"'Now I think it was just so--when Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God, our Saviour told him, Thou _art Peter_,'" (while
the old man repeated the words, _Thou art Peter_, he pointed his finger
at me, and looked me directly in the face, but as soon as he began the
following part of the quotation he brought his hand briskly down to
his knee, saying with emphasis, as he looked at himself), "'and upon
this rock will I build My church; and that rock was Christ; for it is
written in another place, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone,
elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded;
and that corner-stone is Christ.'
"Then Mr. O'Neal said to me, 'Why, Harry, where did you learn that?' I
said, 'From my Bible.' 'Oh!' said he, 'you have no business with the
Bible; it will confuse and frustrate you.' But I said, 'It tells me of
my Saviour.' Then a gentleman, who was sitting by, said, 'Oh! you might
as well let him alone, Mr. O'Neal; you cannot make anything of him;'
and from that time I never had any desire to join the Roman Catholics."
The narrative, of the truth of which I could not entertain a moment's
doubt, showed a promptness of reply and an acquaintance with the
Scriptures which truly surprised me, and I remarked, "I suppose, Uncle
Harry, you take great pleasure in reading the Bible?" "Ah, master! when
I could read, it was the pleasure of my life. But I am old now; and my
book is so rubbed that the print is dim, and I can scarcely make out to
read a word."
On this, Mr. W. said, "Well, Uncle Harry, you shall have a new Bible.
Do you call on Mr. ----, when you go down town, and he will give you a
new one from the Bible Society." Harry bowed, and expressed gratitude
for the kindness, but did not manifest as much pleasure as I expected,
considering how highly he professed to value the Bible. While I was
wondering, and rather sorrowing on the account, I observed the old man
to be feeling, with an air of embarrassment, in his pocket.
At length he pulled out an old tattered case, which appeared to have
been long in use, and observed, "This new Bible will not be of much
use to me, because my spectacles are so bad that they help me very
little in reading." With that he opened his case, and showed a pair of
spectacles of the cheapest sort, of which one glass was broken, and the
other so scratched, that it was wonderful that he could see through it
at all.
Mr. W. no sooner observed this than he said, "Well, Uncle Harry, you
must have a new pair; do call at Mr. ----'s store, and tell him to let
you have a pair suited to your age, and I will settle with him about
it." On hearing this, Harry's eyes gleamed with joy, and he exclaimed,
"Thank God! God bless you, master! Now I shall have comfort again in
reading the Bible." And I never saw a happier, or a more grateful
countenance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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