Scripture Verse

Introduction

Anecdote

When Dun­can Ma­the­son, the Scotch ev­an­gel­ist, was work­ing in the Cri­mea, he was re­turn­ing one night, worn out, from Seb­as­to­pol to the old sta­ble at Ba­la­cla­va where he lodged.

He was trudg­ing through mud knee-deep, and the siege seemed no near­er to an end, yet above the stars were look­ing down from the clear sky. He be­gan to sing, ‘How bright those glor­ious spir­its shine.’

Next day he found a sol­dier shiv­er­ing un­der a ve­ran­dah, with his bare toes show­ing through his worn-out boots. Ma­the­son gave him half a so­ver­eign to buy a new pair. The sol­dier thanked him.

I am not what I was yes­ter­day. Last night as I was think­ing of our mis­er­able con­di­tion, I grew tired of life, and said to myself, I can bear this no longer, and may as well put an end to it.

So I took my mus­ket and went down yon­der in a des­per­ate state, about elev­en o’clock; but as I got round the point, I heard some per­son sing­ing, How bright those glo­ri­ous spir­its shine; and I re­mem­bered the old school and the Sab­bath school where we used to sing it.

I felt ashamed of be­ing so cow­ard­ly, and said, Here is some one as bad­ly off as my­self, and yet he is not giv­ing in.

I felt, too, he had some­thing to make him hap­py which I had not, but I be­gan to hope I, too, might get the same hap­pi­ness. I re­turned to my tent, and to-day I am res­olved to seek the one thing.

Do you know who the sing­er was? I asked the mis­sion­ary. No, was the re­ply. Well, said Mr. Ma­the­son, it was I.

Tears rushed in­to the sol­dier’s eyes, and hand­ing back the half-sov­er­eign, he said, Nev­er, sir, can I take it from you af­ter what you have been the means of do­ing for me.

Tel­ford, pp. 410–11