796 



GLEANINGS IN UEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



tached to me, aijd I believe he considered me 

 to be a good man. Perhaps the fact that I 

 held aloof from Christian people and the 

 churches, encouraged him in thinking there 

 was no particular need for him to be a Chris- 

 tian. Is it a matter of very much im- 

 portance, any way? Dear reader, let us step 

 over the 23 years." 



Day before yesterday, at the close of the 

 Sabbatli sermon I inquir^^d of the sheriff's 

 wife if there was any one in the jail to see 

 me. 



" Yes, there is another. lie has been in 



only a day or two. His name is . Why. 



they say he used to work for you once. It 

 is Mr. .'■ 



" Why, no ; is it really true, that my old 

 friend -^^ — is in jail? I have heard a "great 

 many times that he had got to be very in- 

 temperate, but I had no idea that it had 

 really come to this."' 



After Sabbath-school it was with a beat- 

 ing heart that I stood before the iron door 

 while my friend undid the fastenings and 

 ushered me in where I had gone so many, 

 many Sundays during the past ten years. 

 My old apprentice was glad to see me, as I 

 knew he would be ; but, oh how changed he 

 was! This journal goes regularly to the jail, 

 and I shall have to be careful what 1 say 

 here, for his eyes will probably meet this. 

 May God help me to remember that, while I 

 am telling this simple little tale to you 

 as a warning. I may remember also the soul 

 that will see it too, and possibly suffer while 

 he sees this record on a printed page. 



He was not ready to admit that intemper- 

 ance was the cause of his trouM3, for what 

 intemperate man is? A watch had been 

 left with him for repairs ; but when the 

 owner came for it, it could not be found. 

 He refused to pay for it, an 1 was sent to 

 jail. After I had talked a little while with 

 him T reverted to former days, and asked 

 him if he remembered how he used to help 

 me about sweeping out and slicking up. 

 His old smile and his old vivacious manner 

 came back, as he rose up and called me to 

 come and see what he had been doing since 

 he had been in prison. He v.-as the sole oc- 

 cupant, and so he had his own Avay. He 

 had swept out the cells, and scoured the 

 stone floor. He had gone over the sink and 

 washing utensils, just as he had when a boy. 

 By way of pleasantry he informed me that 

 he had scrubbed one"''coaf off from the 

 windows,'and that he'was going to put on 

 the " finishing touches " next day. I do not 

 mean to say that the jail x^a? badly cared 

 for,^by ^any means, for it was as well taken 

 care of, or better, than such places usually 

 are; but I knew the sheriff often had 

 trouble to get the prisoners to scrub the floor 

 and^keep the place looking ordinarilyidecent. 

 Here was one prisoner, however, who did 

 not need even the asking to do this kind of 



work. Poor ! His prevailing trait^was 



there still ; and although he showed plainly 

 the marks of theXyears that had passed.'he 

 loved neatness and order as he did in his 

 childhood. He used tobacco, of course, and 

 was inclinedrto argue with me when I inti- 

 mated that it rniybt not be just the thing. 

 He loved his mother and his Bible, so he 



said, but he was not willing to follow the 

 Bible teachings, although he kneeled by my 

 side and responded by an amen when I 

 prayed for him. 



Now, my friends, let us consider the text 

 at the head of this talk ; and let us consider, 

 if you choose, th's great question as to how 

 it comes, that young men of such great 

 promise do so many times turn out so sadly. 

 Wliy should he be here in jail, when lie 

 might be a useful and respected member of 

 society, filling some important ])lace of trust 

 and honor V Some of you may say that it 

 was all owing to the tV.ct that we jiermit 

 open saloons throughout our land, and that 

 whisky is responsible for his downfall, and 

 the downfall of thousands of others. V/hile 

 I assent to all this, it seems to me that 

 whisky is r,ot at the foundniion and root of 

 the evil, after all. The young man need 

 not have touched whisky. " I feel quite cer- 

 tain, that, while he was with me. he had no 

 taste for it. and knew nothing of its bondage. 

 Why did he commence using it? What was 

 the "attitude of heart that induced him to 

 touch a thing he had been warned against 

 from his earliest recollections, just as you 

 and I have, my friends? What should pos- 

 sess anyhodi/ to touch cr tamper with in- 

 toxicants ? I presume a good many of you 

 will feel like saying outright, ■•' It was the 

 very prince of the powers of darkness him- 

 self who started him on this road," and I 

 agree with you. Satan is at the bottom of 

 intemperance, as he is at the bottom of every 

 other evil, and there is never any danger, 

 unless we choose, and choose voluntarily, to 

 follow Sntan instead of choosing to follow 

 Christ. You may reject this, and our friend 

 himself may say that he never voluntarily 

 chose Satan. There is one thing certain, 

 however, my friends — he did not choose 

 Christ ; and Jesus says, that '' he who is not 

 for me is against me." The fact that he had 

 not chosen Christ — that he neglected to 

 choosj Christ, or that he nfuscd to choose 

 Christ, is almost equivalent "to saying that 

 he chose Satan. I do not mean to be fault- 

 finding, and I do not want to reproach, for 

 I. too. was guilty of the same charge during 

 the whole two years that he worked for me. 

 He knew that t was not for Christ, therefore 

 I was indirectly in league with Satan. Had 

 I been teaching Christ as vehemently as I 

 taught and encouraged my young friend in 

 habits of neatness and order, he might have 

 been — nay, probably would have been, a 

 professor of religion to-day. 



Well, then, if this matter of accepting or 

 rejecting Christ is something of such vital 

 importance, how shall we know when we 

 are straying from the stiaight and narrow 

 path ? To make the matter clear to you, as 

 I see it, let us digress a litt'e. When Jesus 

 came into the world, nifu were very much 

 disappointed in him. The Israelites— God's 

 chosen people — were (jreathj disappointed. 

 They were looking for a powerful earthly 

 ruler — a rival of Caesar, and they luu'sed up 

 their revengeful feelings, and ha^nded them 

 down from father to son for centuries, look- 

 ing forward to the time when they should, 

 by the aid of this earthly ruler, trample the 

 Roman power under foot. They had the 



