1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



319 



was a year old he took such a shine to me- 

 •chanics and machinery that he could under- 

 stand almost every thing in the Scientijic 

 American — that is, when his papa pointed 

 to the pictures and explained (V) them to 

 him. I believe the first step he ever took 

 was when he was so intent on the pictures 

 in the Sdentijlc American that he forgot 

 that no one was leading him. When he 

 was tivo years old, papa took him one Sun- 

 day afternoon down to "'grandpa's," two 

 miles and a half, on foot. Of course, the lit- 

 tle chap did not walk all that distance ; but 

 he walked enough of it, where the roads 

 were smooth, so that the perspiration stood 

 on his dimpled face, and a peachy flush 

 colored his cheeks. IIow he and his papa 

 did visit during that two miles and a half ! 

 Grandpa laughed, but grandma scolded. 

 They were sure it would make him sick ; 

 but after he had had a half-hour's nap he 

 ran about grandpa's dooryard as brisk as 

 could be. Papa w^as his loving teacher. 

 What a wonderful fund of strange things 

 there was in this world for these loving 

 two to discuss together ! and mamma look- 

 ed fondly on, rejoicing in her heart that, not- 

 withstanding the devotion between those 

 two, she was never forgotten by either one 

 — certainly not at this time. I have room 

 for just one more incident, illustrating 

 God's providence and God's way of reward- 

 ing those who fulfill his holy commands, and 

 strive to obey the words of my two texts be- 

 fore U3 to-day : 



The boy whom God sent (even a little be- 

 fore we had got our housekeeping arrange- 

 ments fixed for his reception) grew as boys 

 usually do, and in due time was an inmate of 

 the Sunday-school. No thanks to his papa, 

 however, for this part of his education, lie 

 and his papa were friends just the same. I 

 shall remember as long as I live, I presume, 

 how he looked one Sunday morning after he 

 had his nice clothes on, face washed, hair 

 combed, and Sunday shoes shined up ; he 

 came to me with something evidently on 

 his mind. When he was struggling with a 

 weighty problem, or had a question to ask, 

 he had a fashion of walking clear around 

 you. keeping his face right toward you, un- 

 til he had taken you on all sides, as it 

 were — literally hemmed you in. I knew 

 Tiim well enough to see that there was some- 

 thing on his mind that troubled him as he 

 looked up at me, and then down, while he 

 walked around me and meditated. Pretty 

 soon I said, by way of encouragement : 



" Well, my boy, what is it V Let's hear 

 it." 



It evidently was no common matter, for 

 he hesitated. Finally he commenced : 



'' Why, pa. what do you think of Sunday- 

 schools V " 



Then it was my turn to look down and 

 feel perhaps somewhat embarrassed. I at- 

 tempted to reply, however, as I usually did, 

 presuming on my superior wisdom and 

 knowledge of the world. 



"Oh! Sunday-schools are well enough, I 

 suppose, for folks who like them." 



I did not really want to say it to him, but 

 I left a little implied, to the effect that dif- 

 ferent people have different tastes. It was 



evident that he had not quite thiished what 

 he had to say, however, and that the bur- 

 den was not by any means off his little 

 mind. There was something coming that 

 was harder for him to say, as I could see by 

 his looks. But he looked me fairly in the 

 face, and did his duty like a man. 



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

 better for you to go to Sunday-school in- 

 stead of going up to the store, or going off 

 into the woods, and things of that kind ? " 



After having relieved his mind of its bur- 

 den he was off, hopping around at his play 

 like any other boy, probably without any 

 idea-that he had for the time changed mat- 

 ters about so that he became teacher, and 

 the father became pupil. 



It was a very short sermon, and it came 

 from a very small preacher; but it hit the 

 spot more than any sermon I had ever 

 heard. I was in a tight place. Had it been 

 anybody else than that boy— the boy whom 

 I loved, perhaps, more than I loved my 

 Creator at that time— I should have resent- 

 ed such interference. He had done his duty 

 like a man, and I could not tell him that 1 

 would do as I pleased. I could only answer, 

 with downcast eyes, " Perhaps it would." 

 After I had spoken the words aloud, I kept 

 saying to myself ," Perhaps it would ; per- 

 haps it would." Other agencies were at 

 work at the time to bring me where a fa- 

 ther ought to be ; but his question was the 

 hardest of them all to get over. Dear read- 

 er, I never got over it. It was not many 

 Sundays before I went with him to Sunday- 

 school, and I have never passed a Sabbath 

 since without attending a Sunday-school 

 somewhere. I had never thought of it un- 

 til just lately, and I did not give my boy any 

 promise as to what I would do ; but I prom- 

 ised the Master, and I am very glad to be 

 able to say that the promise has never yet 

 been broken. Did anybody teach him to 

 say this to me ? Surely not. It was not 

 like him. His mother was a praying wom- 

 an, but it was not like her. Hold a minute 1 

 Perhaps somebody did tell him ; and was it 

 not He who said, " Suffer little children to 

 come unto me. and forbid them not " V We 

 read in Holy Writ, " A little child shall lead 

 them ; " also, " God hath chosen the weak 

 things of the world to confound the things 

 which are mighty." 



Now, friends, with the above in view, let 

 us consider God's command in our two 

 texts to-day. When my sister wrote me 

 that letter, there was some danger that I 

 might have drifted away and never been a 

 married man at all. Again, when she gave 

 us that kind Christian counsel, had we poor 

 sinful mortals in our narrow-sightedness 

 been permitted to have our way, our house- 

 hold might never have been gladdened in 

 the way I have told you of ; and had not 

 that brief little sermon come to the ungodly 

 father just as it did, I might have been— 

 who shall say where V— instead of pleading 

 with you as I am doing to-day for Christ 

 Jesus. If auv Sunday-school boys or girls 

 are in the habit of reading these Home Pa- 

 pers, let me bid them to remember the in- 

 fluence that is oftentimes vested with them ; 

 and let me bid them to stick to the Sunday- 



