"Will you not, then," I said, "read the Bible, which tells us this glorious news?"
"Be a.s.sured that I will read it," he answered. "In less than a week I will have one like that which belongs to my friend. It is twice as thick as that lady"s work-box, but this one Book contains all that G.o.d has said to man; and the print is so clear."
"But if some Jesuit should see your Book, he may take it from you."
"Shall I tell you what I will do, if any one of them meddles with me?"
he said. "I will read some of its excellent contents to him, and ask him what he thinks of them. Then I am sure he will not come again, unless he takes a liking to them; and then he will not hurt me."
C.
A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
The late Mr. Edward Parsons, of Leeds, frequently supplied the pulpit of the Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road, London.
Walking out one Monday morning, he was accosted by a stranger, who expressed a wish to accompany him. On arriving at a certain house he said, "This is my home, sir. Will you walk in and rest yourself?"
Having done so, his host told him he had a design in thus treating him, and then related the following remarkable facts:--
Many years before, himself and wife had come from Scotland to London, where, as a mechanic, he had for a time full employment; but when his work became slack, he was obliged to part with some of his furniture and take a smaller house. His circ.u.mstances growing worse, his health also failing, he was obliged to part with more of his furniture, until he found himself, wife, and family driven to reside in a wretched cellar in St. Giles".
One day, being without food, or the means of obtaining any, he resolved the next morning to drown himself in the New River, and accordingly started to carry out his terrible intention.
It was the Sabbath morning, and as he pa.s.sed through Tottenham Court Road, on his way to the New River, a little before seven o"clock, he observed a throng of people entering the Tabernacle. In a sullen mood he joined these early worshippers.
Mr. Parsons was in the pulpit, and gave out his text, which was--"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the G.o.d of Jacob, will not forsake them" (Isa. xli. 17).
It seemed so truly for him that the poor, starving man could not help remaining through the sermon.
At its close Mr. Parsons inquired, "Have you put the G.o.d of Jacob to the test?" The poor man at once said to himself, "I have not put the G.o.d of Jacob to the test"; and consequently, with a half-resolution to do so, he returned to the miserable cellar.
There sat his wretched wife, and there were his starving children, crying for the food he could not supply. A short period of pensive sadness, and then he said to his wife, "I think we might read a chapter."
Poor woman! The remark opened up the well-spring of her heart, and she burst into tears. The thought of her early religious training at once rushed on her mind. She looked for their Bible, but it had been p.a.w.ned.
She, however, found part of an old copy, out of which her husband read a chapter.
"We have not put the G.o.d of Jacob to the test. Shall we pray?" said he.
This more surprised the poor wife, but at once they knelt down, and did then "put the G.o.d of Jacob to the test."
Still the whole day pa.s.sed without their being supplied with food. The next morning, however, the postman, who very seldom entered that poverty-stricken street, brought the man a letter from a former fellow-workman who had heard of his ill-health and loss of work. The letter contained information concerning a large firm in London which had an extensive contract, and was requiring a number of hands, and advised that he should apply to it for employment. It also contained a one-pound note as a loan, which he immediately employed in obtaining food for his family and in delivering his best coat from the p.a.w.nbroker"s.
He then applied to the firm named, and obtained employment, and, being a clever workman, his services were secured for a permanency. At length he was appointed foreman, and, after a few years, was made a partner in the business, and eventually, his former master retiring, he gave up the business to him.
With grateful acknowledgments to the Lord, he then told Mr. Parsons that he had also been enabled to "put the G.o.d of Jacob to the test" with reference to the wants of his soul--that he had been led by divine grace to seek and find salvation; so that he could set to his seal that G.o.d was true, and that, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, the Lord will hear them; the G.o.d of Jacob will not forsake them."
R. F. R.
TWO WAYS OF DESCENDING.
There are two ways of coming down stairs--one is, to fall from the top to the bottom; and the other is, to come down step by step; but both will take you to the bottom. So also there are two ways of reaching h.e.l.l--one is, to fall into it by the committal of one great and terrible sin (comparatively few do this). The other is only too general--to go downward by the steps of _little_ sins. Beware of the treachery of _little_ sins.
E. BARNE.
COUSIN SUSAN"S NOTE-BOOK JOTTINGS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF FATHER CHINIQUY.
DOUBLY FREED AND DOUBLY ENRICHED.
"_G.o.dliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that also which is to come._"--1 TIMOTHY iv. 8.
When some notorious Canadian robbers were arrested, Chiniquy was chosen by several as their confessor, and he constantly attended the prison, instructing them, and trying to teach them how to die.
But, after all his efforts, a terrible fear that they were not converted _would_ come over his mind, and doubts of the real efficacy of Popish ceremonies to prepare a sinner to meet G.o.d troubled him so much, that he made a final attempt to rescue the doomed men after sentence of death was pa.s.sed upon some of them. His tears and prayers were successful, and the Governor of Canada changed the death-doom to life-long exile in Botany Bay. They, with a number of other prisoners, were therefore transported to the penal settlement, and good Father Chiniquy gave each penitent he visited a New Testament when he took leave of them.
Forty years pa.s.sed away, and Mr. Chiniquy, the Presbyterian minister, was lecturing on "Romanism," in Australia, when he saw an elegant carriage driven up to the house at which he was staying, and a venerable gentleman, alighting from it, knocked at the door. He went himself to open it, to save trouble, and the stranger asked, was Father Chiniquy there, and might he see him privately?
"As I am Father Chiniquy," was the reply, "I can at once answer that I shall feel much pleasure in granting your request."
He led the way upstairs, and, when alone, the stranger asked--
"Do you remember the thieves who were sentenced to death in Quebec, in 1837? Well, dear Father Chiniquy, I was one of those criminals.... My name was A----. G.o.d has blessed me in many ways, but it is to you, under Him, that I owe my life, and all the privileges of my present existence.... I come to bless and thank you for what you have done for me;" and, with tears of joy and grat.i.tude, he threw himself into his benefactor"s arms.
They knelt together to thank G.o.d for His mercy, and then the visitor continued his wonderful story.
He said, "After you had given us your last benediction, when on board the ship that was to take us to Botany Bay, the first thing I did was, to open the New Testament you had given me.... It was the first time I had had that Book in my hands. You were the only priest in Canada who would put it in the hands of the common people....
"The only good I derived from the first reading was, that I clearly saw why the priests of Rome fear and hate that Book. In vain I looked for Ma.s.s, indulgences, purgatory, confession, the worship of Mary, &c., ...
and for some weeks I became more of a sceptic than anything else.
"But, if my first reading did me little or no good, I cannot say the same of the second. I remembered, when handing us the Book, you told us to read it with prayer to G.o.d for light to understand it. I was tired of my former wicked life. I felt the need of a change.
"You often, when speaking to us, used the words of the Saviour, "Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest"; but, like all the other priests, you mixed with them the invocation of Mary, confidence in signs of the cross, and confession, so that your sublime appeals to the words of Christ were drowned by absurd and impious superst.i.tions.
"One morning, after a sleepless night, and feeling so pressed down with the weight of my sins, I opened my Gospel Book, after praying for light and guidance, and my eyes fell on the words, "The Lamb of G.o.d, that takes away the sin of the world." These words fell on my poor guilty soul with a divine power. I spent the day in crying to the Lamb of G.o.d to take away my sins. Before the day was over I felt and knew that my cries had been heard. The Lamb of G.o.d had taken away my sins. He had changed my heart, and made quite a new man of me.
"From that day the reading of the Gospel was to my soul what bread is to the poor, hungry man, and what pure and refreshing waters are to the thirsty traveller. My unspeakable joy was, to read the Holy Book, and speak to my companions in chains of the dear Saviour"s love for poor sinners; and, thanks be to G.o.d, a good number have found Him altogether precious, and have been sincerely converted in the dark holes of that convict ship.
"When at work in Sydney with the other culprits, I felt my chains to be light when I was sure the heavy chains of sin were gone; and, though working hard beneath a burning sun from morning till night, my heart was full of joy when I was sure my Saviour had prepared a throne for me in His heavenly kingdom.