1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



385 



has been just like yours: and you will tind that 

 <^very year that is added to your life makes It 

 still more and more so. The world has not 

 very much to offer. It is empty and hollow, 

 and unsatisfying. The best thing to do is to 

 get all the fun out of it you can while you are 

 young: and as you get older, take it as the rest 

 of us do." 



This man was sarcastic and bitter whenever 

 the subject of religion was mentioned. He 

 even went so far as to sneer at virtue, and ad- 

 vised (although he did not say so in so many 

 words) that we should look at the other sex as 

 simply something that the world has to oft'er as 

 a means of amusing ourselves, and having fun, 

 and that it was tlieii' Inisiness to take care of 

 themselves. If they were not able to do that, 

 or wei'c innocent and unsuspecting, it was their 

 aflfair and not ours. His words and his com- 

 panionship were poison to my young mind. 

 But don't let me put the blame (///. on him. I 

 was old enough, and had had suffici(>nt Chris- 

 tian ti-aining. to have cither I'cbuked him or to 

 have withdi'awn entirely from his company. 

 He was, however, a skillful mechanic, and 

 quite a leading spirit among the people of Black 

 Swamp at that time. He may have been con- 

 verted, like myself, since then, from the eri'oi' 

 of his ways: but if not, may God hear my 

 prayei- for him to-day. 



Let us now go back to the oranges. The 

 storekeeper I have mentioned was not only poor 

 financially, but he was poor in health. His 

 thin, sallow face made it known to all. His 

 feebh^ looks come up to me now as I rebuke 

 myself for my thoughtless dishonesty. May 

 <rod forgive that foolish act, and the foolish 

 years of my life at that period. The two 

 oranges my companion took were worth, per- 

 haps, a dime. That sum at compound interest 

 would, after the lapse of thirty years, have 

 amounted to about a dollar. Our poor friend 

 has, in all probability, gone to his grave years 

 ago. If so, he may have some relatives or de- 

 >'cendants: and if such is the case I shall feel 

 easier to hand this money over to them to 

 atone, so far as I can, for that thoughtless 

 piece of dishonesty. His name was Eoff ; and 

 as Gi.EANiNGS goes even now to the town of 

 Elmore, perhaps somebody whose eyes rest on 

 this may be able to identify the poor feeble 

 storekeeper of thirty-three years ago. Now to 

 our text: 



I do not know just what I believed at that 

 time in my life; but the little story I have told 

 indicates Very clearly that I had no abiding 

 faith in the all-seeing Eye. In former Home 

 Papers I have mentioned some other events of 

 that winter; and it is not strange that the 

 seeds that were sown in my heart at that 

 time bore a crop of evil fruit, even during a 

 term of a four months" school. The fear of (xod 

 was not in my heart at all. Very likely the 

 effect of the teaching of Cliristian parents was 

 somewhat of a restraint upon me; but I was a 

 fair sample, of a young man of perhaps fair 

 ability, who has none of the fear of God in his 

 heart, and who does not believe in the teach- 

 ings of an all -seeing Eye. 



A few days ago, Mr. C. N. Pond, a man prom- 

 inent in Sunday-school work throughout our 

 own and other States, was with us for a few 

 days. He was invited to take charge of our 

 noon service; and in speaking to our work- 

 people there assembled he said something like 

 this: 



■'My good friends, many of you ar<^ young, 

 -and doubtless have bright anticipations and 

 high aspirations for the lives that lie before 

 you. Now, although there has been considera- 

 ble said about the enthusiasm of youth, I want 

 to say to you that all of your bright visions 



may be realized — yes, even moi'e than any of 

 you, perhaps, havethought of in your imagina- 

 tions. I aiu now toward fifty years old, and I, 

 when young, had gi-eat expectations of the out- 

 come of the yeais before me. They have all 

 been I'ealized. and more too." 



At this ]X)int I began to feel exceedingly anx- 

 ious, and perhaps a little uneasy. I wanted 

 friend Pond to make haste to add the one impor- 

 tant condition for realizing the bright anticipa- 

 tions of youth. He very soon put it in. and 

 with emphasis enough to satisfy even myself. 

 It was something like this: 



■'I say. these bright visions may all be realiz- 

 ed; but I wish to add, that it is only on condi- 

 tion that you start out with Christ Jesus by 

 your side, that you make him first and fore- 

 most, over all and above all — that your constant 

 t'ud and aim in life be to please /lim and not 

 self. Do this, and life has more in store for you 

 than any of you can think." 



Now. 1 know brother Pond intimately. I have 

 known him since he was a light-haired boy. and 

 perhaps the butt and jest of some because they 

 thought themselves ever so much smarter and 

 sltarper than he was. They laughed at him 

 because he was honest and true; and it was 

 whispered, too. that this light-haired, unso- 

 phisticated youth, had in mind to study for the 

 ministry. He was not at that time what many 

 of the world's people would call shfirp. He 

 never could, under any order of things, have 

 been a party to stealing oranges, as I was. He 

 worked on a farm in the summer time, and 

 went to school winters: and when I first met 

 him at an evening party the yoving ladies 

 brought him in as the " hired man." He chose 

 Christ Jesus as his helper and friend in early 

 youth; and he has been laboring to serve him 

 all these years. A^'o (/'ooficc that each succeeding 

 year grows brighter and brighter, and that every 

 decade sees him a happier and a more joyous man 

 than he ever was before. He and his wife were 

 with us over night. At the breakfast-table in 

 the morning he was, as usual, beaming and full 

 of smiles and pleasant words for every member 

 of the family; and his mood was so infectious 

 that we all got happy by looking at him and 

 hearing him talk. Finally he turned to his 

 wife and said: 



" There, wife, didn't I tell you what a good 

 place I was going to bring you to ?" And then 

 he laughed at me as I commenced a remon- 

 strance. But I had a point to make, and I was 

 determined to make it. 



" Bi'o. Pond, look here. I want to correct you, 

 and straighten you up. It is not the place nor 

 the surroundings" that make you so happy; but 

 the secret of it all is, that you are so easily 

 pleased; and I appeal to your good wife for a 

 second to my point. Is it not true, Mrs. P., and 

 is it not one of the secrets of his happy and joy- 

 ous life, that he is so easily pleased with every 

 thing and everybody?" 



She responded at once, " Yes, Mr. Root, it is a 

 good deal as you say. He sees that which is 

 good and bright and beautiful almost every- 

 where, and somehow he is pleased and happy 

 when many people would only be finding fault, 

 and complaining." 



And now, dear friends, here is one of the 

 great points of my talk to-day. Jesus ■' pleased 

 not himself ;'" and brother Pond has been so long 

 the intimate friend of our Lord and Masterthat 

 he has caught the spirit from him, and makes 

 people happy and pleasant and good wherever 

 he comes in contact with them. And it has 

 seemed as if the Master seemed to delight in 

 giving him " pleasant surprises." such as I told 

 you of in my last. Only last year he and his 

 wife together took what he calls a "honey- 

 moon," not only all over the United States, in- 



