us in love, and was also assured, that she is a happy
angel in heaven; but oh the thought that we should see her no more on
earth, filled me with _indescribable sorrow_. By degrees my mind became
calmer; not that I forgot her, but I feel, my dear Harriet, that the
dearest and sweetest pleasures of this life are empty and altogether
unsatisfying. I do not look for comfort from these sources as I formerly
did. We have a fine, healthy boy, but I do not allow myself to idolize
him as I did his dear departed sister. In her dissolution, we saw such a
wreck of what was most lovely and beautiful, that it seems as if we
should be kept in future from 'worshipping the creature.'"

Particulars respecting the child's illness and death are given in
another letter of nearly the same date. "Our little Sarah left us July
8th of last year--aged 2 years and 8 months.... She was a singularly
lovely child. Her bright blue eyes, yellow hair, and rosy cheeks, formed
a striking contrast to the dark little faces around her.... From the
time she began to notice anything, we were the objects of her fondest
love. If she thought she had incurred our displeasure, her tender heart
seemed ready to burst; and she could not rest for a moment until she had
said she was 'sorry,' and obtained the kiss of forgiveness. She had
learned to obey us implicitly.... If either of us were ill, she would
stroke our foreheads with her little soft hand, and kiss us _so_
affectionately! Her love to her little brother George was unlimited.
From the day of his birth till the day but one before she died, he was
her idol.... Three days before she died, she was lying uneasily in a
large swing cradle, and George was in the same room crying. We thought
it might soothe the little sufferer, for he also was very ill, to lay
him down beside Sarah. The proposal delighted her; with smiles she threw
open her little arms and for the last time held her darling brother in
her fond embrace. So great was her gratification at this privilege, that
she seemed to forget her own pains.

"Little Sarah spoke English remarkably well for so young a child, and
Burmese like a native; she could also say some things in the Hindostanee
and Karen, and what seems a little singular, she never confounded two
languages, but always spoke pure English to us, and pure Burmese to
Burmans. This discrimination continued as long as she had the powers of
speech. She had learned the Lord's prayer and several little