The Man with the Book Part 6

Christian tradesman of the Edgeware Road, who are well acquainted with the spiritual necessities of the "Grove," have formed themselves into a committee to provide for three of those districts. They need help. The writer,[1] who is responsible for the support and extension of missionary work in this part of London, will gladly receive communications concerning giving and receiving. He is persuaded that many who read this narrative will gladly share in the joy of conveying the Gospel to this mult.i.tude of precious souls; that many will help to raise the banner of love over these acres of habitations so thickly peopled with the home heathen; that a blessing may rest upon our nation by an increase of its people who love righteousness, and who can enter with personal zest into the sweet language of the poet Weitzel:--

"Oh, blest the land: the city blest, Where Christ the ruler is confest!

Oh, happy hearts and happy homes.

To whom this King in triumph comes."

[1] J. M. W., London City Mission, Bridewell Place, E.C.

The Book in the Bars:

ITS LIGHT.

"Amazed and sore perplexed he stood, The sweat streamed off his rugged brow; Like midnight wanderer in a wood, More hopeless still his prospects grow.

"The day wore on, he marked it not, He felt not that his cheeks were wet; He saw himself a drunken sot, Bound fast within the devil's net.

"He groaned beneath his heavy load: At last a bitter cry there came,-- 'Be merciful to me, oh G.o.d, For I a wretched sinner am!'"

_Mrs. Sewell._

CHAPTER VII.

BETWEEN THE BARRELS--THE TRUE LIGHT s.h.i.+NING--A DANGER--LIGHT IN THE CLUB-ROOM--THE CHANGE WROUGHT--VICTORY GAINED--EVIL RESISTED--GOOD ADVICE--A WHITE SERGEANT--A WISE REMOVAL--THE GOOD INCREASED.

THE BOOK IN THE BARS:

ITS LIGHT.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." PS.

cxix. 105.

"You see, master, as how it can't be no otherwise; my poor husband is very ill, and cos it's consumption he can't live long. I has to go out a-selling to get us a living, and he is miserable all by hisself. Now, though I says it myself, he is very much respected by the landlord and all as uses this house, and he always enjoys hisself here. So they have put the two large barrels at each side of the little one, and before I goes out I takes him and puts him down comfortable, as in an arm-chair, and then his pals gives him sups of rum, and that sort of thing, and it does him lots of good--and he shan't be without his enjoyments for the like of you."

The latter part of this speech was delivered in a defiant tone. The speaker was the wife of a costermonger who lived in a neighbouring court. The person addressed was the Missionary of the district, who had, by a kind touch of the arm and a cheerful "How are you to-day?" arrested their hurried entrance into a gin-palace. The man was about thirty years of age, and as he leaned against the marbled pillar of the "palace,"

supporting himself upon his stick, he presented a pitiable sight. The loose-fitting jacket, the sunken eyes, the hectic flush upon the cheek, and hard breathing, indicated his near approach to the grave. A few words of gentle reproof and concern for his spiritual safety only provoked a movement by which he was partly supported and partly pushed into the bar.

As the ma.s.sive door with its ground-gla.s.s panels closed upon them, an expression of sadness pa.s.sed over the face of the Missionary. He had just entered upon the work, and for the first time realized in its intensity the "burden of souls." Only a few weeks before, the Committee of the London City Mission had said to him, "Visit the inhabitants of the district a.s.signed you, for the purpose of bringing them to an acquaintance with salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, and of doing them good by every means in your power." The court in which these persons lived was within the district, and it was his duty to seek the salvation of that man. As he pa.s.sed on, he thus reasoned with himself: "If I make no effort for his good, he must be lost; but what can I do?

When I called in at his room last evening, he was stupefied with liquor, and it will be the same to-night. He is sober now; why should I not visit him in the bar, and deal faithfully with him?" After prayerfully pondering the matter, he turned back and timidly entered the "palace."

The woman had left, but the man was there in the position described by her. The small barrel was so placed between the two large ones as to form a comfortable seat. Several men of his own cla.s.s were standing by him, and though early in the day, groups of gin-drinking men and women had a.s.sembled in the four compartments into which the bar was divided.

The floor had been swept and covered with sawdust, which gave it a comfortable appearance, while its s.p.a.ciousness and highly-varnished hundred-gallon hogsheads, the gilded frame-work of the plate-gla.s.s panelling, the bright rows of wine and spirit bottles, and the active movements of the landlord and two barmen, rendered the place attractive and pleasant to the miserably clad customers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Man speaking to other men in bar]

The sick man was evidently startled by the appearance of the visitor, who set him at ease by observing, "You must have plenty of time for reading, so I thought I would call and give you some interesting little books which I intended to have left in your room."

Several were then handed to him, and accepted with the remark, "I can't read much, but I'll ask the chaps what reads the papers to read them to me."

The men who were standing round asked for tracts and then listened with deep interest while the Missionary repeated the parable of the builders.

Only a few remarks were made upon it, when the landlord in an angry tone a.s.sured the visitor that, "They were not natural fools, to believe a set of lies made up by the Jews."

"The words I have repeated," was the calm reply, "were uttered by the Saviour of the world in mercy to sinners. Believe them, and your soul shall live."

By this time the customers had gathered from the other compartments, attracted by the novelty of religious teaching in such a place. The landlord spoke quietly to several men who were standing near the bar, and immediately after one of them made his way towards the Missionary, and tore the leaves of a tract, formed them into paper lights. He lit his own pipe with one of them, observing in derision,--

"These here are useful things, guv'nor, to light up with: give us some more."

A general laugh was suppressed by the prompt answer,--

"Of course I will, as they are useful things. I have given enough already to light you all up,--that is, in the right way; and I'll give you some more, and tell you what I mean. Now, there are some people who are always in the dark, because they are blind; and there are some people who are always dark in their souls. They don't see with their minds the beautiful things that are in the Bible, so they live badly, just as if there was no G.o.d. That's a miserable way of living; and when they are taken ill they are afraid to die, because the grave is a dark place to go to. Now, if a man reads these tracts, and thinks about what he reads, he will light up his soul. Why, at the end of this tract there is a little bit out of the Bible which would do it for all of you: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' When a man believes that, he becomes sorry for his sins, and asks G.o.d for pardon, because Jesus died upon the cross for him. He is then forgiven, and by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d made good and happy. He has then no fear of death, because he is certain of being in heaven with the Saviour for ever."

Further remarks were prevented by the landlord, who, forcing his way through the crowd of eager listeners, seized the speaker by the arm, and with an oath thrust him into the street. And thus ended the first missionary visit to the public-houses.

A few days after the wife of the costermonger came up to the Missionary, who was pa.s.sing the court, and said, "Please, master, my poor husband wants to be religious; he says that he is all dark, and he wants to hear some reading, and I've got no learning; and he has not been in the bar, as he thought maybe that you would call."

"I will see him at once," was the reply; and the Christian visitor stepped with her into the room.

Before a word of greeting could be uttered, the poor man exclaimed, with all the eagerness of one in spiritual distress, "Sir, I have been dreadful wicked in my time, and it's dreadful to be ill, and I don't know what prayers to say."

The visitor looked with pity into the careworn, pallid face of the all-but-dying man, and, taking a seat by his side, told him in simple words the wondrous and soothing story of a Saviour's love, and before leaving taught him a few sentences of prayer. Such visits were repeated daily, as the increasing weakness of the sufferer showed that the time for instructing him in the way of salvation was short indeed.

Upon the last of these visits he listened with absorbing interest to the narrative of the Lord's ascension, and then, with a smile of peace, exclaimed, "He died for poor me, and He has made it all right now, and I shall go up to Him."

That night he pa.s.sed away; and it was for some time the talk of the Court that he died happy, because he was made a Christian in the public-house.

One evening, about thirteen months after this event, a crowd of persons, among whom were many of the respectable inhabitants, stood around the gin-palace in earnest conversation. It was so unlike the noisy crowds which a.s.sembled when drunkards were ejected, that the Missionary, who was pa.s.sing, inquired the cause.

"The landlord has broken a blood vessel," was the reply: "three doctors are with him, and we are waiting to know the result."

Upon its being stated that the doctors gave hope of his recovery, the people separated. For days it was rumoured that his life was in danger, and at the little mission service held in the Court, prayer was made on his behalf. Several mornings after, the Missionary inquired of the servant, who was standing at the private door, as to the state of her master's health.

"A little better," she replied; "but he is still in the club-room, as the doctors say it will be dangerous to remove him for some days."

Acting upon the impulse of the moment, the Missionary pa.s.sed the servant, and with an ejaculatory prayer for success, ascended the stairs, and tapped at the club-room door.

"Come in," said a faint voice; and the visitor entered and saw the landlord lying upon a couch, near the fire.

Stepping gently forward, he said in a subdued tone, "I must ask you, sir, to forgive this act of apparent rudeness. The truth is, that since hearing of your illness I have been praying for you."

There was a momentary embarra.s.sment, until the patient, with a troubled expression of face, whispered,--

"Who asked you to pray for me? I don't believe in theology."

"No one asked me," was the reply; "but if you will keep from speaking, which may r.e.t.a.r.d your recovery, I will, in a few words, tell you why prayer was made to G.o.d in your behalf. After years of Bible-study I know its statements to be true; and then I have tested its promises, and know the blessings to be real. You, perhaps, from want of opportunity, have not done the one, and are therefore without the blessings now that you most need them. I have felt as anxious about you as though you had been an old friend; and we have prayed that your life may be spared, and your soul saved."

"It's no use: I can never believe," was the reply; but it was delivered so feebly, and with such an expression of mental and physical pain upon the countenance, as to draw forth emotions of sympathy.