IWI 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6U7 



Tiad to work in such a cramped position it 

 •made my muscles and joints ache for several 

 hours afterward. Next day I wondered what 

 made me feel so sore all over. I did not know 

 but I was going to be sick, until I remember- 

 ed about cramping and twisting myself while 

 working at that pipe. 



Now, this encounter that I have been telling 

 you about, with the powers of evil, affected my 

 nerves and my spirituality more or less all the 

 next day. Every little while I would be won- 

 dering what was the matter with me, and then 

 I would reflect. Bunyan gives us a very good 

 picture of such a conflict, in Pilgrim's Prog- 

 ress, where Christian had a hand-to-hand con- 

 flict with ApoUyon. The latter was much the 

 larger, and poor Christian was no match at 

 all for him in point of strength. Reason and 

 common sense would have said that Apollyon 

 might crush him as one might crush a fly. 

 Well, the loving Father looked on, and he al- 

 ways looks on, and will never let a faithful 

 " soldier of the cross " be overcome nor en- 

 lirel}' overpowered. We are tempted to have 

 but little charity for the actors in these suicides 

 and murders. We might say, " Let them get 

 out of the world so good people can have 

 peace." But, dear friends, this remark does 

 not seem to work. Even though a good many 

 are gotten out of the way by this process, the 

 thing seems to grow. In fact, there seems to 

 be a good deal of reason for taking the stand 

 that these unfortunate people are not a/Zo- 

 ^e/Zier to hlame. Satan had got hold of them; 

 and sometimes a man or woman in an un- 

 guarded hour lets Satan get a start. We fre- 

 quently see the remark in the papers some- 

 thing like this : " This man had been such an 

 ■exemplary person all his life that no reason 

 can be given for the strange act but temporary 

 insanity." Let us be warned and prepared 

 beforehand for these very cases of temporary 

 insanity that are getting to be so frequent. Is 

 not a great deal of it only a new scheme start- 

 ed by the evil one ? 



In the latter of the two texts, we are told 

 that even the dear Savior himself was in all 

 points tempted like as we are ; and would it 

 be any thing very strange if he in his great 

 love should think best to give even his follow- 

 ers like glimpses of great temptation, that 

 they might be better able to preach the gos- 

 pel, and warn mankind of the evils that Satan 

 brings to pass ? We read in the first chapter 

 of James, verses 2, 3 : 



My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers 

 temptations ; knowing this, that the trying of your 

 faith worketh patience. 



In thinking the matter over I am forced to 

 believe that a foolish pride is at the bottom of 

 many of these troubles. We are not humble 

 enough — not meek enough, if you choose. 

 " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 

 the earth." Sometimes people think / have 

 not pride enough. When I was prowling 

 around in the Florida woods in the middle of 

 the night I needed more of a certain kind of 

 pride ; but in some other ways I am often 

 tempted to be proud and overbearing. A few 

 days ago I dictated something to one of our 

 typewriter clerks. When I read the letter aft- 



erward I told him he must have omitted a very 

 important part of it. The conversation was 

 something like this : 



" You may have meant to put in something, 

 Mr. Root, but you must have forgotten it, for 

 I wrote down every word you said." 



Now, I knew certain reasons why I could 

 not have dictated just what he wrote, that he 

 did not know as well as I did. I said quietly, 

 " Hunt up your notes and see if you did not 

 omit two or three lines in copying your notes 

 on the typewriter." He replied : 



" It isn't any use to httnt up the notes, for I 

 wrote down every thing you said." 



Now, the young man was foolish in being 

 so positive. I suppose most of us are often 

 foolish in being over-positive. I felt sure I 

 was right, but I thought I would not say any 

 thing lor fear I might betray my — was it not 

 pride ? He should have remembered the years 

 of experience I have had in such matters. He 

 did not know that it has long been my prac- 

 tice to watch the pencil of the clerk as he 

 makes his crooked marks, to see just when he 

 has finished the sentence as I dictate. If a 

 line is dropped I am pretty sure to notice it 

 by the motion of the pencil. I did not say 

 any thing more, but stood by him while he 

 hunted up his notes and commenced to read 

 his record. There was quite a change in his 

 countenance when he said : 



" Oh ! I beg pardon. I did leave out some- 

 thing after all." 



I mention this as an illustration, not because 

 I wish to reflect severely on the young man. 

 We meet the same thing, most of us, thou- 

 sands of times. The hired girl tells you very 

 pertly you did not say a word about a part of 

 the work you explained quite at length. 

 What shall be done about it.? Why, keep 

 cool, and do not get proud and overbearing, 

 even if you are boss or mistress, and even if 

 you have grown gray in watching to see how 

 these little mistakes come about. Take a 

 humble place in the affairs of life. Sit at the 

 feet of the dear Savior, and learn of him. O 

 God, help me to practice all the time the pre- 

 cepts I am now trying to give to others. I 

 know how natural it is to go to great pains, 

 and to great lengths, to prove we are right. 

 In the case I have mentioned, I knew the pen- 

 cil-marks of my young friend would prove to 

 him that I knew what I was talking about. 

 But in ordinary talk or in ordinary disputes 

 we do not often have such proof in black and 

 white of exactly what we did say. 



Of late it has been a difiicult question to de- 

 cide whether certain ones are insane or simply 

 ugly. Judges are appointe d to decide the mat- 

 ter. Now, if I were a judge, and if I were to 

 settle the question as to whether some one in 

 a quarrel was getting out of his head or not, 

 I would test him by a scripture text. When 

 he got to going on about his neighbor, and be- 

 gan telling his side of the .story, of how he 

 had been used, I would quietly atk him to 

 hold on just a minute. Then I would say : 



"My friend, you know the Bible says, 

 ' Love ye your enemies ; do good to them that 

 hate you ; bless them that curse you, and pray 

 for them that despitefully use 3'ou.' Now, 



