306 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



June 



the Bible, but I have often thought of the 

 idea advanced, that, if such were the case, 

 there must have been a point in the develop- 

 ment when man, instead of walking on ail 

 fours, began to stand up erect, and look 

 about him. AVe might imagine it was about 

 the same time that God breathed into his 

 nostrils the breath of life, and he became a 

 living soul. I believe I have heard some- 

 tliing of a " missing link" that isn't yet found, 

 just about here ; but we won't stop to argue 

 on that point just now. We are here, and 

 we are living souls and responsible beings. 

 There is a good deal of the animal left about 

 us, still ; but there is with it all, enough of 

 the breath of life in us for us to look up and 

 claim relationship with God, because he 

 created us " in his own image." Weak, 

 wicked, foolish, and sinful as I am, I know 

 that God loves and cares for me. I have a 

 jovial sort of a brother-in-law, who has a 

 way of saying there are but two things in 

 this world we are positively sure of. The 

 two things are "death, and taxes." Not 

 very comforting, friends, is it? Well, now, 

 there is something I am sure of, and it is 

 comforting, too, I assure you. It is God's 

 unchanging love. Again my heart bounds 

 and thrills when I think of it. It has grown 

 stronger and steadier, and more enduring, 

 too, I trust, than it was when I first began 

 to write these Home Papers. I can feelliis 

 approving love, too, wfen I "wi'ite these 

 words to you, and tell you where you may 

 iind in his word, — 



I know that my Redeemer liveth.— Job 19:25. 



A consciousness of God's love gives hope. 

 It gives energy and zeal. The inebriate 

 who is sinning his life away, will tell you all 

 mankind are corrupt, and that the whole 

 plan of creation is a hopeless failure. The 

 libertine will talk worse than that, and his 

 power in jeer and sarcasm is not only Satan- 

 ic, but it is poisonous. The coldest, hardest, 

 and most steely bitterness toward God and 

 humanity is that which wells up from the 

 mouth of one guilty of this last-named class 

 of sins. It sometimes seems as if you could 

 see the imps of darkness leering and blazing 

 out of his eyes, when you attempt to talk 

 to such a one of God a\id his love. Hatred 

 of God comes first, then of your fellow-men, 

 and, tinally, of yourself and your own life. 

 With the hatred comes lack of faith in God, 

 man, and yourself, and the end is often sui- 

 cide. A pure, unselfish life, brings love and 

 faith in God, faith in your fellow-men, grati- 

 tude, and thankfulness. 



The work of missionaries in reclaiming 

 savages is first to assure them of God's love; 

 and our work in the jails and penitentiaries 

 is the same, to first convince men of God's 

 love for sinners. At a temperance meeting 

 last evening, the lady who spoke mentioned 

 some of the discouragements they had a few 

 years ago, during the woman's crusade. 

 One man was especially bitter. He hired 

 men to persecute the women with dirty wa- 

 ter, mud, tripping them up with a concealed 

 wire, etc. They were praying women, and 

 not easily discouraged. They went to the 

 man, and plead and prayed with him. It 

 only made him worse. Anybody might have 

 known those foolish women would have had 



no effect on a man like him. Wait a bit ! 

 At the last moment, he confessed that he 

 could not sleep nights, the matter lay so 

 heavily on his mind ; and just one step fur- 

 ther, and down he went on his knees, saying, 

 " God have mercy on me a sinner." He be- 

 came a converted man, and a Christian. 

 Wait a bit again. This hard, bitter man, 

 when he was converted, set straightway 

 about telling everybody else about God's 

 love, and by and by he was allowed to hold 

 services with the convicts at the penitenti- 

 ary. Mrs. Woodbridge, for it was she who 

 told it, has just visited him and his work 

 there, and out of the convicts present at 

 their little service, 78 arose and told of the 

 love to God that had lately sprung up in 

 their hearts. Those who have little faith in 

 God and man will insist their penitence was 

 not genuine ; but the real earnest Christian 

 worker will thank God for the start they 

 have taken, and hope and pray that they 

 may each and every one leave a "record, like 

 the man who was converted by the efforts of 

 the woman's crusade. God honors energy 

 and faith, when they go together. 



God's love goes with us through sickness 

 and death. The following is an extract late- 

 ly received from our old friend A. F. Moon, 

 whom many will remember as a former edit- 

 or of one of the bee journals: — 



I have suffered pretty badly Avith my limb — the 

 one that was amputated. It was taken off about 

 eight inches below the knee, but not high enough to 

 get the diseased bone, and li is never healed up, and 

 at times is quite painful — so much so I almost give 

 up, but still keep around. But it can neverget well 

 unless it is taken off higher, which I can hardly con- 

 sent to have done, as it is quite hazardous to my 

 life. Yet I suffer enough every month to have it 

 done. For two years 1 have done but little or noth- 

 ing in raising bees or queens. 1 have not been able 

 to take care of them; about all 1 have done was to 

 take care of house plants and llowcrs, and the most 

 of it was sitting on a bench. 



I have been so cramped by losing my limb, that it 

 seemed almost impossible for me to clear up my lit- 

 tle matters; trouble and misfortune have ruined 

 me. What shall I do? A. F. Moon. 



Rome, Ga., March 13, 1S82. 



Several years ago my youngest brother 

 wrote me of the death of their little boy. 

 He was a sweet, loving child, and before he 

 died he put his arms around his parents' 

 necks and bade them good-by. In his grief 

 and sorrow, my brother wrote me. It was 

 my duty to offer some kind of consolation. 

 As I did not then believe that God loved the 

 world, or, in fact, in any thing particular, I 

 could not think of a word to say to cheer or 

 comfort them. The child's good-by rung in 

 my ears, but I dare not try to point out to 

 them any comfort in that direction. The 

 letter was a very brief one. About all I 

 could do was to say I was sorry for them. 

 What shall we say to comfort friend Moon? 

 To go on, is a lingering disease with much 

 pain and suffering, and death at the end : 

 to submit to another operation will be terri- 

 ble pain, and there is much danger that he 

 may not survive it. Shall we say, — 



"■ Friend Moon, we are very sorry for you 



