Read Ebook: Gathering Jewels The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries. by Knowles James Knowles Matilda Darroch Young Duncan McNeill Editor

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There are crags to climb in the mountains fast, There are gorges, and canyons deep, And the blinding snow, and the wintry blast Must over the landscape sweep.

And the shoulders must bear a wearisome load, Whether o'er mountain or moor, Or through forest, or dusty highway, lay the road, Or the feet be bleeding and sore.

But hand in hand we see them still, When the sun had drunk up the dew; They were toiling steadfastly up the hill, Ever keeping the end in view.

They scaled the crags of the mountain steep When the noontide sun was high; And they forded the flood of the canyon deep, When the sun lay low in the sky.

But their tired feet are no longer as light As in days of the long, long past, And their youthful tresses have turned to white With the snows, and the wintry blast.

Now hand in hand, they stand by the shore Of a river dark and wide; And the songs which the seraphs are wafting o'er, They catch from the other side.

And their faces beam with unearthly light, In the rays of the setting sun, As their eyes peer far beyond mortals' sight, And they learn that life's journey is done.

Hand in hand by the river, they stray Where the dark waves wash the shore; And they hear the splash, and the feathery spray, As the ferryman dips his oar.

Now the father waves a loving adieu, As he looses his clasp?d hand; And the ferryman plies his oar anew, Till he reaches the golden strand.

Now her face is illumed by a heavenly light As sweet as angels' breath; For she knows that the unclasped hands will unite, Across the river of death.

GEORGE F. SARGENT.

NEW YORK, February 17, 1887.

GATHERING JEWELS

BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JAMES KNOWLES.

"God bless thee, bairn--my bonnie bairn," She said, an' straikit doon his hair; "O may the widow's God be thine, And mak' thee His peculiar care!"

James Knowles was born at sea, December 5, 1811, his father, the previous day, having been swept overboard and lost. Unfortunately no record of the misfortune was kept to be available for the present purpose; hence we are unable to give either the name of the ship, or the latitude and longitude it was in when his birth occurred. Picture to yourself the deck of a vessel in mid-ocean, where the widow of a day becomes a mother the next, the subject of this sketch being the infant presented to her bosom, and you have a glimpse of the situation--though it be unconnected with either a cottage, a mansion, or a palace.

The mother returned with the infant to the home of her father at Ballymena, Ireland, where her relatives then undertook the care of the fatherless babe, which eventually grew into healthy boyhood of the most affectionate character.

As a youth he made rapid progress in the elementary branches of education, often surprising his teachers with the patience and care he exhibited in keeping in advance of his fellow-students--for he was almost always at the head of his class. He was noted for his quiet, unobtrusive disposition, underlying which was an internal force, which made him prompt in action, and to the point in word, when the display of such characteristics was sometimes necessary to establish his individual superiority with more than usual power among his fellow-schoolmates.

In 1826 he commenced his apprenticeship as a compositor, under the care of Mr. Dugan, in the city of Belfast, Ireland, where he continued until the expiration of the time of his indentures.

In 1832, after an ocean passage of sixty days in a sailing vessel, he arrived in Philadelphia, Pa.

During this long and tedious voyage across the Atlantic, he and the captain of the ship became very intimately attached to each other, and he was frequently invited to dine with the officers.

After a brief stay in Philadelphia, he came to New York City, where he found employment. Immediately after his arrival in this city, he became a member of the Rev. Dr. McLeod's Reformed Presbyterian Church, in Chambers Street, and continued with this church until after they had removed to Prince Street.

In 1839 he was married to Miss Matilda Darroch, who was a member of Dr. McCarthy's Canal Street Presbyterian Church and a teacher in the Sabbath-school.

As a Christian man, at this time, we find him teaching a large Bible-class for young men in the above church, and to the end of his earthly career he was constantly engaged in the Sabbath-school.

In 1849 the Prince Street Church property was sold to erect a new building on Twelfth Street, where he continued to attend the services until the year 1850, when some of the members, being anxious to enlarge their borders, and continue the work in the lower part of the city, formed the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church. They organized, and called the Rev. Spencer L. Finney to the pastorate, who commenced to hold services in the hall of the Apprentices' Library, No. 472 Broadway, where they worshipped for one year, and then secured more ample accommodations in which to worship God, in the rooms of the Medical College, Crosby Street, near Spring.

In 1850 he was carefully examined, and when found qualified for the sacred office, was duly ordained a ruling elder in the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church.

During the year 1854 the Church purchased the building in Mulberry Street, near Grand, belonging to the Lutheran body.

At this time he continued to reside on the west side of the city, and attended two sessions of the Sabbath-school morning and afternoon, with two preaching services, and one prayer-meeting in the evening.

As soon as the congregation were permanently settled in a church building, he removed from the west to the east side of the city, to the Tenth Ward, in order to be in close proximity to his church work.

He continued to worship with the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church, under the pastorate of the Rev. S. L. Finney, who, in 1863, was called to Princeton, N.J.

The Rev. Geo. S. Chambers was subsequently called to take the pastoral charge. Eventually, it was found essential to change their ecclesiastical relations from the Reformed Presbyterian Church to the Old School, from which time , the congregation became known as the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church.

In due course it united with the Fortieth Street Presbyterian Church, afterward called the Murray Hill Presbyterian Church, because at the time, though in possession of a church building, they had no pastor. Mr. Knowles continued to attend regularly until the imperative demands of age and time called for change, when he became united with the Allen Street Church.

In 1870 he accepted an invitation from his uncle to visit his native place; and he frequently afterward remarked that the scenes of his boyhood's days had materially changed as much as he had; realizing that change, progress, and decay were written upon all things terrestrial.

During this visit to Europe, he greatly enjoyed rambles over the country roads, admiring the beauties of the surrounding scenery.

On one occasion, while passing the school-house of his boyhood days, he was found by an old friend, wistfully gazing at the building, who said, "What are you looking at?" And upon entering into conversation, he discovered that he and the gentleman who addressed him had been former schoolmates together.

We find recorded in his diary the following:

"I now commence filling this book, which I brought with me from New York, in the steamship Italia. I am now in Fenagh, Ireland."

From the record of this journey, we notice that he was very careful in watching the signs of the times, and the changing moods of the weather. For example, he writes thus:

Before returning to this country he expressed his love and unfeigned gratitude to the memory of his sainted mother by erecting a substantial monument over her grave to perpetuate her revered name.

After spending two years in Europe he returned to New York, and was elected an Elder in the Allen Street Church.

On Easter Sabbath, April, 1877, he was regularly installed into office as a Ruling Elder.

So I ask Thee, Lord, to give me grace My little place to fill, That I may ever walk with Thee, And ever do Thy will, And in each duty, great or small; I may be faithful still.

Of course, the life-work of such a man as we are contemplating was full of little peculiarities , which even his most intimate relations with the world does not divulge to the inquisitive of his day. It is only after such men pass away and their relatives are permitted to look into the "private jewel-box," as it were, that we come across the brilliant diamonds of thought, the glowing rubies of expressed gratitude and, may be, some softly-tinted pearls of faith, hope and charity, all lying together in the receptacle which, even if humble in workmanship, is full of priceless treasures.

The Bible of our friend was very often used for over forty years, until it showed that it was never allowed to preserve a dainty appearance through a want of use, nor the dust to accumulate on cover or edge by reason of its owner's non-usage of the sacred pages. It was a useful Reference Bible, and, no doubt, of immense value and comfort to him, for the pages are pretty well worn, even where no marks are made indicative of favorite passages, etc.

Next among the eccentricities of our friend was the disposition to keep a quiet order of memorandums, and a diary extending back for many years, from which had we the space to spare in this book we would place before the world some of the gems found in his jewel-box, as indicative of the man's industry and the Christian's freedom from ostentatious display.

Help each step upon the way, Strength sufficient for the day, All things easy in Thy might, Work for thee a felt delight.

Courage, patience, grace supplied, All things needful--at Thy side; Such my happy lot will be, Working, dearest Lord, with thee.

Agreeably with the spirit of our labor, we will take an impartial view of our friend as a Christian, in the eyes of the world, and among laymen generally. That he was no drone in the Christian hive, all the world could see; that he was active and unusually laborious for Christ and the Church, no one who follows the spirit of the sermon eulogizing his memory, or who reads this work, can deny; as an Elder of the Church, he was faithful in anything he was requested to perform, especially in public prayer-meeting, individual devotional study, and self-contemplation.

His sympathy for suffering humanity in any form, was, indeed, very large, in fact so easily moved, that he would habitually visit the sick members of the Church after being relieved from such duties. To him all men and women were brothers and sisters, the distance of relationship , he would claim, was closer, more congenial, and intimate in others.

As a builder among the builders, a workman among the workmen of the temple; or as a brother among brethren of the same house, he was meekness itself; his spirit of patience never failing him in instances where "to wait was gain," either for God, the Church, or himself.

His acquiescence in the decision of his brethren, when they at last decided upon changing the location of their place of worship, was secured at the price of sacrificing his own preferences in the matter--and all for the sake of peace, harmony, and continued brotherly love. In this he was a "light shining upon a hill-top."

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