21: 



GLEAJ^INGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



Mak. 



cide by sad experipnce, tliat a profession is 

 not enough to decide tlie matter. I want to 

 see tlie "iiulividual and watch liini a little. ; 

 How (luickly we can read human uaturel It 

 takes hut a very little wliile— hut a very few 

 days, in tact, to tell pretty accurately where i 

 any ujan or woman stands, whetlier it be the ; 

 thfn.L!;s of this world they are seeking, or the i 

 kiiijfdom of God and his" righteousness. j 



Many of the bee-friends have tried giving I 

 brood to a' colony haviuf;: a poor queen, hop- j 

 ing to build them up strong, and make them 

 self-sustaining. I have used this ligure be- ; 

 fore, but it comes up to me so often I do not i 

 know but I shall have to refer to it again \ 

 and again. The comb of brood produces its j 

 effect", and for awhile the colony seems to be i 

 a prosperous one ; but the fact remains, j 

 there is no real good prolilic queen at work j 

 l)acking up the new accession to the force of ; 

 the hive. In a very little time we are forced i 

 to admit, that the colony is dwindling again, ! 

 and running down hilL and no permanent j 

 good has come from the lift. It is the same ; 

 in giving employment to one who has been | 

 the rounds liere and there, and failed in se- 1 

 curing a permanent place anywhere, just be- | 

 cause of his improvidence. " Worse still is j 

 the plan of making a donation, or taking up j 

 a sul)scription for some one who is able to | 

 work, but won't. The money given them 

 produces the desired result for a little time, 

 hut the time very often seem to be exceed- 

 ingly ••little.'" The money is gone, and they 

 are more destitute tiiau" l)efore, more im- 

 inovident, and feel less like going to work. 

 I\'rhaps you think me hard and unfeeling. 

 If so, take some money in your i)ocket and j 

 go around your own town; investigate care- 

 fully, and hunt up i)laces where you may do j 

 good Willi tliis money: then go aroiuid again i 

 can fully, and look at the result. When we ; 

 sow seed we expect it to bear a crop. The ] 

 crop should be worth morj than the seed I 

 sown: in fact, the harvest ought to pay ex- I 

 l)enses oi- more. The same way in giving j 

 money to the poor and needy. It ought to 

 assist them in getting o!i tiieir feft. and get- | 

 ting at least a little way toward l)eing self- j 

 sustaining. No doubt moiuw c.ui be used ! 

 wisely autl judiciously in this" way; but un- j 

 less you are an old hand at tiie btisiuess you ! 

 will "do harm rather than gooil. You will j 

 probahly conclude in the end. that tin? wise j 

 virgins were wise indeed in refusing to lend I 

 (n'en a drop of their oil. i 



Well, what sliall we do? Let these friends j 

 go to the county intirmaryV Now, hard as ' 

 it may seem, I liave decided, over and over 

 again, there was no other way. Please do 

 not misunderstand me here. "Widows and 

 orphans are not what I am talking about. 

 They do not have a fair chance with the 

 rest of the world, and friends (u- relatives 

 should liy all means give them all the assist- 

 ance they need. If a family of children is 

 left without a father, of course they nnist be 

 lielped until they are able to help themselves. 

 When the children get to l)e of the jtroper 

 age they can pay their way ; and the mother 

 too, as a rule, can jiay her way. and jtrefers ; 

 to do it. We seldom "see women too slothful | 

 to take cai^e of themselves where tliey can do 

 so, even though our pai-able does tuke the , 



sex for an illustration. ^lany women, I be- 

 lieve, work themselves to death in their anx- 

 iety to be independent and self-sustaining ; 

 and this reminds me that, as a rule, tliose 

 who are deserving of assistance seldom ask 

 for it. Teople wjio are crii)()led, or out of 

 health, sometimes need assistance; still, ii 

 great many times laziness is called sickness, 

 and 1 lielieve la/.infs-; often makes jjeople 

 sick. I have sometimes thought that where 

 one has aji earnest will, he gets well. AVe 

 have instances all around us of people who 

 i-eeovered their health because of some new 

 hobby or enterprise that enlisted all their 

 powers of mind and body. 



Our chapter opens with this expression : 

 '• Then shall the kingdom of heaven be 

 likened unto ten virgins." You will notice 

 that it is not only the things of this world 

 that are to be given to the provident, and 

 those who take forethought, but heaven 

 itself ; and the lesson teaches us that he 

 who goes through the world, appropriating 

 whatever comes neai- him. without thought 

 or care, will lind little mercy when the day 

 of final judgment comes. The parable be- 

 yond the one I have taken, brings this out 

 in a strong light, and it also shows us that 

 sad fact in life, that he whose life has been 

 all spent and wasted is always ready to 

 throw the burden on the world, or on his 

 greatest benefactor. The wicked and sloth- 

 ful servant, you will remember, began by 

 ingratitude aiid abuse, with the vain hope to 

 ease his guilty conscience. How natural is 

 this! And jilease mark, friends, what a 

 striking contiast is shown between this ser- 

 vant, and the one who had spent a life of 

 doing good to liis fellow-men. When the 

 king said to those on his right hand, •• Come, 

 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 

 dom prepared tor you from the foundation 

 of the woi-ld." they were taken by surprise, 

 and could not iulagiiie what they had done 

 to have merited such a favor, and such a 

 great inheritan-e. Tliey had been patiently 

 bearing the burdens of the world ; they had 

 ministered to the sick, fed the hungrx'. given 

 drink to the thirsty, look( d up strangers, 

 clothed the naked, a"nd yet had forgotten all 

 about it. In fact, they were, not expecting 

 any thing. I have sometimes looked out 

 upon the world ; and as I nu'ditated. I was 

 lost in wonder to see tlunvide. wide distances 

 that lay between two who may be jiassing 

 side by side on the sli-eet. One is vicious, 

 sellish", greedy; he robs and plunders at 

 every step. By examjjle and ])recept he 

 breaks down righteousness, godliness, and 

 sobriety every where he can. His whole 

 soul seems bent on self and lust. ]>y his 

 side may be one whose every act in life in- 

 dicates a thirsting after righteousness— one 

 who bears uncomplainingly the burdens 

 pressed down ui)on him by nuiltitudes like 

 the companions by his side, and yet he does 

 not know it. The" one dreams iiot of the 

 awful doom that awaits him, and the other 

 dreams not of the reward awaiting the end 

 of liis inlgrimage. We do not know \Vhat 

 becomes of the improvident servant, but we 

 read this: — 



Castyctlio mun-odtablo s('r\ant iii(o outer darl<- 

 lU'ss: there ^liajl be urepiiis^- uiul uiiat-LiinK of tuetli, 



