I8f9 



GLEANINGS IK BEE dULTUBE. 



29 



tor Ileum. 



If any man will come after me, let bim deny him- 

 self, and take up his cross dally, and follow me. 



ifTT was during the morning service on 

 Sunday, and toward its close, when I be- 

 gan meditating that I should have to go 

 On toot to my afternoon Sabbath school, be- 

 cause the roads were so very rough it would 

 injure my new buggy more "than I could af- 

 ford. Well, if T went on foot, I should have 

 barely lo minutes to get my dinner; for to 

 meet my appointment on time (I am always 

 on time, unless some very unlooked for 

 event hinders), I should have to start out 

 the very moment Sabbath school in our 

 church was adjourned. It was quite a walk 

 to my home, and I therefore was under the 

 necessity of going out of church just as soon 

 as they began singing. The sermon and 

 closing prayer were one of our minister's 

 happiest, and gave me a renewed-zeal in my 

 work. As I passed out of church, I caught 

 just the two lirst lines of the hymn he had 

 selected for the closing exercises, and the 

 words that struck on my ear so strangely 

 were these : 



"Jesus, I my cross havfe taken, 

 All to leave, and follow thee." 



As I went home for my hasty dinner, the 

 words kept ringing in iny ears; I thought 

 of them during the whole time of sabbath 

 school in our own church, and while teach- 

 ing my class of boys, and when school was 

 over "and I started for my five mile walk, 

 even though the snow ami sleet blew in my 

 face, it seemed just glorious to breast the 

 storm, with that thought, "All to leave and 

 follow thee,*' running through my mind. I 

 remember inviting in a playful way, several 

 who asked if I would go out there on such a 

 day, to come along with me. I assured sev- 

 eral of them, in answer to their remon- 

 strances, that I had a great deal rather go 

 on foot once more, but I did not tell them 

 why I wished to go on foot. I am going to 

 tell you, my friends, even at the risk of hav- 

 ing some of you think I am proud of my 

 mission work; because I know, by the let- 

 ters 1 get from you, that my experience 

 cheers a great many others in their duties. 

 In the midst of a piece of woodland just be- 

 yond the brook, are some great trees, and a 

 secluded place, where I have often knelt in 

 prayer, winter as well as summer. Well, 

 since I have been riding to the school, 1 

 have somehow felt that I missed a certain 

 strength or energy that I used to gain in 

 passing through these woods. How easily 

 I walked the whole distance that day. think- 

 ing of the line in that hymn! flow near 

 God seemed to me, as I knelt in the storm 

 by those trees! For a few months after my 

 conversion, when I laid my tired head on 

 my pillow at night, after a day of mission 

 work, I used sometimes to have a strange 

 sensation come over me. as if I were in the 

 presence of innummerable friends; and even 

 when the house was still, it seemed almost 

 as if I could distinguish voices of encourage- 

 ment and kind counsel, bidding me be not 

 troubled, but go on in my own way doing 



my Savior's work. At such times, a strange 

 joy and peace thrilled me, and yet I never 

 thought of Heaven. When I use the term 

 Heaven now, as I frequently do, I can only 

 associate it witli the present. I know noth- 

 ing of the future, and care less, for I have 

 perfect trust in God, who will take care of 

 all that, and make it all right. He will be 

 with me, and I shall not fear. 



Well, as I prayed for that school that Sun- 

 day afternoon, this wonderful joy and sense 

 of companionship seemed to come over me 

 again, and I wondered if Jesus' desiples in 

 olden time used to feel such a pleasure in 

 following him. I thought of the dreary 

 Sundays when I did not believe in the Bible, 

 and again I thanked him for this new path, 

 even though it called me out on long tramps, 

 through storms and sleet. 



"All to leave and follow thee." 



As I got out of the woods, I heard voices, 

 and looking around, I saw a couple of girls 

 who had started out in the storm, too. They 

 explained that they had not intended to go, 

 but seeing me, they concluded they could 

 walk one mile, if I could five. One of them 

 taught a class. Several new scholars were 

 present, and among them, three boys, sons 

 of an old friend of mine, who, I had reason 

 to fear, did not endorse Sabbath schools 

 very much. All had their lessons unusually 

 well, and it seemed one of the happiest 

 schools we had ever had. Had my praying 

 in the woods anything to do with it? 



On my way home, I stopped for supper at 

 my mother's as usual, and she told me the 

 circumstances under which those beautiful 

 lines were composed. A young lady whose 

 parents were not favorable to religion was 

 turned out of doors, because she would not 

 renounce it. Before leaving, she took a last 

 farewell of familiar objects around the home 

 of her childhood, and when in the orchard, 

 took her pencil and wrote. The lines tell 

 the rest of the story. 



"Jesus, I my cross have taken, 



All to leave and follow thee. 

 Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 



Thou henceforth my all shalt be. 

 Perish every fond ambition. 



All I've hoped, or sought, or known; 

 Yet how rich is my condition ! 



God and Heaven arc still my own." 



"Now, my friends, the thought of those 

 words followed me through all the week, 

 and I will tell you some of the results. 

 Money matters were not all quite adjusted, 

 and oiie considerable bill had been present- 

 ed, that I was not able to meet. On Thurs- 

 day, the man who had furnished the brick 

 said he must have the whole balance due 

 him-. He must have it, and that was all 

 there was to it. I asked the book keeper 

 how much there was due him. 



"$328.13:" 



"Mr. S., at just what day or hour must 

 you have this V" 



"I must have it on the 20th, without fail.' 1 



"All right; you shall have it." 



After he had gone, said the book keeper. 



"We will not pay the hands then to-day r" 



"Yes, pay them all." 



"But how will you meet all these demands, 

 if you do?" 



