ISSB 



GLEA:^iNGS In bee cuttuttti. 



815 



WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO BE HAPPY WHILE DOINC IT, 



Continued from Sept. 15. 

 CHAPTER XXV: 



By this shall all men know that ye are my disci 



111 tliis chapter I am going to say some- 

 thing about attending fairs— county faii-s 

 and State fairs, and 1 am going to take the 

 position, also, that we ought to go. The 

 friends who liave followed me thus far sure- 

 ly know, without my telling them, that I do 

 not approve of horse -racing, games of 

 chance, or gambling of any kind; or betting ; 

 neither do 1 approve of throwing balls at 

 dolls, and getting a cigar every time you 

 throw straight. I am sorry to see these in- 

 stitutions still kept on many of our fair- 

 grounds. I am very glad to note, however, 

 that in many of our State and county fairs— 

 in fact, I think I may say in the most of 

 them— very grejlt improvements are being 

 made in the way of encouraging better mor- 

 als. The State or county fair now that al- 

 lows Intoxicating beverages to be sold on its 

 grounds is behind the times, and I think a 

 progressive people will very soon give them 

 to understand that such management will 

 not long be countenanced, and that they 

 can not long prosper. 



Well, what shall we do at our county fairs, 

 you may ask V My reply is, that we should 

 make them the means of receiving and giv- 

 ing knowledge. Let every tradesman and ev- 

 ery producer of any crop of any kind go and 

 exhibit his wares; let him stand by them and 

 explain to people all about them. Let us all 

 endeavor to get acquainted with each other, 

 and in this way I think we f ulHll tlie spirit 

 of the little text at the head of this chapter, 

 inasmuch as we can not love people very 

 much without knowing them, at least to 

 some extent. One of the grand things to be 

 done in this world is to get acquainted. 

 Staying at home and attending to your own 

 business is all right, if not carried too far. 

 No doubt there are people in every neighbor- 

 hood who go visiting too much ; but I think it 

 is equally true that there are almost as many 

 who do not go visiting enough ; that is, peo- 

 ple v.'ho do not meet their fellow-men so as 

 to exchange ideas, and keep posted in regard 

 to the events of the day. 



I have, at different times in my life, felt 

 and said that I was tired of fairs ; that they 

 were pretty much the same thing every 

 year; that I had no objections to offer, if 

 people wanted to go and enjoy such things, 

 but that I would not go across the street to 



pies, If ye have love one to another.— -John 13:3r>. 



see all they had to show. Did you eVei- feel 

 that way, my friend ? Well, How, if yotl 

 have any confidence in my ability to advise, 

 let me tell you that such thoughts are 

 wrohg. I believe they are Satan's prortipt- 

 Ings. You have no right to stay away front 

 all kinds of gatherings, even if you do feel 

 like it. There are duties aiid resiJonsibilities 

 that fail upon you naturally, and which yoil 

 can not discharge unless you are among the 

 people and acqhainted ■^vith thfe lieDl;)le. If 

 thihgs are managed badly at our fairs, gd 

 with the spirit of Christ in yout heai't and 

 cheerfully take hold of the task of making 

 them better. I am sure the same is trufe in 

 regard to bee-conventions and class conven- 

 tions of every description. Besides, in the 

 end it will pay you to go. You may not re- 

 alize at once that you have been benefited ; 

 but, go to your State and county fair ; look 

 at every thing that is to be seen ; endeavor 

 to understand how different industries are 

 carried on ; ask the purpose arid use of every 

 thing you see, with which you are unac- 

 qttainted, and you Avill, even if you do not 

 realize it at the time, find out afterward 

 that you have acquired valuable knowledge 

 —yes, very valuable. A great many times I 

 see people wasting time enough in accom- 

 plishing some desired end to have done it a 

 dozen times over had they known of cheap 

 little implements already in the market for 

 doing this same thing. Many times you pay 

 a hired man money enough for a single 

 week's work to have paid for a tool with 

 which he could have done the same M'ork in 

 one day. Go to your county fair ; take along 

 the produce of your farm or the product of 

 your workshop. Explain to the crowds you 

 will meet there how your work is dont', and 

 why it is worth the money you ask for it. 

 Let your light shine. 



Only a single roadway sepaiates our m;ir- 

 ket-garden grounds from our county fair- 

 grounds, and therefore it is an easy matt( r 

 forme to exhibit any thing 1 may have for 

 sale. Last year we made a display of hon- 

 ey; and for the purpose of sliowing it to 

 good advantage we had a little building put 

 up, which our artist has shown you on p. 81(5. 



You will notice, friends, that there does 

 not seem to be a very large crowd around 

 the building. Well, when the artist came 



