1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



328 



or any likeness of ani/ thing that fa in heaven above, 

 or that is in the water under the earth: 



Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 

 serve them: for I the Lord thy God own a jealous 

 God, visiting: the iniquity of the fathers upon the 

 children unto the third and fourth (feneration of them 

 that hate me: 



And shewing* mercy unto thousands of them that 

 love me, and keep my commandments.— Ex. xx. 2, 6. 



I went off where I could be alone, and, on 

 bended knees, asked God to help me, and 

 also almost demanded of him why I had 

 been thus allowed to fall into Satan's toils. 

 I was frightened, but felt, at once, that I 

 was not deserted, and that this trial had 

 been allowed that I might not become proud, 

 and think I did not need to go to him in 

 prayer, with any very special earnestness. I 

 felt then, too, that I needed some safe ad- 

 viser, some one to whom I could talk. Is it 

 not strange, that very often the only condi- 

 tion, almost, under which we may be saved, 

 is by going to some one else? To whom do 

 you suppose I felt impressed to go? Why, 

 my wife, of course. Why had I not done so 

 before? Well, I was ashamed to do so, as 

 well I might be, and, besides, by some queer 

 inconsistency, I did not want her to know 

 anything about it. I knelt by her side that 

 night, and told her of all these temptations. 

 It seemed to me as if I wanted to get away 

 down into the cellar when I confessed to 

 any such foolishness, or away down under 

 the cellar, if there were any such place. 

 After putting it out loud, in words, the ut- 

 ter ridiculousness of the whole idea began 

 to show out. Of course, Satan fled, and I 

 was safe. On meeting the person afterward, 

 I could but wonder that my ordinary good 

 sense had ever so utterly deserted me for so 

 many days, or weeks. Now Satan was 

 hanging around still, for it was not long be- 

 fore another face was presented to me. I say 

 presented, for it was all Satan's work, anil 

 bis alone. I am happy to say, that the other 

 sex, through all my life, have invariably 

 treated me as they would treat a gentleman, 

 and a Christian, and I know that more than 

 one of my good friends will not only be 

 pained, but will feel loth to believe my own 

 statements. When this next temptation 

 presented itself, I went to my wife at once. 

 Satan tried still another, but without giving 

 him a moment's respite, I took it to my wife, 

 and to my Cod. I seemed to have no agen- 

 cy in this matter, and was as much sur- 

 prised almost as my wife ; for his attacks 

 seemed, for all the world, like a lot of robber 

 bees that have come unexpectedly into the 

 apiary, first trying one hive and then the 

 other, and only desisting when they found 

 themselves baffled and beaten at every turn. 

 This conflict lasted perhaps two months, or 

 more ; and, during the whole time, I felt 

 that it was drawing me nearer to my Savior, 

 day by day. I began to realize in truth, 

 what it was to be thankful for trials. I did 

 not know then there were any promises in 

 the Bible such as I have given in my open- 

 ing text, to those who endure and hold out, 

 and when, in one of our teachers' meetings, 

 they were brought out, you cannot think 

 how thankful I was that I had fought Satan 

 at every step, and had, with God's help 

 cut him off, root and branch. You can 



scarcely think with what joy I grasped the 

 following verse from Revelations, the book 

 that I had almost skipped because, when we 

 read it through by course, there seemed 

 nothing in it we could understand. See if 

 you can understand the following, after 

 what I have been writing : 



He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 

 white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out 

 of the book of life, but I will confess his name be- 

 fore my Father, and before his angels.— Rev. iii. 5. 



And this : 



Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the 

 temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: 

 and I will write upon him the name of my God, and 

 the name of the city of. my God, which is new Jeru- 

 salem, which cometh down out of heaven from my 

 God: and I will write upon him my new name.— Rev. 

 iii. 12. 



And this : 



And he that OA'ercometh, and keepeth my works 

 unto the end, to him will I give power over the na- 

 tions:— Rev. ii. 26. 



I passed through these experiences, and 

 with God's help I did not slip back, and I 

 did not get crazy. Those of you who think 

 this a very singular experience, and one not 

 common to humanity, should reflect a mo- 

 ment on the many that fall in the same, or 

 in a similar way. How the skeptics take 

 up a case where a church member falls: and 

 when a minister of God is found out, and 

 admits that he has led an impure life, it 

 stirs almost a nation of people. Shall we 

 seek no remedy for such evils? Shall poor 

 humanity keep falling in this way, without 

 a note of warning being lifted up? Shall 

 nothing be done to counteract the tendency, 

 already gaining a strong hold, to believe 

 that one who is even a servant of God can- 

 not expect to stand against all kinds of 

 temptations? 



Those of you who have never been slaves 

 of Satan can have little idea of what tempta- 

 tions are. Those who have broken off the 

 habits of tobacco, opium, strong drink, and 

 the like, can tell you something about it. 

 The point that the simplest and most unim- 

 portant trifle may be made use of by Satan, 

 is one I wish to call attention to, and to warn 

 you against. I have heard tobacco users say 

 that seeing a man put his hand in his pocket 

 was enough at times to drive them almost 

 crazy. To the drinker, the smell of one's 

 breath who had been drinking, the sight of 

 a sign where the forbidden article was sold, 

 faces which had been with him during a de- 

 bauch, familiar spots, etc., will prove temp- 

 tations almost irresistible. Especially the 

 smooth pleasant guise in which Satan makes 

 his appearance is very apt to deceive. I 

 will give you one instance. 



I remember being busily and innocently 

 engaged, one evening, at peace with myself, 

 and all the world, when, all at once, an in- 

 fluence stole over me, as soothing and en- 

 trancing as strains of distant music. As 

 conscience began also a sort of involuntary 

 warning, I began wondering if it were pos- 

 sible that this was Satan's work. Can it be 

 that the road to ruin is ever opened to poor 

 humanity, in guises like this ? A few days 

 I tetore, when talking with the boys in jail, 

 in order to illustrate my point, I pulled a 

 little card out of my pocket (from among a 

 lot I was going to take to the smaller ones in 



