When Mrs. Vinton learned of the poverty of the donor, her heart was touched, and she said: “This is holy money and must not go into the general fund.” So she laid it aside by itself. Soon afterward, while narrating the circumstance to a Hartford gentleman, he said to her: “It is cold weather; ‘Frankie’ should have a wrapper,” and he handed her a ten dollar bill, which she wrapped around the five franc piece, “to keep him warm.” The next day another ten dollar bill was given by Deacon Day, of Hartford, “To buy ‘Frankie’ an over-coat, as the weather had grown colder,” while Mrs. Kent, of Suffield, happened to remember: “These are stinging nights to sleep alone; ‘Frankie’ must have a bed-fellow,” and a five dollar gold piece was laid by his side. Mrs. Vinton then said: “If ‘Frankie’ had a few more wrappers I would send him to Boston.” So she wrote out “Frankie’s” history and forwarded it to Dr. Ives, with an appeal for other articles of clothing. The good doctor read the letter from his pulpit, and thirty dollars were secured and forwarded to Mrs. Vinton. She now felt that she could furnish a suitable outfit to enable “Frankie” to appear among city people, so she sent him first to Boston for the purchase of Bibles for the Karens, and next to Philadelphia for a box of medicine, also for the Karens, and afterward to a Mrs. Thompson to buy some eye-water for the poor heathen, who suffer so much from the glare of the sun. All the good people where he visited were glad enough to see him, but none of them seemed to care to keep him long, so he was sent back every time with the supplies he wanted, to Mrs. Vinton. Just on the occasion of his last return, Rev. Mr. Vinton came back from a tour among the churches where he had been pleading for his mission in India, and his wife told him “Frankie’s” story. After hearing it, he said: “I, too, have had a donation which has touched my heart. At Norwich, a Mrs. Chapell came to me and tearfully said, handing me a little roll of money: ‘This belonged to my poor boy. I cannot put it into the general fund, but will you, Mr. Vinton, take it and apply it to some special purpose?’”
Mrs. Vinton at once said: “That, too, is holy money, it will do to go with my ‘Frankie.’ This money shall build a house for the Lord in Burmah, and it shall be called ‘Frankie’s Chapel.’”
The story, with its singular incidents, was repeated by one and another, and money began to flow in from many sources, some ingenious play of imagination serving constantly to keep up the interest. Friends in Philadelphia said: “We often visit Burmah in imagination, and when we reach there we are tired enough to sit down; may we not rent pews in ‘Frankie’s Chapel’?” The suggestion was so reasonable, that a plan of a church was drawn, and sittings were rented rapidly. Clergymen who contributed had their names written on the platform. From Philadelphia Mrs. Vinton went to Cincinnati, where the people said to her: “Why, you have rented all your pews, and we Western people are crowded out.” So they drew a larger plan and began renting more pews. Meanwhile, a communion service, a beautifully bound pulpit Bible, a fine-toned bell, pulpit lamps and a communion table were presented by one and another in the different localities visited.
In 1850 the Vintons sailed for Calcutta, with the purpose to build the chapel in Maulmain. On their arrival they found that their English friends and the Karens were as deeply interested in the welfare of “Frankie’s Chapel” as their American friends had been. An English officer sent 200 rupees, with the message, “In America they gave money to keep ‘Frankie’ warm. In view of the high state of the thermometer I send this to keep him cool.”
Another sends 100 rupees “for legs for ‘Frankie’ to stand on,” alluding to the custom of building houses on posts in Burmah. Still another officer sent 1,000 rupees.
It transpired, however, that an overruling Providence had greater plans for “Frankie’s Chapel” than those which had yet been conceived of by the Vintons. During the four or five years after they left America with “Frankie” there were serious troubles in Burmah, and the affairs of the country were such that they were unable to settle down permanently until 1855. At that time plans were furnished for a building much more elaborate and substantial than had been contemplated at first. A beautiful location had been selected at Kemmendine, and the land necessary made a free gift by the Governor-General of India.
On the 20th of May, 1855, the corner-stone was laid by Mr. Vinton, in the presence of a large assembly. The building was to be 60 by 70 feet—two stories high; the lower part being designed for a school-room and the upper part for church services. It was built of brick, and admirably adapted for the use for which it was designed. It serves the purposes not only of the mission, but also as an assembling place for special meetings and general conventions. The Rangoon Karen Mission was at that time the largest in Burmah, and the building was precisely what was needed to meet the various wants of the many interests which centred at that point. Now, after more than twenty-five years, “Frankie’s Chapel” still stands as a monument to the consecration and faith of the poor old Suffield woman, who chose rather to provide for the cause of her Master than to enjoy the comfort and warmth that had been intended for herself. But it happened to her as everyone might have supposed it would have happened; she did not have to go unclad, either, for good people, learning of her charity and self-denial, provided her with the “warm dress” and such other consolations as she richly merited.
RECEIPTS
FOR APRIL, 1881.