1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



95 



just as good a man as any of them ; but if 

 they think to mal^e nie better by sending me 

 back to prison, I do notknow whether I shall 

 ever try again or not." 



I could lift him up a little while ; but be- 

 fore my next visit he would get away back 

 again, and so I asked M. to go in, ana others 

 of the young men who belonged to our young 

 people's meeting. Their bright young faces, 

 and their trust in God, had its effect, and D. 

 was rising up to where he could begin to 

 hold on to the Savior, who died for just such 

 as he. 



AVell, on the evening I have mentioned, D. 

 gave me a fuller history of his troubles than 

 he had done before, and I was encomaged to 

 seehim take the blame himself as he had never 

 done before, instead of laying it on others. 

 After he had finished, I spoke in a kindly 

 Avay, and said, " Why, is it possible that you, 

 D., really you, took your employer's property 

 in the way you have mentioned, and tried to 

 sell it?" 



"It is true, Mr. Root; and to come right 

 down to the facts, I do not deserve the com- 

 panionship or recognition of a single good 

 man or woman ;" and he bowed his head in 

 real thorough conviction of the great sinner 

 he had been agaiust God and his fellow- men. 

 I do not mean these were his precise words, 

 but it was the substance of them as nearly 

 as I can recall it. A little later, he on bend- 

 ed knees asked God to be merciful unto him 

 a sinner. D. had passed from death unto 

 life, and it only remained for him to show 

 God and the world that he could live what 

 he had professed. Not only did angels min- 

 ister unto him spiritual comfort, but kind 

 friends began to be visible to him all around; 

 and as the new life unfolded, he saw the 

 world was full of people who "bear long, and 

 are kind."' D., instead of considering the 

 world as his natural enemy, was beginning, 

 as in our text, to have cgniidence in it, and 

 to be in the "same mind and in the same 

 judgment." Will any thing else but the 

 Bible bring a man out and up in the way I 

 have described y I jnayedwith and for D., 

 and then I wrote a letter to the man who 

 owned the horse, and another to his old em- 

 ployer, and God heard and answered our 

 prayers, and D. was given only 4U days in 

 our jail, and then he is coming to work for 

 me. Do you wonder I went home that night 

 praising God for having turned me around 

 in the road, and shown me what he would 

 have me do V At such times, it seems to me 

 that I can get at least a glimpse of the prom- 

 ise found in the chapter following the one 

 containing our opening text,— 



Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 

 entered into the heart of man. the things which God 

 hath prepared for them that Ijve him.— 1. COR. 2:9. 



M. went and vLsited him, and finally Mr. 

 House followed up our efforts until 13., in- 

 stead of saying he would not go back to Co- 

 lumbus any more, on his knees asked God to 

 keep him in jail until he saw it was best for 

 him to come out, and he would say, " Thy 

 will be done." 



Now, my friends, it is not the boys in the 

 jail alone who need our opening text, but 

 sometimes it is church-members, and those 

 who call themselves Christian people. Some 



friends came in just when I was writing, and 

 I asked them about the Sabbath-school in 

 their neighborhood. They said it was given 

 up, and the preaching too, because the peo- 

 ple could not agree. These were Christian 

 people too, but of several different denomi- 

 nations. Away down in Missouri I heard of 

 a similar case, where the Sabbath-school was 

 dropped, and it could not be kept up, be- 

 cause some belonged to one churcu and some 

 to another. There were people enough to 

 make a good congregation, but they could 

 not forget their differences even long enough 

 to listen to one sermon a week, and so they 

 — well, I am not sure I know just what 

 they did do. Dear reader, is there any such 

 state of affairs in you vicinity ? and are you 

 sure it is not to you that God is directing me 

 to read this little verse to day V 



Now — I — beseech — you, — brethren, — by — the — 

 name— of— our— Lord— Jesus— Christ,— that— ye — ail 

 —speak— the— same— thing,— and— that— there— be — 

 no —division— among — you ; — but — that — ye — be — 

 perfectly -joined- together— in— the— 8ame— mind 

 — and— ia—the—same— judgment.— 1. Cob. 1:10. 



Most of you know our neighbor Mr. "W.II. 

 Shane, whose reports have been given for 

 several years past in our joiu'iial. A few 

 weeks ago a little girl m our Sabbath-school 

 asked her teacher if they might have chil- 

 dren's prayer-meeting in the afternoon. She 

 came to me with the request, and I gave no- 

 tice that one would be held that afternoon. 

 Quite a number of children were present, 

 and many of them signified, that first day, 

 that they would like to be little Christians. 

 The meeting was kept up, and a few Sab- 

 baths after, a wee little girl belonging to 

 friend S. came to the meeting. Small as she 

 was, she seemed to realize the full import 

 and the solemnity of the occasion ; and when 

 opportunity was offered, she arose for the 

 prayers of her little mates. On going home, 

 she told her mamma what a real good meeting 

 they had. A week later, and the little one 

 M^as prostrated with a severe earache, which 

 failed to succumb to the usual remedies. I 

 called to see her, when it was feared she 

 could not get well, and she lay like a fair 

 llower in her little crib, insensible, for it had 

 gone to her brain. " lias she spoken of dy- 

 ing?" asked I. 



"Only once," said her father, "and then 

 she asked her mother if little girls ever died 

 with the earache." 



A few days later, and I heard she was 

 gone. I called again, to say what words of 

 comfort I could to the poor father. "Did 

 she speak before she died?" said I. 



" 1 es, " said he, and his countenance 

 brightened. " Shortly before she died, there 

 came a change ; and as w^e gathered around 

 her, she opened her eyes so intelligently, and 

 looked from one to the other. The pain 

 seemed gone, and we waited to hear what 

 she was going to say. Her lips moved, and 

 as we listened in breatliless silence, she 

 spoke clearly and distinctly, — 



' Now I lay me down to sleep, 

 I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; 

 If I should die before I wake, 

 1 pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.' 



" The last word came clear and plain, and 

 that was all." 

 As I told of this in our Sabbath-school, 



