What Shall the Harvest Be?
By William Covert
If mankind are to reap that which they sow, and all seed sown produces its kind, we may certainly expect a bountiful crop of tares in the near future. This conclusion is reached by the aid of knowledge obtained relative to what the people read. It is truthfully said that persons are known by the company that they keep, and it is also true that they may be known by the books that they read, and the papers that they take. A short time ago I adopted measures for finding out the kind of literature that is in demand in a city of about three thousand inhabitants, in which there are seven churches; and also learned that what is true of this city may be said of nearly every city, large or small, in the State. I inquired at the book stores, and to my astonishment could not find any religious books on their shelves. The proprietor of the oldest establishment of the kind in the place, said that he had once purchased a stock of that kind of literature and had to sell it out at half price, to make room for that grade of reading which the people would buy. The testimony of an individual who had kept a circulating library of seven hundred volumes, was also taken, as such a medium would give a sure index to the minds and tastes of the reading public. The keeper of this library is an earnest professor of the Christian religion, and did what he could to circulate religious books, and kept in stock a good assortment of what he considered good and entertaining works. Yet with all his endeavors to circulate those volumes they would lie unread. Nearly every one was in appearance new and unsoiled, with no signs of wear or use to indicate that they had ever been read, at the time he disposed of the whole stock and gave up the enterprise to follow more congenial business. While this class of books lay on his shelves unread, from two to four sets of novels had been literally worn out, so great had been the demand for such literature. His customers were those who are regarded as of the best people, in one of the leading cities in the country. The proprietor of a book store who was asked if he would not purchase a few copies of a standard religious work, if he could get them very cheap, replied that cheapness would be no inducement, for he could not sell them at any price. These are grave facts that Christian workers and colporters have to meet everywhere. Solomon, in speaking of the hypocrite, says, "As he thinketh in his heart so is he;" and our Saviour says that "an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil." So I suppose that when such a man goes to the store or library for a book, he calls with his mouth for that which his heart desires. In this way we have an unerring measure of the moral current that bears up the bark in which society is floating. With such evident tokens by which to judge of the harvest, we feel that that which has made promise of wheat, will bring but little wheat into the garner, while the main crop will be bound in bundles only to be burned in a furnace of fire. WM. COVERT.