138 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



The vehemence of his reply almost startled 

 me: 



"To be sure, I am ready to become a Chris- 

 tian. If God will accept such a poor sinner as 

 I am, I am his already. I am going to the pen- 

 itentiary to read my Bible, and to keep with 

 Christian people as much as possible; and 

 when it is over with, I am going with my wife 

 to church; and if they will take a man from 

 State's prison into the church, I shall unite 

 with them at once." 



At my request he went over all the details of 

 his crime. He did not spare himself at all. 

 The mental suflfering and anguish he had 

 passed through seemed to have taught him a 

 lesson that would last for ever. God grant 

 that it may. You know how the outside world 

 speaks of sin and crime. You know how folks 

 .laugh at a criminal when he is caught, and say 

 it is just good enough for him, unless, forsooth, 

 this poor criminal happens to be a relative or a 

 friend, and then, oh how different! 



But now. dear reader, please, for just one 

 moment, take another view of the case. Look 

 at this poor friend as I was taught to look at 

 him. He was hard pressed by the feeling that 

 many of us know something about already. 

 His work did not pay. Perhaps he was getting 

 more and more in debt, and Satan seizes the 

 opportunity to poison his mind. Instead of 

 turning to Christ Jesus as the burden-bearer of 

 the world, he turned to Satan. Should we not 

 have some pity for such as he? When I saw 

 how happy and bright he looked after having 

 decided to tell the truth to some one, and es- 

 cape from this horrible burden, my heart was 

 full of pity. I thought of the Savior when he 

 said, wirh his loving heart full of compassion. 

 " Go. and sin no more." VV(^ feel pity for the 

 man who snffi^rs physical pain. All the skill 

 of our best physicians, and all the arts of sur- 

 gery, are employed to relieve pain: but who 

 thinks of the pain of a guiltv conscience? who 

 thinks of the terrible burdcms of guilt and 

 shame that many aljout us ar<> called npon to 

 bear? and at the same time I presume they 

 look npon the sreat outside world as a world 

 with no sympathy or pity— as a world that is 

 always I'eady to say. " Why. that is their own 

 affair:" "they brought it upon themselves;" 

 "let them take thr> consequences — teach them 

 better next time;" "'no more than they de- 

 serve." etc. Now. fi'iends, if I were a dentist, 

 and could relieve a fiprce toothache in a few 

 minutes, how glad I should be to spend my 

 time thus in doing good 1 But dentists and 

 doctors do not always cure. Sometimes they 

 do, and sometimes they don't. Now. these bur- 

 dens I have been telling you of — this mental 

 anguish — is a hundred times worse to bear, 

 many times, than physical pain; but there is a 

 remedy, that never fails. God has chosen you 

 and me as messengers of his to carry his reme- 

 dy. In fact, it can not be done without us. The 

 responsibility falls upon us. If we do not do it, 

 it will not be done. Some one is doubtless near 

 you now who is suffering from the torturing 

 anguish of sin — may be crime. Are you will- 

 ing to carry to him God's remedy? Are you 

 willing to be one of God's messengers who shall 

 say to the suffering one, " Behold the Lamb of 

 God, that taketh away the sin of the world"? 

 When you have once seen the new-born soul as 

 it steps from darkness into light, you will know 

 all about it as you never knew before. Our 

 country needs it. Statistics have indicated 

 that sin and crime among our young men are 

 on the increase. Shall it be cured by more 

 stringent laws, and by putting still more of the 

 culprits into our jails and penitentiaries ? God 

 forbid! The jails and penitentiaries serve a 

 good purpose. We must have them to hold and 



restrain crime, and to be a terror to evil-doers. 

 But there is a more excellent way. The Bible 

 tells us that way: " Not by might nor by power, 

 but by my Spirit, saith the Lord:" and you and 

 T, my friend, are (!od's appointed messengers to 

 carry the glad news of the Savior, who died 

 that sinners might live. Are you ready to take 

 up the work? If so, go at once to the prison 

 nearest you and inquire if some one is doing 

 this work I have outlined. Go in the name of 

 Jesus Christ; go and pi-esent /ilm- as the /riend 

 of sinners; and explain to these poor suffering 

 friends and neighbors how it is that he who 

 commltteth '&\n becomes, oh so quickly I the ser- 

 vanit of sin. 



High-pressure Gardening. 



HIGH-l'RESSUKE GARDENING, AND SOMETHING 

 STILI. BETTER. 



I like the department of gardening. I have 

 out ten bushels of winter onions, some in cold- 

 frames, and some out. I have several thousand 

 lettuce- plants out. some under glass, and a big 

 lot just covered with six-cent muslin, all doing 

 finely. I can not see much difference between 

 the glass and muslin. I don't think a plant is 

 missing in either. I expect to have a green- 

 house some day that I can work in. I have 

 quit my trade, and gone to gardening. I 

 bought five acres two years ago at %l~^0 per 

 acre. I paid $100 down. I bought eleven more 

 last summer. I put out 3000 raspberry-plants 

 this fall. I have aliout \}i acres of strawber- 

 ries for this summer. I will put out 3 acres 

 more this spring. I plowed the ground last 

 fall, and it is covered with manure. I will 

 stir it well two or three times with the cultiva- 

 tor before planting. I have half an acre for 

 onions, plowed in fall, and covered thick with 

 manure. I will raise my plants in a hot-bed. 

 I raised .some last summer, and took some to 

 the fair: 13 made a peck. Judges said that I 

 had bought them. 



I will tell you some day how I come out on 

 my piece of ground. 



Bro. Root, I wish you could stop off here 

 some time when you are traveling, and see my 

 garden. Please come this way. as we have two 

 railroads — the Panhandle and Cleveland & 

 Marietta. 



I must tell you about our meeting. We have 

 had a revival, and 135 have been forward to 

 seek the Lord. We have one of the finest min- 

 isters you ever saw. I thought of you Sunday 

 morning in church. How you would have en- 

 joyed the sight, to see so many taken into the 

 church— all young folks, from 10 to 30 years old. 

 Our preacher's name is Fisher, and his son 

 preaches in your county. J. W. Nicodemus. 



Newcomerstown, Ohio, Feb. 7. 



[May the Lord be praised, dear brother, for 

 the good news you bring; and I want to thank 

 you for the great compliment you pay me in 

 taking it for granted I should have enjoyed the 

 sight you mention, of 135 young people being 

 taken into the church. Why. I do not believe 

 that even yourself, your good pastor, nor any- 

 body else, fully comprehends what the outcome 

 of such a work is going to be. Somebody has 

 said lately, that our Ohio penitentiary would 

 have to be enlarged to accommodate the young 

 men of our State. Just give us a few more 

 revivals like the one you mention, and I will 

 guarantee that there will be a dropping-off in 

 the " converts " for the penitentiary. 



Now about your garden. I am pleased and 



