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Gleanings in Bee Culture 



to the mother and child that it was another 

 man, but having the same name, assuring 

 them he was to marry the daughter as 

 agreed. They accepted his explanation. 



Now, this young hypocrite, while all this 

 was going on, was preaching good sermons 

 — perhaps eloquent ones, as the world would 

 call them. May God have mercy on such 

 creatures and the people who listen to them. 

 Time moved on. Pretty soon he would 

 have to be married to one or the other of 

 these two women — or both, perhaps, if he 

 could so manage it. What I have related 

 is bad enough, is it not, dear reader? But 

 it is not all. His first betrothed was soon 

 to become a mother; and this, too, had been 

 going on while that miserable wretch was 

 standing in the pulpit denouncing sin in 

 every form. Something had to be done. 



This story illustrates in a remarkable way 

 the manner in which Satan leads his dupes 

 on and on until they become idiots under 

 his tutelage. This preacher went into a 

 drugstore where he was known, and asked 

 them if they could give him some poison 

 that would kill a litter of unborn puppies 

 without harming the mother. The druggist 

 did not know of any such compound. 

 "Well, then," said the preacher, "give me 

 something that will kill both. We can not 

 have the dog around with a litter of pup- 

 pies." 



He procured the desired poison and went 

 to the widow's daughter — the beautiful 

 young girl whom he, a minister of the gospel, 

 had sworn to love and protect— and handed 

 that girl the poison, assuring her it would 

 get her out of her unpleasant predicament 

 before the eyes of the world. Of course, she 

 died in a few minutes, and then he tried to 

 make believe she had committed suicide. 

 As I dictate these words I feel like saying, 

 may God be praised that this wretch in hu- 

 man form has been indicted for murder in 

 the first degree, and will be punished if his 

 millionaire prospective father-in-law does 

 not succeed by the aid of his money in get- 

 ting him off scot free. 



The above is an extreme case, dear friends. 

 It is the worst record of a minister of the 

 gospel that I ever knew or heard of; and I 

 hope and pray that it may be a warning to 

 the ministry in general throughout our land 

 and throughout the whole wide world. I 

 expect — that is, I am led to believe from 

 past experience — that some of my friends 

 will advise me to stop right here. Short 

 sermons are the fashion now, you know. I 

 mijself have several times remarked that 

 certain sermons would have had a better ef- 

 fect if the preacher had stopped when he 

 was half or two-thirds through. Notwith- 

 standing, I want to make some general re- 

 marks further. 



It has come to my knowledge recently 

 that some preachers are not careful to pay 

 their debts. They go to other towns, leav- 

 ing bills unpaid; and, worse still, some of 

 them are guilty of opening new accounts 

 when they know or should know there is 

 little probability that such debts will ever 



be paid, unless, indeed, some kind friend, 

 for the honor of the church, steps up and 

 foots the bill.* I am not hitting at any 

 particular denomination, mind you. These 

 sad cases occur more or less in all denomi- 

 nations. It seems to me, however, that the 

 young ministers are more likely to be guilty. 

 The young preacher I have often mention- 

 ed, A. T. Reed, who first led me to the Lord 

 .lesus Christ, was exceedingly careful about 

 paying every copper everywhere. Not only 

 that, when some merchant or grocer ofTered 

 to put down the price because he was a 

 "preacher" he would say, "No, no, my 

 friends. Preachers get enough nowadays 

 so they can pay the same price that other 

 people do." Another good friend of my 

 early days. Rev. C. .1. Ryder, was once sore- 

 ly provoked. I watched to see him show 

 anger; and I afterward asked him how it 

 was that ministers never "got mad." He 

 replied something like this: 



"Why, brother Root, we are made of the 

 same kind of stuff that other men are. We 

 feel the same temptation to become impa- 

 tient and to speak hastily; but we dare not 

 give way. We can not give way to such 

 human impulses. The sacredness of our 

 calling does not permit it. How can we 

 lead souls ' out of darkness into the light ' 

 when we ourselves are stumbling in dark- 

 ness?" 



The above are not his exact words, but 

 they implied what I have tried to say. A 

 certain evangelist who preached some excel- 

 lent sermons, before he got through became 

 very much interested in regard to the pay 

 he was "going to get" for said sermons. 

 The agreement was, he was to be satisfied 

 with a voluntary offering. He, however, 

 demanded considerably more, and I was 

 called on to adjust matters. When I brought 

 him face to face with an untruth, or, rath- 

 er, several of them, I denounced him in 

 terms by no means mild; and I furthermore 

 insisted that he should not be allowed to go 

 on getting money in the way he had been 

 doing among our people. I was persuaded, 

 however, to let the matter drop, because I 

 might do more harm than good by holding 

 him up in the limelight (pulling up the 

 "tares " and injuring the wheat in so doing). 

 Perhaps I may add that not a single con- 

 version resulted from his eloquent sermons; 



* 111 speaking with our attorney about the un- 

 businesslike way of some ministers he smilingly 

 asked me if I ever knew a minister who was a real 

 aood business man. I replied, "Oh, yes! I know a 



great many oj them. Why, the Key. Mr. , 



whom we all know so well, is surely a splendid 

 business man, is he not ? " 



He replied, " Mr. Root, if you mean the minis- 

 ter's wife 1 heartily agree with you: for I think she 

 was the one who kept his finances in such excel- 

 lent shape."' 



And that reminds me that I wish to take the op- 

 portunity here to exi^ress my hearty admiration 

 for the ministers' wives I have known. They are 

 examples of the most noble and self-sacrificing and 

 devoted women that I have known in the whole 

 wide world. May God be praised for the good wo- 

 men who have labored, perhaps often out of sight, 

 for the upbuilding of God's kingdom, and for help- 

 ing a good husband in his efTorts to raise up and 

 enlighten a benighted world. 



