711 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



ability, asked him if it would not be the pro- 

 per thing to call down fire from heaven, and 

 consume them. He rebukes them, and re- 

 plies, "' Ye know not what manner of spirit 

 ye are of. For the Son of man is not come 

 to destroy men's lives, but to save them.'' 

 Is not oiu- spirit oftentimes much like theirs 

 in our failure to comprehend what it is to 

 take up the cross and follow JesusV Not 

 only is it among the people of tlie world who 

 take no thought in regard to Cliristianity, 

 but we who are trying to be Christians stum- 

 ble and blunder in the same way. Instead 

 of recognizing that our life-work is to save 

 souls, we continually get the idea that bad 

 people are to be got out of the way where 

 they won't trouble or bother us. ^V^e also 

 forget that our appointed work is cross- 

 bearing, aud continually revert to the idea 

 that we are to take care "of No. 1 and do noth- 

 ing imless we are to have some good thing 

 for a reward for our labor. 



One of our factory boys, who is now in 

 college again, has had a hard time to get his 

 parents and friends to consent or approve of 

 liis determination to get an education. I 

 want to give a paragraph from a letter I re- 

 ceived from him recently. Before going 

 from here back to school he took a short va- 

 cation for a few days at home. Perhaps 1 

 might mention that he has become a Chris- 

 tian since he came to work with us ; and 

 when he went back to his old home, he of 

 course took up the work of talking for the 

 cause of the Master. People there, as al- 

 most everywhere else, while admitting it 

 was well enough to become a Christian, did 

 not seem to thiidv it a matter of any very 

 great moment, after all. In regard to this 

 he writes : 



A great nianj- of my friends are dubious, and 

 question aboutthe expediency of mj' present efforts, 

 " How much will it pay?" not how much good will it 

 enable me to accomplish? but, how much of this 

 world's g-oods will it enable me to accumulate? 

 Well, I am waiting- for a little more advancement 

 before replying: to these questions; but if I should 

 say any thing it would only be a reference to 

 Matt. 16:26. 



This places the matter before us pretty 

 plainly. Who has not asked himself the 

 question. '' How much will it pay me to get 

 an education?" or, if you choose, " What 

 great good shall I gain by becoming a Chris- 

 tian?" for, as I see it, the two ideas are not 

 very far apart, even though it be true that 

 many who are college graduates are not 

 Christians after all. 



What is the most important tiling for any 

 of us in this world? Suppose a young man 

 comes to you and asks tlie question, " How 

 much will it pay me to get an edtication?" 

 You might say'td him. My young fiiend.you 

 will be greatly l)enehted in many ways in 

 having a thorough education. A 'man who 

 possesses an education, other tilings being 

 equal, will get rich a great deal faster, as a 

 rule. An education often helps a man to 

 get a thousand or two thousand dollars a 

 year, where without it he would not be like- 

 ly to get more than average day's wages- 

 say from three to live hundred dollars ayear. 

 An education will help you not only to stand 



up among men, but you will likely be a lead- 

 er among men. Y^'ou will be greatly superi- 

 or to the common people whom you meet 

 all around. They will look up to you with 

 reverence and respect. They will say, " He 

 is a college graduate," as you pass by. You 

 may get to iLie a professor," and be spoken of 

 as '' Professor So and So." An education 

 will help you to important offices in tlie land. 

 You can not become a noted professional 

 man very well withouta thorough education. 

 With it you may occupy important i»ublic 

 offices, and these puV)lic otlices usually afford 

 excellent pay, without very much hard work. 

 Y"ou can ride in your carriage, and have 

 your fine residence, and indulge your taste 

 as educated men usually do. You may get 

 to be Governor of your native State, and pos- 

 sibly President of the United States, with 

 an excellent education, while the probabili- 

 ties are usually very small that you can at- 

 tain a place of any particular account with- 

 out it. How does all this soundf 



I believe people seldom consider these 

 things as I have put it above, when they are 

 deciding whether or not they should become 

 Christians ; for although Christianity is 

 generally acknowledged to help a man in 

 business, we universally recognize that a 

 man who becomes a Christian with such mo- 

 tives would be a rather small pattern of a 

 man, after all. Well, to come right down to 

 it, what is most to be desired in this world, 

 anyhow— money, fame, and renown? Are 

 these all that "we are working for ? Our 

 young friend who wrote the above extract 

 evidently seems to have some other object in 

 view. It gave me a thrill of pleasure when 

 he intimated that it was not to accumulate 

 this world's goods that he was going to col- 

 lege, but his thoughts seemed to be, rather, 

 '' How much good will it enable me to ac- 

 complish?" Jesus once, for an object lesson, 

 went around and washed his disciples' feet 

 himself. They had been talking greedily 

 about great places. He rebuked them by 

 saying, '' Whosoeverwill be great among you, 

 let him be your minister ; and whosoeverwill 

 be chief among you, let him be your ser- 

 vant." There it is, friends. If we have any 

 ambition to have good things said about us 

 on the day of our funeral, would it not be 

 worth while to have it said, " He has been 

 great as a servant of the people"? 



In talking with intemperate men I fre- 

 quently plead the example they are setting. 

 Sometimes I ask them what kind of a man 

 they would like to have their boys make. If 

 there is any good in a man at all", this will al- 

 most always bring it out. He wants his 

 children to do well; he wants to have them 

 truthful and honest ; he wants to have them 

 free from guilty stains ; and although he 

 does not express it in just that way, he in 

 his heart abhors sin in "connection with his 

 children. 



How would you like to have your children 

 grow up ? I asked myself that question a 

 few davs ago in the home circle. The little 

 one I liave' mentioned so often seems to have 

 a wonderful thirst to know about things He 

 is happy with me in rambling over the farm, 

 because I teach him about all the objects to 

 be seen, and explain them to him. Within a 



