The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.Weylland, John Matthias
History
The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People.
Weylland, John Matthias
City missions; London City Mission
This was not a solitary instance of converted men being found in night
occupations; and it became an object of the visitor's efforts to
strengthen such in the faith, and to lead them boldly to witness for
their Lord in the midst of the ungodly. These helpers were precious and
their testimony valuable, because the great body of persons met with
were disreputable or utterly vile. Many were ignorant of the true light,
but there were others who had received religious advantages, and who, by
rejecting proffered mercy, counted themselves unworthy of eternal life.
Among this mass of the unholy were to be found the young, the
thoughtless, and the distressed, who being easily led captive by the
devil and his servants, supplied the places of those who were constantly
sinking to perdition. With some of these the work was effectual for
good, as the following case will illustrate.
One night, a little after eleven, the Missionary was walking down Oxford
Street, in company with another evangelist, when they passed a girl of
seventeen, who was walking slowly, as if ill. The night visitor glanced
at her, and was struck by the expression of misery and disease,--it
seemed as though the sorrows of a life had been concentrated in that
young face. He therefore turned suddenly, and approaching her, said
kindly, "Don't be afraid: I am a religious man, and a friend to poor
girls in trouble. Now do tell me where you are going?"
"To sleep under the trees in the park, sir, if I can get in," she
replied; "if not, to walk about all night;" and then she burst into
tears.
In answer to inquiries, she made the following statement, in a very
truthful manner. She said, "I am a village girl, and came from home
after losing my only parent about eighteen months ago. A neighbour's
girl who was in London got me a place. It was at a lodging-house: and I
rarely got out, as they only let me go to church three times. All the
stairs were of stone, and I had to clean them; this, with constant
running up and down, brought on a white swelling in my knee. I remained
as long as I could crawl, and then, as I had saved three pounds, went to
live with the charwoman. After a time I went into an hospital for two
months. I returned to the charwoman, and tried to get into place, but I
looked so ill that no one would engage me. After the money was spent I
pawned my clothes, and I was told to go to the workhouse. I went to the
door, but the man spoke so sharp to me that I drew back, and now I have
been in the streets for two days. Last night I slept with some other
girls under the trees in Hyde Park, but they talked so dreadful that I
am afraid to go in again. Oh! what shall I do?" and then she sobbed so
loudly that several persons crossed from the other side of the street.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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