96 



GLEANmaS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Feb, 



of this reproof. Do yoii see how we who 

 profess to be followers of Jesus are watched 

 and weighed? I am glad it is so. We ought 

 to be watched and weighed, for this is one 

 of our greatest safeguards against falling. 

 Shall we then fear to proclaim his name? 



Whosoever therefore shall be ashameil of inc and 

 of my wurdfi, in this aflnlterous and sinful senera- 

 tion, of him shall also the Son of man be ashiimed, 

 when he cometh in the {?lory of his Father with the 

 holy angels.— Mark 8:;58. 



Do you not see, now, that it takes some 

 courage to be a Christian? And shall we 

 back out, and stop by the way, because of 

 the lions that may be found near our path? 

 Not a bit of it. 1 shall talk '■'• great peace," 

 I hope, as long as 1 live; and, with the help 

 of the Lord, I hope to live it, even in busi- 

 ness, better than i have done. 



Some of you may say, " But, hasn't a man 

 a right to — have his" wagon-tongue sawed 

 off, if he has a mind to? It is his wagon, 

 and if the man gets his pay, whose business 

 is it? " 



My reply would be, that no one who pro- 

 fesses to be a Christian has any right to be 

 guilty of any such proceedings. Whenever 

 you contemplate any such action, you are, 

 like Christian and Hopeful, out of the strait 

 and narrow path that leads to the celestial 

 city. 



Ernest had not got through with me, it 

 seems, for he commenced again, that 1 liad 

 too many cares, and too much business. 

 George followed him up; and in the talk 

 that ensued," it appeared that my fretful, un- 

 charitable, and impatient moods were inva- 

 riably between three and four o'clock p.m., 

 at just the hour when I am accustomed to 

 gather up the business of the day, and pass 

 it through my brain, before it goes into the 

 mail-bags. 1 was at fault for getting out of 

 patience; but in truth, I had been lighting 

 against fearful odds that had not been taken 

 into account. One may be able to read let- 

 ters more rapidly than Jiis brain can stand it 

 to handle the business. Brains, like mus- 

 cles, will stand about so much, and no more. 

 I was a little proud, too, perhaps, of the 

 amount of busineirS I could handle, and this 

 was another obstacle in the way of the " great 

 peace." Here were a couple of mere boys, 

 only starting in college as it were, yet who, 

 having the love of the Lord in their young 

 hearts, were teaching me great lessons. My 

 letters were to be read at different times 

 through the day, instead of letting them all 

 run into a single hour, and I was to study in 

 different ways to husband the powers God 

 has given me, as well as to try harder, with 

 Jesus' help, to " suffer long, and be kind." 



Now, I know there are those among you, 

 my readers, who are often overworked in 

 the same way. There are times when it is 

 next to impossible, on account of mental fa- 

 tigue, to call forth the kind smile you would 

 gladly give if you could. INIay God help you! 



And just a word more : Think gently, suf- 

 fer long, and be kind to those whom you 

 know are suffering from ill health or over- 

 work. When you see a cloud of care upon 

 the brow of a loved one, lift it ; make it a 

 study to be able to disarm vexation; and 

 when you, with God's help, have learned to 



soothe one, and bring him into his right 

 mind, while in the chains of passion, you are 

 on the way to realize the promise, — 



And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness 

 of the tirnmment; and they that turn many to right- 

 eousness, as the stars for ever and ever. — Dan. 12: 3. 



And you can then also say with David,— 

 Groat peace have they which love thy law. 



FriC?Kli?oo(;— In reading the Home Papers in the 

 January number of Gleanings, some thoughts were 

 suggested by Mr. I. B. Rumford's article, on the duty 

 of studying, that wo may know and obey the laws 

 which the Creator has stamped on our physical and 

 mental natures. 



He very pertinently asks, in speaking of the ef- 

 forts of the Moral lloform Association in behalf of 

 the degraded, " Will it not be best —yes, imperative- 

 ly necessary- to look well to the cause, and go to 

 the root of the matter?" 



Now, I hold that the cause of all the misery and 

 unhappiness in the world results from the violation 

 of laws which the Creator has wisely framed for our 

 welfare and happiness. He has not given us intui- 

 tive knowledge of these laws, nor has he proclaimed 

 them in his revealed word; but he has endowed us 

 with powers of observation and rctlection, through 

 which we may learn what he has instituted in regard 

 to us. ]f we neglect to use these powers in making 

 ourselves familiar with the Creator's laws as they 

 affect ourselves, we must inevitably sulTer; for they 

 arc immutable and unbending in their operation. 



Man, ignorant and uncivilized, has suffered count- 

 less miseries from which we of the present day are 

 delivered. But it is only because we know more of 

 God's laws than our ancestors. And if there is mis- 

 ery and unhappiness in the worl i to-day, it is be- 

 cause we are still ignorant of what will assuredly 

 some day be known, or selflshly disobedient where 

 knowledge is already abundant. 



Within a stone's throw of me to-night there lies a 

 drunken mother, so helplessly besotted that another 

 has to put her nursing babe to her breast. It is 

 scarcely live months since this babe was born, and 

 it was during a drunken spree like the present that it 

 first saw the light. The husband is a man of good 

 capacity, who would have a home of his own to-day, 

 but for an unfortunate iuheritance which has been 

 handed down to him from his father. The latter 

 has been in the habit all his life long of going on 

 periodical sprees. Between the sprees he would be 

 strictly temperate. But about twice a year the 

 slumbering taite for strong drink would arouse, 

 and lead him away like a slave, refusing to be satis- 

 fled till absolute physical prostration, and a system 

 saturated with alcohol, caused the very sight of 

 liquor to create a loathing. The son has inherited 

 this peculiarity of constitution. He rises from his 

 sprees penitent, and thoroughly disgusted with him- 

 self on account of his weakness and folly; and I 

 have known him to swear with his hand on the 

 Bible, that not another drop of liquor should ever 

 pass his lips again. But before six months have gone 

 by, some peculiar temptation,— the banter of a com- 

 panion, or the excitement of some festive occasion, 

 — will arouse the demon slumbering within him, and 

 he will be led away, a helpless slave, bound with the 

 chains of his inherited desire. His wife is a weak 

 woman, who inherits her taste for strong drink from 

 her mother. They have three little boj'S besides the 



