AUGUST 15, 1914 



651 



"butt in " and break up a horse-trade. In 

 a little time the man who owned the watch 

 marched into the store with a crowd of 

 toughs, as it seemed, and gave me a blowing- 

 up. He accused me of putting aquafortis 

 on the watch. He said 1 was only a back- 

 woods farmer, never learned any trade, and 

 that my whole place was only a one-horse 

 institution. 1 remonstrated with him, and 

 told him tlie plain truth about the watch, 

 but it only made him the uglier and more 

 abusive. If any of you are just commencing 

 in business, and ever get a blowing-up like 

 that, when in the right, and innocent, you 

 can tell how I felt. I was so indignant T 

 trembled all over, and my voice shook so I 

 could hardly talk. After the crowd had 

 gone and left me alone a lady came in; and 

 I can remember vividly how I calmed myself 

 down and tried to talk naturally to my 

 customer. She had a little piece of jewelry 

 that then was called a microscopic photo- 

 grai)h that she valued very highly. She said 

 she liad had it i-epaired several times, but 

 they always got the " motto " twisted or 

 slanting. She cautioned me to be sure to 

 have the motto stand horizontally as I held 

 it up toward the sky. She then went out, 

 saying she would call again soon. Let me 

 digress a little once more. 



My good mother, because of my narrow 

 escape from death, watched over me with 

 perhaps greater solicitude than she had 

 shown for any of the other six children. 

 She saw me grow in strength, and was 

 pleased to note my love for science and 

 God's works; but she was not pleased when, 

 for a brief time, I drifted toward skepti- 

 cism. When I had success with Italian bees 

 she visited our home often; but again and 

 again she would say to me, " Amos, I am 

 glad to see you prosper. I rejoice to know 

 what you are doing- for the world in devel- 

 oping beekeeping; but the time is coming 

 when you will be glad to be doing something 

 of more importance to the world than to 

 work with bees and honey. I know — I am 

 sure of it, for I had evidence when I prayed 

 for you, and, in answer to my prayers, God 

 spared your life." She said this so many 

 times during the early part of my manhood 

 that I often laughed at her, and bantered 

 her about her " queer notions." Let us now 

 get back to that motto and the jewelry 

 store. 



Without any thought of what was coming 

 1 held that little piece of jewelry up to my 

 eye and gazed toward the sky through the 

 big plate-glass window. What do you thiidv 

 it was that she called a " motto "f This ir 

 what I read as if it were painted across th^ 

 skv. 



But I say unto ymi, Love ye your enemies; do 

 flood to tliein that hate you ; bless them that curse 

 you, and pray for them that despitefuUy use you. 



1 saw the application at once. These 

 words just then were like a drink of cold 

 water to a person stranded in the desert. I 

 recalled hearing the same words before 

 when I attended Sunday-school; but it had 

 been so many years since I attended, or at 

 least at rare intervals, tliat I had forgotten 

 all about it. Wlien 1 was a child, I did not 

 see the heauty and grandeur of those pre- 

 cious words ; but now that I was a man and 

 vexed in spirit, I took in their full import. 

 When I saw my mother again I asked her 

 if she could find where those words occur in 

 the Bible. 



'^ Oh, yes ! " she said ; and I soon began 

 to read them over; and I read that whole 

 wonderful sermon on the mount. May God 

 forgive me for living on till I was toward 

 35 years old before I had Jiardly a thought 

 of laying up '* treasures in heaven where 

 moth and rust do not corrupt and where 

 thieves do not bi'eak through nor steal," as 

 well as here on earth. Just about that time 

 a queer individual was traveling through 

 this county painting scripture texts on the 

 fences. Some people said he was daft; 

 others said he was doing missionary work; 

 and I remember distinctly a text in very 

 plain characters painted on a board fence 

 just a little out of town : " Blessed are ye 

 when men shall revile you and persecute 

 you, and say all maner of evil against you 

 falsely for my sake." I said, "Mother, those 

 words came from heaven. They are not of 

 earth ;" and some time after testing these 

 precious promises I said again, " Mother, 

 loving your enemies and doing good to those 

 who hate you is an unexplored region. It is 

 something humanity lias not discovered. It 

 will revolutionize the world. It will settle 

 quarrels, not only between neighbors, but 

 communities and states, and among the 

 nations of the world;" and, my dear friends, 

 it has been my delight for the last forty 

 years or so to test these grand and divine 

 precepts that came straight from the mouth 

 of the Lord Jesus. 



Right in line with the above comes some- 

 thing that I have clipped from the Sunday- 

 school Times. It is gospel truth in common 

 evfii-yday language. Again and again I have 

 wanted to quote it to you ; and just now I can 

 not think of any thing that will do the world 

 so much good in this twentieth century as 

 the scattering broadcast of the wonderful 

 truths outlined in this brief paragraph. I 

 am thinking of having it printed in large 

 type so that even old peofjle can read it 

 without spectacles; and I am so well con- 

 vinced (jf the wonderful truth in the above 



