JUNE 1, 1916 



461 



on the number of stamps he sold. I need 

 not take time to tell you that, in answer to 

 ray little prayer, " Lord, help I " before it 

 was time for the next issue of our journal 

 to come out, a message came from Wash- 

 ington that Gleanings had been reinstated. 

 At different times he tried to do me injury; 

 and when the report came out in the papers 

 that the great yields of honey I had been 

 bragging about were produced by feeding 

 glucose, he, it seemed to me, made it hard- 

 er for me to prove my innocence of the 

 charge. Thing's went on in this way for 

 years. As our industry developed, and we 

 were sending so much stuff by mail, in the 

 course of time there was talk of increasing 

 the salarj' of our Medina postmaster; and 

 as the Department ascertained that our es- 

 tablishment was furnishing the great bulk 

 of the mail business to our town I was ap- 

 pealed to, and I think I was also asked if 

 I would recommend the present postmaster 

 and ask for a corresponding increase in 

 salary. In other words, had the postmaster 

 in the past worked in harmony with our 

 business in sending goods all over the world ? 

 At this crisis it was a little humiliating for 

 my old enemy (if I may call him such) to 

 come to me and ask a favor. As nearly as 

 I can remember, his words were something- 

 like this : 



" Mr. Root, there is no longer any need 

 that you and I should be at swords' points 

 as we have been in the past. If we turn 

 about I can help you and you can help me ; 

 and I gi'eatly need this increase in salary; 

 and I assure you I will do the best I can to 

 accommodate you in every way in your 

 great and growing business." 



I did not answer right away. Here was 

 a grand opportunity for " paying back " or 

 " getting even." Past things that I had 

 patiently and uncomplainingly suffered 

 came up before me. Satan suggested I 

 should tell the postmaster that I preferred 

 to recommend somebody else for his office. 

 Then, again, that expression of his, "swords' 

 points," came up. These " points " were all 

 on his side, for God knows I had, year in 

 and year out, tried to " do good to those 

 that hate you." I do not think it took me 

 very long to decide, however, that here, at 

 last, was a chance to heap some coals of 

 fire. I smiled, and looked him pleasantly 

 and squarely in the face and said something 

 as follows : 



" Mr. , I for one shall be very glad to 



have pleasanter relations between you and 

 me than they have been in yeare past." 



Then I signed the papers. From that 

 time on there were no more clips in regard 

 to A. I. Root and his fanatical methods; 



and my good friend was, I think, a little 

 less bitter toward the Bible and Christian- 

 ity. Later on, his health failed; and finally 

 there came a message that he had not many 

 hours to live, and he wanted to see me. 

 Imagine my joy and surprise to hear him 

 say he had been reading his Bible, and had 

 accepted his Savior as the Lamb of God 

 that taketh away the sin of the world. 



Now, dear friends, please do not think I 

 am boasting when I say that this man was 

 saved, not by what I said to him, but by 

 the way in which I had succeeded (in my 

 poor humble way) in illustrating the truths 

 of the gospel I was trying to spread abroad 

 to all men. It was my action^ the way in 

 which I deported myself under fire, that 

 recommended the dear Savior, and not what 

 I had said. 



And now in closing let me say to you, 

 dear friends, whose eyes rest on these pages, 

 that you can do a gTeater work, perhaps, 

 by your acts and daily conduct than by 

 anything you can say. Let the whole world 

 see that you are ready and on the alert to 

 love your enemies and to " do good to them 

 that hate you." 



Let me close with still another clipping 

 from our good friend Ridgeway, in the 

 Sunday-school Times : 



There is nothing better to be said of a citizen and 

 neighbor than that he was a good man. Not great, 

 not learned, not able, not rich, but good. Greatness 

 falls, learning rusts, ability wanes, riches fly, but 

 goodness goes on forever. The good man is, firet of 

 all, a God man. Good and God are words with the 

 same mother. The good man is kindly, generous, 

 helpful, thoughtful. When he speaks and promises, 

 no one asks a writing. Such men are the regular 

 standard output of those manufactories called Sun- 

 day-schools. 



"■ CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS, FOR 

 THOU SHALT FIND IT AFTER MANY DAYS." 



The letter given below was one of my 

 " happy surprises," and it brought to mind 

 the beautiful little text I have chosen for 

 I he liead of this article. 



A KINT) WORD FROM C. G. TRUMBULL, EDITOR OF THE 

 .SUNDAY-SCHOOL TIMES. 



My dear Mr. i2oof:— Last week I returned from 

 a western trip, having the privilege of speaking at 

 a dozen meetings in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, 

 on the subject of the Victorious Life- — victory by 

 faith in Christ. 



On my way home I was breakfasting one morning 

 ill a railroad station, and my appetite was appealed 

 to by the mention of an article on the menu served 

 with "strained honey." I ordered it; and as I was 

 eating the honey I wondered idly whether there was 

 any real honey in it, or whether it was simply a 

 manufactured and artificial product, of which we 

 are told there are so many masquerading under 

 natural names these days. It tasted all right; but 

 I was rather inclined to think it was being " put 

 across " on me, and I picked up the little " individ- 

 ual service " bottle containing the honey, and glanc- 



