Part 2
be built at Twelve heads, or at Tippett's Stamps. Our preacher came to me, and told me that the class had been to him to stop me from building the chapel where I had begun. Then I told him that the Lord had put it into my mind to build the chapel there, and I showed him what I had done already towards building the chapel. It was the preaching night; and he asked me whether I would be willing to cast lots whether the chapel should be built where I had begun it or in another place "Yes," I said, "I was willing; for I did not want to build the chapel there unless it was the Lord's will." In the evening we went to meeting and most of our little class were there, and the men who were against me. After preaching our preacher wrote three lots for Twelve heads, Tippet fi Stamps, and Cross Lanes, which was the place where I had begun my chapel. When they drew lots the lot came for Cross Lanes to be the place for the chapel. They then said they would help me to get on with it by raising stone; but telling about it that night was all they did to help me. The following day one of them came to me and said, "We shall not help you, for Cross Lanes did not ought to be the lot.'" So I was as well off as I thought I should be. I went to work, and raised stone, and got mortar, and set the masons to work. And the dear Lord helped me, for I was very poor, and had no money of my own. But the dear Lord raised me up friends, who sent me money to pay the masons; we got the chapel walls up, and timber for the roof; and then got it sawed and put up. But we had not timber enough by one principal; and I asked my Heavenly Father to send me some timber, or money to buy some. That morning there was a Wesleyan local preacher home praying; the Lord said to him while he was on his knees, ' Go down and give William Bray a pound note.' At that time there were no sovereigns; there were one pound notes, drawn on the banks After he had taken his breakfast he came down to me by the chapel, and said to me, "What do you want a pound note for? " and I replied, "To buy timber to put a principal up on that end of the chapel." He said he never felt such a thing in all his life, for while I was home praying this morning it was always coming into my mind to go down and give you a pound note, and here it is." So I had the note, went to Truro, bought a principal, put it up on the chapel, and there it is to this day. When the timber was on the chapel, I went round, and got two pounds towards covering the chapel. At that time we had young children, and the youngest of them was taken very ill. When my little maid was taken ill, Satan tempted me that it would take seven pounds to cover the chapel, and I had but two pounds; and our little one would die, and it would take one pound to bury her, and then I should have but one pound left. The devil tempted me very much on that point; for if I wanted it I had a right to take it, for the dear Lord and me in this place kept but one purse; and I paid any money that I earned at mine to the chapel, when I wanted it. So I had but one to give my
account to, and that was the dear Lord, the very best comrade that man can ever have. So the devil tempted me that the child would die. While I was thus sore tempted, it came into my mind that I should be paid for building this chapel, and it was applied to me, "Because you have built this chapel, I will save your child's life." And I said, "Where is this coming from?" And it was said to me, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, do not doubt, it is I, says the Lord;" and I believed it; and it was so. When I went home I told my wife that the child would not die, for the Lord had told me so. She replied, "Don't say so; for all the neighbours say she will die, she is so very ill." I then went to the mine to work; when I came home the child was not any better, and had not eaten any meat. On that night the child was very ill; and got no better all the morning of the next day. She was very ill when I came home to dinner. That day I was afternoon core at the mine; and ever since the Lord converted my soul I always felt it my duty to pray with my wile and children before leaving my home to go to work. We knelt down to pray; the child was lying in the window-seat; we had for dinner what was very plentiful at that time, fish and potatoes; and in my prayer I said, "Dear Lord, thou have said that my child shall live, but she has not eaten any meat yet." And she began to eat meat there and then. She is living now, and is the mother of ten children; so the Lord made the devil a liar once more. The devil did not do me any hurt; he only made me bolder. I had only two pounds; and the cost would be seven pounds by the time the roof was on. I borrowed a horse, and rode ten or twelve miles from where I lived, up among the farmers, and asked one of them whether he had any reed to sell, for I wanted three hundred sheaves. He told me he had, and that it was £2 for a hundred. So I told the farmer to bring three hundred sheaves to me as soon as he could, and some spears for them. But I did not tell him that I had only two pounds. He brought down one hundred first, and some spears. I had three pounds when he came; so I paid him for the hundred of reed, and the spears; and had a few shillings left. I asked the farmer to bring down the rest of the reed as soon as he could; but didn't tell him I had not money to pay for it. And it wasn't necessary that I should, for by the time the other two hundred sheaves were sent a friend gave me money to pay for it. Then I put a man to work to cover the roof, and that would cost one pound ten shillings with a little other work besides; and when the man came to be paid 1 had but one pound; so I wanted ten shillings more. 1 he Lord put it into my mind to go into a high road near where a great many people went up and down to work; and the first man I met was P. B. I said to him, "You have not given me anything yet towards my Father's house." And he said, "No; nor do I intend to." I replied, "What, are you amind for the Lord to say to you in that day, "You saw me hungred, and gave me no meat» thirsty, and ye
gave me no drink; a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not?" And he said, "Well, I don't mind if I do give you ten shillings." I said, "That is just the money I want." So he gave me the ten shillings; and I went home and paid the thatcher. "After that I wanted timber for the door and windows and forms. A mine had lately stopped; and they were selling off the timber. There was a bargain in timber, for one pound six shillings; but I had not money to buy it. To a friend who asked me whether I had been to the mine, and bought any timber, I said I had not, because I had no money. Then he gave me one pound, and with that and some other sums the Lord sent me from other places I was able to buy what I wanted. As the timber had to be brought home to the dear Lord's house, I wanted a horse and cart. One of our neighbours had a horse, but he said she would not draw anything. I asked him to lend her to me. He told me I might have her, but she would not draw; but I took the mare and put her in the cart, and brought the timber home. I never saw a better horse in my life; I did not touch her with whip or stick, though we had steep hills to come up over. When I took back the mare, and told my neighbour, "I never saw a better mare," he said, "I never saw such a thing; she will not draw with any one else." That mare was working that day for a very strong company, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; horses, angels, men, and devils must obey them. If there had been no one there more powerful than Billy Bray, she would have been as bad with him as with anybody else. But, bless and praise the name of the dear Lord, He said, "The horse shall work, for the timber is to seat my house:" and what the dear Lord says shall be obeyed. "I went on and finished the chapel. Then some of them said, "Now your chapel is done, you shall not have preaching there." When they said that, I locked up the chapel door, and carried the key home, and hung it to a nail behind the door. I said, "Lord, there is the key; I have done what You have told me to do; the chapel is built, and there is the key; if it is Thy will the key should stay there seven years, or that it should be taken down every minute in the day, Thy will be done, my dear Lord." That very day our preacher appointed services at the new chapel even more frequently than I should have asked had I been present. They named my chapel Bethel. We had preaching there every Sabbath, afternoon and evening, and class-meeting in the morning. The Lord soon revived His work, and we gathered a great many members. A large new chapel has been built since near the old one, which has also taken the name of "Bethel." The old one is now used as a school-house, and for class-meetings. No wonder that the devil was so against me while I was building the old Bethel, and put his servants to hinder me, for I have seen at one time fifty down asking for mercy, and mercy they had.
"A little while after I had done building Bethel Chapel the Lord said to me, "I have made you instrumental in building Bethel Chapel, and I will make you the instrument in building one at Kerley Downs. When this was applied to me I believed it, and rejoiced greatly to think that I was honoured to work for so good a Master as the King of heaven, and earth, and sky. Kerley Downs was near a mile from where I lived, in the same parish. At this place there was preaching in a dwelling-house, and a class met in the same house. The friends had been trying for some time to get a spot for a chapel, but had been disappointed. They had made a collection for the chapel they intended to have, but the site was sold to a man for a higher price after it had been promised to the society. One of the neighbours who owned a farm said to one of the class, "Where is the money you collected so long ago towards a chapel? which you have not begun yet." He said, "If you have a mind to build a chapel, you may have ground of me." I told the preacher we could have a spot for a chapel, and if he did not call a meeting to appoint trustees I should begin about the chapel myself. So he appointed a day and got trustees; but all that promise to help left me to myself. So my little son and me went to work, and got some stone; the good friend who gave the land lent me his horse and cart; and we soon set the masons to work. Those who read this must remember that I was a very poor man, with a wife and five small children at that time, and worked in the mine underground. Sometimes I was morning core, and when I had taken my dinner I should go to the chapel and work as long as I could see, and the next day do the same. The next week I should be afternoon core; then I should go up to the chapel in the morning and work until the middle of the day, and then go home and away to the mine. The week following I should be night "core;" I should then work about the chapel by day, and go to mine by night; and had not the, dear Lord greatly strengthened me for the work, I could not have done it. When I was about the chapel, I had potatoes to till in my garden; and every Sunday I was planned. Sometimes I had to walk twenty miles, or more, and speak three times. I have worked twenty hours in the twenty -four; and had not the Lord helped me I could not have done it. Bless and praise His holy name! For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." I do know He is a friend when all other friends leave us; and He will help us to overcome our enemies. When our chapel was up about to the door-head the devil said to me, "They are all gone and left you and the chapel, and I would go and leave the place too.' Then I said, "Devil, doesn't thee know me better than that; by the help of the Lord I will have the chapel up, or lose my skin on the down." So the devil said no more to me on that subject. Sometimes I have had blisters on my hands, and they have been very sore. But I did not mind that, for if the chapel should stand one hundred years, and if one soul were converted in it every year, that would be a
hundred souls, and that would pay me well if I got to heaven, for those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. So I thought I should be rich enough when I got there. The chapel was finished after a time: and the opening day came. We had preaching, but the preacher was a wise man, and a dead man. I believe there was not much good done that day, for it was a very dead time with preacher and people; for he had a great deal of grammar, and but little of Father, "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord." If it was by wisdom or might, I should have but a small part, for my might is little and my wisdom less. Thanks be to God, the work is His, and He can work by whomever He pleases. The second Sunday after the chapel was opened I was planned there. I said to the people, "You know I did not work here about this chapel in order to fill my pocket, but for the good of the neighbours, and the good of souls; and souls I must have, and souls I will have." The Lord blessed us in a wonderful manner. Two women cried to the Lord for mercy; then I said, "Now the chapel is paid for already." The dear Lord went on to work there; and the society soon went up from fifteen members to thirty. You see how good the Lord is to me; I spoke for one soul a year, and he gave me fifteen souls the first year. Bless and praise His holy name, for He is good, and His mercy endures for ever, for one soul is worth a thousand worlds. Our little chapel had three windows, one on one side, and two on the other: the old devil, who does not like chapels, put his servants by way of reproach to call our chapel Three-Eyes. But, blessed be God, since then, the chapel has become too small for the place, and it has been enlarged; now there are six windows instead of three; and they may call the chapel Six-Eyes now if they will. For, glory be to God, many that have been converted there are now in heaven. And when we get there we will praise Him with all our might; and he shall never hear the last of it. "After this the Lord led me to build another chapel in the parish of Gwennap. The Lord put it into the heart of a gentleman to grant me a piece of land; and after we had dug out the foundation, we wanted stone to build with. The Lord put it into my heart to go down by the railway and try to raise stone. Some one had been there before, and their quarry was poor. They had worked to the east and to the west, and left a piece of ground untouched in the middle. We went to work on this piece, and the dear Lord helped me, as He said. Some wondered to see what a lot of stone we got out. But they must know I was working for a strong company, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that company will never break. I worked in my core at the mine all the while I was raising stone; and as I was living a great way from the place where I was building the chapel, the Lord helped me again by putting it into a gentleman's heart to give me five shillings a month while I was raising stone for the dear Lord's house; at a
coffee-house near the quarry, when I came up from mine last core by night, I had my breakfast for sixpence or sevenpence, and then away to raise stone. When the masons were set to work, I had money in hand, and no bank to go to but the bank of heaven. But, thanks be to God, that is a strong bank; and I had often to go there by faith. At this time the Lord sent Mr T. to me, who said, "You will want timber, and lime, and slate, will you not?" I said, "Yes, sir." Then he told me to go to his stores, and have what I wanted. When the masons wanted money I went round collecting, and the friends were very kind and gave me money. I went to Camborne, and farther west. Amongst other places I went to Helston, where there lived a miser said to be worth a great deal of money, who was never known to give anything to any object. When I asked him for something for the chapel, he said he could not afford to give me anything. I said, "You can give me some money if you like, and if you do not you may soon die, and Leave it all behind. Job was very rich, but he soon became poor. I am begging for the Lord's house, and if you do not give me something the Lord may take you away from your money, or your money away from you." When I told him further that the gold was the Lord's, he said, "Go round the town and see what you can get, and come to me again by and by." I said to him, "No, you have got money, and I must have some now," and talked to him about what the Lord would do with greedy people. Then he wiped his mouth, put his hand into his pocket four or five times and talked away, but at last he took out two shillings and sixpence, and gave me. It was a hard job to get even that from the old miser. I do not think Satan let him sleep that night because the dear Lord permitted me to take half-a-crown from his god. When I told some of the friends that I had got half-a-crown from him, they said it was the greatest miracle ever performed in Helston. I had a plan at St Just, and after I had done my work there I vent on to St Ives, and was directed to find out a good man named Bryant. St Ives was a small place about the year 1838. Friend Bryant told me that I had come to St Ives at a very poor time, for there was but little fish caught that year; and some of the people were almost wanting bread. "It was poor times," I said, "with Peter when the Lord told him to let down the net on the other side of the ship," Br. Bryant missed, for I had come at a very good time, as the event proved. We went up to the Wesleyan Chapel; there were a great many lively members and we had a good meeting. We prayed to the dear Lord to send some fish, and He did. After the meeting was over, we went into a coffee-house to get a little refreshment; then we began our meeting, and continued it till midnight, praying to the Lord to send in the fish. As we came out of the meeting to go to our lodging, there were the dear, poor women with the pilchards on their plates, and the fish was shining in the moonlight. The women were smiling, the moon was smiling, and we were smiling; and no
wonder, for the dear Lord put bread on many shelves that night, and blessed many families. We asked the women what fish was taken, and they told us that many boats had taken ten thousand, and some twenty thousand. Against the next day there were, if I mistake not, eight thousand casks taken. And here I must speak it to their credit, though the people had so many fish, and were so poor, they rested on Sunday, and left it till Monday before they went about their fish, and they lost none. Some of the fisher men said to me, "Now you shall have some money for your chapel; and if you will get a boat and come out we will give you some fish." A friend with me, a carpenter, a bit used to the sea, got a boat and rowed me to the place where the fish were. They looked pretty, for they were shining and leaping about, and the fisherman dipped up the fish and threw them into our boat I thought of the church-ministers, who took their tithe of the corn; but I took mine of the fish. When we came to land, the carpenter ' told ' up the fish to the people that bought them, and I took the money, which amounted to £6, 15s. "A druggist, also, promised me the profits of one week on medicine sold, which brought me two guineas more. Altogether I brought away from St Ives £17 towards the chapel. So when I came home I could easily pay the masons and carpenters. You see how the Lord helped me through all, - first by putting it into a gentleman's heart to let me have a spot to build on; then to get good stone in what had been only a poor quarry; also in sending Mr T. to tell me, when I was not worth a penny, to go to his store for timber and lime and slate; then in enabling me to collect so much towards the expense of building; and particularly at St Ives, when the dear Lord sent the fish in answer to prayer. He has said, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' And we are in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known unto God. Bless His holy name: I will praise Him and glorify Him for ever and ever. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. . . . This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." Many further interesting particulars respecting Billy Bray's chapels might be given, but which we must mostly omit. The details of one circumstance, briefly referred to by Billy, we may append. One account I have received speaks of Billy calling on a Mr T., a liberal gentleman well known in the neighbourhood, but Billy speaks of the Lord having sent Mr T. to him. Billy told the gentleman that he was going to build a fishing -net near Carharrack, in order to catch the fine fish that might be found in such large shoals in the neighbourhood. Mr T. was so well pleased with the simplicity and earnestness of Billy, that he said, "So, Billy, you are going to build a fishing-net, are you? I understand by that, that
you are going to build a chapel; now when you have succeeded in getting up the walls sufficiently high to take the roof, let me know, and I will at once take steps to give a roof to your fishing-net." "Bless the Lord," was Billy's response, and the same moment he was jumping and dancing for joy! When Mr T. was told that the fishing-net required a roof, he said he would see it to know what was wanted. On reaching the spot, he expressed his surprise that so large a chapel had been built, intimating that when he made the promise he had no idea that Billy intended to erect such a large fishing net. His answer was, " Bless the Lord! my Heavenly Father deserves a large house." Mr T. cheerfully fulfilled his promise, and the fishing-net was soon adorned with a roof. The gentleman afterwards became a worshipper in "Great Deliverance" Chapel (the name it received, and by which it is still known), and a valuable member and class-leader. When Billy was building his first chapel, some of his friends, whose faith was not so strong as his own, told him he had better build it with a chimney, so that it could be turned more easily into a cottage if it did not answer as a chapel. "No," he said, "I will have no chimney in it, except it be to drive the devil out through," though we fear a chimney would be but of little use for that purpose. When the little place at Kerley Downs was up, Billy began to think where the pulpit could come from. At last, as he looked about among some furniture at an auction sale, his eye fell upon an old three-cornered cupboard. "The very thing," cried Billy, "the very thing. I can cut a slit down the back of un, and strengthen the middle of un, and put a board up in front of un, and clap a pair o' steers behind un, and then the preacher can preach out of un pretty!" After a while the cupboard was put up. Billy knew nothing of auctions. All eager to have his pulpit, he cried, holding out his hand - "Here, Mister Auctioneer, here 's six shillin' for un, I do want un for a pulpit." Of course there was a great laugh at Billy's expense. As it passed away the auctioneer cried - "Six shillings, going for six." A nod from behind Billy was quickly caught. "Seven," said the auctioneer, "seven shillings." "No," cried Billy," 'tis on'y six, there's the money." Of course, down went the hammer, and much to Billy's astonishment the cupboard was not his. Well, Father do know best," said he, in a rather disappointed tone; " but anyhow I must give the man back his six shilling." The man was gone, nor was Billy likely to see him again. This was a new and even greater trouble. "I'll be gone down an' tell Father about it," said Billy, as he started off for his little chapel. With faith renewed, and a comfortable assurance that it would be all right, he was coming from the chapel when he saw the cupboard going up the hill in a
cart. "I'll follow un, anyhow," he whispered, "an' see the end." They carried it to a house, and tried to take it inside, but it was just too big to get in. They twisted and turned, they pulled and pushed, but it was no use. "Here's a mess," said the purchaser, angrily; "I've given seven shilling for en, an' shall have to skat en up for firewood." Then as his eyes twinkled, Billy stepped over and put his hand on the man's shoulder as he stood, hat in hand, wiping his forehead. "I'll give 'e six shillin' for un, if you'll carry un down to my little chapel." "That I will," said the man, pleased at being so well out of it. "Bless the Lord!" cried Billy, " His just like Him, He knew I couldn' carry en myself, so He got this man to carry en for me" This chapter reads almost like a novel; but the devout reader will clearly see God's hand in the matters related, and that His chosen instrument was eminently qualified to carry out His purpose. The fitting of means to ends has as remarkable illustrations in Providence as in Creation. That same divine wisdom which chose Luther to be the hero of the Reformation, and Wesley and Whitfield to rouse a slumbering church and nation from their spiritual lethargy, and Livingstone to be the pioneer of the Gospel in interior Africa, endued Billy Bray with all the needful qualifications to serve his generation according to the will of God in the way described in this chapter. The Lord made abundant use of his tact and cheerfulness, because wholly devoted to Him. He succeeded therefore where others have failed, and brought discredit upon themselves and their friends. Thus when Billy appealed in one instance for a second subscription in behalf of "Great Deliverance" Chapel, the gentleman met him by the objection that he had subscribed to that chapel once before. "Yes," Billy said, "but how many fleeces of wool have you had since then?" Nothing more was said, but a donation was at once handed to the wise beggar. The success of a man whose temper is never a fault, and whose wit turns everything to good account, is certain. A friend who was with Billy on a begging expedition, suggested, as they were coming near a gentleman's house, and Billy was evidently making for the front door, that it would be better if they went to the back door, " No," said Billy, " I am the son of a King, and I shall go frontways." And then his motives were above suspicion, and his faith in God was of the strongest kind. His own words are: "I have no more fear of the Lord bringing me right out and right through than if this road was covered with gold; for His word is as good as ready money." We may and we do admire Billy's simplicity and persistency of purpose, but his inward satisfaction none can share. We get many glimpses of it, but we must
content ourselves with the briefest reference thereto. When he was got an old man, and had forgotten perhaps many of the exploits of his younger days, he heard in a public meeting, many miles from his home, a person speak of a man who had been instrumental in building several chapels in which many had been converted, and in one of which he, the speaker, had been a Sunday scholar. Billy was listening with interest to this recital, quite unconscious that he was the person meant, but when his name was mentioned his heart leaped for joy that he had been permitted to do some good; that he had persevered though the people did say that Billy was silly; that the Lord had sent many wise men to preach in the chapels which silly Billy Bray had built; that though he was only a ram's horn, the Lord had given His people some silver trumpets; that many were in heaven who had been converted in these chapels; and above all did he rejoice that his dear Lord was the great master-builder, to whom all the praise belongs. CHAPTER V. THE PRAYER OF FAITH. "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" - James 5:15. A FEW years ago there were " strange reports of wonderful cures wrought in a remote Swiss village by a Christian woman . . . Wonders are out of date in the nineteenth century; there is a natural in credulity of everything like miracle, and the stories came and went, were told and ridiculed, and dropped from year to year. Yet any one having the curiosity to visit the pretty village of Mannedorf would have been well repaid; "for there lived Dorothea Trudel, who was characterised after her conversion by great earnestness, by singularly protound spiritual knowledge, and by a quiet, happy, and modest Christian spirit. She was a worker in flowers, and came, in time, to have workers under her; and when she was about thirty-seven, four or five of her workers fell sick. The sickness resisted all treatment, grew worse, appeared to be hopeless. She was a diligent and unselfish nurse, and as a Christian her anxiety for the workpeople drove her to earnest prayer and careful consideration of the Scriptures. It was during this period that, like a sudden light, she says the well known passage from James 5:14, 15, flashed upon her. If medical skill was unavailing, was there not prayer? And could not the same Lord who chose to heal through medicines, also heal without them? Was He necessarily restricted to the one means? There was a time when His healing power went forth directly; might it not be put forth directly still? The doctors were at fault; but was not faith in
God perhaps more at fault? Agitated by these questions, she sought help in prayer. And then kneeling by the bedsides of these sick people, she prayed for them They recovered; and the thought that at first had startled her, became now the settled conviction of her life. A sickness broke out in the village, and where it did break out, her help, tenderness, and Christian teaching were rarely absent. She sought the recovery of the patients in answer to prayer alone. Many got better; and as the rumour spread, people from the neighbourhood came or sent, and her leisure was fully occupied. Meanwhile she had resisted all solicitations to leave her ordinary work, and establish a kind of cure. Her proper calling, she considered, was the one which God had provided for her - that of a worker in flowers; her natural shyness and reserve made her shrink from publicity; but as increased numbers came and even besieged her doors, she was compelled to reconsider her position, and at last, with much reluctance, to receive people into her house. This was at first out of mere compassion, when the sick had been brought from a distance and could find no proper shelter or care if she turned them away. By degrees the one house grew into three, and her days were spent in superintendence and in constant prayer; patients came from France and Germany, an even Great Britain. There came to be, in fact, an hospital at Mannedorf. And in this work she continued until her death; and whatever judgment may be passed upon it, as the able writer says from whom we have quoted, " it is worth record as a feature of ths Christian life of our century. Nor is it solitary, others are reported working similarly in other parts of Switzer land. Pastor Blumhardt of Wurtemberg has bad his house crowded with patients for years. Dr Bushnell in his "Nature and the Supernatural," reports like instances from America. There is no supposition of fraud. Will mesmerism, animal magnetism, the power of sympathy, be adequate explanation } Or is there still a prayer of faith that shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up?" That there is danger of this principle being perverted and dishonoured, the doings of the " Peculiar People"' are sufficient evidence. The slightest approach to extravagance and fanaticism ought to be carefully guarded against; and even the method adopted by our Lord when He wrought miracles for the relief of suffering men during His brief sojourn upon earth teaches the same lesson. Nature itself is a great dispensary where God has treasured up His remedies for all diseases which flesh is heir to, which are discoverable by patient and prayerful study, and which is a sufficient indication of His will and general method of working. But then, has He so tied Himself up to merely natural laws and processes that He has only one way of working left, only one way of healing His children? This would be to make law supreme and inexorable, and to concede what sceptical philosophers have always demanded - viz., that a
miracle being contrary to the course and constitution of nature is clearly impossible. So much in explanation of certain facts in Billy Bray's life which we could not entirely pass over, and which, in fact, we gladly and gratefully record to the honour of Him whose Providence never fails, whose Wisdom is never baffled, and whose Power and Goodness can never be exhausted. "I am about," says Billy, " to write of a woman iii whom God's power was made manifest in a wonderful manner, I had the account from her own lips twice, and I will write down as near as I can what she told me. Florence Hoskin, for that was her name, was made a cripple by the ill-usage of one of her family, and wholly lost the use of one of her legs for seven years, and she was obliged to go on a crutch and stick. She was so weak that she was forced to drag her foot after her; and the doctor told her she would not have the use of her leg any more. But he made a mistake, for she was made sound again; our God is a God of all power, and there is nothing too great for Him to do. She was old when she was converted. In 1844, I think the Saturday night before the first Sunday in July, she went to bed greatly cast down. She prayed to her dear Lord, who is able to heal both body and soul; and that sister Hoskin soon found to her joy and satisfaction. She prayed away until the cloud broke from her mind, and she was made very happy in the love of Jesus. Then she said, "Now, my dear Lord, You have healed my soul, why not heal my body too? ' She meant her lame leg; and when she said so, the Lord said to her, "Arise, and go down to the Gospelhouse, and there you will be healed.' Then she said, "Why not be healed here, my dear Lord?" for she was in bed, and it was an easy place for a poor cripple. When she said so, the Lord's Spirit was taken away from her. Then she said, "I will go to Thy Gospel-house, or anywhere else, only let me be healed, my dear Lord." Her Lord said to her, "If I heal you here, they will not believe it, for there are many of them as unbelieving as the Jews were in Jerusalem." And if the dear Lord had healed her in the bed, many would have doubted; there are many unbelieving people in our country, and it is hard to make them believe. The Lord told sister Hoskin to go to the chapel, so that there should be many witnesses of His mighty power in healing her. It was on a Sunday that she rose out of her bed to go to the Gospel-house to get healed, strong in faith; but when she got down-stairs it was as if the devil stood in the door-way, to tempt her to have her breakfast first; but she said, "No, devil, I will not, for you have many times tempted me to stay for breakfast, and I have had a dead meeting through being so late." So she left home with her crutch and stick, and went away to her Gospel-house, dragging her poor lame foot on the ground. When she came to the chapel it was so early that there was no one there. When her leader came, he said, "How is it you are down here so early to-day, Florence?" She said to him, "Great things are going to be done here to-day; I am going to have a sound
leg, for the dear Lord has told me so.' Her class-leader told her he thought she was mad; he said to her, "If she had not more faith than he had, she never would be cured of her lameness." So the meeting began; and while one was praying, Florence said, "Pray away, the balm is coming." She had faith to believe, and when the meeting was over she could walk about the chapel without crutch or stick. Some of the people that saw her walking about the chapel at Porthleven, went round the little town and said, Florence Hoskin is walking about the Bryanites chapel without a crutch or stick. A great many came together to see what a miracle the dear Lord had wrought. As she was going out of the chapel, one person said, "Here, Florence, is your crutch and stick," when she answered, "You may have them if you will, for I shall not want them any more.' And she did not want crutch or stick any more while she lived. Some foolish people will say, "The Lord does not work miracles in these days as in the days of old." The dear Lord does; if we can believe. Florence Hoskin believed; and according to her faith it was done unto her, for she went away from her home a cripple, and in a few hours came back healed: so it was well for her that she served the Lord. Bless and praise His name for ever." Here is another case, as late as February 1865: -"I went to Kestle Mill (to a Wesleyan Chapel to hold a teetotal meeting), a place some miles from Newlyn. A man who lived in Newlyn, called "grandfather," who was very lame, wished to go with me; but when we had gone a little way he said he was so lame that he should not be able to go on. I said to him, "You must go; Father must heal you.' He was going very lame when I said this; it was a great pain for him to walk. So I looked up to heaven, and prayed, and said, "My dear Father, heal him;" and the dear Lord made him a sound man. He said, "All my pain is gone;" and he went on to Kestle Mill as fast as I could go. When we came to the place "grandfather" gave out a hymn and prayed; then he told the people what a bad drunkard he had been; but he was a teetotaler now, the Lord had converted his soul, and he was a happy man. When grandfather had done speaking, I spoke. Twenty signed the pledge. Then we travelled home; but I heard no more about his pain. On the Tuesday we had a teetotal meeting at our chapel in Newlyn, several Wesleyans on the platform. On Thursday, the 16th, after I had spoken in the Wesleyan Chapel at Newlyn, "grandfather" rose from his seat, and told all the people in the chapel how he was almost a cripple last week, and how that the dear Lord had healed him at once on Monday while going to Kestle Mill, and that he had not felt any pain since." Billy also speaks of a brother Hicks who had been in bed seven years, and was two years without speech, whom the Lord brought out in one day; whose cure was wrought when a good brother resolved that he would not cease praying for him until he could speak. Billy's faith was unquestioning in the power and
willingness of that Saviour who is in every place and age the same.This is still more characteristic. At one time he had a child seriously ill, and his wife feared it would die. She wished Billy to go to the doctor, and get some medicine. He took eighteenpence in his pocket, all the money there was in the house. On the road, he met a man who had lost a cow, and who was then out begging for money to buy another, whose story touched Billy's heart, and at once the money was given. He said afterwards, "I felt after I had given the money away that it was of no use to go to the doctor, for I could not have medicine without money, so I thought I would tell Father about it. I jumped over a hedge, and while telling the Lord all about it, I felt sure the cheeld would live. I then went home, and as I entered the door, said to my wife,"Joey, the cheeld's better, isn't it." "Yes," she said. "The cheeld will live, the Lord has told me so," was his answer, and the child soon got well. But if these were the somewhat rare and more remarkable fruits of a faith which staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, it was ever in active operation, always made him happy and contented with his lot, saved him from all anxious care, and diffused over the whole of his life a heavenly radiance, some of the rays of which fell upon others wherever he went. The deep wisdom of the principles he had adopted possibly he did not know himself, but of their reality and blessedness he was fully conscious. How beautiful, how instructive, showing how far Billy was removed from fanaticism, is the following: - "My wife said to me one day when lying on her sick bed, "William, I do not see anything from heaven." "Neither do I, and what need has the Lord to show us sights ("Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe," our Lord said to a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum) when we can believe without it?" He continued: "If I saw the Saviour a babe in the manger, I should not believe it more than I do now. If I saw Him raise Lazarus out of the grave, I should not believe it more than I do now. If I saw the Lord Jesus raise the ruler's daughter or the widow's son to life, I should not believe it more than I do now. And if I saw the dear Lord nailed to the cross, and heard Him cry, "It is finished," saw Him give up the ghost, and rise from the tomb the third day, I should not believe these things more than I do now." When he said this his wife exclaimed, "And so do I believe it," and they greatly rejoiced together. This simple faith in God and in His Word, what wonders it can accomplish. It is the secret of power. It is a choice and powerful weapon in the Christian's armoury, which can be used at all times, and never fails. But in dealing with the sick and ignorant it has a special value. Billy speaks of an old man, who had been very wicked, but who was seeking mercy. His visitor said to him, "You need not fear, for if you ask the Lord for it you are sure to find it. It is said, "Let
the heart of him rejoice that seeks the Lord," for those who seek are sure to find Him, and when you have found Him you will have a good prize." But the old man did not at once get the blessing, and so Billy continued: "Suppose that you were very poor, and you knew that there was a bag of money in this room, and you were sure that if you sought for it you would find it, and that it would supply all your wants, and you would never be poor any more; then you would search the room with a good heart. The Lord is here, and when you find Him you will have all you want." As this was said, the old man sprung from his seat, exclaiming, "I have got it! " His wife heard him, ran into the room, fell on his neck, both rejoicing exceedingly in the God of their salvation. The old man said, "I never felt anything so pretty in all my life." But how much he lost, is Billy's reflection, because he did not begin to serve God before. This incident reminds us of another characteristic feature of our friend's life, but which may very appropriately be dwelt on, more at length, in our next chapter. CHAPTER VI. PURE RELIGION. "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you visited me. . . . Truly I say to you, As you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren you have done to me." Matt. 25:34-30, 40. IN this memorable Scripture, we are taught that the humblest disciples - the poor, the sick, the despised - are more precious unto their Divine Lord than is light to the eye, or music to the ear, or knowledge to the mind, or love to the heart. He so fully identifies Himself with His people, that an injury done to them He reckons as an injury done to Him, while a blessing bestowed upon them is a blessing bestowed upon Him. It is no wonder, there fore, that the Apostle James should declare that "pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." These two distinct parts of pure religion may be said to be equal in importance, but it is to the first part - visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction - that we now ask the attention of the reader. In this particular, Billy Bray may be almost said to have had a chivalrous sense of duty and honour. Often dependent himself on the charity of others - for
which he was truly grateful, but not servile or obsequious - he gladly shared with people poorer than himself what little he possessed. He could not keep two hats, one of his friends says, two days, if he knew of a brother in Christ in want of one. None enjoyed song and prayer and meditation and worship more than he; but he never once forgot, in the fulness of his joy, that the naked had to be clothed, and the hungry to be fed. He did not offer unto the Lord his God that which cost him nothing. He not only poured out all his heart in devotion to his Saviour, but of his substance he willingly took for the Lord's work. We sometimes get prayer instead of labour, or labour instead of prayer; beneficence instead of devotion, or devotion instead of beneficence. Billy Bray had not so learned Christ. His religion was not one-sided, but fully developed in every direction. It was bright in its God ward aspects, but it also beamed on men with tenderness, and offered them its gifts of love and service. When he had exhausted his own little store in ministering unto the wants of the poor, he sought for them help from others. In one instance of this kind, a gentleman, to whom he applied, gave him a sovereign for some poor people, and his lady also gave him some clothes for them. After he had had tea, he said he must pray before he left the house, for he felt it as much his duty to pray in a rich man's house as in a poor man's. The gentleman and lady, with some of their servants, knelt together at the footstool of Him who is King of kings, and Lord of lords," while Billy poured out all his heart, for he had sweet access to the throne of grace. Some Quaker friends, whose kindness to Billy all through life was very marked, were also appealed to, and with the three pounds he collected he bought food and clothing for the family of a "quiet, thrifty, honest man," - and what was a great recommendation to Billy, one who neither drank nor smoked, - paid their quarter's rent, filled the cottage with sunshine and gladness, and received himself the blessing of those that were ready to perish. Visits to such devoted Christians as Peggy Mitchell, the best scholar in Gwennap parish, because she could read her title clear to mansions in the skies, were their own exceeding great reward, and it seemed very strange to Billy that the duty of visiting the sick should be so much neglected. But the unconverted he sought out as well, and his message of mercy in many a sick chamber God signally blessed. Sometimes young people of good position accompanied him to the house of mourning, who were both greatly blessed, and made a blessing. These, despite earthly distinctions and differences, were his brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus, and therefore greatly beloved for His sake. As he had great tact and discretion, besides unfailing cheer fulness, his visits were by many eagerly sought and highly prized. To one who had been a great sufferer for many years, he said, "The pain of yesterday and last night you will never feel any more. You are as well off as the queen so far as yesterday is
concerned. With the queen yesterday is gone, and so is it with you;" or as another sufferer said to him, she could praise God, for every pain is a pain the less. Another person whom he visited the same day, an aged Christian eighty years old, - he tells us knew quite as much about the dear Lord as he could tell her. She loved the Lord so much that she did not know a name good enough by which to call Him. "Every word she spoke was sweet to my soul," Billy said. And why? he inquires. Because she was filled, as were Barnabas and Stephen, with the Holy Ghost. And Satan can do nothing by those who are filled with the Holy Ghost." Another dear Christian, of forty five years standing, seen, too, the same day, was one after his own heart, because the Lord had converted her "in and out" in allusion to the excessive outward adorning of some, which Billy strongly condemned. (Sometimes in his public addresses, in allusion to the artificial flowers with which so many women professing godliness adorn themselves, he would say, "I wouldn't mind your having a waggon-load of them on your heads, if that would do you any good; but you know it wouldn't, and everyone knows that flowers only grow in soft places." And many people can testify that men who made them selves ridiculous by their conceited airs and fine dress did not escape his well-merited and striking rebukes. The nicely-feathered arrow from his wellstrung bow has often gone much below the surface. His spirit was always stirred within him when he saw men who spent more time in oiling their cobs, or twirling their whiskers, than in prayer or reading the Bible. Pity that so many should be found to labour in trying to destroy the fence that separates the Church from the world, and to make by-standers believe that they are more concerned to exhibit the graces of their appearance than they are to display the beauties of holiness and the glories of their Divine Redeemer). About the same time he found out another person, whose class-leader had only been to see her once in a whole year, and he was not surprised that many became therefore indifferent to heavenly things. He was not hopeful about every case. He saw a person who had been very wicked, and was told that he had been seeking the Lord a long time. He hoped he had; but he added, " It is dangerous to put off our soul's salvation until we are on our death-bed; for where there is one who gets the prize, there are ten who lose it, and the same old devil that got at them down-stairs will get at them when they are in their beds." An old woman who, with a crippled daughter lived in one little dirty down-stairs room, had a word of encouragement. She had had many trials, but she was very hopeful and trusting. The storm had stripped her little cottage of its roof, but the Lord had in mercy spared both her and her daughter. Billy said to her, "Heaven will be a pretty place for you when you get there. You will be able to say, "What a glorious place I am in now? I am not now down in the
house with the roof blown away; I am not down now in a dirty little room, with little meat and clothes; oh, what a mighty change is this! What a glorious place is heaven!" and he adds, "I believe if any will know the joy of heaven in its higher state, it will be those who have suffered most down here." I went with Billy one day to visit a preacher, who while he was conversing and praying with him became remarkably happy. Presently the sick man expressed a hope that the Lord would take him to heaven, there and then, as he felt quite ready for the change, and he should not then grieve his best Friend again by carelessness or unbelief. His wife, who was standing by the side of the bed, turned away, her eyes filled with tears. To her Billy immediately turned and said, So you would not like to have your husband promoted, then? " And then he took up his parable. "Don't you think that your eye ought to be as much upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as the eye of a worldly woman is upon the Queen? Now if the Queen were to send for the brother, or son, or husband of any such woman, would not she say, "I am sorry to part with him, but it may be the making of him, I must let him go. It is the Queen who has sent for him." And yet you know," he continued, "that it might be a great expense to prepare him to go; or the Queen might soon die, or he offend her, and then he would be as bad off as ever. But the Lord Jesus Christ is at all the expense of the fit out, He provides the robe your husband will be clothed with, the crown that he will wear, the palm that he will wave; the Lord Jesus Christ will never die, and your husband wants to go be cause he knows he shall never offend Him again: now ought you not to be willing for this?" The distressed wife, who was now smiling through her tears, said she was willing, but she did not want to lose him just yet." And do you think," said Billy, "that you will ever be willing. If my Joey lives, and if I am to wait until she is willing for me to go to heaven, I shall never get there. The fact is, the Lord has a right to take your husband, or me, or any of His children whenever He pleases, and if I were the Lord I would too, and not ask anybody." I well remember having a visit from Billy when, to all appearances, I was on the borders of the grave, and too weak to join in conversation, or to hear other people talk much. But Billy intermingled, in a very striking manner, prayer and conversation, addressing earnest exhortations to me, with passionate entreaties to Jehovah. He hoped, he believed, he felt sure that the Lord would raise me up; then I was exhorted to be faithful, to make full proof of my ministry, to bear a good testimony for Christ always; and then he burst out into a glowing description of the honours and dignities which in that case should be my reward, - I was to have a robe, a palm, a throne, a kingdom, a crown, a crown of glory, a crown of life, a crown of righteousness, - and he interposed the remark - I hardly knew whether it was intended for God or myself, but it
nearly convulsed me with laughter - And I'll wager it will be a fine and pretty one." There is no doubt about the brightness of Billy's crown, or the fulness of his reward, for in various ways he turned many to righteousness and he shall therefore shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of our Father, or as the stars for ever and ever, How just and beautiful are the following remarks respecting Billy's piety, with which we may fitly close this chapter: - Religion to him was not a duty to be done - not a privilege to be enjoyed in leisure hours - not a benefit-club, a comfortable provision for rainy days; it was a life. Never left behind, never put off with the Sunday clothes, never hidden before great or low, good or bad - but in him, flowing through him, speaking in every word, felt in every action, seen in every look - deep, true, abiding religion was with him altogether a life. Dead indeed unto sin, he was now living unto God through Jesus Christ. Billy had lighted his candle, and resolved that it should give light to all that were in the house. His religion was not a safety-lamp, laid by till he should be going down into the dark valley - nor like the chapel gaslight, that burned only on Sundays and at the week evening services. Once lighted, it was put into perhaps a commonplace sort of a candlestick, but all at home could see by it. And as the world about him was a dark world, he thrust his candle into a lantern and took it forth wherever he went, and guided not a few from horrible pits that threatened them into the way of salvation. One thing about this lighted candle Billy never forgot - that it burned none the worse for every candle that was lighted from it.
CHAPTER VII. SABBATH KEEPING. "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." - Isa. 63:13, 14. ONE of the most marked features of Billy's character was his love and reverence for the Sabbath. It was to him a day most calm, most bright, the pearl of days in his estimation, to both rich and poor, to the poor especially. If the working men of England only prize the Sabbath as they should, for it comes to them freighted with health, and blessing, and comfort, they will never permit it to be wrested from their grasp under any pretence whatever. An attempt made soon after his conversion to rob Billy of this boon signally failed. He showed on that occasion great wisdom and boldness. Before his conversion he had spent his Sabbaths in idleness and sin, afterwards they were sanctified to the Lord. One of the levels of the mine in which he worked filled with water every twelve hours, which was then drawn to the surface. When it came to Billy's turn one Sunday to go to the mine to draw up the water, he was at Hicks Mill Chapel. The Lord said to him, "Stay here, and worship me this day." Billy had no doubt that
the Lord did thus speak, or that it was his duty to obey. "I will, Lord," was his answer, and he left the water to find its way to the bottom of the shaft, in the full belief that no harm would come of it. On the Monday morning he went to the mine at six o'clock, for he could not safely leave the water to take care of itself on the Monday, though he could do so with great confidence on the Sunday. The captain interrogated him as to his absence, and Billy frankly told him it was the Lord's will that he should not work on Sundays. "I'll "Lord's will" thee!" the captain angrily said; "thou shalt not work here any more." Billy was unmoved, "for I felt," he said, "that I had the Lord of rocks and hills for my Friend, and I did not care who was against me." But when his comrade told him that he was turned away too, he quickly said, "You must not be turned away on my account; it was not your fault, and I'll go to the captain and tell him so." At this interview, the captain told Billy he must give up that foolish notion about not working on Sundays, for men in a mine must work Sundays. Billy replied, "The land mourns for the wickedness of the wicked; and I have a new Master now, and He tells me I must not work on the Sabbath-day, but keep it holy; and I shall do as He tells me." The clerk in the counting house said, if he felt like William Bray, he wouldn't work on Sundays either. The captain then said he might go to work if he would, and Billy's full cup ran over when he gave him such work to do as left him at liberty to go to the meetings every night of the week as well as Sundays. About the same time a revival began at Twelveheads Chapel, and believing it was the Lord's will he left his barrow and the ash-heap (the new work to which he had been appointed), and away to the chapel. "I was much wanted," he tells us, for the old professors were very dead at that time, would come into the chapel with their hats under their arm, and look very black at us. But the Lord was with us, and soon tore a hole in Satan's kingdom. We had, I think, nearly a hundred converted in one week, the first week I ever worked all the time for the Lord in His house." On the Friday of that blessed week, it was taking-on day at the mine. He thought at first he would go, but his second thought was, " No, I will stay here this week, and work for the Lord." "That same night," his account continues, "two men came to the chapel to me, called me out, and said I was appointed to work with them in chapel's shaft, for Captain Hosken, who a little before had turned me away, had told them to take me with them. So I stayed that week and worked for the Lord; and on Monday morning I went to see the place that the Lord had got for me. At the place I had been turned away from I got only £2 a month; and in this new place I had £5 a month or more; "and had not to work so hard by a great deal. And so the Lord cleared my way for ever from working Sundays. I did not lose by serving the Lord, but got £3 a month more than I got before; and did the will of the Lord, which is better than all the
money in the world." And whatever ridicule may be poured upon his statements that he heard the voice of God forbidding him to do this, and directing him to do that, or upon his belief that God would not suffer any harm to be done by the water on the Sunday, surely all must admire his fidelity to his conscience and his God, and his courage in acting up to his convictions of truth and duty, what ever the result might be to himself. And, after all, what are the incidents just related but illustrations of the Scripture, "Those who honour me, I will honour." And if men only simply and honestly believed what God has promised, such examples would be of daily occurrence, for none ever trusted in Him, and was confounded. (I am not quite sure, as the different accounts furnished by Billy's friends are not quite clear and consistent, but it is probable that his being put to work in this particular spot was intended as a punishment, perhaps his captain had not quite overcome his chagrin at Billy's refusal to work on a Sunday. He and his comrades could not make much progress, a great part of their time being employed in drawing off the water. In the ear of the Most High he poured his complaints. Almost immediately on resuming his work they heard a sort of gurgling with the water below, and in a little time they had a dry place to work in, and the result was in every respect satisfactory.) Much more of the same kind might be added. In the freshness of his first love, Billy had asked on a Sunday morning, "What can I do to be more acceptable in the sight of the Lord than I have already done? " The answer he received was, "Fast this day for the Lord's sake." "I will, Lord," was his prompt answer. He did not take any food until eight o'clock at night; and that was the best day he had had for twenty-nine years. Henceforth he took no food from Saturday night until four or five o'clock on Sunday afternoons. His neighbours were afraid that he would starve himself, and a good man, Richard Verran by name, kindly said to him, "The devil is trying to starve you, for he knows what great things the Lord has done for you." Billy's answer was. "Richard, the devil shall not starve me, for I can soon know by asking the Lord, who will tell me whether I am right or no." On the next Sunday morning he knelt on a stool and said, "Lord, You know what the people are saying, that I shall starve myself if I fast; now, my dear Lord, if I must not fast. make me happier than I have been." But he did not feel happier. Then he said, "Lord, must I fast?" and he says, "The power of God came down upon me, so that I fell off the stool; and I was convinced that it was the will of the Lord that I should fast." What the people said had no effect upon him now; and truly, as he declares, "If the members of the churches would mortify the flesh more, and not gratify it, they would be much happier than they are." To his friends who pressed him to eat he would say, "On the Sunday I get my breakfast and dinner from the King's table, two good meals too, and I