bOO 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CLLTURE 



Aug. 1 



When I encouraged him, however, by say- 

 ing, "Come, my boy, can't you tell papa 

 what troubles you ?" he looked me in the 

 face and gave me a little sermon. It was a 

 boyish sermon, but it was a sermon after 

 all, and one of the most effective sermons I 

 had ever heard before or have since. I had 

 been laughing at the idea of the boy preach- 

 er whom I saw out on the walk; but here 

 right before me was a boy preacher sent 

 from God, i)erhaps in answer to the prayers 

 of the old mother. The sermon that took 

 such a mighty hold on me at that time was 

 something like this: 



"Why, pa, don't you think it would be 

 better if you would dress up Sunday morn- 

 ings and go with ma and Maud and me to 

 Sunday-school instead of going off to the 

 woods Sundays as you often do?" 



I think that was about all of the sermon. 

 It was short, but it was to the point. If any- 

 body else had presumed to dictate to me 

 how I should pass my time on Sunday I 

 might have resented it. I had already dis- 

 covered my ability in certain directions, and 

 I, was a little touchy about having any- 

 body tell me what I ought or ought not to 

 do; but I did not dare to speak crossly nor 

 unkindly to that bright, clean, blue-eyed 

 boy. I do not know what answer I gave 

 him. I fear I did not thank him for the ef- 

 fort he had made, for it was something of 

 an effort to rebuke the father whom he lov- 

 ed and patterned after; but after he had said 

 what was on his mind he was evidently re- 

 lieved and hai)py over it; for pretty soon 

 afterward I heard himsingingand shouting 

 in his childish way, apparently forgetting 

 or not recognizing the weight of the mes- 

 sage God had sent and he had delivered. 



I can not now recall whether I went to 

 Sunday-school that morning or not. The 

 question the boy asked kept ringing in my 

 ears—" Would it not be better? would it not 

 be better?" and I finally surprised Mrs. 

 Root by making myself presentable, and 

 going along by the side of the children; and 

 I did also go to hear the boy preacher. One 

 incident I shall always remember that he 

 brought out in that first sermon I ever heard 

 him preach. It was something like this: 

 He was trying to tell his hearers the differ- 

 ence between true Christianity and an utter 

 disregard of the gospel claims. .lust about 

 that time a steamboat took fire on the Ohio 

 River. There were not enough life-boats 

 and rafts to get the passengers ashore, and 

 each little craft was loaded down with just 

 as many as it could carry safely. Some 

 women were put on a raft. A big burly 

 man climbed on with them. The raft be- 

 gan to sink, and it was evident that it could 

 not hold them all. This big man, in order 

 to save his life, with his superior brute 

 strength struck the poor weak helpless 

 women, knocking one or more of them off 

 into the water to drown in order that his 

 great bulky worthless carcass might reach 

 the shore. A cry of consternation and hor- 

 ror came up from the spectators on both 

 sides of the river, who had gathered to help 



save the lives of the passengers. But this 

 fellow got off on the West Virginia side, and 

 escaped off among the hills before the out- 

 raged inhabitants could get hold of him. 



The boy minister gave this as an illustra- 

 tion of a man utterly destitute of the grace 

 of God or the claims of religion. I soon be- 

 came more interested in the boy preacher 

 than any minister I had ever known, and 

 finally had a talk with him; but I did not 

 succeed at all in persuading him that I was 

 a "good man," even if I did not belong to 

 any church; and when he afterward used as 

 an illustration a part of his talk with me in 

 one of his sermons, I was very much offend- 

 ed, although, of course, he mentioned no 

 names. I met him on the street afterward, 

 and we had some pretty jilain talk. I told 

 Mrs. Root afterward that I would never go 

 again to hear him preach; but when meet- 

 ing time came the next Sunday I felt very 

 uneasy, and finally decided to go and hear 

 him once more alter all, even if it was so 

 late that he had probably commenced his 

 sermon; and on reaching the church door I 

 found he had actually commenced; but I 

 decided to go in as quietly as I could and 

 get a seat notwithstanding. To tell the 

 truth, I had attended church so little at 

 that time of my life that I either did not 

 know (or, perhaps, care) it was bad taste to 

 enter after the minister had commenced. 

 Either he had come to a pause in his ser- 

 mon or else he decided to wait until I was 

 seated before he went ahead, and that vex- 

 ed me. While his sermons caught hold of 

 me they did not contribute very much to 

 my peace of mind. Some time after, we met 

 and had quite a talk, and finally we seemed 

 to be getting into an unprofitable disagree- 

 ment. He, evidently recognizing this, said 

 something as follows: 



"Mr. Root, it evidently is not best for 

 either of us to prolong this discussion." 



He stood a moment without saying any- 

 thing more. As I learned afterward, he 

 was, even at that early period of his minis- 

 try, much given to silent prayer for guid- 

 ance, so I can readily believe he was pray- 

 ing for the Holy Spirit to lead him. He 

 finally said something like this: 



"Mr. Root, you have a boy, I believe, and 

 you love that boy." 



"Yes, God knows I do love him," I re- 

 plied. 



"Well, now, Mr. Root, do not answer me, 

 I beg of you, but answer the God who made 

 you. Do you want that boy to grow up ex- 

 actly such a man as you are? " 



As I made a motion to reply he raised his 

 hand and said: 



"Please do not answer me. Answer your 

 Maker. It is between you and God." 



Then he left me. Had he permitted me 

 to reply to him I would have said promptly, 

 that, if the boy grew up to be as good a man 

 as I was, he would do pretty well; but I was 

 considerably stirred up by the question; and 

 I want to digress a little right here to con- 

 sider this matter. Some very good people 

 and some very truthful people when excited 



