1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



539 



man with the horse would be gone. By 

 going downstairs with a rush, and through 

 the apiary on a run, I knew I could get the 

 whiffletree at the appointed spot before the 

 horse got out of hearing. ^S'obody was as- 

 tonished to see me go downstairs as if the 

 house was on fire, for I often do it. The 

 bees did not sting me as I rushed among 

 their hives, for verv likely thev have often 

 seen me do it. The men looked their 

 thanks, even if they did not say any thing, 

 as old Charley walked oif with the burden 

 easily. 



^ow, in our busy place of business, by 

 keeping my ears and eyes open, I can, a 

 great many times a day, make myself a con- 

 necting link in just that way. 1 presume a 

 great many of the friends think I just hap- 

 pened to be on hand with a whiffletree, or 

 that I just happen to hear the wliistle of the 

 man who drives the wagon with the berries. 

 But there was no " happen '' about it. My 

 ears have been sharpened, I hope and be- 

 lieve, under the intluence of that little 

 prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it 

 has made me more wideawake, and keener 

 to the needs and wants of those around me, 

 I hope. And I hope, too, it has made me 

 kinder and more forbearing. Now, please 

 do not, any of you, say that I am telling 

 these things because I want to boast of 

 what I have done. I boast not of myself, 

 but of the Holy Spirit that is promised' as a 

 free gift to all and every one of you. Some 

 of you are wanting to know w^hat you can 

 do for Christ Jesus. Some of you want to 

 know what you can do for your fellow-men ; 

 and some are wanting to know what they 

 can do to earn a livelihood ; and others, I 

 hope, are wanting to know what they can 

 do to keep themselves busy, that they may 

 not want to go into the path of the wicked, 

 as in our text to-dav. Dear friends, that 

 promised gift of the Holv Spirit will supply 

 all these wants. But while you are praying 

 for it, please remember that you can not 

 " enter into the path of the wicked " nor 

 "• go in the way of evil men ; " for if you do, 

 after such a prayer, you would not be con- 

 sistent and honest; therefore, as I have 

 said, is prayer a safeguard. Now, when 

 you go off for your summer vacation, or 

 when you go to picnics or on an excursion, 

 or take a holiday, and you want to have a 

 good time and a happy time, prav first for 

 that Holy Spirit I have been telling you 

 about, and then enter not into the path of 

 the wicked, and go not in the way of evil 

 men. 



The above was dictated late Saturday 

 evening. It is now Monday morning. Mon- 

 day always brings a burden of cares. It 

 seems harder, because I have been out of 

 the harness for a little while, and it takes a 

 little time to get the harness adjusted and 

 the burdens fairly shouldered. Now, please 

 do not think I am complaining. The har- 

 ness is a errand and glorious one ; and when 

 I am bearing the burdens for Christ's sake, 

 I am not only proud of them, but happy that 

 I may bear them. .Vlmost in the outset I 

 found a grand place for making myself a 

 connecting link, as I have been telling you. 

 The foreman of one of the rooms sent word 



ihat he would prefer to resign his place 

 rather than to have " so and so " work there 

 any longer. " So and so " declared with 

 equal positiveness that it was by my express 

 orders that he should go to work Monday 

 morning in that very room. Each one was 

 full of complaints of the other. My first 

 impulse was to dismiss all connected with 

 the disturbance. It Is now our dull season, 

 and we could spare half a dozen, without 

 minding it. But I said nothing to anybody, 

 but took a turn in the open air, and prayed 

 for that gift of the Holy Spirit which is 

 promised. That Spirit told me at once that 

 I should feel very badly if I dismissed these 

 friends with their hearts full of jealousy, 

 fault-finding, and evil. I thanked (lod that 

 I liad not acted upon the impulse of the 

 moment. One of the parties is a professor 

 of religion, and I had a big hold on that. 

 As I plead with him and quoted texts, his 

 string of complaints became shorter and 

 feebler; and he finally admitted, with tears 

 in his eyes, that it really was the lack of 

 Christ's spirit that brought the present 

 trouble. His comrades were not professors ; 

 but I reminded him that it is our duty and 

 our privilege to lead them to Christ ; and 

 yet how far— oh, how very far away we 

 were from it 1 



As I caught a glimpse of the bitterness in 

 the hearts of all concerned, it seemed to me 

 that it would need not only a long " con- 

 necting link," but one of mighty strength, 

 to unite the two parties. But, dear reader, 

 the love of Christ can bring together the 

 bitterest enemies the world ever knew. It 

 can bridge over chasms that have their out- 

 growth in years. Satan can be routed, and 

 the love of Christ be implanted Instead, oft- 

 entimes, if even only one of the parties is a 

 professing Christian. Now, then, suppose 

 I liad hastily dismissed all who were quar- 

 reling. As a part of them proposed to dis- 

 miss themselves, all I should have had to do 

 would be to assent. I can not tell you how 

 glad I am that I did not assent. Had I 

 done so, the feeling of bitterness would 

 have extended to myself ; and mv chance of 

 leading them to the Savior would have been 

 passed by, perhaps for years to come. As it 

 is, all feel kindly toward me, and I am sure 

 that at least one of them will give me a 

 hearty co-ojieration in any thing I propose, 

 and. in fact, the little pleading I did for 

 Christ Jesus has brought me nearer to that 

 one than I have ever been before ; and as I 

 pen these words, dear reader, I rejoice and 

 feel exceedinglv happy to think of the new 

 bond of friendship and love between myself 

 and that one— to think of the .s^ronfy connect- 

 ing link for Christ Jesus, where there might 

 have been only bitterness. 



THE NEW WATER CUKE. 



SOMETHING FROM ONE OF OUR DOCTORS, AND -VL- 

 SO A KIND WORD FROM THE OTHER SIDE. 



BicFoRE dismissing this matter, I wish to 

 give a couple of letters selected from a large 

 number on the subject. The first one is 

 from one of our regular practicing physi- 

 cians : 



