Additional information
by Mary E. Ropes (Author)
Mary Jones was poor and illiterate. She learned to read and walked two miles to study a neighbor's Bible. A resolution became fixed in her mind that she must have a Bible of her own. For six years she did odd jobs for halfpennies, until she had enough to buy a Bible. One bright morning she walked barefoot 25 miles to buy the Bible. When she reached Mr. Charles, he said that he did not have any Bibles for sale. Mary broke down and wept bitterly, and his heart was so touched that he could not deny her a Bible. Mr. Charles, deeply moved by Mary's story, was taken by conviction to supply Bibles for all of Wales. He petitioned before the Religious Tract Society in London, and was warmly received. In March, 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society was established for the purpose of Bible distribution worldwide and is still active today. "If but one heart is moved by the perusal of these pages to more earnest work Mary Jones, for the Master, to self-denial and loving service in the spread of His truth; to a more eager study of God's Word, and a greater zeal in circulating and making it known among others-then indeed this little story of the poor Welsh girl and her Bible will not have been written in vain."
Author Biography
MARY EMILY ROPES (1842-1932) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her father was William Hooper Ropes, a merchant in Russia. While young she lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, then moved to London and spent her later life in Wales. She wrote about Russian life with her brother, Adrian Ross (Arthur R. Ropes), in the book "On Peter's Island." Another popular story was "Mary Jones and Her Bible."
