October, 1919 



G I, E A N T N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



crime, and becau?;e he traniplod under foot 

 two of God's most saered and holy com- 

 mandments. I have been induced to write 

 a good deal as I have because of a long 

 letter from a poor abused and wronged 

 woman. In that letter she writes as fol- 

 lows: 



I want you to write in your Home department, 

 and heg and warn all young girls against married 

 men who really are wolves in sheep's clothing." 



Just at the present time women and 

 3'oung girls of almost all ages are oeeupy- 

 ing business positions. They are out 

 among men in a way they have never been 

 before. In one sense it is all right, and I 

 am glad to see it. I am glad to see the 

 whole wide world is beginning to discover 

 that women are equal to men in almost 

 everything; and as a rule the i^resence of 

 women — yes, and of girls too — in all the 

 departments of trade and commerce, fac- 

 tories, etc., is proving to be a benefit. But 

 the man who would take advantage of these 

 circumstances, and deliberately get too well 

 acquainted with the girls and women in his 

 employ — I was going to use a harsh term, 

 but perhaps I had better change it and 

 say the parents and brothers and sisters of 

 the girl had better keep on eye on him. An 

 old saying is to the eiJect that "A stitch in 

 time saves nine." Another one says, " Pre- 

 vention is better than cure," but the word 

 of God says, " He that converteth the sin- 

 ner from the error of his way shall save 

 a soul from death, and shall cover a multi- 

 tude of sins." 



Will you, my readers, please keep in 

 mind that a greater " multitude of sins " 

 follow the breaking of the conunand 

 that comes right after " Thou shalt not 

 kill " than perhaps any other crime a man 

 may commit? 



Some years ago a good friend of mine 

 made a remark something like this : " Mr. 

 Root, I do not want a cent of any man's 

 money unless I have honestly earned it." 

 I believe he spoke the truth so far as dol- 

 lars and cents were concerned ; but at the 

 same time it was rumored that he was get- 

 ting to be more familiar with another man's 

 wife than he ought to have been. Just a 

 word here about gossip. I know as well as 

 anybody what fearful injustice is some- 

 times done by circulating stories with little 

 or no foundation ; but when I once said to 

 a pastor of ours years ago, " Mr. R., do 

 you know there is quite a little talk about 

 Mr. V he replied: 



" No. Mr. Root, I did not know there 

 had been any talk about that man and an- 

 other man's wife; but I feel pretty sure 

 there ought to be some talk." 



In surprise T said, " Why, Mr. R., you 



would not encourage gossip, would you?" 

 " Yes, Mr. Root, I do believe in one kind 

 of gossip. It is at times a safeguard on 

 humanity." 



Well, the man who said he did not want 

 a cent of any man's money, not very long 

 after I talked with him, was seen out riding 

 with the woman in question. As I had 

 warned him to keep far away from her, 

 and go on the other side of the street when 

 he saw her coming, and avoid her presence 

 in every way possible, he gave as a reason 

 or excuse that he overtook her as she was 

 w^alking on foot quite a little way from 

 town. I told him it would have been a 

 thousand times better if he had turned his 

 automobile and gone the other way when 

 he first caught sight of her. He pleaded 

 that her old mother was also with her; but 

 I declared that even then, no matter what 

 the circumstances, he should have avoided 

 any such public exhibition. Now, this man 

 had a bright and intelligent wife — a wo- 

 man whom any man might be proud of; 

 but what do you suppose happened? He 

 soon disapjDeared, lea\nng a prosperous 

 business to go to pieces, and has never 

 been heard of since. It occurs to me now 

 that the most solemn and sacred obligation 

 resting on any person is his marriage cere- 

 mony — the oath given before man and be- 

 fore God to be true to each other, to make 

 it their sacred and solemn business thru 

 life till death, and to be true to each other 

 and true to the great God above. 



And a little child shall lead them. — Isaiah 11:6. 

 ''AWAY UP HIGH^ PAPA's BABY." 



On the very day that the first copy of 

 Gleanings, Vol. I, No. 1, came off the press, 

 God sent into our home a little blue-eyed 

 girl baby. She seemed to recognize me as 

 a particular friend, with almost the first 

 opening of her blue eyes; and I in turn 

 seemed to I'ecognize her as a " Godsend " 

 at that particular time of my life. (" Love 

 at first sight.") Of course, we two commenc- 

 ed from tliat moment, almost, to become ac- 

 quainted. When she was able to walk 

 fairly well, when I came home her favorite 

 pastime was to come up to me; and while I 

 held her baby hands so as to steady her, 

 she would walk up my body to her perch 

 on my shoulder; and when I used the 

 words, "Away up high, papa's baby," she 

 would greet me with a glad smile and shout 

 of delight, grasp my hands, and repeat the 

 everyday performance. I think I have told 

 you before, that little did she, or I, dream 

 that her childlike mission here on earth 

 was to lift the poor father "away up high," 

 compared to where he stood, when she got 



