296 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



little while doing something or saying some- 

 thing that is just a little bit in the line ot 

 rejoicing in iniquity. I am guilty, too, in 

 the way of exaggeration when repeating ac- 

 counts of the wrong doing of my fellow-men. 

 Somehow— I do not know how it is— it 

 seems as if I did not mean to do it ; and yet 

 before I know it, it slips from my tongue. 

 It is very natural for me to exaggerate in 

 repeating things. When I get to telling a 

 story, Satan suggests that a little guessing 

 at something I do not know all about will 

 not be out of the way. With the terrible 

 tussles I have had with the evil one. and of 

 the triumphs that have come, it would seem 

 as if 1 ought to be a pretty fair sort of 

 Christian. My friends, I have reformed and 

 improved in some directions ; but I am al- 

 most as bad in some other things as I ever 

 was. I told you of a certain sermon a few 

 Sundays ago, and of the conflict and final 

 triumph over certain worldly matters. 

 Well, the next Monday morning I started 

 for the factory to take up the duties of the 

 day, with a heart full of praise to God, and, 

 as I supposed, love for every one. It did not 

 seem possible then that there was any thing 

 in my heart that could prompt me to rejoice 

 in any kind of iniquity. The first person I 

 met told me of some wrong doing that 

 aroused my indignation. In a moment it 

 brought to mind some experience I had had 

 with the same individual. Now, there was 

 not a particle of need that I should say any 

 thing about it at all, or help make out a 

 worse case against the poor brother under 

 discussion ; but before I knew it I told the 

 circumstances to my informant ; and just as 

 soon as he passed along I discovered that I 

 had not only told a truth that need never 

 have been told, but I had added a little. 

 Now, dear friends, you might suppose that 

 my addition would be in the good brother's 

 favor, and a little plea for his better quali- 

 ties, but it was not. I felt sad and ashamed 

 to think that I had, the very first thing that 

 bright new morning, at the beginning of 

 another week, been rejoicing over iniquity. 

 After the victories of the preceding day, I 

 fear I had begun to consider myself just a 

 little bit of a saint. I had been repeating 

 the verses and the promises to those who 

 overcome, and I was one of the " overcom- 

 ing " sort— at least I thought I was. But 

 now I felt like saying to myself, " You 

 poor miserable specimen of a Christian ! You 

 nave fought a pretty fair battle in one line, 

 and Satan has been routed ; but in other re- 

 spects you are A. I. Boot still, and a very 

 ordinary, commonplace sort of chap too. 

 You are the "same old sixpence," and are 

 likely to be to the end of your days ; and the 

 sooner you get rid of all moonshiny ideas in 

 regard to being a sai7it among a lot of sin- 

 ners, the better it will be for you." 



Once in a while I get on a good streak, 

 and take the part of somebody who has 

 been assaulted ; but sometimes 1 think that 

 my greatest motive in doing this is that I 

 may get a little praise by hearing some one 

 present say, " There, that is just like you. 

 You find something good in everybody." 



A few times I have heard remarks like the 

 above ; but it came from somebody who did 



not know me very well— somebody who gen- 

 erally sees me with my Sunday clothes on, 

 and hears me talk when I feel very pleasant 

 and kind. Yes, bad as I am I do have good 

 streaks once in a while ; but, dear friends, I 

 do have bad streaks too ; and it seems to 

 me as I write to-day, that the very worst 

 thing about me now is that old unconquera- 

 ble habit of seeming to rejoice just a little 

 when somebody shows out something sinful. 

 I do not know how it is, for I am sure that, 

 as a rule. I do love righteousness and hate in- 

 iquity. Yes, in the abstract I am hungering 

 and thirsting after righteousness ; but for 

 all that it comes natural to have a little 

 fun when somebody has exhibited human 

 weakness. In the mails yesterday or the 

 day before, some good brother wrote to me 

 to the effect that he too was rejoicing in hav- 

 ing been emancipated from the bondage of a 

 cloud that hung over his spiritual progress. 

 Said he, '' Bro. Root, the whole trouble with 

 me was pride ; and the biggest part of the 

 cloud was the consequences and results of 

 pride. I wonder if it is not possible that the 

 cloud that darkened your spiritual sky was 

 in the same line." 1 guess, dear friends, it 

 was ; and one reason why it comes so natu- 

 ral for me to rejoice in iniquity, is, that I be- 

 gin to show off something after this fashion: 



" You see, friends, what a bad and wicked 

 world this is. There is wickedness all round 

 about us. The greater part of the people 

 are corrupt. Now, do you think I would 

 have done any thing like that V Why, I 

 would no more be guilty of that than any 

 thing in the world. I got past such things 

 as that years ago." And then I congratu- 

 late myself on being a little ahead of the 

 rest of the world. 



Now, friends, right here is where the re- 

 joicing in iniquity comes in. We get it into 

 our heads that we should stand a little high- 

 er by holding up prominently the weakness- 

 es and delinquencies of others, just in the 

 same way that rivals in business matters 

 run down each other to exalt themselves. 

 How often the editors of rival papers and 

 journals fall into this deplorable sin ! They 

 watch each other (which is right); and when 

 the rival brother makes a blunder it is held 

 up and commented on in a way calculated 

 to draw a contrast in favor of the writer, 

 who, perhaps, without knowing it or think- 

 ing of it, gets to rejoicing in iniquity. In 

 fact, he often feels tickled to feel that he has 

 got hold of something that will rub hard 

 on his brother- editor, and put him in a bad 

 predicament, if he tries to explain it away. 

 I fear some of my editorial brethren will 

 hardly believe me when I assure them that, 

 by speaking well of an opponent, they will 

 exalt themselves ten times more than to be 

 picking at them. Christian courtesy should 

 keep us from holding up to public view 

 every human weakness. May God grant 

 that the day may soon come when there 

 shall be this Christian courtesy among edit- 

 ors. Once in a while somebody sends me a 

 communication reflecting on some of the 

 other bee-journals. When we tell him we 

 can not give it a place in our columns, he 

 sometimes replies that the public good de- 

 mands that it be made public. Now, even 



