GLEAJCIKGS m Mi: tJUL'f tlRfi. 



At^G. 



getting five cents a stalk for our celery, as I 

 have ti kl you. Some extra fine stalks have 

 brought as high as teii cents each. AVith 

 the prospect that all the boys will go into it 

 another season, the prices will go away down. 

 Xever mind : then many peoi)le will "be able 

 to afford this luxury, who can iu)t enjoy it 

 now. Xew tilings have opened up to liie all 

 my life, and I have no fear but that they 

 will be opening up still. 



A few months ago there was a talk among 

 bee-keepers that Cuba was going to furnish 

 nice honey so cheaply that, if it were per- 

 mitted to come to tlie ('nited Stales free of 

 duty, nice lioney would come down to six oi- 

 seven cents a ijound, and our bee-keepers 

 would be compelled to give up the business. 

 and would become bankrupt. Now. I did 

 not look at it that way at all. \\'hen it was 

 announced that Cuba could furnish such 

 amounts of honey by means of modern ap- 

 pliances, I felt a thrill of pleasure in think- 

 ing that honey would then be able to com- 

 pete successfully with sugar, and that many 

 i)oor people could enjoy it eveiy day who 

 coidd not afford it at present. And wiiile 1 

 am about it, I do not believe in duties 

 between countries. I do not know any 

 thing about the political aspects of the 

 matter, but I woidd have nations as 

 neighborly as individuals, and it seems to 

 me to be a grave mistake when we put up a 

 barrier, in the way of duties and customs. 

 ^Vhen Jesus spoke the words at the head of 

 our chapter, he had been talking quite a lit- 

 tle time to his followers about the evils of 

 jealousy, covetousness. and selfishness. He 

 said, " Love your enemies, and do good to 

 them that hate you."' Xow, it seems to me 

 that in this matter of duties we are afraid to 

 do good to those who ure friemh, to say noth- 

 ing of enemies. '' If ye" do good to them 

 who do good to you, what thank have yeV" 

 And again, " If' ye lend to them of whom ye 

 hope to receive," what thank have ye'?" 

 What an unpleasant thing it is to be always 

 worrying, for fear somebody will get ahead 

 of us, or for fear somebody will get tlie bet- 

 ter end of the bargain! Only yesterday, I, 

 with a neighbor, bought a carload of water- 

 melons. Some suggested the proper way 

 was to have two divide them— one pick the 

 best melon, then the other pick the best 

 melon, and so on until the carload was ex- 

 hausted. We managed in that way, but I 

 objected on account of the time it took. 

 The time occupied was in making careful 

 selection, so that the man who was working 

 for me might not let his opponent get the 

 better end of the bargain. I proposed that 

 each should take a melon, as near alike as 

 they could get them, by picking them up 

 about as fast as they could handle them. 

 Very likely the division might not be as 

 exact, if we did it this way. Well, suppose 

 it were not. My neighbor "would have a lit- 

 tle better half than I did, or I sliould have a 

 little better half than he did ; and providing 

 it were impossible to divide them exactly, 1 

 should prefer that he have the better half, 

 and I have do doubt he would prefer that I 

 should have the better half. Then why so 

 much anxiety and so much pains? 



Since Nancy has died, I am under the nec- 



essity of buying another horse. :My first im- 



pression that was at all pleasaut,"in regard 

 to her death, was, that 1 could probably pur- 

 chase a horse of somebody who needed the 

 money badly, and thus do liim a favoi-. I 



I like to pay people money ; don"t youV— espe- 



[ cially when I have an opportunity of notic- 

 ing "the good \ise that is made of it. A few 



I days ago one of our men Avanted me to come 

 and see his garden. He was not at home 

 when 1 chanced to have a spare moment, 

 but I went all over his little place. I looked 



{ at all his vegetables, and admired his pretty 

 lawn. I took in at a glance the work hi"s 

 good wife had done also, in making the 

 home pleasant, and tlie thought that the 

 money that I had paid him for years everv 

 Saturday night had been used in this way, 

 gave me a thrill of pleasure. I know lie 



I loves his home, and I know he thanks (Jod 



j for it. 



j Xow, in regard to purchasuig a horse, 

 somebody suggested that farmers would ask 



I more for their horses if they found / wanted 



I one, because they know I pay liberally. 



i Well, suppose I do give some young hard- 

 working farmer a good price for the horse 

 he has taken gieat pains to rear and train, 

 what harm will it do? Yon may say, " Why, 

 friend Boot, you will run through all the 

 property you have, if you pay big prices for 

 every thing, just because you like to see peo- 

 ple pleasecl with a big price." To which I 

 reply, I shall not do any thing of the sort. 

 People have prophesied that nobody could 

 ever stand the ways in which I '• throw 

 away my money'" ever since I became a 

 Christian. But I have not become poor, nor 

 got into debt. It is true, I am paying inter- 

 est on four or five thousand borrowed money, 

 and I have been paying interest almost all 

 my life. A good deal of the interest goes to 

 my employe.s, who have left their hard earn- 

 ings with me, and I enjoy the fun of paying 

 the interest. The book-keeper has positive 

 orders to pay it annually, whether they call 

 for it or not •. and if they do not want it. the 

 interest is allowed to coriipound. Sometimes 

 she argues that there is no need of giving 

 people compound interest, when they would 

 be perfectly satisfied with simple i"nterest. 

 Now, I think that compound interest is all 

 right. When I keep anjbody's money, pro- 

 viding I need it, I want to pay them for the 

 use of it, just as much as I would pay a man 

 for the use of a horse when I use the horse 

 every day. Some widows of our town have 

 left their money with me. They get no in- 

 terest at the bank, and it affords me a real 

 pleasure to make investments so I can af- 

 ford to take their money and pay them in- 

 terest for it. Do you say again, that I shall 

 break uj) if I keep going on in that way? 

 People who do not know me have said so 

 evei- since I became a Christian, but they 

 have been mistaken. What does the little 

 text say, at the head of oui- chapter? I have 

 not quoted it many times, but I have had it 

 in mind all through my talk. 



I like to buy queens of the friends in the 

 South ; I like" to send them orders for " great 

 big lots " of them. And then I like to see 

 postal cards where the book-keeper tells 

 them, " The above amount is subject to your 



