1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



107 



a prospect that "■ Billy '' will serve in two 

 different capacities at the Home of the Hon- 

 ey-bees. 



But Jesus called theni [the disciples] unto him, 

 and said, Ye know that the princes of the gentiles 

 exercise dominion over them, and that they that 

 are great exercise authority upon them; but it 

 shall not be so among you.— Matt. 30 : 25, 36. 



Most of you will remember that these 

 words were spoken to the disciples just aft- 

 er two of them had beeu begging for the 

 highest places. It has been my theme at 

 least once before ; but to-day I wish special- 

 ly to call attention to the last clause of the 

 text—" But it shall not be so among you," 

 meaning that we who follow Christ must 

 not — shall not, exercise dominion or au- 

 thority upon others. If we happen to be 

 blessed with wealth and authority, if we be 

 Christ's followers we must be very careful 

 indeed how we exercise that authority. 

 There is to be no " lording " over his fel- 

 lows, with the true Christian. I hardly 

 need say what it is we are to do, for that 

 has been my theme so often — '' Not to be 

 ministered unto, but to minister." 



Just now, during the close of the 19th 

 century, there has been considerable stir, a 

 good deal of talk, and much has been writ- 

 ten in regard to this standing evil (and I do 

 consider it a standing evil), of permitting a 

 few to domineer and to dictate, and even be 

 harsh and cruel to those round about them, 

 just because they happen to be in a place of 

 authority — very often because they happen 

 to have money, while those who wait upon 

 them do not. Statesmen, and those versed 

 in political economy, are discussing the mat- 

 ter, and suggesting remedies. The labor- 

 ing classes are also discussing the matter ; 

 and instead of suggesting remedies they have 

 been organizing strikes, in order that they 

 may dictate and exercise dominion over the 

 capitalists. I am not going to say here who 

 is right or who is wrong. I think I will, 

 however, finally say that, in some respects, 

 I am glad there have been strikes. I do 

 not mean by this, however, that the strikes 

 are right, any more than I mean that the 

 men who control the money have always 

 been right, for there has been a wrong and 

 a transgression on both sides. Some of you 

 may take me up for using the words "has 

 been." I say so, because I believe a better 

 way is now coming to the surface ; and, if I 

 am correct, these better ways are now in 

 vogue, in adjusting differences, to a greater 

 or lesser extent. May God hasten the time 

 when all such differences shall be adjusted 

 in a Christianlike way, and when no one, no 

 matter what his position, or how great his 

 wealth, shall so far forget himself as to be- 

 gin to dictate and domineer over his daily 

 comrades ! With this preface I propose to 

 come down to our "homes," or, if you 

 choose, to " ourselves and our neighbors." 

 Are we, friends, guilty V 



While at Lansing, Mich., I was greatly 

 interested in another convention, or insti- 

 tute, as well as the bee-keepers' convention. 



It was a convention of the schoolteachers of 

 the State of Michigan. I should say there 

 were a thousand or more gathered at that 

 one institute. Now, even though I am 

 president of the school-board of Medina, I 

 have not yet had time in my busy life to 

 find out whether the State of Ohio holds a 

 similar convention or not. I trust it does ; 

 and I hope, too, that the young men and 

 young women whose task it is to teach 

 Ohio's children will compare favorably with 

 the bright, keen, healthy, and (judging from 

 their looks) pure-minded boys and girls, or, 

 perhaps I should say, gentlemen an,d ladies, 

 who met at Lansing. I was enabled to see 

 more of them, because, like the bee-keepers, 

 they had obtained special rates at the Hud- 

 son House. There were so many school- 

 teachers and bee-keepers that the hotel was 

 literally packed. Some of us were nearly 

 if not quite an hour in getting our dinner, 

 and the house was full — waiting - rooms, 

 halls, stairways — schoolteachers every- 

 where. Mrs. Chaddock said, " Gleanings 

 is a humanity paper." Its editors are, 

 therefore, humanity men ; and at least one 

 of them is greatly given to the study of hu- 

 manity. I do not like to be called an eaves- 

 dropper, but I have for years been in the 

 habit of listening to the talk going on round 

 about me, when traveling, that I may study, 

 weigh, and measure humanity as we find it. 

 At the Hudson House there was a constant 

 buzz of talk. The teachers kept it up at 

 the tables, and I am glad that they did. 

 And, oh how I loved to hear them talk ! Of 

 course, they used "good grammar." Many 

 of them were young, and had not yet ac- 

 quired a good command of language ; but 

 their words were well used and carefully 

 chosen; and, judging from their talk, the 

 themes that filled their hearts were, oh so 

 good and pure ! Boys and girls were mixed 

 up together ; but there was no senseless flat- 

 tery, nor any thing approaching flirtation 

 going on. They seemed to be a steady, sober- 

 minded class who felt the weight of the re- 

 sponsibility resting upon them — the respon- 

 sibility of training and caring for the chil- 

 dren of the State of Michigan. They were 

 not dull nor stupid. There was lots of fun 

 going on, but it was pure, honest fu)i— fun 

 that did not wound the feelings, nor reflect 

 on anybody. The tables were crowded, and 

 many of the friends had to wait a long 

 while before they were served ; but I did 

 not hear one word of ungentlemanly or un- 

 ladylike reflection from any of the teachers. 



In putting up at first-class hotels I meet a 

 certain class of individuals, to a greater or 

 lesser extent, whom I have not yet learned 

 to classify. I almost always meet them. 

 They are not sociable ; in fact, they never 

 see anybody at the table except the waiter. 

 The waiter is, however, given pretty soon to 

 understand that they are at home at the ta- 

 ble of a hotel. I have sometimes thought 

 they got waited on first. I do not exactly 

 know how they manage it, either. Perhaps 

 the waiters have learned to fear their dis- 

 pleasure. The first word you hear from 

 them is fault-finding with the waiter on ac- 

 count of what is brought to them. Then 

 the waiter is ordered to take the objectiona' 



