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2 "LITE ANO SA LINGS OE SAN. P. JONES” By His Wife, Assisted by Reb. Walt. Holcomb. (The Franklin-Turner Co., Publishers, Atlanta, Ga., A. N. Jenkins & Scott, Sole Distributors, Austell Building, Atlanta, Ga.) The salient and enduring qualities of a man’s life and work correspond in a great measure to the pertinent and significant facts in a nation’s history, for while both are best judged from the standpoint of a perspective created by time, both are also best understood by the impressions made on those whose lives have most closely touched the events chronicled. Hence accurate historians always seek to strengthen their facts by consulting the writings or memoirs of those who live through historic epochs, and the true biographer should, whenever possible, be one whose own life has been in some w’ay associated with that of the person under consid eration. Dr. Johnson so well realized the phil osophy of this truth that he is said to have himself selected Boswell as his biographer and at once in sisted on that gentleman's taking up a permanent abode under his own roof. When we consider, therefore, that contact with the subject and a perfect comprehension of the mo tives which influence his actions and form his career are prime essentials of a biog rapher, we at once recognize that in the “Life and Sayings of Sam Jones,” which is just off the press, the fact that it is written and compiled by his wife and co-worker as well, forms a combination of forces which can not fail to pro duce a work of real value. This too, despite the natural bias of affection and friendship which would naturally influence both these writers, and it is worthy of special mention that while the deep and loyal devotion to her husband is breathed in every line that Mrs. Jones writes, there is also a mass of corresponding facts that can not fail to substan tiate every claim that she makes for him. Sam Jones as a Youth. While in the work under consideration the ances try and early influences of Mr. Jones are given due consideration, these are in a large measure mere facts obtained from others, but the early impres sions which Mrs. Jones gives of the young man as she first saw him are of value because they were gained at a time before his conversion, when as an undisciplined youth he first entered the horizon of her life. In this connection she says: “It was on a Friday afternoon in January, 1864, that, in company with one of my young girl friends it was my privilege to come home and spend the Sabbath from boarding school in Newcastle, Ky., that I met this young man. When I got home my mother was full of praises of Sam Jones, the Georgia boy. * * * My first introduction to him was by my mother, who said, ‘Laura, this is Sam Jones, from Georgia.’ I looked at him and saw a bright-faced boy with large brown eyes, and my heart went out to him in sympathy. * * * This was the first sight of the boy who was in after years to become my cherished companion and whose name was to become a household word all over the land.” Following this first impression, Mrs. Jones gives a detailed account of her early acquaintance with the young man, the correspondence which folio-wed and the marriage which was the outcome of this meeting. Sam Jones as a Husband. With a tender touch that defies all literary skill and transcends all graces of rhetoric, Mrs. Jones gives in simple words the story of her early married life and of her husband’s character after his con version. The shadews of the first years are touched with a hand so light and so loyally loving that they seem mere mists which disappeared forever before the rising sun of religious faith that came to il lumine the family life. She tells of Mr. Jones’ love for little children; of his grief when their first bom passed away; of his tender solicitude when illness assailed them and of his agony of mind when at one time she herself lay ill unto death. She tells of his unwavering faith in the efficacy of prayer and of his triumph when her own life was spared to him in direct ans wer to his petitions. This first chapter of her work The Golden Age for February 14, 1907. is one which must ever remain as a monument to the man she loved as well as an historic biography, the accuracy of which is amply attested to in every line and every word. The Home Life of Sam Jones. One of the significant incidents recorded is that of the dedication of his new home to the Lord, on which Mr. Jones insisted. Referring to this event we quote the following from Mrs. Jones’ manu script : “Four generations of Mr. Jones’ family were present, including his venerable uncle, brothers, sisters, mother and my mother. His beau tiful thoughts concerning home life and the bless ing’s of God in the home were so sacred and sublime that every one present saw him in an entirely dif ferent light to what the world had known him. Some one who was present in writing of the re-ar rangement of the home said: ‘I was struck with something about Sam Jones’ home which is typical ... ■' ■ • w - ' Nt* / •W ’ / • /r ■ • ■ ■ ? ,■■/ ■ ■ ■ ■ MRS. SAM P. JONES. of his life. When he built his present home he had the old home which was a one-story frame building raised and a new portion built under it. The old homestead is there, but it is elevated and made beau tiful by the new part which is a handsome founda tion. So it is with the life of the owner. The old Sam Jones had been lifted up with a new man and a firm foundation, the maker and builder of which is God. While the entire structure is beautiful to behold, yet the old Sam Jones is still there, with the humour and boyishness and the love for all mankind.’ ” This portion of the work which depicts Mr. Jones in his home, as a neighbor, a friend and a father is of deepest interest for it shows the man not as an inspired preacher bringing his thousands yearly to the foot of the Cross, not as a great reformer decrying the evils of the age, but as a man, tender, true and loyal and seeking to apply the principles he preached in the practices of his life each day. Inherited Religious Tendencies. To those who are willing to accept the theory of heredity the conversion and latter religious life of Mr. Jones is a powerful argument in favor of the application of the theory. His forbears were of deeply religious natures; his grandfather Jones was famous in his day for his ardent religious life. “To be with Grandfather Jones and to hear him talk was to feel a holy inspiration,” says Mrs. Jones. “His conversation was on high and holy things . . . and in Mr. Jones we find some of the characteristics of his grandfather.” The wife of “Grandfather Jones” was a daugh ter of Rev. Robert L. Edwards, one of the pioneer preachers of Georgia and in this ancestor also some of Mr. Jones’ own characteristics may be traced. But although a man may be given a good founda tion for spiritual grace he may find himself diverted from spiritual paths just as was Sam Jones at one time, and it lies with his own individual will rather than any inherited strength to determine what his own path in life shall be. The Career of the Great Evangelist. The conversion of Sam Jones, his first sermon and the consecration of his life are facts dwelt on at some length in the work of Mrs. Jones and Mr. Hol comb. The impressions and expressions of the man himself at the revival service conducted by his grandfather, at which the young man publicly gave his heart to Christ, make one of the most touch ing chapters of the book. In speaking of his first sermon, Mr. Jones is quoted as having said: “I remembered only two things: ‘God is good,’ and ‘I am happy.’ ” Even at that first sermon “he extended an invitation to penitents and many rushed to the altar and were happily converted to God.” While it is only possible to give here a brief glimpse of this extensive work, we are impelled to dwell on the early career of this man for the events of his later life are so well known as to need no repetition. However, the chapters covering his first work in the conference, his labors for the Orphans’ Home, his experiences in Brooklyn with Dr. Tal mage, the revivals he conducted in Chicago, Cincin nati, St. Louis, Baltimore, Indianapolis, St. Paul, Minneapolis, California, as well as in Toronto and other points in Canada, hold a deep biographical value not only as incidents in one man’s career but as historic events in the spread of 'Christian spirit. Last Tributes; Yet another feature of this work whieh will make it of value to the generations of the future is the account of the closing scenes in the life of the evan gelist and the tributes paid to him by such distin guished Americans as Hon. William Jennings Bry an, of Nebraska, John Temple Graves and Thos. E. Watson of Georgia, United States Senator Edward W. Carmack, of Tennessee, Prof. E. 0. Excell, of Chicago, as well as numerous personal friends and admirers of Mr. Jones. These tributes come from sources so diverse and are the expressions of men in so many different lines of thought that we quote the following from representative addresses made at the memorial services held in different cities just after Mr. Jones’ death: At the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn., Hon. E. AV. Gann ack spoke eloquently and truthfully of Mr. Jones. He said: ‘ ‘ There can be no nobler ep itaph written above the dust of any man than to say that the world is better for his having lived, and only the records of eternity can reveal the mag nitude of the work he has done for his fellow men.” This forceful address is given in full in the vol ume under consideration as is also the scholarly eulogy of Prof. E. 0. Excell, of Chicago, Which was delivered at the memorial services held in Chattanooga. In the course of his oration he said: “He was not accidentally great; he was great by the facts and qualities which make men great; . . . he had a great mind; he was a great student, not of books but of men; of current events and moving social affairs ... He knew the great men of the country, and the great moral movements and how they were set in motion. ... A man who accepts God’s conditions and God’s circumstances and works out with God, God crowns with greatness his efforts.” The funeral services of Sam Jones were con ducted by Bishop Chas. B. Galloway, who deliv (Coneluded on Page 12.)