18S4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTDKE. 



135 



§Mr tcims. 



For what is a man profited, if he pain the whole 

 worM. anfl lose or forleit his own salt? — Luke 9: 35, 

 New Version. 



,UR prayer -meeting liad closed at half- 

 past six on Sunday evening, and I was 

 just about half a mile from home. The 

 weather was very cold indeed ; but as I have 

 always been in the habit of boasting that I 

 can always keep warm if you will let me go 

 on foot, i did not anticipate any thing un- 

 pleasant. Before I got home, however, I 

 began to fear my ears would freeze. I held 

 my mittens over them, but this prevented 

 my swinging my arms, and so I got quite 

 chilly before I got into the house. JMotvvith- 

 standing being cold and supperless, some- 

 thing seemed to be telling me that I ought 



to attend the meeting at the church, 



where a number of our hands had been going, 

 and some had risen for prayers. I told Mrs. 

 R. I wanted some supper real quick, because 

 I felt as though I ouglit.to go to meeting. 



"But you won"t get your ears warm before 

 meeting time, my husband, to say nothing 

 of getting your supper." And so I began to 

 think perhaps I wouldn't go. So much zeal 

 such a cold night would look, at least to the 

 friends at home, a little singular. Js'ow, in 

 my younger days I used to pride myself a 

 little on being singular, and used to like to 

 have folks make observations on my eccen- 

 tricity. Uf late years I have felt this to be 

 wrong and wicked, and have studied to 

 avoid singularity. Are there any of you. my 

 friends, who have had that same kind of feel- 

 ing, that you like to be thought odd and pe- 

 culiar V "Well, take my word for it, that it 

 is a grievous sin. It is a sin against God and 

 your fellow-men. It mars your value in so- 

 ciety, and your ability to be of use to your 

 fellow-men. If you are a Christian, you 

 have no right to want to be thought funny, 

 or different from other people. You can 

 hardly do so and be truthful and honest ; and 

 your first duty toward your God and your 

 fellow-men is to be frank, honest, and sin- 

 cere. After I had finished my supper, and 

 had got somewhat warmed, I still felt that I 

 ought to go to that meeting ; and even 

 though it was late, I decided to go ; and as 

 soon as I had so decided, I felt a sort of peace 

 that seemed to say I was doing right. I of- 

 ten h.-ive these 'impulses, as you know, 

 friends, and I almost always get a blessing 

 when I follow them. Please bear in mind, 

 that 1 mean rigJit impulses. We have im- 

 pulses to evil, as well as to good, and it would 

 be a very sad mistake indeed to confound 

 the two in the least. 



Preaching had commenced wiien I got in, 

 and I did not catch the text ; but the good 

 pastor was telling a little story by'w^ay of il- 

 lustration. The story, as near as I can re- 

 member, was something like this : 



A man who had been greatly addicted to 

 intemperance, and who had promised to 

 break oK so many times that his wife had al- 

 most lost hope, and it seemed as if it was a 

 waste of words to make any more promise.s, 

 or have any more talk about it, was in deep 

 remorse and sorrow, after a terrible spree he 



had just passed through. What should he 

 do ? He commenced in this way : 



"My dear wife, I am going to stop drink- 

 ing."' These words fell on her ears without 

 awakening any feelings of joy, for it was the 

 old, old story. He resumed : " This time I 

 will put it in writing.'" At this she bright- 

 ened a little, but not much ; for what good 

 would writing do for a man who had no re- 

 spect for his word ? The next sentence al- 

 most gave her a ray of hope. Said he : " I 

 will put it in writing, and will send for our 

 j family physician to sign it for me, and to 

 ! help me. We will also'get the pastor of our 

 church to unite with me to witness my sig- 

 nature, and to help me to be a man."' As 

 she was a professing Christian, this gave her 

 I a great thrill of hope ; for we all know that 

 where a man goes to God, as did the prodi- 

 gal son, with humility and sincerity, Satan's 

 work is at an end. "More than this, my 

 dear wife, the doctor and the minister 

 I and myself with you, if you will go, will 

 ' visit all the saloons in our place, and every- 

 I where that intoxicating drinks may be pro- 

 cured. We will show them the paper and 

 the signatures ; and if it be a possible thing 

 to save me, it shall be done.'" 



All that he directed was done, for the min- 

 I ister and doctor gladly consented to their 

 part, (what minister and doctor would not? ) 

 I and everybody rejoiced, for it seemed that 

 ' our poor weak friend had made a sure thing 

 of it this time. He had himself brought 

 I about prohibition. Do you want to, know 

 ! how it turned out, friends? He was a sober. 

 i steady, industrious man for just about eight 

 I months. At the end of that time his wife 

 j was notified that he was at a neighboring 

 I town some eight or ten miles distant, in a 

 ' state of helpless intoxication, and that she 

 I had better come and get him home. Only 

 I (i od knows of the sorrow and grief that at- 

 tend a poor wife who is called upon to pass 

 through scenes like this. Had it not been 

 for the knowledge that he posesssed, that 

 liquors could be obtained by going to a 

 neighboring town, he might never have fall- 

 en. God grant that the time may come 

 speedily when this work may be stopped. 

 Now for the man of our illustration, or was 

 he indeed amanV How much manhood is 

 there about one who has broken his word 

 and his promise so manyjtimes that no one 

 wants to hear him promise any more V Does 

 not the world say with almost one voice, 

 that the 7nan part is gone ? The soul is 

 gone ; the God part that is in us all, if you 

 choose, has been bartered away and sold, 

 and Satan rules. Satan owns the man, soul 

 and body. 'J'he common version of our text 

 is, in fact, " What shall it profit a man, if he 

 shall srain the whole world, and lose his own 

 soulV"' Our good pastor was trying to tell 

 the people there assembled, that there is 

 great danger of losing their souls right here 

 in this world. 



Within the past few monttis, my mind has 

 been, as a matter of necessity, turned a 

 great deal toward steam-boilers and steam 

 heating. It has been an interesting study 

 for me to follow the intricacies of the laws 

 of heat and the laws of condensation ; and in 

 carrying steam over to our house, queer facts 



