HOPEFUL CASES.
Concerning such, she writes: "Some encouraging circ.u.mstances present themselves amidst the scenes of trial and suffering with which my daily walks render me familiar, and I will note a few which have excited my warmest sympathy. Among others, there is one family of a father, mother, and three small children, whose whole subsistence depends upon what the mother is able to make by washing. The man has been for two months lying ill, with what the doctor calls typhoid fever; but which seems now to have settled on his lungs, attended with a severe cough, and no hope of recovery. I have been enabled to a.s.sist them from time to time with a little nourishment. When I entered their house one day with what I had provided for them, I found they had nothing but a little bread. As I showed them what I had brought, they looked from one to the other, and were so filled with grat.i.tude, and overcome by the unexpected supply, they appeared unable to speak. I find thus, not only an open door to their home, but also a welcome to their hearts. They have not been in the habit of attending church, and, as might be supposed, the duty of personal and family religion was also neglected.
But it appears evident that these trials have not been sent in vain by the Lord. The sick man loves to have me read the Scriptures, and pray with him: and the children delight to see me, often running to meet me, and take me by the hand before I reach the house."
Recognizing the necessity of prayer for the Divine blessing in all our work, she writes in her journal thus:
"MARCH 2, 1875.--In commencing my work this morning I asked for guidance in the direction of my visits, and I was led to go to a house quite out of my district, to visit a colored family who were very dest.i.tute.
"I found them at family prayer, asking the Lord to send them some food; my heart was touched as I listened to the simplicity of the pet.i.tion, and I could not but feel the Lord had directed my steps to the house in answer to their prayer, and was reminded of that pa.s.sage of Scripture, "_while they are yet speaking, I will answer_." I believed these words, and procured them both food and fuel. As we then sat down to read G.o.d"s word, the tears streamed down the cheeks of these aged women, as I was helped to explain the word to them, and when we knelt to pray, we were blest together.
Truly, while teaching others our own souls are often refreshed!
"MARCH 6th.--Poor Mrs. L. was visited to-day; she has been suffering for years from rheumatism. As I went in I said, "Mrs. L., is Jesus precious to-day?" The tears came to her eyes as she said, "I fear I have grieved Him to-day; I felt like murmuring because my pain has been so great." I told her Jesus understood her, and knew she did not mean to murmur. And then I read to her how He had a feeling for our infirmities, being Himself tried and tempted; and so she was comforted, and became quite cheerful. On leaving her I felt what a blessed privilege it is to be able to comfort the sick poor. A poor brother sent to my house to-day for something to nourish him, as he felt quite weak. I prepared some broth and gave it to him, which he ate with a relish, and that pa.s.sage from the word came to my mind, "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me."
"MARCH 8th.--Felt much wearied with visits and climbing stairs, and was glad to return to a cheerful fireside, and settle for the evening; but before I had removed my rubbers, a knock at the door a.s.sured me some call had come for me, and so it proved. A child of one of my families came to say her mother was ill, and wanted to see me. This woman, a few months before, did not seem to care for religion, and would not hear me read, saying she had no time for it; she had to earn her living without listening to what did not concern her. But when she came to lie upon a bed of suffering, she thought of me first, and found the word of G.o.d was just what she wanted; and as I read the words, "Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," the tears ran down her cheeks, and she at once cast herself upon Christ, taking him for her Saviour, and her face shone.
As I left her my soul rejoiced, though it was far in the night when I returned home, that I had been permitted to point one soul to the "Lamb of G.o.d that taketh away the sins of the world."
""Oh! that all the world my Jesus knew, Then all the world would love Him too."
"One poor woman asked me if I would get her a Bible, and she would pay twenty-five cents a month. I promised, and am rejoiced at finding so many that seem eager for Bibles; quite a number have asked for them, and I trust it may prove a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.
"MARCH 11th.--After the fatigue of the day, I did not feel like going out again in the evening, but our pastor, Rev. Geo. O. Phelps, came in, and after tea he said, "We have not many minutes to spare, but we will have a few words of prayer before parting." They were few, but they cheered and comforted me so, I felt refreshed, and forgetting all fatigue, I arose and went to the prayer-meeting, feeling as my people do sometimes when they say to me after a visit, "Oh! Mrs. Knowles, how your prayer has _rested_ me."
"MARCH 23d.--A message came to-day, saying Mrs. L. was dying, and wanted me to come at once. I went, and was helped in return to see the triumph of spiritual over temporal things. The Lord was present to bless us at the bedside of the dying one. Her trust and faith are firm in Jesus, and her whole desire is to be with Him and see Him as He is."
Blessed hope, "to see Him as He is, and to be transformed into His image." John declares:
"Beloved, now are we the sons of G.o.d, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure."
It was about this time that she penned in her diary the following touching record of her toil. It reveals how sincere, diligent, systematic, and unprejudiced she was in her work for Jesus, even mentioning the names of the streets. She faithfully copied the example and closely followed the directions of her master, given to Ananias at the wonderful conversion of the great apostle of the Gentiles, when giving directions how to find Saul of Tarsus:
"The Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth:
"And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
"Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
"And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
"But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
"_For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name"s sake._"--Acts ix. 11-16.
She writes: "I called on a woman in Broome Street who was convicted of her lost condition and ready to yield to despair. Her mind had been impressed by a letter from her husband who had gone West some time since on business.
"He had been converted during his absence, being awakened by witnessing the wickedness and depravity of his fellow-men, the profanation of the Sabbath, licentiousness in high and low places, and reflecting that if there were a righteous G.o.d, the wicked could not go unpunished. It was pleasant to be able to tell this distressed woman of the love of Jesus, and to urge her to go with her husband in the narrow way. On my next visit I found her more cheerful, and feeling that there is hope for her. She wishes me to get her a Bible, which she will pay for by weekly instalments.
"Met with a woman in Eldridge Street,[4] who was given to drinking. As she was sober at that time, I conversed with her about her sin. She burst into tears and said, "I have long wanted some one to talk to me about my soul." As I read to her the story of redeeming love, she seemed to drink it in with delight, and promised to attend the place of prayer. She, too, wishes to possess a Bible, and to use the money she has before spent for rum in payment. I am greatly encouraged to labor and pray for her.
[4] This was the street in which our missionary died.
"Visiting some families in Madison Street, I conversed with one woman who excited my especial interest. She had been very ill with a sore throat. She was a Romanist, but the Spirit of G.o.d had opened to her view the evil of her heart, and she now desired to hear from me of the way of life. I told her of the forgiveness of sin through Christ"s blood. She said she had confessed to the priest, and had received absolution, but found no relief from her load, which weighed upon her like a mountain. I directed her to the Lamb of G.o.d, who alone can take away sin. But after conversing with her some time (although her throat was so much inflamed as almost to deprive her of the power of utterance), she broke forth into one of the most affecting prayers I ever heard. Her husband sat by and listened to all that was said, being very anxious lest she should abjure the Catholic faith and die out of the pale of the Church. He interrupted me frequently, saying, "My good lady, we don"t want you to teach us, the priest instructs us in all we need." But I told him I had a message from G.o.d, and I could not be prevented from delivering it. He left the room in anger, but I hope this poor soul may find peace, by trusting in the "sinner"s Friend."
"Who can tell but what even this poor man may be found at last among the ransomed ones!"
This short extract from _The Home Mission Monthly_ for May, published by the Woman"s Executive Committee of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, is peculiarly appropriate to the above experience of her who now sleeps in Cypress Hills Cemetery,
"Under the shadows gray."
"At this spring-time season, when the seed is cast into the brown bosom of the earth, the lesson taught by the great Teacher, eighteen hundred years ago, in Palestine, "as the sower went forth to sow," is borne in upon the mind once more, and these lines are the reflex of the impulses which are astir in many hearts:
"I know my hand may never reap its sowing, And yet some other may; And I may never even see it growing-- So short my little day!
"Still must I sow, although I go forth weeping, I cannot, dare not stay.
G.o.d grant a harvest! though I may be sleeping, Under the shadows gray."
CHAPTER XXV.
THE SIN OF IDOLATRY.
It is not that the city is glorious to behold, Her walls of lucid crystal, her very pavement gold, All shrined in dazzling splendor, beyond description fair, But I am pressing onward to see my Saviour there.
How dangerous is idolatry. When G.o.d says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," etc., He means that we should not only avoid kneeling to them, but we should worship Him alone, and come to Him through the _only mediator between G.o.d and man_--the man Christ Jesus. How explicit are the words of the beloved John: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." (1 John, v. 21.) She seemed to realize the importance of speaking of _Jesus only_.
There is an alarming and increasing propensity in religious circles, to look with leniency on the worship of saints, angels, martyrs, and the Virgin, but the Master himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." Pure worship is spiritual, not aesthetical; hence the use of all pictures, crucifixes, and figureheads of apostles and saints dishonors Christ.
In August, 1875, Mrs. Knowles writes: "Among many discouragements, I meet with enough to cheer me on my way, and induce me to feel that my labor is not all in vain.
"Among other incidents, I will mention the case of a family I have referred to before, as having visited. The mother received me very kindly. She had four children, and as I was speaking to them of Jesus while the little ones gathered around me, the father came in, a very rough-looking man, and at the time apparently under the influence of liquor. The mother and children looked at me, and a feeling of sadness was visible on their faces. I spoke to him of his family, but he said little, and I then knelt and prayed with them. I asked if they had a Bible. He said "No," and they had not much time to read. I then asked him if he would like to have one. He said he would, as "it was a good thing to have one in the house."
"I took them one in the course of a day or two, and he has been led to read it daily; the mother and children also read it, and a few nights since he signed the temperance pledge. He said to me lately, while visiting him: "No more pennies for rum; those pennies will go toward the support of my wife and children." He now attends _evening_ church, feeling his clothing is not good enough to go by daylight. He has told me, although they are very poor, he was never as happy as now. He has not yet been able to procure steady employment, so I help them as I can.
"I have been helped on to perseverance in my work by what was told me by one I visited. In speaking of herself, she said she owed much to the efforts of a home missionary, who not only sought her out, but followed her up; and although she often neglected her duty, and stayed away from the preaching, he was so persevering and diligent in his efforts to win her, he at length succeeded, and she is now truly a Christian. A severe trial has lately come upon her: her son, a boy of ten years, has been killed by falling from a house. He lived but a short time after the accident; and as I stood by her at the side of the remains of her departed child, she was calm and resigned, telling me _the Lord was helping her_.
"I have been visiting at the hospitals much of late, where I have procured places for my sick, of whom there have been many this season.
I have also a.s.sisted some, and procured work for others; have also distributed several Bibles, for which some have promised to pay as they are able. My Superintendent and Pastor are both kind in aiding me; for while I can truly say, "of myself I can do nothing," I can also, I hope, add, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.""
We cannot leave this part of the record of the Lord"s work without observing her strong attachment to the children. In this she was very judicious. What momentous issues are at stake during early childhood.