390 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Now, it looks from the above as if I were 

 complaining about Bradentown or Bra- 

 clentown. men and boys, especially the two 

 I have mentioned; but 1 am not. The fault 

 was all my own. I had stupidly, if not de- 

 liberately, brought all that kind of trouble 

 on myself. I had forgotten my Bible, my 

 religion, and the beautiful texts at the -head 

 of this talk. Now, friends, before getting 

 up and remonstrating, listen to me a little. 

 If those boys had been in the habit of med- 

 dling with everybody's property, and an- 

 noying other people as they annoyed me, it 

 would have been a different matter indeed. 

 Public safety and well-being would have 

 demanded, without question, that they 

 should be taken in hand by the authorities 

 of the town. There is a vast ditference be- 

 tween a quarrel — that is, between two per- 

 sons — and one between criminals and right- 

 eous laws. Let me illustrate. At that pray- 

 er-meeting I have mentioned, neighbor Rood 

 spoke of a couple of farmers who had a 

 quarrel, Avent to law, and kept it up, year 

 after year, over a line fence. They wasted 

 several times what the strip of land in con- 

 test was worth. Finally one of them sold 

 out. A Christian man "took his place. As 

 soon as the neighbors told him about the 

 jangle that had made hard feelings and 

 stirred up the neighborhood for years past, 

 he went over to see his new neighbor. After 

 the quarrelsome man had stated the case 

 the new neighbor said, " Look here, neigh.- 

 bor A. I am a man of peace. Friendly 

 relations with all my neighbors, especially 

 those whose lots adjoin my own, are worth 

 more to me than the little strip of land. I 

 am willing you should put the fence entire- 

 ly over on my side ten feef if that will be 

 satisfactoi-y." 



What do you suppose happened"? Why, 

 that same person who had been for years so 

 tenacious for ei^ery inch of ground justly 

 his due — the maii who had lain mvakc 

 nights in thinking it over — replied some- 

 thing as follows : " Why, my good friend, if 

 that is the sort of man you are. I do not 

 propose to be outdone in liberality, or. as 

 you call it, the Christian spirit. Put it ten 

 feet over on my line, and I will not say a 

 word." 



I do not need to add that a pleasant ad- 

 justment of that long-time quarrel and law- 

 suit was soon brought about. You see this 

 thing is contagious; and, thank the Lord, a 

 good spirit is contagious as well as a bad 

 one. 



Here in our town of Medina a man bought 

 a house, and in moving it on to his lot the 

 limbs of some shade-trees were in the way. 

 But the owner of the trees forbade him 

 mutilating so much as a single twig. The 



house stood still in the middle of the street, 

 and both parties consulted attorneys. The 

 one who owned the trees neglected his work, 

 and stood out in the street to prevent dam- 

 age to liis property. His wife and children 

 joined in, and the neighbors took sides, etc. 

 As one of the parties was in my employ I 

 felt sure I could induce him to be reason- 

 able. What do you think? 1 could not 

 budge him an inch. He said if it took 

 every copi^er he was worth he was going to 

 have his rights. He had always been a 

 quiet, peaceable man before. I never heard 

 of his having trouble with anybodj\ I can 

 not remember now just how it was settled. 

 If I am correct, I think the pastors of two 

 churches helped bring about a pleasant ad- 

 justment. And, by the way, it occurs to me 

 right here that, when you get into a place 

 like that, your pastor will be better (and 

 cheaper) counsel than a lawyer unless, in- 

 deed, you engage a Clmstian lawyer; and 

 may the Lord be praised that in these latter 

 days there are getting to be quite a number 

 of such lawj'ers. I hope they are getting 

 2)ay for giving Christian counsel as well as 

 the other kind. 



Now, friends, what about our last text? 

 How could the dear Savior who gave us the 

 beatitudes counsel the use of the sword? 

 Why, I struck upon the point exactly when 

 I asked neighbor Rood if the boys were 

 meddling with machines belonging to others 

 besides myself. If the trouble that comes 

 up is between you and your neighbor, never 

 mind the loss of a few cents or a little strip 

 of land. Do almost any thing for peace, 

 and head off ugly feelings. But if some- 

 body is making counterfeit money, trans- 

 gressing the law, and injuring the commu- 

 nity at large, by all means have him arrest- 

 ed. If he is conducting a saloon, and en- 

 ticing the boys (and oftentimes the gii'ls), 

 his work is even worse than that of the 

 counterfeiter, for he is not only robbing hu- 

 manity but damaging both soul and body. 

 Enforce the law to its utmost limit. Let 

 there be no compromise until he gives up 

 the business. Sometimes Satan tempts us 

 to think that letting a man go on with his 

 meanness is encouraging him to keep on do- 

 ing so; but the petty quarrels and misun- 

 derstandings seldom come under this head. 

 There are many people (perhaps I am one 

 of them — yes, I am sure I am, for I have 

 illustrated it) who are liberal and kind, but 

 praiseworthy in perhaps every respect, but 

 who, when they once get stirred up, get into 

 Satan's toils and show the worst kind of 

 disi^osition. Thej' can not bear " having 

 the fur rubbed uji the wrong way," as it is 

 sometimes expressed. The Bible is ringing 

 with injunctions to bewai'e of the evil one 



