642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, 



Aug. 15, 



low land near the celery-ground, that I was 

 very glad to borrow an overcoat also; so you 

 can Imagine what a nuisance I am likely to be 

 if I should ever happen to come around your 

 home on my wheel. I will tell you about that 

 early morning visit next time. 



OURSELVES AND OUR NEIGHBORS. 



He that is not against us is on our part. — Mark 

 9:40. 



Friend BooL-— I had not any intention to interfere 

 with your discussions on religion, but I can not 

 let pass without protest your assertion that men 

 who do not frequent churcli regularly are more 

 ready to clieat than good Cbrisbians. Since we luive 

 been in the foundation business, the only two 

 workers that we have had to discharge, on account 

 of dishonesty, were regular churcli-members. Most 

 of our workmen do not go to church at all, yet I 

 dare you to find more honest men. Besides, if you 

 desire it, I will name two ministers of the gospel 

 who have tried to cheat us, and 1 will furnish the 

 proof of it. 



It is tlie usual practice amongst the preachers to 

 calumniate skeptics. This habit lias induced free- 

 thinkers to retaliate; and now you can buy, for 3.5 

 cents, from the Investigato); of Boston, a small book 

 in whicli about 1700 crimes of preachers are shown. 

 I have never seen that book; but you can get it, 

 and prosecute tlie publishers if you can prove that 

 some of these crimes, committed within a few years, 

 are invented slanders. 



In answer to Mr. Kaufman, who wrote that a 

 man must act the way he is l^uilt, you borrow the 

 idea of Mr. W. P. Root that such views would be 

 cheered and accepted throughout all the haunts of 

 vice. Although I think that Mr. Kaufman was too 

 positive in his assertion, yet I will say that the 

 principle of his idea is accepted bv all the anthro- 

 pologists who have thoroughly studied the question. 



As soon as the Europeans took possession of 

 America, 4-00 years aa-o, they tried to ci^•ilize the In- 

 dians. Continued attempts were made also to 

 civilize the savages of Australia, of Ceylon, of 

 South Africa, etc. Why did they not succeed? 

 Because these savages act the way they are built. 

 Every man is endowed with different desires and 

 aptitudes. England produced Darwin; United 

 States, Edison; France, Pasteur. You could not 

 make an Edison of a Darwin, nor a Pasteur of an 

 Edison. 



You imagine you feel Satan teasing you without 

 intermission. As I have never felt him around me 

 I do not believe in his existence; and, of cour.se, I 

 think that it is the way you are built which gives 

 you this imagination. Furthermore, you were born 

 especially a business man in the full acceptation of 

 the word; don)i(mt doiinant (giving to receive), as 

 we say in France; and not only your success in bus- 

 iness, Out your ideas on religion prove it. 



You wrote, page 568, "Dear friends, we have a 

 plain and clear Bible promise that we shall receive 

 tenfold more than we give up, here in this present 

 world, and eternal life beyond;" and, page 569: 

 "The Master answers that every one who has fol- 

 lowed liim. every one who has forsaken houses lor 

 brethren, etc., shall ^receive a hundred-fold, and 

 shall inherit everlasting life," etc. ISo, uncon- 

 sciously, you consideroreligion mainly from a busi- 

 ness standpoint— giving something in exchange for 

 more. 



Whip or candy? All the Christian religion is 

 expressed in these three words; yet I think man- 

 kind is old enough not to be dealt with as with our 

 tame animals, and thafc it would bei'better to devel- 

 op conscience in our children than to use the fear 

 of hell and the hope of heaven. 



My parents neverj mixed their doctrine of good 

 behavior with the hereafter, of which we know 

 nothing. They used to say, " Remember that your 

 duty is to act according to your conscience; that 

 " bonne renommee vaut mieux que ceinture doree " 

 (a good name is worth more than a golden belt), and 

 that you can not get a good name unless you be- 

 have well and act honestly and friendly toward all. 

 My father had seven children. They have never 

 given him the smallest cause to regret his method 

 of teaching themmorality independently of religion. 



I liave used the same means with my children, with 

 the same results. 



We free-thinkers do not work in view of reward, 

 but we act for the love of what is right. If we 

 make something wrong we do not fear hell; but our 

 conscience grieves us till we have tried to make 

 amends. If we help some poor man out of a sad 

 position, we do not do it to go to heaven, but we 

 find our reward here in the satisfaction of having 

 acted right. We do not care for the hereafter, of 

 which we know nothing. 



To the question of Mr. Randall, "Who made 

 Satan?" you answered: "God made him good, but 

 he made himself bad." I desire to complete the 

 question: " Wlien God made a good Satan, did he 

 know that this good Satan would turn bad?" 



" Yes, certainly, since God knows every thing!" 



Then, according to your creed, God had foreseen 

 that Adam would disobey, and that nine-tenths of 

 mankind would be damned, notwithstanding the 

 sacrifice of his Son; and you believe that God. who 

 foresaw all these evils, created Satan and Adam all 

 the same, and without remorse. 



You may retort that God made us free agents. 

 I can not accept this sliift as an answer. My ques- 

 tion is: "Before creating Satan and Adam, did God 

 know that the nine-tenths of mankind would be 

 damiied ? 



If you can give an answer which proves that the 

 God of the Christians acted right in creating men 

 who did not ask to be born, wliile he did know 

 beforehand that most of these people would suffer 

 eternally by their own fault— if you can prove that 

 such an act was just, you will convert millions of 

 skeptics and free-thinkers. 



I have laid down this question to scores of priests 

 and ministers. Nearly all of them turned their 

 back directly. A few answered that we have not 

 the right of questioning what God did. But I do 

 not question what God did. I question only what 

 you Christians say that he did. Such a belief as 

 yours is not only an insult to God, l5ut a monstrous 

 slander, which has diverted from religion all those 

 who did not fear to consider it squarely; for, if your 

 religion is true, God is worse than all the monsters 

 which can be imagined. 



I have noticed that Christians fancy that it is on 

 account of their wickedness that free-thinkers do 

 not believe in the tenets of Christianity, while it is 

 just the reverse; for everj' honest man who will 

 dare to consider the monstrous character attributed 

 to God by religion will reject it, to look for some- 

 thing more in accordance with his ideas of kindness 

 and justice. 



I hopp that, since you try to answer all those who 

 are really seeking the truth (page 569), you will pub- 

 lish my letter, especially as I write in answer to 

 your slandering us free-thinkers. 



Hamilton, 111. Chas. Dadant. 



Dear friend D.. it gives me a feeling of pain 

 to think that you and I should even seem to be 

 taking opposite sides, especially in public, as 

 we stand before the world.'when the truth is. I 

 am sure, that we both love honesty, purity, 

 temperance, and virtue; or, in other words, 

 that we are both seeking righteousness. You 

 certainly misunderstand me, and perhaps I 

 misunderstand you. Yes, I have heard of that 

 book that tells of the crimes committed by 

 ministers. You say we calumniate the skep- 

 tics. I certainly did not mean to do so; and if 

 it is true, and that skeptics also calumniate us, 

 then there is a very bad state of affairs indeed. 

 Jesus said, " Love ye your enemies, and do 

 good to them that hate° you." Now, suppose 

 that Christian" people should get out a book 

 and publish the crimes ^committed by free- 

 thinkers—would anybody buy it? Why, I 

 should be ashamed to think that either Chris- 

 tian ^people or free-thinkers would buy such a 

 book. I certainly would not read it. If I knew 

 exactly what it was, I would burn it up as soon 

 as I could get hold of it. In past ages it may 

 have been necessary to build up a creed by 

 pitching into other people; but surely not now 

 in this age of the world. If I did pitch into 

 free-thinkers, or seem to do so, I humbly beg 

 pardon. 



First, you say I have said, "Men who do not 



