404 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



May 



all the way through. Christ g(jes out of the 

 human heart about the time, or a little be- 

 fore, Satan comes in. Is it not so, friend 

 LightyV Light and darkness can not well 

 exist at once in the same place. " Ye can 

 not serve God and mammon."' Jesus himself 

 has told us. Ninety-five per cent of all who 

 have been imprisoned in our county jail 

 have got there, either directly or indirectly, 

 through intoxicating drinks. Now, when a 

 professor of religion decides to drink intoxi- 

 cants because he has a craving for them, 

 his religion goes out <»f his heart as the for- 

 bidden beverage goes down his throat. I do 

 not know but that some religious denomina- 

 tions hold the doctrine that a man who is 

 once thoroughly converted is never lost. I 

 think he is lost just as soon as he decides to 

 let the appetite for drink, or, if you choose, 

 appetite for sin of any kind, take rule in- 

 stead of Christ Jesus. More of this fnrther 

 on. 



Some years ago I told you of a couple of 

 young men who, while in our county jail, 

 accepted Christ. One of them united with 

 one of our Medina churches afterward. His 

 love of drink, however, drew him into a sa- 

 loon, and the saloon-keeper chuckled over 

 the idea of helping him to break his pledge 

 and dishonor his Savior. Some time after- 

 ward this same saloon-keeper was brought 

 into the jail, and 1 became acquainted with 

 him. lie objected to my reading the IJible 

 to him. lie finally juuiped up and said he 

 could not .sit still and hear me read such 

 foolishness as, " Love your enemies;" "Do 

 good to those who hate you," etc. Finally 

 he said : 



■' Mr. Root, if I listen to you while you 

 read your book, will you afterward listen 

 to me while I read some passages from 

 mineT^ 



I consented. Now, brother Lighty, what 

 book do you suppose he brought forward to 

 read to ineV VVhy, it was the Police Gazette, 

 of course. When we put saloon-keepers in 

 jail, their friends always bring the Police 

 fhczette to console their lonely hours. The 

 passages that he selected for my particular 

 benefit were accounts of different ministers 

 who had fallen from grace and l)roken the 

 seventh commandment, as you say The 

 Police Gazette gave their pictures, and re- 

 joiced over the opportunity with words, as 

 nearly as I can recollect, something like 

 this : 



" Here is another one of your pretty Ministers.^'' 

 This was a head-line. Then they went on 

 to give the details. Why does the Police Ga- 

 zette hunt up cases of this kind, and take 

 such great pains to make the most of them? 

 Why are they so hostile and bitter toward 

 ministers of the gospelV Is it because they 

 love the little text at the head of this talk? 

 Is the Police Gazette a friend of purity at all? 

 Friend L., it is not possible that you wish to 

 stand or be placed in company with saloon- 

 keepers, or even with the readers of the 

 Police Gazette. Why do saloon-keepers at 

 large dread and hate Christians? Because 

 Christians and Christian ministers are their 

 greatest foes— that is, they are foes to their 

 business. The saloon-keepers and Police 

 Gazette folks are all opposed to purity, while I 



our ministers, our churches, and our Sun- 

 day-schools are recognized as a class who 

 are hutiyering and thirsting after righteous- 

 ness. 



The greatest objection that has been 

 raised against Christianity is, that it only 

 makes hypocrites. There may be a degi'ee 

 of consistency in saying that Christians 

 claim too much, or promise too much. They 

 publicly declare their purpose in life is to be 

 pure in heart and honest in deed. After 

 having assumed such a responsibility, and 

 made such a public profession, I agree with 

 you that they ought to be very careful. If 

 they do not live up to what they profess, it is 

 a sad, sad reflection, not only on the Christian 

 religion, but on humanity at large. Are we 

 as a class, no matter what denomination we 

 belong to, nor what we profess, frauds and 

 swindlers? Is there no honor in your fel- 

 low-man? God forbid that any human being 

 should ever arrive at such a conclusion ! 



You say that our ministers, as a class, 

 break the seventh commandment oftener 

 than any other class of people. Surely, 

 friend Lighty, you were thoughtless when 

 you made this statement. Every individual 

 who reads these words can mentally go 

 ov(n' the Christian ministers of his acquaint- 

 ance. Now, friends, will you please do 

 this? Do it in a spirit of fairness and not 

 of argument. Is brother Lighty 's statement 

 truer I am personally acquainted with, say, 

 one hundred ministers of the gospel. When 

 introduced to any one of them, the very 

 ring of the word " reverend " says to me 

 that the man before me is one set apart by 

 God and by his fellow-men for the most sa- 

 cred duties that fall to the lot of humanity. 

 I reverence and respect him at once. I look 

 for fairness and honesty, and purity of 

 heart, when I gaze in his face. I can not 

 remember that I have been mistaken. I 

 have told you before in these pages that our 

 book-keepers have standing instructions to 

 send to any minister of the gospel any 

 goods he asks for, without any further ref- 

 erence or inquiry. We simply want to 

 know that he is pastor over a congregation 

 of people somewhere. We do not ask for 

 nor care any thing about what denomina- 

 tion he belongs to. Well, I hardly need tell 

 you that the black and white record on our 

 ledgers tells that these men always pay 

 their debts. If they die. their wives and 

 children, or the community, pays the debt 

 for them. It is true, that men "have styled 

 themselves '' Reverend "for the purpose of 

 getting credit, just as tliose who get into 

 jail declare they are church-members for the 

 purpose of getting out quicker. But a very 

 little inquiry will bring out the truth in 

 their case. Even in Isaiah's day, 750 years 

 before Clirist, he speaks of some doubtful 

 characters who desired to catch hold of the 

 garments of the church, '' to take away our 

 reproach." 



I have never been personally acquainted 

 with a minister who was even accused of 

 breaking the seventh commandment. I am 

 forced to conclude, however, that there are 

 such, because I read of them in the dailies 

 as you do. I presume the cases, mentioned 

 in the Police Gazette are bona-fide, as a rule. 



