le Gipsy in the last stages of a decline, and
in the last moments of life. She turned her dying eyes expressively to
the royal visitor, then looked up to heaven; but not a word did she
utter; the organs of speech had ceased their office! _the silver cord was
loosed_, _and the wheel broken at the cistern_. The little girl then
wept aloud, and, stooping down, wiped the dying sweat from her mother's
face. The king, much affected, asked the child her name, and of her
family; and how long her mother had been ill. Just at that moment
another Gipsy girl, much older, came, out of breath, to the spot. She
had been at the town of W---, and had brought some medicine for her dying
mother. Observing a stranger, she modestly curtsied, and, hastening to
her mother, knelt down by her side, kissed her pallid lips, and burst
into tears. 'What, my dear child,' said his Majesty, 'can be done for
you?' 'Oh, sir!' she replied, 'my dying mother wanted a religious person
to teach her and to pray with her before she died. I ran all the way
before it was light this morning to W---, and asked for a minister, _but
no one could I get to come with me to pray with my dear mother_!' The
dying woman seemed sensible of what her daughter was saying, and her
countenance was much agitated. The air was again rent with the cries of
the distressed daughters. The king, full of kindness, instantly
endeavoured to comfort them. He said, 'I am a minister, and God has sent
me to instruct and comfort your mother.' He then sat down on a pack by
the side of the pallet, and, taking the hand of the dying Gipsy,
discoursed on the demerit of sin and the nature of redemption. He then
pointed her to Christ, the all-sufficient Saviour. While the king was
doing this the poor creature seemed to gather consolation and hope; her
eyes sparkled with brightness, and her countenance became animated. She
looked up; she smiled; but it was the last smile; it was the glimmering
of expiring nature. As the expression of peace, however, remained strong
in her countenance, it was not till some little time had elapsed that
they perceived the struggling spirit had left mortality.

"It was at this moment that some of his Majesty's attendants, who had
missed him at the chase, and who had been riding through the forest in
search of him, rode up, and found the king comforting the afflicted
Gipsies. It was an affecting sight, and worthy of everlasting record in
the annals of king