1S04 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



523 



found a wad of hills in ono of my pocktHs that I 

 very seldom use; yes, and when unrolled there 

 was .*:.'5.00, and I do not know, even to this day, 

 wliere that money came from. I can not well 

 see how it could have any connection with the 

 money received for the straw Ix-rries. hut still it 

 might have had. The very hest and most care- 

 ful of i)eople are sometimes taken with lits of 

 ahsent-mindedness. 



Our text tells us to go straight to the person 

 whom we think has wronged us, and to himself 

 alone, and talk it over. Oh if people would only 

 do this, instead of talking the matter over with 

 some neighbor or somebody else I It may be 

 well to ask counsel of some Christian person ; 

 and, in fact. I know by experience that it is a 

 very safe thing to go to the pastor of your 

 church. Tell your minister all about it, and 

 ask his advice. But. above all. go to your 

 neighbor ?ii//i.sT?/. Why. I have known people 

 who were really bad — yes, those who had been 

 tempted to steal — when appealed to in a Chris- 

 tianlike way, to feel so ashamed of themselves 

 that they owned up their offense ; and this 

 shame, to think they had been found out, and 

 reproved in a kind and Christianlike way. I 

 verily believe made them more sorry for their 

 sin than if they had been fined or put in jail. A 

 detective will tell you to be careful that your 

 evidence is as strong and clear as you can make 

 it before you charge the person with the wrong. 



A great many times I am told that some of 

 our people here are doing wrong. Where it is 

 possible to do so, I always prefer to wait till I 

 can see the offender committing the offense; 

 then when I go to him and tell him plainly and 

 kindly that I know what he has been doing, al- 

 most the first words are. " Who told you so?" 

 or. '■ Somebody has a spite against me. and has 

 been telling you this to get me into trouble." 

 The offender generally watches me narrowly at 

 this critical moment to see if he can find out 

 how much I really know about the matter. If. 

 however, I am able to say, "Look here, John- 

 ny, nobody has told me; I came up behind you 

 when you did not know I was around, and I 

 purposely let the matter drop until I could see 

 you by yourself, and talk to you about it — I 

 have not mentioned the matter to any one, and 

 nobody knows any thing about it except you 

 and me," then if a person who has committed a 

 wrong ever feels really thankful, such offender 

 at such a time almost always begins to feel glad 

 that it is only between himself and myself — es- 

 pecially if I have done my duty as a Christian 

 so far as to convince him by this time that I am 

 his/riend and not his eiiciny. And then what 

 a feeling comes into the heart of the servant of 

 Christ Jesus — a feeling that seems almost as if 

 spoken in words. " Well don<^ thou good and 

 faithful servant"! The reason why this feeling 

 comes is. that you have fulfilled the command 

 expressed in our text. "Go and tell him his 

 fault betwetui thee and him alone." 



Now to the main question: How shall we 

 treat a person whom we have reason to believe 

 is hypocritical, er if you choose, one who is real- 

 ly guiltv of the hal)it of stealins? I admit this 

 is a dillicult (question to answer. Tliere may 

 be circumstaiues when we shonid not at once 

 follow the injunction of the text, and tell him 



Flainly of his fault. I often meet such ca^es. 

 ■want to see the person alone, and sometimes 

 it can not be nuinaged without drawing suspi- 

 cion toward him in a way that 1 do not think 

 best. I often let the matter pass until an op- 

 portunity occurs to see him by himself. If a 

 person is wrongine me in this way. I do not 

 think it wise or best to refuse to speak to him. 

 at least in a civil way. Neither is it riglit to 

 treat him just as cordially a< if notliing of this 

 kind had happened, for this latter course would 



strengthen him in his notion tliat lie was escap- 

 ing detection, and that he was altogether " too 

 smart to be caught" There is a golden mean 

 between these two extremes. I would be civil 

 and courteous to everybody, and I would, un- 

 der some firciiinstdnccs, even shake hands with 

 a man whom I knew Was stealing from me day 

 by day. But I should not want this state of 

 aifairs to continu(> very long. If the person in 

 question should notices that you have not been 

 as cordial as usual, and sliould ask you for an 

 explanation, then you have an excelh'Ut oppor- 

 tunity to speak plainly. If there is a mistake, 

 or if there are any extenuating cir.-umstances, 

 he will, if you deal gently with him. usually 

 state these circumstances fully. Some may 

 say that there may be no extenuating circum- 

 stances for stealing. Well, in one sense that 

 may be true. I think it bad policy to take the 

 ground that people are excusable for stealing 

 and lying. I do not like such doctrine. But 

 often there are extenuating circumstances. 

 There are reasons why we should "deal gently 

 with the erring." One of the reasons urged 

 most frequently is. that sombody has wronged 

 you, and that the only way you can get your 

 just dues is to steal it t)ack again. That is 

 bad philosophy. Neither the laws of our land 

 nor those of God give any authority for such a 

 plan for getting your just dues. A good many 

 people have an idea— especially in these latter 

 days — that they do not receive adequate pay 

 for their sevices, and therefore excuse them- 

 selves for pilfering from their employer; and 

 the same logic is used toward railroad compan- 

 ies, or even toward the government of the 

 United States — but it is Satan's work — the 

 whole of it. 



In regard to this matter of treating people 

 whom you know to be enemies in sheep's cloth- 

 ing, I think I have erred in going to both ex- 

 tr<Mnes. I have been so gentle and kind to 

 those who were wronging me that it was like 

 casting pearls before swine. They looked down 

 upon me. and presumed so tnuch upon my good 

 nature that finally I decided that forbearance 

 had ceased to be a virtue, and then I swung 

 over qtiickly or too far to the other extreme, 

 and showed them that I could y/y/it as well as 

 pray for those who persecuted me and said all 

 manner of evil against me. My conscience 

 troubled me at first because I had been too easy 

 with the transgressors, and then at last it 

 troubled me because I had been tnoJuirsh. The 

 Bible tells us that we should be as wise as 

 serpents and harmless as doves; and it is-l?/.- 

 (7t'ct7. a pretty narrow path to take just the 

 golden mean. The path to righteousness is 

 i?i(7eec7 a straight and narrow one, and it takes 

 more than human strength and wisdom to 

 swerve neither to the right nor to the left. It 

 takes help — it needs help from Christ Jesus; 

 and we may rejoice that we have the promise. 

 '• Lo. I am with you alway, even to the end of 

 the world." 



Sometimes it seems impossible to decide posi- 

 tively just whether a person is guilty or not. 

 I remember of havinir finite a long talk with 

 two friends of mine. There was guilt and crime 

 between them. Evidently one of the two was 

 guilty, and the other was innocent; but each 

 one was so positives that I gave it up — I could 

 not decide which was guilty and which was 

 innocent. Finally I said, " Boys, let us drop 

 tlie matter right here. Please believe me when 

 I tell you it is best not to say a word more 

 about it until some futtire dev<'lo[)monts shall 

 decide. I will try to regard you both as inno- 

 cent until circumstances shall determine." One 

 of the two proved to tic straightforward and 

 honest, and is now. The other, from that time 

 forward, began to show by little incongruities 



