1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



39 



that), but I believe 5'ou'd better quit that. I think 

 — yea, I Adotc — that we have men who will lie and 

 swear to it for less than the price of a smoker, be- 

 cause I Icnow some who have been before the grand 

 jurj-, and, under oath, lied from b3i?inning' to end. I 

 have no father to take care of, but would gladly, if 

 I had a father as go'id as you had. Mine died when 

 I was a little boj'. I am now 4;J. God will take care 

 of you if you arc obedient. X. 



Eist Germantown, Wayne Co., Ind., Dec 7, 1881. 



Wliy, friend X.. you astonish me by your 

 aoparent faith and trust in God, and then, 

 almost in the same sentence, express such a 

 woeful want of conlidence in your fellow- 

 man. Af?ain, you object to the Tobacco 

 Column, and yet, almost in the same breath, 

 give us one of the strongest proofs of its 

 power to do good we have ever had. If I 

 understand you, my offer induced you to 

 stop using tobacco, although I did not know 

 of it, nor even thinlv of its having that ef- 

 fect. Does it not seem that God blessed my 

 feeble (and, as many of you think, mis(^ircd- 

 ed) efforts, and that, too, in a way I had not 

 thought of y Now once more: I do not be- 

 lieve that thos3 who gave their promise here 

 on these pages have, very many of them, 

 been unfaithful. Two, at "least, have come 

 forward like men. and i)aid for the smokers, 

 and I feel pretty sure the rest are holding the 

 fort, like yourself, friend ii. Is it not so, 

 boys V 



Frioid Root:— Tbero is a little idea some friend 

 might be thankful for having his attention called to. 

 It was just brought fresh to my mind whilst reading 

 your Tobacco Column. It is the detinition of sin. 

 When an infidel, I used to often say, "Those relig- 

 ious fanatics who thought they were all the time 

 committing sin, and were calling everyone a sinner, 

 might do so, but for my part, I acted out the nature 

 God gave me, so he, if any one, not I, committed the 

 sin," until one day the detinition came before my 

 mind: "A sinner is one who does either what he 

 ought not to do, or loaves undone what he ought to 

 do." How many of us arc in many ways doing both 

 these things? Then the truth flashed on me, that I 

 was indeed a sinner, and must continue to be one 

 until able to do, not what some one else thought 

 right, but until my conscience was satisfied I had 

 not failed in cither particular. I quit tobacco when 

 15, because of an argument that came up in my 

 mind whether it would do more harm than good 

 In the world; and though at the time not admitting 

 that it did me any particular harm or good, except a 

 pleasurable animal gratification, the argument stood 

 so plainly, that it probably did more harm than good, 

 that my cig;ir was buried right there, to remain un- 

 til I could get the arguments in favor of smoking. 

 But c3 years of experience tias not been able to 

 change that decision, and now I ask the question of 

 my professing Christian friends, " Will you not hon- 

 estly argue the case in your own minds, and if you 

 are satisfied that it is not to the glory of God that 

 you use it, if, after examination you are satisfied 

 you are doing or leaving undone, and thus commit- 

 ting sin, will you not put away the weed, and come 

 with a clean mouth and conscience, to the Lord in 

 praj-er?" I have not a word here to say to those 

 who do not believe, '• Yc are the temples of God, and 

 the Spirit of God dwelleth in you; whoso desecrates 

 the temple, God will destroy." How continually 



should we examine all questions, to see if we are do- 

 ing or leaving undone anything! Are we making 

 the most of life, using even the body to the best ad- 

 vantage? I. B. Rcr.MFORD. 

 Bakcrsfleld, Kern Co., Cal., Dec, 1881. 



I see in your bee book that you will send a bee- 

 smoker to any person who will quit using: to- 

 bacco. I have quit chewing, after being a slave 

 to the weed for over forty years; so if you will 

 send one, and if I ever chew the stuff again, I will 

 send you double the pric? of the smoker. 



Bakerstiold, Kern Co., Cal. As.v Finlky. 



mR. ITIERRYB.lNIiS AND HIS NEIGH- 

 BO K. 



And the rain descended, and the floods came, and 

 the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it 

 fell not; for it was founded iiponarock.— Matt. 7:35. 



fT was the next week one morning, that 

 John, as he woke up, heard the soinid 

 —' of rain on the roof. lie looked out, and 

 it was rain everywhere apparently; and as 

 he met his mother, he remarked,— 



"■ I guess pa won't work to-day anyway, 

 because it rains so he can't." 



'' lint I guess he will ; and more than that, 

 he has been at work some time." Tliere 

 was a pleasant twinkle in his mother's eve 

 as she said this, and at the same time noted 

 John's look of surprise as he looked over the 

 small house and could see nothing of bis 

 father. Dear reader, did you ever see any- 

 body sit down and complain they had noth- 

 ing "to do when you could see a dozen things 

 that needed doing sadly ? And did you 

 ever notice other people of your acquaint- 

 ance who were always busy, and who would 

 find some work to do, even during the few 

 minutes they were waiting for dinner, or 

 at any other similar odd moment V I sus- 

 pect the reason why some are so industrious, 

 and others are not, is because some are 

 more seldsh than others. I here use the 

 word " sehish " in a sense bordering close on 

 laziness; a lazy person is always a selfish 

 one, I believe, although a selfish person may 

 not always be a lazy one, perhaps. Well, 

 one whose heart is full, and fired by the sub- 

 lime words of our Savior, that so stirred 

 the heart of John's father, can not well be 

 lazy or idle. I will repeat his favorite little 

 text, for you may have forgotten it : " Thou 

 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 

 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 

 strength, and with all thy mind; and thy 

 neighbor as thyself." Well, it was through 

 this text that our friend had learned to love 

 work, and to be happier, too, than he had 

 ever before been in all his life, even though 

 he was at the very time fighting against the 

 cravings for tobacco. In fact, 1 am not 

 really sure he was not happier for those cra- 

 vings. Do you remember the lines of the 

 little hymn? — 



Soul, then know thy full salvation; 



Rise o'er sin and fear and care; 

 Joy to find in every station 



Somethmg still to do or bear. 



Well, after John had been sorely puzzled 

 at the queer smile in his mother's face, he 

 all at once thought he heard a strange sort of 



