1882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



413 



from tobacco, whisky, gambling, and tlie 

 like, I term saving souls ; and to prove that 

 you are in hearty sympatliy with me in the 

 work, I will quote from the letter you sent 

 with the above xirticle : — 



I must object to receiving credit for the dollar, as 

 the work io that diroetioii must increase; and if any 

 one can be induced to leave off a bad habit, it is 

 worth more than gold to humanity at large. The 

 only way to make people better is to have the par- 

 ents leave off their bad habits, and then their off- 

 spring will not be tainted with tobacco or alcohol; 

 or, in other words, we must do the same as we do 

 with the bees — hrced a brtter stock. And you have 

 commenced the work right at the root of the evil, 

 and children yet unborn will thank you for this great 

 work, as many children are born with a desire for 

 tobacco and alcohol. Why? Because their parents 

 and ancestors before them were saturated with these 

 vile poisons; and as like produces like, the innocent 

 children have to pay the penalty; hence I must ob- 

 ject to having that dollar go to any place except the 

 " Smoker Fund;" as who knows but that this dollar 

 will be the means of making some person leave off a 

 bad habit, and some innocent child will not have his 

 or her system tainted with tobacco? 



What I mean by saving souls, my friend, 

 is exactly what you have been pleading for ; 

 and if God has not told us clearly what is to 

 become of these people who are saved from 

 ruin, wdiy need we trouble ourselves about 

 itV You can call me by what name you 

 choose; but I hardly think the name will 

 make any difference. I was once put into 

 the Humbug and Swindle department; but 

 I didn't see that J suffered any thereby in 

 the estimation of the people. You see, it is 

 not what you call a man, but what he does. 



You ask me if I ever knew any church to 

 offer goods or money to any one to leave off 

 a bad habit, or words to that effect. To be 

 sure, I have ; and not only that, but I never 

 knew a live, prosperous church that did not 

 continually give money, time, and men, to 

 people to leave off bad habits. Have you 

 never been at church when a contribution 

 was taken up for the mission cause V AVell, 

 as I understand it this money is for that pur- 

 pose, almost exclusively. What is sin, but 

 bad habits ? and what do we send mission- 

 aries for, but to enlighten and lead people 

 from their sins and bad habits ? One of our 

 own Medina County boys married a Medina 

 County girl, and they two left home and 

 friends, and went to Ponape (one of the 

 Polynesian Islands), and have been laboring 

 there for years, shut out from civilization, 

 just for the good of a lot of naked heathen. 

 These missionaries are just now home on a 

 visit, and it Avould do your heart good to 

 liear them tell of their trials there with this 

 same tobacco and whisky, furnished the na- 

 tives by drunken and profligate sailors. 

 Some converted native missionaries went to 

 a neighboring island and established a church , 

 with schools and printing-press ; and when 

 our white friends went there to visit them, 

 they found a part of their creed was to ad- 

 mit no one into the church who used tobac- 

 co. Tobacco was made the test of the appli- 

 cants' fitness for membership. 



Among the Christian converts in other 

 heathen lands is a king who used to be a can- 



nibal, and at some of their feasts this king 

 used to cut oif pieces of his slaves, and 

 oblige them to cook it for him to eat. This 

 man now stands up in meeting and tells of 

 these old scenes with tears in his eyes, while 

 he asks God to forgive him for these awful 

 crimes of his old dark savage life. Do you 

 not think it cost somebody money to carry 

 on and keep up this work V I tell you it 

 did and does ; and churches of every denom- 

 ination are constantly giving their money by 

 the thousands of dollars to civilize and Chris- 

 tianize the world. Did a band of infidels 

 ever take up such a work and keep it going? 

 May be they do, but I never heard of it. I 

 hope they do ; and when they do, I shall be 

 quite willing to join hands with them, for I 

 do not believe that Christian people are a bit 

 selfish in regard to this privilege. By all 

 means, have your infidel friends help ; and 

 if they have got a man who will go as mis- 

 sionary and teacher to these dark brethren, 

 by all means have them go, and I want the 

 privilege of helping to pay his expenses. 



Friend L., the heaven I expect to go to, I 

 know nothing about, and I can not remem- 

 ber that I ever heard any minister try to tell 

 much about it ; but I hope it will be a place 

 where I shall meet many of my old friends, 

 and where I may still have an opportunity 

 of contributing to their happiness and com- 

 fort. Gold is used as an emblem of purity, 

 so far as I know, by universal consent. You 

 and I would want a heaven free from tobac- 

 co smoke ; and if we are faithful in the Mas- 

 ter's work, I presume we shall have it ; but 

 I would by no means undertake to say that 

 folks who use tobacco now won't be there. 

 I am just as well satisfied it will be all right, 

 even if I don't know any thing about it. as I 

 used to be satisfied my mother would have 

 dinner all right when 1 came home at noon, 

 a tired schoolboy, although I had no sort of 

 an idea what kind of a dinner it would be. 

 I knew that she loved her boys, and was 

 thinking about their comfort and happiness, 

 and I knotv that my Savior loves me now, 

 while I am trying to tell you, dear friend, of 

 the love that prompted him to come down to 

 us and "give his life, a ransom for many." 



You say the Christian religion is concen- 

 trated selfishness. 1 wonder if you have at- 

 tended Christian services very much lately, 

 and if you are intimately acquainted with 

 Christian people of intelligence. Have you, 

 my friend, been on intimate terms with the 

 pastors of the churches near you V Of course, 

 I do not know who they are. nor how fortu- 

 nate the people in your vicinity have been in 

 the selection of men to expound the w^ord of 

 God to you ; but I can hardly think it possi- 

 ble thev are selfish men, or that their hearers 

 are a band of selfish people. Whenever I go 

 from home, I almost always meet Christian 

 men and women, and I am pretty sure to meet 

 the presiding ministers ; but I have never 

 failed to find in them people who were giv- 

 ing their lives, to a greater or less extent, for 

 the good of the people, and the good of our 

 nation. Again : Since you have asked me 

 to publish your letter, and, at least indirectly, 

 asked me to reply to it, I am going to take a 

 liberty that I might not take otherwise. Is 

 it a polite and gentlemanly thing to thus 



