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GLEANINGS IN BEK CUIvTURE. 



May 15. 



needed more for speed than for almost any 

 thing else ; but, of course, she carries some 

 pretty good guns. If I am correct, fifteen or 

 twenty men are all that are needed, even in 

 an encounter. Just about that time we were 

 startled by a dispatch announcing the destruc- 

 tion of the Maine. Friend Morrison said right 

 away that it meant war sooner or later. 



In my next I shall have something to say of 

 the personal history of my good friend W. K. 

 Morrison. In my travels it has been my 

 pleasure to form the acquaintance of quite a 

 number of remarkable men; and I shall always 

 regard friend Morrison as one of the most 

 remarkable, as he has traveled so much, and 

 has such a general knowledge of different 

 nations of the earth. 



OUR 

 HOMES, 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



Think not that I ani come to send peace on earth : 

 I came not to send peace, but a sword. — Matt. 10 : 3-1, 



It is a little difficult for average humanity 

 to comprehend that a Christian man may also 

 be Sijigli/ini;' man ; or harder still to reconcile 

 the idea that a Christian man must be a fight- 

 ing man. It is much easier to imagine that 

 Jesus came from heaven down to earth to 

 bring peace and good will. But at times it 

 seems as if there were no path to real sub- 

 stantial and permanent peace except through 

 war and bloodshed. If I understand it cor- 

 rectly, it is with this thought in view that our 

 Savior uttered the words of our text. A 

 Christian man is expected above all others to 

 be at peace and on friendly terms with his 

 neighbors. And that is the great universal 

 rule. And yet there are times when the 

 Christian man can hardly be called a Christian 

 unless he makes a general disturbance in the 

 neighborhood. The great danger is, however, 

 that Satan gets hold of us and persuades us 

 that war is the only thing when there is 

 really no need of fighting at all. The Bible is 

 full of texts emphasizing this very fact. Just 

 once, if I am correct, Jesus spoke about the 

 sword instead of peace ; and only twice in his 

 ministry — that is, so far as I am aware, did he 

 with his own hands set an example of any 

 thing like aggressive Christianity. You may 

 remember that at two different times he over- 

 turned the tables of the money-changers, and 

 drove out the guilty traffickers with a whip of 

 little cords. It has occurred to me that some- 

 times our churches, and especially our church 

 festivals, might at the present day need a 

 heroic. God-fearing man who has grace to do 

 the same thing, and with the same words the 

 Savior used: "My house is the house of 

 prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." 



A thousand times in my own life I have 

 regretted and repented of waging war when 

 some other course might have answered to 

 accomplish the same end ; and ever so many 

 times I have repented that I waged war so 



vehemently when jitst a little "war" might 

 have answered the purpose. It seems to be 

 this way : When even the most devout and 

 best man decides that it is a matter for " right- 

 eous indignation," unless he is very careful 

 Satan gets a finger on his reins and persuades 

 him to go further and say more than he really 

 intended to say when he started out. And 

 herein is one of the most difficult things a 

 Christian has to meet. Truly it is a. " straight 

 and narrow path " for humanity ; and some- 

 times it seems to me so exceedingly straight 

 and narrow that I shall never be able to make 

 any decent record. JMy path, instead of being 

 straight, turning neither to the right nor to 

 the left, as I look back seems to present a 

 series of wabbles ; and the wabbles are not 

 always on one side, mind you. Somebod}^ 

 breaks the rules of our establishment by in- 

 dulging in profanity. The transgressor may 

 be a difficult man to manage, and I dread the 

 encounter, and put it off. Sometimes I en- 

 tirely neglect to do any thing. In doing this 

 I am deviating from the straight and narrow 

 path; and if I continue to deviate, pretty soon 

 I hear from it. Others take the opportunity 

 to follow this man's example, and by and by 

 our establishment, that has stich a reputation 

 for good morals, gets to be — well, as bad as 

 some crowds of workmen you have seen or 

 heard of. Wabbling to the other side of the 

 straight and narrow path would be to reprove 

 the man while 1 am provoked, and may be 

 turn him off. Both ways are bad, and I do 

 not know but one course is about as bad as 

 the other. The straight and narrow path is 

 to wait long enough so that you can find your 

 man in good temper; and be sure that you see 

 him alone by himself, without others around 

 to repeat and report the transaction. Do not 

 undertake any task of this sort until you have 

 prayed that the divine Spirit may give you 

 grace and wisdom. If your daily work is such 

 that it requires constant prayer, all the better 

 for you. Nothing does a man so much good ; 

 nothing braces up the Christian like experi- 

 ences that drive him constantly to the throne 

 of grace. "O Lord, I am weak. I am very 

 weak and foolish. Thou art mighty. I come 

 to thee; for without the presence of thy Holy 

 Spirit I shall surely fail." After a prayer like 

 the above, that is wrung from the heart, good 

 work is going to be done. 



Without question, it is sometimes the duty 

 of Christians to fight. Yes, it is the duty of 

 Christian nations to fight; and no doubt it is 

 God's will that Christian nations should fight 

 with cannon and all the modern implements 

 of war ; but as to just ho7i' far the person or 

 nation should go in fighting is a qtiestion. 

 Whenever I think of it, a brief prayer wells 

 up from my heart : " O Lord, give grace and 

 wisdom to those who are fighting — fighting, as 

 we believe, for thy kingdom and for thy 

 righteousness." 



In fighting evil and wrong, it is not always 

 easy to say just where we have stepped out of 

 the straight and narrow path. There may 

 remain, after the affair is over, a sort of un- 

 pleasant feeling or a reproving voice, as it 

 were, as if the Holy Spirit had been grieved; 



