The Newtown bee., 1894-12-28

1tAt, Suim lut of, A II luiliui 'eriisi he barren for the wickedness of them that | dwell therein"
 A prayer for farmers! Yes; yet we put | in your mouths prayer in Bible langu- | age:
 "Lord, make not this fruitful land barren for | the wickedness of us who dwell therein. Let | us SOW our land to yield us fruits of increase. Suffer not our cattle to decrease"
 That is prayer for farmers! Yes! And prayer for all workers. For the prosperity of all work in the world, and of all manufactures depends on the pros- perity of those who are Gods agents in cultivating the ground. That is the great industry around which all trades center, and which keeps all trades alive and ac- tive. Our forefathers were wise when, in seeking new fields for their life and la bor, they turned aside at length from the tempting golden bait offered, with all it's chances and dangers, by other regions of this continent, and chose the slower but surer weather of the northern grain fields.
 When we pray that God W Il not make our land barren for our wickedness, but cause it to yield us fruits of increase, none of us need pray with the less ear nestness because our hands are not those which actually have anything to do with producing the results for which we,pray. A favorable answer to our prayer is need ed for the prosperity of us all, both farm CTS and workers on other lines. Besides, we do not pray for Gods blessings on the fields of the earth, but also for his blessings on all work which we may undertake; that we may SOW in the field of work which God has given us, of whatever kind it be, in such way that it may, with Gods blessing, yield us it's increase. But God rules all things material by certain laws of nature which He has appointed. Every working man depends entirely upon the action of these laws of God. Without their due regula- tion, he cannot work at all. He works upon the lines of Gods laws, he is Gods agent to bring them into operation, to regulate their forces, to appropriate their results. Gods laws are brought into play by the hand that builds, the hand that moves and contracts, or makes the machine, as well as by the hand that guides the plough. Gods forces are
 stored and regulated by the water wheel,
 the wind mill, the steam engine and the
 battery. Everywhere, and in whatever
 they do, the working man and woman are
 but the instruments to work on the lines
 of Gods laws. What position at once
 of complete subordination to God, and
 precious responsibility and privilege!
 And should the husbandman. the prime
 agent of God, when he gets good crops
 and large increase of his flocks and herds.
 proceed to prideShimself and say, ."How
 we'll I plowed, how we'll I sowed, how
 we'll Ireaped, how we'll bred my stock r Let him say so if he will, but let him re- member that God taught him that it was only by observing Gods laws that he could do so well, and that God gave tt e s'increase.'
 And SO if all who work under and by Gods laws, working men of all kinds, tho not in agriculture, let all as well as jthe farmer take care not to grow proud !; and If we succeed or get rich, remember that Gods laws made us rich. Our rich- es are, or will be, Gods; we, His stew ards. 70 that men would therefore praise the Lord for His goodness, and de clare the wonders that he doeth for the children of fmen"-every-day "wonders." !" You are SO used to them that you hardly look upon them as ''wonders;" but "wonders" they are, and miracles as great as any that the world has ever seen. Workers of all kinds, I pray you take stock of your position. Your field of work is Gods precious trust to you for a period of years. You are Gods stew ards. Upon your work and life depend your present and eternal welfare. You are God's apostles to work His wonders of creation, His miracles and His 'sin- crease,' < and all the while to win from your work, and from Him, the wages of your daily bread.
 But you depend absolutely upon the due working of Gods laws, the laws of nature. It is God who, by the operation 1 of these laws, sssisits the earth and bless \ es IT, It is God who ssclothes the grass 1 of tho neld." Your haryest depends mp on tho due proportion of rain and sun shIne. heat and cold. While believe In oo1'1 providence, that Providence which lxuxnlates the proportion of rain and sum anlG6 and eontrola ths forces Of winds