388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apk. 1. 



ly free from a domineering spirit. Yes, my 

 good wife assured me. when she gave me the 

 article, that I must not thinl< that, because she 

 requested me to read it, I particularly needed 

 such a sermon. I believe it; for. out of the 

 kindness of her heart, she overlooks and for- 

 gives her poor husband's weaknesses. May 

 (rod help me to see my own faults, and mend 

 them; for if God does not help me I shall never 

 be at all worthv or fitted for the place he has 

 assigned me. Let us read again: 



Asa rule, the sreat'r tlie man the less sliow of 

 power, on his part, in his bearing- toward those wlio 

 are in his realm of dominion. Greatness shows 

 itself in the reserve of power hpyond its manifest 

 exercise. A really great man, in any sphere of life, 

 puts a subordinate man at his ease in an interview 

 witli him, wliile a man of small caliber causes 

 tlioee who approach Inm to suflfer under a sense of 

 being- counted by him as in some sense liis inferiors. 



Does anybody need that last paragraph as I 

 need it? If so, may God help him. 



It was a well-lcnown fact In the days of African 

 slavery, that the liarshest tyranny over a trang: of 

 blacks was lilsely to be exercised by one wlio was 

 himself a slave, and wlio, liaving- never controlled 

 himself, was unfitted to contn)l others. And the same 

 principle prevails in eveiy realm of dominion- t)ie 

 smaller the man in authority, the greater his liabil- 

 ity to domineer over those in bis sphere. A domi- 

 neering- spirit is inconsistent with g-reatness. 



Did that ever occur to you before, my friend? 

 The smaller the man in authority, the greater 

 his liability to domineer over those In his 

 sphere. 



The nearer the brute a man is. the surer he is to 

 misuse the brutes winch are under him. A horst^ 

 fares better in the care of a man of character and 

 refinement than at the hands of adegi-aded hireling-, 

 ■who has the power of cursing- and beating- the hoi-se 

 which he is set to drive. And many a dog- ci-inges 

 and suffers under the scowls and kicks of his i)i- 

 ferior owner, who knows nothing of the true power 

 and privilege of dominion beyond the opportunity 

 of domineering. The whole brute creation groaneth 

 and travaileth in pain unlil now. because of the 

 curseof the domineering- spirit in the realm of God- 

 given dominion. 



I presume likely the above remarks in regard 

 to cruelty to dumb animals is particularly what 

 commended the production to Mrs. Root. 

 When I first began to court her, in the days of 

 her girlhood, I remember h^r good old father 

 once said to me. jestingly. '"If you expect to get 

 along with her yon must let her have her own 

 way in seeing that all domestic animals and 

 dumb brutes about the premises are well fed."' 

 Yes, I found that out; and I found out. too, 

 that it was not feeding alone that commended 

 itself to her. To see a child or an aniiual suf- 

 fering for food is indeed sad. Of couise. she 

 believes that children and dumb brutes should 

 be made to obey proper authority; but her con- 

 victions have always been very strong to the 

 effect that pounding and whipping are rarely 

 if ever necessary to secure the best kind of 

 obedience. I used to believe in punishing by 

 whipping them; but I have been conscious for 

 some time that I have been gradually losing 

 hold on that idea. When people have been 

 neglected nt)til they have become very bad. it 

 may be necessary to do some whipping. Mind 

 you, I say it maj/ he. I am not sure of even 

 that; and I believe it is due to my good wife— 

 to the fact that she practices what she preaches 

 — that I have been, during these many years I 

 have known her. gradually changing my views. 

 Let us read again: 



Domineering- grows out a mistaken view of the 

 limits of dominion; and tiiis is peculiai-ly the case 

 in the treatment of cliildren. A parent supposes 

 that his children, at least, have bt-en given to 

 him, and that, hocause he has dominion over them, 

 he can treat lhvu\ ;is he pleases. A teacher thinks 

 similarly of the children put under his control for 



the purpose of their education and training-. H 

 feels that, having- dominion ovtrthem thus far fi 

 the time being, he can exercise that dominion ui 

 hindered. But both parent and teacher are to i ■ 

 member tliat tlie child has a spirit of dominion : 

 well as themselves, and that their dominion is n< 

 to interfere with his dominion. 



You will notice the writer of the above tell 

 the same thing, only in a little different Ian 

 guage, from what I have been saying. Let ii 

 read again: 



God gives to no man dominion over another man 

 individuality and truest personality. Every cliil 

 comes into the world fresh from God. with its ow 

 peculiar identity and distinctive self, as apart froi 

 every other human being in the universe. Whil 

 that child is brought under the dominion of parecltfi 

 and teacher and civil ruler, their dominion over thpef 

 child is to be exercised in view of its dominion ove 

 itself, and not to the doing away with thatdoniinio 

 over its inner personality, which it has receive 

 from God, and for which it is responsible to Goc 

 He who recog-nizes a child as a representative c 

 God. and as a charge from God, will honor tha 

 child's individuality, and will give deference t 

 that child's domain of his sacred personality; h 

 will nut domineer over the child. To despise th 

 child's personal dominion, oi- to trench upon it, is t 

 domineer in a realm whei-e the child is res onsibi 

 only to God. A child will resent domineering froi 

 parent or teacher, because God never authorize 

 domineering over any creature of Ids by any ere; 

 ture. A child who perceives that one who is ove 

 him in the home or in tlie school has respect for hi 

 rights in his own realm of dominion, will be all th 

 readier to respect the rights of the one above hii 

 in the parent's or the teacher's realm of dominion. 



Well, I declare! After reading the above I ai 

 almost ready to say with Mrs. Root that tlii 

 production on domineering is one of the be> 

 things I ever saw anywhere. Now, then, y 

 husbands and fathers of families, brace up an 

 be ready to i-eceive with meekness and honest 

 your part of ihis wonderful sermon to us all. 



Most contemptible of all is domineeiing- in th 

 closest and holiustof relations— inthe marriag-e life 

 The husband, claiming to be the head of the housi 

 often seems to think that there is noother head tha 

 his in the house, and that therefore there is no root 

 for a wife's dominion over her own personality, he 

 own opinions, her own tastes and preferences an 

 moods of feeling, and her own conscience. He ev^e 

 feels entitled to disregard lier prejudices, to trea 

 lightly her counsel or cautions, to fail of givin, 

 honor to her sentiments and convictions, and t 

 hold closely and sliarply to his view of any questio 

 at issue, despite her coLinter-views, without even ai 

 ettort at an open-minded examination of the que^ 

 tion in its discussion with her as an equal, if not 

 indeed, as a superior. This is domineering- of ai 

 inexcusable kind. 



it is true in this sphere, as in every other, that th 

 domineering- spirit is a sign of weakness and o 

 smalltiess, and that the larger-minded the man thi 

 surer he is to be free from domineering over hi 

 wife, and to be proDipt and hearty in liis recogni 

 tion of her rights, on tlie one hand, and, on th< 

 other hand, of her help to liim in his best endeavor 

 through her individuality and independence an 

 her womanly instincts. Even the man who is posi 

 tive in his convictions and outspt)ken in expressioi 

 of liis opinions in his ordinary ways witli others, i: 

 deferential to the personality of his wife or cliild ii 

 proportion to his own love and largeness. 



Domineering- can not ai-company g-oodness oi 

 greatness. Itisjin ac(H)mi>»ninient()nly of little 

 ness of nature, and of false views of power anc 

 domiiuon. 



While I was reading the above the first time 

 T was sitting at my secretary in our home 

 This secretary is where my agricultural period 

 icals are all deposited. I do not always readjtjj 

 them as fast as they come from the office. I try nj 

 to, but stern duties oftentimes compel me, re- 

 luctantly, to let them accumulate. Sometimes 

 the lid of the secretary will not shut tip, and 

 Mrs. Root can not have every thing looking as 

 tidy as she likes. Then she suggests putting 

 the surplus into a basket; and she sometimes 



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