1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



?5o 



enough to succeed in setting the best of ev- 

 eiy thing, and the easiest places. I am sure 

 1 am, because in so saying I want to take 

 my chance among the people. It' somebody 

 lias got to take a poor place, let me be one 

 of them. If I don't realize to the full extent 

 what I am saying while I dictate these 

 words, may God help me to come so near to 

 him that i can say, '' Give me not the best 

 of every thing in life, but help me, and give 

 me grace and strength to take some of the 

 hardest places. If pain is the lot of human- 

 ity, help me, O Lord, to take my share of 

 the pain and snffering; and when death 

 shall come, whether it be by earthquake, by 

 cyclone, by storm, or by Hood, or by slow 

 lingering sickness, help me. Lord Jesus, 

 that through it all I may be able to say, ' Thy 

 will, not mine, be done.' And if death 

 should come with sudden horror, help me 

 that I may be found ready to deport myself 

 as becometh every follower of Ilim whodied 

 for us all.'' 



I presume it is no doubt true, that only a 

 few of ns have any real comprehension of 

 the amount of suffering poor humanity is 

 sometimes called upon to bear. 



As a general thing, no one thinks of mur- 

 muring against God when he dies in a natu- 

 ral way on a sick-bed ; but, if I am correct, 

 death by accident or great catastrophes, like 

 earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes, does not 

 compare in suffering with natural sickness. 

 In speaking of some cases of intense suffer- 

 ing, please bear in mind that I do it solely 

 that you may take a fair view of what doubt- 

 less lies before many of us. A Christian 

 needs to be brave. lie needs to be able to 

 take pain and suffering in a manly, heroic 

 way, and to take it, too, when none are near 

 to look on and sympathize, if need be. Two 

 cases have come to my knowledge, of such 

 excruciating pain from prolonged suffering 

 that the sufferers begged their friends to 

 take their lives, to put an end to their mis- 

 ery. No doubt tlu' poor sufferers had be- 

 come so exhausted and worn out that they 

 did not comprehend fnlly what they were 

 saying, and perhaps delirium had something 

 to do with it. it is true, I believe, that it is 

 the lot of some to die comparatively with- 

 out pain ; but as Me read that God sends the 

 rain upon the jnst and upon the unjust, I 

 believe it is also true tiiat he sends terrible 

 and agonizing pain upon the just and upon 

 the unjust. I have not been able to learn 

 that the most sincere and devoted Christian 

 is, as a rule, spare.d from suffering, because 

 of his devotion to the Savior. In fact, it 

 has sometimes seemed otherwise, verifying 

 the text, " Whom he loveth he chasteneth." 



It was my privilege to be near a dear 

 friend and relative a good deal of the time 

 during her last sickness and death. For 

 years before her death she had expressed 

 herself as willing to go when tJod should 

 call her. Tier decline was slow and very 

 j)ainful. For some weeks before she died 

 she would ask wearily what time it was, be- 

 cause the time passed so slowly. She longed 

 for the niglit, and she longed for the morn- 

 ing; but amid it all. nothing seemed to give 

 her SD mucli comfort as to hnve somebody 

 .read to her from the Lible. I came in one 



day to read to her, but found the family 

 physician there. Like too many physicians, 

 he was an ungodly man. He stood by the 

 bedside, apparently in no hurry, laughing 

 and joking ; but when she asked me to read 

 to her, and desired him to sit down a mo- 

 ment, he excused himself by saying he 

 hadn't time. Now, although she was suffer- 

 ing at the time the most intense agony, she 

 plead with him to listen to a few words from 

 the Holy Scriptures. She did not Joiyet her 

 pain and suffering, but she iynorcd it as be- 

 ing of little consequence compared with the 

 wish to do something for his soul's salva- 

 tion. As the family physician, it was to 

 be expected that he could do something to 

 alleviate her intense suffering ; but although 

 he seemed to treat it as a light matter, she 

 overlooked it all, and seemed only anxious 

 that he should be healed. Now, Ckxl sus- 

 tained her amid these sufferings, and helped 

 her to bear them, but she felt the anguish 

 none the less. She never complained nor 

 murmured, although she w^as one of those 

 organizations that feel pain most keenly. 

 When she was so near her end that she was 

 unable to speak to us, or even to give any 

 sign, it was evident that the poor tortured 

 body was suffering still ; and when the last 

 breath was drawn, and exhausted and worn- 

 out nature refused to move any further, it 

 was evident from the expression on her face 

 that the last pang of death was the utmost 

 agony. I knew her so well that I coidd tell 

 by the movement of her face and mouth 

 when she was suffering, and 1 think it quite 

 probable (although some physicians may say 

 she was not then conscious of pain) that the 

 suffering of that last brief moment surpassed 

 any thing she had ever known before. When 

 it was over, a placid, peaceful expression 

 settled over the features. She had foiight 

 the good tight through intense pain and suf- 

 fering. Slie had finished the faith, like 

 Paul of old, and the crown of righteousness 

 was hers. 



Now, my frienils, far be it from me to 

 frighten any one by the thought of death ; 

 on the contrary, I would bid you be l)rave, 

 and strive to say with the Master, " Thy will, 

 not mine, be done." We are himian, and 

 a kind heavenly Father will, without (jues- 

 tion, make due "allowance for human weak- 

 ness, even should we be tempted to feel, for 

 the time being, that he has forsaken us. It 

 will be no more than what the Master did. 

 Whether it shall come by slow and torturing 

 sickness, or by the swift elements over 

 which we have no control, let us be ready to 

 die as men, and as becometh Christian men 

 and women. 



The progress which science seems to be 

 now making would indicate that we are, at 

 least in a measure, at fault for the sufferings 

 of sickness and disease, It may also l)e true 

 that we are remotely responsible for Hoods 

 and cyclones ; but what scientist dare have 

 the boldness to say lliat we are in any senst; 

 or measure jcsponsible for the dire conse- 

 (piences of the eaithquakeV It is a matter 

 that is in (iod's hands entirely. In that 

 case, why sliould we worry or be afraidV 

 The si>irit that promjited the patriarch Job, 

 when lie said, '• Though lie slay me, yet will 



