The Man with the Book; or, The Bible Among the People

The last part of this speech, which had been delivered at intervals between stoppages, was uttered with an expression of despair which reminded one of the day's sigh of the prisoner without hope. After a pause, the remark was ventured, "But, James, you can surely get a Sunday off whenever you like; it is only forfeiting the day's pay; and as I have ridden with you for some time, I had a thought of asking you to let me give you a Sunday, you could then attend Divine worship?"

"Thank you kindly, sir," he replied; "but I could not ask for more than one in two months or so, though we are supposed to have every third or fourth Sunday. I am feeling old, and a man ain't liked who is often off his 'bus. The foreman would soon say that a younger man was ready to take the reins; and then the workhouse, its disgrace, and separation from as good a wife as ever lived. No, sir, personal kindness can't do much for us Sunday slaves. No! it's getting the public to feel that it's a disgrace to the riders, and an injury to us poor fellows, that can alone do it."

Such were his opinions; but we soon after had the satisfaction to know that he enjoyed one happy Christian Sabbath, and upon several journeys we listened to his quaint remarks upon preacher and sermons. An interest in his spiritual state (which is always akin to real friendship) resulted; and upon many occasions instruction concerning personal salvation was given. The last ten minutes of the journey, when we were often alone, were valued, as, at intervals for more than a year, the good-natured driver listened as a little child to the message of a Redeemer's mercy. The summer and autumn had thus passed away, and during the winter we seldom rode with him, as his hours had been changed. Upon one of these occasions he from cold spoke with difficulty; but his weather-beaten countenance expressed a quiet peace, as he said, "I got a day off last Sunday week, and went to church twice. At night it was a saying of Jesus that was preached about, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' The sermon made me as happy as a prince; and after supper my Polly read the chapter through, where it is; and then I read a Psalm which is like a prayer."

We had not after this many opportunities for conversation, but frequently received his salute (the raising of the whip to the hat) as we passed on other omnibuses. One fine morning towards the end of the winter, which had been very severe, upon mounting an early 'bus, we noticed a bow of Crape on the Whip, and inquired concerning it. "It's James as used to drive this 'bus," the man replied with feeling; "but he is only one of the several old whips who have been done up this horrid winter. He had sixteen hours a day on this box for six weeks hard off, and had a bad cold; and when he tried for a rest Sunday, so many wanted it that he was snubbed, and was afraid of losing his whip, and so he kept on till he couldn't do so any longer, and then he took to his bed, and died in a few days."

The startling intelligence produced a sense of sadness during the journey, and led to solemn thought with desire to break fetters and let this order of Sabbath slaves go free.

That Crape on the Whip spoke of injury done to a man, and an important class of men, and that by a too general habit of breaking a Divine law through love of pleasure, or want of consideration.

To labour or employ labour on the Lord's day, unless for purposes of necessity or mercy, is sinful; as the command is, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and "Thou shalt reverence my Sabbaths." It is a breach of the moral law for mere pleasure to use any kind of vehicle on "the day which the Lord has made," and given for rest and worship. Poor James, like thousands of his class, was injured also by the criminal carelessness of professed Christians. These Sunday riders do spiritual and eternal damage to public servants, as well as temporal wrong, for—

"Evil is wrought by want of thought,As well as want of heart."

That Crape on the Whip told the oft-repeated fact that the body of the Sunday worker rests earlier in the grave through loss of the Sabbath rest. The Maker of our frame has declared cessation from labour during a seventh portion of our time to be necessary to its health and vigour. The son of toil by hand or brain, who by loss of, or misuse of, the rest day so graciously given, impairs or fails to restore his strength, thus does injury to himself and others.

That Crape on the Whip assumed the force of a call to the Church, urging to self-denial and to active effort. Shall public servants slave on for our convenience, with no man to care for their souls? Let Christian men who are brought into friendly contact with them answer "No," by telling them of a Saviour's mercy. Let workers in the Lord's vineyard seek opportunity to instruct them, while making effort to lessen their hours of toil. Numerous as they are, they are only part of a class, including cabmen, railway servants, and others who suffer the moral degradation of Sabbath slavery. Their helpers, for instance the men who take charge of the horses, are the hardest-worked men in England. From early morning until late at night, all the year round they toil on. One of them remarked, "Cursed already, unceasing labour, and life used up early." A City Missionary, in a yard he visits, has arranged for eleven of these to join him on the Sabbath in an old omnibus which stands in a corner of the yard. It was once licensed to carry twelve inside. He there conducts a little service with them. Then again there are servants of the Redeemer who make constant effort to bring the life-giving power of Christ's religion to bear upon these Sabbath outcasts. Let us be partakers in their struggles and joys until the victory is gained; until freedom for those who cry because of the oppressor is secured; until no conscience is troubled by Crape on the Whip indicating that souls which were sabbathless and uncared for had, without preparation, entered the presence of God.

This earnest pleading for the oppressed omnibus men, through the pages of the London City Mission Magazine, reached many hearts with Christian sympathy, and not a few resolved that these men also should be spiritually cared for, and that an effort should be made to improve their condition. An "elect lady" gave full support for a Missionary to those who ply omnibuses in the West, while the liberality of a gentleman abounded to those of the South, and the help of many extended the benefit to East and North London.

Welcomes, hearty and full of hope, were given by the omnibus men to their new friends. Among their thousands there was not a Church member, a "Church goer," or one influenced by reading the Scriptures; except two or three who worked for private masters of Christian principles. To these Sabbathless men of constant toil, the Gospel which speaks of deliverance through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus was indeed a joyful sound, and right glad were they while waiting for a few minutes at each end of their journeys to listen to the messengers sent to them with glad tidings, and the result has been blessing to many souls, and the commencement of a struggle for their Sabbath and social rights.

A lady, for instance, offered a supper to three hundred of the omnibus men of West London if they could be got together. Lord Shaftesbury's advice was taken in the matter, and he decided that it would be well to invite them to the repast when they left work, from eleven to half-past twelve at night. This was done. A large, unfurnished room near the Paddington Station was taken. Their Missionary delivered the invitations the day before, and as midnight drew near the rush of men proved that all had accepted them. The uninvited guests, indeed, exceeded the invited, so the ample supply of provisions were soon cleared off. Then a raised platform was extemporized, and great was the demonstration of delight when Lord Shaftesbury took his stand upon it. The sight was of thrilling interest, as his lordship was surrounded by a group of gentlemen and ministers, including the Earl of Aberdeen and Canon Fleming, and in front were a mass of omnibus men, closely packed to the end of the room. The excitement was great when the noble lord announced that "The Man with the Book," who wrote "Crape on the Whip," would first address them.

This speaker, who was well received, stated the difficulties of the men, and gave matured advice as to the means of their removal. Referring to a conversation he had held with a director of the company, he stated that this gentleman admitted that the men were cruelly overworked, and that they were, with few exceptions, deprived of their natural and scriptural right to the Sabbath rest; but that the evil resulted from the increase of the Sunday riding public, and from faults with the men themselves which riveted their fetters. These faults were faithfully stated, and passages from the Book of God were repeated and pressed upon their attention, which, if believed from the heart, would lead them to their God and Saviour, and so break these and the heavier fetters of the soul, making them happy as the freedmen of Christ.

Dr. Manning, of the Tract Society, Lord Aberdeen, and Canon Fleming, then made pointed and telling speeches, after which the noble chairman wound up the meeting by telling the men that it was right that their grievance of constant toil—long hours without Sabbath rest—should thus be made known, that a healthy public opinion might be formed on their behalf. From his long experience in effort to reduce the hours of labour he gave them valuable advice, and concluded with the words:—

"I cannot find language strong enough to express all I feel at constant labour being forced on men, not excepting the Lord's day. It is abominable, and sufficient to call down the vengeance of God on the country. The rest of the Lord's day is a great necessity, and to deny you men the enjoyment and repose of that day is not only a very great cruelty, but an abominable sin (cheers). I want to remind you of this, that this work which we are commencing cannot be done by us alone; it must be done in cooperation with you. You must support the effort by strong appeals to your employers, and still stronger appeals to the public, and by unceasing prayer to Almighty God. You must press on all the rights you have, and which by God's grace you are determined to enforce. Your sole reliance must be in the blessing of the Almighty. To Him you must direct your thoughts and prayers, and draw down His blessing upon the effort, and take to your consideration these words which fell from the lips of many Protestant martyrs in their great sufferings,—

"'Although the day be never so long,"At last it ringeth to evensong.'"

Great cheering followed, and after singing a hymn, the meeting, to which additional hundreds of omnibus men had flocked, separated at two o'clock in the morning.

But what good has resulted from this effort and meeting?

Well, much. Employers are granting their Sunday slaves concessions, slight indeed, but hopeful as to the future. Many persons who used these vehicles on the Lord's day have discontinued the practice. Some drivers and conductors have left on Sabbath principles; and, best of all, many of the men have already received spiritual good.

This was certainly the case with old Ben, who had driven to the Bank many thousand times, and who for thirty-two years had never attended Divine worship. He, indeed, held religion and religious people in derision. The Missionary secured his attention, and one day soon after the meeting, old Ben observed to him, "I read the tracts now, sir, and a bit of the Bible, and mean soon to get another Sunday off." He succeeded, and in the morning, the first time for so many years, attended Divine worship. In the evening his wife went, and he remained at home reading the Scriptures. He retired to rest unusually happy, but to sleep the long sleep, as in the silence of the night watches his immortal spirit was summoned to the presence of God.

It is indeed well that at length these men should have spiritual care, and that the "feet of those who carry glad tidings" should make their way to those who are in like condemnation. Now it so occurred that about the same time that Christian attention was directed to the neglect and wants of the men who labour upon our noisy highways, the roads,—that a like attention was called to those who pass life quietly on our silent highways, the canals. These water ways of the metropolis extend for several hundred miles through and about the City and its suburbs, and connect and bring into communication other great cities of the country. They are traversed continually by barges, which besides much merchandise contain a large floating population. Whole families inhabit the small cabins, and they have been described in the British Parliament as the most ignorant and debased of the people. It was therefore decided by the rulers of the mission to select a suitable man from the ranks, and bid him to make known the Gospel in the cabins, and on the towing paths.

The surprise at the lock of the Grand Junction Canal was great indeed when a stranger boarded each of their vessels, and addressed them as though they were old acquaintance. It was evident at first that they did not take kindly to the new friend. There were suspicious looks, and such hints as, "There bees them as says we are awful bad, and as puts us down in them papers as is in the publics." The zeal of the good man was also a matter of jest with them; as when they saw the agility with which he sprang from the tow-path to the barge, and from boat to boat, one man said to the other, "he's a jumping Jack, he is." The readings from the Bible, appeals to conscience, and the gift of Testaments and illustrated publications, soon won a way to their hearts, and in the course of five months their "Tract Man" became a popular personage, and this is how the fact was discovered. Mr. Atkinson, late Mayor of Hull, who superintends the work, gave a tea to as many boatmen and their wives as happened upon a certain evening to be at the Brentford Junction, and two hundred and fifty, direct from their boats, assembled, and a rough company they appeared.

Tea over, and justice was done to it, the meeting commenced by their host taking the chair, and he, after hearty words of Christian kindness, requested the man who was known to carry a Book with him to address them. This he did by telling them "that a few days before he had read something upon an old tea-pot in the Brighton Museum, which he would repeat to them,—

"'The loss of gold is much,"The loss of health is more,"The loss of Christ is such a loss"That no man can restore!'

"And then he explained to them the value of money, and the misfortune of losing it by accident, and the sin of losing it by drunkenness and vice. The value of health, and the folly of losing it by intemperance, smoking, and neglectful habits. The value, the preciousness of Christ as the Saviour of sinners, and the folly, the crime, of refusing the mercy of God by Him. The Book was then produced, and the words read solemnly, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."

Their Missionary was then called upon, and the boat people received him with a demonstration of delight. His speech was simple in words, but full of Christian affection for their souls, and of sympathy in the trials of their calling. It was evident that they received him as their own "parson man," as they drank in every word he uttered, and with a great noise expressed their delight with his speech. One of them indeed rose, and with a stammering tongue said, "that he was a waterway man, and like them all, he and his wife wanted to see him often in their cabin, to read to them from the good Bible, and to try and make them good, as he knew he was doing to some of them."

At the close it was cheering to hear them trying with all their will to sing, "Tell me the Old, Old Story," and to notice their reverence during the closing prayer.

After the tea several letters were sent to the Office. They were alike in style, and we select one to show the progress which has been made with these rough people.

"Dear sir i right those few lines to you to thenk you for you kingens for sending such a man to the Poor Boat Peple i think he Just the man for it to Point them to the lame of god Wich taks the sins away he Not shamed to take yup his crose and tell Poor Peple a Bout Jueses i cant right much But i hope you escuse my Bad righting Whe have knowed in tim a good Wile at Padgtion and glad to see his face Down kingsland Pasen the lord Bless his labore and give him soles fore his hiere so

No More fromec.– D–.Boat man."

We will only add that a gathering from among the boat people, as from the omnibus men, is being made to the Lord Jesus, and as they approach Him, the Saviour, their spiritual fetters are broken, and the outward fetters of their calling fall away. Duty, compassion, patriotism, require that these thousands of the oppressed should have opportunity to worship Jehovah in His temple, and to become acquainted with His laws, and the wonders of His grace. Remember, oh ye people who have been chosen and called to form the Church of the Redeemed on earth; remember that it is your dignity, as well as duty, to help all who are oppressed; everywhere to proclaim the freedom of the kingdom "set up in the earth;" that to you the enraptured words of the prophet are addressed with royal command and sustaining promises: "Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places … for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them."2

The Book for All:

ITS UNIVERSAL GOOD.

Ye have not sowed in vain!Though the heavens seem as brass,And, piercing the crust of the burning plain,Ye scan not a blade of grass.Yet there is life within,And waters of life on high:One morn ye shall wake, and the spring's soft greenO'er the moistened fields shall lie.Tears in the dull, cold eye,Light on the darkened brow,The smile of peace or the prayerful sigh,Where the mocking smile sits now.Went ye not forth with prayer?Then ye went not forth in vain:"The Sower, the Son of Man," was there,And His was that precious grain.

CHAPTER XIII

CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY—FAITH—THE MACHINERY MAN—MAN'S INNER WORLD—SIN REPROVED—CONVERSE UPON AN OMNIBUS—THE INFLUENCE OF TRUTH—THE BIBLE ONLY—COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHED—BROUGHT NIGH, VERY NIGH.

The Book for All:ITS UNIVERSAL GOOD

"And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God." Acts xiii. 44.

"THEY that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament:" they who have the wisdom of God in a mystery, or the hidden wisdom,—the knowledge not to be found by searching the works of creation, or in the discoveries and developments of science and philosophy. This wisdom cometh from above, and is therefore communicated by the all-wise and eternal Jehovah. This, and this alone, can enlighten man spiritually, invest him with power to comprehend the central and infinite in truth, and lead him to the attainment of those graces and perfections which can alone fit him for the reception of reflected glory, and raise him to a place before the throne of ineffable light and purity.

This wisdom (like its counterpart in the natural world, the sun) casts rays of light, beauty, and restoration very widely. When He, the essence of uncreated light, stood with "the glory He had with the Father" veiled, as the Teacher of men, He uttered a truth so mighty that wherever it is repeated the darkness fleeth away; wherever it is sounded forth with power, be it in the palaces of kings, in the hovels of the poor, or in the deepest recesses of moral corruption, the blackness of the shadow of death which surrounds the immortal soul is dispersed as by the voice of Omnipotence. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

The Church militant, the royal priesthood, the ransomed people, is an assemblage of individuals called out of darkness into His marvellous light. This community of the blessed occupies the place of the absent Lord, and has to show forth His glory. As children of the day, they renounce the hidden things of darkness; and as vessels of mercy illuminated by Divine grace, they show forth "the light of the Lord." They of necessity do this by letting men see their good works, by reproving sin, by giving instruction in righteousness, by holy zeal in efforts to increase the kingdom of truth and purity. Possessed themselves of the Word of God, through which and by the Holy Spirit they are being sanctified, they use that same word for purposes of the grace of God which bringeth salvation. The Bible in the hand of the Christian is as the wisdom of God in the hand of Ezra, leading them "to judge;" to give wisdom and prudence "to all such as know the laws of their God, and to teach them that know them not." Hence it is the duty and high privilege of each Christian, be he minister or layman, ordained or unordained, to communicate precious truths, to teach from the Holy Scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

We have a conviction that the individual members of the Church have not yet risen to the dignity of every man saying to his neighbour, "Know the Lord." This witnessing for God is not a professional matter, but a religious duty. Masses of people in our great cities perish for lack of knowledge, while many partakers of precious faith are content to live without an effort to add one immortal spirit more to the ransomed from the earth. They, alas! are many who are under the "woe" pronounced against those "who live at ease in Zion." There are no laity in the theocracy of grace. All are priests. And they who have heard the call of Divine compassion, and feel themselves sheltered in the covenant of love, are commanded to say "Come," or for ever bear the reproach of being unfaithful servants. This standing back from the great conflict, this looking on instead of joining in the holy strife, is a reproach to the royal people, an injury to our neighbour, and a withholding of blessing from this sin-stricken world. There is work for all in the great vineyard, and opportunities for usefulness are ever occurring. It is not those only who dwell in squalor that require the Gospel: the respectable mechanics, the trading and professional classes; yes, and the educated, and the noble, and the princes of the earth: all who have not passed into the kingdom of grace need the same truth, the same restoring and elevating force. While, therefore, it is right to send the Gospel of the grace of God to the lower orders, this does not exonerate from the duty of influencing the other classes to the acceptance of truth and the practice of holiness. The necessities of the world require that every Christian should carry a pocket Bible, and study how to use it well. Then would the kingdom of God come with power.

There can be no doubt that the practical infidelity and viciousness of the classes immediately and very much above them has a most injurious effect upon the lower orders of society. The wealth of the rich is often used to the demoralization of the poor, while skilled workmen are the chief propagators of scepticism among them. Those, therefore, who give themselves to the labour and care of uplifting the very low, have a deep interest in the religious elevation of the more refined and educated, as the classes act with marvellous effect upon each other. These considerations must be our excuse for devoting this last chapter to narratives of like Christian work among the more advanced in the social scale. As infidelity is so terrible a foe, we commence with two instances of recovery from its destructive influence.

One evening the visitor had occasion to call at a public institution, and stopped in the lobby to examine a microscope and set of lenses. The optician showed him a telescope by which he said stars at a great distance could be seen and particulars accurately defined. In answer to the inquiry, "If those distinguished by the appellation 'telescopic stars,' and ranging from the seventh magnitude upwards could be seen by it," he gave a very clever answer, which led to a long and pleasant conversation. At parting, the visitor observed "that there was an instrument now much in use by the 'wise,' of higher range, and called by the name of 'faith,'—a gift of God, a power by which Christians could look through the clouds, beyond the nebulæ, even to the place where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God."