LIFE SKETCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2152, 23 May 1895, Page 45

LIFE SKETCHES.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE. (Contributed for Young Folks' Page by Mrs T. R. Sbddon.) A SEARCH. It was a wintry day, and the ground covered with snow, as a father and son Walked together from Blantyre to Glasgow. £n reaching the city they began a search. For what? For lodgings which would be oheap enough to enable the son to maintain a living and to pay for the university education which he had worked all t,he summer a$ the loom to obtain. This father and son were the two Livingstones, and David, to use bis own words, "in the glow of love whioh Christianity inspires, had resolved to devote his life to the alleviation of human misery." Tbe searoh lasted all day, but finally a room at 2a a week was found, and David settled down to the study of theology and medicine. The next summer he again returned to the lodm in order to get money ; the following winter he was again at the university. HE GAME OP A GOOD OLD STOCK. Ifc m'ght Beam to us that a lad who at 10 years old was put to work as a pieoer in a factory, and who was not even promoted to bo a spinner for many years, was not likely £o make much of a mark in the world ; but js& oame of a good old stock. His grandfather, who looked back over six generations, Baid he had never discovered a dishonest man among their forebears; nor, said he, fcad he erer heard of fr "Livingstone donsbv." David's father was first a tailor, then » tea dealer — " too conscientious ever to become rich " ; a Sunday School teacher, a total abstainer, fall of ardent interest in foreign missions, a lover of books — above all, £ lover of the Best of Books. HIB FIBST MONET. David, at 10, spent part of hia first week's TOges in Ruddiman's " Radiments of Latin," qtt&ded a night school whioh met between 8 a»d 10, and, unless deterred by his mother, QRjb ftp Jeaxni&g till midnight, though be was doe-St the factory at 6 the r*xt morning. HIS AI|I IN LIFE. He was already Hting ftooordlcg to the dyfcg advice rfrea to him by an »ged Sunday Kjhool taaoher : " Now Ud, make wlJgion the •vwryday of your lif« — vet a thing fit fits and start* ; for If you do, temptation and other things will get tbe better of yoa." lie w*s 19 y«irs old when tho love of God ibinwd to pour into his heart and briag »ew H& with ft. H» wroto: " Toe pertec* freedom With whioh tbo portion Of all oar guilt is offered in God's Book dr«w fosih faoJLig* S Rffictlonate love io Htm who booght us vfah Hip blood. I saw the duty aad the inestimable privilege imnediafely io accept Iktvatlon by Objdst, and it i» nay dartre to . ghow my attachment to film who died for toe by devoting my life to Hi* serriee." LQVB TOR THE WANBBBSB& From tbe first bis heart went forth to those «w|k> swmed to be lost, and through all bia years of preparation for work ho gathered up every atom of information whioh might be of fcervica in tbe future : natural history, botany, Carpentry, house-building* canal and road making— everything was gefet to his mill, and never did he stop flfcort, either from, fatigue or exhaustion. "Fire, water, stone wfeus would nofc stop Livingstone in the fulfilment of a reo#gnteed doty," said one of his ftfefids; while another added, "He was so kind and g*ntle In word and deed to all about him that all loved him." HIS FIBST MISSION. He started for Africa in December 1840, and on his voyage ha learaed from the ship's captain the use of tbe quadrant and the taking o< observations, which knowledge was of immense importance later on in his explorations. He was literally consumed with the wish to penetrate Africa. "Anywhere," he writes, " if it is only forward." And forward he went, as leader, hero, and diicoverer. He set htmeolf to win the confidence of the blacks, and maraUeus it v to bear of him quietly falling a&leep in their midst, determined to let them see he trusted thorn. From the first they both trusted him and loved him with all their hearts. SA.VING A SLAVE CHILD. A little heathen girl flying from slavery once orept behind bis waggon, meaning to wali under its shelter for miles across the country, and to regain her friends. He was very pleased with the determination of the little creature, and gave her some food. Soon lie beard her sobbing as if her heart would break, and looking round he saw a man with 4 gan who had been sent after her. A native servant started up to defend her, and at last the man was bought off by the child's strings of beads. After this Livingstone carefully hid her in his waggon, and saw her safe through her journey. Later on, when he fell from bis ox into a dangerous river, 20 of the blacks, who are well known to hate and dread cold water, sprang in at the risk of their livefl and savad him. ATTACKED BY A LION. On bis arrival up the country the wonderful inoident occurred of his attaok from a lion. These creatures gathered nightly round a certain village. The men were too terrified to attack them as they ought tp have done, and Livingstone went out to help them. He had made one successful shot, and was in the act of ramming down tbe bullet for a second, when, turning round, he saw a lion iB the very act of springing qn him. The beast caught his shoulder, and they came to tbe ground together, the lion shaking the man as a terrier does a rat. He did not lose consciousness, but a kind of stupor came over him, and while he knew what was happening he felt no pain, though his arm was crushed and maimed, and remained painful at times to the end of his life. The lion revived another shot from a pative, was ajbeared by a second, and fell dead in a moment from the eff«ct of the bullets. HIS FIRST HOME. ftffcSvißgetone worked for some tiflW JTttJl

tho celebrated missionary Dr. Moftat, whose eldest daughter, Mary, became his wife— " That lady," as Lord Sbaf tesbury said, " who was born with one distinguished come, which she exchanged for another." For eight years the two had a home among the natives. Mrs Livingstone was one of the bravest and most devoted of women ; a true helpmate to her husband, taking the hardships of life without so much as a sigh ; living in a mean hut and making the best of what was but a very poor state of affairs on the river Kolobeng. One of their first converts built a school for the mission. " I desire to build a house for God," he said ; " you shall be at no expense whatever." THE SLAVE TBADB. His medical skill and knowledge were of immense help amorg the people, and his frequent journeys not only brought him into contact with the natives, but made him fully acquainted with the terrible slave trade— at that time but little known— and which he called, " the open sore of the world." He devoted his life to making it known in order that it might be stopped. A NOBLE CHIEF. While at Kolobeng newa reached him of a great chief named Sebituane, who ruled over large tribes in the north, and who was said to be longing to see and to learn from the white men. Twice Livingstone struggled hundreds of miles through jungle and desert to reach that voice, and twice he was driven back, I once by the failure of bis escort, once by fever. Defeat only renewed bis determination ; he set out a third time, and succeeded. A most cordial welcome awaited him, and the great chief trusted him from the first moment. The good news of the Gospel of Christ was told upon the very first Sunday, and for the first and last time Sebituane heard of the Saviour of men. He was seized with inflammation of the lungs and died in a fortnight. His friend could only pray beside him in silence, for he was not allowed to speak of death before the chief. This noble and generous chief with his dying words commended the stranger to his own household, sent tbe children to his own table, and by bis dying command made it known that they were bis sacred guests. (To is continued.')