1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



101 



The contents of this leaf and the one following are 

 not directly connected witii the subject of hee-cutture. 

 On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you 

 chuose, you can cut them nut without reading. ' 



uv Hams. 



For as I passed bj*, nnd beheld your devotions, I 

 found an altar with this inscription; TO THE UN- 

 KNOWN GOO. Whim therefore ye ij,-norantiy 

 worship, him declare I unto you.— Acts 17; 23. 



The next day, which was Saturday, seem- 

 ed such a quiet and still day! I presume I 

 shall always rememher it. I felt that I had 

 "enlisted," but as yet there was nocommand 

 to "march." I was so mild to the hands, that 

 several of them looked at - me inquiringly, 

 and I believe one of them asked if I 

 was well. How I did long for evening. Do 

 you know why? It was because I wanted to 

 get that Bible all alone by myself, and 

 drink more of those waters of lite. Eight 

 o'clock came, and I felt that my work for 

 the day was over. My partner had not been 

 there that day. I closed the store, and 

 started for home with hasty strides. I 

 knew where the Bible lay, and I opened the 

 door with the purpose ot going straight for 

 it. Company was there; it was a skeptical 

 friend and his wife. I stopped abruptly; 

 then, thinking it would not do to follow out 

 my plan while he was there, I sat down in a 

 chair near the door. My orders to march 

 cime with a voice that was startling. 



"Are you keeping your promise? is this 

 the kind of soldier you are going to be?" 



I started to my feet, and said pleasantly, 

 I had come home thus early, to read the 

 Bible. My friend arose then, and said, as 

 nearly as I can recall it,- — 



"Hallo! has our main prop gone? You 

 read the Bible?" 

 u Yes; I think I ought to read it." 

 "What are you goin<?to do about the sun 

 and moon standing still and all. that?" 



"I am not going to do anything with it." 

 All disposition to argue in regard to the 

 Bible was gone. I read again, until nearly 

 12, and that evening I talked with my wife 

 a little about it, but mv disposition to talk 

 very much was gone; f was rather waiting 

 to hear f r0 m others, and from the Bible. 



During this second evening, I read of 

 the parable of the sower and his seed. It 

 was not particularly new to me, for I had 

 learned the verses when a child, in the Sab- 

 bath school, but this night, it took a most 

 powerful hold of me, and as I read Christ's 

 words of explanation to hi3 disciples over 

 and over again, the wonderful beauty of 

 tne passages seemed to fill my very being. 

 t had heard sermons on the subject, and, as 

 f r fad, I thought, and may have said aloud, 

 V : .what would I give to have that young 

 nnnister preach from this text to-morrow? ' 

 ^nis was my first experience of answer to 

 P r aver, and as it has been a very constant 

 and active element in my life during the 

 last four years, I wish to dwell alittle on it. 

 *or some little time, when things were sent, 

 ni t " rnetl out unexpectedly, just as I had 

 asked for them, I was inclined to think them 

 only happy coincidences; but, in a little 



time, it seemed as if this new Presence were 

 saying to me by acts, if not in words, 

 "My child, I take pleasure in giving you all 

 you ask for, so long as you are in an obedi- 

 ent spirit, and ask for things that will do 

 you good, and not harm." 



I had not said a word to the young minis- 

 ter, for, in fact, I had not thought that it con- 

 cerned him at all that I had changed all my 

 purposes in life. What a happy morning it 

 was as we, my wife and the children, all 

 went to church together. We sat with my 

 father and mother, who had for years occu- 

 pied a seat near tlie pulpit. Wheutliemiu- 

 lster read the parable of the sower and his 

 seed, and then selected his text from the 

 same lesson, I was almost startled. I can- 

 not tell you how I drank in every word of 

 that sermon; how, again and again, as he 

 went on, I resolved to consecrate the remain- 

 ing portion of my life, to sowing good seed, in 

 the place of the evil seed I had so far been 

 sowing. Toward the close of the sermon, 

 my feelings began welling up to a point 

 where I felt sure I should break out sobbing, 

 if I were not very careful. What a happy, 

 happy life was spread out before me! The 

 closing prayer, only seemed to rivet and seal 

 the resolutions I had been making. The 

 congregation rose to sing the closing hymn. 

 The tumult of joy within was getting to be 

 more than I could stand under. Great waves 

 seemed rolling over me, and as each one 

 came the joy and happiness seemed so great, 

 I almost felt like praving that God would 

 stop it, for it was too much for a human be- 

 ing to bear all at once. My position was 

 one where I could overlook the congregation, 

 and I seemed to feel every thought of the 

 minister ; while many of his hearers seemed 

 so careless and indifferent, I felt as if I must 

 appeal to them each one, personally. If I re- 

 collect aright, one verse of the hymn was, 



"Oh turn ye, Oh turn ye, why will ye die?" 



A few days before, I had been wondering 

 how it was that God could create a human 

 being for such a miserable, unsatisfactory- 

 life as mine had been. Now, I wondered 

 how one could live without continually sing- 

 ing praises, for the opportunity of doing good 

 and helping others, that spread ont before 

 me. Another of those waves came, and I 

 felt my strength failing; to divert my mind, 

 I turned to little Blue Eyes,who stoodbymy 

 side, and began tapping her on the cheek, to 

 make her smile, for I dared not listen more 

 to the inspiring words of that hymn Meet- 

 ing was out; I wanted to get home; I wanted 

 to get awav by myself, with God who had 

 so wonderfully revealed himself to me. An 

 atmosphere of love and gentleness was 

 about me. I loved every body I passed; 

 even the horses at the door seemed to have 

 a new relationship to me. W hat a beauti- 

 ful world! How beautiful the sunshine! My 

 wife read me, if no one else did. A\ ny 

 did no one speak of that wonderful sermon! 

 I expected to see every body take ^rybody 

 else by the hand, and that all would gather 

 round the minister to talk about it but not 

 a word was said. I did not go up to him. for 

 I could not speak. On the way home, a lady 

 made some casual remark about the sermon. 

 Her companion replied that it seemed rather 



