912 



GLEANINGS IK nEi^ CULTURE. 



Nov 



gestion to the judges V The judges, not be- 

 ing very well posted in regard to bee-imple- 

 ments, may have concluded there wr.s rea- 

 son and justice in the suggestion. Their 

 proper way would have been, however, to 

 interview E, and ask him if he considered 

 hammers and screw-drivers, strictly speak- 

 ing, implements for bee culture ; then eacli 

 party could have defended his position. Of 

 course, the judges would have to decide one 

 way or the other, eventually, for the ques- 

 tion is like thousands of others that come up 

 —one that can not be settled detinitely, but 

 must remain, for all time to come, matters 

 of opinion, and on which good people may 

 honestly differ. The superintendent, desir- 

 ing to be fair about the matter, tells friend 

 B why his larger exhibit was given only the 

 second premium. At this, friend B is terri- 

 bly stirred up. I feel exceedingly grateful 

 to him for the compliment that he pays me 

 in suggesting that I should decide the mat- 

 ter; but I hope he will not feel hard toward 

 me when I say there is no way of deciding 

 it, that I know of, that will l)"egin to com- 

 pare with the one suggested by our text. I 

 should say, "•Xow, good friend 13, as the de- 

 cision has been given by the judges, by all 

 means drop the matter aiid let it rest there. 

 May be you can not help feeling hard a lit- 

 tle; but, dear friend, please try to think 

 that what is your loss is your neighbor's 

 gain, and that it does not matter very much 

 after all who has the money or who has the 

 honor and the glory in this world. Make up 

 your mind to be manly and liberal about it, 

 no matter if it does look unfair and under- 

 handed. A is your neighbor ; and if he has 

 shown a greedy and selfish disposition, try to 

 feel truly and really sorry for him. just as 

 you would if he were your own liesh-and- 

 blood brother. J3y no manner of mean.'t think 

 of letting him ' severely alone? as you term 

 it. He is not a bad man; in fact, I think I 

 am right in thinking you have always here- 

 tofore held him in high esteem. Hold him 

 in high esteem sHlU dear brother; pass it 

 by, and let it go. 'Let this mind be in you 

 which was also in Christ Jesus;' 'but he 

 made himself of no reputation, and took 

 upon him the form of a servant, and was 

 made in the likeness of men ; and being in 

 fashion as a man, hurablefl himself, and be- 

 came obedient unto death, even the death of 

 the cross.'" I have been through these 

 trials, dear brother. I have cherished un- 

 kind and ungenerous feelings toward the 

 one who took the premium from me ; and J 

 have again, on the other hand, said to my- 

 self, when T felt the promptings of the 

 tempter, "Get thee behind me, Satan."" 



I have oftentimes of late been tempted to 

 think unchaiitableness the most compre- 

 hensive and most common sin to be found 

 in the world. If we cherish unkind and 

 uncharitable thoughts toward a fellow-be- 

 ing, nobody knows what the end may be. 

 If these thoughts are not put away and 

 stilled, they may result even in murder; 

 and who shall fathom the agony and re- 

 morse one who has committed such a crime 

 is compelled to carry through life ? I do 

 not know what this awful remorse is ; but I 

 do know of the wonderful and untold bless- 



[ ings that flow into the heart, and, I think 

 I may say truly, into thep«'v*e, of him who 

 tries to obey the command of our little text. 

 i I remember the time when there was a little 

 ; strife in our town, about who should have 

 , a certain kind of work. I do not like to 

 I lie beaten in any thing ; and before I knew 

 it. 1 was planning to get the work awa> 

 from my competitors. Thank God, how- 

 ever, the influence of Christ's spirit began 

 to strive with me ; and tinally I told the one 

 who had it in his power to let out the work, 

 1 would rather he would give it to the other 

 parties. He seemed a little surprised until I 

 ' explained to him that they, perhaps, needed 

 the work more than I did ; and as there had 

 been some feeling in the matter already, I 

 ' Avould let go what advantage 1 might derive 

 i in getting it myself, and tinally told him I 

 should feel happy in letting them have it. 

 and I did not tell an untruth, dear friends. 

 There came a feeling into my heart right 

 ! away, that the little sacrifice I had made 

 was laying up treasures in heaven, if not 

 here on earth. I have experienced this feel- 

 ing many times, after triumphing over selfish 

 I feelings and jealousy; and, strange' to tell, it 

 seems as if 1 had not lost any money by it 

 either. A great many times it is a hard 

 matter for judges to decide in regard to the 

 I comparative merits of exhibits ; and, again, 

 i they sometimes look at it somewhat in this 

 I way : 



! One man of considerable wealth and 

 \ means makes a large exhibit ; in fact, he ex- 

 I eels ill almost every thing. Another com- 

 1 petitor, however, a man of limited means, 

 : has a small exhibit, but has every thing very 

 I nice. He has certainly done wonderfully 

 i well for one with so few advantages and 

 with so little means. Shall all the premi- 

 1 ums be given to the man who has so muchV 

 j This, too, may be a question tliat all would 

 j not agree on. One of the judges may say, 

 ! ■■' It is our duty to make the awards without 

 j regard to the condition or circumstances of 

 j the competitors ; in fact, we ought to make 

 ! them as if we did not know the parties at 

 all."' Another might say, "But /think, 

 I friends, that it does make a difference who 

 the man is. The one who has accomplished 

 a great deal with very small capital and ad- 

 vantages ought to be rewarded." A third 

 one may say, " I tell you, my friends, what / 

 think about it. I do not believe it is a good 

 thing to give all the best premiums to one 

 man. The premiums are offered with the 

 view of encouraging agricultural industry, 

 and let us divide them around a little, giv- 

 ing each one something, to encourage him 

 for the time and trouble and pains he has 

 taken." I might go on and give other sim- 

 ilar examples ; but all I wish to show is, that 

 the judges maybe good men, and actuated 

 by the best of motives in making awards 

 that sometimes seem to us singular and im- 

 called for. Now, is it not a great deal bet- 

 ter to try hard to take a charitable view of 

 all these things? Search diligently for good 

 motives instead of evil ones, when you feel 

 like criticising. To come back to our text. 

 "In lowliness of mind let each esteem other 

 better than themselves." You do not be- 

 lieve you are actuated by narrow and selfish 



