U38 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



sure it did not, for the very first Sabbatli af- 

 terward, the house would hardly liold all 

 the children. Every face almost, "that I had 

 seen in my visiting tour, was promptly on 

 hand, and the Catliolics and Lutherans, of 

 which there are a srreat many in the town, 

 were there with the rest. I felt badly, to 

 think I could not give them a better school, 

 after they had all taken so much pains to 

 come. God showed me how to build up the 

 school, when I asked Him for wisdom in the 

 matter, and He will, without doubt, guide 

 me in my efforts to make it interesting, if I 

 call upon Him in the same way. Perhaps I 

 should mention, that just before our prayer 

 meeting, I learned that one of the trustees had 

 objected to the school, and wished it discon- 

 tinued. After a walk of nearly two miles, 

 he assured me he had no objection, although 

 he liad but little faitli in those who made 

 professions, and did not live up to them. I 

 One of the others who lived a mile the other j 

 way, had expressed a dislike to the school. ; 

 so he told me. and after finishing my call, I | 

 went back. This last was a Catholic, but 

 i'rank and lionest enough to own up what he 1 

 did say. He had threatened to break the \ 

 school up, but he said they made liim mad, 

 by accusing tlie Catholics of wishing to rule 

 the nation, and he had said more than he 

 meant. He and his wife came to the prayer 

 meeting in the evening, and all of the child- 

 ren have been regular in their attendance 

 since. What is the need of quaiTeling about 

 who shall b3 greatest? 



Well, some of our fast young men, wlio 

 have been in the liabit of going to the saloon 

 and brewery on Sunday, when they found 

 l)ath places locked, and no admittance, de- 

 clared they would go to Liveiiiool, the next 

 town, where they could get all the drink 

 they wanted, for the stores and saloons there 

 were open all day Sunday, the whole of 

 them. Upon inquiry, I was told that not so 

 much as even a spool of thread could be 

 purchased in this town, witliout patronizing 

 a grog shop ; that their Sabbath school was 

 almost used up, by the prevailing intidelity, 

 and that it had, in fact, been closed during 

 all the i)ast winter. 



T talked with my friend Fred, about it 

 (Fred is the one whom I found in jail, a lit- 

 tle more than a vear ago, without friends or 

 home), and Fred brought his own horse and 

 buggy, and we two started early Sunday 

 m>rning for our 'Sunday's work. True 

 enough, the places of business were all open, 

 and the first individual I accosted, used so 

 many oaths in his reply, tliat I could hardly 

 get an opportimity to get in a mild 'reproof, 

 i did get it in however, but when he found 

 out who I was, he used another oath, to ex- 

 press his pleasure in seeing me. I asked 

 him if he was not going to Sunday school, 

 but he said he sent his little girl, and gave 

 lier a penny etery Sabbath, and he thought 

 that enough. How is it, my friend? Is that 

 the way i/nu do, and ix it enough? 



"But why do not you go too?" 



"'Oh I did go one "spell, but they quarreled 

 so nuich ther\ that 1 could not stand it, so I 

 staid awav. and said I would never go any 

 more, and I have kept my promise." 



Now it c;)me,s very natural to s_iy, tin!; 



this was only a pretext or a;n excuse for 

 staying away, and for swearing, but some- 

 thing seemed to tell me that day, tliat I 

 must not hnd fault, but must look for some 

 good lesson, or moral, from all that was 

 said on the other side. By inquiry, I found 

 that the S. S. folks had quarreled," just a lit- 

 tle at any rate, and the lesson here was, be 

 very cai-eful about having quarrels or con- 

 troversies that, might deter any casual visit- 

 or, from regular attendance. 



After I had looked about the town some, 

 and talked with a few of the people, I began 

 instinctively to feel that I needed with me, 

 the weight and influence of all the most in- 

 fluential people I could find. I needed to 

 attack the enemy, on all sides at once, and 

 to bring all the artillery I coidd scrape up, 

 to bear directly on this' Sabbath day matter. 

 I had a good talk witli the superintendent 

 of the school, who is a young convert, and 

 felt almost discouraged ; then Fred and I 

 hunted up all the ministers of the different 

 denominations, and placed the matter be- 

 fore them, as best we could, and called upon 

 th(?m to aid us in our endeavors to have the 

 Sabbath day kept inviolate. In every case, 

 I was astonished to hnd such a cordial good. 

 will manifested, and sucli a willingness to 

 join in and help, even though it brought 

 pastors and people in contact with others, 

 wlio, as near as I could learn, knew nothing 

 I of each others fields of labor, even though 

 : but a narrow street sei)arated tlieir respec- 

 ; five churches. Every one with whom we 

 1 talked, exi>ressed joy at the prospect of a 

 quiet Sabbath day, and when we hnally ap- 

 proached the salocnis, the matter had been 

 thoroughly canvassed before we called, and, 

 ' as near as I could jndge, a general feeling 

 had sprung up, that it would be better to 

 ' close up except on week days. When I 

 passed along the street, in the morning, and 

 saw the stores open, and the people sitting 

 quietly around, it seemed a terribly hard. 

 task for a stranger to go to them, and find 

 fault with the manner in which they con- 

 ducted the affairs of their own town, but 

 after we were once really in the work, the 

 difficulties that had loomed up so formidably 

 1 during the day, wiien I tiiought of the woiiv", 

 j had so completely vanished, that I felt almost 

 '' as much at ease, as in talking to the children 

 j in the Sabbath school, ^it our last call, a 

 1 smart lawyer took me to task in a way, that 

 would probably have upset me, and the spir- 

 I it in wliich I had commenced, had I not been 

 , armed and equii)ped for just such trials, by 

 praying beforehand, that God would take 

 care of the work in whicli we were engaged. 

 I had commenced to remonstrate with the 

 proprietor of (jnite a large brick lirug store, 

 I and while we were talking, he came in and 

 j took a seiit. I purposely made a pause, as I 

 ; inferred that he hud something to say, when 

 he spoke somewhat as follows. 



"Mr. Root, we J^iverpool people have our 

 faults, and may not always do just right, 

 but, for all that, we claim "^to be as moral a 

 i people as those up in Medina. We, in com- 

 j mon with the rest of the American people, 

 claim the privilege of worshiping God, ac- 

 cording to the dictates of our own con- 

 science. I have been at work to-day, and I 



