1883 



JUVENILE GLEANIKG8. 



551 



friends, it is not so. We all have selfish 

 and lazy feelings, if we allow ourselves to 

 give way to them. Elmer, for that was his 

 name, happened to room with our friend 

 Mr. House. Now, friend Elmer, with all his 

 other good qualities, was not a Christian — 

 that is J was not an acknowledged Christian, 

 and this fact Mr. House soon discovered, and 

 both he and myself had many talks with our 

 young friend. He admitted the truths of 

 Christianity, but was not quite ready ; be- 

 sides, he did not quite see the importance of 

 fully committing himself. It would seem 

 that it were a very easy matter for ene who 

 seemed to have the true spirit, to unite with 

 Christian people and become a cross-bearer. 

 But our friend Elmer, although he seemed 

 willing to do almost every thing else, was al- 

 most stubborn for a time in this one respect. 

 He became acquainted with our pastor, for, 

 of course, he would attend our young peo- 

 ple's meetings, and our pastor united with 

 us in urging him to stand up before men 

 as a Christian. One evening Mr. House 

 talked with him till rather late at night, and 

 closed by praying for him earnestly. To his 

 great joy our friend yielded, and at our 

 next young people's meeting many were the 

 hearts that were rejoiced on seeing him rise 

 up and express his determination to serve 

 the JMaster henceforth and for ever. Hid it 

 make any difference with him V In some 

 respects, friends, it made a very marked 

 change. It gave him a new energy in every 

 thing, and especially in seeking the good of 

 others. It gave him an enthusiasm, as it 

 were, for every thing good and pure, and an 

 earnest desire to see all of his comrades give 

 up every thing wrong and sinful. I do not 

 mean by this that he ceased being a boy, 

 like other boys; and 1 wish to mention one 

 little incid^'ut right here, to illustrate this 

 point. Friend Todd, of Wakeraan, Ohio, 

 made me a present of a basket of choice 

 poultry eggs. The man who has charge of 

 ihe warehouse and the poultry, very careful- 

 ly put them under one of our biddies, which 

 had the sitting fever, and we were watching 

 anxiously for the eggs to hatch. One day I 

 discovered the nest demolished, and the eggs 

 gone, and my hopes in that line, of course, 

 were blasted. Lpon making inquiries, Mr. 

 S., the warehouse man, said : 



"• Why, that new boy of yours tore the 

 nest up and threw the eggs away." 



"Why," replied I, "what in the world 

 could have induced him to bother the hen V 

 and why should he take such a liberty ? ' 



I felt very much like scolding. It comes 

 very natural for me to scold ; and when I 

 get into a scolding fit, I am very apt to for- 

 get what Paul said about charity. But 

 then, it would not do very well to scold a 

 young convert — one whom I had just help- 

 ed to lead to the feet of the Savior. After 

 my earnest exhortations to him he would 

 expect, of course, that I would show a 

 Christian spirit above all things. No. it 

 would never do to scold him, although I 

 could in no way think of any thing that could 

 excuse him for breaking up my hen's nest. 

 A voice within bade me " speak gently." I 

 met him pretty soon. 



" Elmer did you break up my sitting heuV" 



" Why, Mr. Root, were those eggs any 

 that you cared about ? " 



" Yes, Elmer, they were some choice eggs 

 that were presented to me, and I was very 

 anxious to see them hatch. -How did you 

 come to molest them y " 



" Why, Mr. Root, I am very, very sorry. 

 Some way, I do not know how, I got it into 

 my head they were not good for any thing ; 

 and when the hen ran off while we were get- 

 ting some straw to pack some goods with, I 

 threw the eggs after her, about as we boys 

 do at home. Just tell me how much they 

 are worth, and I will willingly pay it." 



I told him I did not want any thing ; but 

 as it was only a misapprehension, I asked 

 him to let the matter diop. But it seemed 

 to trouble him. Some time afterward, some 

 bell-glasses were broken which he had pack- 

 ed and shipped, and he asked to be allowed 

 to pay for them. I told him he might pay 

 the wholesale price. 



"No, Mr. Root, I want to pay just what 

 you sell them for. You had your way about 

 the hen's eggs, and now let me have my 

 way about the glasses." 



" But, Elmer, the fault may not have been 

 yours at all. Perhaps the express compan- 

 ies handled the packages very roughly." 



"No, I think the fault was mine, Mr. 

 Root, and I want to learn to pack goods so 

 they won't break, even if they are handled 

 roughly. Please let me have my way about 

 it. You had your way the other time." 



And so I took the money he wished me to 

 take, thinking to myself that I could take 

 a part of it to keep the wheelbarrow full, 

 just as I did the dollar he sent long ago. 



Now, dear friends, I presume you see 

 clearly the point I wish to teach. May be if 

 you knew the young friend of whom I have 

 been speaking you would see many faults in 

 him, for I do not wish to represent him real- 

 ly better than or much different from aver- 

 age boys of his age, only he had this one 

 strong distinctive trait : a disposition to be 

 independent, or rather, perhaps, he did not 

 want to feel that, in his passage through 

 the world, he was taking more than his 

 share, or encroaching on anybody. After 

 he united with the church he seemed to 

 have an intense ambition to learn, and to 

 prepare himself for a life of usefulness. Al- 

 though he was getting to be quite a valuable 

 hand in the factory, before I knew it John 

 and Ernest had persuaded him to go bacK 

 with them to college. He is there now ; and 

 I am going to take the liberty of publishing 

 an extract from a letter which he sent us. 



You can very easily guess how I like "business" 

 here; but lest you misappi-ehend, I will put the 

 whole thing in a "nutshell" by simply saying that 

 the object of the transitive verb "like," in theabove 

 sentence, includes every thing. I came here with 

 great anticipations, and 1 have not been disappoint- 

 ed in the least. I like it better every day, and I think 

 if I were to stay here a year, you wouldn't "know" 

 me when I got back. 



Every one here seems favorably disposed; and 

 such a friendly sentiment prevails that J do not won- 

 der that Oberlin has such a reputation. This is the 

 place for those who haven't got "lots" of money, 

 and are seeking after intellectual and mora! devel- 

 opment. I would like to write a little about details, 

 etc., but can not take the time. Among the many 

 favorable and pleasing features of this place, do 

 you know what pleases me most? It is to see such 

 prominence of Christianity,— "a city founded upon 

 a rock." E. N. L. 



