Another talked on the value of time, of being punctual, and showed the loss there would be if any were late or indolent or had to run around the shop looking for tools. These lectures had a very beneficial effect. Besides, there were others on subjects not immediately connected with the business, such as health, temperance, morals. In brief, the project ceased to be an experiment, as the business became a means of livelihood to many, and better still, made them men. This business was exactly in line with my theory. That in order to reform men, to lift them up from a level with the brutes, you must first give them a means of earning a living, give them enough food to eat, clothes to wear, and a decent place to live in. Until this is done, what is the use to talk to them about their souls, or preach to them about sin, or unfold to them the glories of Heaven, when they are sunken in the mire of earth up to their necks, and cannot get out of it? Why teach them how to fit themselves for Heaven, and not how to live on earth unmindful that the latter comes first? “Why fence the field when the oxen are within devouring the corn?” Man is first an animal, and what he needs first is food. Feed him, and then preach to him, if you choose. Poverty destroys honor and self respect, and so long as a man is tortured by cold and hunger, he cannot be reached by moral forces. The best way to prepare mankind for a home in Heaven, is to make it decently comfortable for them on earth. Says a distinguished writer, “Give to a man the right over my subsistence and he has power over my whole being.” Our success in this matter was all we could expect. Still there was something wanting. Outside of the business the men were left to themselves each to wander in his own way. At times I had invited them all to my house with their families, and my wife joined me heartily in entertaining them, but this was not quite satisfactory. There was naturally restraint. There was no place of public resort for them. I could sympathize with them, for I had been excluded from the club, yet had my pleasant home, my garden, my books, and far above all, my wife. We could have our daily drives, and often pleasant company, but where could these people go? I had resources enough and it has always been in my nature to be independent, for I had rather sit down on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than to be crowded on a velvet cushion. One night, as I lay awake or half dreaming, my guiding angel gave me a suggestion. Years agone, the magistrate of the station, my paternal relative, though I was not aware of the connection at the time, had forbidden me to proceed with a building I had commenced. From that time this ground had been unused except as a pasture for my cows. The suggestion was, why not use this ground on which to erect a hall or building of some kind where the Eurasians could resort? I was willing to devote the ground, but the building, who was to erect it?