hands cold, that I was bad, and he
was very angry. I puffed away in all
directions, looking eagerly at the pipe of
the bellows, and peering on every side,
but seeing nothing, imitated his manner,
saying, ‘‘ Wind—-no!” shaking my head,
and telling him his tongue must come
out. He opened his eyes wide, stared
at me, and panted, a deep crimson suf-
fused his face, and a soul, a living soul
shone in his altered countenance as he10 JACK, LICE DUMB Bow,

exclaimed, ‘‘God like wind! God like
wind!” The word “like” was express-
ed in his vocabulary by holding the two
forefingers side by side, as a symbol of
perfect resemblance.

He ge

lute atheism into the perfect recogni-

pe

‘e was a glorious step out of abso-
tion of the invisible: God. From that
day, for the seven years that he was
under my cadre, I can truly say that in
his head and his heart God reigned
vithout a rival. LEHvery event of the
day, every object he met, gave rise to
some touching question or remark con-
cerning God. Of him it might truly be
said, ‘‘God was in all his thoughts.”
Before this he had loved to tease
animals, and was fond of catching fish ;

r tender to

<"

now he became exquisitel:

every living thing, moving his hand

=
fa TOY at 4 ‘ VEé 2 x <i . 6 Tr V¢ ry } : cs a
over it in a caressing way, saying, ‘God

made.” At first the worms were exeJACK,

   

LHE DUMB-BOY. Ti

cepted, as he believed that they came
through holes from below, while God
was up in the ee but when I set him
right on this subject, he agreed that they
might have been rolled up in the world
like fruitin a pudding, and bite their way

out. Henceforth, woe to the angler whom
Jack detected in looking for live bait

JACK LEARNS TO KNOW JESUS.

Up to this time the little mute, though
a devout deist, knew nothing of the Say-
iour, and it was the first wish of Char-
lotte Elizabeth’s heart to see him a
Christian
Seeing a funeral pass one day, Jack
made many inquiries as to the condition
of the departed, showing that a dim con-
sciousness of immortality is natural to
human soul. His kind friend seized
e opportunity, and with earnest prayer
for divine aid, proceeded to improve it.Hosa
Seite rie
eae

  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
  
  

  

 

12 JACK, “TRE DUMB BOY.

I drew on paper a crowd of per-
sons, old and young; near them a pit
with flames issuing from it, and told
him that all these persons had been
“bad,” and God would throw them into
the fire.

When his alarm was thus excited, I
sketched another individual, who, I told
him, was the Son of God; that he was
gvood, and came from heaven, but that
he allowed himself to be killed for those
wicked ones; and that then God forgave
them, and shut up the pit.

Strange, vague, and meagre as this
was, the Spirit of the Lord made it effec-
tual to do the work. After a few mo-
ments of deep thought, Jack surprised
me by an objection that proved how
truly he had caught the grand idea of a
substitute for sin. By a series of rapid
motions he said the sinners were ‘‘many,”
while the other was only ‘‘one;” and hisJACK, THE DUMB BOY.

eloquent ‘‘ what?” asked a solution of the
difficulty.

With great composure of manner,
though my heart thrilled with joy, I took
from a vase a bunch of withered flowers,
and cutting them into bits, strewed them
on the table. I then laid beside them
my gold ring, pointing to each with the
words, ‘‘ Many,” ‘‘ one,” asking which he
would rather have. He suddenly struck
his forehead, clapped his hands, and
jumping from his seat, intimated that
one gold ring was worth more than a
whole room full of dead flowers. He
then applied the symbol, pointing to the
picture, to the ring, to himself and to
me, and lastly to heaven.

What a picture he would have made
at that moment! An exulting smile
beamed on his face, his eyes sparkled
with delight, until with a rush of tears
that suffused them, he gazed at me, then

bor14 JACK, THE DUMB: BOY.

at the ceiling, while with a look of deep-
est awe and love he spelled on his fin-
gers the words, ‘‘Good One,” ‘good
One,” “Jack very loves good: One;’?
ending by asking me his name. From
that hour I had a Christian brother in
my little charge; his love to Jesus was
full and fervent; his thoughts of him most
beautiful.

JACKS HATEED OF. IMAGE WORSHIP.

Very great was Jack’s emotion when
he discovered that the Saviour whom he
loved so much, was the object repre-
sented by the image before. which he
had been taught to bow. He resented
it deeply, and without human teaching,
spurned the whole system. Returning
from the chapel one day, he came to me
under great excitement; taking up a
clothes-brush he set it on end, and bow-
ing down with a ludicrous grimace, joinedJACK, THE DUMB BOY. 15

his hands and chattered in his fashion
before it, waited a moment for the reply,
and .then knocked it over, kicking it
about the room exclaiming: ‘Bad ged,
bad god,” then snapping his fingers ex-
ultingly, he seated himself in silence.
Next morning he was full of anima-
tion, and came to me with a budget of
new thoughts. He described the growth
of a plant, and I was all attention ex-
pecting some question, but Jack had
come to teach, not to learn. His tree
soon reached a great height and size,
then he shouldered a hatchet and made
signs of cutting it down. Then came
sawing, chopping and planing till he had
by signs made a crucifix which he laid
away, and made a box, a stool, and other
things of the remainder. The chips and
shavings he pretended to gather up and
throw on the fire, warming his hands in
the imaginary blaze. I actually trem-

|
}16 JACK, THE DUMB BOY.

bled, for where had this lttle ignorant
dumb boy learned the Spirit’s testimony
as recorded by Isaiah. Chap. 44:17, ete.

Jack went on to set up the feigned
crucifix, and prepared to pray before it,
then checking himself, exclaimed: ‘‘ No,
God-made,” referring to the growth of
the tree. ‘‘God made beautiful,” then
looking at his hands and saying, ‘‘God-
made,” he concluded that the God-made
tree, cut out by the God-made hands,
could not be God and therefore must
not be worshipped. This pantomime
closed by Jack’s running for the clothes-
brush and bestowing on it a worse cuffing
and kicking than before. After which he
asked me solemnly if I bowed down be-
fore crosses and images when I went to
church.

LEAVING IRELAND.

Karly in the summer of 1824, I re-

ceived a summons to return to Eneland.

uvJACK, THE DUMB BOY. LF

I could not leave Jack behind, and there
was no difficulty in obtaining the consent
of his parents to his removal. ‘Take
him,” the mother said, ‘‘he is more your

’ When I began to state

child than ours.’
that L could not promise he should not
embrace my religion, they declared they
left all that—he could not come to harm—
uuder my’ Care.”

Jack had never before been from
home and I expected to see him astonish-
ed by the splendid buildings in Dublin.
But to my surprise he looked on them
with indifference because he said they
were not ‘‘God-mades;”’ but the noble
scenery about us roused all his latent en-
thusiasm. Indeed, the taste of this dear
boy was refined, and his mjnd delicate al-
most beyond belief; and Inever sawsuch
shrinking modesty as he manifested to
the close of life. He was never so truly
comic as when ridiculing affectation or
2

Jack, The Dumb) Boy.18 JACK, THE DUMB BOY.

conceit, and the words ‘‘Dandy Jack,”
would disgust him with any article of
clothing to which it was applied. ‘‘ Bad
man,” he would reply to such a taunt.
“Jack dandy? No. Jack pgor boy.”

In prayer, the expression of his face
was most eee A childlike smile of
love and trust: played over his lips, his
bristly hair had now a silky appearance,
and was parted back from a magnificent
brow ; a fine color mantled his cheeks
changing with every emotion, and his
large hazel eyes were always speaking
the thoughts that filled his mind. He
was now twelve years old, and resembled
the portraits of Kirke White, and Kdward
the Sixth, as drawn by Holbein, after
disease had set its seal on the blessed
young king, as it did on that of my dumb
boy.

While in Dublin I went one day with
Jack into a large toy-store, and seeing a

<JACK, EERE DUBS BOY, 19

rocking horse, Jack was soon mounted
and in triumphant career. I feared for
the fate of the surrounding valuables,
‘and at length succeeded in dismount-
ing him. ‘‘Good horse,” he exclaimed ;

 

‘bite, no—kick, no,’ ending with the
usual question, ‘‘God-made?” I told
him it was made of wood, but I doubt
whether he really believed me. Dublin
was associated in his mind with nothing
else, and in after years he would say,
“Good Dublin, good horse; small Jack
love good Dublin horse.” |
My sojourn at Clifton brought me into
personal acquaintance with that venera-
ble servant of God, Hannah More. We
had for some time corresponded, and
she had afforded me great encourage-
ment in my humble labors, taking an
especial interest in my attempts to in-
struct the deaf and dumb children. [
had now the pleasure of showing her theJACK, THE DUMB BOX.

progress made with Jack, who delighted
her greatly, and who, to the last day of
his mortal existence, most fondly cher-
ished the memory of that sweet old lady.
She was, indeed, one of the excellent of
the earth, permitted long to beautify the
church which she had so mainly helped
to strengthen and advance, and to be an
honor to the land where she had nobly
stood forth to repel the assaults of revo-
Jutionizing impiety.

When my brother’s family returned
from Portugal, I had a new and delight-
ful employment in teaching his eldest
boy to talk and to walk. I had feared
Jack might be jealous of such a rival ;
but I wronged him, nothing could ex-
ceed his fondness for ‘‘baby boy,” or
his devotion to the little one.

Jack ate in the same room with us,
because I would not suffer him to asso-
clate with servants, but at a side-table,JACK, THE DUMB BOY, 21

and he was expected to do any house-
hold office befitting his age and strength.
A shake of the hand, morning and even-
ing, was his peculiar privilege, and the
omission of this was the greatest pun-
ishment that could be bestowed on him,
when, as it sometimes happened, he had
allowed himself to express his angry
emotions by yells and howls that were
truly frightful. He of course had no idea
of the effect of such a performance, but
the alarm it occasioned seemed to flatter
his vanity, and he became a vocalist on
very trifling occasions. This was neither
pleasant for our dear invalid landlady,
nor a fitting example for ‘‘baby boy.”
Recourse was therefore had to a young
friend with whom Jack was a special
favorite. After bestowing a few gentle
raps on the head of the culprit with the
bent end of a cane, he locked him up for
half an hour in the kitchen, saying to me22 SACK, THE DUE BOF:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   

rather regretfully: ‘I suppose my pop-
ularity is at an end now. Poor fellow,
I shall be sorry to lose his affection.”
But Jack had not so learned Christ.
To the day of his death, he retained a
erateful remembrance of the proceeding.
“Good Mr. W——,” he used to say ;
‘“oood little stick beat Jack’s head, make
bad Jack good. Jack love good Mr.
Wo” Even at the time, 18 S00n as
he met his corrector after the punish-
ment, he gracefully thanked him, saying,

’ and he kept his

iS Jack No more ery,’
promise.

Prayer seemed the dumb boy’s vital
breath. Under all circumstances, in joy
or sorrow, sickness or health, he was
ever turning to me with a look of pecu-
| liar sweetness, and the two words, ‘‘ Jack
3 pray.” The look of anxiety always on
: i his face when trying to converse with
his fellow-creatures, disappeared entire-JACK, EHH. DUS BOY:

ly when he ‘‘talked to God,” as he ex-
pressed it.

One of his lovely thoughts was this.
When little children began to walk, he
said, Jesus Christ held them by the
hand to teach them; and if they fell He
placed his hand between their heads
and the ground, so that they should not
be hurt. Then as if he saw all this, he
would look up and say with the fondest
expression, ‘‘Good Jesus Christ! Jack
very loves good Jesus Christ!”

At one time, hearing a sound in Jack’s
room after he had’ been long in bed, I
entered it, and found him kneeling at the
open window, his face turned upward
and wearing a look I had never before
seen. For a moment I stood irresolute,
then I inquired: ‘‘What are you doing
Jack at this hour?” He. smiled as he
“answered: ‘Jack so love good Jesus
Christ. Jack look up, so good Jesus24 JACK .LHE DUMB BOY.

Christ see in Jack’s eyes how he. love
him.” My own eyes filled as I thought
of this poor boy, rising in the night to
bare his loving heart before the Saviour,
when I who owed so much loved so lit-
tle.. It was not the first time I had been
taught by my little pupil.

JACK’S CHOICE OF ASSOCIATES.

While Jack was in my _ brother’s
house, the latter declared his purpose
of keeping a horse, and of course, a
groom. Jack came to me with thé ear-
nest entreaty that he might be groom,
saying he could do it so well. The rea-
son for this request was, that men were
very wicked, that the groom would be

Ce

sure to “shake hands with the devil,”
his mode of expressing wilful sin; and
then if Jack shook hands with him, he
would draw his hand on till he got it

into that of the devil, meaning that evilJACK, THE DUMB BOY. 25

companions would surely make him evil
also. He said a servant would cost the
captain much, but he (Jack) would take
no money, and only eat ‘‘small meat
and small potato,” because he loved
Captain B

My brother laughed at this request,

 

thinking so small a boy could never
groom a horse, but at my solicitation
consented to make the trial. The horse
was led up to the stable-door, that Jack
might make the attempt, which all feared
would prove a failure. To my great joy,
he did it admirably, and my brother said
he only wanted a few more inches to
make the best groom in England. Jack’s
delight was very great. When we were
alone, he went up to the horse and kissed
it, saying, ‘‘No man, all one Jack. Devil
cry, go away devil,” snapping his fingers
at the invisible enemy. |

His first question on seeing™a new26 JACK, THE DUMB-BOY.

face, was whether that person loved
Jesus Christ: and if not answered in the
affirmative, he stood always aloof, cour-
teous and kind, but cold and dignified,
repelling every advance toward intima-
cy. He did not know the meaning of a
single bad word, and at the age of nine-
teen, when he died, was a babe in the
knowledge of evil.

JACKS SYMPATHY IN SORBO W.

For two happy years; Charlotte Hliz-
abeth and her interesting charge were
inmates of her brother’s family, her only
brother, bound to her by a thousand
ties, and in whom all her earthly hopes
were garnered. Then came a change,
and this beloved brother was torn from
his family and his sister, without a mo-
ment’s warning. He was in Ireland at
the time, and while on the lake fishing,

the boat was upset and Captain B——JACK, TUR DUM. BOY: 27

drowned.. After relating the sad story,
she says:

In that night of horror what a ‘ree-
ompense did I reap for the care bestow-
ed on him, in the beautiful sympathy of
my dear dumb boy. When I came down
stairs on the dreadful morning, he met
me with a face of such wild dismay as
even then arrested my attention. He
uttered the word, ‘‘Oh!” audibly, and in
a most touching tone, and went on to
say, ‘‘Jack what? Jack asleep? Jack
see no, think no, afraid very. Beauti-
ful Captain B gone? Dead? What?”
stamping impatiently

 

with that fearfully
earnest ‘‘what?” I answered, ‘Captain
B—— gone, dead—water kill.” Tears
stole down his face as he replied: ‘‘ Poor
mam, mam one,” meaning L was now
alone. ‘‘God see mam one, Jesus Christ
love poor mam one.” In bitter agony
I said to him, ‘Jesus love poor Cap-28 JACK, THE DUMB BOY;

$9
/

tain B——.” After a moment’s solemn
thought, he said, ‘‘ Yes, Jack much pray,
mam much pray, Jesus Christ see much
prays.”

I again asked the boy, ‘‘ What, Jack
much pray?” he replied with. fervor ;
“Yes, very, very much prays. Jack pray
morning, pray night, pray church, pray
bed. Yes, Jack many days very pray
God make,” finishing by signs that wings
should be made to grow on my brother’s
shoulders, for him to fly to heaven; add-
ing that ‘‘Jesus Christ must make the

oa eu?
Wings,

and that he was a tall angel,
very beautiful. As I was near faint-
ing, a glass of water was brought me,
and at sight of this element, I exclaimed:
‘The murderer!” on which Jack added,

sad water,” then turning to me he said
eagerly

*
e ’

‘“Soul gone in water? Ne,
no |”
That night as I sat in my little study

)JACK, THE DUMB BOY. 29

hung round with Jack’s drawings, he
entered looking pale and sad; and as my
face was covered, he moved softly about,
turning to the wall every picture that
had a ship, a boat, or water under any
form. Then lifting up his clasped hands
and eyes in prayer for me, he left the
room noiselessly as he had entered.

Not long after, some kind friends
being at the table, some remark was
made which excited a smile. Jack, who
was handing the plates, looked about
with indignation, set down the plates,
and left the room, stopping at the door
to say to me: ‘Bad laugh, mam come,
no Jaugh, gone, dead.”

This jealous tenacity of grief, In a
boy so light-hearted, was the means of
soothing more than any other earthly
means could have done it, the anguish
of the wound which had pierced my
heart’s core. This was a small part of30 JROK, DHE DUMS BOY.

the wages given me by my munificent
Master, for nursing a child of his.

Tat RED HAND OF JESUS,

Some years before his death, Jack
came to me one day, full of excitement ;
and in answer to my inquiries said that
when he had lain a good while in the
erave, God would call aloud, ‘ Jack.”
He would then start up and say, ‘‘ Yes,
me Jack.” Then he would leave the
ground, antl see multitudes gathered to-
cvether, and God sitting on a cloud with
the ‘‘ Bible book.” im his hand.

As he opened and examined it, he
would come to the name of John Britt.
He told me God had written on that
page atl his ‘‘ bads,” so that the page was
full. God would look at the page, and
hold it up to the light, but he could find
nothing, it was all,. ‘‘No, no, nothing,
none.” In some alarm I asked him if heJACK, THE DUIS: BOY: ol

he

had done nothing bad. ‘Oh, yes,
said, ‘‘much bads ;’ but when be first
prayed to Jesus Christ, Christ had taken
the book from God’s hand, found that
page, and (pulling from his palm some-
thing which he described as filling up
the hole made by the nail) had suffered
the wound to bleed a little, passing his
red hand down the page, so that as he
beautifully said, ‘‘ God could see none of
Jack’s bads, nothing but Jesus Christ’s
blood.” The page thus cleansed, God
would shut the book, and Jack would
stand there till Jesus came, and saying
to God, ‘‘My Jack,” would put his arm
round him and drawing him aside, bid
him stand with the angels, while the rest
were judged. This striking view of the
method of justification, was entirely origi-
nal, learned from no book, and revealed,
[ cannot doubt, by the Spirit of Truth,
to this untaught but loving disciple.JACK, THE DUMB .BOY.

He would often sit silent in his chair
for a long time, and then catching my
eye would spell out with a look of in-
tense satisfaction, ‘‘Good red hand.’
All his ideas turned on the one theme so
dear to him; but their variety seemed
inexhaustible. God was in all things.
The lightning to Jack was a sudden open-
ing and shutting of God’s eye; the rain-
bow, only the reflection of God’s smile.

One evening, holding his finger to
the candle, he drew it back as if burnt,
saying, ‘‘ Devillike candle, burn.” Then
with a look of triumph he added, ‘‘God

‘ike wind,” with a sudden puff extin-

guishing the light. When it was re-
lighted he laughed,“saying, ‘‘ Devil no
light. God kill devil.” When parta-
king of the Lord’s supper, Jack told me
that his feeling was, ‘‘ Very, very love
Jesus Christ; very, very hate devil
Go away, devil.”JACK, THE DUMB BOY. oo

3

Might not Christians everywhere take
a lesson from this simple child of faith
to realize more than they do the pres-
ence and wiles of an unseen enemy,
and to resist his advances? If Satan
can bring the children of God to doubt
his actual existence, half his work is
done.

‘
THE CLOSING SCENE.

Jack’s depression of spirits on see-
ing me suffer undermined his health,
and brought on a decline; at first so
gradual as to be almost imperceptible,
but afterwards more rapid, till the frail
tabernacle was taken down, and the
freed spirit admitted to the mansion
prepared from the foundation of the
world. It may be possible to describe
a glorious sunset, with all the softened
splendor it sheds around; but to de-
scribe the setting of my dumb boy’s sun

‘
Jack, The Dumb Boy. 3bt JACK, THE DUMB BOY.
of life is beyond the reach of words.
Like the orb of day, he declined gently,
silently, gradually, yet swiftly ; like that
too, gathering new beauties as he ap-
proached the horizon. His sufferings
were great, but far greater his patience ;
and nothing like a complaint ever es-
caped him.

When®coming down in the morning
with pallid, exhausted looks, he was
asked if he had slept, he would reply
with a sweet smile, ‘‘ No, Jack no sleep.

_dack think good. Jesus Christ see poor
Jack. Night dark; heaven all light.
Soon see heaven. Cough much now,
pain bad; soon no cough, no pain.”

Sometimes, when greatky oppressed,

leeches were applied, and once at his
i own request half a,dozen were put on

4 his side. The inflammation was high,
_ and the pain severe as they drew it to

the surface; and as he sat grasping theJACK, THE DUMB BOY. 35

arm of his chair conyulsively, he said,
‘Wery, very pain; pain bad ; soon
well,” seeming half wild with agony.

Looking up in my face, and seeing
me in tears, he became instantly. calm,
Saying in a quiet way, that though his
pain was much, yet the dear Lord suf-
fered much more, not only in his side,
but in his hands, his feet, his head. His
pain would soon be over, the Lord’s
lasted many hours. He was “bad Jack,”
but the Lord was ‘good Jesus Christ.”
taising his eyes, lifting his clasped
hands, he turned his glowing face tow-
ards heaven, saying, ‘‘ Jack loves, loves,
very loves good Jesus Christ.” Another
violent pain made him writhe with ago-
ny for a moment; then recovering, he
nodded his head, exclaiming, ‘‘ Good
pain, soon make Jack go heaven.”

He was now nineteen, tall, and finely
formed, courfeous in manner, and grace-2 JACK, THE DUMB BOY,

a

ful ia all his movements, with an ex-
pression of infantile innocence and sweet-
ness on his fine countenance that made
its way to every heart.

3efore his illness had advanced so
far as to confine him to his room, he
used to attend the Sunday afternoon
school which I had gathered in my own
cottage, and in his peculiar way take
an active part in its management. Seat-
ed in an arm-chair a little in the rear,
he kept strict watch over the party ;
and when he saw any thing wrong, would
pinch his own ear, slap his own hand,
and kick out his foot, with an arch nod
at the offender. But when he saw any
approach to levity over the word of
God. his manner instantly changed,
tears filled his eyes, grief and entreaty
marked his features, and the words,
“God much sce,” were spelled on his

uplifted hands.JACK, THE DUMB BOY. O7

After his first communion, when
questioned about the ordinance, he an-
swered, ‘Jack knows Jesus Christ much
love poor Jack. Jack very, very much
love Jesus Christ. Jack very, very,
very much hate devil; go, devil ;’ with
a look of triumph waving him away, as
one who had no power to molest him.

On Chrisimas eve, shortly before
his death, some holly was brought into
his room at his request. He smiled as
he saw it, and said, ‘‘Good, good!”
With a smile almost heavenly he took
a sprig of holly, pricking the back of
his hand with the pointed leaf, and show-
ing the scars leit by.it. Then selecting
a lone shoot, he made signs of twisting
it about his head, shrinking as if from
the pain it inflicted, and with starting
tears softly repeating the name, ‘‘Jesus
Christ.” Who could fail to see .in those
looks and actions his vivid recollection-

38 JACK, THE DUMB BOY.

of the crown of thorns? He then point-
ed to the few berries scattered on the
bough, telling me God put them there
to remind him of the drops of blood that
stained. the Saviour’s brow when so
crowned. I stood before the boy, filled
with shame that I had never traced so
touching a symbol, while my own heart
seemed cold and hard beside the melt-
ing tenderness with which Jack spoke of
what the Redeemer had borne for him.
On the 3d of February, 1833, the
last symptoms came on, the death damp
was on his brow, his limbs were terr!-
bly swollen, and he sat in this state,
scarcely able to swallow, but clear,
calm, and bright, for nearly thirty hours.
With perfect composure he asked me
what message he should carry to my
brother in the better land. ‘‘'Tell him,”
I said, trying to emulate his calmness,
“that Iam trying to teach his little boysto love the Saviour, and that I hope to
meet him again by-and-by.”

The last day of his life was marked
by such a revival of strength, that he
walked about the room with little help,
and talked incessantly to those around
him. Among other things, he said to
me that God once destroyed all men by
rain except those in the ark, and that
he would do it again, not with water,
but fire.. He-deseribed the Judge as
taking the wicked and throwing them
into the fire, repeating, ‘‘ All bad—all
bads go into fire.”

“Ts not Jack bad 2” I inquired.

HY ca Jack bad, very.”

‘God throw Jack into fire ?”

‘No, no; Jesus. Christ love . peor
Jack.”

He then spoke with rapture of his
favorite idea of the ‘‘red hand,” of the
angels he was soon to meet, of the day

JACK, THE DUMB BOY. 3940 JACK, THE: DUMB DOT,

when Satan anes be cast into the pit,
and of the joy he should feel in meeting
his friends again. |
To me he repeated over.and over

again the fervent injunction to love poor
Ireland, to pray for Ireland, to write
books for Ireland, and in every way to
oppose ‘‘ Roman,” as he always called
popery. It was a startling thing to see

that youth, almost Sad kindle into ani-

7

mation, as with his cold core hands he

)

+

would epee ue o W ORGS, ‘Roman is a
k’s one Je-

                

lie. One Jesus
sus Christ,” repeating slowly and sol-
emnly his dying protest, ‘‘Roman is a
LIE |”

He then imitated the building of a
spire, his sign for Protestant churches,
and spelling out, ‘‘ Quick, quick! Jack’s
poor Ireland!” .sank back, exhausted
with the effort.

Very sweetly he thanked me for allJACK, THE DUMB BOY. 41

my love and care, and very solemnly he
bequeathed to me the work of laboring
to put down the destroyer of his people.

The last signs of removal came on
in the evening, his sight failed, and he
rubbed his eyes, shook his head, smiling
with conscious pleasure. At length he
asked me to Jet him lie down on the sofa
where he had been sitting, and saying
gently ‘asleep,’ put. bis hand- in mig,
closed his eyes, and gave up his spirit
so quietly, that it was difficult to mark
the precise moment of that joyful change.

He was buried in Bagshot church-
yard, near the eastern window. It was
a four-mile walk, through melting snow,
under a drizzling rain; yet all the boys
of the Sunday-school, and not a few of
the girls, came, attired in their best, and
forming in precession, followed the car-
riage that bore the dumb boy’s remains
to their final resting-place.4Z JACK: THE DUMB BOY.

Charlotte Elizabeth survived this
blessed young disciple fifteen years,
and half an hour before her own de-
parture, though unable to speak, showed
sions of pleasure, when her husband
spelled out the name “Jack,” reminding
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