1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



365 



The contents of th hi leaf and the one following are 

 not directly connected with the subject of bee-cxdture. 

 On this account, I make no charge for them, and, if you 

 choose, you can cut them out without reading. 



hir %cmh 



I am the Lord thy God. which brought thee out of 

 the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.— Ex- 

 odus, xx. ~. 



T was almost immediately after the 

 events of the last chapter, that the won- 

 derful answer to prayer occurred, which 

 I told you about in the Jan. No. You can 

 readily understand now, why I caught so 

 eagerly at the lines I heard when passing 

 out of church. 



"Jesus, T my cross have taken, 

 All to leave and follow thee." 



It was a new and bright thought to me, 

 that some one else had really been going 

 over the same ground, and had decided to 

 leave all and follow this same Savior. The 

 answers to prayer that followed seemed to 

 say, as at the time of my conversion, almost 

 in plain words, k T take pleasure, my child, 

 in giving you all you ask for, or all you need, 

 so long as you are faithful." 



At tins point I wish to digress a little. At 

 the time of my conversion, and from that 

 time forward, during the whole four years, 

 there has been a constant feeling in my mind 

 that it was my duty to speak out to the 

 world, and tell them of my deliverance; to 

 give them a chapter from the life of one who 

 had served Satan, and afterward served God. 

 Several things contributed to make me feel 

 that I was called upon to take upon myself 

 such a task ; the principal one of which was, 

 that I had stood before the people as a scep- 

 tic of excellent morals, and I had also been 

 associated in business for many years with 

 one of the opposite sex, demonstrating, as it 

 were, that such a thing was not without a 

 precedent, and that it was, at least in one 

 instance, productive of no harm. I felt this 

 the more, as, in those years past. I had taken 

 great pains to make the matter look fair and 

 right, through the very pages of this journal. 

 On this account particularly, I had all along 

 felt it a duty, to speak out, and stand hon- 

 estly before the world. To speak a little 

 plainer. I had for years, through this journal, 

 mentioned having in my employ, or as 

 partner in the apiary, one of the other sex, 

 and, from the way in which I had written, 

 in regard to bee culture as an employment 

 for women, and their capabilities for the 

 work, 1 had, as I have said before, estab- 

 lished a precedent, and carried the idea that 

 a woman or a girl as an assistant for the 

 apiarist was of more value than a man or a 

 boy. Still farther, in those back numbers of 

 Gleanings, I have, or perhaps had, pictured 

 Avoman in a sort of a false Quixotic light, as 

 it were, encouraging in both their sex, and 

 our own, a feeling too much akin to the one 

 that would make her a doll or a plaything, 

 to be waited on and pampered, rather than a 

 human being endowed with reason, and 

 having an immortal soul that she is to be 

 held accountable for. I know there is anoth- 



er extreme, that would make woman a 

 drudge and a slave, but you all very well 

 know, I think, that I would not, for a mo- 

 ment, counsel such a course. I am certain- 

 ly more anxious now that avenues for the 

 employment of women should be opened 

 than I ever was before my conversion, but, 

 if anything I can say or do would hinder 

 partnerships of the kind I have mentioned, 

 I shall most certainly feel it my duty to 

 speak out. 



Farther, I most vehemently protest against 

 women or girls being employed by men, or 

 by any body else, where they will be thrown 

 into companionship with one of the other 

 sex, aloof from every body else. I allude to 

 such cases as the employment of a girl by a 

 photograph artist in an upper room, where 

 the two will be alone much of the time ; of 

 similar cases in milk factories; of lady 

 clerks in stores where the business is so 

 small that but one clerk is needed ; a girl to 

 help in the apiary, etc., etc. I thank God 

 that public opinion usually points out about 

 what is proper in such cases, and I would 

 warn you not to disregard public opinion. 

 It is the voice of God, uttering a sound 

 of warning. If the girl cannot be near a 

 brother, a father, or a sister, do not let her 

 go, no matter how desirable the arrange- 

 ment may be in other respects. Now I beg 

 of you not to urge the respectability of the 

 parties, or their pureness of heart ; for, if 

 nothing farther comes of it, it will at least 

 be an example for somebody else. 



In my own case, public opinion did remon- 

 strate, but public opinion, after looking on 

 year after year and seeing nothing in partic- 

 ular out of the way, I believe, generally con- 

 cluded it was all right, (hie of our city pa- 

 pers did mention the singular partnership, 

 but in a way that might encourage others to 

 go and do likewise, if they chose. 



One thing that troubled me was, that in 

 letters received from different parts of our 

 country, especially from those who had fol- 

 lowed me for years in bee, culture, there 

 were hints dropped indicating that some 

 were beginning to copy my ways in other re- 

 spects besides hee culture. Should I keep 

 still in this matter because the world was 

 prone to keep still? 



It was in the month of Feb., of the pres- 

 ent year, when I felt the time had come. I 

 had considered the matter faithfully and 

 prayerfully, for four years, and my duty 

 seemed plain and clear, all this time. Be- 

 fore writing a word, I had a talk with my 

 former partner, and the proof reader, who 

 was an intimate friend of hers. As I ex- 

 pected, they felt that it would be a most ec- 

 centric, and uncalled for course, and sought 

 to dissuade me. My former partner, who 

 was, of course, more to be considered than 

 any body else, or in fact, than almost all 

 else, finally said, she did not fear to have the 

 world know the exact truth in regard to the 

 part she had in the transaction. I reminded 

 both of the women of God's promise, that 

 all things shall work together for good to 

 those that love him, and that, even if my 

 course were a mistake, which I was sure it 

 was not, He would take care of the conse- 

 quences to those who put their trust in him. 



