April, 1917 



YEARS ago, 

 when I first 

 started out 

 in business, I 

 consulted a law- 

 yer in regard to 

 s o me transac- 

 tion. Very soon 

 he said sonie- 

 thina: like tliis: 



"Mr. Root, did 

 this man agree to 

 do what you 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



297 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Whal. therefore, God hath joined together, let not 

 man put asunder,- — Matt. 19:6. 



seem to think he ought to do?" 



" Why, no ; I do not think he did agree ; 

 but does it not look as if he ought to do so 

 and so under the circumstances? " 

 His reply was something like this: 

 "Mr. Root, the man who does all he agrees 

 to do is a very good man." 



I made some protest, but had to give it 

 up; and I have often found that the man 

 who adheres strictly to the letter of what 

 he has agreed to do is a very good man — 

 that is, when you get acquainted with some- 

 body whom you can actually depend on, 

 thru thick and thin, it is pleasant to know 

 such meii, or, if you choose, such women. 

 I know, of course, there is once in a while 

 a man so tricky that he is very careful what 

 he promises, and especially careful about 

 putting it down in black and white, that he 

 may slip out in some way, and be a bad 

 man after all. This matter of divorces has 

 been on my mind a good deal. I have just 

 been thinking that, of all the agreements we 

 make in this life, there is no other contract 

 as sacred and solemn as the agreement be- 

 fore God between man and wife when they 

 come into partnership together. 



I recall the morning after Mrs. Root and 

 I were married, over fifty years ago. Some- 

 thing seemed to say to me, altho I was not 

 a professing Christian at the time, that a 

 new era was just opening to both of us. 

 We were to start with horses and carriage on 

 a honeymoon trip, and we Were waiting for 

 the friends to get ready. We happened to 

 be alone by ourselves. I put out my hand 

 to her, and she looked smilingly up into my 

 "face while I spoke somewhat as follows. It 

 was a boyish speech, but it was honest. 

 Said I : 



" Sue, the agreement between us two that 

 we have just entered into is the most sacred 

 and solemn step in our two lives. Let us 

 fully consider the new relations that rest on 

 the shoulders of both of us; and may God 

 help us to bear with each other, and to bear 

 with patience the new responsibilities that 

 are going to rest on us two. May we two, 

 ihiu tliifk and thin, for better or for worse, 



cling to each 

 other." 



The carriage 

 was ready about 

 this time, and off 

 we started ; but I 

 felt happy, and 

 m y conscience 

 indorsed this 

 little prayer (if 

 it might so be 

 called ) as we 

 started away. 

 As the sun came up, and we felt the in- 

 spiration of the autumn morning, I look- 

 ed into the face of my young bride and 

 took her hand while we sat there in the 

 carriage, and a great joy came into my 

 heart to think that she was going to be close 

 by my side in the weeks, months, and years 

 to come. For a year or two before our 

 marriage I had walked twice a week or 

 oftener about three miles to her father's 

 home, sometimes thru mud and rain and 

 sleet, just for the purpose of being with her 

 a few hours; and now she was to be with 

 me always— mine for ever, mine while life 

 should last. May I be pardoned for saying 

 that the dear little woman has most faith- 

 fully kept her part of the pledge year in 

 and year out? Oh! what would I give if 

 I could truthfully say, "Z have done as well, 

 or even approximately as well "? 



I have always opposed divorces— at lea.^t 

 ever since I started to follow the Master. 

 A good many times it has been my privilege 

 to plead with man and wife, "sometimes 

 successfully, but not always. I remember 

 that years ago a man with whom I was pret- 

 ty intimately acquainted had just decided 

 to run away and leave his wife and children. 

 He thought the provocation was sufficient. 

 I tramped down to their home one Sunday 

 morning, taking my Bible with me. I ex- 

 horted and protested, but it was with but 

 little avail. Finally I asked them to kneel 

 down with me in prayer. I prayed as well 

 as I could, not only for the unhappy pa- 

 rents, but for the two or three children then 

 present. The prayer, altho it was perhaps 

 an awkward one, and ungrammatical, did 

 the business. The husband and wife, with 

 clasped hands, promised before God to start 

 a new life ; and the one who had been, per- 

 haps indiscreetly, the cause of the trouble, 

 promised to go away off and thus remove 

 temptation. This man now has a beautiful 

 little home and a fine farm, several children, 

 and both the parents are in regular attend- 

 ance, I believe, at the church" where they 

 belong. 



Many times, wlien you come to know all 



