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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



little girls enter the basement of one of the 

 great churches, but 1 felt just like it. As I 

 beared the door a couple of boys came along, 

 and they too had books. I asked them if it 

 Were Sunday-school where they were going, 

 to which they replied in the affirmative. 



" May I go too?" 



They stopped, took a better look at me, 

 and replied with smiling faces, " Oh, yes ! 

 We should be very glad to have you come 

 with us." 



As the door opened, a burst of music from 

 childish voices came out and greeted my 

 ear \ and then something seemed to say 

 to me, " Look here, brother Root. You 

 have been saying to yourself that you have 

 not had any thing like a blessing for having 

 decided to remember the Sabbath day to 

 keep it holy. What do you think of that 

 strain of music?" 



I did not say any thing out loud, but I 

 said inwardly, " Why, it is just glorious. 

 May the Lord be praised for the discovery I 

 have made of such a Sunday-school, and so 

 early in the morning I" 



I think we were a little late, for they were 

 all singing from their books. One of the 

 boys showed me a seat, and another one 

 looked from his. book enough to see that I 

 was a stranger, and instantly extended his 

 book to me, with his finger on the place ; 

 but before my eyes caught a glimpse of the 

 strange characters on the printed page my 

 ears had told me that the singing was in an 

 unknown tongue. From five hundred to a 

 thousand bright, sweet - looking boys and 

 girls of different ages were gathered in the 

 great basement of that enormous church ; 

 and although I could not understand a word 

 of the hymn they were singing, I knew it 

 was praise to God, for the music was one of 

 our most familiar hymns. Of course, I 

 thanked the little friend who brought me 

 the book, but I was obliged to explain to 

 him that I could not read it. He looked up 

 at me with curiosity and surprise, and said, 

 in good English, " Why, can't you read 

 German?" 1 shook my head, and so he 

 kept his book. Very soon another childish 

 face caught my pleased glance, and he too 

 brought me a book. Tnen a third one did 

 the same thing, until I began to decide that 

 I should have to take a book and look on, 

 or all the children near me would feel they 

 were lacking in courtesy. My friend, is it 

 a lesson to you as it was to me? Are the 

 children in your Sunday-school, every one 

 of them, taught to hand their book to a 

 stranger as soon as they notice his presence? 

 If not, then I want to tell you that we are, 

 a good many of us, behind. As hymn after 

 hymn was sung (all of them were very fa- 

 miliar tunes), I began to get happier. The 

 children, almost without exception, entered 

 into the spirit of the singing, with a heart 

 and soul I never saw before. It seems to 

 me that the sight of their faces alone, even 

 if I had been totally deaf, would have filled 

 me with thrills of joy. I looked from the 

 pupils to their teachers. Many of the teach- 

 ers were in their teens ; but I tell you they 

 were faithful and honest teachers. The 

 boys in the class near me were restless, and 

 full of pranks, as they are in almost any 



other Sunday-school, and they made tjuite a 

 good deal of noise when they were not sing- 

 ing. The youthful teacher remonstrated in 

 German, several times ; but it did seem to 

 me as if some good forcible English was 

 what was needed. I was a little startled 

 when he evidently came to the same conclu- 

 sion, for he spoke out in the clear tones of 

 my mother tongue, "Look here! can't you 

 behave yourselves just a minute or two un- 

 til school is out?" Some of them looked at 

 me and smiled, thinking that, perhaps, as it 

 was something I could understand, they 

 would have (out of respect to me) to do a 

 little better, and they did. 



It was not only the children I loved, but 

 the great tall heavy superintendent. I have 

 often seen German people gesticulate, and, 

 with motions of the body, make clear their 

 meaning ; but it has usually been in the 

 neighborhood of a beer-saloon. It never 

 occurred to me before that this same talent 

 for gesticulation could be used in explain- 

 ing the Scriptures and in glorifying Christ 

 Jesus. I could catch, from the faces of the 

 audience, especially the teachers', the 

 points he made in his remarks and motions ; 

 and when they came to repeat the Lord's 

 prayer in conceit I was pleased to know 

 that I could keep track pretty fairly. Be- 

 fore the school closed I also caught glimpses 

 here and there of what was being said and 

 talked about. How that biar superintendent 

 did get around among his teachers and 

 hundreds of pupils ! I have seen people 

 take long strides before, but I believe that 

 this man did more work in a few minutes in 

 the line of superintending the Sunday- 

 school than any one I ever before met. Be- 

 fore the school came to its close I made up 

 my mind 1 would never doubt again, when 

 tempted to run away from the path of duty. 

 Why, I actually began to think that I 

 should find no enjoyment and no blessing 

 at all to compensate me for having resisted 

 the impulse to run home. The thought of 

 that Sunday-school will brighten my whole 

 life ; and it is particularly along in the line 

 of our text that I feel such a thrill of pleas- 

 ure when I think of it. It seems to me that 

 I there beheld the great multitude of which 

 John spoke — a multitude which no man 

 could number ; a multitude composed of 

 those who spoke another tongue, and peo- 

 ple of another nation. They stood before 

 the throne of God, and they were surely 

 clothed with white robes compared with 

 many of the children of our great cities 

 whom we meet on the streets. I did not 

 understand the language, but I have not a 

 doubt but that it was something akin to 

 '* Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon 

 the throne, and unto the Lamb." I love 

 that school because they gathered there so 

 early in the morning ; and it gave me a feel- 

 ing, too, that the other great churches in 

 Chicago were not built entirely for show 

 and effect ; that even the basements were 

 being used to glorify the Lamb of God 

 which taketh away the sin of the world. 



I have before spoken of the faithfulness 

 and honest sincerity that I have found 

 among many of the German people who 

 come from the "fatherland "to our shores. 



