APKII, 15. 191: 



339 



L 



A. I. Root 



• OUM HOME 



That we also may be like all the nations. — ^I. Sam 

 UKL 8:20. 



Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil. — 



p V o o . o 



Thou Shalt not covet. — Ex. 20:17. 



Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 



— Luke 10:27. 



In our recent Sinulav-scliool lessons we 

 have been considering the people who want- 

 ed a kiny. and they petitioned the prophet 

 Samuel until he. by Jehovah's direction, 

 consented to jiivc them a king, but at the 

 same time made vigorous protest by telling 

 them how it would turn out. A startling- 

 truth confronts u& here. God, at least 

 sometimes, grants importunate prayers by 

 letting us have thing's not best for us. We 

 should always preface such prayers by 

 something like this: "0 Lord, grant this 

 petition, only if thou seest it will be best 

 for us and humanit}* at large." 



Again, the reason the people gave Samuel 

 for wanting a king was because it was " the 

 fashion.'' Because other nations, perhaps 

 heathen nations, had kings, they wanted a 

 king. They wanted to be like "other folks." 

 This is all very well if the " other folks " 

 are in the " straiglit and narrow path." 

 Even at this present day it is sometimes a 

 ver}' easy thing to " follow a multitude to 

 do evil." 



Before taking up our two other texts I 

 want to tell you a little story of my early 

 boyhood. It happened so long ago I shall 

 have to "fill in" a little; but it was sub- 

 stantiallj- as follows : 



Between 60 and 65 years ago marbles, 

 instead of baseball, was the fasliionable 

 game. As soon as it was warm enough in 

 the spring, all the boys (and some of the 

 girls too) were playing marbles. I soon 

 became tolerably expert, when some boy 

 came among us and taught us how to make 

 the game more interesting by playing for 

 " keeps." To my gi-eat dismay, however, 

 my good mother forbade raj^ ha^ang any 

 thing to do with that kind of game. It soon 

 got such a run that the boys could hardly 

 be kept in school, and all home duties and 

 " chores " were neglected. It soon got out 

 that my mother forbade me to do more than 

 look on. Have you ever been there, dear 

 reader? Can you still remember the looks 

 of the " bully " of the crowd as he stand? 

 before you and says : 



"Sonny, is it true tliat your 'ma' won't 

 let you play? Better run right home; you 

 might pet hurt, or get in with ' bad boys.' " 



And can vou remember how the crowd 

 hooted and "hollered "? 



I said to niolher. "Why. mother. cveiT 



single boy in school plays for keeps, and 

 their mothers don't say a thing about it. 

 Wliy can't I play, and be like the rest? " 



After much like importuning she finally 

 said : 



" All right, Amos, you go and play, and 

 see if you will be any happier; but please 

 come and tell mother how it turns out." 



I soon found two boys who were willing 

 to play, and one of them was my best and 

 most intimate friend. I very soon had all 

 the marbles from both boys, and went 

 home to show mother how much I had 

 " gained " so quickly. Her next question 

 was : 



" What did Ariel say, when you won all 

 his marbles ? " 



I hung my head; but when pressed I 

 replied : 



" Why, he got mad first, and said I cheat- 

 ed; and when I got his last marble he 

 cried." 



She put her loving arm around me and 

 said, in a very low but kindly voice: 



" My boy, don't you think you will be far 

 happier if you run right over now and give 

 the boys their marbles back again? You 

 didn't buy them; you didn't give them any 

 equivalent. You have all this bagful that 

 you don't need and don't want, and they 

 have no marbles at all." 



I think I must have been barefooted and 

 bareheaded as I scampered to both boys' 

 homes and saw them both look, not only 

 happy but friendly, and I made just resti- 

 tution. May God be praised for that wise 

 mother, and for the fact that that early 

 lesson has lasted me sixty years or more. 

 I do not think I have ever since taken any 

 thing in any game of chance, and I believe 

 I can say almost as much for our five chil- 

 dren and ten grandchildren. Mother cured 

 me as God tried to cure the uneasy and 

 rebellious people who wanted a king be- 

 cause " other people " had kings. 



While the incident above cured me from 

 gambling it didn't seem to cure me or keep 

 me from the craze for "gift enterprises." 

 When I was about 25, and kept a jewelry 

 store, a firm in Buffalo, N. Y., with whom 

 I had dealt, sent me a box containing 100 

 packages to be sold at 25 cts. each. Each 

 little box contained four papers of needles 

 and a prize or gift. These gifts w.ere val- 

 ued at from 10 cts. to a $10 watch. Very 

 soon the store was crowded. Jt was like a 

 lot of bees around a "piece of honeycomb. 

 The excitement was soon such that poor 

 people bought needles enough to last them 



