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m^: 









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\! 



THE STORY 



Mary Jones and Her Bible. 



NEW EDITION. 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 



XBBOUBK tJBB. 






COi»YRIGHT, X892, 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 






i .J-M.vt^-" 



♦%'jt •"" >* -• 



PREFATORY NOTE. 

The narrative which follows has been care- 
fully founded upon facts obtained from the most 
trustworthy material — written and verbal^ — at 
the disposal of the writer. Since its publication 
in 1882 the little book has been extremely pop- 
ular: versions in various languages have been 
issued, and an American edition has been pre- 
pared. It need only be added that the text of 
this edition has been read by the accomplished 
authoress, that some statistical information has 
been added, and that a considerable number of 
the illustrations are new. 



INTRODUCTION. 

BY REV. EDWARD W. OILMAN, D. D., 

SECRETARY OF THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 



Not a long story this, but one full of pathos, of a 
little girl in North Wales, a hundred years ago, who 
hoarded her pennies for six long years that she might 
save enough to buy a Bible, and who then walked 
twenty-five miles, from Llanfihangel to Bala, in her 
bare feet, to procure the treasure which she had so 
long desired to own. We mark the record of her de- 
sire and faith : " Oh if I had but a Bible of my own !'* 
" I must have a Bible of my own, if I save up for it for 
ten years." ** I shall never rest until I have a Bible of 
my own." " Though I have waited so long, the time 
will come when I shall have my Bible." " Dear Lord, 
let the time come quickly." The fulfilment of her 
cherished wish rounds out the record of a personal in- 
cident and leads us to share the maiden's joy that at 
last she became the owner of a Bible in her own 
tongue. 



11 INTRODUCTION. 

But the pathos of the story is less important than 
its connection with a great movement which has to do 
with the enlightenment and welfare of all nations in all 
coming time. 

" Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth." 
It may be only a spark, but in one moment it becomes 
a blaze, and if rightly used, its radiance and warmth 
yield a perpetual blessing. Mary Jones could not pre- 
pare her weekly lesson for the Sunday-school because 
in her father*s house there was neither Bible nor Tes- 
tament. Every Saturday she walked to a farmhouse 
two miles away, because there only could she see a 
copy of the sacred volume. Her parents were poor 
weavers, but even if they had been well-to-do, Bibles 
in Welsh were not only costly, but rare, and no one 
had yet conceived the idea of making the book so 
portable and so cheap that a copy of God's Word 
might be found in every dwelling. 

But when the story of Mary Jones became known 
through the Rev. Mr. Charles, of Bala, who supplied 
her need, when it suggested to God-fearing men the 
possible condition of thousands of youth in other cot- 
tages in Wales, when it revealed to lovers of the Bible 
the intense desire for the book felt by those who had 
never had it in their homes, Christian sympathy was 



INTRODUCTION. Ill 

bound to make some response. Something must be 
done. What could be done ? Might not some asso- 
ciation be formed to print and distribute the Scrip- 
tures in Wales ? " And if for Wales," said the Rev. 
John Hughes, one of the Secretaries of the Religious 
Tract Society, " why not for the world ?** 

. The problem was solved ; and so out of the needs 
and savings and prayers of Mary Jones came in 1804 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, an organization 
catholic in its membership, based on reverence and 
love for the Holy Scriptures, considerate of the wants 
of the humble and needy, concentrating its efforts on 
one definite object, and with a wide and far-reaching 
enthusiasm for the human race extending its benefi- 
cence to all nations, whether Christian, Mohammedan, 
or pagan. No wonder that the Committee of the So- 
ciety cherish among their archives the identical Bible 
which Mary Jones bought in 1800, with her autograph 
attesting the fact of its purchase when she was sixteen 
years old. 

The key-note of this first movement to supply the 
world with the Holy Scriptures was sympathy " with 
the cry that was ascending all over Wales for the 
Word of God ;" but mingled with this tender regard 
for those who craved the book must have been pity 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

for those who had never even heard of it, and a de- 
sire to share with them the blessings which the Bible 
brings to mankind. 

A few years ago a little boy in Connecticut, sev- 
en years of age, was sick and nigh to death. He be- 
longed to a " Sunbeam Circle," and had his " mission 
box " in which his little contributions were treasured 
up for the foreign field. At his request his mother 
opened the box that he might see how much there was 
for " the poor heathen children," and noticing a piece 
of newspaper among the pennies, she asked, " Why, 
Miller, what is this ? You do n't want this in." '' Oh 
yes, I do, mamma. They are beautiful verses about 
God, and I want the heathen to have them too ; I know 
they will like them." "The Scriptures principally teach 
what man is to believe concerning God and what duty 
God requires of man;" and why shouldn't the heathen 
have them too ? If for Wales, why not for the whole 
world? It is interesting to note that in after years 
Mary Jones was a constant contributor to the British 
Bible Society, practising through life the self-denial she 
had learned in her youth, and that on one occasion 
when a collection was made at Bryncrug for the " China 
Million Testament Fund," a gold piece neatly wrapped 
up between half-pence, and thus hidden until the money 



INTRODUCTION. V 

came to be counted, was her expression of sympathy 
for the poor heathen. Mary was fortunate in securing 
one copy of ten thousand which were printed in Oxford 
in 1799, for they were all disposed of before one quar- 
ter of the country was supplied. Since then the Brit- 
ish Bible Society has printed more than two and a half 
millions of volumes of Scripture for Wales alone, and 
about fifty times as many for the world besides. 

If a union of Churchmen and Dissenters in one so- 
ciety was a good thing in England, why not in other 
parts of the world ? The idea met with favor in Eu- 
rope and led to the formation of Bible Societies in Ger- 
many, Prussia, and France ; but nowhere was it taken 
up with greater promptness and ardor than in America. 
British laws had denied to the colonies the privilege of 
printing the Bible, so that when Mary Jones was born, 
in 1784, one edition, and one only, of the authorized 
version had ever been printed on this side of the At- 
lantic. When we consider that the colonists were thus 
dependent on the king's printers for their supplies, that 
the Revolutionary War had for a long time caused a 
suspension of traffic, and that the country lacked facil- 
ities for the production of large editions of the Bible, 
we can readily beHeve that the experience of Mary 
Jones was often repeated here, especially in the new 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

settlements which were being made in the interior. 
The necessities of our land were as urgent as those of 
Wales, and following the example of England, local 
Bible Societies in great numbers began to be formed. 
Philadelphia took the lead in 1808, and was soon fol- 
lowed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and 
New Jersey. Societies were organized as far south as 
Charleston, Beaufort, and Savannah. Such men as 
Jedediah Morse of Charleston and Elias Boudinot of 
New Jersey were earnest promoters of the movement. 
The interest of these societies was enlisted in efforts to 
reach the inhabitants of the great valley of the Missis- 
sippi. In 181 2 Samuel J. Mills travelled from Boston 
to Pittsburgh, and from there to New Orleans, explor- 
ing the country on both sides of the Ohio and the Mis- 
sissippi and noting the needs and opportunities of the 
field. Again he went over the same route, distributing 
Bibles and tracts. A region so extended was too vast 
for the local societies, and to promote harmony, effi- 
ciency, and economy they united, in 18 16, to form the 
American Bible Society. It was patterned after that 
in London, on the same broad, catholic principle, with 
the same avowed object, with the same world-wide 
aim. Responsible for a territory vastly more extend- 
ed than Great Britain, it pledged itself from the first to 



INTRODUCTION. VU 

extend its influence as far as possible to other lands, 
Christian, Mohammedan, and pagan. Among its ear- 
liest publications were Scriptures for the Indians of 
North America and the Spaniards of South America 
and Mexico. It has enrolled thousands of auxiliary 
societies, and with their aid has carried through four 
general efforts to visit every family in the United 
States with the offer of the Holy Scriptures. As the 
nation has acquired new territory in the South and 
West it has pushed on to provide the Scriptures for 
the people of Texas and the great States of the interior 
and the Pacific. In nominally Christian lands it has 
been a pioneer of missions, preparing the way by the 
distribution of the Scriptures for the founding of 
churches and the establishment of evangelical institu- 
tions. As American missionaries have made their way 
to pagan nations, reducing rude languages to writing 
and enriching them with new versions of the Bible, it 
has stood by their side, giving liberally to make their 
work effective and circulate the printed book. Its 
Arabic Bible, in the sacred language of a hundred and 
twenty millions of men, has found circulation in re- 
gions as remote as Western Africa and the eastern 
shores of China. It has its agents resident in the Turk- 
ish Empire, in Persia, China, and Japan, in Mexico and 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

Cuba and the various republics of South America, and 
under their care more than three hundred colporters 
devote their lives to the work of distributing the print- 
ed Bible. 

Confidendy relying on the providence of God, sus- 
tained by contributions and legacies and prayers, aid- 
ed by the willing cooperation of unpaid workers, join- 
ing hand in hand with other Societies that look for the 
evangelization of the world, considerate always for the 
oppressed and ignorant, the needy and the blind, the 
prisoner and the immigrant, the mariner and the sol- 
dier, the American Bible Society seeks to hasten the 
time when the open Book shall be found in every 
household in the land and in the world, and all men 
shall rejoice in the glad tidings which it brings. And 
its friends may well join with their brethren in Great 
Britain in honoring the memory of the humble Welsh 
maiden whose quenchless love for God's Word was so 
helpful at the outset of these heaven -blessed charities. 



PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL 

EDITION. 

This little book tells how one of the 
least of seeds has grown to be greatest of 
trees. It was the earnest desire of the late 
Mr. William Coles, of Dorking, who was 
through life a warm and liberal friend of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society, to 
learn all he could about its birth. At his 
suggestion the trustees of the College at Bala 
generously presented Mary Joneses Bible to 
the Library of the Bible House in London, 
where it may now be seen. He was very 



X Preface, 

anxious that the story should be re-told 
in a way likely to interest the young ; and 
though he did not live to see this volume 
published, he did from his deathbed see 
and approve the draft submitted to him. 
A few days before his death he wrote as 
follows : ** The sketch came to me as a 
glorious finish to my aspirations. I may 
never see the book, but from the bright 
Happy Land — I shall be with Christ and 
know all." 

It must not be forgotten that others 
besides Mr. Charles helped to found the 
Bible Society. The Rev. Thomas Jones, 
curate of Creaton, deserves specially to be 
mentioned. He was the " clergyman in 



Preface. xi 

Wales " who is referred to in Owen's 
History of the Society (vol. i. p. 3), as 
having interested himself for more than 
twelve years in calling attention to the 
dearth of the Word of God in Wales. 
Let due honour be done to him, and to 
others like him ; but, above all, let Him 
be praised who disposed His servants to 
establish an organization for distributing 
the bread of life to the hungry multitudes 
of mankind. 

The Bible House, 

\5t Dicember^ 1882. 



THE STORY OF MARY JONES 
AND HER BIBLE. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. PAGE 

I.— At the Foot of the Mountain . . . ii 

II. — ^The One Great Need 24 

III.— Coming to the Light 36 

IV. — ^Two Miles to a Bible 53 

V. — Faithful in that which is Least ... 70 

VI. — On the Way ....... 86 

VII. — Tears that Prevail 99 

VIII.— The Work Begun 116 

IX. — Youthful Promise Fulfilled . . . .126 

X. — Her Works do Follow Her ... 140 



CHAPTER I. 

AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN. 

O Shepherd of all the flock of God, 
Watch over Thy lambs and feed them ; 
For Thou alone, through the rugged paths, 
In the way of life canst lead them. 

It would be hard to find a lovelier, more 
picturesque spot than the valley on the 



12 Mary Jones. 

south-west side of Cader Idris, where 
nestles the little village of Llanfihangel-y- 
Pennant. Above it towers the majestic 
mountain with its dark crags, its rocky 
precipices, and its steep ascents ; while 
stretching away in the distance to the west- 
ward, lie the bold shore and glistening 
waters of Cardigan Bay, where the white 
breakers come rolling in and dash into 
foam, only to gather afresh, and return 
undaunted to the charge. 

The mountain, and the outline of the bay, 
and the wonderful picturesqueness of the 
valley, are still much as they were a hundred 
years ago. Still the eye of the traveller 
gazes in wonder at their wild beauty, as 
other eyes of other travellers did in times 
gone by. But while Natures great land- 
marks remain, or undergo a change so 
gradual as to be almost imperceptible, man, 
the tenant of God's earth, is born, lives his 
brief life, and passes away, leaving only 
too often hardly even a memory behind him. 



At the Foot of the Mountain. 13 

And now as, in thought, we stand upon the 
lower slopes of Cader Idris, and look across 
the little village of Llanfihangel, we find 
ourselves wondering what kind of people 
have occupied those rude grey cottages for 
the last century ; what were their simple 
histories, what their habits, their toils and 
struggles, sorrows and pleasures. 

To those then who share our interest in 
the place and neighbourhood, and in events 
connected with them, we would tell the simple 
tale which gives Llanfihangel a place among 
the justly celebrated and honoured spots of 
our beloved country ; since from its soil 
sprang a shoot which, growing apace, soon 
spread forth great branches throughout the 
earth, beconfing indeed a tree of life, whose 
leaves are for the healing of the nations. 

In the year 1792, nearly a hundred years 
ago, the night shadows had fallen around the 
little village of Llanfihangel. The season 
was late autumn, and a cold wind was moan- 
ing and sighing among the trees, stripping 



14 Mary Jones. 

them of their changed garments, lately so 
green and gay, whirling them round in eddies 
and laying them in shivering heaps along the 
narrow valley. 

Wan and watery, the moon, encompassed 
by peaked masses of cloud that looked like 
another ghostly Cader Idris in the sky, had 
risen, and now cast a faint light across a line 
of jutting crags, bringing into relief their 
sharp ragged edges against the dark back- 
ground of rolling vapour. 

In pleasant contrast to the night with 
its threatening gloom, a warm light shone 
through the windows of one of the cottages 
that formed the village. The light was 
caused by the blaze of a fire of dried drift- 
wood on the stone hearth, while in a rude 
wooden stand a rushlight burned, throwing 
its somewhat uncertain brightness upon a 
loom where sat a weaver at work. A bench, 
two or three stools, a rude cupboard, and a 
kitchen-table — these, with the loom, were all 
the furniture. 



1 6 Mary Jones. 

Standing in the centre of the room was a 
middle-aged woman, dressed in a cloak and 
the tall conical Welsh hat worn by many of 
the peasants to this day. 

" I am sorry you cannot go, Jacob," said 
she. " You*ll be missed at the meeting. 
But the same Lord Almighty who gives us 
the meetings for the good of our souls, sent 
you that wheezing of the chest, for the 
trying of your body and spirit, and we must 
needs have patience till He sees fit to take 
it away again." 

**Yes, wife, and Tm thankful that I 
needn't sit idle, but can still ply my trade," 
replied Jacob Jones. ** There's many a deal 
worse off. But what are you waiting for, 
Molly ? You'll be late for the exercises ; 
it must be gone six o'clock." 

" I'm waiting for that child, and she's gone 
for the lantern," responded Mary Jones, 
whom her husband generally called Molly, to 
distinguish her from their daughter who was 
also Mary. 



At the Foot of the Mountain. 1 7 

Jacob smiled. " The lantern ! Yes," said 
he ; *' you'll need it this dark night. 'Twas 
a good thought of yours, wife, to let Mary 
take it regular as you do, for the child 
wouldn't be allowed to attend those meetings 
otherwise. And she does seem so eager 
after everything of the kind. 

" Yes, she knows already pretty nearly all 
that you and I can teach her of the Bible, 
as we learnt it, don't she, Jacob ? She's only 
eight now, but I remember when she was 
but a wee child she would sit on your knee 
for hours on a Sunday, and hear tell of 
Abraham and Joseph, and David and Daniel. 
There never was a girl like our Mary for 
Bible stories, or any stories, for the matter of 
that, bless her! But here she is! You've 
been a long time getting that lantern, child, 
and we must hurry or we shall be late." 

Little Mary raised a pair of bright dark 
eyes to her mother's face. 

*' Yes, mother," she replied, ** I was long 
because I ran to borrow neighbour Williams's 



1 8 Mary Jones. 

lantern. The latch of ours won't hold, and 
there's such a wind to-night, that I knew we 
should have the light blown out.*' 

*' There's a moon," said Mrs. Jones, " and 
I could have done without a lantern." 

" Yes, but then you know, mother, I should 
have had to stay at home," responded Mary, 
" and I do so love to go." 

** You needn't tell me that, child," laughed 
Molly. **Then come along, Mary; good-bye, 
Jacob." 

** Good-bye, father dear! I wish you 
could come too ! " cried Mary, running back 
to give Jacob a last kiss. 

** Go your way, chilH, and mind you re- 
member all you can to tell old father when 
you come home." 

Then the cottage door opened, and Mary 
and her mother sallied out into the cold 
windy night. 

The moon had disappeared now behind a 
thick dark cloud, and little Mary's borrowed 
lantern was very acceptable. Carefully she 



^aii^^HHHHH 



At the Foot of the Mountain. 19 

held it, so that the h'ght fell upon the way 
they had to traverse, a way which would 
have been difficult if not dangerous, without 
its friendly aid. 

** Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a 
light unto my path," said Mrs. Jones, as she 
took her little daughter's hand in hers. 

'* Yes, mother, I was just thinking of that," 
replied the child. " I wish I knew ever so 
many verses like this one." 

" How glad I should be if your father and 
I could teach you more ; but it's years since 
we learned, and we've got no Bible, and our 
memories are not as good as they used to 
be," sighed the mother. 

A walk of some length, and over a rough 
road, brought them at last to the little 
meeting-house where the church members 
belonging to the Methodist body were in the 
habit of attending. 

They were rather late, and the exercises 
had begun, but kind farmer Evans made 
room for them on his bench, and found for 



20 Mary Jones 

Mrs. Jones the place in the psalm-book from 
which the little company had been singing. 
Mary was the only child there, but her face 
was so grave, and her manner so solemn and 
reverent, that no one looking at her could 
have felt that she was out of place ; and the 
church members who met there from time to 
time, had come to look upon this little girl 
as one of their number, and welcomed her 
accordingly. 

When the meeting was over, and Mary, 
having relighted her lantern, was ready to 
accompany her mother home, farmer Evans 
put his great broad hand upon the child^s 
shoulder, saying : 

**Well, my little maid! You re rather 
young for these meetings, but the Lord has 
need of lambs as well as sheep, and He is 
well pleased when the lambs learn to hear 
His voice early, even in their tender years." 

Then with a gentle fatherly caress the 
good old man released the child, and turned 
away, carrying with him the remembrance 



.a^B 



At the Foot of the Mountain. 21 

of that earnest intelligent face, happy in its 
intentness, joyful in its solemnity, having in 
its expression a promise of future excellence 
and power for good. 

**Why haven't we a Bible of our own, 
mother ? " asked Mary as she trotted home- 
ward, lantern in hand. 

" Because Bibles are scarce, child, and 
weVe too poor to pay the price of one. 
A weaver s is an honest trade, Mary, but we 
don't get rich by it, and we think ourselves 
happy if we can keep the wolf from the door, 
and have clothes to cover us. Still, precious 
as the Word of God would be in our hands, 
more precious are its teachings and its truths 
in our hearts, I tell you, my little girl, they 
who have learned the love of God, have 
learned the greatest truth that even the Bible 
can teach them ; and those who are trusting 
the Saviour for their pardon and peace, and 
for eternal life at last, can wait patiently for 
a fuller knowledge of His word and will." 

" I suppose you can wait, mother, because 



22 Mary Jones. 

you ve waited so long that youVe used to it," 
replied the child ; ** but it*s harder for me. 
Every time I hear something read out of 
the Bible, I long to hear more, and when I 
can read it will be harder still." 

Mrs. Jones was about to answer, when 
she stumbled over a stone, and fell, though 
fortunately without hurting herself. Mary's 
thoughts were so full of what she had been 
saying, that she had become careless in the 
management of the lantern, and her mother 
not seeing the stone, had struck her foot 
against it. 

" Ah, child ! it's the present duties after 
all that we must look after most," said Molly, 
as she got slowly up ; ** and even a fall may 
teach us a lesson, Mary. The very Word 
of God itself, which is a lamp to our feet, 
and a light to our path, can't save us from 
many a tumble if we don't use it aright, and 
let the light shine on our daily life, helping 
us in its smallest duties and cares. Remember 
this, my little Mary." 



Af the Foot of the Mountain, 23 

And little Mary did remember this, and 
her after life proved that she had taken the 
lesson to heart — a simple lesson, taught by 
a simple, unlearned handmaid of the Lord, 
but a lesson which the child treasured up in 
her very heart of hearts. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ONE GREAT NEED. 

For this I know, whale' er of earthly good 
Fall to the portion of immortal man. 
Still imfulfill'd in him is God's great plan. 
And Heaven's richest gift misunderstood, 
Until the Word of Life— e);haustl ess store 
Of light and truth — be his for evermore. 

the homes of the poor, 
where the lime of the 
elder members of the 
family is precious, 
they being the bread- 
winners of the house- 
hold, the little ones 
learn to be useful very 
early. How often we 

; known girls of six to 
the entire charge of a 

rother and sister, while 
uiiiiiy tiuidren of that age run 



The One Great Need. 25 

errands, do simple shopping, and make them- 
selves of very real and substantial use. 

Such was the case in the family of Jacob 
Jones. Jacob and Molly were engaged in 
weaving the woollen cloth, so much of which 
used to be made in Wales. Thus many of 
the household duties devolved upon Mary ; 
and at an age when children of richer 
parents are amusing themselves with their 
dolls or picture-books, our little maid was 
sweeping, and dusting, and scrubbing, and 
digging and weeding. 

It was Mary who fed the few hens, and 
looked for their eggs, so often laid in queer, 
wrong places, rather than in the nest. 

It was Mary who took care of the hive, 
and who never feared the bees ; and it was 
Mary again, who, when more active duties 
were done, would draw a low stool towards 
the hearth in winter or outside the cottage 
door in summer, and try to make or mend 
her own little simple garments, singing to 
herself the while in Welsh, a verse or two 



26 Mary Jofies, 

of the old-fashioned metrical version of the 
Psalms, or repeating texts which she had 
picked up and retained in her quick, eager 
little brain. 

In the long, light summer evenings, it was 
her delight to sit^where ^he could see the 
majestic form of Cader Idris with its varying 
lights and shadows, as the sun sank lower 
and lower in the horizon. And in her 
childish imagination, this mountain was 
made to play many a part, as she recalled 
the stories which her parents had told her, 
the chapters she had heard read at 
chapel. 

Now, Cader Idris was the mountain in the 
land of Moriah whither the patriarch was 
sent on his painful mission ; and Mary 
would fix her great dark eyes upon the 
rocky steeps before her, until she fancied 
she could see the venerable Abraham and 
his son toiling up towards the appointed 
place of sacrifice, the lad bearing the wood 
for the burnt-offering. 



The One Great Need. 27 

More and more vividly the whole scene 
would grow upon the child's fancy, until the 
picture seemed to be almost a reality, and 
she could imagine that she heard the patri- 
arch's voice borne faintly to her ear by the 
breeze that fanned her cheek — a voice that 
replied pathetically to his son s question, in 
the words, " My son, the Lord will provide 
Himself a lamb for the burnt-offering." 

Then the scene would change ; night was 
drawing near, and Cader Idris assuming 
softer outlines, was the mountain where the 
Saviour went to pray. 

Leaving the thronging multitude who had 
been dwelling upon His every word — leav- 
ing even His disciples whom He so loved, 
there was Jesus — alone save for the Eternal 
Father's presence — praying, and refreshing 
thus His weary spirit, after the work and 
trials and sorrows of the day. 

** If I'd only lived in those days," sighed 
little Mary, sometimes, " how I should have 
loved Him! and He'd have taught me. 



28 Mary Jones. 

perhaps, as He did those two who walked 
such a long way with Him, without knowing 
that it was Jesus ; only I think / should 
have known Him, just through love." 

Nor was it only the mountain with which 
Mary associated scenes from sacred history 
or Gospel narration. The long, narrow 
valley in the upper end of which Llanfi- 
hangel was situated, ran down to the sea 
at no great distance by a place called 
Towyn. And when the child happened to 
be near, she would steal a few moments to 
sit down on the shore, and gaze across the 
blue-green waters of Cardigan Bay, and 
dream of the Sea of Galilee, ^nd of the 
Saviour who walked upon its waters — 
who stilled their raging with a word, and 
who even sometimes chose to make His 
pulpit of a boat, and preach thus to the 
congregation that stood upon the shore and 
clustered to the very edge of the water, so 
that they might not lose a word of the 
precious things that He spoke. It will be 



TIu One Great Need. 29 

seen, therefore, that upon Mary's mind a 
deep and lasting impression was made by all 
that she had heard ; and child though she 
might be in years, there were not wanting 
in her evidences of an earnest, energetic 
nature, an intelligent brain, and a warm, 
loving heart. 

It is by the first leaves put forth by the 
seedling that we discern the nature, and 
know the name of the plant; and so in 
childhood, the character and talents can 
often be detected in the early beauty of 
their first unfolding and development. 

One afternoon, when Jacob and his wife 
were seated at their looms, and Mary was 
sewing a patch into an almost worn-out 
garment of her own, a little tap at the door 
was followed by the entrance of Mrs. Evans, 
the good farmer's wife, a kind, motherly, and 
in some respects superior woman, who was 
looked up to and beloved by many of the 
Llanfihangel villagers. 

" Good day to you, neighbours ! " she said, 



30 Mary Jones. . 

cheerily, her comely face all aglow. ** Jacob, 
how is your chest feeling? Bad, I'm afraid, 
as I haven't seen you out of late. Molly, 
youVe looking hearty as usual, and my 
little Mary, too — Toddles, as I used to 
call you when you were not much more 
than a baby, and running round on your 
sturdy pins as fast as many a bigger child. 
Don't I remember you then ! A mere 
baby as I said, and yet you'd keep a deal 
stiller than any mouse if your father there 
would make up a story you could understand, 
more particular if it was out of the Bible. 
Daniel and the Lions, or David and the 
Giant, or Peter in the Prison — these were the 
favourites then. Yes, and the history of 
Joseph and his brethren ; only you used to 
cry when the naughty brothers put Joseph 
in the pit, and went home and told Jacob 
that wicked lie that almost broke the old 
man's heart." 

" She's as fond of anything of that sort 
now as she was then," said Jacob Jones, 



The One Great Need. 31 

pausing in his work ; " or rather she's fonder 
than ever, ma am. I only wish we were able 
to give her a bit of schooling. It seems 
hard, for the child is willing enough, and 
it's high time she was learning something. 
Why, Mrs. Evans, she can't read yet, and 
she's eight years old ! " 

Mary looked up, her face flushing, her 
eyes filled with tears. 

" Oh ! If I only could learn ! " she cried, 
eagerly. " I'm such a big girl, and it's so 
dreadful not to know how to read. If I 
could, I would read all the lovely stories 
myself, and not trouble any one to tell 
them." 

" You forget, Mary, we've no Bible," said 
Molly Jones, *' and we can't afford to buy 
one either, so dear and scarce they are." 

"Yes," replied Mrs. Evans, "it's a great 
want in our country ; my husband was telling 
me only the other day that the scarcity of 
Welsh Bibles is getting to be spoken of 
everywhere. Even those who can afford to 



32 Mary Jones. 

pay for them get them with difficulty, and 
only by bespeaking them ; and poor people 
can't get them at all. But we hope the 
Society for Christian Knowledge in London 
may print some more soon ; it won t be 
before they're wanted." 

"But with all this talk, Mrs. Jones," 
continued the farmer's wife, " I am for- 
getting my errand in coming here, and that 
was to ask if you'd any new-laid eggs. I've 
a large order sent me, and our hens are 
laying badly, so that I can't make up the 
number I've been collecting a few here 
and there, but I haven't enough yet." 

** Mary knows more about the hens and 
eggs than I do," said Molly, looking at her 
little daughter, who had not put a stitch into 
her patch while the talk about Bibles had 
been going on, and whose cheeks and eyes 
showed in their deepened colour and light 
how much interested she had been in what 
had been said. 

But now the child started half guiltily 



The One Great Need, 33 

from her low seat, saying, *' Til get what we 
have to show you, Mrs. Evans." 

Presently she came in with a little basket 
containing about a dozen eggs. The 
farmer's wife put them into her bag, then 
patting Mary's pink cheeks rose to take her 
leave, after paying for the eggs. 

" And remember this, little maid," she said 
kindly, when after saying good-bye to Jacob 
and Molly, she was taking leave of Mary at 
the door. ** Remember this, my dear little 
girl ; as soon as you know how to read (if 
by that time you still have no Bible) you 
shall come to the farm when you like, and 
read and study ours— that is, if you can 
manage to get so far." 

" It's only two miles, that's nothing ! " said 
sturdy Mary, with a glance down at her 
strong little bare feet. " Td walk further 
than that for such a pleasure, ma'am." 
Then she added with a less joyful ring in 
her voice, " At least I would, if ever I did 
learn to read." 



34 Mary yones, 

** Never mind, little woman ! The likes of 
you wasn't made to sit in the dark always/' 
replied Mrs. Evans in her cheery, comfortable 
tones. " The Lord made the want, and He'll 
satisfy it ; be very sure of that. Remember, 
Mary, when the multitude that waited on 
the Saviour were hungry, the Lord did not 
send them away empty, though no one saw 
how they were to be fed ; and He*ll take care 
you get the bread of life too, for all it seems 
so unlikely now. Good-bye, and God bless 
you, my child ! " and good Mrs. Evans, with 
a parting nod to the weaver and his wife, 
and another to Mary, went out, and got into 
her little pony-cart, which was waiting for 
her in the road, under the care of one of the 
farm-boys. 

Mary stood at the door and watched their 
visitor till she was out of sight. Then, 
before she closed it, she clasped her small 
brown hands against her breast, and her 
thoughts formed themselves into a prayer 
something like this : 



The One Great Need, 



35 



" Dear Lord, who gavest bread to the 
hungry folk in the old time, and didst teach 
and bless even the poorest, please let me 
learn, and not grow up in darkness/' 

Then she shut the door and came and sat 
down, resolving in her childish heart that if 
God heard and answered her prayer, and she 
learned to read H is Word, she would do what 
she could, all her life long, to help others as 
she herself had been helped. 

How our little Mary kept her resolution * 
will be seen in the remaining chapters of this 
simple narrative. 




Tail'Piecefrom Coverdale's New Test,, 1538, in the Library of 

the Bible Society. 



CHAPTER in. 

COMING TO THE LIGHT. 

O thou who out of the darkness 

Readiest ihy trembling hand, 
Whose ears are open to welcome 

Glad news of a better land ; 
Not always shall thou be groping, 

Night's shadows are well-nigh past : 
The heart that for light is yearning 

Attains to that light at last. 

"'WO years had passed away since Mrs. 
Evans's visit, as recorded in the pre- 



Coming to the Light. 37 

ceding chapter, and still little Mary's prayer 
seemed as far as ever from being answered. 

With the industry and patience of more 
mature years the child went about her 
daily duties, and her mother depended upon 
her for many things which do not generally 
form part of a child's occupations. Mary had 
less time for dreaming now, and though 
Cader Idris was still the spot with which 
her imagination associated Bible scenes and 
pictures, she had little leisure for anything 
but her everyday duties. She still ac- 
companied her mother to the meetings, and 
from so continually coming into contact with 
older people, rather than with children of 
her own age, the child had grown more and 
more grave and earnest in face and manner, 
and would have been called an old-fashioned 
girl if she had lived in a place where any 
difference was known between old fashions 
and new. 

It was about this time that Jacob Jones 
came home one evening from Abergynolwyn 



38 Mary Jones. 

— a village two miles away from Llanfihangd 
— where he had been disposing of the woollen 
cloth which he and Molly had been making 
during the past months. 

Jacob had been away the greater part oi 
the day, yet he did not seem tired. His eye 
was bright, and his lips wore a smile as he 
entered the cottage and sat down in his 
accustomed place in the chimney corner. 

Mary, whose observant eye rarely failed ta 
note the least change in her father's face and 
manner, sprang towards him, and stood before 
him, regarding his bright face searchingly. 

" What is it, father ? " she said, her own 
dark eyes flashing back the light in his. 
" Something pleasant has happened, or you 
wouldn't look like that ! " 

'' What a sharp little girl it is ! *' replied 
Jacob, fondly, drawing the child nearer and 
seating her upon his knee. " What a very 
sharp little woman to find out that her old 
dad has something to tell ! " 

"And is it something that concerns me, 



Coming to the Light. 39 

father ? " asked Mary, stroking Jacob's face 
caressingly. 

"It is something that concerns you most 
of all, my chick, and us through you." 

*' What can it be ? " murmured Mary, with 
a quick, impatient little sigh. 

" What is it, father '^ " asked Mrs. Jones ; 
" we both want to know." 

" Well," replied Jacob, ^' what would you 
say, Molly dear, to our little daughter here 
becoming quite a learned woman, perhaps 
knowing how to read, and write, and cipher, 
and all a deal better than her parents ever 
did before her ? " 

- Oh, father ! " 

The exclamation came from Mary, who 
in her excitement had slipped from Jacob's 
knee, and now stood facing him, breathless 
with suspense, her hands closely clasped. 

Jacob looked at her a moment without 
speaking ; then he said tenderly : 

" Yes, child, there is a school to be opened 
at Abergynolwyn, and a master is chosen 

4 



40 Mary Jones. 

already ; and as my little Mary thinks nought 
of a two miles* walk, she shall go, and learn 
all she can." 

" Oh, father ! " 

** Well," rejoined Jacob, now laughing out- 
right, ** how many * Oh fathers ! * are we going 
to have ? But I thought you'd be glad, my 
girl, and I was not wrong. You are pleased, 
dear, aren t you ? " 

There was a pause ; then Mary's reply 
came, low spoken, but with such deep con- 
tent in its tones. 

** Pleased, father ? Yes, indeed, for now 
I shall learn to read the Bible." 

Then a thought struck her, and a shadow 
came across the happy face as she said : 

** But, mother, perhaps you won't be able 
to spare me 1 " 

*' Spare you } Yes, I will, child, though 
I can't deny as how it will be difficult for me 
to do without my little right hand and help. 
But for your good, my girl, I would do 
harder things than that." 



Coming to the Light. 41 

** Dear, good mother ! *' cried Mary, putting 
an arm about Molly's neck and kissing her. 
" But I don't want you to work too hard and 
tire yourself. Til get up an hour or two 
earlier, and do all I can before I start for 
school." Then as the child sat down again 
to her work, her heart, in its joyfulness, sent 
up a song of thanksgiving to the Lord who 
had heard her prayer, and opened the way 
for her to learn, that she might not grow up 
in darkness. 

Presently Jacob went on : 

** I went to see the room where the school 
is to be held, and who should come in while 
I was there but Mr. Charles of Bala. I'd 
often heard of him before, but Td never 
seen him, and I was glad to set eyes on him 
for once." 

" What may he have looked like, Jacob ? ' 
asked Molly. 

" Well, Molly, I never was a very good one 
for drawing a portrait, but I should say he 
was between forty and fifty years old, with 



{From the painting in Ike Bible House.) 



Coming to the Light, 43 

a fine big forehead which doesn't look as 
though it had unfurnished apartments to 
let behind it, but quite the opposite, as 
though he had done a sight of thinking, and 
meant to do a great deal more. Still his 
face isn't anything so very special till he 
smiles, but when he does it's like sunshine, 
and goes to your heart, and \^ arms you right 
through. Now I've seen him, and heard him 
speak, I can understand how he does so much 
good. I hear he's going about from place to 
place opening schools for the poor children, 
who would grow up ignorant otherwise." 

'* Like me," murmured Mary, under her 
breath. 

*' And who's the master that's to be set over 
the school at Abergynolwyn ?" asked Molly. 

** I heard tell that his name is John 
Ellis," replied Jacob ; *' a good man, and 
right for the work, so they say ; and I 
hope it'll prove so." 

" And how soon is the school to open, 
Jacob ? " asked his wife. 



44 Mary yones. 

** In about three weeks, I believe," 
answered Jacob. "And now, Mary my 
girl, if you can bring yourself to think of 
such a thing as supper, after what IVe been 
telling you, suppose you get some ready, 
for I haven't broke my fast since noon." 

The following three weeks passed more 
slowly for little Mary Jones than any three 
months she could remember before. Such 
childishness as there was in her seemed to 
show itself in impatience ; and we must 
confess that her home duties at this time 
were not so cheerfully or so punctually 
performed as usual, owing to the fact that her 
thoughts were far away, her heart being set 
on the thing she had longed for so earnestly. 

" \{ this is the way it's going to be, Jacob," 
said Molly to her husband one evening, *' I 
shall wish there had never been a thought of 
school at Abergynolwyn. The child's so off 
her head that she goes about like one in 
a dream ; what it'll be when that school 
begins, I daren't think." 



Coming to the Light, 45 

" Don't you fret, wife," replied Jacob 
smiling. ** It'll ail come right. Don't you 
see that her poor little busy brain has been 
longing to grow, and now that there's a 
chance of its being fed, she's all agog. 
But you'll find, when she once gets started, 
she'll go on all right with her home work as 
well. She's but ten years old, Molly, after 
all, and for my own part, I'm not sorry to 
see there's a bit of the child left in her, even 
if it shows itself this way, such a little old 
woman as she's always been ! " 

But this longest three weeks that Mary 
ever spent came to an end at last, and Mary 
began to go to school, thus commencing a 
new era in her life. 

Fairly hungering and thirsting after know- 
ledge, the child found her lessons an unmixed 
delight. What other children call drudgery 
was to her only pleasure, and her eagerness 
was so great that she was almost always at 
the top of her class ; and in an incredibly short 
space of time she began to read and write. 



46 Mary Jones. 

The master, who had a quick eye for 
observing the character and talents of his 
pupils, soon remarked Mary's peculiarities, 
and encouraged her in her pursuit of such 
knowledge as was taught in the school ; and 
the little girl repaid her master s kindness by 
the most unwearied diligence and attention. 

Nor while the brain was being fed did the 
heart grow cold, or the practical powers 
decline. Molly Jones had now no fault to 
find with Mary's performance of her home 
duties. The child rose early, and did her 
work before breakfast ; and after her return 
from school in the afternoon she again 
helped her mother, only reserving for herself 
time enough to prepare her lessons for the 
next day. 

At school she was a general favourite, and 
never seemed to be regarded with jealousy 
by her companions, this being due probably 
to her genial disposition, and the kind way 
in which she was willing to help others 
whenever she could. 



Coming to the Light, 47 

One morning a little girl was seen to be 
crying sadly when she reached the school- 
house, and on being questioned as to what 
was the matter, she said that on the way 
there, a big dog had snatched at the little 
paper bag in which she was bringing her 
dinner to eat during recess, and had carried 
it off, and so she should have to go hungry 
all day. 

Some of the scholars laughed at the child 
for her carelessness, and some called her a 
coward, for not running after the dog and 
getting back her dinner ; but Mary stole up 
to the little one's side, and whispered some- 
thing in her ear, and dried the wet eyes, and 
kissed the flushed cheeks, and presently the 
child was smiling and happy again. 

But when dinner-time came, Mary and the 
little dinnerless maiden sat close together 
in a corner, and more than half of Mary's 
provisions found their way to the smaller 
child's mouth. 

The other scholars looked on, feeling 



48 Mary Jones. 

somewhat ashamed, no doubt, that none but 
Mary Jones had thought of doing so kind 
and neighbourly an action, at the cost of a 
h'ttle self-denial. But the lesson was not 
lost upon them, and from that day Mary's 
influence made itself felt in the school for 
good. 

In her studies she progressed steadily, and 
this again gave opportunity for the develop- 
ment of the helpful qualities by which, 
from her earliest childhood, she had been 
distinguished. 

On one occasion, for instance, she was just 
getting ready to set off on her two miles' 
journey home, when she spied in a corner "^ 
of the now deserted schoolroom a little boy 
with a book open before him, and a smeared 
slate and blunt pencil by its side. The poor 
little fellow's tears were falling over his 
unfinished task, and evidently he was in the 
last stage of childish despondency. He had 
dawdled away his time during the school 
hours, or had not listened when the lesson 



Coming to the Light. 49 

had been explained, and now school discipline 
required that he should stay behind when 
the rest had gone, and attend to the work 
which he had neglected. 

Mary had a headache that day, and was 
longing to get home ; but the sight of that 
tearful, sad little face in the corner banished 
all thought of self, and as the voices of the 
other children died away in the distance, she 
crossed the room, and leaned over the small 
student's shoulder. 

" What is it, Robbie dear .^ " said she in 
her old-fashioned way and tender, low-toned 
voice. " Oh, I see, you've got to do that 
sum ! I mayn t do it for you, you know, 
because that would be a sort of cheating, 
but I can tell you how to do it yourself, and 
I think I can make it plain." 

So saying, Mary fetched her little bit of 
wet rag, and washed the slate, and then got 
an old knife and sharpened the pencil. 

"Now," said she, smiling cheerily, "see, 
ril put down the sum as it is in the book \' 



50 Mary Jones, 

and she wrote on the slate in clear, if not 
very elegant figures, the sum in question. 

Thus encouraged, Robbie gave his mind 
to his task, and with a little help it was soon 
done, and Mary with a light heart, which 
made up for her heavy head, trotted home, 
very glad that what she was herself learning 
could be a benefit to others. 

Not long after the commencement of the 
day school, a Sunday school also was opened, 
and the very first Sunday that children were 
taught there, behold our little friend as clean 
and fresh as soap and water could make her, 
and with bright eyes and eager face, showing 
the keen interest she felt, and her great 
desire to learn. 

That evening, after service in the little 
meeting-house, as the farmer's wife, good 
Mrs. Evans, was just going to get into her 
pony-cart to drive home, she felt a light 
touch on her arm, while a sweet voice she 
knew said, '' Please, ma'am, might I speak to 
you a moment ? *' 



Coming to the Light. 51 

" Surely, my child," replied the good 
woman, turning her beaming face on litde 
Mary, '* what have you got to say to me ?" 

** Two years ago, please ma'am, you were 
so kind as to promise that when I'd learned 
to read I should come to the farm and read 
your Bible." 

** I did, I remember it well," answered 
Mrs. Evans. **Well, child, do you know 
how to read "i " 

*' Yes, maam," responded Mary ; *' and 
now I've joined the Sunday school, and shall 
have Bible lessons to prepare, and if you'd 
be so kind as to let me come up to the farm 
one day in the week — perhaps Saturday, 
when Tve a half-holiday — I could never 
thank you enough." 

*' There's no need for thanks, little woman, 
come and welcome ! I shall expect you next 
Saturday ; and may the Lord make His 
Word a great blessing to you ! " 

Mrs. Evans held Mary's hand one moment 
with a cordial pressure ; then she got into her 



52 Mary yones. 

cart, and the pony started off quickly towards 
home, as though he knew that old Farmer 
Evans was laid up with rheumatism, and 
that his wife wished to get back to him as 
soon as possible. 



CHAPTER IV. 

TWO MILES TO A BIBLE. 

'Tis written, man shall not live alone, 

By the perishing bread of earth ; 
Thou givest the soul a richer lood 

To nourish the heavenly birth. 
And yet to our fields of golden grain 

Thou bringest the harvest morn ; 
Thine op'ning hand is the life of all, 

For Thou preparest them com. 



R. EVANS'S 
farm was a 
curious old- 
fashioned 
place. The 
house was a 
large, ramb- 
Ung building, 
with many 
queer ups and 
downs, and 
with oddly- 



54 Mary Jones. 

shaped windows in all sorts of unexpected 
places. And yet there was an aspect of 
homely comfort about the house not always 
to be found in far finer and more imposing- 
looking residences. At the back were the 
out-buildings — the sheds and cow-houses, 
the poultry-pen, the stables and pig-sties ; 
while stretching away beyond these again 
were the home paddock, the drying-ground, 
and a small enclosed field, which went by 
the name of Hospital Meadow, on account 
of its being used for disabled animals that 
needed a rest. 

With the farmer himself we made ac- 
quaintance two years ago at the meeting, 
when he spoke so kindly to Mary ; and he 
was still the same good, honest, industrious. 
God-fearing man, never forgetting in the 
claims and anxieties of his work, what he 
owed to the Giver of all, who sends His rain 
for the watering of the seed, and His sun for 
the ripening of the harvest. 

Nor did he — as too many farmers are in 



Two Miles to a Bible. 55 

the habit of doing — repine at Providence, 
and find fault with God's dealings if the rain 
came down upon the hay before it was safely 
carried, or if an early autumn gale laid his 
wheat even with the earth from which it 
sprang, ere the sickle could be put into it. 
Nor did he complain and grumble even 
when disease showed itself among the breed 
of small but active cattle of which he was 
justly proud, and carried off besides some of 
his fine sheep, destined for the famous Welsh 
mutton which sometimes is to be found on 
English tables. 

In short, he was contented with what the 
Lord sent, and said with Job, when a misfor- 
tune occurred, '' Shall we receive good at the 
hands of the Lord, and shall we not receive 
evil ? " 

Of Mrs. Evans we have already spoken, 
and if we add here that she was a true help- 
meet to her husband, in matters both tem- 
poral and spiritual, that is all we need say in 
her praise. 
5 



56 Mary Jones. 

This worthy couple had three children. 
The eldest was already grown up ; she was 
a fine girl, and a great comfort and help to 
her mother. The younger children were 
boys, who went to a grammar school in a 
town a mile or two away : they were manly, 
high-spirited litde fellows, well-trained, and 
as honest and true as their parents. 

Such, then, was the family into which our 
little Mary was welcomed with all love and 
kindness. She was shy and timid the first 
time, for the farm-house was a much finer 
place than any home she had hitherto seen ; 
and there was an atmosphere of warmth, and 
there were delicious signs of plenty, which 
were unknown in Jacob Jones's poor little 
cottage, where everything was upon the most 
frugal, not to say meagre, scale. 

But Mary s shyness did not last long ; 
indeed it disappeared wholly soon after she 
had crossed the threshold, where she was 
met by Mrs. Evans with a hearty welcome 
and a motherly kiss. 



Two Miles to a Bible. 57 

*Come in, little one," said the good 
woman, drawing her into the cosy, old- 
fashioned kitchen, where a kettle was singing 
on the hob, and an enticing fragrance of 
currant shortcake, baking for an early tea, 
scented the air. 

" There, get warm, dear," said Mrs. Evans, 
" and then you shall go to the parlour, and 
study the Bible. And have you got a pencil 
and scrap of paper to take notes if you want 
them ? " 

" Yes, thank you, ma*am, I brought them 
with me," replied Mary. 

For a few minutes she sat there, basking 
in the pleasant, cheery glow of the fire-light ; 
then she was admitted to the parlour, where, 
on the table in the centre of the room, and 
covered reverently with a clean white cloth, 
was the precious book. 

It must not be thought from the care thus 
taken of it that the Bible was never used. 
On the contrary, it was always read at 
prayers night and morning ; and the farmer, 



58 Mary Jones. 

whenever he had a spare half-hour, h'ked 
nothing better than to study the sacred book, 
and seek to understand its teachings. 

** There's no need to tell } ou to be careful 
of our Bible, and to turn over the leaves 
gently, Mary, I'm sure," said Mrs. Evans ; 
*' you would do that anyway, I know. And 
now, my child, I'll leave you and the Bible 
together. When you've learned your lesson 
for Sunday school, and read all you want, 
come back into the kitchen and have some 
tea before you go." 

Then the good farmer's wife went away, 
leaving Mary alone with a Bible for the first 
time in her life. 

Presently the child raised the napkin, and, 
folding it neatly, laid it on one side. 

Then, with trembling hands, she opened 
the book, opened it at the fifth chapter of 
John, and her eyes caught these words, 
" Search the scriptures ; for in them ye think 
ye have eternal life : and they are they which 
testify of Me." 



Two Miles to a Bible, 59 

** I will ! I will ! *' she cried, feeling as if 
the words were spoken directly to her by 
some Divine voice. ** I will search and learn 
all I can. Oh, if I had but a Bible of my 
own ! " And this wish, this sigh for the 
rare and coveted treasure, was the key-note 
to a grand chorus of glorious harmony 
which, years after, spread in volume, until 
it rolled in waves of sound over the whole 
earth. Yes, that yearning in a poor child's 
heart was destined to be a means of light 
and knowledge to millions of souls in the 
future. Thus verily has God often chosen 
the weak things of the world to carry out 
His great designs, and work His will. And 
here, once more, is an instance of the small 
beginnings which have great results — results 
whose importance is not to be calculated on 
this side of eternity. 

When Mary had finished studying the 
Scripture lesson for the morrow, and had 
enjoyed a plentiful meal in the cosy kitchen, 
she said good-bye to her kind friends, and 



6o Mary Jones. 

set off on her homeward journey, her mind 
full of the one great longing, out of which a 
resolution was slowly shaping itself 

It was formed at last. 

" I must have a Bible of my own ! " she 
said aloud, in the earnestness of her purpose. 
** I must have one, if I save up for it for ten 
years ! " and by the time this was settled in 
her mind the child had reached her home. 

Christmas had come, and with it some 
holidays for Mary and the other scholars 
who attended the school at Abergynolwyn ; 
but our little heroine would only have been 
sorry for the cessation of lessons, had it 
not been that during the holidays she had 
determined to commence carrying out her 
plan of earning something towards the pur- 
chase of a Bible. 

Without neglecting her home duties, she 
managed to undertake little jobs of work, 
for which the neighbours were glad to give 
her a trifle. Now it was to mind a baby 
while the mother was at the wash-tub. Now 



Two Miles to a Bible. 6i 

to pick up sticks and brushwood in the 
woods for fuel ; or to help to mend and patch 
the poor garments of the family for a worn, 
weary mother, who was thankful to give a 
small sum for this timely welcome help. 

And every halfpenny, every farthing (and 
farthings were no unusual fee among such 
poor people as those of whom we are telling) 
was put into a rough little money-box which 
Jacob made for the purpose, with a hole in 
the lid. The box was kept in a cupboard, 
on a shelf where Mary could reach it, and it 
was a real and heartfelt joy to her when she 
could bring her days earnings — some little 
copper coins, perhaps — and drop them in, 
longing for the time to come when they 
would have swelled to the requisite sum — a 
large sum unfortunately — for buying a Bible. 

It was about this time that good Mrs. 
Evans, knowing the child's earnest wish, 
and wanting to encourage and help her, 
made her the present of a fine cock and 
two hens. 



62 Mary Joiies 

" Nay, nay, my dear, don't thank me," 
said she, when Mary was trying to tell her 
how grateful she was ; ** I've done it, first 
to help you along with that Bible youVe set 
your heart on, and then, too, because I love 
you, and like to give you pleasure. So 
now, my child, when the hens begin to lay, 
which will be early in the spring, you can 
sell your eggs, for these will be your very own 
to do what you like with, and you can put 
the money to any use you please. I think 
I know what you'll do with it," added Mrs. 
Evans, with a smile. 

But the first piece of silver that Mary had 
the satisfaction of dropping into her box 
was earned before she had any eggs to sell, 
and in quite a different way from the sums 
which she had hitherto received. She was 
walking one evening along the road from 
Towyn, whither she had been sent on an 
errand for her father, when her foot struck 
against some object lying in the road ; and, 
stooping to pick it up, she found it was a 



Tzvo Miles to a Bible, 63 

large leather purse. Wondering whose it 
could be, the child went on, until, while 
still within half a mile from home, she 
met a man walking slowly, and evidently 
searching for something. He looked up as 
Mary approached, and she recognized him 
as Farmer Greaves, a brother-in-law of Mrs. 
Evans. 

** Ah ! good evening, Mary Jones/' said 
he ; " IVe had such a loss ! Coming home 
from market I dropped my purse, and " 

** I've just found a purse, sir," said Mary ; 
** is this it ? " 

** You've found a purse ? " exclaimed the 
farmer, eagerly. " Yes, indeed, my dear, 
that is mine, and I'm very much obliged to 
you. No, stay a moment," he called after 
her, for Mary was already trudging off again. 
'' I should like to give you a trifle for your 

hon I mean just some trifle by way of 

thanks." 

As he spoke, his finger and thumb closed 
on a bright shilling, which surely would not 



64 Mary Jones. 

have been too much to give to a poor child 
who had found a heavy purse. But he 
thought better (or worse) of it, and took 
out instead a sixpence and handed it to 
Mary, who took it with very heartfelt thanks, 
and ran home as quickly as possible to drop 
her silver treasure safely into the box, where 
it was destined to keep its poorer brethren 
company for many a long year. 

But the Christmas holidays were soon 
over, and then it was difficult for Mary to 
keep up with her daily lessons, and her 
Sunday-school tasks, the latter involving the 
weekly visits to the farm-house for the study 
of the Bible. What with these and her 
home duties, sometimes weeks passed with- 
out her having time to earn a penny towards 
the purchase of the sacred treasure. 

Sometimes, too, she was rather late in 
reaching home on the Saturday evenings, 
and now and again Molly was uneasy about 
her. For Mary would come by short cuts 
over the hills, along ways which, however 



-^f^sok 



Two Miles to a Bible. 65 

safe in the daytime, were rough and un- 
pleasant, if not dangerous, after dark; and 
in these long winter evenings the daylight 
vanished very early. 

It was on one of these occasions that 
Molly and Jacob Jones were sitting and 
waiting for their daughter. 

The old clock had already struck 
eight. She had never been so late as 
this before. 

**Our Molly ought to be home, Jacob," 
said Molly, breaking a silence disturbed 
only by the noise of Jacob's busy loom. 
" It's got as dark as dark, and there's no 
moon to-night. The way's a rugged one, 
if she comes the short cut across the hill, 
and she s not one to choose a long road if 
she can find a shorter, bless her ! She s more 
than after her time. I hope no harm's come 
to the child," and Molly walked to the 
window and looked out. 

" Don't be fretting yourself, Molly," replied 
Jacob, pausing in his work ; " Mary's out on 



66 Mary J ernes, 

a good errand, and He who put tne lOve 
of good things in her heart will take care 
of her in her going out and in her coming 
in, from henceforth, even for evermore." 

Jacob spoke solemnly, but with a tone of 
conviction that comforted his wife, as words 
of his had often done before ; and just then 
a light step bounded up to the door, the 
latch was lifted, and Marys lithe young 
figure entered the cottage, her dark eyes 
shining with intelligence, her cheeks flushed 
with exercise, a look of eager animation 
overspreading the whole of her bright face 
and seeming to diffuse a radiance round the 
cottage, while it shone reflected in the 
countenances of Jacob and Molly. 

'' Well, child, what have you learned to- 
day ?" questioned Jacob. ** Have you studied 
your lesson for the Sunday school ? '' 

** Ay, father, that I have, and a beautiful 
lesson it was," responded the child. " It 
was the lesson and Mr. Evans together that 
kept me so late." 



Two Miles to a Bible. 67 

" How so, Mary?" asked Molly. '' We Ve 
been right down uneasy about you, fearing 
lest something had happened to you/' 

" You needn't have been so, mother 
dear," replied the little girl, with some- 
thing of her father's quiet assurance. 
**God knew what I was about, and He 
would not let any harm come to me. Oh, 
father, the more I read about Him the more 
I want to know, and I shall never rest until 
I've a Bible of my own. But to-day I've 
brought home a big bit of the farmer s Bible 
with me." 

** What do you mean, Mary 'i How could 
you do such a thing ? " questioned Molly in 
amazement. 

** Only in my head, mother dear, of 
course," replied the child ; then in a lower 
voice she added, ** and my heart r 

** And what is the bit "i"' asked Jacob. 

" It's the seventh chapter of Matthew," 
said Mary. ** Our Sunday lesson was from 
the first verse to the end of the twelfth verse. 



68 Mary Jones. 

But it was so easy and so beautiful, that I 
went on and on, till Td learned the whole 
chapter. And just as I had finished, Mr. 
Evans came in and asked me if I understood 
It all ; and when I said there were some bits 
that puzzled me, he was so kind and ex- 
plained them. If you like, mother and 
father, Til repeat you the chapter.*' 

So Jacob pushed away his work, and took 
his old seat in the chimney corner, and Molly 
began some knitting, while Mary sat down 
on a stool at her father's feet, and beginning 
at the first verse, repeated the whole chapter 
without a single mistake, without a moment's 
hesitation, and with a tone and emphasis 
which showed her comprehension of the 
truths so beautifully taught, and her sympathy 
with them. 

** Mark my words, wife," said Jacob that 
night, when Mary had gone to bed, **that 
child will do a work for the Lord before 
she dies. See you not how He Himself 
is leading and guiding His lamb into green 



Two Miles to a Bible. 69 

pastures and beside still waters ? Why, 
Molly, when she repeated that verse, 'Ask, 
and ye shall receive,' I saw her eyes shine, 
and her cheeks glow again, and I knew 
she was thinking of the Bible that she's set 
her heart on, and which I doubt not she's 
praying for often enough when we know 
nothing about it. And the Lord He will 
give it her some day. Of that I'm moral 
certain. Yes, Molly, our Mary will have 
her Bible!" 



CHAPTER V. 

FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS LEAST. 

Since this one talent Thou hast granted me, 
I give Thee thanks, and joy, in blessing Thee 

That I am worthy any. 
I would not hide or hury it, but rather 
Use it for Thee and Thine, O Lord and Father 

And make one talent many. 

E may be sure that 
various were the 
influences tend- 
ing to mould the 
character of Mary 
Jones during the 
years of her school- 
life, confirming in 
her the wonderful 
steadfastness of purpose and earnestness of 
spirit for which she was remarkable, as well 



Faithful in that which is Least. 71 

as fostering the tender and loving nature 
that made her beloved by all with whom 
she had to do. 

Her master, John Ellis (who afterwards 
was stationed at Barmouth), seems to have 
been a conscientious and able teacher, and 
we may infer that he took no small part in 
the development of the mind and heart of a 
pupil who must always have been an object 
of special interest from her great intelligence 
and eagerness to learn. 

But as the years passed, the time came for 
John Ellis to change his sphere of labour. 
He did so, and his place was taken by a man, 
a sketch of whose story may perhaps not 
inappropriately be given here, as that of the 
teacher under whom Mary Jones was being 
instructed at the time when a great event 
occurred in her history, an event the recount- 
ing of which we leave for the next chapter. 

The successor to John Ellis was Lewis 

Williams, a man who from a low station in life, 

and from absolute ignorance, rose to a posi- 
6 



72 Mary Jones. 

tion of considerable influence and popularity ; 
from an utterly heedless and godless life, to 
be a God-fearing and noble-minded Christian. 

He was a man of small size, and from all 
that we can learn of his intellect and talents 
we can hardly think that they were of any 
high order. But what he lacked in mental 
gifts he made up in iron resolution, in a 
perseverance which was absolutely sublime 
in its determination not to be baffled. 

He was born in Pennal in the year 1774 ; 
his parents were poor, but of them nothing 
further is known. 

Like other boys at that time, and in that 
neighbourhood, he was wild and reckless, 
breaking the Sabbath continually, and other- 
wise drawing upon himself the censure of 
those with whom he was acquainted. 

But when he was about eighteen years old 
he chanced on one occasion to be at a prayer- 
meeting, when a Mr. Jones, of Mathafarn, 
was reading and expounding the fifth chapter 
of the Epistle to the Romans. 



Faithful in that which is Least. 73 

The word of God, thus made known to 
Lewis Williams in perhaps a fresh and 
striking manner, was the means of carrying 
home to his hitherto hard heart the con- 
viction of sin ; and a change was from that 
time observed in him, which gradually deep- 
ened, until none could longer doubt that 
he had become an earnest and consistent 
Christian. 

On the occasion of his requesting to be 
admitted to membership in a little Methodist 
church at Cwmllinian, he was asked (pro- 
bably as one of the test questions), "If 
Jesus Christ asked you to do some work for 
Him, would you do it?*' His answer gives 
us the key to his success: **Oh yes; whatever 
Jesus required of me I would do at oncer 

Such was the commencement of the 
religious life of this most singular man. 

Some years after, when in service at a 
place called Trychiad, near Llanegryn, he 
could not but notice the ignorance of the 
boys in the neighbourhood, and, burning 



74 Mary J ones, 

with zeal to perform some direct and special 
work for his Heavenly Master, he resolved 
to establish there a Sunday school, and a 
week-night school besides, if possible, in 
order to teach the lads to read. 

This would have been praiseworthy, but 
still nothing remarkable in the way of an 
undertaking, had Lewis Williams received 
any sort of education himself. But as he 
had never enjoyed a day s schooling in his 
life, and could hardly read a word correctly, 
the thought of teaching others seemed, to 
say the least, rather a wild idea. 

But how often the old proverb has been 
proved true, that where there is a will there 
is a way ;• and once more was this verified in 
the experience of Lewis Williams. 

Owing to the young man s untiring energy 
and courage, his school was opened in a short 
time, and he began the work of instruction, 
teaching, we are told, the alphabet to the 
lowest class by setting it to the tune of 
" The March of the Men of Harlech." 



Faithful in that which is Least. 75 

Dr. Moffat, we know, tried the same plan 
of melody lessons forty years later, with a 
number of Bechuana children, teaching them 
their letters to the tune of ''Auld Lang 
Syne '' with wonderful facility and success. 

But Lewis Williams, if he set up for a 
schoolmaster at all, could hardly confine his 
instructions to the lowest class in the school ; 
yet in undertaking the teaching of the older 
boys, he was coming face to face with an 
obstacle which might well have seemed in- 
surmountable to any one whose will was less 
strong or courage less undaunted. 

The master could not read, or at least he 
could neither read fluently nor correctly, yet 
he had bound himself to teach reading to the 
lads in his school. 

Painfully mindful of his deficiencies, he 
used, before commencing his Sunday-school 
exercises or his evening classes, to pay a 
visit to a good woman, Betty Evans by 
name, who had learned to read well. Under 
her tuition he prepared the lessons he was 



y6 Mary J ones, 

going to give that day or the next, so that 
in reality the master of that flourishing little 
school was only beforehand with his scholars 
6y a few hours. 

At other times he would invite a number 
of scholars from an endowed high school in 
the neighbourhood, to come for reading and 
argument. 

With quiet tact and careful foresight he 
would arrange that the subject taken for 
reading and discussion should include the 
lesson which he would shortly have to give. 

While the reading and talk went on, he 
listened with rapt attention. The discus- 
sions as to the meaning or pronunciation of 
the more difficult words was all clear gain to 
him, as familiarizing his mind with what he 
desired to know. 

But none of these youths meeting thus 
had an inkling that the man who invited 
them, who spoke so discreetly, and listened 
so attentively, was himself a learner, and 
dependent upon them for the proper con- 



Faithful in that which is Least. 77 

struction of phrases, or for the correct pro- 
nunciation of words occurring in his next 
day's or week's lessons. 

The school duties were always commenced 
with prayer, and as the master had a restless, 
unruly set of lads to do with, he invented 
a somewhat peculiar way of securing their 
attention for the devotions in which he led 
them. 

Familiar with military exercises through 
former experiences in the militia, he would 
put the restless boys through a series of 
these, and when they came to ** stand at 
ease,*' and " attention ! " he would at once, 
but very briefly and simply, engage in 
prayer. 

While Lewis Williams was thus hard at 
work at Llanegryn, seeking to win hearts to 
the Saviour, and train minds to serve Him, 
it happened that Mr. Charles of Bala, intend- 
ing to preside at a members* meeting to be 
held at Abergynolwyn, arrived at Bryncrug 
the evening before, and spent the night at 



78 Mary J one 3. 

the house of John Jones, the schoolmaster of 
that place. 

In the course of conversation with his 
host, Mr. Charles asked him if he knew of 
a suitable person to undertake the charge of 
one of his recently established schools in the 
neighbourhood. John Jones replied that he 
had heard of a young man at Llanegryn, 
who taught the children both on week-nights 
and Sundays ; '* but," added the schoolmaster, 
** as I hear that he himself cannot read, I 
can hardly understand how he is able to 
instruct others.** 

'' Impossible ! " exclaimed Mr. Charles. 
** How can any one teach what he does not 
himself know ? '* 

'' Still, they say he does so," replied John 
Jones. 

Mr. Charles at once expressed a wish to 
see this mysterious instructor of youth, who 
was reported as imparting to others what he 
did not himself possess. The next day, 
accordingly, summoned by John Jones, our 



Faithful in that which is Least. 79 

young schoolmaster made his appearance. 
His rustic garb, and the simphcity of his 
manner, gave the impression of his being 
anything but a pedagogue, whatever might 
have been said of him. 

** Well, my young friend, said Mr. Charles, 
in the genial pleasant way that was natural 
to him, and that at once inspired with con- 
fidence all with whom he had to do, ** they 
tell me you keep a school at Llanegryn 
yonder, on Sundays and week-nights, for 
the purpose of teaching children to read. 
Have you many scholars } " 

** Yes, sir, far more than I am able to 
teach," replied Lewis Williams. 

*' And do they learn a little by your 
teaching ? " asked Mr. Charles, as kindly as 
ever, but with a quaint smile lurking round 
his mouth. 

** I think sopie of them learn, sir," re- 
sponded the young teacher, very modestly, 
and with an overwhelming sense of his own 
ignorance — a consciousness that showed 



8o Mary Jones. 

Itself painfully both in his voice and 
manner. 

" Do you "understand any English ? " 
questioned Mr. Charles. 

" Only a stray word or two, sir, which I 
picked up when serving in the militia." 

*' Do you read Welsh fluently ? 

** No, sir, I can read but little, but I am 
doing my very best to learn.'* 

**Were you at a school before beginning 
to teach ? " asked Mr. Charles, more and 
more interested in the young man who stood 
so meekly before him 

** No, sir. I never had a day's schooling 
in my life." 

"And your parents did not teach you to 
read while you were at home "i " 

** No, sir, my parents could not read a 
word for themselves." 

Mr. Charles opened his Bible at the first 
chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and 
asked Lewis Williams to read the opening 
verses. 



Faithful in that which is Least. 8i 

Slowly, hesitatingly, and with several mis- 
takes, the young man complied, stumbling 
with difficulty through the first verse. 

" That will do, my lad," said Mr. Charles ; 
**but how you are able to teach others to 
read, passes my comprehension. Tell me 
now by what plan you instruct the children." 

Then the poor young teacher described the 
methods to which he had recourse for receiv- 
ing and imparting instruction ; he gave an 
account of his musical ABC; the lessons 
given to himself by Betty Evans ; the read- 
ings and discussions of the grammar-school 
boys ; and the scholars playing at *' little 
soldiers." 

As Lewis Williams proceeded with his 
confessions (for such they appeared to him), 
Mr. Charles, with the discernment which 
seems to have been one of his characteristics, 
had penetrated through the roughness and 
uncouthness of the narrator to the real force 
of character and earnestness of the man. He 
saw that this humble follower of the Saviour 



82 Mary yones. 

had earnestly endeavoured to improve his 
one talent, and work with it in the Master s 
service, and that he only needed help in the 
development of his capacity, to render him 
a most valuable servant of Christ. He re- 
commended him therefore to place himself 
for a time under the tuition of John Jones, 
and thus fit himself for efficient teaching in 
his turn. 

During the following three months, Lewis 
Williams followed the advice of Mr. Charles ; 
and this was all the schooling that he ever 
had. 

His self-culture did not, however, cease 
with the help gained from John Jones. 
Every hour he could spare was devoted to 
study, in order to fit himself for one of the 
schoolmasters' places under Mr. Charles's 
special control and management. And we 
are told that in order to perfect himself 
further in reading, he used to visit neighbour- 
ing churches, to study the delivery and 
reading of the ministers presiding there. 



Faithful in that which is Least. 83 

His earnest desire was gratified at last, for 
in the year 1799— that is, when he was about 
twenty-five years of age — he was engaged by 
Mr. Charles as a paid teacher in one of his 
schools. He was removed to Abergynolwyn 
a year later, and here, among his pupils, was 
our young friend Mary Jones. 

In his subsequent years of work he was 
the means of establishing many new schools, 
and of reviving others which were losing 
their vitality ; and at length he even became 
a preacher, so great was his zeal in his 
Master's service, and so anxious was he that 
all should know the truth and join in the 
work of the Lord. 

He died in his eighty-eighth year, followed 
by the sincere gratitude and deep love of the 
many whom he had benefited. 

Our story now returns to Mary Jones, who 
at the time that Lewis Williams became 
schoolmaster at Abergynolwyn, was nearly 
sixteen years old. 

She was an active, healthy maiden, full of 



84 Mary Jones. 

life and energy, as earnest and as diligent 
as ever. Nor had her purpose faltered for 
one moment as regarded the purchase of a 
Bible. Through six long years she had 
hoarded every penny, denying herself the 
little indulgences which the poverty of her 
life must have made doubly attractive to one 
so young. She had continued her visits to 
the farm-house, and while she there studied 
her Bible lessons for school, her desire to 
possess God's Holy Book for herself grew 
almost to a passion. 

What joy it would be, she often thought, 
if every day she could read and commit to 
memory portions of Scripture, storing her 
mind and heart with immortal truths. **But 
the time will come," she had added, " when 
I shall have my Bible. Yes, though I have 
waited so long, the time will come." Then 
on her knees beside her little bed she had 
prayed aloud, " Dear Lord, let the time 
come quickly ! " 

As may be supposed, Mary was the great 



Faithful in that which is Least. 85 

pride and delight of her parents. She was 
more useful, more her mother's right hand 
than ever ; and her father, as he looked 
into her clear, honest, intelligent dark eyes, 
and heard her recite her lesson for school, 
or recount for his benefit all the explanations 
to which she had that day listened, thanked 
the Lord in his heart, for his brave. God- 
fearing child, and prayed that she might grow 
up to be a blessing to all with whom she 
might have to do in the future. 




CHAPTER VI. 

ON THE WAY 

A strong, brave heart, and a purpose true. 

Are better than wealth untold. 
Planting a garden in barren ways, 

And turning their dust to goiii. 

MOTHER! O father! 
onlythink! Mrs. Evans 
has just paid me for 
that work I did for her, 
and it is more than I 
expected ; and now I 
find I have enough to 
buy a Bible. I'm so 
happy I don't know 

what to do." 

Mary had just come from the farm-house, 

and now as she bounded in with the joyful 

news, Jacob stopped his loom, and held out 

both hands. 



On the Way. 87 

** Is it really so, Mary ? After six years' 
saving ! Nay then, God be thanked, child, 
who first put the wish into your heart, and 
then gave you patience to wait and work to 
get the thing you wanted. Bless you, my 
little maid," and Jacob laid a hand solemnly 
upon his daughter's head, adding in a lower 
tone, '* and she shall be blest ! " 

" But tell me, father dear," said Mary after 
a little pause, " where am I to buy the 
Bible ? There are no Bibles to be had here 
or at Abergynolwyn." 

'' I cannot tell you, Mary, but our preacher, 
William Huw, will know," replied Jacob ; 
** you will do well to go to him to-morrow, 
and ask how you're to get the book." 

Acting upon her father s suggestion, Mary 
accordingly went the next day to Llechwedd 
to William Huw, and to him she put the 
question so all-important to her. But he 
replied that not a copy could be obtained 
(even of the Welsh version published the 
year before) nearer than of Mr. Charles of 
7 



88 Mary Jones, 

Bala ; and he added that he feared lest all the 
Bibles received by Mr. Charles from London 
had been sold or promised months ago. 

This was discouraging news, and Mary 
went home, cast down indeed, but not in 
despair. There was still, she reflected, a 
chance that one copy of the Scriptures yet 
remained in Mr. Charles's possession ; and if 
so, that Bible should be hers. 

The long distance— over twenty-five miles 
— the unknown road, the far-famed, but to 
her, strange minister, who was to grant her 
the boon she craved — all this, if it a little 
frightened her, did not for one moment 
threaten to change her purpose. 

Even Jacob and Molly, who at first, on 
account of the distance, objected to her 
walking to Bala for the purchase of her 
Bible, ceased to oppose their will to hers ; 
'' for," said good Jacob to his wife, ** if it's the 
Lord answering our prayers and leading the 
child, as we prayed He might, it would ill 
become us to go against His wisdom." 



On the Way. 89 

And so our little Mary had her way, and 
having received permission for her journey, 
she went to a neighbour living near, and 
telling her of her proposed expedition, asked 
if she would lend her a wallet to carry home 
the treasure should she obtain it. 

The neighbour, mindful of Mary's many 
little acts of thoughtful kindness towards 
herself and her children, and glad of any way 
in which she could show her grateful feeling 
and sympathy, put the wallet into the girFs 
hand, and bade her good-bye with a hearty 
**God speed you !" 

The next morning, a fresh, breezy day in 
spring, in the year 1800, Mary rose almost 
as soon as it was light, and washed and 
dressed with unusual care ; for was not this 
to be a day of days — the day for which she 
had waited for years, and which must, she 
thought, make her the happiest of girls, or 
bring to her such grief and disappointment 
as she had never yet known ? 

Her one pair of shoes — far too precious a 



go Mary yones. 

possession to be worn on a twenty-five mile 
walk — Mary placed in her wallet, intending to 
put them on as soon as she reached the town. 

Early as was the hour, Molly and Jacob 
were both up to give Mary her breakfast of 
hot milk and bread, and have family prayer, 
offering a special petition for God's blessing 
on their child's undertaking, and for His 
protection and care during her journey. 

This fortified and comforted Mary, and, 
kissing her parents, she went out into the 
dawn of that lovely day — a day which lived 
in her remembrance till the last hour of her 
long and useful life. 

She set out at a good pace — not too quick, 
for that would have wearied her ere a quarter 
of her journey could be accomplished, but 
an even, steady walk, her bare brown feet 
treading lightly but firmly along the road, 
her head erect, her clear eyes glistening, her 
cheek with a healthy flush under the brown 
skin. So she went — the bonniest, blithest 
maiden on that sweet spring morning in all 



On the Way. 91 

the country round. Never before had every- 



thing about her looked to Mary as it looked on 
that memorable morning. The dear old moun- 



92 Mary yones. 

tain seemed to gaze down protectingly upon 
her. The very sun, as it came up on the 
eastern horizon, appeared to have a smile 
specially for her. The larks soared from the 
meadow till their trilling died away in the 
sky, like a tuneful prayer sent up to God. 
The rabbits peeped out at her from leafy 
nooks and holes, and even a squirrel, as it 
ran up a tree, stopped to glance familiarly at 
our little maiden, as much as to say, ** Good 
morning, Mary ; good luck to you ! '* And 
the girl's heart was attuned to the blithe 
loveliness of nature, full of thankfulness for 
the past and of hope for the future. 

And now, leaving our heroine bravely 
wending her way towards Bala, we will just 
record briefly the history of that good and 
earnest man on whom the child^s hopes and 
expectations were this day fixed, and who 
therefore, in Mary's eyes, must be the 
greatest and most important person — for the 
time — in the world. 

But apart from the ideas and opinions of 



On the^Way, *' 93- 

a simple girl, Thomas Charles of Bala was in 
reality a person of great influence and high 
standing in Wales, and had been instru- 
mental in the organization and execution of 
much important and excellent work, in places 
where ignorance and darkness had hitherto 
prevailed. Hence the name (by which he 
often went) of " the Apostolic Charles of 
Bala." 

He was now about fifty years of age, and 
had spent twenty years in going about 
among the wildest parts of Wales, preaching 
the Word of Life, forming schools, and using 
his great and varied talents wholly in the 
service of his Master. 

At the age of eighteen he had given him- 
self to the Saviour, and his first work for the 
Lord was in his own home, where he was the 
means of instituting family worship and 
exerting an influence for good none the less 
powerful that it was loving and gentle. 

His education was begun at Carmarthen, 
and continued at Oxford, and we learn that 



94 Mary Jones. 

the Rev. John Newton was a kind and good 
friend to him during a part of his student 
life, and that on one occasion his vacation 
was spent at the house of this excellent 
man. 

The Rev. Thomas Charles became an 
ordained minister of the Church of England 
in due course, but owing to the faithful and 
outspoken style of his preaching, many of his 
own denomination took offence and would not 
receive him ; so he seceded from the Church 
of England and joined the Welsh Calvinistic 
Methodists ; but his greatest work hitherto 
had been the establishment of Day and Sunday 
Schools in Wales. The organization of these, 
the selection of paid teachers, the periodical 
visiting and examination of the various 
schools, made Mr. Charles's life a very busy 
one. But as he toiled on, he could see 
that his labour was not in vain. Wherever 
he went, carrying the good news, proving it in 
his life, spending all he was and all he had 
in the service of Christ, — the darkness that 



On the Way. 95 

hung over the people lifted, and the true 
light began to shine. 

The ignorance and immorality gave place 
to a desire for knowledge and holiness, and 
the soil that was barren and stony became 
the planting-place of sweet flowers and 
pleasant fruits. 

Such, in brief, was the man — and such his 
work up to the time of Mary Joneses journey 
to Bala 

About the middle of the day Mary stopped 
to rest and to eat some food which her 
mother had provided for her. Under a tree 
in a grassy hollow not far from the road, she 
half reclined, protected from the sun by the 
tender green of the spring foliage, and cooling 
her hot dusty feet in the soft damp grass that 
spread like a velvet carpet all over the hollow. 

Ere long too she spied a little stream, 
trickling down a hill on its way to the sea, 
and here she drank, and washed her face and 
hands and feet, and was refreshed. 

Half an hour^s quiet rested her thoroughly, 



g6 Mary Jones, 

then she jumped up, slung her wallet over 
her shoulder again, and recommenced her 
journey. 

The rest of the way, along a dusty road 
for the most part, and under a warm sun, was 
fatiguing enough ; but the little maiden 
plodded patiently on, though her feet were 
blistered and cut with the stones, and her 
head ached and her limbs were very weary. 

Once a kind cottager, as she passed, gave 
her a drink of butter-milk, and a farmer*s 
little daughter, as Mary neared her destina- 
tion, offered her a share of the supper she 
was eating as she sat in the porch in the cool 
of the evening ; but these were all the adven- 
tures or incidents in Mary's journey till she 
got to Bala. 

On arriving there, she followed out the 
instructions that had been given her by 
William Huw, and went to the house of 
David Edwards, a much respected Methodist 
preacher at Bala. 

This good man received her most kindly, 



On the Way. 97 

questioned her as to her motive in coming so 
far, but ended by telling her that owing to 
Mr. Charleses early and regular habits (x)ne 
secret of the large amount of work which he 
accomplished), it was now too late in the day 
to see him. 

" But," added the kind old man, seeing his 
young visitor's disappointment, *' you shall 
sleep here to-night, and we will go to Mr. 
Charles's as soon as I see light in his study- 
window to-morrow morning, so that you may 
accomplish your errand in good time, and be 
able to reach home before night." 

With grateful thanks Mary accepted the 
hospitality offered her, and after a simple 
supper, she was shown into the little prophet's 
chamber where she was to sleep. 

There, after repeating a chapter of the 
Bible, and offering an earnest prayer, she lay 
down, her mind and body alike resting, her 
faith sure that her journey would not be in 
vain, but that He who had led her safely thus 
far, would give her her heart's desire. 



gS Mary yones. 

And the curtains of night fell softly about 
the good preacher's humble dwelling, shadow- 
ing the sleepers there ; and the rest of those 
sleepers was sweet, and their safety assured, 
for watching over them was the God of the 
night and the day — the God whom they loved 
and trusted, and underneath them were the 
Everlasting Arms. 




B 



CHAPTER Vll. 

TEARS THAT PREVAIL. 



ALA is even now a quiet little town, 
situated near the end of Bala Lake, on 



lOO Mary Jones. 

the north side of a wide, cultivated valley. 
A hundred years ago, it was more quiet and 
rural still. The scenery is pastoral in its 
character, hilly rather than mountainous, but 
well wooded and watered. The town is a 
favourite resort of people fond of shooting 
and fishing. Altogether it is a pretty, cheer- 
ful, healthy spot, but wanting in the imposing 
grandeur and rugged beauty of many other 
parts of North Wales. 

Such, then, was the place to which our little 
heroine's weary feet had brought her on the 
preceding evening, and such was the home 
— for the greater part of his life — of Thomas 
Charles of Bala. 

Mary's deep, dreamless sleep was not 
broken until her host knocked at her door 
at early dawning. 

'* Wake up, Mary Jones, my child ! Mr. 
Charles is an early riser, and will soon be at 
work. The dawn is breaking ; get up, dear ! " 

Mary started up, rubbing her eyes. The 
time had really come, then, and in a few 



I02 Mary Jones. 

minutes she would know what was to be 
the result of her long waiting. * 

Her heart beat quicker as she washed and 
dressed, but her excitement calmed when she 
sat down for a minute or two on the side of 
her bed, and repeated the 23rd Psalm. 

The sweet words of the royal singer were 
the first that occurred to her, and now, as 
she murmured '' The Lord is my shepherd, I 
shall not want,'' she felt as though she were 
of a truth being watched over and cared for 
by a loving Shepherd, and being led by Him. 

She was soon ready, and David Edwards 
and his guest proceeded together to Mr. 
Charleses house. 

'* There's a light in his study," said the 
good old preacher. *' Our apostle is at his 
desk already. There are not many like him, 
Mary ; always at work for the Master. The 
world would be better had we more such men." 

Mary did not reply, but she listened in- 
tently as David Edwards knocked at the 
door. There was no answer, only the tread 



Tears that Prevail. 103 

of a foot across the floor above, and the next 
moment the door opened, and Mr. Charles 
himself stood before them. 

" Good morning, friend Edwards ! And 
what brings you here so early ? Come in, 
do/' said the genial, hearty voice, which so 
many knew, and had cause to love. Then, as 
David Edwards entered, Mr. Charles noticed 
the little figure behind him in the doorway. 

A rather timid shrinking little figure it 
was now, for Mary's courage was fast ebbing 
away, and she felt shy and frightened. 

A few words of explanation passed be- 
tween the old preacher and Mr. Charles; 
then Mary was invited to enter the study. 

** Now, my child," said Mr. Charles, 
" don't be afraid, but tell me all about your- 
self, where you live, and what your name is, 
and what you want." 

At this Mary took courage and answered 

all Mr. Charles's questions, her voice (which at 

first was low and tremulous) strengthening as 

her courage returned. She told him all about 

8 



I04 Mary Jones. 

her home and her parents, her longing when 
quite a child for a Bible of her own, then of 
the long years during which she had saved 
up her little earnings towards the purchase 
of a Bible — the sum being now complete. 

Then Mr. Charles examined her as to her 
Scripture knowledge, and was delighted with 
the girl's intelligent replies, which showed 
how earnestly and thoroughly she had 
studied the Book she loved so well. 

'* But how, my child," said he, " did you 
get to know the Bible as you do, when you 
did not own one for yourself? " 

Then Mary told him of the visits to the 
farm-house, and how, through the kindness 
of the farmer and his wife, she had been 
able to study her Sunday-school lessons, and 
commit portions of Scripture to memory. 

As she informed Mr. Charles of all that 
had taken place, and he began to realize 
how brave, and patient, and earnest, and 
hopeful she had been through all these 
years of waiting, and how far she had now 



Tears that Prevail. 105 

come to obtain possession of the coveted 
treasure, his bright face became over- 
shadowed, and, turning to David Edwards, 
he said, sadly, " I am indeed grieved that 
this dear girl should have come all the way 
from Llanfihangel to buy a Bible, and that 
I should be unable to supply her with one. 
The consignment of Welsh Bibles that I 
received from London last year was all 
sold out months ago, excepting a few copies 
which I have kept for friends whom I must 
not disappoint. Unfortunately the Society 
which has hitherto supplied Wales with the 
Scriptures declines to print any more, and 
where to get Welsh Bibles to satisfy our 
country's need I know not." 

Until now, Mary had been looking up 
into Mr. Charles s face, with her great, dark 
eyes full of hope and confidence ; but as he 
spoke these words to David Edwards, and 
she noticed his overclouded face, and began 
to understand the full import of his words, 
the room seemed to her to darken suddenly, 



106 Mary Jones, 

and, dropping into the nearest seat, she 
buried her face in her hands, and sobbed 
as, perhaps, few girls of her age had ever 
sobbed before. 

It was all over, then, she said to herself 
— all of no use — the prayers, the longing, 
the waiting, the working, the saving for six 
long years, the weary tramp with bare feet, 
the near prospect of her hopes being ful- 
filled, all, all in vain! And to a mind so 
stocked with Bible texts as hers, the lan- 
guage of the Psalmist seemed . the natural 
outburst for so great a grief, ** Hath- God 
forgotten to be gracious ? Hath He in 
anger shut up His tender mercies ? " All 
in vain— all of no use ! And the poor little 
head, lately so erect, drooped lower and 
lower, and the sunburnt hands, roughened 
by work and exposure, could not hide the 
great hot tears that rolled down, chasing 
each other over cheeks out of which the 
accustomed rosy tint had fled, and falling 
unheeded through her fingers. 



Tears that Prevail. 107 

There were a few moments during which 
only Mary's sobs broke the silence ; but those 
sobs had appealed to Mr. Charles's heart with 
a pathos which he was wholly unable to resist. 

With his own voice broken and unsteady, he 
said, as he rose from his seat, and laid a hand 
on the drooping head of the girl before him : 

" My dear child, I see you must have a 
Bible, difficult as it is for me to spare you 
one. It is impossible, yes, simply impossible, 
to refuse you." 

In the sudden revulsion of feeling that 
followed these words, Mary could not speak ; 
but she glanced up with such a face of 
mingled rain and sunshine — such a rainbow 
smile — such a look of inexpressible joy and 
thankfulness in her brimming eyes, that the 
responsive tears gushed to the eyes both 
Mr. Charles and David Edwards. 

Mr. Charles turned away for a moment 
to a book- cupboard that stood behind him, 
and opening it, he drew forth a Bible. 

Then, laying a hand once more on Mary's 



I08 Mary yones. 

head, with the other he placed the Bible in 
her grasp, and, looking down the while into 
the earnest, glistening eyes upturned to him, 
he said : 

''If you, my dear girl, are glad to receive 
this Bible, truly glad am I to be able to 
give it to you. Read it carefully, study it 
diligently, treasure up the sacred words in 
your memory, and act up to its teachings." 

And then, as Mary, quite overcome with 
delight and thankfulness, began once more to 
sob, but softly, and with sweet, happy tears, 
Mr. Charles turned to the old preacher, and 
said, huskily, ** David Edwards, is not such 
a sight as this enough to melt the hardest 
heart ? A girl, so young, so poor, so intelli- 
gent, so familiar with Scripture, compelled 
to walk all the distance from Llanfihangel to 
Bala (about fifty miles there and back) to 
get a Bible ! From this day I can never 
rest until I find out some means of supply- 
ing the pressing wants of my country that 
cries out for the Word of God." 



no Mary yones. 

Half an hour later, Mary Jones, having 
shared David Edwards*s frugal breakfast, 
set off on her homeward journey. 

The day was somewhat cloudy, but the 
child did not notice it ; her heart was full 
of sunshine. The wind blew strongly, but 
a great calm was in her soul, and her young 
face was so full of happiness that the simple 
folk she met on the way could not but 
notice her as she tripped blithely on, her 
bare feet seeming hardly to press the ground, 
her eyes shining with deep content, while the 
wallet containing her newly-found treasure 
was no longer slung across her back, but 
clasped close to her bosom. 

The sun rose and burst through the 
clouds, glorifying all the landscape ; and 
onward steadily went Mary, her heart, like 
the lark's song, full of thanksgiving, and her 
voice breaking out now and again into melody, 
to which the words of some old hymn or of 
a well-known and much-loved text set them- 
selves, without an effort on the girl's part. 



Tears that Prevail, iil 

On, still on, she went, heeding not the 
length and weariness of the way; and the 
afternoon came, and the sun set in the 
western heavens with a glory that made 
Mary think of the home prepared above 
for God's children ; that heaven with its 
walls of jasper, and its gates of pearl, and 
its streets of gold, and its light that needs 
nor sun nor moon, but streams from the 
Life-giving Presence of God Himself. 

That evening Jacob and his wife were 
seated waiting for supper and for Mary. 
What news would the child bring } How 
had she sped "i Had she received her Bible ? 
These were some of the questions which the 
anxious parents asked themselves, listening 
the while for their daughter s return after the 
fatigues and possible dangers of her fifty 
miles' walk. 

But the worthy couple were not long kept 
in suspense. 

Presently the light step which they knew 
so well, approached the cottage ; the latch 



Hi Mary yone$. 

was lifted, and Mary entered, weary, foot-sdfe, 
dusty and travel-stained indeed, but with 
happiness dimpling her cheeks and flashing 
in her eyes. And Jacob held out both arms 
to his darling, and as he clasped her to his 
heart, he murmured in the words of the 
prophet of old, ** Is it well with the child ? " 
and Mary, from the depths of a satisfied 
heart, answered solemnly, but with gladness, 
** It is well/' 

We sometimes see — and particularly in 
the case of young people — that great eager- 
ness for the possession of some coveted 
article is followed by indifference when the 
treasure is safely in their hands. It was not 
so, however, with Mary Jones. The Bible for 
which she had toiled, and waited, and prayed, 
and wept, became each day more precious to 
her The Word of the Lord was indeed nigh 
unto her, even in her mouth and in her heart. 

Chapter after chapter was learned by heart, 
and the study of the Sunday-school lessons 
became her greatest privilege and delight. 



Tears that Prevail, l\% 

If a question were asked by the teacher, 
which other girls could not answer, Mary was 
always appealed to, and was invariably ready 
with a thoughtful, intelligent reply, while in 
committing to memory not only chapters, but 
whole books of the Bible, she was unrivalled 
both in the school and neighbourhood. 

Nor was this all. For though to love, 
and read, and learn the Bible are good things, 
this is not the sum of what is required by 
Him who has said *' If ye love Me, keep My 
commandments." 

Mary's study of the Word of God did not 
prevent the more than ever faithful discharge 
of all her duties. Her mother, who had at 
one time feared that Mary's desire for book 
learning, and longing to possess a Bible of 
her own, might lead her to the neglect of her 
practical duties, was surprised and delighted to 
see that, although there was a change indeed 
in the girl, it was a change for the better. 

The holy truths that sank into her heart, 
were but the precious seed in good ground, 



114 Mary Jones. 

which brings forth fruit an hundredfold ; and 
the more entire the consecration of that young 
heart to the Lord, the sweeter became even 
the commonest duties of life, because they 
were done for Him. 

Not very long after Mary's visit to Bala, 
she had the great pleasure of seeing again 
the kind friend with whom, in her memory, 
her beloved Bible would now always be 
associated. 

Mr. Charles, in the course of his periodical 
visits to the various villages where his 
circulating schools were established, came to 
Abergynolwyn, to inspect the school there 
under the charge of Lewis Williams, and by 
examining the children personally, to assure 
himself of their progress. 

Among the bright young faces upturned 
to him, his observant eye soon caught sight 
of one countenance that he had cause to 
remember with special and with deep interest ; 
and the interest deepened still more, when 
he found that from her alone all his most 



Tears tkai Prevail. 1 1 5 

difficult questions received replies, and that 
her intelligence was only surpassed by the 
childlike humility which is one mark of the 
true Christian. 

We may be very sure that Mr. Charles 
did not miss this opportunity of saying a few 
kind words to his young friend ; and that 
Mary in her turn treasured them up, and 
remembered them through the many years 
and the various events of her after-life. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE WORK BEGUN. 

Henceforward, then, the olive-leaf plucked off, 
Carried to every nation, 

Shall promise be o( re-awakening life. 
Our sinful world's salvation. 

VVyE have seen that the incident recorded in 
VV the last chapter made a deep impression 
upon the mind and heart of Mr. Charles. The 
thought of that bare-footed child, her weary 
journey, her eagerness to spend her six 



The Work Begun, 117 

years' savings in the purchase of a Bible ; 
then her bitter tears of disappointment, and 
her sweet tears of joy — all these came back 
to his recollection again and again ; came 
blended with the memory of the ignorance 
and darkness of too many of his countrymen, 
and with the cry that was ascending all over 
Wales for the Word of God. 

The girl's story was only an illustration of 
the terrible sense of spiritual death that pre- 
vailed during this famine of Bibles ; and none 
could know so well as this good man — whose 
influence was, from the nature of his work, 
very widely diffused — how deep a want lay 
at the root of the people's degradation and 
impiety, against which he seemed, with all his 
earnest striving, to be making such slow pro- 
gress. What wonder, then, that the question 
how to secure the publication of sufficient 
copies of God's Word for Wales, occupied his 
mind almost without cessation ? 

In the winter of 1802, Mr. Charles visited 
London, full of his one great thought and 



ii8 Mary Jones. 

purpose, though not as yet seeing how it 
Was to be accomplished. 

It was while revolving the matter in his 
mind one morning, that the idea occurred 
to him of a Society for the diffusion of the 
Scriptures, a society having for its sole object 
the publication and distribution of Gods 
Holy Word. 

Consulting with some of his friends who 
belonged to the Committee of the Religious 
Tract Society, he received the warmest 
sympathy and encouragement, and was in- 
troduced at their next meeting, where he 
spoke most feelingly and eloquently about 
Wales and its poverty in Bibles, bringing for- 
ward the story which forms the subject of our 
little book, and which gave point and pathos 
to his appeal on behalf of his countrymen. 

Nor was the appeal without effect. A 
thrill of sympathy with a people that so 
longed and thirsted for the Word of God, 
ran through the assembled meeting. An 
earnest desire took possession of Mr. 



The Work Begun, 119 

Charles's hearers to do something towards 
supplying the great need which he so 
touchingly advocated ; and the hearts of 
many were further stirred, and their sym- 
pathies quickened, when one of the secretaries 
of the Committee, the Reverend Joseph 
Hughes, rose, and in reply to Mr. Charles's 
appeal for Bibles for Wales, exclaimed 
enthusiastically : "Mr. Charles, surely a 
society might be formed for the purpose ; 
and if for Wales, why not for the world } " 

This noble Christian sentiment found an 
echo in the hearts of many among the 
audience, and the secretary was instructed to 
prepare a letter inviting Christians every- 
where, and of all denominations, to unite in 
forming a society having for its object the 
diffusion of God's Word over the whole 
earth. 

Two years passed in making known the 
purpose of the Committee, and in necessary 
preliminaries, but in the month of March, 
1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society 

9 



I20 Mary Jones, 

was actually established, and at its first 
meeting the sum of £^oo was subscribed. 

Unfortunately Mr. Charles was unable to 
be present at this meeting. He was hard 
at work at home in Wales, but he heard the 
news with the greatest joy ; and it was owing 
to his exertions and to those of his friends, 
as well as to the efforts of other Christian 
workers who deeply felt the great need of 
the people at this time, that the contributions 
in Wales amounted to nearly ;^ 1,900 ; most 
of this sum consisting of the subscriptions and 
donations of the lower and poorer classes. 

In the foundation of the Bible Society all 
denominations met, and were brought thus 
into sympathy by a common cause, and an 
earnest wish to serve one common Master. 
Hence we see representatives of all Christian 
Churches working together for the good and 
enlightenment of the world. 

Meanwhile, wherever Mr. Charles was at 
work, wherever his influence extended, there 
was awakened the longing, and thence arose 



122 Mary Jones, 

the petition, for the Word of Life ; and 
wherever he told the story, either on Welsh 
or English platforms, of the little maiden of 
Llanfihangel, the simple narrative never failed 
to carry home some lessons to the heart of 
each hearer. 

Great was the joy and thankfulness of this 
single-minded and hard-working minister of 
Christ, when he learnt that the first resolution 
of the Committee of the Bible Society was 
to bring out an edition of the Welsh Bible 
for the use of Welsh Sunday schools ; and 
his delight was greater still when the first 
consignment of these Bibles reached Bala 
in 1806. 

Among the most useful workers in the 
early years of the Bible Society was the 
Reverend John Owen, who soon became one 
of its secretaries, and proved a most earnest 
and able promoter of the glorious enterprise. 

Associated also with this time of the great 
Society's childhood are the honoured names 
of Steinkopff, of Wilberforce, and of 



The Work Begun, 123 

Josiah Pratt ; while in Wales, among its 
earliest supporters, were Dr. Warren, Bishop 
of Bangor, and Dr. Burgess, Bishop of St. 
David's, who united cordially with Mr. 
Charles and others in the good work. As to 
Mr. Charles himself, he evinced the deepest 
interest in the new spheres of labour and 
usefulness opening in all directions, — an 
interest which showed itself in many practical 
ways up to the time of his death. 

But in following the operations of the 
Bible Society, we must not forget our friend 
Mary Jones, who during this time had passed 
from early girlhood to womanhood. 

On leaving school, she worked as a weaver, 
and we conclude that she was still living with 
her parents. 

Of one thing we may be sure ; that her 
precious Bible was as dear to her as ever, 
and that she was intensely interested in the 
founding of the Bible Society, and in the 
news of the first edition of Welsh Bibles 
having been received at Bala. 



124 Mary Jones. 

But in addition to her weaving, and the 
household help she gave her mother, who 
was not so well or strong as formerly, Mary 
had developed a talent for dressmaking, which 
stood her in good stead when she wished to 
earn a little extra money. 

All who could afford it came to her to cut 
out and make their dresses, and though Mary 
never wasted a moment, she sometimes found 
it quite difficult to do during the day all that 
she had planned. 

As for Jacob, he was more and more a 
martyr to asthma, and when the winter winds 
and fogs came his sufferings were very 
great, though they never exceeded the quiet 
patience and fortitude with which he bore his 
affliction — bore it, as he said, ''for the dear 
Lord's sake," who had borne so much for him. 

Occasionally Mr. Charles would visit 
Abergynolwyn, and every now and then 
Llanfihangel, and at such times he and Mary 
Jones met again, and she would learn from 
him how the Society in London was going 



The Work Begun. 125 

on — that great London which was a strange, 
distant, untried world to her, such vague ideas 
had she of its size and its distance from the 
little, quiet, secluded place where she lived. 

And so, up in London, the great tree of 
life went on spreading, and growing, while 
the root from which it had sprung remained 
in Wales unperceived almost beneath the 
soil. And thus we see in this life that God 
has need of the high and the lowly, the great 
and the small, the gold and the baser metal ; 
and out of all. and through all, and in all, He 
works His wondrous way, and permits His 
creatures to join, as it were, with Him in the 
turning of the world from darkness to His 
marvellous light. 




[/Vmi B BibU in Iht Sxiciys Library.') 



CHAPTER IX. 

YOUTHFUL PROMISE FULFILLED. 

Nurtured and nursed of Heaven, ihe blossom bloom 'd, 

Until an open flower 
With buds around it, gazed upon the sun, 

Or drank the shower ; 
Nor did forget, in this the blooming time, 

The fragrance due 
To Him who gives to Nature all her weaiin. 

To flowers their hue. 



w 



HEN next we glance at our heroine 
of Llanfihangel, she is Mary Jones no 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled, 127 

longer. A great change has come over her 
surroundings, and her school work and her 
old home life with her parents are things of 
the past. For she has married a weaver, 
Thomas Lewis by name, and is living at the 
village of Bryncrug, near Towyn, not very 
far from Llanfihangel. But the difference in 
circumstances has not changed the character 
of Mary, save as the advancing summer may 
be said to change the fruit by ripening it. 

So dutiful and devoted a daughter as 
Mary had ever proved herself, would hardly 
have left her parents while she could minister 
to the wants of their declining years, work 
for them, and be their great joy and comfort. 
So it is only reasonable to suppose that ere 
she married, both good old Jacob and his 
wife had been laid to rest, and that Mary, in 
casting in her lot with Thomas Lewis, whom 
possibly she had known for many years, 
would be neglecting no duty that could be 
required from a loving daughter. 

But here, at Bryncrug, with a husband 



128 Mary Jones, 

and children of her own, and the care of 
a home for which she alone was responsible ; 
with new duties, and fresh cares, Mary's love 
for her Bible had grown, not diminished. 

Other things had changed — companion- 
ships, home influences, claims, interests — but 
the Sacred Word remained to her unaltered, 
except that every day it grew more into her 
heart, and became more one with her life, 
yielding her, in answer to careful study, and 
earnest prayer for God s Spirit of enlighten- 
ment, deep meanings of truth and sweetness 
which had hitherto been unperceived. 

If Mary*s life was a busy one during the 
years spent at Llanfihangel, doubly so was 
her life here at Bryncrug. But the same 
quiet energy and steadfastness of purpose for 
which she had ever been remarkable still 
pervaded all that she did, making every 
duty, however humble and homely, a service 
for Christ, while by her consistent Christian 
walk and example she influenced for good 
all that were about her. 



130 Mary Jones, 

If a neighbours child wished to have a 
Sunday-school lesson explained, she invariably 
came to Mary, who could always spare a few 
minutes to give the instruction that had been 
so precious to her in her youthful days. And 
her intimate knowledge of the Bible gave her 
a very clear way of explaining its truths, 
while her insight into character, and her 
sympathetic nature, made her a wise coun- 
sellor and an acceptable teacher. 

If, again, a friend wanted a hint or two in 
the making of a new dress, or advice as to 
the management of her bee-hives, Mary was 
always the authority appealed to, as being 
the most capable, as well as the kindest of 
neighbours, and ever ready to lend a helping 
hand, or speak a helpful word. 

Thus in Bryncrug she was winning for 
herself the love and confidence of her fellow- 
creatures, and showing forth in life and 
character the glory of that Saviour whose 
faithful handmaid she tried to be. 

We have just alluded to the fact of her 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled, 131 

being an authority in the management of 
bees, and she was justly considered so, 
as her success with her own bee-hives 
sufficiently proved. 

That success was simply remarkable, both 
as to the large number of hives, and their 
profitable results. 

The attracting power and influence which 
Mary seemed to exercise over people ap- 
peared to extend even to her bees ; but, be 
this as it might, we are told that whenever 
she approached the hives, her reception by 
her winged subjects was nothing less than* 
royal, such was the loyalty and enthusiasm 
of these sensible, busy little honey-makers. 

The air would be thick with buzzing 
swarms, and presently they would alight 
upon her by hundreds, covering her from 
head to foot, walking over her, but never 
attempting to sting, or showing any feeling 
but one of absolute confidence and friendli- 
ness. She would even catch a handful of 
them as though they had been so many 



132 Mary yones. 

flies — but softly, so as not to hurt them— and 
they never misunderstood her, or offered her 
the slightest injury. In short, there seemed 
to be a sort of tacit agreement between 
Mary and her bees, and they were apparently 
proud and pleased that a part of what they 
were the means of earning should go towards 
the support of Gods work in the world. 
For Mary divided the proceeds thus : 

The money brought by the sale of the 
honey was used for the family and house- 
hold expenses, but the proceeds of the wax 
were divided among the societies which, poor 
as she was, Mary delighted to assist. 

Among these, foremost in her estimation 
stood the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
with the establishment of which she had been 
so closely connected, and she was never 
happier than when she could spare what for 
her was a large sum, to help in sending the 
Word of God — so precious to her own 
heart — over the world. 

Mary was also much interested in the 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled, 133 

Calvinistic Methodist Missionary Society — 
a Society founded by the denomination to 
which she had, for so many years, belonged ; 
and many a secret self-denial could have borne 
witness to her generosity in giving of her 
substance for the furtherance of the Gospel 

On one occasion we are told that, when 
a collection was made at Bryncrug for the 
China Million Testament Fund, in the year 
1854, a ten shilling gold piece was found 
in the collection plate, neatly wrapped up 
between half- pence, and thus hidden until 
the money came to be counted. 

This was Mary's gift, the outcome of a 
loving, generous heart touched by God*s 
love and the spiritual wants of her fellow- 
creatures. 

Mary was sitting at her cottage door one 
day, when a neighbour, Betsy Davies, came 
up. " Good day, Mary," said she ; " may I 
come and sit with you for an hour this 
afternoon ? Tve a dress I must alter for my 
eldest girl, and I don't see how to begin, so 



134 Mary Jones, 

I thought may be youd be good enough 
to show me." 

** Yes, that I will, with pleasure/* replied 
Mary. ** My children are all at school, and 
my husband has gone to Towyn, so I have 
a quiet hour or two before me. Let me see 
your work, Betsy.*' 

Betsy Da vies laid the garment over Mary's 
knee, and Mary*s eyes, quick and intelligent 
as ever, saw in a moment or two what was 
needed. 

" That's not a difficult job," said she 
pleasantly, " nor yet a long one. Just 
unpick that seam, Betsy, and I'll pin it for 
you as it ought to be ; then if you let down 
the tuck in the skirt, you'll have it long 
enough, and as for the rent in the stufif, I 
think I've got some thread about the right 
colour with which you can darn it up. I will 
show you, my dear, how I darn my little 
Mary's dresses when she tears them, as she 
does very often, playing with her brothers. 
Yours can be mended just in the same way, 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled. 135 

and you'll see the place will hardly show 
at all." 

When .the two women had settled down to 
their *work, Betsy said, " I wish you'd tell 
me, Mary, how you manage to get on as you 
do. You can't be rich people, your husband 
being only a weaver like mine and like most 
of the others here, and yet you never get into 
debt, and you always seem to have enough 
for yourselves, and what's more wonderful 
still, you've enough to give away something 
too ; I must say I can't understand it ! " 

*' I don't think there's anything very hard 
to understand," said Mary, smiling. "If by 
great care and a little self-denial we can 
contribute something of our substance to help 
on God's work, it is surely the greatest joy 
we can have." 

** Yes, that's all very well," replied Betsy, 

" but I never have anything to contribute ; 

and yet I haven't as many children as you, 

and so my family and housekeeping doesn't 

cost so much." 

10 



136 Mary Jones, 

" It's like this, Betsy dear," said Mary, 
"we ask ourselves — I mean my husband, and 
my children, and I, all of us — * What can 
we do without ? ' And one and another is 
willing to give up some little indulgence, and 
so we save the money. This we put into 
a box which we call the treasury, and when- 
ever we add anything to what we keep there, 
we think of the widow who cast into the 
treasury of the temple her two mites, and of 
our Lord's kind, tender words about her." 

** But what sort of things can you give 
up ? " asked Betsy. " We poor folk, it 
seems to me, don't have any more than just 
the necessaries of life, and one can't give up 
eating and drinking, or go without clothes to 
our backs." 

** Yet I think if you consider a bit, you'll 
see there are some trifles which are not really 
needful, though they may be pleasant," replied 
Mary. " Now for instance, Thomas had 
always been used to a pipe and a bit of 
tobacco in an evening after his work was 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled, 137 

done ; but when we were all wondering what 
we could give up for our dear Lord's sake 
he said, ' Well, wife, I'll give up my smoke 
in the evenings.' And I tell you, Betsy, the 
tears came into my eyes when I heard that, 
knowing that my husband's words meant a 
real sacrifice. Then our eldest son, wishing 
to imitate his father, cried out, * And I've 
still got that Christmas box my master gave 
me last winter, and I'll give that' And 
Sally, she gave up the thought of a new hat 
ribbon I'd promised her, and she sponged 
and ironed her old one instead, and wore it, 
feeling prouder than if it had been new. 
And as for little Benny, he was all one day 
picking up sticks in the wood to earn a 
penny, and that was his gift." 

**And you yourself?" asked Betsy, with 
interest. 

** I ? Oh, I have the wax that my bees 
make ; and the money that I got by selling 
that went into the treasury, as well as any 
other small sum I did not actually need. 



138 Mary Jones. 

And this I must say, Betsy, we have never 
really suffered for the want of anything we 
have given to God ; and He repays us with 
such happiness and content as He alone can 
give. 

'* That I can well believe," rejoined Betsy, 
" for I never hear you grumble, or see you 
look cross or discontented like the rest 
of the neighbours, and as I do myself only 
too often. Well, Mary," she continued, ** I 
mean to try your plan, though it will come 
very hard at first, as Tm not used to that 
sort of saving." 

** I think I got used to it when I was a 
child, putting away my little mites of money 
towards buying a Bible," rejoined Mary, 
'' For six years I put by all my little earn- 
ings, and since then it has come natural." 

** You did get your Bible, then .^" 

" Yes, indeed ; this is the very one," and 
rising from her seat Mary took the much 
prized volume from the little table in the 
cottage, and put it into her visitor s hands. 



Youthful Promise Fulfilled. 



'39 



Betsy looked at it, inside and out, then 
handed it back saying, " I really believe, 
Mary, that this Bible is one of the reasons 
why you are so different from all the rest of 
us. You've read and studied and learnt so 
much of it, that your thoughts and words 
and life are full of it." 

And Mary turned her bright dark eyes, 
now full of happy tears, upon her companion, 
and answered in a broken voice — 

" O Betsy dear, if there is a little, even a 
little truth in what you kindly say of me, I 
thank God that in His great mercy and love 
He suffers me, poor and weak and simple 
as I am, to show forth in my small way His 
glory, and the truth of His blessed Word." 



K tin Socitlf't LOnry.) 



CHAPTER X. 

HER WORKS DO FOLLOW HER. 

O mighty tree, o'ersh ado wing all the earth, 
In loneliest wilds thy seedling had its birth, 

■\TOW 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 trembhng limbs, once so 



142 Mary Jones. 

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. 

How much of joy or of sorrow, of trial or 
of what the world calls success, had fallen to 
Marys 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, 



1 



Her Works do Follow Her, 143 

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 sum- 
mons came, and she heard the voice which 



144 Mary Jones. 

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, 
1 866, at the good old age of eighty-two. We 
have no particulars of her last moments, save 
that on her death-bed 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 1 799 — 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 



Her Works do Follow Her, 145 

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. 

So, full of days, and like Dorcas of old. 



Her Works do Follow Her, 147 

of good works, Mary Jones passed away 
from earth to the rest that remaineth for the 
people ot God ; a sheaf of ripe corn safely 
garnered at last in the heavenly granary. 

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 im- 
portant 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 



GRAVE or MARY JONES. | 

^r qf ihi diatk ttf Maty Jones skBuld have btm givtn si | 



Her Works do Follow Her. 149 

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/. ; in the eleventh 
year its expenditure had grown to 81,000/., 
swelling in the fifty-first year to 149,000/., 
while in 1890 the sum reached the enormous 
proportions of nearly 228,000/. 

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, Testa- 
ments, 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 pub- 
lished 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. 



150 Mary Jones. 

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 honour- 
able 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. 



Her Works do Follow Her. 151 

Frequently it has been the case, as in 
Madagascar, that the deadly power of perse- 
cution 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 

II 



152 Mary Jones, 

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 every- 
where 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. 



Her Works do Follow Her. 153 

* 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 battle- 
fields, 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 



154 Mary yones. 

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 notwithstand- 
ing 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 



Her Works do Follow Her. 155 

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 eager- 
ness, 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 



156 Mary Jones. 

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 testi- 
mony 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 



Her Works do Follow Her. 157 

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 after- 
wards 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 



158 Mary Jones. 

3. 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 whe wished for the 
privilege of hearing the brave old Christian's 
testimony to the truth, and 6f 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 



Her Works do Follow Her. 159 

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' hom-es 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 
ScriptureSj 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 



i6o Mary Jones. 

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, 



Her Works do Follow Her. i6i 

' 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 



1 62 Mary J ones. 

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 un- 
visited, 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 ! " 



Her Works do Follow Her. 163 

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. 



164 Mary Jones. 

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 use- 
fulness 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 



Her Works do Follow Her. 165 

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 value- 
less ; 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 



1 66 Mary yones. 

for the Master, to self-denial and loving ser- 
vice 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. 




PfTT" 






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