1884 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



207 



By this shall ail men know that ye are my disciples, 

 if ye have love one to another.— John 13:35. 



fI|HE matter before us to-day, dear friends, 

 was suggested by three little words in 

 — ' our " Kind Words " column of a month 

 ago. The three little words were, '' We be 

 brethren.'' Many times since reading them 

 in that letter, have they come to mind, and 

 always with a pleasant feeling. Sometimes 

 in shaking hands with a Christian brother I 

 have repeated them, '' We be brethren," 

 and every time I have repeated them they 

 seemed to have a new power and a new sig- 

 nificance. The three little words seem to 

 give me a lift upward, as it were, and a sort 

 of nearness to my fellow-men, and, at the 

 same time, a nearness to God. Is it not a 

 fact, friends, that when we get near to each 

 other we get nearer to God ? The little 

 words, '' We be brethren," indicate Christian 

 fellowship ; and what a grand thing is that 

 Christian fellowship ! 



Yesterday the superintendent of our Sun- 

 day-school informed us that our subscription 

 that day was between seven and eight dol- 

 lars, the greater part of which goes to the 

 building of the Morning Star steamship. I 

 presume many of our readers know that the 

 Sunday-schools of the United States are con- 

 tributing, with the end in view of building 

 this steamship. When I first came into our 

 Sunday-school, I heard talk among the peo- 

 ple about the Morning Star ; and on inquiry 

 I learned that the Sunday-schools of this 

 country had built a sailing vessel for the ex- 

 clusive use of the missionaries who are con- 

 stantly going to and from the mission fields 

 among the remote islands of the sea. Some- 

 body showed me little printed papers, which 

 were the certificates of stock. These cer- 

 tificates of stock were only ten cents each ; 

 but then there were Sunday-school children 

 enough to build a great vessel capable of 

 navigating the waters of the entire globe, 

 and the dimes saved up by the children did 

 it all. The mission work has now, however, 

 assumed such proportions that a sailing ves- 

 sel is inadequate to the work, oftentimes 

 the missionaries are kept away from their 

 fields of labor by inconvenient calms in those 

 tropical seas. A larger ship is needed, and 

 one that goes along by steam. Why should 

 not the work of reclaiming savages go by 

 steam as well as all other great enterprises V 

 A year ago or more the matter was talked 

 over, and some apprehension was felt that 

 the Sunday-schools of the world were hardly 

 equal to the task of such a great enterprise. 

 I said at once 1 knew we could do it ; and the 

 news came yesterday that the sum of S2o,000 

 was already paid over toward the §45,0(10 

 that was wanted altogether. The contract 

 for building her has been let, and it is to be 

 ready to start out upon the broad ocean by 

 the first of next September. Certificates of 

 stock are to be issued and sent around to the 

 Sunday-schools, of 25 cents each. 



At the close of our Sunday-school, one of 

 our prominent business men arose and asked 

 if these certificates of stock were liable to 

 assessment. The reply came quickly, " Yes, 



sir ; ten cents a year, to cover running ex- 

 penses." Somebody else got up and replied, 

 '•'■ Yes, sir ; mission work is going to last as 

 long as the world lasts, and we expect to be 

 assessed, and thank God for the opportunity 

 and ability to help in this work, so long as 

 we live." 



Other remarks followed, and the impres- 

 sion left, as the matter was dropped, was a 

 most grand and glorious one. We, the Sab- 

 bath-schools of the world, infantile, juvenile, 

 boys and girls, men and women, including 

 the old and gray-headed, were all working, 

 rejoicing with the love of Christ as the cen- 

 tral and impelling thought of Christianizing 

 and civilizing the world. United as one fam- 

 ily we have, during the past few months, sim- 

 ply by each and every one bringing in his 

 pennies, already raised §25,0jJ0, and who has 

 felt itV The secret of it is, that we have 

 pulled all together ; the thought that has 

 been with us and through us, and all along 

 the line, is the same thought I expressed a 

 little time ago — "We be brethren." The 

 world will look at that grand steamship as 

 she moves among the fleets of the world, and 

 ask what it is for, and how it came ; and the 

 answer, in whatever shape it comes, will be 

 to the effect, "■ By this shall all men know 

 that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 

 one to another." You see, this ship indi- 

 cates, dear friends, not only that we have love 

 to our near neighbors, but that we have love 

 to the savage and pagan tribes away off in 

 the remote corners of the earth, and that our 

 love to them assumes a type not unlike, al- 

 though it may be a faint semblance only, of 

 that love whicli prompted the Uather to send 

 to earth his only begotten Son. ''For God so 

 loved the world, that he gave his only begot- 

 ten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 

 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 



Many a Christian parent has indeed al- 

 ready sent sons and daughters to these sav- 

 age tribes; and when they have gone, it 

 seems to me a great joy, even though min- 

 gled with pain, has come into their hearts 

 that they have been able to make even such 

 a sacrifice for the ^.taster's sake. • They do 

 not go now as they did a few years ago, with 

 such great probabilities that "they will never 

 return, because, thanks to the Morning Star 

 and other vessels, they have now opportuni- 

 ties for making visits home again in a few 

 years, or of returning to recruit, after the 

 trials and hardships of a new climate and a 

 new world, as it were. In this very number 

 our friend Bess has given a vivid idea of the 

 need of mission work away off in Alaska. 



Now, friends, we are not going to let things 

 suffer here at home because of these enter- 

 prises, and we are not going to lose by any 

 means in thus scattering our money, and 

 sending our bread away off on the wide wa- 

 ters. Our pastor told us yesterday that the 

 Sandwich Islands had contributed toward 

 this steamship the sum ol .§loOO of the $2o,000 

 already raised. A few years ago I told you 

 something about the Sandwich Islands. Is 

 it indeed so, that they are able and willing, 

 in these few short years, t6 do so much to- 

 ward fulfilling the commandment of the Mas- 

 ter, "Go ye out into all the world, and preach 

 the gospel to every creature" V 



