32 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Jan. 



not think of patenting such an invention, 

 but he thinks otherwise. He is a man of 

 clear intellect, and he may be right and I 

 wrong. It is not the loss of my profit alone, 

 for if I stop making these smokers that have 

 been received with such loud tokens of ap- 

 proval, will it not be a loss to community at | 

 large? I think it will ; but my friend 

 thinks all parties will be greatly benefitted 

 by being obliged to buy his. Who can tell 

 us what is right? Did God send me that j 

 money to go into a patent right lawsuit 

 with? That evening was our teachers 1 

 meeting. Friend Bingham went with me. 

 I was asked to close the meeting with prayer. 

 Should he hear my voice in prayer, and go 

 away thinking it was but empty words, and 

 religion was all a pretence? 



I know this is close ground, and that there 

 are extremes both ways. I know we should 

 do our duty, without fear of what men may 

 say in one sense, and in another we should 

 be very careful that they have not reason to 

 say we pray one thing and practice another. 

 My friend expressed himself much pleased 

 with the meeting. I asked God to tell me 

 my duty about the smoker. The result was. 

 I told him next morning that I would give 

 way, and so long as nothing could be shown 

 to prove that he was not the first one who 

 used a blast from a bellows in that way, I 

 would, in accordance with his wishes, make 

 no more smokers embodying that principle, 

 and that I would also use my influence to 

 have others do the same. I know there are 

 those who w r ill say I have no right to do this. 

 In choosing the less of two evils, I did the 

 best I knew how, erring on the side that 

 harmed me most, if anything. There are 

 several things about the matter that I think 

 are not right, but I do not know how to 

 right them. It seems to me that friend B. 

 has wronged Mr. Quinby, and Mr. I;. C. 

 Boot; but, on the other hand, why did not 

 Mr. Boot continue to make his smoker as he 

 did before the Bingham smoker came out? 

 If I am right, be has copied the features I 

 have mentioned. In regard to the legal 

 view of the matter, Mr. Bingham has got 

 out a new patent that covers the whole 

 ground most completely, which his first 

 claim did not. 



Well, instead of being a patent on a bee- 

 smoker, both his first claim and this one are 

 on an apparatus for the fumigation of in- 

 sects. The first was so named, by mistake, 

 so it is said. The last was so named by mis- 

 take too, so friend Bingham says. He thinks 

 such a mistake would stand law, but I do 

 not. Now considering the laws of God, rath- 

 er than the laws of man, had I any right to 

 give way, under such circumstances? I 

 think it was best, considering the feelings of 

 all parties. Should nothing turn up to make 

 it clear that this feature is free, morally, for 

 everyone to use, and should I not be able to 

 get up a good smoker without it, why, we 

 shall have to use Bingham's, and that will be 

 no very great hardship, more than that we 

 could not get a half dozen for 60c. each. Now 

 we have got back to our subject; if God di- 

 rected me to give this up, he will certainly 

 guide me in giving you something just as 

 good, if not better, in place of it: Can we 

 trust him? 



Thursday noon brought a letter from a 

 bank at least a thousand miles away, con- 

 taining a check for $500.00 in gold. In a let- 

 ter received from this kind friend a day or 

 two before, he says : "I hope you may meet 

 your brick man with a smiling face, next 

 Thursday." 



The brick man came in at the appointed 

 time, and I judged from the expression on 

 his face, that he feared he would be disap- 

 pointed. To be sure, I could meet him with 

 a smiling face, and as we walked over to the 

 bank, I told him of how God helps those who 

 trust him. I borrowed the check and took 

 it over to the boys in jail. It silenced them, 

 and brought out just the moral I wished to 

 convey. Said one: 



"I wish God would send me $500.00." 



"Very well; now tell me what use you 

 would make of it/' 



"I would prosecute Holcomb,to the fullest 

 extent of the law.*' Holcomb was the name 

 of the man who had had these fellows arrest- 

 ed, and they claimed, much as such fellows 

 always do, that it was a mistake, and they 

 were innocent. 



"I fear God will never send money, to be 

 used for revenge ; can you not possibly for- 

 give Holcomb?" 



"No; if it takes 50 years, and I can possi- 

 bly scrape the money, I will prosecute him." 



"The Bible says, 'Love your enemies, bless 

 them that curse you. do good to them that 

 hate you, and pray for them which despite- 

 fully use you, and persecute you.' " 



"I cannot help it ; I will never forgive so 

 mean a man as H." 



"Why, my friend, H. is only a man like the 

 rest of us, and certainly no worse. Even as 

 you state it, it is no worse than any of us 

 might do." 



"I do not believe there is another so mean 

 a man in the world." 



"Let me show you your error." Turning 

 to one of the other boys, said I, "My friend, 

 is there anybody you cannot forgive?" 



"Yes, and he is a great deal msaner than 

 II., from the account as I have heard it." 



"Do you see the point, boys?" and I held 

 the gold draft above them. "This paper 

 reads, 'Pay to the order of A. I. Root, $500.00 

 in gold, etc.,' but there is something else on 

 it to me." I had their attention completely. 



"On this paper, God says to me, 'Go on 



and take care of the boys and girls who have 



no homes, and no work to do. Hunt out 



those who are poor and needy. Look after 



those who are unfortunate, careless, neglect- 



! ed, unhandy, and who may be rescued from 



i a life of wickedness and sin. Teach them to 



i love their enemies, to study the Bible, and 



; to grow in wisdom's ways. Be patient, 



doubt not, and be not discouraged ; for, lo! I 



am with you to the end of the world.' " 



"Unless you will forgive your enemies 

 and those who may have wronged you, boys, 

 i you will go down to the bottomless pit; but, 

 j if you will take up these little crosses, hard 

 ; as they may seem, and say God's will, not 

 1 mine, be done, these doors Avill open, and 

 | you will be free, not only to go where you 

 | choose, but to enter into the highest places 

 in the land." 



It is a hard matter to make them compre- 

 ' hend this, and to show them that it is fact, 



