Eli and Sibyl Jones Part 15

"During our brief stay in this part of Egypt we had occasionally the opportunity of observing the progress of the work upon the projected s.h.i.+p-ca.n.a.l across the Isthmus of Suez. Of its ultimate completion and success its projectors are very sanguine, and it is equally clear that for the attainment of that end great engineering skill has been displayed and a large expenditure of money been made, and such a measure of unfaltering perseverance and of unflagging determination to overcome opposing difficulties brought into requisition as have been manifested in few other enterprises undertaken by man.

"On the 6th of the 5th mo. the male members of our party left for Jericho, travelling the very road, we may suppose, upon which the man was journeying who 'fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.' We halted near mid-day under the 'shadow of a great rock,' and not far from the spot made ever memorable and dear to the Christian by one of the most beautiful and instructive parables of our blessed Lord--that of the Good Samaritan.

"We found the way rough and in some places difficult, yet there are in several places indications that in the centuries past, perhaps in the days of Roman rule, there was a highway here where the chariots of Jehu and Jabin might have 'rolled harmlessly on.'

"Our tents we located near the modern Jericho, which is supposed to occupy the site of Gilgal, the camping-ground of the host commanded by Joshua, and where he did 'pitch those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan' in commemoration of their miraculous pa.s.sage through the waters. Almost immediately upon reaching this place we put ourselves in communication with the people. Found the entire population Moslem, not one of whom can read, and the evidences of moral degradation, especially among some of the females, were remarkable. It should be said, however, that when we spoke to them of matters of the highest moment, and read to them from the sacred volume, the majority listened with some approach to respectful attention.

"In the evening the sheik and some twenty or more of the men of the village responded to an invitation to come to our tent: we read a portion of Scripture and spoke to them of the beneficial effects of education upon a people, and of our individual duties to G.o.d. Our remarks were ably seconded by Prof. E. C. Mitch.e.l.l of Alton, Ill., who kindly united with us in striving to stimulate the inhabitants of Jericho in the way of mental and moral improvement. At the close of the interview they a.s.sured us that we were the first persons who had ever offered them a helping hand or spoken to them of a better way than the one they were then pursuing, and added that on the next evening they would tell us whether they would accept our offer to give them a school. At an early hour next morning we were on our way to the Dead Sea, where we enjoyed the luxury of a bath in its bitter and buoyant waters; thence we pa.s.sed on to the Jordan, to the place where thousands of pilgrims come in commemoration of the pa.s.sage of the pilgrim band from Egypt under the lead of Joshua, and of the baptism of the world's great Deliverer by John, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled. Here we lunched and duplicated our bath in the Dead Sea: found the current of the river strong and rapid, requiring much care to retain one's position. The water is shoal, but of sufficient depth in places to allow of baptism by immersion.

"On our return to Jericho the sheik kindly engaged to convene some of the people in the town, where we met fifty or sixty persons, and among the number several females, who brought their long pipes and engaged in smoking as they took their seats upon the ground. Their faces and b.r.e.a.s.t.s were sadly tattooed, and on the whole they presented a spectacle not easily matched short of the Western wilds of America. It is, however, but justice to this country to say that during my long stay here I have nowhere else seen its like. The motley company were addressed by Prof. Mitch.e.l.l and others of our party, and we cherish the hope that this labor will not be in vain in the Lord, but that in due time fruit may appear. Soon after reaching our tents several of the men called to say that they wished a school for their children, and if we would send a teacher they would gladly receive him. I hope the means may be found to support a school at this place. The good influence would extend rapidly to the towns around.

"First day, 9th of the month, some of our party at an early hour in the morning were at Bethany, the town of Mary and Martha, where we collected upon the top of a house such persons as we found at liberty, and read the account of the raising to life of Lazarus, as recorded by the evangelist, after which we trust Jesus Christ was preached as the resurrection and the life.

"At half-past two P. M. of the 11th we left Jerusalem on our journey northward, and soon after reached the top of Mount Scopus, where on our right we enjoyed a delightful view of the Dead Sea, the valley of the Jordan near its mouth, and beyond the mountains of Moab, and, turning to review the ground travelled over, we had Jerusalem full in view; and perhaps from no other point is the city seen to greater advantage than from this, unless it be from Olivet. Tradition tells us that t.i.tus, the Roman invader, selected the top of Scopus for his camping-ground, from which he could easily observe much that was transpiring in and around the doomed city.

"We now leave, probably for the last time, the city dear to Jew and Greek, to Moslem and Christian, and especially dear to us who have found an open door to preach there Christ, and Him crucified.

"Some half hour on our way from Scopus we turned aside a little to look upon the village of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, the home of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah. Resuming our course, we soon reached 'Gibeah of Saul.' The place is indicated by little more than a conical hill, which lay to our right. On our left and more distant, capping a high eminence, Mizpah was seen. Farther on Ramah was reached, the home of the good Samuel, 'and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuits to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel, and then he built an altar unto the Lord.'

"Reaching Ramallah, some three hours from Jerusalem we found our tent in readiness to receive us. The town occupies an elevated position overlooking the distant plain of Sharon. The air was cool and bracing.

12th, visited a boys' school at Ramallah. In the afternoon some of our party visited one at Jifneh, the Gophna of Josephus. 13th, went to Bethel, distant one and a half hours from our encampment.

"On approaching this place, so noted in Scripture records, we observed the remains of a cistern 314 feet by 217 feet, constructed of ma.s.sive stones; the southern side is entire, the other sides are more or less ruined. A portion of the enclosure is now used as a thres.h.i.+ng-floor.

Here also is a fountain at which the cattle of Abraham often drank in former days, and at which the maidens of Sarah were wont to fill their pitchers as the Arab maidens do still.

"The Bethel of to-day is a miserable Moslem village with a low, uneducated population, amongst whom we were unable to find more than one person who could read. He is the one who calls the people to prayers; to him we gave a tract and the Psalms of David in Arabic.

"As we spoke to some of the inhabitants of our great Father in heaven, and of our obligations to serve Him, we were answered with little more than a vacant stare and an expressed wish for backsheesh. What a contrast between these followers of the False Prophet and him who is called the 'father of the faithful,' who here spread his tent and here rendered true homage to the great _I Am!_ and how unlike the patriarch Jacob, who here, beneath heaven's broad canopy, slept, as many an Arab now sleeps, on the bare ground with a stone for his pillow! Here he dreamed of the ladder which reached from earth to heaven, and on which the angels were ascending and descending, and on awakening was so impressed with the holiness and majesty of Jehovah that he exclaimed,'How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of G.o.d.' And here the cheering promise was given him: 'In thee and all thy _seed_ shall all the families of the earth be blessed; and behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest.'

"Here Samuel, worthy of double honor, a prophet of G.o.d and a judge in Israel, came on his yearly circuit from Gilgal and Mizpah to hold his court and render righteous judgment between brethren; and thitherward turned the steps of Elijah and Elisha while fulfilling their high commission as servants of G.o.d.

"And here too came the youthful king Josiah, as foretold by the prophet, and brake down the high-places of Jeroboam, and burned down to the ground the grove that grew up on the hill for the wors.h.i.+p of Astarte.

"On our return from Bethel we held a meeting at Beeroth--now called Bireh--with a few Christians and Moslems. Our interpreter read the fifth chapter of Matthew, after which I drew their attention to the teaching of the gospel, dwelling at some length upon the words, 'Therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.' They listened with marked attention to all that was said. On leaving we were told that a few years since a difficulty arose from a very slight cause between two families in the town, and, spreading to others, the spirit of strife and revenge grew higher and higher till in their murderous fury forty-four persons lost their lives, and since then the spirit of revenge had shown itself in other ways. Only the night before our meeting valuable fig trees had been destroyed from the same cause, and we were told that some of the parties concerned were present and heard our words of exhortation.

"Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites, whose curious story the name will at once recall. It is also thought to be the halting-place of Joseph and Mary when they found that the child Jesus was not among their friends and kinsfolk of the party. Ramallah, twenty minutes from Beeroth, is professedly a Christian village, occupying a commanding position from which we get a fine view westward down the mountain-sides of Benjamin and Ephraim, and over the broad plain of Sharon to the Mediterranean.

"Toward evening we held a meeting at the Protestant school-room in this town. The crowd of men, women, and children became so dense that nearly every one a.s.sumed a standing position, and all seemed very eager to see the strangers, and, as I thought, very curious to hear a woman address a public a.s.sembly. My S. J., taking her stand upon a bed in a corner of the room, spoke earnestly and at considerable length upon the way of life and salvation, to which many listened with fixed attention.

"_14th._ At the request of S. J., a meeting was appointed for females; many responded, and a satisfactory meeting was held. Meantime, the male members of our party called at the Latin convent. Found the monk at its head with a school of eight or ten boys, which he summarily dismissed upon our entering, a.s.signing as a reason that it was time for them to leave, though it was but ten o'clock in the morning. From the answers which he gave to our numerous inquiries we were induced to think that although he and his a.s.sociates may not do much to enlighten the people around them, yet that as an individual he is really loyal to the Church of which he is a member, and that he considers salvation very unlikely, if not impossible, apart from conformity to its rules and its traditional observances.

"In the evening a meeting was held with males only, in which they were exhorted to prepare to meet their G.o.d in peace by repentance toward Him and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and also to a faithful performance of their several duties as husbands, fathers, and brothers, that so the position of women may be elevated in this land and her children prepared for a useful career among men.

"I am closing this sheet at Beirut, the 12th of 6th mo.; and as the mail closes very soon, I have only time to add that our party are in good health and look to turning their faces homeward in a few days.

"Thy loving and sincere friend, "ELI JONES."

It will not be possible to give the further details of the faithful efforts of this little party to promote the highest earthly and eternal welfare of the inhabitants of this once highly favored land.

They visited all the spots made sacred by the steps of Him whom they followed, but they went not to satisfy their desire of beholding: they bore tidings of joy to the sorrowful. They pursued their journey as far north as Beirut, preaching in every city and village, and leaving in many places money behind them for the advancement of education.

Wholly devoted as they were to the service of the Lord, with great love for all the human souls where they went, and power being given them to tell the story of a mighty Deliverer, the fruit of work must have been very abundant. We do not need to count those converted in such work for the Lord, and even if we could we should still be unable to estimate the value of the seed thrown broadcast over the land, which may long lie dormant and finally bud into new grain.

On the 22d of 6th mo. Eli and Sybil Jones, with their companions, E.

C. Miller, Joseph Pim, Richard Allen, and T. C. Wakefield, sailed from Beirut for the Occident, stopping on their way at Athens, Ma.r.s.eilles, and Geneva, and reaching London the 10th of 7th mo. Soon after their arrival in England the two American Friends embarked for their home.

Sybil Jones's work in the Eastern continent was now complete, and she had the great satisfaction of feeling that she had in every particular obeyed the call of Him whom she served.

CHAPTER XV.

_SYBIL JONES: HER LIFE-WORK AND DEATH._

"For ever blessed be His name who bore Her blood-washed, white-robed spirit on and on, Through dark, deep waters to the radiant sh.o.r.e, Her warfare ended and the victory won.

"Her children, underneath her native skies, Rise in the North, the South, the East, the West: In Europe, Asia, Africa they rise, Her sons and daughters, and p.r.o.nounce her blessed.

"Oh for a zeal like hers, to never tire!

Oh for a faith like hers, to follow still The cloud by day, by night the glowing fire, That led her on to do her Father's will!"

DELPHINA E. MENDENHALL, "_To Sybil Jones._"

After the return from the East a few more days were left for Sybil Jones to tell the same story to men and women nearer her own home. Her frail body had carried her to many sh.o.r.es, and had not given way until she was once more among lifelong friends.

She had presented Christianity to Mohammedan women "from the standard of equality of s.e.x in social life, religion, and the ministry of the word." She had entered the "gilded cages" of Eastern harems and "borne the gospel with a sister's love to those unhappy inmates--glad tidings which they had never heard until proclaimed by her lips." With no relaxation of fervor, with no diminution of power, she continued to tell those not living in communion with G.o.d that "to be carnally-minded is death," and with the earnestness of one saving drowning men from the depths of the sea she stretched forth her hands and raised her touching voice to save them from a still worse death, the wages of their sins. The series of general meetings which Friends had just begun to hold gave her an opportunity to come before large audiences of all denominations, of the different cla.s.ses. Many who came were unconverted; many more were in a dangerously lukewarm state; others needed strength and comfort. To one and all she proclaimed the great truth that whosoever liveth unto himself dieth, but "whoso hath the Son hath life;" and to the hearts where sorrow and discouragement and doubt dwelt she spoke of a joy for the world, an encouragement "to press toward the mark for the prize," a faith and belief that overcome. Over those long Maine hills, in the balmy air of autumn, fresh from the yellow grain and mellow fruit, or creaking through the snowdrifts of mid-winter, she and her husband, both with the same thought uppermost, rode to sit down on the high seats of those broad-based, low-eaved Friends' meeting-houses, and to rise again and speak messages of healing inspired by the great Physician. She loved to live, for every day gave her one more chance to call to the unhappy to be made happy. She loved to live, because she enjoyed the beautiful things which G.o.d brought daily before her eyes in His book written with His own hand. It was, too, a joy to her to be with her family, to be a mother to her dear children, a wife to her wedded fellow-laborer, and a friend to the many who loved her; but while she loved life she knew enough of our G.o.d to be a.s.sured that when her "bark sank it would be but to another sea," and that what we call death is but going from a chrysalis life to a fulness of knowledge and a fulness of life. No change that merely freed her of what could die and left her wholly immortal could be terrible to her, and so she had never, in all the days of extreme sickness which she had pa.s.sed, had other thought than that she was being kept from work. To the very last she pleaded with her wonted earnestness: "I beseech you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to G.o.d," and she loved to quote the hymn which expressed the aspiration of her soul:

"Oh, if _one soul_ I've pleaded with Meets me at G.o.d's right hand, My heaven will be two heavens In Immanuel's Land."

The thought has often been expressed that as the spiritual life of a man or woman grows, develops, and gains complete mastery, the body gradually takes on a new and deeper beauty; a something which had not formerly existed s.h.i.+nes out and hallows the face, and somewhat as the setting sun puts over the clouds a glory which throughout all the long suns.h.i.+ny day had not been seen, so a brighter gleam comes out from a ripened soul, and it becomes more than ever evident that the inhabitant of the clay house had come "trailing clouds of glory from G.o.d who is its home." This was decidedly true with her. The tall, erect, queenly person, the large head, high forehead, deep hazel eyes, the smile which so often played upon the lines of her countenance,--all took a new meaning as the "light which never was on sea or land" shone through them, proving that her "citizens.h.i.+p was in heaven" and that she indeed was "a fellow-citizen of the saints." We know not what is beyond our ken for such as she, but we believe that He who created such a wondrous home for the mortal part has otherwhere a proportionally magnificent domain for that which dieth not. A few hours before she died she exclaimed in the words of the martyr Rutherford:

"Oh, well it is for ever, Oh, well for evermore, My nest hung in no forest Of all this death-doomed sh.o.r.e."

And on the afternoon of the 4th day of 12th month, 1873, she left the life of toil and struggle for the life of reward.

Ellen Congdon of Providence wrote in fitting words: "I have taken comfort in the midst of this great bereavement to the Church militant in thinking of the rejoicing and the welcome as her ransomed spirit took its place among the redeemed of all generations. Yet, far, far beyond even this must have been the holy rapture with which she realized the fulfilment of that gracious promise: 'Thine eyes shall behold the King in His beauty, and thou shalt see the land that is very far off.'"

The governor of the State showed his appreciation of the departed one in the following extract from a letter to her son Richard: "Had it been possible I should have been present at the funeral services. I remember your mother from my boyhood, and received the news of her death with profound sorrow. She exemplified the true Christian character in a degree rarely equalled in this life; indeed, she has always appeared to me more in the heavenly than the earthly. In her death the Christian religion has lost one of its brightest ornaments and n.o.blest defenders. Yours is the priceless consolation which the gospel and the remembrance of a life so full of n.o.ble deeds afford.

Any words of mine would be poor and weak, but I cannot forbear conveying to you and your much-esteemed father, whom I have known and honored for many years, my heartiest sympathy. Yours very truly,

"SIDNEY PERHAM."

Her funeral, held in the Friends' meeting-house, was attended by a large company of friends, relatives, and neighbors. The citizens of the town came in large numbers to look for the last time on the one whom they loved and reverenced. Harriet Jones, Samuel Taylor, Sarah Tobey, and others spoke feelingly. "All hearts were moved," says one who was present, "as our venerable and highly esteemed friend Eli Jones arose, controlling the feelings of a heart filled with sorrow, and revealed what had heretofore been kept by him--viz. the manifestation of divine power that had attended her mission while they travelled in foreign lands; also the blessing following her labors during the past few months in attending some one hundred and forty meetings, princ.i.p.ally in her own State, in which she appeared like a reaper gathering the harvest."

It is never well for us to speak over-highly of any one or of the service of any one. Power speaks for itself. We spend no breath of praise on the might of Niagara or the majesty of Mont Blanc. G.o.d has made them so that they tell us themselves continually of their grandeur. In like manner, the character and work of his human creatures tell to their generation and the following ones their strength and worth without the aid of man's voice.

What Sybil Jones did and said has been felt and has made its impression in the world, and no word which now might be spoken could add to what she really accomplished. For sixty-five years she went about doing what she seemed to have been sent to do. She was under no shackles of creed, but she had a faith which anch.o.r.ed her; she built on a foundation which had already been laid, and she wasted none of her energy seeking answers to unnecessary questions. Her whole heart was in her work, and nothing held her back in her desire to go on herself to perfection and to call others thereto. The power of her spiritual discernment was shown in numerous cases where she told minutely the state and feeling of some before her, and she felt out wonderfully the proper course for her to take. She seemed to grow stronger as she engaged in a new field of work, and not unusually she left her bed of sickness to undertake an arduous journey for an absence of one or two years. She went from Ireland to Norway on a couch, and there endured remarkable hards.h.i.+ps, but grew stronger as she worked, and was almost daily before the people for the next six months. She had a striking influence over unprincipled and dangerous men, and she never hesitated to go alone among the greatest outcasts.

The swearing sailors on the s.h.i.+p for Liberia grew more gentle as they knew her, and she walked fearlessly into the cell of one of the worst prisoners in the United States: he was touched to tears and blessed the day that brought her to him.

As a minister she was especially gifted in exhortation and prayer, but she knew the Bible, and she knew experimentally the meaning of its promises and commandments. Her use of language was remarkable: every thought she wished to express was clothed richly, every truth was made clear to her hearers, and no words were wasted. G.o.d gave her a voice, not like Milton's, "whose sound was like the sea," but soft as the wind in the trees and strong to reach the farthest seats. There was a music in it which charmed, and a reserved power and volume which she could use when the occasion called for it.