1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



817 



ive, and I know I shall never forget the first sacra- 

 mental supper; and if I ever offered an earnest 

 mental prayer for strength and guidance, it was on 

 that occasion; and, God being my help, I will be 

 true to the trust and faith. 



During all these weeks when we have had no pas- 

 tor we have kept the Sabbath-school up, and in- 

 creased its numbers. Every Sabbath has found me 

 there, and several time^s I have been chosen to lead 

 the Bible-class; and I have been surprised to find 

 how easy it was for me to talk; in fact, I did not 

 know I could talk so well On these and other oc- 

 casions I have used the same argument that you 

 did with me, and I know you will be glad to learn 

 that, as soon as our neighbor's wife recovers from 

 a bed of sickness, two of our most influential men 

 and their wives will become members of the 

 church. These men have always helped the chur. h 

 by their attendance and money; but they Hgree 

 that, to do all this and still not be fully identified 

 with the church, is setting a rather had exarai^le in- 

 stead of a good one to those outside the church. I 

 shall expect many more within the year; and I feel, 

 dear friend, that you are the leaven of whatever 

 the result may be. I shall carry the matter into 

 my business relations, and hope to do some good 

 through my extensive correspondence. 1 shall be 

 glad to advise you from time to time of the results 

 if you would care to hear. We are very happy in 

 our new relations, and with our little Huber. You 

 are now welcome to use any part or all of this in 

 any way you choose. T have now no ob.iections to 

 my name being used with it. if it will do any good. 

 I am your brother in Christ,— 



George E. Hilton. 



Fremont, Mich., Feb. 38, 1888. 



The point I wish to make in giving tiie 

 above letter is this : Happiness does not 

 come to those who seek it or chase after it. 

 He who makes his first and foremost effort 

 in life to find happiness will fail miserably. 

 The Savior makes the matter very plain in 

 that wonderful closing-up of the 2oth chap- 

 ter of Matthew. Yon remember that those 

 who had been working for their fellow-men 

 had entirely forgotten about it. When the 

 Master commended them they replied, 

 " Lord, w/ien saw v\e thee a hungered, and 

 gave thee meat? or thirsty, and gave tliee 

 drink?'' etc. These iieople had not been 

 working for happiness, for tliey had been 

 doing their duty unselfishly. They had no 

 expectation of pay, or of reward ; but even 

 though they had fonjotten all about it. the 

 King hadn't ; and lie vvus so much pleased 

 with the work they had been doing that he 

 says, ''Verily, I say unto yen, inasmuch as 

 ye have done it tinto one of the least of 

 these my brethren, ye have done it unto 

 me." Perhaps it will do no harm to say 

 here, that friend Hilton is none other than 

 the President of the Michigan State Jiee- 

 Keepers' Convention ; and the effect of his 

 going into that little chinch in tiie back- 

 woods of Michigan, with l)is honest, child- 

 like energy and devotion is not at all sur- 

 prising. No wonder he took Jilong with 

 him two of the best men in the town ; and 

 in accordance witli the teachings of friend 

 Terry, Prof. Cook, and others, they took 

 their wives along witli them. Did it ever 

 occur to you, dear friends, how much six 



active, influential men, and women can do 

 to help along the cause of righteousness in 

 any community? 



Now, then, you are to get your allotted 

 portion of happiness by doing your duty, 

 whether you feel like it or not ; and the 

 most important duty that I can think of now 

 at the close of this book is the one of at- 

 tending churcli service, no matter whether 

 you feel like it or not. No matter if you do 

 hot feel well. If you have headache or sore 

 throat, you will have the headache or sore 

 throat if you stay at home : and after hav- 

 ing tested it hundreds of times, I am satis- 

 fied that these aches and pains are worse at 

 home than when you are at church, in the 

 path of duty ; but even if they are not, you 

 ought to go. (to from a sense of duty, and 

 not because you feel like it. If you get into 

 the habit of going to meeting when you don't 

 want to go. it seems like a sort of break in 

 the ice in the way of taking up other duties 

 you know you ought to take up, but wliich 

 you do not wish to take up. It will be a 

 great deal easier for you to give up tobacco 

 if you go to church every Sunday than it 

 would be otherwise. It will be easier for 

 you to be honest ; it will be easier for you 

 to say, in a thousand ways, " Get thee be- 

 hind me, Satan." Toward the close of the 

 Old Testament there is another promise. 

 This promise refers particularly to our giv- 

 ing toward the support of the church and 

 minister and Sunday-school. It reads : 



Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that 

 there may be meat in mine house, and prove me 

 now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not 

 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out 

 a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to 

 receive it.— Mal. 3: 10. 



What do you think of that, friends? Per- 

 liaps you do not believe it. The prophet 

 Malachi, in order to make it plain, sitpposed 

 a case. He answered some of their appar- 

 ently unfounded objections. They wanted 

 to know wherein they had been remiss in 

 their allegiance and in their duties. He 

 told them, " Ye have said. It is vain to 

 serve God : and what profit is it that we 

 have kept his ordinance, and that we have 

 walked mom-nfully before the Lord of 

 hosts?'' I suppose you have heard people in 

 your vicinity and neighborhood ask what 

 good it would do to put on a solemn face, 

 and mope along mournfully with Christian 

 people. They knew they were bad and weak, 

 and so they make these excuses. 



Is that the case with you, my friend? or 

 are you ready to say, " Mr. Root, I know I 

 ought to go to church. I thank you for hit- 

 ting me as you have in this closing chapter, 

 and I am going to start out at once"? If 

 you do that, my friend, I shall not have any 

 fear. I shall be hai)py to know that you 

 have succeeded in gardening, with small 

 fruits, and in raising plants, etc.; but I shall 

 be a thousand times happier to hear that 

 while you have been helped by this book I 

 am just closing, in the way of finding some- 

 thing to do, you have also learned, through 

 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true 

 secret of being " happy while doing it.'^ 



THE END. 



