228 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



at the meat-shop rather than to give it to the 

 druggists or doctors. 



It is refreshing to find out, since writing the 

 above, that on two points at least I am backed 

 up by so good an authority as Johnson's Uni- 

 versal Cyclopedia: "With many persons, a 

 mild dose of calomel just before the voyage 

 will prevent a case of seasickness." Again: 

 " Persons who are specially liable may escape 

 by maintaining a horizontal position during 

 the voyage." 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A.. I. ROOT. 



The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman 

 seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one 

 pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, 

 and bought it. — Matt. 18:-!.5, -10. 



During the past winter quite a number of 

 young people have united with the various 

 churches here in Medina. There has been 

 quite a revival at that new Methodist church 

 I have told you about. Those who subscribed 

 to help pay for the beautiful new building, as 

 a matter of course attended the services They 

 had some money invested there, and they 

 would naturally wish to attend; and I verily 

 believe some of these have been induced to 

 enlist for life under the banner of Christ Jesus 

 just because they first invested some money 

 in the church building. "Well, there has also 

 been a revival among the Baptists and Disci- 

 ples, and, as a natural consequence, a good 

 many of our boys and girls (I call them my 

 own boys and girls, for they have been a long 

 while in my employ) have come out during 

 the past winter for the first time as young 

 Christians. When I asked one of my young 

 friends if he had really enlisted for life, he re- 

 plied : 



"Yes, Mr. Root, I have enlisted for life; 

 and the only thing I feel sorry about is that I 

 did not enlist a long while ago." 



Now, then, the point I want to talk about 

 to-day is just, this thing of enlisting for life. 

 When you hire out to a man you may hire 

 out for a month, for the summer, or perhaps 

 for a whole year; but it is not often that one 

 hires out for life. Yes, in one way they do 

 enlist for life, and quite a few of these boys 

 and girls have been enlisting this way. They 

 have some of them got married during the 

 past winter; and if this does not mean enlist- 

 ing for life, it ouglit to mean so. God forbid 

 that any man or woman, young or old, should 

 think of entering upon the marriage relation 

 without solemnly declaring that it shall be 

 " till death doth us part." 



Let us now consider the young Christian 

 again. Some young people do not think it a 

 very sacred and solemn thing to choose Christ 

 Jesus first, last, and always for their helper, 

 their confidant, their nearest and dearest 

 friend. In thinking of those who have united 

 with the church, I felt i»a though there were 

 some things I should like to say to each and 



all of them. My dear young friend, let it be 

 really and truly enlistment for life; and do 

 not let any thing else in this whole wide 

 world crowd it out and get into the back- 

 ground. You can not tell — no one can tell — 

 what a difference it may nlake in your life 

 whether you hold fast to the strong arm of 

 Him whom even the winds and the waves 

 obeyed, or whether you gradually forget about 

 it, stay away from church, neglect your Bible, 

 so that people may say, "Why, such a one 

 was once a church-member." Don't let any 

 thing hinder you from attending the regular 

 Sunday preaching. Then sta}^ to Sunday- 

 school, dinner or no dinner. Why, bless your 

 heart, going without your dinner for an hour 

 is the merest trifle in the world compared with 

 the spiritual bread you will be sure to get in 

 Sunday-school or in the Bible-class. Then do 

 not neglect the weekly prayer-meeting; and, 

 above all, read your Bible every day, no mat- 

 ter what happens. If you attend Sunda}-- 

 school you will find the Sunday-school quar- 

 terlies and periodicals contain Bible-readings 

 for every day in the week as sidelights to the 

 lesson. I have greatly enjoyed reading these 

 sidelights in the morning, after breakfast, and 

 that is where I found that beautiful text at the 

 head of this talk, about the "pearl of great 

 price." This merchantman was looking out 

 for good investments; and when he found that 

 one pearl he lost sight of every thing else. In 

 fact, he sold all his goods — all he had in the 

 world — just that he might have sufficient to 

 buy this one pearl; and after he had secured 

 it he never repented of his bargain. In the 

 parable just before our text, we are told a 

 man had a treasure hid in a field. He, too, 

 sold every thing he had to buy that field; and 

 he sold every thing he had joyfully, gladly; 

 yes, gleefully he parted with every thing else 

 he had in the whole wide world in order to 

 buy the field that contained that precious 

 treasure. Now you, my friend, have caught a 

 glimpse of that treasure — that pearl of great 

 price. Worldl}- people will hold up other 

 things to you. They will say, " Oh ! I would 

 not be everlastingly talking about that one 

 thing. Never mind your prayer-meeting ; 

 come along with us, and have some fun. Be 

 like other folks." 



At first these invitations will look very rea- 

 sonable ; and, coming from people who seem 

 very nice, and possibly from those who move 

 in what tlie world would call the " higher cir- 

 cles," we can excuse you, even if you should 

 be at times a little shaken in your faith ; but, 

 my dear young friend, do not give way. No 

 matter what church you may have united 

 with, 'your pastor and your Bible will tell you 

 plainly that you can not be a Christian and go 

 to dances, card parties, indulge in wine ban- 

 quets, big suppers, and all that sort of thing. 

 May God be praised that our lamented Frances 

 Willard was able, through his grace, to inau- 

 gurate the custom of turning the wineglass 

 upside down when the starched colored waiter 

 came with his bottle of champagne. Oh, yes ! 

 I have seen them do it ; but, thank God, I was 

 not one of them, Before Frances Willard set 

 the example, the one who refused -wine — that 



