My nest hung in no forest
Of all this death-doomed shore."
And on the afternoon of the 4th day of 12th month, 1873, she left the life of toil and struggle for the life of reward.
Ellen Congdon of Providence wrote in fitting words: "I have taken comfort in the midst of this great bereavement to the Church militant in thinking of the rejoicing and the welcome as her ransomed spirit took its place among the redeemed of all generations. Yet, far, far beyond even this must have been the holy rapture with which she realized the fulfilment of that gracious promise: 'Thine eyes shall behold the King in His beauty, and thou shalt see the land that is very far off.'"
The governor of the State showed his appreciation of the departed one in the following extract from a letter to her son Richard: "Had it been possible I should have been present at the funeral services. I remember your mother from my boyhood, and received the news of her death with profound sorrow. She exemplified the true Christian character in a degree rarely equalled in this life; indeed, she has always appeared to me more in the heavenly than the earthly. In her death the Christian religion has lost one of its brightest ornaments and noblest defenders. Yours is the priceless consolation which the gospel and the remembrance of a life so full of noble deeds afford. Any words of mine would be poor and weak, but I cannot forbear conveying to you and your much-esteemed father, whom I have known and honored for many years, my heartiest sympathy. Yours very truly,
"Sidney Perham."
Her funeral, held in the Friends' meeting-house, was attended by a large company of friends, relatives, and neighbors. The citizens of the town came in large numbers to look for the last time on the one whom they loved and reverenced. Harriet Jones, Samuel Taylor, Sarah Tobey, and others spoke feelingly. "All hearts were moved," says one who was present, "as our venerable and highly esteemed friend Eli Jones arose, controlling the feelings of a heart filled with sorrow, and revealed what had heretofore been kept by him—viz. the manifestation of divine power that had attended her mission while they travelled in foreign lands; also the blessing following her labors during the past few months in attending some one hundred and forty meetings, principally in her own State, in which she appeared like a reaper gathering the harvest."
It is never well for us to speak over-highly of any one or of the service of any one. Power speaks for itself. We spend no breath of praise on the might of Niagara or the majesty of Mont Blanc. God has made them so that they tell us themselves continually of their grandeur. In like manner, the character and work of his human creatures tell to their generation and the following ones their strength and worth without the aid of man's voice.
What Sybil Jones did and said has been felt and has made its impression in the world, and no word which now might be spoken could add to what she really accomplished. For sixty-five years she went about doing what she seemed to have been sent to do. She was under no shackles of creed, but she had a faith which anchored her; she built on a foundation which had already been laid, and she wasted none of her energy seeking answers to unnecessary questions. Her whole heart was in her work, and nothing held her back in her desire to go on herself to perfection and to call others thereto. The power of her spiritual discernment was shown in numerous cases where she told minutely the state and feeling of some before her, and she felt out wonderfully the proper course for her to take. She seemed to grow stronger as she engaged in a new field of work, and not unusually she left her bed of sickness to undertake an arduous journey for an absence of one or two years. She went from Ireland to Norway on a couch, and there endured remarkable hardships, but grew stronger as she worked, and was almost daily before the people for the next six months. She had a striking influence over unprincipled and dangerous men, and she never hesitated to go alone among the greatest outcasts. The swearing sailors on the ship for Liberia grew more gentle as they knew her, and she walked fearlessly into the cell of one of the worst prisoners in the United States: he was touched to tears and blessed the day that brought her to him.