Eli and Sibyl Jones Part 17

The later visits of Eli Jones to Palestine and their object have already been spoken of. With an accurate knowledge of the land and its customs, as well as of the needs of its people, he was especially adapted to taking a prominent part in directing the work of education there. He has always had a faculty for raising funds, and, having been especially successful in gathering money for building and necessary expenses, the time seemed to have come for opening a boy's training-home on Mount Lebanon. It had seemed best to organize a meeting of the Society of Friends at Brummana, so that he went in 1876 to a.s.sist in person the accomplishment of these two designs.

He sailed alone to Liverpool, and then with Alfred Lloyd Fox, who had accompanied him on his first visit, and Henry Newman, proceeded to Beirut, and thence to Brummana.

They rode on horseback up Lebanon, and not far from Brummana beheld a most touching sight. The children of the school stood at a bend in the road, each carrying a bouquet of flowers, which they held aloft as their aged benefactor approached, and all these _Syrian maidens_ together gave their greeting in English: "Welcome, our dear friends!"

This simple, sincere manifestation of affection deeply impressed the venerable messenger of Christ and cheered his heart. It was like the loving welcome from his own children upon nearing his own home.

A winter of work was pa.s.sed pleasantly at the mission and among the natives. In company with Theophilus Waldmeier, the American and English messengers visited Rustin Pasha, the governor of Lebanon, who not only received them courteously and gave them much a.s.sistance, but has ever shown himself a good friend of the Friends' mission.

Eli Jones has had the good fortune to win the favor of those high in authority, and he has used well his opportunities to impress the dignitaries of those lands. On the way from Joppa to Jerusalem he was in the same hotel with the governor of Palestine. The latter, hearing that a missionary of the Society of Friends was in the house, wished to see him. They met and talked together as friends. The governor showed himself a man of wide culture and liberal views, believing in the elevation of woman as a potent means of civilization, his own daughters being students of science and literature. He had a clear conception of American civilization, and understood the position and history of Friends, showing much interest in their work at Ramallah.

As they parted he asked with much feeling that his aged American friend would pray for him and Palestine.

Again, in 1882, Eli Jones sailed for England on his way to the Holy Land, to be present at the opening of the girls' training-home and to obtain a legal transference of the mission to the Society of Friends.

Charles M. Jones of Winthrop, Me., was his valuable companion. They were met in Liverpool by Alfred Fox, who, though not able to attend them on this journey, went as far as Ma.r.s.eilles to see them well on their way. They landed in Joppa, and soon after their arrival were invited by the Episcopalian clergyman to come to his house to meet and address a little company. They found a large number a.s.sembled, and Eli Jones was told that he might address them in English, with the a.s.surance of being perfectly understood; so that here, in that ancient city where Peter was taught to regard as clean all cleansed by G.o.d, the walls of division were again taken down and a minister of the Quakers preached the gospel in the English language to an a.s.sembly of Episcopalians.

On landing at Beirut they visited the American school in that city, and were asked to address the scholars, which they did. After the exercises were over the lady in charge of the school, finding from their conversation that they were Friends, said with much surprise, "I thought you were Presbyterians." They were warmly welcomed at the Mount Lebanon Mission-school, and were occupied there and at the Ramallah mission until the spring of 1883.

On their return, Alfred Fox stood on the wharf at Ma.r.s.eilles to greet them. He did not leave them until their steamer sailed from Liverpool, and there waved them a long farewell. His death not long after removed from this world a grand Christian gentleman, the dearest friend of Eli Jones's later life.

The fourth journey of the latter to Palestine successfully accomplished, the faithful servant of G.o.d returned to the familiar scenes of his own home, not to seek the rest of one who puts the armor off, but to spend the last years which G.o.d's goodness had given him in declaring with the zeal of vigorous manhood the business of soldiers commissioned by the Prince of peace. Each year which puts its weight upon him lessens the probability of his re-seeing Lebanon and Jerusalem, but no spot except that which eighty years have made almost sacred to him as home has so many memories and attractions touching his heart. When he went from home bowed with age to undertake his last visit some one said, "I fear thou wilt never come back to us." He replied, "Lebanon's top is as near heaven as my native China is."

He has twice visited the missions in person, and each time found work for three or four months. He has always been greatly loved by those for whom the work is being done. Being asked once the reason for his success with these Arabs, he replied, "Because I am of the people. I go down to their condition, but do not stay there; I endeavor to bring them up." They are very strong in their affections, and dislikes as well, and they are exceedingly keen to see their real benefactors. Eli Jones experiences his greatest pleasure taking these children around him and teaching them in his characteristic way, while they love him as a good father. In the answers to his questions he was often surprised by the originality of the little pupils. One day as he was talking to a cla.s.s of girls he asked where the Jordan rises; immediately came the answer. Again, "Where does it end?"--"In the Dead Sea." "And what becomes of the water, as the Dead Sea has no outlet?"

There was a long silence, when a little Arab girl replied, in a simple, beautiful metaphor, "The sun drinks it up." On one occasion he found the children sitting on the floor to be taught; he at once ordered seats for the room, though he was told they would not use them. He replied, "We will see; if you get them from the floor upon good seats, you have raised them so much from their low condition."

When he next went to the room he found them proudly sitting on their new seats. One little girl who could speak English came over by his side and said, "We thank you for these seats." When he was about to come back and to separate from them they stood round him with tears in their eyes to wave him a farewell.

The questions are often asked, "Is the gain worth the cost? Does the improvement correspond to the outlay and effort?" There is but one answer. These Druse boys and girls are eager to be taught, not only to read and write, but to understand the story and teachings of Christ.

They go from the school entirely different persons, and they are wholly unwilling to go back to their unchristian manners of life. They are capable of becoming good scholars, and many of them are ready to teach others. The character of the natives around Mount Lebanon has completely changed, while those being trained are now in a condition to exert an elevating influence on those about them.

Mission-work, like all other work, must consent to be tested by its fruits. The work of Friends on Lebanon and at Ramallah will stand this test well.

In a letter to his friend S. F. T., Eli Jones writes to express his feeling of loneliness without his wonted companion, and the nature of the work being done in the Holy Land at the time of his third visit there in 1876:

BRUMMANA, 1st mo. 8, 1876.

While my fellow-travellers and Th. Waldmeier have gone to a distant village to attend to matters of business, I have been left to my own reflections, and I have in an unusual manner missed the sympathy and the words of cheer in times of trial that I was sure to receive from her who has been called up higher before me. Her words were as balm to my troubled breast, but now I plod on alone. My life would be too sad and weary to be borne did I not trust that an Eye of compa.s.sion beholds me here even as when in my native land surrounded by loved friends.

We left England on the 9th of 11th mo., and spent several days in France attending ten meetings in that country; then embarking at Ma.r.s.eilles for Alexandria, where we spent a few days meeting old acquaintances and attending to what seemed called for. Again we went on board ship, and next day came to Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Ca.n.a.l, the morning after we were in Joppa. Here we visited the inst.i.tution under the instruction of Jane Arnot, a woman of _great faith_ and of _much works_, who has a school of sixty girls. We found her occupying a new house erected on the very spot where our tent was pitched a few years ago, and where we had a meeting one First day afternoon with the people of Joppa.

We reached Beirut the 31st of 12th mo., and the next day came to Brummana, where we received a warm welcome. Hanne Ferach, my little Bethlehem girl, rushed forward and grasped the hand of her old friend with the cordiality of a loving daughter; also several of the citizens came to bid us welcome to their town. All this was unexpected, and, to speak honestly, it moved our hearts and was a delightful ending of a long journey.

We are much pleased with the work begun here. On First day our meeting frequently numbers over one hundred, the Bible meeting in the middle of the week over thirty.

In the room where I am setting a teachers' meeting is going forward preparatory to the labors to-morrow, which will be the first of the week. Sitting around the table are ten preachers and teachers; two of these are female. Their conversation is all Greek to me, but it is very interesting to see them arming for their work from such an armory.

The Sabbath-school numbers sixty, while there are six schools in operation through the week, reaching at least two hundred and thirty children; all these are emphatically Bible-schools.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_AS A FRIEND._

"Be ye complete in Him."

"G.o.d's own hand must lay the axe of inward crucifixion unsparingly at the root of the natural life; G.o.d in Christ, operating in the person of the Holy Ghost, must be the principle of inward inspiration _moment_ by _moment_, the crucifier of every wrong desire and purpose, the Author of every right and holy purpose, the Light and Life of the soul."--UPHAM.

Eli Jones was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, and as far back as there is any record the family had been a Friends' family, so that he inherited an inclination to the manners and views of the Society; and it was as much expected of him that he would make these views his own as it was that he would be a worthy son of his parents and grandparents. Quakerism was the air which a Friend's child breathed seventy-five years ago, and it was a poor child that longed for another atmosphere. It was a startling revelation to a boy that there were people in the world who said _you_ to one person, and it required an explanation.

Eli had little opportunity of reading the lives of the Friends of former times, and he had no way of finding out the "philosophy of Quakerism," but his father and mother and the whole circle of his connections had a definite idea of what they believed, and their lives were more teaching than many books would have been. The different meetings were regularly attended by the young members, and they early became accustomed to the ways of doing the necessary business. He learned to respect the body which transacted its business so quietly and orderly, and which had such a loving and successful plan for reaching the state and standing of the different members.

The monthly readings of the "Queries" placed each soul in the silent confessional before its Lord, while the general "Answers" gave opportunity for efficient counsel. It was a living Church, and its light shone before men. There were excellent examples of pure Christian character in the Society at China--ministers, elders, and members who would deeply impress the young, who thought of no other course than following in the steps of their predecessors. The quiet strength and sweetness of the best members of the Society, their guilelessness and sincerity, have had great weight in holding young men, and have done what austere teaching could never have done. The call to confess Christ, as they proclaimed it, was also a call to a higher manhood and n.o.bler living.

Eli Jones early loved Friends, and his love has continually augmented.

He has done his work in the Society, going out on his own various missions each time with its sanction; and he has experienced fully the help which comes from the united and loving support of the Church at home. His life has been widely useful in great measure because he was a Friend, for the work he has done could properly have been done only in Friends' way, and he could never have succeeded under the restrictions of any other church organization. He was qualified to be a Friend minister, but he was not adapted to be one of any other denomination.

About forty years ago, as he was beginning to preach, there appeared in New England a new phase of thought. Its centre was at Concord, Ma.s.s., and its adherents were called _Transcendentalists_. They held, among other things, that to really know man must have something in him which transcends human knowledge or the knowledge of the senses. In order to know truth a light must shine into man's mind from the Source of light, and who ever would know himself, the world and the Supreme Being must have a G.o.d-given teacher in his own breast; but these men maintained that this was a _natural_ endowment of the human mind--a wonderful gift, but given in the _same way_ as memory. The difference between Transcendentalism and Quakerism has been thought slight; it is, however, immense. The Society of Friends has never believed that man by _nature_ has any power or light within him capable of satisfying his longings or of gaining salvation for his soul. While Friends do not lose sight of the facts that Christ the Son of G.o.d came to be a perfect ensample for us; that He came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly; that He is the Light of the world; that the true follower of Christ should strive to be Christ-like, to come up to "the full stature of Christ;" and that there can be no compromise with any sin, but a gradual growth in firm character, high manliness, a daily striving for sincerity and purity,--their great theme for the comfort of a lost world has been that there is life in the acceptance of Christ; that there is health through our abiding union in Him, and thenceforth growth and development by virtue of our oneness with Him whose blood cleanses and whose Spirit quickens. Manliness and high morality, necessary graces of the Christian, have been attainable by all nations and all ages to a higher or lower degree. "_Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners_," and all men of every degree are there included. Felt necessary in all ages, foretold in types and by inspired prophets, and heralded by messengers from heaven, at length, in the fulness of time, the Saviour came. He came not to bring a creed or bonds or forms: He came to bring salvation, freedom, spirituality.

He came to publish a new kingdom, which could be entered only through Him. He finished His work fully, and, about to depart, He promised to "pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter (strengthener), that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you;" having said before, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and _greater works shall he do; because I go unto my Father_;" "Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all the truth;" "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Whoever believes the truth of the gospel record to its fullest extent, and actually accepts salvation through Christ, becomes not only a better man, but a new man; he will live henceforth not for this world, but for that which is to come; he will conquer and throw aside all his besetting sins; and he will be a "living epistle" publishing the greatness of the good news to all others: furthermore, no work for his Lord will seem to be too great to be undertaken, for the promise is, "greater things shall ye do; for I go unto my Father."

Now, Eli Jones while a young man accepted his Saviour and experienced this new birth, and, seeking first the kingdom of G.o.d, he has not ceased to labor for the greatest possible bettering of the world.

This, he believed, could be best done by spreading a knowledge of Christ and by endeavoring to bring about a literal fulfilment of His teaching. Christ, the source of life, the source of light, and a perfect example to be followed, has been his theme. Peace, total abstinence, and high education came in course as proper causes for him to uphold. He has always believed in supreme guidance, and before undertaking work has waited until the inward ear heard the voice, and so his going forth has been blessed. His whole life testifies that he has not deceived himself, and that he has not worked for his own material gain. He has always stood against formalism and spoken for spirituality, and he has wished for life to so abound that formality in any way could not exist. He has felt that all Christ's devoted followers must in some way, by life or voice, obey the command given to the first apostles: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;" and the message which he has carried has always been, "Ye must be born again." The equality of man and woman and the equality of all men and all women, equality of worth before the Creator, has made him earnest to gain for woman her _real rights_, and he has felt the necessity of raising in the social scale all who have been bound down in any degree by the bonds of prejudice.

Points of doctrine have been little discussed by him, for he has felt called to live and preach the gospel, the same tidings which Paul went to Macedonia to declare--not to discuss and argue in regard to questions which can be settled only when we enter "the land which is very far off." There are some things which must be clearly fixed, great cardinal truths on which to be wrong is to be wholly wrong; but a broad spiritual interpretation of the whole Bible, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, gives any seeking man enough teaching on necessary points to guide him; and Eli Jones has gladly received in addition all the help he could receive from the _wisdom given_ to other men and women, such as fathers, counsellors, and elders.

Penn asked, "How shall I know that a man does not obtrude his own sense upon us as the infallible Spirit?" and he answers, "By the same Spirit." Whatever is said contrary to the Scriptures, though the guidance of the Spirit is professed, must be accounted a delusion.[11]

No man regrets more than Eli Jones that there are those who speak their own words as the truth given to them, for words become lifeless whenever the brain is allowed to speak for the Spirit, whenever any one deceives himself and gives his own thoughts for oracles; and he has felt that Friends, of all people, should beware of self-love and self-will, and that the individual members should ever be ready to receive benefit from the counsel of others. Each human being has a special field to till in the great vineyard. He who has climbed a height is more than ever duty bound to reach down hands of help to the weak. The gifts differ, but it is every man's business to find out for what he was sent, and then do the mission--do it "ever in the great Taskmaster's eye;" do it for no reward, but for the truth's sake; and He who sends the workmen into the field will send the basket for their supply. Whether doing quiet work at home or more extensive work abroad, Eli Jones has had one mind--to obey orders; and whenever he has been free to do temporal work for his own support and for his aid in gospel work, he has improved every opportunity, imitating the example of the tentmaker, while Friends have generously furnished the means for him to go out into distant fields.

[11] _New England Discipline_, p. 14.

He has lived to see a decided change come over the Society in his own section--a change almost universally apparent. In his early manhood came the great separation of the "Hicksites," and he felt keenly the want of harmony in 1840-45, when John Wilber opposed Joseph John Gurney; but he has ever hoped that the small body of spiritually-minded Friends would hold fast to their faith, maintaining harmony throughout, and not provoking or exaggerating differences of opinion.

Most who grew old with him have pa.s.sed away, and some with the belief which saddened their old age that the end of their Society was near.

He has continually--and never more than in his old age--believed in the progress of humanity; he has seen in history and in his own life how one generation carries on the truth rejected by the former one; and in his thoughts faith and hope have been united. He trusts that in G.o.d's plan there is endless progress, and until something higher and purer and more perfect than Friends' conception of Christ's work and teaching appears the Society will be needed, and there will not be wanting those who hold fast the excellent spiritual truths of Quakerism, and a practical Christianity lived out with daily circ.u.mspection in their thoughts and words and deeds. He is impressed, as were the founders of our Society, with the truth that Christianity is both a faith and a corresponding life. The words of his old age have been not less acceptable and effective than those of his early manhood, and he has not changed his message. The earnestness with which he has pleaded for the essentials, the liberality he has shown in regard to non-essentials, and the rounded completeness of his life have given him a wide influence and have made him justly loved; but his strength has always been his calm faith in Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER XIX.

_HIS PLACE AS A WORKER._

"Quit you like men."

The people of a city or country in which is some great natural wonder or some magnificent work of man become so accustomed to its grandeur that only the largest-minded of them continue to appreciate its excellence and gain culture from it. This is not true of men. A man who has the qualifications to instruct and the power to inspire his deemsmen will have renewed power, and will gain a stronger influence over all of them, as age brings matured wisdom. Few greater blessings can come to a community than to have a strong man working like leaven in the midst of it, and few posts of honor are more to be coveted than to be a part of all that is best in one's environment.

Eli Jones has decidedly influenced his township, and he has the satisfaction of feeling in his old age that he is without enemies and in possession of a numerous company of friends, the "uncle" of all who know him. He has had the good fortune--or, better, the good judgment--to know just what his place was. He has done each duty, never wishing that he might have found something greater to do, and now his services combined into one whole make a record which men of great fame often fail to gain.

One of the best tests of a man's power is his influence over the young. There is a time in early life when there is a longing for real help, when a young person feels groping in the dark for the right road, which he wants, but cannot find. Eli Jones has been at hand to throw, by his counsel and Christian advice, light on the right path, and many a man and woman stands to-day fixed firmly in a good place and on a high road to a better because he spoke a good word or reached out his hand when there was need of just that word or encouragement.