184 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 1. 



course of mothers are saying to me, " Mr. Root, 

 you are a man. Yon have an easy time of it 

 compared to what we are and have been called 

 upon to endure. Yoit. do not know what you 

 are talking about. You and Dr. Ingersoll are 

 not competent judges." I admit this, dear 

 friends: but may I suggest that it was God 

 himself who saw fit to make you a woman? It 

 was the great God himself who saw tit to lay 

 the sacred responsibility and burden upon you; 

 and we have God's promise that his grace is 

 suflficient for us. The testimony of the book I 

 have been speaking of, and the testimony of 

 our best physicians, including female physi- 

 cians, is, that your pains and your cares will be 

 less if you accept the office God has called you 

 to fill. One reason why these burdens are so 

 great is because of this very thing of rebelling 

 against it. Rebellion against God's laws, or re- 

 bellion against even the laws of the land, makes 

 life's duties ten times harder; and it is. perhaps, 

 truer in this matter before us than in any thins 

 else. The Bible tells us that "God loveth a 

 cheerful giver." The woman who says in her 

 heart, " Lord, here am I, ready to do thy will; 

 teach me thy ways." shall not have a-vcry hard 

 time of it. Dear mothers, please remember 

 that, though I am not one of you. still I am 

 most intimately acquainted with one who has 

 borne all your sorrows. The very best friend I 

 have in all this wide world is a mother, and I 

 have been very close by her side while she has 

 passed through all these things of which I have 

 been speaking; so in one 

 sense I do know at least 

 som,ething about whereof 

 I speak. In the Old Tes- 

 tament there is a very 

 beautiful expression which 

 occurs many times, which 

 I have often thought of. 

 It is this: "Thy hand- 

 maid;" or, "Behold the 

 handmaid of the Lord." 

 What a wonderful 

 thought! and, oh what a 

 difference it makes in life, 

 if you take up these God- 

 given burdens with cheer- 

 fulness, and with hope and 

 faith! If both husband 

 and wife can start out 

 with the duties of each 

 day before them with a 

 cheerful, bright faith and 

 hopefulness, how easy 

 these things that God has 

 laid on us are to bear! Let 

 the husband, as soon as he 

 opens his eyes in tht^ 

 morning, say, " P'or her 

 sake I am going to labor;" 

 and let the wife also say, 

 "For his sake I will do 

 this, that, and the other." 

 Let each one put the other 

 before self and next to 

 Ood, and, oh what a re- 

 form the world would soon 

 see! When children come 

 into such a home — that 

 is, "When Ood sends them 

 as precious gifts to such 

 a father and mother, what bright, joyous, 

 and devoted children they will be! The little 

 copartnership that started out with man and 

 wife soon enlarges into a small community; 

 and the example of the parents' unselfish devo- 

 tion to each other will, you may be sure, be 

 copied by the children. You will hear each 

 member of the family speaking of oitr home. 

 They may not say right out in words, '' But 



a'n't we proud of it?" but they will say so in 

 actions; and when you look in upon that home, 

 what a little paradise here on earth it seems! 

 It will not be one of your tame, listless home& 

 — no. not a bit of it. There will be energy and 

 vim, and boisterous spirits, restrained only by 

 the gentleness of a mother's love. The boys, 

 and girls too. from such a home can be sent 

 safely anywhere. They go off to school, or 

 travel on the cars, or transact business beyond 

 their years, if need be. And divorces — why, 

 the thing is preposterous. Not a single inmate 

 of that home would think of a divorce any more 

 than they would to cut off one of their hands 

 or feet. It is God's presence that makes the 

 home; and with the text that I have chosen 

 shining forth from that home as a motto, who 

 can conjecture what the outcome of such a 

 home will be. and what its effects shall be on 

 the nation — or, may be, the nations of the 

 world, f 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



AN UNKNOWN LOCALITY. 



After I had finished my travels, and looked 

 over my Kodak views, tliere was one I could 

 not locate; but inasmuch as almost all my 

 views were taken when one or more friends 



A PICTURE WITHOUT A NAME; SOMETHING WHICH THE KODAK 

 CAUGHT, BUT MEMORY FAILED TO RETAIN. 



were with me, I presume likely some of the far 

 western friends will recognize the above view 

 and tell us where it belongs. If so, will they 

 please stand up and speak? It seems to be a 

 common roadway leading into a tunnel in the 

 mountains. Once I thought it might be in Pas- 

 adena; but they do not have snow in that lo- 

 cality. It may be possible, however, that it Is a 

 very light-colored sand in place of snow, that 



