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
interest; that the Lord Jesus, after accomplishing death for your
salvation, rose from the dead, and is now alive, and is seated at God's
right hand, a Prince and a Saviour." As he ceased speaking the infidels
conferred among themselves; and then the young man unpinned the wafer
from the wall, and handing it to the youth, said, "There, take it back,
as it ain't moral for us to keep it, though it's not worth so much as
one of our bristles, of which we get a lot for a penny; but we never
take one without asking each other for it." The youth seized the dirty
object, and, with his friend, hurried downstairs, while the reader stood
with the sword of the Spirit in his hand, ready to do conflict with the
King's enemies.
Poor wafer! but for the accident of a youth taking thee instead of
another, thou wouldest have been the object of an imposing ceremonial:
placed upon a high altar and surrounded by lighted candles, before thee
incense would have been burned, and priests in gorgeous raiment would
have prostrated themselves, while a congregation of worshippers would
have adored thee as the Lord who had redeemed them. Instead of this,
thou wast the cause of His blessed name being blasphemed, and, as the
embodiment of a lie, made to hinder the salvation of wicked men.
From the time the miniature altar was set up, it was noticed that two
Sisters of Mercy, with their dismal clothing and large baskets,
frequently made their appearance in the Court, and the Widow observed
three children of a poor English family, who lived in the house,
returning from the convent school with the Irish children. Upon speaking
to the mother upon the subject, she said, that "the Sisters came in to
see her and gave her nice things, and asked her to send the children to
their school; and, as one religion was as good as another, she should do
as she liked." The children, when spoken to about their school, repeated
a prayer which they said they "had been taught to say to a great dolly
with a baby in its arms." Upon hearing this, the Missionary decided
upon speaking to the father upon the matter, and in the evening went for
that purpose.
This man was an "animated sandwich," and as he shuffled into the Court
with his worn out shoes and crushed hat, clothing to match being partly
concealed by boards covered with flaming placards, he appeared a
deplorable object. His haggard, careworn expression of face led one to
believe his saying, that "he was a chap as had been smashed up." Little
did he think, as the Missionary followed him upstairs, that he had been
the subject of much thought, and that the visitor he welcomed was as
desirous for his favour as though he had been one of the great of the
earth. The poor man was in a communicative state of mind, and in reply
to inquiries respecting his health and business prospects, made the
following statement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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