MARY JONES AND HER BIBLE.
THE origin of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which celebrated its centennial March 7, 1904, is one of the most romantic and interesting incidents in the history of the Christian Church. In the eighteenth century, although the art of printing had been discovered, the expense of printing the whole Bible was so great, and the poverty of the people so general, that copies of the whole Bible were very rare, and could be obtained by but few families. The Welsh have always been a people noted for their deep religious feeling and piety. About the year 1794, Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bala, in Wales, opened a school in Abergynolwyn, with which a Sunday-school was connected. One of the earliest pupils in this school was Mary Jones, who lived two miles away, but was always punctual in her attendance, and showed an unusual interest in the study of the Bible. She did not have a Bible of her own, but one was owned by a family who lived two miles from her home, and to this house she went every week to read and study the Bible, and store up its precious truths in her memory. For six years she attended this school, and studied the Bible which belonged to this family, walking the four miles twice a week, so much did she love the Word of God. Her parents were poor, and could not buy her a Bible, but she began to save every penny that she could earn, with the hope of sometime having for herself a copy of God's precious Word. At last she thought she had enough to buy a Bible. The only place where she could get one was at Bala, of the Rev. Mr. Charles; but Bala was about thirty miles away, and she had no means of conveyance. She determined, however, to walk and find Mr. Charles, and buy a Bible, if one could be had for her money. It was springtime, and the snow was still on the ground in places when Mary set out for her long journey on foot to Bala. This was in the year 1800. She borrowed from a neighbor a little bag in which to bring back her long-hoped-for treasure. Over the hills and through the ravines she traveled in her bare feet, stopping occasionally to rest, and eating a little of the coarse bread she had brought, and drinking from the cool and sparkling brooks which ran down the mountain-sides. She reached Bala in the evening, too late to see Mr. Charles, but found a stopping-place at the home of a minister, Rev. David Edwards, who became much interested in her errand. In the early morning, before light, Mr. Edwards called her, and together they went to the house of Mr. Charles, who was up, and in his study, as appeared from a light shining in the window. The long-looked-for moment was near when Mary hoped to receive the fruition of her labors, her prayers, and her desires. Mr. Edwards told her story to Mr. Charles, who became greatly interested, but to his great sorrow he was compelled to say that all the Bibles he had received from London had been sold, and that he had only a few left which had been promised to friends. The disappointment was too much for the heart of poor Mary; she burst into tears, and cried and wept so that her distress was heard all over the house. Her long-deferred hope was dashed to the ground; the disappointment was more than she could bear. Her anguish was too much for the heart of the good minister, and at last he said, "Well, my dear girl, I find you must have a Bible, however difficult it is for me to give you one without disappointing other friends; it is impossible for me to refuse you," and so he gave her a Bible. She handed him the money which she had been saving for six long years, and her tears flowed again, not tears of distress, but tears of joy, and the good ministers wept with her. Mary's walk over the long thirty miles back to her home in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant was an easier journey than when she came. Her heart was light. Had not God given her the desire which had so long been growing in her soul? The good man, Rev. Thomas Charles, of Bala, was deeply moved by this incident, and it confirmed in his mind a resolution which had been forming, that there ought to be a Bible Society to give the Bible to the people of Wales. At the annual meeting of the Religious Tract Society of London, a few years later, he related this touching incident, and urged the formation of a Bible Society to give the Bible to the people of Wales. The secretary of this society was Rev. Joseph Hughes, a Baptist minister, and he said, "It certainly would be well to form a society, but if a society for Wales, why not a society for the empire and the world?" The suggestion was at once adopted, and so a Baptist minister became the founder of the great British and Foreign Bible Society. Mary Jones lived for many years after this, and was a deeply devoted Christian. Her Bible was her treasure all her life. She became deeply versed in the Scriptures, and could repeat large portions from memory, and her religious influence was deeply and widely felt in all the neighborhood of her home. So as in the days of Christ, in the formation of this, the first Bible society of the world, and the parent and example of many others, the words of Scripture were found true, "A little child shall lead them."—The Watchman.