606 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



Those of you who have read the life of 

 Muller may have remarked how singular it 

 seems to hear him every now and then speak 

 of the number of Bibles and Testaments be 

 has sold or given away, lie seems to do it 

 with a sort of exultation that a business man 

 feels when speaking of the amount of goods 

 he has sold in a single year, without making 

 any bad debts. I have many times thought 

 of the matter in our own land ; but the 

 trouble is, that every household contains 

 one or more Bibles already, or, at least, so 

 far as I ]<now them. A few days ago I saw 

 a very pretty little Testament offered for 

 sale by the, American Bible Society, for only 



5 cents, and it occurred to me that, if they 

 could sell them for so small an amount, why 

 might I not V I wrote for terms, and also for 

 the cheapest Bibles. A very pretty Bible is 

 made for 25c, but the only discount they can 

 give to anybody is 10 per cent. At this rate, 

 the Testaments would cost me 4Jc, and the 

 Bibles 22i, and the freight has to be puid 

 from New York to Medina besides. My 

 friends, the books are here, and almostevery 

 time I go down into the counter store, Eliza 

 lias the good news for me that another Bi- 

 ble or Testament has been sold. I make on 

 each Testament, clear of freight, f of one 

 cent, and on each Bible, H of one cent. 



SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE 

 THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.— Matt. 6: 33. 



up to God, and to consider the question of 

 our responsibility we owe to him for these 

 immortal souls he has given us. The boy is 

 probably a neighbor, for he seems acquaint- 

 ed, and even the little girl looks up at him 

 with the confidence she would have in some 

 intimate acquaintance. As he points to th« 

 rising sun, we see a church and schoolhouse 

 in the distance; also a fertile valley, and 

 some fields of grain. The thought we would 

 convey by this is. that the Bible, wherever it 

 goes, even into the remotest corner of the 

 earth, is sure to carry civilization and in- 

 dustry with it, as well as good morals and 

 Christanity. Wherever it goes, the land 

 shall eventually " flow with milk and honey." 

 May God help its to speed it in its mission. 



My friends, the above is th'e picture which 

 is to grace the first page of our little book, 

 " Our Homes. 1 ' The idea I have tried to 

 convey in the picture is, that no home can 

 be such a home as God designed we should 

 have on this earth of ours, unless the Holy 

 Bible be the sun, or shining light, that pre- 

 sides over it. In the picture, a young man, 

 or young evangelist, if you please, or a mem- 

 ber of the Young Men*s Christian Associa- 

 tion, approaches a pretty home, and as the 

 different members of the family come out to 

 see what he has to offer them, he presents to 

 their attention a new book. The new book 

 may be supposed to be a copy of these same 

 Home Papers, if you choose, or at any rate 

 it is a book exhorting all mankind to look 



