1809 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



415 



bring her in for a cliicUen-pie. So I had a 

 good excuse. But there were my cold duck 

 e^CTs, and not^another hen in the whole flock 

 ot fifty tliat wanted to sit. But, dear friends, 

 it was not the cold duck eggs that held me 

 back from yielding to that terrible temptation 

 to "wring her worthless neck." I told you 

 this was just before going to bed. Well, ev- 

 ery night for thirty yeai"s or more, Mrs. Hoot 

 and I have been in tiie habit of kneeling by 

 our bedside, and asking God to bless the re- 

 sult of our labors during the day, and to bless 

 these human lives he has given us two to 

 live. Had I wrung the hen's neck then I 

 should have done it in anger; in fact, 1 do 

 not know but I did say out loud, "You mis- 

 erable old idiot, I have half a mind to twist 

 off your worthless head." But 1 did not do 

 it. Had I yielded to that temptation, and de- 

 stroyed that little life that God gave her — 

 the life that only God can give — how could I 

 have knelt down and asked God's blessing 

 before I went to sleep? Even though I was 

 angry I was afraid of the consequences of it 

 if 1 yielded to that temptation. 



The first text I have chosen says, "Thou 

 shalt not kill." It does not say we must not 

 kill each other; but it does say, at least to 

 me, that we are forbidden to kill any thing 

 without some good and, sufficient reason; 

 but just the fact that we are vexed and an- 

 gry with a poor mistaken stubborn hen is no 

 excuse for robbing her of the life that God 

 gave. Had I given way to the temptation, 

 and had wrung her neck while my hand was 

 smarting from the effects of her kicking and 

 scratching, I should have driven away the 

 Holy Spirit and destroyed my peace of mind, 

 perhaps for many a day. 



Mark Twain once said that it is a bad plan 

 to tell lies, and said he knew it by experi- 

 ence; and I know and God knows that I have 

 found it in years past to be a bad plan to say 

 any thing or do anything under the influence 

 of anger. I put the hen quietly back into 

 the box and went into the house. I told Mrs. 

 Root about it, and she agreed with me that 

 it would have been a most wicked tiling 

 to kill the hen under the circumstances be- 

 cause I was angry. I felt happy because I 

 could kneel down and thank God that I had 

 been prevented from doing any thing during 

 that trial. 



As soon as I arose from my knees I remem- 

 bered a half-dozen half-grown chickens 

 roosting on top of that very box. These had 

 been petted so I could handle them without 

 a bit of trouble. So I went out once more 

 and put four of the chickens on the thirteen 

 duck eggs. Next morning, when it was day- 

 light, I found my hen back on her eggs all 

 right. She had got over her flight during the 

 night, and with the first glimpse of 'daylight 

 she doubtless recognized her surroundings 

 and made the chickens get off. 



Let me say a word here about family wor- 

 ship. Sometimes it seems monotonous, I ad- 

 mit, to stop to thank God three times every 

 day, before each meal, and then kneel down 

 again at night before you go to bed. I think 

 I nad better confess that, only a few days 



ago, I began wondering whether it was real- 

 ly necessary to have so much family worship. 

 Perhaps I should remark that we always 

 have, also, our Bible reading after breakfast. 

 This makes five times every day that we ac- 

 knowledge and reverence our Maker. Is it 

 worth while? is all this needful or necessary? 

 I can not decide for you, dear friends; but I 

 am firmly satisfied that it is needful and nec- 

 essary for A. I. Root. Thousands of times 

 during the day have I reflected something in 

 this way: "Now, old fellow, it will be time 

 pretty soon for family prayers, or to ask 

 God's blessing before you partake of your 

 daily food. If you do this can you come to 

 your Maker or before your Maker with that 

 happy feeling of close relationship that you 

 value above any thing else in this whole 

 wide world? " 



"The peace of God" (or peace with God) 

 " passeth all understanding." Of course, 

 there are peculiar circumstances where 

 these things I have told have to be omitted 

 more or less. When traveling, or when sit- 

 ting down in a restaurant or hotel, we can all 

 make a silent recognition of our Maker; and 

 afterward when we are alone by ourselves 

 in a room at a hotel, or anywhere else, we 

 can have a daily Bible-reading and prayer — 

 that is, if you remember to take a Bible or 

 Testament with you. I am sure, friends, it 

 is a good investment of time and money. 



The incident I have mentioned also illus- 

 trates another point: In these lives we are 

 living, there is necessarily more or less strife 

 going on. We get vexed with people as well 

 as with animals, and we are sorely tempted 

 to do unwise things when we are angry. 

 Parents sometimes correct children while 

 they themselves are vexed. Men whip 

 horses and swear at them because they are 

 mad; but let me assure you that it is not only 

 poor policy but foolish policy to do any thing 

 when you are vexed or disturbed. God has 

 seen fit to place mankind at the head of all 

 animate creation. Manhood and manliness 

 are next to godliness. If you wish to dem- 

 onstrate to all the world (domestic animals 

 included) that you are a man, then behave 

 yourself in a manly way. A boy may be ex- 

 cused for doing foolish things when he is ex- 

 cited; but as he grows in stature he should 

 grow in coolness and steadiness. He should 

 know when to be careful. A horse can tell 

 in an instant whether the one who comes 

 near him is a man who has good judgment, 

 and controls his temper, and can tell him 

 from the man who is foolish and lacks judg- 

 ment — or. worse still, gets drunk. A horse 

 will yield to a manly man or to a womanly 

 woman. In the same way, but perhaps in a 

 less degree, so will a cow and all the bovine 

 family. The same is tru© with chickens. 

 Somebody said in one of the poultry-journals 

 that it is a disgrace to the owner to have 

 poultry that will run away from him and 

 "holler " every time he comes near them or 

 goes into the poultry-yard. Where you have 

 nopper feeding, the hens are much more apt 

 to get wild and act wild, especially if a 

 stranger approaches; and this poultry-jour- 



