1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



475 



OUPL 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 

 earth. — Matt. 5:5. 



Mrs. Root and I had been talking, just be- 

 fore retiring, about the difficulties of enforc- 

 ing laws against intemperance, Sabbath-break- 

 ing, and all the evils that follow along with 

 these things. I had beeti speaking of the fact 

 that there was to be a Sunday excursion, every 

 Sunday all summer, from Medina, including a 

 boat-ride on Lake Erie, at a very low price. I 

 said I feared that not only outsiders, but even 

 the members of our churches, would be drawn 

 into the fashion of making Sunday a holiday 

 instead of a holy day. As we knelt down be- 

 fore retiring, and prayed over the matter, I 

 ended my prayer by thanking God for the 

 promise that the meek shall finally inherit the 

 earth. As I arose from my knees I realized 

 with unusual vividness what a tremendous 

 change would have to bemade before the meek 

 insttad of the millionaires and great railroad 

 men shall have charge of affairs, and own and 

 manage the earth. But while I was thinking, 

 Mrs. Root voiced my thoughts by saying, 

 "Why, it does not seem possible, the way 

 things are going, and the way every thing is 

 tending, that the meek can ever inherit the 

 earth;" and I confess that I have several times 

 of late been wondering whether we could not 

 have a community of people gather themselves 

 in some spot on earth where everybody loves 

 righteousness and hates iniquity. I confess I 

 have at times of late felt really tired of work- 

 ing so hard to get laws passed in one little 

 particular, and then see them trampled under 

 foot right away by somebody else who seemed 

 ready to crowd in and sacrifice every thing for 

 greed and gain. Well, I do not suppose the 

 great Father ever intended or really wants us 

 to go off by ourselves and let the rest of the 

 world go to ruin, if they are so determined 

 on it. I think he means us to stay right 

 where we are, and do our best in holding the 

 fort. I feel this, because right in that same 

 chapter from which my text has been chosen, 

 he tells us, " Ye are the salt of the earth." 



Perhaps one reason why things look so dis- 

 couraging at times is because we have been 

 looking only on the discouraging side. There 

 is another and a brighter side. Every little 

 while, if we take notice, we may witness cases 

 where the meek are quietly winning great bat- 

 tles. Let me tell you a little story to illustrate 

 the matter : 



Some years ago a German whom we will 

 call Jacob came over from the fatherland, 

 bringing his wife and a lot of healthv children. 

 He did not have very much means, but he had 

 health and strength, and a love for honest toil; 

 and this, his wife and children all possessed 

 like himself. Jacob got a little piece of land 

 where he could engage in truck gardening. 

 He did not have a team to plow his ground, 

 because, first, he could not afford one; and, 

 secondly, most of the plowing was done with 



one horse, any way in that beautiful soft loamy 

 soil on the banks of a great river or bay that 

 came in from the sea. To tell the truth, Jacob 

 did not have even a horse. At that time, in 

 that locality, many poor people used an ox or 

 cow when they could not afford a horse or a 

 mule; and Jacob commenced making a home 

 in the new land, with only one beast of bur- 

 den; and by some queer combination that I 

 do not exactly know about, this beast was a 

 good stout bull. With this animal he plowed 

 his ground, and moved his produce in a good 

 heavy cart, and no doubt he felt happy; but 

 one day when he was taking something to 

 market his first trouble came. In the reigh- 

 borhood they had one rich man. I do not sup- 

 pose he was a millionaire, by considerable; 

 but he owned the only span of ponies and the 

 only carriage there was in the whole region, 

 and he was very fond of driving about with 

 his fine equipage, and giving people to under- 

 stand that he was somebody of importance, 

 and I believe he sometimes had a fashion of 

 ordering people out of the way. 



One day, in driving out with his ponies and 

 carriage, he met Jacob coming up the road 

 with his bull and cart. The horses were fright- 

 ened at the odd equipage, and began to show 

 their fear. At this point the rich man ( we 

 will call him Mr. Y. ) peremptorily ordered 

 Jacob to drive off into the woods with his un- 

 gainly rig, so that he could pass with his 

 ponies and carriage. No doubt Jacob felt 

 hurt, but he meekly submitted. Now, like 

 most of the German people, Jacob believed in 

 Sunday and in going to church; and as there 

 was no other way to get there with the whole 

 family he loaded the wife and children into 

 the cart one bright Sunday morning and 

 brought them all to church, leaving his. bull 

 and cart hitched to a tree near by. Soon aft- 

 er, Y. came to church also with his fine equi- 

 page. The horses were, of course, frightened 

 again at the strange animal. It seems to me 

 that I have heard that the bull bellowed a lit- 

 tle in his low grumbling way, like distant 

 thunder, but that may not be true. Y. was 

 exasperated to think that Jacob should have 

 the cheek to go to church and bring the ob- 

 noxious animal. I presume Y. gave more than 

 anybody else toward the support of the min- 

 ister. Perhaps he gave more than anybody 

 else toward building the church, and naturally 

 supposed he was boss of matters on Sunday 

 in that whole community as well as on week 

 days; besides, he was angry, even if he was a 

 member of the little church. He walked 

 right in among the congregation, and called 

 Jacob out. Then he gave orders for him to 

 take that bull home, and never bring it around 

 there again to scare horses and disturb honest 

 Christian peeple. Jacob meekly submitted, 

 but said he would first have to go in and get 

 his wife and children. The poor little flock 

 on this, the first morning they had ever un- 

 dertaken to go to church in the new land, were 

 put back into the cart, and the sad and sorrow- 

 ful band went back to their home in the woods. 

 Jacob told Y. that he would not come any 

 more, but Y. did not relent. I do not know 

 all the circumstances; but it is a wonder to me 



