h74 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



the sermon, both text and treatment, wheth- 

 er introduction, illustrations, or conclusions, 

 the preacher ought to be supremely mindful 

 of Christ's little one-!. " Feed my lambs," 

 he said to Peter; and only after that, "Feed 

 my sheep." Even five- minute sermons, 

 though better than nothing, will not at all 

 suffice with thirty or forty minutes devoted 

 wholly to those who are old enough to feed 

 themselves. The Master's teaching was 

 commonly such that the boys and girls could 

 readily catch at least something of his mean- 

 ing, relating as it did so often to natural ob- 

 jects and every-day themes, the birds and 

 flowers, and so often taking the form of 

 stories. It is neither Christian nor sensible 

 to serve a feast to adults twice a Sunday, a 

 hundred times a year, with only now and 

 then a crumb cast to the children. If need 

 be. rather let the process be reversed. 



We hold annually our State ecclesiastical 

 gatherings ; twice a year we assemble in our 

 local conferences; but how seldom, how al- 

 most never, with this as the theme of dis- 

 cussion— " The welfare of the rising genera- 

 tion—what shall be done to enhance it, and 

 how shall we go about the performance of 

 the supreme task?" Yes, and the farmers 

 meet every now and then to discuss soil and 

 stock, cattle and swine, grains and vegeta- 

 bles; how to banish the pests which destroy 

 the crops, and how to secure the largest and 

 best returns for labor expended. But who 

 ever heard of a gathering, whether of men or 

 women, saints or sinners, to consult how to 

 produce, out of the crude beginnings known 

 as infancy, the finest possible crop of boys 

 and girls, husbands and wives, fathers and 

 mothers, of the highest type of citizens and 

 patriots? And the suggestion is most per- 

 tinent that, if such assembhes w ere to be 

 held, the supreme question considered should 

 be, not how to cure or remove the plagues 

 which afflict human nature and human so- 

 ciety, bring enduring and deadly blight to 

 character; but, rather, how to prevent them, 

 or at least reduce the damage to a mini- 

 mum. Better a fence 'S.t the top of the 

 cliff than a hospital at the bottom. 



Well did Jesus put the query, with more 

 than a touch of sarcasm, "Is not a man 

 better than a sheep?" To be sure, at this 

 point something has been done in our 

 churches in recent times which was hitherto 

 unknown, in the Sunday-school and Chris- 

 tian Endeavor Society, and through Decision 

 Day, etc., but even yet we come far short 

 of our privilege, our duty. In almost 

 every part of every religious service, wheth- 

 er it be Scripture-reading, prayer, song, or 

 sermon, adults are almost wholly in mind. 

 Revivals in which hoary-headed sinners are 

 converted, transgressors who have reached 

 or passed through middle fife, are held in far 

 higher esteem than those which simply 

 gather in the ten or twelve year-olds, or 

 those not far along in their teens. But 

 Jesus said, rather, "Suffer the little ones to 

 come unto me." 



' ' Heaven lies about us in our infancy. ' 

 ought to be so, and may be so, that our 



children shall almost literally step from the 

 cradle into the kingdom. Surely, wander- 

 ing long and far, with highest interests in 

 continual jeopardy and eternal loss easily 

 possible, with return not hkely, a mere per- 

 haps—surely this is not God's way. Rather 

 we owe it to the young to take them early 

 by the hand, to point out the path of life, 

 and lead them lovingly into the Christian 

 way. Whatever truth the doctrine of total 

 depravity may contain, and the necessity of 

 a new birth, it yet remains that, in an im- 

 portant sense, it is as natural and easy for a 

 child, under favorable circumstances, to be- 

 gin a life of love and obedience and service 

 —that is, to master the A B C of right hv- 

 ing, as it is to walk or talk, to read or write. 

 Practically our children are as clay in our 

 hands, to be molded into any form, be it 

 fair or unsightly. Let us rather say, as 

 plants to be trained, trellised, protected 

 from frost and blight and pests such as 

 child flesh is heir to. Jesus said significally, 

 ' ' Suffer the little children to come unto me, 

 and forbid them not." They are ready and 

 willing— that is, see that you do not block 

 the way. Therefore, parents, individual 

 Christian men and women, pastors, and 

 churches, have no higher calling, no more 

 exigent business on hand, summer and win- 

 ter, and all the year round, than to see that, 

 so far as possible, all hindrances shall be 

 removed, and every help possible shall be 

 supplied. Besides, every church should 

 maintain a standing committee for this ex- 

 press purpose, composed of the choicest men 

 and women, the very pick of the flock. 



Our denomination is derelict beyond many 

 at this point. We have something to learn 

 from Episcopalians, Lutherans, and even 

 Roman Catholics, who keep on hand classes 

 of catechumens in training for confirmation 

 time, though their process may be much too 

 purely intellectual in character. Every pas- 

 tor ought to be watching constantly, and 

 every now and then gather the most hope- 

 ful cases for instruction designed to lead up 

 to a public confession of Christ. 



And, further, when the supreme choice 

 appears really to have been made, and the 

 child has been received to church fellowship, 

 it is by no means to be imagined that the 

 end has been reached, but, instead, that 

 only a hopeful beginning has been made, 

 and so unremitting watch, care, wisest 

 Christian nurture must be bestowed. After 

 being born, the "httleone" is to be kept 

 alive by systematic feeding and exercise. 

 Ostrich culture is cruel and wicked. If neg- 

 lected, the new-born are at least as likely 

 to die as to live. First of all, good exam- 

 ples are needed for their guidance and in- 

 spiration, in the home every day and else- 

 where. Nor is there a nobler motive to a life 

 truly Christian for the older members than 

 that of thereby strengthening the youth- 

 ful disciples. Beware lest you cause one of 

 these little ones to stumble! They are to 

 be helped to become disciples and servants, 

 toilers, to seek not merely to be saved, or 

 to be happy, but, rather, to be useful, to 



