1881 



GLEAKINGS m BEE CULTURE. 



93 



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Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our 

 Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing', 

 and that there be no division among you; but that 

 ye be perfectly joined tog-ether in the same mind 

 and In the same judgment.— I. Cor. 1:10. 



fIjH E Sabbath-school mentioned last month 

 is growing and prospering finely. I 

 — ' found over a dozen little girls and boys 

 waiting for me when I came at the appoint- 

 ed hour the Sabbath following ; and, what 

 was better still, a great many of the parents 

 were there with them. If you want a Sab- 

 bath-school to be a success, you want old 

 and young too. We first sang,— 



" I am so glad that our Father in heaven," 



from the Gospel Hymns, and then I told 

 them we would open the school with a peti- 

 tion to God to bless our work, and to show 

 us what he wished us to do, and why he had 

 called us together. Did not God call us 

 here, my friends? If not, M'ho did? I told 

 them how it was that a thought came into 

 my mind to come over there, when I was 

 out in the country in another direction, and 

 that when I turned about and came, I found 

 some friends gathered together, who asked 

 me to come over and start a school in their 

 midst. Some of these friends were there 

 before us. If it was not God, or the Spirit 

 of Christ, that put it into their minds and 

 my mind, what was it? 



After the opening prayer, we read the les- 

 son together, and then the school was divi- 

 ded into classes. As between 30 and 40 

 were present, we had five very fair classes, — 

 three of the children, and two Bible-classes. 

 As there was no schoolhouse near, we had 

 to use a private house ; but by dividing off 

 into different rooms, and bringing boards to 

 put across the chairs, we had things ar- 

 ranged very pleasantly. After a half-hour's 

 talk between the pupils and their teachers, 

 we all gathered again into the largest room, 

 and each child came up before the table 

 where I sat, and repeated a text. Some of 

 them gave several verses of their own se- 

 lection. The very smallest ones repeated 

 little texts that their mothers had taught 

 them. After a few Sabbaths, more of the 

 parents came in. Quite a number of these 

 people seldom went to church, and a few of 

 the men there, I knew, were in the habit of 

 taking God's name in vain, or at least had 

 been in former years. These little texts, 

 coming from such childish voices, were a 

 power, as any one who has heard them, can 

 testify. One wee little chick came up bash- 

 fully, toward the last ; but when she turned 

 around and saw so many eyes upon her, she 

 could not remember a single word. In pity 

 for her, I asked if no friend of hers could 

 not start it for her. After a little pause, a 

 man stepped up to the door from one of the 

 back rooms, whom I had failed in getting to 

 come in with the rest, and he suggested to 

 her the first words of her verse. But she 

 was so much frightened now, that she could 

 not even say them after him, and so he gave 

 the beautiful text, one word at a time, him- 

 self. It was the first time I had ever heard 



him use such words as those, with any such 

 gentle accents, and I wondered at the time 

 if it were not possible that even that little 

 child, standing there before us in mute si- 

 lence, might not be the means of leading 

 that great strong man even into the kingdom 

 of heaven. I selected the very prettiest card 

 for her, and told her that God was just as 

 well pleased to have her come up on the 

 floor and try, as if she had repeated the long- 

 est A'erse of any one, and she sat down feel- 

 ing happy, after all. 



I learned the names of all of my juvenile 

 class the first Sabbath, and before closing I 

 suggested that we should have Frankie, who 

 is about 11 years old, act as treasurer; and 

 so we passed around the hat, and obtained, 

 if I am correct, 26 cents. Oscar, of about his 

 own age, was appointed secretary, and was 

 desired to write a letter for some lesson pa- 

 pers. I submitted to the school a library of 

 ten books, which they were to read through 

 and report on the next Sabbath, and then 

 purchase if it was the wish of the school. 

 All were approved, and the treasurer paid 

 me 45c for them, for which I gave him a 

 written receipt. One of the ladies present 

 volunteered to hold a singing-school for them 

 eveiy Wednesday night, where they might 

 practice and J earn hymns for the Sabbath. 

 As the pieces would then be already select- 

 ed, I would have but little to do. I would 

 urge, in all mission schools, or in schools of 

 any kind, having the labor and responsibil- 

 ities divided around as much as possible, 

 and, as far as may be, letting it rest on young 

 shoulders. Boys and girls almost always 

 want something to do, and some light office 

 of this kind will many times hold them and 

 make them love to attend, where they would 

 not otherwise. I am by no means the only 

 one who is in danger of getting dull and 

 sleepy if I can't be "• doing something." 



Do you not see, my friends, how Sabbath- 

 school work tends to make us all of "the 

 same mind," as in our opening text, and to 

 dispel discord and contention ? 



Well, I mentioned, last month, stopping 

 to see my friend in jail, to tell him why I 

 should be later than usual in making my 

 visit that night. After I got back, I told 

 him all about the work, and he in turn 

 told me more than he ever had before about 

 his past life. There are some such good les- 

 sons in it, that I think he will pardon me if 

 I give a part of it here. 



D. is a bright-looking young man of about 

 30. I think he tells the truth when he says 

 he always found plenty of work, always 

 wore good clothes, and always had at least 

 some money in his pockets. It was not much 

 over two years ago that he was employed in 

 a neighboring town, and had fair wages. 

 His employer was in the habit of sometimes 

 taking along a jug of cider when they start- 

 ed out to Avork. This is nothing very un- 

 usual in our community, or at least it was 

 not a few year ago. I am not sure but that 

 ■we have farmers who do the same thing now. 

 His employer was a yoimg man, and a farm- 

 er's boy, and probably had been brought up 

 to so doing. This particular day, they took 

 the jug of cider along with them after their 

 work was done, and with it between them, 



