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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



children have told you." He sai down with 

 streaming eyes, and groans and tears convulsed 

 the whole audience. What he said was indeed 

 true. 



Now, before I tell you more about John 

 Williams, let me say to you, friend W., that it 

 was the gospel of ChrjSt Jesus that wrought, 

 that wonderful change in just one year's time 

 in that island of Raiatea. Has any other re- 

 ligion, or what you may call religion, done any 

 similar worl\ ? Has infidelity ever turned a 

 single young man from gambling and drink, to 

 a work like that? You need not answer me. 

 Answer the question, each one of you, before 

 God and In your own hearts. Do you know any 

 thing like it? Let me now go on a little with 

 my story. 



As soon as young Williams had got the work 

 established in this island— yes, even before it 

 was established, he put the work into the hands 

 of native workers, and pushed on to the next 

 island and then to the next. The people em- 

 braced the new faith in a way that seemed al- 

 most miraculous. Instead of putting their 

 children to death, and the old people too, they 

 clothed and fed and cared for them as Chris- 

 tians do everywhere; and they were soon filled 

 with a wondrous zeal to go and assist in the 

 work of their leader in carrying the Bible and 

 Christianity to neighboring islands. 



Let me give you a little glimpse of Williams' 

 discouragements. Somebody became envious 

 of him. and the ship that had been at his dis- 

 posal was withdrawn. He stated the matter to 

 his native helpers, and told them that, with 

 their help, he would build another ship right 

 there on that island. The first thing he needed 

 was tools; and he must have a forge and black- 

 smith's bellows. To make the bellows they 

 killed the few goats that had been brought on 

 to the island by a missionary ship; but during 

 the night the rats, which infested the island in 

 swarms, ate up his bellows — that is, the leather 

 part. Then he went to work and made a bel- 

 lows with a board moving in a wooden box. 

 He made his tools, cut down the trees, hewed 

 them into shape, forged the iron work, making 

 his own nails and bolts, and actually completed 

 a sailing-vessel inside of a year, that did mis- 

 sionary work for several years afterward. The 

 man's energy, industry, and wonderful inven- 

 tive powers, seemed almost miraculous. The 

 kings of many of the islands were, of course, 

 hostile, and forbade him to laud or teach. In 

 such a case his only resource was prayer; and 

 in answer to prayer, these very savages and 

 pagan kings became "clothed and in their 

 right minds." They gave up cannibalism, and 

 sat at his feet and were taught as little chil- 

 dren, the people of their islands following them. 

 Some of you may be tempted to believe these 

 statements to be untrue. They are the whole 

 facts, however, right in print, and are as well 

 substantiated as the history of the Fourth of 

 July in our own country. Since Williams' time, 

 wondrous strides have been made in converting 

 the inhabitants of the islands of the sea until 

 cannibalism, infanticide, and other like hideous 

 crimes, are now hardly known on the face of 

 the earth. Every reader of Gleanings knows 

 more or less of this work. The man who dis- 

 putes the result of Christian work is'about on 

 a par with the man who would tell the child 

 that the Fourth of July does not mean any 

 thing, and that the stories about our indepen- 

 dence are only fables with no truth in them. 



Now in regard to your last point. I do not 

 know whether you know it or not; but you are 

 striking on one of the most difficult points for 

 the finite human mind to grasp that has ever 

 troubled the world. I am not a theological 

 student; in fact, I do not exactly know what 



our doctors of divinity would say in regard to 

 this matter. I am quite sure, however, they 

 will tell you that this is only one of the many 

 points which the human intellect seems inad- 

 equate to grasp. Suppose you had said tome, 

 "Mr. Root, how far does space extend? Is 

 there any limit to the number of constellations 

 of the heavenly bodies that fill out space? If 

 there is a limit, what comes next? how thick is 

 that, and how far does it extend, etc.?" I can 

 not answer; you can not answer; no living 

 being can answer. We almost reject the idea 

 that there is no end to space; and, In fact, I 

 believe I have read somewhere that the latest 

 investigations in astronomy show that suns 

 and stars and \\orlds do not go on for ever and 

 ever; that the best telescopes we have even 

 now have probably caught a glimpse of all the 

 stars there are in the universe. Well, that is a 

 little comforting; but the comfort is short- 

 lived, however, for the average Yankee wants 

 to know what they do have when they have 

 stopped having stars; and how far off is it 

 through "nothingness" until we come to a?i- 

 ot/ier plantation? Oh dear me! it makes one's 

 head swim. 



Well, now, the question you propound is, in 

 some respects, a parallel one; viz., "How or why 

 did sin come into the world?" And then, 

 again, in regard to foreknowledge — does God 

 know beforehand exactly how every thing will 

 turn out? Now I will try to answer your 

 questions. Of course, it will tax my intelli- 

 gence and understanding clear to their fullest 

 limit. As we grow older, certain questions 

 seem to get a little clearer. I think I can com- 

 pass some things now that I could not a few 

 years ago. In the first place, does God know 

 all the future? In one sense, I believe he does. 

 But we may push this very idea to an extent 

 where it becomes foolish and harmful. You 

 have all heard of the same sort of reasoning. I 

 presume, something like this: If God knows 

 just how a thing will turn out, then, of course, 

 it will turn out that way and no other. And 

 then somebody stupidly adds, " What is to be 

 will be, and it does not make any difference 

 what we do; it will turn out all the same, any 

 way." Now, this latter is about as stupid and 

 foolish as any thing can well be in this world 

 of ours. Why, just think of it! A farmer 

 might say, " God knows whether I am to have 

 a crop or not. It is decreed beforehand, from 

 the foundation of the world; and if it is de- 

 creed that I am not to raise any thing, it will 

 not make a bit of difference wlaether I work 

 hard or not; so I might as well let the thing 

 go." Such a man is crazy. His place is in the 

 asylum; and if he does not get there, he will 

 get to the poorhouse eventually. But I have 

 actually heard men blame God the Father and 

 God the Creator for their bad luck by just this 

 line of argument. I once heard my good 

 mother say she did not believe that God knew 

 every thing beforehand. When I was about to 

 lift up my hands in astonishment, however, 

 she added, "At least, I do not believe he has 

 any kind of foreknowledge that cuts off human 

 free will and human responsibiUty." You see, 

 her addition to her first remark made her in 

 line with the orthodox people of the world. 



Friend W.. the Devil is a free agent, like the 

 rest of us. From the beginning ^le has been 

 honored with liberty to do good or to do bad, as 

 he chooses. God has seen fit to permit this 

 kind of liberty, just as he has seen fit to give 

 you and me liberty. If you feel like finding 

 fault because God gives so much liberty, let us 

 suppose he had created human beings that had 

 not the power of sinning. I do not know just 

 how he could have done it unless we were cir- 

 cumscribed or in bonds. A locomotive can not 



