r
physician!' His patience throughout was astonishing: I never heard him
say once that his pain was great. His tranquil and happy end has made a
deep impression on our friends: they say one to another, 'May my mind
be as Gokool's was!' When we consider, too, that this very man grew shy
of us three years ago, because we opposed his notion that believers
would never die, the grace now bestowed upon him appears the more
remarkable. Knowing the horror the Hindoos have for a dead body, and
how unwilling they are to contribute any way to its interment, I had
the coffin made at our house the preceding day, by carpenters whom we
employ. They would not, however, carry it to the house. The
difficulty now was, to carry him to the grave. The usual mode of
Europeans is to hire a set of men (Portuguese), who live by it. But
besides that our friends could never constantly sustain that expense, I
wished exceedingly to convince them of the propriety of doing that last
kind office for a brother themselves. But as Krishna had been ill
again the night before, and two of our brethren were absent with
brother Ward, we could only muster three persons. I evidently saw the
only way to supply the deficiency; and brother Carey being from home, I
sounded Felix and William, and we determined to make the trial; and at
five in the afternoon repaired to the house. Thither were assembled
all our Hindoo brethren and sisters, with a crowd of natives that
filled the yard, and lined the street. We brought the remains of our
dear brother out, whose coffin Krishna had covered within and without
with white muslin at his own expense; then, in the midst of the silent
and astonished multitude, we improved the solemn moment by singing a
hymn of Krishna's, the chorus of which is 'Salvation by the death of
Christ.' Bhairub the brahman, Peroo the mussulman, Felix and I took up
the coffin; and, with the assistance of Krishna and William, conveyed
it to its long home: depositing it in the grave, we sung two
appropriate hymns. After this, as the crowd was accumulating, I
endeavoured to show the grounds of our joyful hope even in death,
referring to the deceased for a proof of its efficacy: told them that
indeed he had been a great sinner, as they all knew, and for that
reason could find no way of salvation among them; but when he heard of
Jesus Christ, he received him as a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour,
put his trust in him, and died full of tranquil hop