1880 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. 



603 



Blessed are ye, when men shnll persecute you, and 

 shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for 

 my sake.— Matt. v. 11. 



Again as I read over these words, comes 

 up as it has come up hundreds of times be- 

 fore, '" Lord, help ! " and I am prone to say, 

 iu the language of poor Peter. "Lord, save, 

 or I perish."" ' 



Am I not making a little progress, friend 

 U A."? If you have followed our bee journals 

 for years past, you will perhaps recall some 

 of the troubles that have from time to time 

 come up. Many of the friends who were 

 once so hard (as it seemed tome, remember), 

 and who spoke so severely in regard to these 

 same Home Papers, have now become 

 friends; and quite a number have written 

 kind letters, recalling their former expres- 

 sions. Some of them I have met personally, 

 and 1 have been astonished as well as de- 

 lighted to find that we really had a pleasant 

 visit together. Truly, — 



When a man's ways please the Lord, he mnketh 

 even his enemies to be at peace with him.— Pkov. 

 10:7. 



Charles S. Robinson says, in the Sunday- 

 School Times of Oct. 30 : — 



Sume persons appear to be trying all their lives to 

 keep the rest of mankind from infringing their 

 private patents, trespassing upon their p .^sessions, 

 pilfering their copyrights, <.r diminishing tbeir dig- 

 nity. Their language is apt to run in this way: ''The 

 world owes me a. living*, arid a living I must have; 

 such a thing 1 will not do, sueh another ihing 1 will 

 not do, for anybody; I have my rights, my privi- 

 leges, my pre-eminence; I never agreed to do this, 

 nobody has any claim on me to do that." So the 

 scores of men " horn tired" are finding occupation 

 in resisting imaginary encroachments, and claiming 

 sympathy bt cause they can not get their due appre- 

 ciation. 



Again,— 



In the congregations of various churches there 

 are many men and women who demand and claim 

 and demand again. They want to be visited, to be 

 sought, often to be coddled and flattered, and re- 

 ceive unintermitting attention, as the yenrs pass on. 

 They assert prerogatives without number. Over 

 against ihese, we find ernest workers who go in for 

 exploits, and abandon everything which lies in the 

 way of success for Christ ami the covenant. A tine, 

 high self- forget fulness characterizes th> ir entire 

 Christian life. By and by they are at the very front. 

 but even of this they do not seem conscious. A 

 grateful church recognizes its n liable helpers, and 

 summons them into prominence. 



Once more- 

 Mr Moody said once in the Hippodrome: '"This 

 world will always go fur the hest w herever it can find 

 it; all you have to do, therefore, is to make yours 

 the best, and it will surely go for you." 



Now\ boys, where shall we take our stand 

 in the business of life? Are we all ready for 

 the battle? Hurrah! here comes some more 

 strong helpful words from our friend "A." 



When Christ was accused, he opened not his 

 mouth. Think what he bore, and of that silence, 

 and compare it with our feelings and actions when 

 unjustly treated. It seems so weak and foolish, to 

 me, for a human creature to clamor for his rights, 

 and for justice. Go out alone under the stars, and, 

 if you watch them long enough, you will feel the in- 

 significance of what concerns only yourself, and you 

 will not want to reply. You have one Friend who 

 is never unkind. Never mind the rest, or what they 

 think of you. IIo looks at the heart and knows the 

 truth. "A." 



Brocton, N. T. 



May God bless you for these words, friend 

 A.' : They often sound strangely to us, 



and sometimes we feel like questioning 



whether such a course is really the best one ; 



but yet, away back in that old book we 



read, — 

 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but 



whosoever shnll smite thee on thy right cheek, turn 



to him the other also.— Matt. 5:J19. 



Here is something from a brother-worker 

 away across the seas : — 



LETTER FROM INDIA. 



Dear Bro. Root:— Your letter, with its substantial 

 token of interest, came to hand last week, as "a sac- 

 rifice acceptable, well pleasing to God." You ha%e 

 cheered us in other ways, too, for the monthly visits 

 of Gleanings with its Home talks has often re- 

 joiced and comforted our hearts. We rejoice in 

 your prosperity, and in your effoits to unite busi- 

 ness and service to the Muster, and in your endeavors 

 to lift men to a higher plane of life in business af- 

 fairs. I think that your success is the seal of God's 

 approval. You have an interest in our prayers, and 

 we trust that you will continue to walk in company 

 with Christ, and thus become more and more useful. 



As you will see by the date of this letter, we aro 

 at our mountain home. The rains begin soon, when 

 we expect to return to Ellichpur. Here we find 

 plenty to do, and are able to pursue the study of the 

 language. God has not left us without tests of 

 faith in many directions; but this, you know, is 

 more precious than gold or silver. Out of every 

 fiery trial there have come precious lessons, and 

 for these we praise God. Our work, on the whole, is 

 encouraging. Perhaps an idea of how we work will 

 not be uninteresting. 



Our native helpers are true, earnest Christiana, 

 and are a great help to us. They are about ~."> years 

 of age. Abraham was a Mohammedan, and was con- 

 verted six years ago. His father was wealthy, but 

 Abraham gave up every thing for Christ. He 

 has been greatly persecuted. A year after he was 

 married to Sarah, he went to see his people, think- 

 >ing that perhaps his people had become reconciled 

 to his being a Christian. But they imprisoned him— 

 tried in every way to make him deny Christ, and to 

 marry another wife. Abuse and threats and prom- 

 ises were u«ed in vain; and it was only through the 

 agency of English officers that he was released. 

 Sarah is a Hindoo, which means an idolater, as all 

 Hindoos are idolaters. She was converted when a 

 child. She had been married, but all her husband 

 wanted was twenty rupees for wedding expenses, 

 which were given him, and he gave her up. They 

 have both seen trial, and this has fitted them for the 

 work. They are very earnest, and bear with pa- 

 tience and quietness all the abuse and insults which 

 at times are heaped upon them, rejoicing that they 

 are counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. Tbey 

 both read, write, and speak Marathi perfectly, while 

 they only sped; Hindoostani. They sing very nicely 

 both native and English tunes. In the early morn- 

 ing they take their Marathi Bible and hymn-book, 

 and make their way to one of ihe ten villages adja- 

 cent to Ellichpur (which, with Ellichpur, comprises 

 as yet our field, in number about 50,0011 souls.) They 

 make their way to a central part of the village, and 

 begin singing. The people are fond of singing, and 

 soon a crowd gathers about them. They sing for 

 fifteen or twenty minutes, and then Abraham will 



