d or foe, slave or savage, sure of a welcome, and so
came closer to God than any of them all.

Jonathan Dickenson became a power in the new principality; there are
vague traditions of his strict rule as mayor, his stately equipages and
vast estates. No doubt, if I chose to search among the old musty records,
I could find the history of his son. But I do not choose; I will not
believe that he ever grew to be a man, or died.

He will always be to us simply a baby; a live, laughing baby, sent by
his Master to the desolate places of the earth with the old message of
Divine love and universal brotherhood to his children; and I like to
believe, too, that as he lay in the arms of his savage foster-mothers,
taking life from their life, Christ so took him into his own arms and
blessed him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A CHILD'S DREAM OF A STAR.

BY CHARLES DICKENS.

There was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought
of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child too, and his
constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered
at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness
of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they
wondered at the goodness and the power of God who made the lovely world.

They used to say to one another, sometimes, Supposing all the children
upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky be
sorry? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are
the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol
down the hillsides are the children of the water; and the smallest
bright specks playing at hide-and-seek in the sky all night, must surely
be the children of the stars; and they would all be grieved to see their
playmates, the children of men, no more.

There was one clear shining star that used to come out in the sky before
the rest, near the church-spire, above the graves. It was larger and
more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night they
watched for it, standing hand in hand at the window. Whoever saw it
first, cried out, "I see the star!" And often they cried out both
together, knowing so well when it would rise, and where. So they grew to
be such friends with it, that before lying down in their beds, they
always looked out once again, to bid it good night; and when they were
turning round to