"And the cobweb be woven across the cannon's throat,To shake its threaded tears in the wind."
"And the cobweb be woven across the cannon's throat,To shake its threaded tears in the wind."
"And the cobweb be woven across the cannon's throat,
To shake its threaded tears in the wind."
He has always looked with joy on the advance of the human race, and he has had uncompromising faith in actual and triumphant progress. Nothing has made his crowning years more bright than the thought, ever present with him, that the good is gaining a gradual ascendency, and that man's lot, already a happy one, is becoming more happy. He has seen nations that have sat in darkness rising to stand in the joy-bringinglight, and he has trusted the future will bring mature fruit. This buoyant hope has not only made his life joyous, but has pervaded all the messages of his later years, and he has shown that optimism which every true Christian must feel, for his Master "doeth all things well."
He felt called above everything else to preach the gospel, but he was sent to preach not only from the text which John the Baptist gave, but also he has "spoken unto men to edification." He has held up the perfect mark, the goal, "a life hid with Christ in God." Every power of man, physical, moral, mental, spiritual, is to be developed and expanded to its fullest extent, and then brought into strict obedience to the will of God. We are not in our place until we yield the same obedience to the celestial laws that we yield to the laws of gravitation. Character—which implies integrity, purity, unselfishness, love, patience, self-forgetfulness, and temperance—means the truth we have received, made our own, and put in action. Hence Eli Jones has spent his life telling all people to seek first of all the kingdom of heaven, which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost—to give their whole lives and beings to the Lord, and to build up pure Christian characters. The strength and manliness of his life have made his messages weighty, and the clearness of his thought, with his abundance of strong English words forcibly arranged, has caused his speaking on whatever subject to be effective. His speaking has always been from the fulness of his heart and with all the energy of his individuality. Never has he been known to speak weakly or unemphatically. If he hadno message, he kept his seat, and if he rose to speak it was because he had something which he deeply felt and which it was important for those present to hear.
Of medium height, possessing a very large head, penetrating, earnest eyes, and impressive in his movements, his rising always gained him attention. His voice, which in childhood had been imperfect, grew clearer and more emphatic with use, and by constant attention to careful enunciation he gained the power of distinct expression to such a degree that after having on one occasion found it necessary to speak continuously in the Newport meeting-house for three hours, he was told by those in the farthest galleries that not a word had been lost. In his most earnest appeals he is decidedly eloquent, and many there are who have heard in his vigorous words that call which lifts souls from dreamy thought to action. Not one of his sermons has been put on paper, for he spoke as the words came to his mouth, and reporters were not present; but there was a clearness and connection as marked as was the strength of the individual parts, so that his utterances if printed would be highly valued. If those men do us the greatest service who give us the clearest view of our relation to God and our duty to man, then we owe him gratitude, for he successfully helped feet that were failing to find a surer foothold on the abiding base of the Rock of Ages.
Further, he performed the true part of the citizen of a democracy, the part of one who sees the brother and sister mark on every forehead. Every person who hopes and prays for the highest success of the principles of our government will have moments of trial forhis faith as he sees the multitudes of responsible citizens who exercise their high privileges in town and State moved by no higher thought than the accomplishment of a selfish aim; he will feel a deeper gloom still when he learns in how many hearts respect for pure men and sacred principles and reverence for the Ruler of men and nations have been obscured by the mists of party schemes and personal self-love. Eli Jones as a Quaker has clearly proclaimed the only basis on which a democracy can build with a reasonable hope of a beautiful and permanent structure. In a nation where every man is a legislator, every man must
"Feel within himself the needOf loyalty to better than himself,That shall ennoble him with theupwardlook;"
"Feel within himself the needOf loyalty to better than himself,That shall ennoble him with theupwardlook;"
"Feel within himself the need
Of loyalty to better than himself,
That shall ennoble him with theupwardlook;"
nor can he be a safe sharer in the rights of government who has not intimate converse with the Voice which calls for aninwardlook. Through a life of over eighty years he has sought to act at the ballot-box so that the largest number of human beings might feel the good effects of his vote.
Again, his life is an interesting example of continuous development. Though beginning early to obey the voice of duty in regard to public speaking, he had reached nearly the age of forty before he was really at work. Year after year since he has seen with clearer vision, and, catching the teaching of the nautilus, he has made
"Each new temple, nobler than the last,Shut him from heaven with a dome more vast,"
"Each new temple, nobler than the last,Shut him from heaven with a dome more vast,"
"Each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut him from heaven with a dome more vast,"
and, feeling more truly each year the serious business of a denizen of earth, he has doubled his diligence to quit himself like a man.
There has been a deep vein of humor running through his whole life, and the genuine "mother wit" often found in New Englanders has shown itself in him to a marked degree. His answers to difficult questions always come at once, and have a keenness which goes to the marrow of the subject. Those who have listened to his conversation and heard his illustrative anecdotes need no example to call to their mind his native humor, for it has continually shown itself. The uniformity of his disposition should be spoken of. Calm and equable under trying circumstances, he was a strong support to his beloved wife when in feeble health she seemed almost weighed down, and he was especially fitted by this quality for the perplexing difficulties which necessarily beset a laborer in foreign lands.
His ripe years have been passed at the foot of China Lake near his boyhood's home, and he has sat in the meeting as a father in the midst of his family. Now and then called forth for short service, he has loved to hasten back and to be at home.
At the time I write he is still permitted to dwell among us, and we are fortunate in having before our eyes one who has the weight of many years of experience and wisdom.
When riding with him around China Lake one lovely summer day some of us younger members of the party pointed out a church-spire in the distance, and asked him if it was not a beautiful picture—the spire risingfrom the abundant green of the surrounding trees and pointing to the cloudless blue sky. Slowly he said, "Yes, but it would be better if we knew that all who sit there owned what is above the spire;" and we felt, as we looked at his genial face lighted up as he gazed aloft, that "his citizenship was in heaven" and that "for him to die" would be "gain." There is a domain on earth which only the true servant enters, and there is a realm of which we do not speak definitely that opens its gates to admit those who hear the "Well done!" of the great Master. Blessed indeed is he whose life has been a preparation for the city where no sun is needed, but where the glory of God is the light, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.
THE END.
[1]John Robinson's charge is as follows: "I charge you, before God end his blessed angels, that ye follow me no further than ye have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech you remember it—'tis an article of your Church covenant—that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God."
[1]John Robinson's charge is as follows: "I charge you, before God end his blessed angels, that ye follow me no further than ye have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than the instruments of their reformation. Luther and Calvin were great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God. I beseech you remember it—'tis an article of your Church covenant—that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God."
[2]These ridges are very abundant in Maine, and are supposed to owe their origin to glacial action.
[2]These ridges are very abundant in Maine, and are supposed to owe their origin to glacial action.
[3]James Van Blarcum was at work on a house when the notice was given for this meeting. On hearing that a woman would preach, he said he would go and hear what these heretics had to say. It was a revelation to him; his eyes were opened, and the whole course of his life changed. A few years after this he came to China, so that he might know more of Friends and their principles. At first his family were so displeased at his becoming a Quaker that he was forced to leave his home, though he was afterward highly respected by them all. He became a powerful minister in the Society, and was for a number of years connected with Oak Grove Seminary. He was married to Eunice, sister of Eli Jones.
[3]James Van Blarcum was at work on a house when the notice was given for this meeting. On hearing that a woman would preach, he said he would go and hear what these heretics had to say. It was a revelation to him; his eyes were opened, and the whole course of his life changed. A few years after this he came to China, so that he might know more of Friends and their principles. At first his family were so displeased at his becoming a Quaker that he was forced to leave his home, though he was afterward highly respected by them all. He became a powerful minister in the Society, and was for a number of years connected with Oak Grove Seminary. He was married to Eunice, sister of Eli Jones.
[4]Afterward Elizabeth Howell. She is the author of the beautiful lines entitled "Milton in his Blindness."
[4]Afterward Elizabeth Howell. She is the author of the beautiful lines entitled "Milton in his Blindness."
[5]It was at Balitore that Edmund Burke received his early education, at the Friends' school conducted by Richard Shackleton, to whom he often wrote and attributed much of his careful training.
[5]It was at Balitore that Edmund Burke received his early education, at the Friends' school conducted by Richard Shackleton, to whom he often wrote and attributed much of his careful training.
[6]Mary James Lecky filled her carriage with loaves of bread from the baker's, and as they drove along roads where poverty was everywhere terribly present, she distributed her stores for the bodily needs of the poor suffering peasants, while Sybil Jones earnestly told them of the Bread of life. In the original meaning of the word, "lady" is thebread-giver. Did ever two more worthy the name go out to fulfil the duties belonging to that title?
[6]Mary James Lecky filled her carriage with loaves of bread from the baker's, and as they drove along roads where poverty was everywhere terribly present, she distributed her stores for the bodily needs of the poor suffering peasants, while Sybil Jones earnestly told them of the Bread of life. In the original meaning of the word, "lady" is thebread-giver. Did ever two more worthy the name go out to fulfil the duties belonging to that title?
[7]Whittier thus gives the position which the Society of Friends held:"Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strongIn the endurance which outwearies wrong,With meek persistence baffling brutal force,And trusting God against the universe;Are doomed to watch a strife we may not shareWith other weapons than a patriot's prayer;"Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes,The awful beauty of self-sacrifice,And wrung by keenest sympathy for allWho give their loved ones for the living wall'Twixt law and treason."[8]In tracing out the course of these travels I have used the spelling given in Bradley'sAtlas of the World.[9]FromLife of Abdel-Kader, by Col. Churchill.[10]Eli Jones spoke his mission in English. Alfred Fox translated it into German, and the Jew gave it to the Arab sultan in his own language. Through the medium of three of the world's great languages the representatives of these three great religions expressed their thoughts to each other, and the burden of the thoughts was love and gratitude. The message being given, refreshments were put before the strangers, and then Abdel-Kader withdrew as a courtesy, so that these visitors might not be constrained to go out backward from his presence—an honor due to him as sultan.[11]New England Discipline, p. 14.
[7]Whittier thus gives the position which the Society of Friends held:
"Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strongIn the endurance which outwearies wrong,With meek persistence baffling brutal force,And trusting God against the universe;Are doomed to watch a strife we may not shareWith other weapons than a patriot's prayer;"Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes,The awful beauty of self-sacrifice,And wrung by keenest sympathy for allWho give their loved ones for the living wall'Twixt law and treason."
"Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strongIn the endurance which outwearies wrong,With meek persistence baffling brutal force,And trusting God against the universe;Are doomed to watch a strife we may not shareWith other weapons than a patriot's prayer;"Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes,The awful beauty of self-sacrifice,And wrung by keenest sympathy for allWho give their loved ones for the living wall'Twixt law and treason."
"Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strongIn the endurance which outwearies wrong,With meek persistence baffling brutal force,And trusting God against the universe;Are doomed to watch a strife we may not shareWith other weapons than a patriot's prayer;
"Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strong
In the endurance which outwearies wrong,
With meek persistence baffling brutal force,
And trusting God against the universe;
Are doomed to watch a strife we may not share
With other weapons than a patriot's prayer;
"Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes,The awful beauty of self-sacrifice,And wrung by keenest sympathy for allWho give their loved ones for the living wall'Twixt law and treason."
"Yet owning with full hearts and moistened eyes,
The awful beauty of self-sacrifice,
And wrung by keenest sympathy for all
Who give their loved ones for the living wall
'Twixt law and treason."
[8]In tracing out the course of these travels I have used the spelling given in Bradley'sAtlas of the World.
[8]In tracing out the course of these travels I have used the spelling given in Bradley'sAtlas of the World.
[9]FromLife of Abdel-Kader, by Col. Churchill.
[9]FromLife of Abdel-Kader, by Col. Churchill.
[10]Eli Jones spoke his mission in English. Alfred Fox translated it into German, and the Jew gave it to the Arab sultan in his own language. Through the medium of three of the world's great languages the representatives of these three great religions expressed their thoughts to each other, and the burden of the thoughts was love and gratitude. The message being given, refreshments were put before the strangers, and then Abdel-Kader withdrew as a courtesy, so that these visitors might not be constrained to go out backward from his presence—an honor due to him as sultan.
[10]Eli Jones spoke his mission in English. Alfred Fox translated it into German, and the Jew gave it to the Arab sultan in his own language. Through the medium of three of the world's great languages the representatives of these three great religions expressed their thoughts to each other, and the burden of the thoughts was love and gratitude. The message being given, refreshments were put before the strangers, and then Abdel-Kader withdrew as a courtesy, so that these visitors might not be constrained to go out backward from his presence—an honor due to him as sultan.
[11]New England Discipline, p. 14.
[11]New England Discipline, p. 14.
Transcriber's note:Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error.The cover for the ebook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error.
The cover for the ebook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.