1S94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



109 



this sanio nrsjiimont with tlinsp who have said 

 to me, " All. lioDi I h.iM' io>)i<('(l. :uid am iool<- 

 iiig, but 1 ' 1' imL M (■ ihai 111.' e 1)1 i.stiaii religion 

 is doing ;i..> ^^ooa lu the world." 1 liave nu>-t 

 only a Vi-ry tew ptMSons, in all my tiavels, or 

 through my correspondence, who had ilu- liiwd- 

 ihood to mal<e such a speech as this. There 

 are some, however, who do it, or wiio would do 

 it, if anybody would listen to them. What 

 shall we do when we meet such people? I have 

 thouglit of saying this: " ]\[y friend, if you 

 •can not see in your own neighborhood, or where 

 you happen to be, that a faith in Christ Jesus 

 helps people to be better, then I can not lielp 

 you. I do not see that there is a/ii/ help.'' I 

 can, however, pray that the Holy Spirit may 

 open the eyes of such, and that it may quicken 

 tlieir understanding, and may help them to be 

 honest. But tliis is all that I know of that one 

 can do when he meets tliis sortof unbelief. 



When it was my good fortune to be permitted 

 to look upon that wonderful cyclorama of the 

 Crucilixion I was much struck by the words of 

 the minister of the gospel, whose olhce it was 

 toe.xplain the wonderful exhibition. Said he, 

 "Some of you may ask what means this scene 

 — this persecution and putting ta death of an 

 innocent man ■? The plainest and simplest ex- 

 planation that I can think of is given in the 

 3d chapter of John, 14ih verse." And then he 

 read ,'• As Moses lifted up the serpent in the 

 wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 

 lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him 

 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

 You see, away back in the early ages tliis little 

 incident I have given you was a beautiful sym- 

 bol of Christ's mission to the world; and Jesus,' 

 when he came on earth, and when he began to 

 have glimpses of the final closing climax of his 

 earthly work, recognized the figure. Exactly 

 in the same way that Moses raised aloft the 

 brazen image, so must the Son of man be held 

 aloft where all the world can view, both past, 

 present, and future, that whosoever may looli 

 on tliat figure, and comprehend the sufferings 

 and death, may, by accepting him, have eternal 

 life. And yet there are those who refuse to ac- 

 cept him. Why do they refuse ? I do not know. 

 I confess I can not understand it. I know wiiy 

 Some do not, and Jesus himself tells us — be- 

 cause '• men love darkness rather than light, 

 because their deeds are evil." 



And, again, '• But he that doeth truth cometh 

 to the light." Let me give you just one little 

 figure. Our intrepid and vailiant friend How- 

 ai'd H. Russell, who is making such havoc 

 among the saloon-keepers of this State, a few 

 niglits ago pushed into a saloon. He has been 

 doing this so much of late that saloon-keepers 

 have been warned, and they are on the lookout 

 for him. .Sometimes he is put out of doors be- 

 fore he has a chance to collect any evidence 

 against them. At one place he found between 

 fifteen and twenty boys — boys under 18 — in a 

 saloon. This is contrary to law. There may 

 be some, however, who think the law a foolisli 

 one. Well, it might have been in the same sa- 

 loon; perhaps it was in anotlier one, however; I 

 can not tell exactly; but during one of his raids 

 he succeeded in getting only a card from the 

 counter before he was put out. This card, how- 

 ever, was (juite a " find." On one side of it was 

 one of the most tilthy rhymes that Satan ever 

 conjured up, by the aid of men so lost that they 

 scruple at nothing provided they can make mon- 

 ey by it. He carried this card into a crowded 

 audience, held it up where all could see, and 

 said. " My friends, the reading on this card 

 which I hold here in my hand is such an awful 

 outrage on every thing good and pure and holy 

 that I could not read it in any audience; in 

 fact, it is not tit to read to any living being. I 



picked it up from the counter in one of the sa- 

 loons in your town. Some of you may say, per- 

 haps, that the propritUor had nothing to do 

 with putting it there, and that he would burn 

 it up as quickly as you or I. Hold on a little. 

 On ilie, oppusitc side is his name, address, occu- 

 pation, etc. That side I can n-ad right out 

 loud, and I hope he will protiiby it." 



And tlien he read it out loud; and before the 

 meeting was closed a law-and-ordcr committee 

 was appointed to have the; man arrested for 

 violating the laws of our State in distributing 

 obscene literatures Howard H. Russell is a 

 Christian — one of the most fearless and devoted 

 followers of Christ I ever met in my life. Er- 

 nest said to lue a few days ago that Mr. Russell 

 would certainly Ix^ put out of the way if he per- 

 sisted in pushing ahead as he is doing. The 

 liquor-men will put him to death exactly as 

 other wicked num put Christ Jesus out of the 

 way— or, at least, tried to do so. If friend Rus- 

 sell should happen to come into your neighbor- 

 hood, or if you hear of his work, will you stand 

 by him '? 



Now for the lesson, or, rather, the applica- 

 tion. The men who printed these cards, as 

 well as the men who helped to distribute them, 

 are bitter — terribly bitter— in their hatred of 

 Christianity and the Christian religion. They 

 love darkness and hate the light. I: is Chris- 

 tianity that is holding obscene literature, the 

 saloon-trafiic. and every thing of that ilk, in 

 abeyance. You know what I say is true 

 Christ Jesus is the essence of purity. He has 

 said, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 

 shall see God." Now, my friend, are you help- 

 ing '? The salvation of the world depends upon 

 holding high up the cross of Christ. Are you 

 helping to do it? Are there any who read these 

 words who have been helping to pull him 

 down ? Wait a minute. Suppose one of those 

 cards I have mentioned were passed around 

 among a lot of school children. Suppose your 

 boy, ten or fifteen years old, should get a 

 glimpse of it. Sui)pose lie should read the foul 

 words, and they should stamp them.selves like 

 fire in his memory, so the memory of that foul 

 thing could never be eradicated. A single 

 glimpse of such an unclean thing will some- 

 times haunt one through a lifetime. The laws 

 of the United States are getting to be more and 

 more severe, and good people are working hard 

 to biu'n up every tiling of that sort before it can 

 be circulated. What sort of spirit is it that 

 tries to evade the law, and escape the watc^iful 

 eye of Christian men and women ? What evil 

 spirit possesses them ? Why are obscene litera- 

 ture and the saloon business always linked 

 hand in hand ? Do I need to tell you that they 

 hate the very sight of a Bible or the bare men- 

 tion of a Sunday-school? Where would the 

 world come to if these men had their own way? 

 Is it not a glorious thing that we lidve a remedy 

 — even Christ Jesus, the Lamb of tJod that tak- 

 eth away the sin of the world ? 



CONVENTION NOTICES. 



The next annual mci;tin>c of tin- VVi.sciint.in State Bee-keepers' 

 Association will take place Feb. 7, 8, 1894. J. W. VaNCK, 



Madison, Wis. Coi-. Sec. 



There will be a ineetinj? of the Southeastern Kansas Bee- 

 keepers' Association. March 10. at the ajiiaries of Thomas Wil- 

 iett, 5 miles northeast of Bionson, Bourbon Co.. Kan. All are 

 invitea. J. C. Balch, Sec. 



Those who become members of the Illinois State Bee-keep- 

 ers' .\ssociation by sending- their fee of one dollar to the sec- 

 retary will receive a clotli-lxmnil copy of the next report. eooa 

 to he "published, and will also be a participant in the statistic- 

 al report of bees which w ill be gathered and published in the 

 month- of Mav. July, September, and October. 



Bradfordton, III. J. A. Sto.ve, Sec'y. 



