HER WORKS DO FOLLOW HER.
O mighty tree, o'ershadowing all the earth,
In loneliest wilds thy seedling had its birth.
NOW our narrative nears its close. The last glimpse of our friend Mary
shows us an aged woman clad in the curious old Welsh dress.
She holds in one hand a staff for the support of her trembling limbs,
once so active and nimble; while with the other she clasps to her side
her beloved Bible, the companion of so many years, the consoler and
comforter, the guide and teacher of her life.
[Illustration: MARY JONES IN HER LATER YEARS.]
How much of joy or of sorrow, of trial or of what the world calls
success, had fallen to Mary's lot during her long life of eighty-two
years, we know not. We learn that she had eight children, several of
whom may have died in early life. One son, we believe, is living now
[1882], having made his home in America.
Little as we know, however, of Mary's actual experiences, it was
impossible that during her married life she should not have learned
what deep sorrow meant, as it is almost certain that she survived
several of her children, and quite certain that her husband too died
before she did.
Still, since we are taught that God's children do not sorrow as those
without hope, so we are sure that the childlike, trusting spirit of
this handmaid of the Lord was as ready to suffer as to do the will of
the Divine Master, and that however deep the affliction, there was
no bitterness in the grief, no despair in the tears that watered the
graves of loved ones gone before.
Feeble and tottering was now our once bright, bonny, blithe maiden, but
it was only physically that Mary was altered. She was still the same
brave, simple-hearted, earnest, faithful follower of Christ. Time with
its changes, in parting her from most of those whom she loved on earth,
had not separated her from the love of Jesus, or taken away her delight
in the Word of the Lord that endureth for ever.
Indeed she loved her Bible better even than of old, for she understood
it more fully, and had proved its truth beyond all doubting, again and
again, in her daily life for so many years.
Can we doubt, then, that when the summons came, and she heard the voice
which she had known and loved from childhood, saying to her "Come up
higher!" she had no fears, no shrinking, but felt that surely since
goodness and mercy had followed her all the days of her life, she
should dwell in the house of the Lord—that house above, not made with
hands—for ever.
Mary Jones died December the 28th, 1866, at the good old age of
eighty-two. We have no particulars of her last moments, save that on
her deathbed she bequeathed her precious Bible to the Rev. Robert
Griffiths, who in his turn bequeathed it to Mr. Rees.
This Bible, which is now in the possession of the British and Foreign
Bible Society, is a thick octavo, of the edition published by the
Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, in 1799—the last
edition of the Welsh Bible previous to the establishment of the Bible
Society.
The volume contains, in addition to the actual text of the now
recognized and authorized Scripture, John Cannes' marginal references,
the Apocrypha, the Book of Common Prayer, a metrical version of the
Psalms by Edmund Prys, and various Church tables. It also contains,
in Mary Jones's handwriting—in perhaps the first English that she
had learned—a note that she bought it in the year 1800, when she was
sixteen years old.
[Illustration]
So, full of days, and like Dorcas of old, of good works, Mary Jones
passed away from earth to the rest that remaineth for the people of
God, a sheaf of ripe corn safely garnered at last in the heavenly
granary.
[Illustration: GRAVE OF MARY JONES.
_Probably the year of the death of Mary Jones should have been given as_
_1866, as on p. 144, since she was born in 1784._]
She was buried in the little churchyard at Bryncrug, and a stone has
been raised to her memory by those who loved to recall the influence of
her beautiful life, and the important if humble part she had taken in
the founding of the great work of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
As it is only by a view of the mighty-stemmed, wide-spreading oak
that we can judge of the acorn's potency, its wealth of hidden and
concentrated power, so we can hardly appreciate the great importance of
the simple narrative which here stands recorded, unless we cast a brief
glance over some of the details of the glorious work that arose from
the small beginnings which form the subject of our story.
It is an undeniable fact that the idea of the establishment of the
British and Foreign Bible Society laid fast hold of the public mind
in Great Britain—a hold which extended with marvellous rapidity, as
will be seen when we say that while during the first year the money
expended in the operations of the Committee amounted to 691_l._; in
the eleventh year its expenditure had grown to 81,000_l._, swelling in
the fifty-first year to 149,000_l._, while in 1890 the sum reached the
enormous proportions of nearly 228,000_l._
[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF WRITING ON THE BIBLE.]
During the first three years following the establishment of the
Society, it circulated 81,000 Bibles and Testaments, while in the
year 1890 its distribution of Bibles, Testaments, and single books of
Scripture, amounted to 3,792,263.
When the Society was founded, the Bible existed in less than fifty
languages. Since then, by its agency, versions have been published in
no less than 291 languages.
But these figures bewilder the mind, and it may be more interesting to
see how the books have been distributed.
When from any fresh place the request comes for a supply of the
Scriptures, special inquiries are instituted and all possible
information obtained. The most accurate and trustworthy is supplied
by missionaries labouring in the country whence the petition has been
sent. It is the missionaries, too, who are for the most part the best
qualified to translate the Divine Word, and the most ready to undertake
this difficult but honourable task. When the translation is complete,
the Society prints and sends over, free of cost, as many copies as are
necessary for the mission work.
The thankful eagerness with which the Scriptures have been received by
the South Sea Islanders, has been as pathetic as it was surprising. The
natives would put down their names, months in advance, in the mission
list, to bespeak a copy, willingly giving a dollar, or even two, for a
Bible, showing thus their anxiety to possess the Scriptures.
Frequently it has been the case, as in Madagascar, that the deadly
power of persecution has silenced the voice of the teacher. But
persecution was of no avail. "The Lord gave the word, and great was the
company of the preachers!" Here a book, and there a chapter, and there
again a verse—mute yet eloquent teachers, carrying the Gospel of our
Divine Lord into the very heart of the cruel idol-lands.
Thus, while the martyrs fell in their Master's work, and the few
godly men that remained were ready to wail with Elijah of old, "Lo
I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away," the
silent messengers were passing from hand to hand, the great work was
going forward unseen, and the kingdom of God came once more, not with
observation, but with a quiet, all-pervading power, turning chaos into
order, and darkness into light.
It is a matter for deep thankfulness that in some countries—for
instance Russia, where missionaries are not allowed to work—the Bible
is welcomed by the people. Some touching incidents are recorded of the
war with Turkey, showing clearly with what eagerness and gratitude the
Scriptures were received.
An agent for the Bible Society residing at Warsaw, used to visit the
infirmaries, accompanied by his daughters, and everywhere joy greeted
their approach.
"We often saw the poor soldiers sitting at the window," this gentleman
writes, "waiting for us, and saluting us at a great distance; and the
moment we entered the passage, we were hemmed in by a crowd of men
that had not been supplied with Bibles. Even those who were struggling
between life and death, and had apparently lost all interest in
surrounding matters, would try and stretch out a hand to obtain a copy
of the Scriptures; and when my daughters stooped down to them, asking
'Shall I read a few words to you?' a smile would often light up their
countenances, and they would whisper,—'Yes, read, dear sister, and
leave us the copy as a remembrance in case we recover.'"
During this war, too, the colporteurs of the Society followed the
army on to the battlefields, selling thus about 15,000 volumes of the
Scriptures, the soldiers buying copies to send home to loved ones whom
they might never see again.
Then again, at the great fair of Nijni Novgorod, where the merchant
and trade world of Russia assemble yearly for business transactions of
every description, the Society has a stall, and at the fair of 1889
nearly 8,000 copies were sold.
As further proof of the power of the Bible and of its influence even
where unaided by missionary zeal and enterprise, we give the following
touching narrative.
A native of a little town on the shores of the Adriatic was obliged to
leave home and go to Naples. There he was led to a knowledge of the
truth through a Waldensian minister, and having embraced it, he joined
the Church over which the minister presided. Afterwards, he removed
to Florence, and thence he sent a Bible to a friend of his at home,
accompanied by a letter containing these words:
"This book has greatly benefited my soul; read it, and it will bring a
blessing to yours."
That man took his friend's advice, read the book, and finding in it the
truths his soul needed, gathered his friends and acquaintances around
him to read it with them.
We must not detail the many obstacles thrown in his way by the enemies
of the Gospel, but need only say that notwithstanding these, numbers
continued to come and hear the reading of God's word, and that when, a
few months later, the pastor of the Naples church went there, he found
a number of people who believed the Gospel, and were ready to make a
profession of their faith at whatever cost. They proved as good as
their word, and a short time afterwards Signor Pons of Naples returned
there to celebrate the Lord's Supper. He thus narrates the scene:—
"The event which took place at — last week, is one which I can never
cease to remember—one of those consolations which rarely fall to the
lot of God's servants, but which more than compensate for the toils
and privations of a lifetime. I found our friends awaiting me with the
greatest eagerness, and hardly had I come among them when I was asked,
'This time we shall celebrate the Supper of the Lord, shall we not,
sir?'
"I did my best to set before them the solemnity of this step, but all
my objections seemed only to quicken their ardour.
"Several days were spent conversing, until, deeming that the time had
arrived for administering the Lord's Supper to them, I proceeded to
examine the candidates as to their knowledge of divine things. Thirty
came forward, and most of these gave full satisfaction.
"The scene at the Lord's Supper was most moving. As I prayed before
partaking, sobs burst from every part of the room, and not a cheek was
dry.
"At the end of the service, one of the communicants rose and said,
'I can neither read nor write, but, by the grace of God, I feel that
whereas before I wallowed in the mire and was blind, I am now in a
glorious hall, illuminated by the blessed light of day. I can say no
more.'"
Nardini, the colporteur at Padua, tells an interesting story, which
further illustrates the reforming and life-giving power of the Bible
under the blessing of Almighty God. We will let him relate it himself.
"Having heard," he says, "that in a village not far from Vicenza a
knife-grinder had died, giving a most encouraging testimony to the
truths of the Gospel, I went to the place, to learn precisely the facts
of the case.
"I found that his name was Batista, and that being unmarried, he had
for several years lived with his brothers. He was converted to the Lord
solely by means of a Bible which he had bought, it is supposed, from
some passing colporteur. Before the time of his conversion, in 1872,
he had been a very profane and immoral man, but afterwards his conduct
became blameless, and he urged all whom he knew to believe the Gospel.
In the evenings, especially in winter and on the Lord's day, he invited
others to join him in reading the Bible and talking of its precious
truths. Batista died in July, 1877, (at the age of forty) with his
Bible under his pillow. His life and death produced a deep impression
on his neighbours, and his memory is fragrant in the village. As the
result of his labours, two men who were dyers by trade have come firmly
to believe the Gospel. He himself was never in a Protestant church in
his life, nor did he even know a minister as member of one."
To the subject of colportage a brief space may not inappropriately
here be given, as a means of good, the importance of which it would be
impossible to over-estimate.
As probably every one knows, a colporteur is a man who carries
something on his back. He may really be called a creation of the Bible
Society, and though not so conspicuous as the missionary, he does a
right noble work.
One of these godly and earnest men sold in Holland during about forty
years of labour among the people, 139,000 copies of the Scriptures;
and when he lay dying, his room was visited by numbers who wished for
the privilege of hearing the brave old Christian's testimony to the
truth, and of seeing how firm—even now at the last—was his faith in the
Word of the Lord, which nearly all his life long he had been trying to
circulate among the people.
One important work done by the colporteur is not to be accomplished by
any other agency. He takes the Bible to those regions most remote from
the great centres—to wild, thinly-populated neighbourhoods where the
hum and bustle of traffic and mart, the cry of the crowded city, never
penetrate.
For instance, in Norway, many of the peasants' homes are forty or
fifty miles from any book-shop, and the people would never obtain the
Scriptures, were it not for these devoted men, who toil up and down the
mountains, and follow the fiords into the very midst of the country,
carrying over land and by water the Word of Life.
Then again, the colporteurs are often the means of overcoming in the
people's minds their unwillingness to purchase the Scriptures, and to
listen to the truth.
They are earnest faithful Christians who love the Bible, and in telling
what it has done for them, they bear testimony to what it can do for
others. Often too they are men of wonderful memory and ready wit,
and they can frequently arrest the attention of the careless by the
quotation of some suitable passage, or startle the lethargic soul from
its death-like stupor by the trumpet-blast of inspired warning.
We record the following instance, showing that the work of the
colporteur is not confined to the mere porterage and sale of books. As
it is taken from a German colporteur's journal, we give it in his own
(translated) words:
"One day, just after the dinner hour, I entered the house of a
carpenter. When I found that he was taking his afternoon nap, my first
thought was not to disturb him. But I could not feel easy in leaving
him, so after a moment's hesitation I went up to where he lay, awoke
him, and said 'Will you buy a Bible?'
"'I am a Catholic,' he replied, 'and do not want one;' and he turned
round to sleep again.
"'That is what you say,' I answered, 'but God says "Awake, thou that
sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light?"'
The man started and sat up.
"'I woke you purposely,' I continued, 'without caring whether you liked
it or not; and in like manner, God, through His Word, is awaking you
from your spiritual sleep.'
"'But we are forbidden to read that book of yours,' he said.
"'Nay,' I rejoined, 'what right has a priest to forbid what God
commands? Obey Him rather than man.'
"The man was silent. At last he said, 'A thing I had long forgotten
comes to my memory. Twenty-five years ago I was working as a journeyman
in Hamburg, and a friend of mine used every night, when we reached our
lodgings, to read his Bible; and he told me just what you have been
saying, to obey God rather than man. I can hear his warning voice now;
and perhaps you have been sent to revive the impression before it is
too late. Yes, I will read it. Death may soon come. Only the other
day a ladder fell with me on it, and it was a miracle that I was not
killed; but it may have been God's will I should be spared to awake as
you have urged me to do.' With that he bought a Bible, with the words,
'Ah, I wish I had done this long ago!'"
Another striking story is told of one of the colporteurs in Bohemia.
He was coming to the end of a long day's work, sorely discouraged by
the rebuffs with which he had met. There remained in the small town but
one cluster of houses unvisited, and he was disposed to pass these by,
especially as he knew one of them to be occupied by a gentleman who
was an open enemy and mocker of the Bible. But his conscience was not
easy. His instructions bade him, except for sufficient reason, call at
every house; and besides this, to-day the words had been haunting him,
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock." In a humble sense those words
described his own calling; and he felt he must be true to it. "Up,
faint heart, and knock!" he said to himself; "who knows but thy fears
shall be removed!"
So he plucked up courage to go to the door of this very man; and when
it was opened, and the master of the house appeared, he could think of
nothing to say but just this "Behold, I stand at the door and knock!"
The owner was taken aback, as the stranger added in a hurried,
entreating tone: "I am not a common hawker; to-day Jesus Himself is
standing at the door of your heart. You may turn 'me' away, but oh, do
not reject 'Him.' Only believe His Word; I bring it to you. He will not
cast you out." He paused, afraid at his own boldness, but not a word of
rebuke followed.
The gentleman called his wife and daughter saying—"We must not let this
good man go; let him sup with us."
He was led into the sitting-room, where they listened eagerly to him as
he poured out freely all that was in his heart; and when they sat down
to the evening meal, they looked to him to give thanks.
As to what the Society is doing at home, these pages are too brief to
give any sort of record of the great work that is going on. There is
hardly a school, or a hospital, or an asylum that has not been helped
by it again and again, while out of it (just as from the ever-rooting
boughs of the banyan-tree new growths arise) numbers of branch Bible
Societies have sprung, each a centre of usefulness and of union in its
own sphere.
And—speaking of union and sympathy in a common cause—it has been
suggested, and with perfect truth, that even if the Bible Society had
never circulated a single copy of the Scriptures, it would yet have
done a noble work in affording a meeting-ground for Christian people
of all ranks and stations, and of every denomination. For whatever the
differences of opinion on some points, believers can unite as brothers
in honouring God's Word, and speeding it forward over the whole earth.
Of the reality and genuineness of this sympathy and union, the great
work done is perhaps the best testimony that could be offered. Happy,
nay, thrice blest are all those who have a share in it.
And by these we do not mean only such as can give largely, or serve
the Society in great and conspicuous ways. Let no one say that what he
can give is but as a drop in the bucket, and therefore of no value.
It is by the tiny rills that like a thread of silver wind adown the
hill-side—by the silent night dews, by the softly-falling rains, by
the quiet springs that swell among the peaty uplands—it is by "these"
that the river is formed, by these that it is fed and sustained in
its mighty flow, in the force and depth of the current that bears
great ships on its bosom, down, down to the ocean. Not a drop is lost,
nothing is valueless; all goes to make up an inestimably precious whole.
And now, in conclusion, dear friends young and old, if but one heart
is moved by the perusal of these pages to more earnest work for the
Master, to self-denial and loving service in the spread of His truth,
to a more eager study of God's Word, and a greater zeal in circulating
and making it known among others—then indeed this little story of the
poor Welsh girl and her Bible will not have been written in vain.
[Illustration: THE CASE IN THE BIBLE HOUSE.]