1S80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



ur ic^#. 



And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into 

 the highways and hedges, and compel them to come 

 in, that my house may be full.— Luke xiv. S,i. 



BOMEBODY told me that my class in the 

 jail had had quite an increase I 

 found them to be mostly young men, 

 and, to my surprise, they were rather more 

 intelligent, and better educated, than those 

 I generally met. Intemperance was, either 

 directly or indirectly, the cause of the great- 

 er part of them getting in. One, I was told, 

 was a printer, and that he had, in times 

 past, conducted a newspaper. I opened the 

 Bible, as usual, and asked them, one after 

 another, what their feelings were in regard 

 to the book. The most of them believed in 

 a part of it; but the greater part of them 

 dwelt upon the sins of professing Christians. 

 During the talk, the newspaper man, whom 

 I will call M., asked permission to propound 

 a question. Of course, I told him my great- 

 est wish was to have the class ask questions, 

 and to state to me frankly their difficulties in 

 accepting this book as the word of God. 



"Mr. Boat, you say that God created us 

 all?" 



" Most certainly/"' 



"And that he knows every thing, past as 

 well as future?''' 



•' I believe that is the orthodox under- 

 standing of the matter." 



" Well, now, Mr. R., is it consistent with 

 your ideas of a just God, that he created a 

 part of us, knowing, at the time he did it, 

 that we should go down to endless ruin and 

 everlasting punishment?" 



" My friend, you have struck on a point 

 that, in one sense, may be beyond man's 

 comprehension. In presuming to dictate to 

 the Almighty what he should or should not 

 do, we are taking a great responsibility on 

 our hands. If I should ask you whether you 

 believed space extends without limit, tilled 

 with worlds like ours, or that there is an 

 outside to it, you would be compelled to de- 

 cline answering either way. Such questions 

 we often have to give up helplessly. The 

 part of your question that concerns you and 

 I, however, we can answer easily. If you, 

 by drink or crime, sink yourself into dis- 

 grace and a drunkard's grave, is the fault 

 yours or God's?" 



He answered promptly, as did all the rest, 

 if I remember rightly, that the fault would 

 be theirs. 



" \'ou are sure of this, boys?" 



"Yes, sir! " 



•' All right; now please remember it, and 

 in any of our future talks, please do not 'go 

 back on it.'" 



After some further talk in that line, I ob- 

 tained their permission to kneel with them 

 in prayer, and they all knelt down with me. 

 We had many talks of this nature. One 

 Sabbath one of them asked me why it was 

 that he was not as well satisfied of a future 

 state of existence, and that God cared for 

 him, whether he went right or wrong, as I 

 was. 



" My friend, have you ever asked God to 

 give you this evidence?" 



" I do not know that I ever have." 



" Well, when you are alone, kneel down 

 and tell him, as you have told me, that you 

 wish to know of his loving-kindness for you, 

 and you shall have evidence. But remem- 

 ber also, that, "if any man will do his will, 

 he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be 

 cf God, or whether 1 speak of myself." 



Weeks passed. Some Sundays I felt much 

 encouraged with the work, and at other 

 times it seemed as if my words were all mis- 

 directed zeal. One Sabbath morning, sev- 

 eral teachers in our Sabbath-school came to 

 me, saying they felt that somebody else 

 would do better'with their clssses, for they 

 felt sure they were not doing them the good 

 they ought to have. I told them that, on 

 that principle, I should like to resign also, 

 and that we had better give up the whole in- 

 stitution, and not have any Sunday-school at 

 all. As they laughed at this aspect of af- 

 fairs, I told them I felt rather they were the 

 ones exactly, for they had shown me how 

 anxious they were for the salvation of the 

 souls intrusted to their care. They prom- 

 ised to go on; but still, it cast a gloom over 

 my spirits. I went to the jail in the after- 

 noon, feeling somewhat despondent, but 

 praying hard that God would give me some 

 evidence that my hard work during these 

 busy Sundays was not in vain. 



As the most of the boys had sinned in the 

 way of intemperance, I exhorted them in 

 that direction, and told them pretty plainly 

 where their lives were tending. M. finally 

 said he was not going to drink any more. 

 They almost always said this, and I there- 

 fore did not think much about it. I talked 

 with him about his past life, of his father 

 and mother, and finally asked him if he had 

 any objection to putting down, in writing, 

 his resolution in regard to the use of intoxi- 

 cating drinks. He said he had not. 



"M., have you ever before signed a 

 pledge?" 



" I never have. I have always talked 

 against it, and I have never in my life, until 

 my confinement here, thought of doing such 

 a thing. I have always taken the ground, 

 that any man that could not break off when 

 he had a desire to, did not possess much self- 

 will; but now I am willing to sign a pledge." 



"And you are willing to ask God to help 

 you? " 



" I am." 



You can see, my friends, that I am not 

 very fast about urging people to sign pledges, 

 unless I can see something to indicate that 

 it will be a thorough Avork. He took the 

 pen and rapidly wrote, in a fair hand, the 

 following: 



With my mind lirmly madcup, and by and with the 

 help of Almighty God, I do hereby pledge myself to 

 in future abstain from the use of all intoxicating- 

 liquors, either malt, spirituous or vinous, and to do 

 all I can to induce others so to do. 

 [Signed] ** 



[Signed] ** 



Medina, O., Sunday, Oct. 3, 1880, 3:23 P. «. 



The last name was that of an old gray- 

 haired man, who was in for the second time 

 in a few weeks, for the offense of intemper- 



