IN these days, when many in England are giving up the Bible, as an old fashioned book, which they neither value nor respect, it is of deep interest to hear of some, in less favored lands, who are struggling forward to the light, and are suffering rather than relinquish that holy volume.
Lina was born in a little village on the frontier of Switzerland,—a country that has fought, bravely for liberty for both body and soul. Her father was a German Protestant, her mother a French Roman Catholic, and as the Roman Church insists, in the case of these mixed marriages, that all the children shall be brought up in its faith, Lina and her brothers and sisters benefited nothing by the father's Protestantism. They were early taught the worship of the Virgin Mary, and trained in the idolatry and superstitions of Popery.
When the little girl was thirteen years of age, she was sent, according to the rules of her church, to confess to the priest, preparatory to making her first communion. Poor Lina was unutterably shocked at the questions put to her by the priest, and when released from the torture of the confessional fled back to her mother in an agony of tears, imploring never again to be sent to face such an ordeal. The mother gently soothed the weeping girl, and yielding to her entreaties, finally promised that she should never again go to confession.
Now there was in that humble home a book which spoke of life, and light, and future glory, and that volume was treasured by the often-weary mother above all other books. It was the Roman Catholic version of the Bible. Now this version is professedly allowed to be read by Romanists, but when it came to the ear of the village priest that it was opened in that household, sternly forbidding its perusal, he demanded that it should be given up to This Lina's mother firmly refused to do, and ashen he threatened her with the wrath of the Church, she courageously replied that she would leave the Church rather than give up her precious book. And at length, to protect her liberty, she declared that from henceforth she was a Protestant. The angry priest had no ether resource than to leave the house, which he did, invoking upon the family the judgment and wrath of God. Lina and her youngest brother declared themselves also to be Protestants, and joined with the mother in reading the proscribed volume.
The following year a terrible sorrow came to the little household. The patient, gentle and Bible-loving mother was taken from them, and the poor father, perplexed as to how to care for his little flock without her, consented to the grandparents lessening his anxieties by adopting one of the children. Lina, the eldest girl, was chosen by them as the one most likely to be useful, and with many tears the young girl left her brothers and sisters and went away with the Roman Catholic grandparents. A hard time was in store for the pool child! The old people were firmly resolved to bring the young heretic back into the true fold, and to spare no pains to the body for the welfare of the soul.
Lina was reasoned with, exhorted and threatened by her relatives, their friends, and the parish priest; but remembering her dying mother's injunctions, never to give up the Bible, she positively refused to do so, neither would she attend mass, nor go to the confession. A married aunt, who lived not far from the grandparents, then tried her best with the stubborn maiden, telling her of the flames of purgatory specially heated for the heretics, and warning her that she would bring upon herself the eternal wrath of God. But though Lina wept she held firm, and the aunt after awhile gave up all hope of the girl's soul, and from henceforth made the sign of the cross when she passed her, as a silent invocation to God for preservation from contamination with the heretic.
Lina was now systematically treated with the utmost harshness; often she was severely beaten, many times she was kept so short of food as to be sorely hungry, and in various ways she was made to feel that she had forfeited all right to the affection or kindness of her family, and was nothing to them but a slave, whom they might ill-treat and work to the utmost. Still the girl held firmly to her precious book-a book that was yet a sealed one to her, for she understood nothing of God's way of salvation. The Scriptures brought no comfort or peace to her soul, and many times as she read, she wept and prayed, that God would grant her light and understanding, and guide her stumbling feet into the way of peace.
The grandfather, furious at the failure of all efforts to shake her constancy, as a last resource declared his intention of cutting her out of his will unless she yielded. But though being disinherited was a serious matter to a delicate girl, who had to make her own way in the world, Lina was given courage and faith to choose first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to trust Him that all else l would be added unto her. When, some years later, the poor old man died, and his property came to the Roman Catholic grandchildren,) Lina's one comfort in his death was that, after he hail appealed to the Virgin and the saints, he fit that such prayers were vain, and he died calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
The poor girl's health was so broken down by the cruelty to which she was constantly subjected, that at the end of the year, the father, alarmed at her thin, pale face, brought her home again among the loved band of brothers and sisters. Time passed on, and although Lina's health continued very broken, she was able to follow various household employments, and after a few years was put out to service. She creditably filled different positions in private Swiss families and in hotels; but being generally thrown among Roman Catholics or merely nominal Christians, she had no help in spiritual things, and the questionings of her soul as to how she might obtain the forgiveness of her sins and draw near to the holy God, were yet unanswered.
However, God had heard poor Lina's prayers for light and peace, and last winter He graciously led her to enter the service of an English Christian family in France. Here the Word of God, which she had so long revered, was daily read to the assembled household, and God's blessing was sought upon each one in prayer. Lina was also invited to accompany the family to some simple French services which were held in the town, and many little words of loving encouragement were from time to time spoken to her, as to the Savior’s love and willingness to receive her.
She had at last found the surroundings she had often desired in her anxious and changeful life, and she was very happy. Yet, for awhile, her eyes seemed holden so that she -could not see the blessed Savior, whose love made those about her full of joy. To all they said, she answered, that she was trying to be as good as they were. So the old error of the Roman Church, of salvation by works, still held sway in her soul, although she professed the great doctrine of Protestantism—justification by faith.
But the Bible, to which she had so tenaciously clung through years of persecution, was at length to bring to her simple soul the long-desired light and liberty.
One Sunday, a young lady of the family, who herself had but recently found the Lord Jesus as her Savior, had a long talk with Lina, with the open Bible before them. She pointed out to her God's way of saving sinners, through the once-offered sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, and showed Lina the grand truth of substitution. The lamb being offered for the firstling of the ass (Exod. 13:1313And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. (Exodus 13:13)) was a type used to help the young believer. She explained to Lina that it was faith and not feelings which made the sinner accepted before God, and which brought peace to the anxious soul. Lina saw, as she had never done before, that Christ had taken her place, and had borne the punishment due to her, and that now she was free, forgiven, justified! Her joy was great, as the weary burdens of many years passed off, and she came into the marvelous light of the love of God, and the full, free, present and eternal salvation which is for every believing soul in Christ.
The Bible has now become Lina's delight and her daily study, and great is her desire to know the Lord's mind in all things, and to live to the glory of her Savior, and to do all she can to bring others to Him. She writes constantly, pleading with her dear brothers and sisters, still in darkness and superstition, and many are her earnest prayers that they too may be brought into “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." A. P. C.