.56 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Jan. 



welcomed the meanest man that ever lived, 

 rather than to be shut iip entirely alone by 

 himself. I have sometimes thought that 

 sellishness is the worst sin, or, rather, the 

 foundation of almost all other sins. There 

 are very few sins that do not have their 

 origin in selfishness— that is, our wrong do- 

 ings come principally from loving ourselves 

 more than we love our neighbors— anxiety 

 to possess every good thing, to the exclusion 

 of other people. Jlow plainly we see it stick 

 out all through the world 1 Even little chil- 

 dren are sometimes greedy— they will quar- 

 rel over an apple, a bit of pie, or a cake, 

 when there is an abundance of all of them ; 

 and people of an older growth often do just 

 as foolishly. They are backward about 

 sharing with their neighbors, and reluctant- 

 ly divide, or consider the good of others, 

 when at the same time they would never be 

 happy at all if they had not somebody near 

 them to divide with. Jesus said, "It is more 

 blessed to give than to receive ;" and in this 

 little text there is a wonderfully great and 

 beautiful truth. He did not mean, of course, 

 that we should give away every thing we had 

 earned by hard labor, without an equivalent, 

 but he did mean we should look out about 

 being greedy and unfair, and that we should 

 remember that unhappiness always comes 

 from giving way to feelings of selfishness. 

 f. asked my wife the other day how soon 

 babies begin to act selfishly. She thought 

 they were not selfish at all, naturally. 



''Well," said 1, " how soon do they com- 

 mence being generous and liberal ? Iluber 

 is now about seven months old, and he has 

 learned to smack his lips over a good many 

 delicacies, and to show in other ways that 

 he keenly enjoys them. Now, has he ever 

 shown any disposition to divide or share 

 with others the good things he enjoys ?" 



Of course, we all became interested in the 

 matter, and tried to see if we could make 

 him exhibit any traits of a disposition in his 

 little mind to love his neighbor as himself. 

 [ succeeded a little with one experiment, and 

 J hope the little friends will not laugh if I 

 do tell of such a trifle. Iluber has a lot of 

 playthings, as you know, and, like other 

 babies, he gets tired of them, and wants 

 something new. AVhen he first gets up in 

 the morning he will take his basket of toys, 

 and amuse himself quite a while with them, 

 but eventually he gets wearied of the things 

 he has seen from day to day and from week 

 to week, and, like the rest of us, wants some- 

 thing different. By the way, I want to tell 

 you that the toy that seems to hold its at- 

 traction the longest is one of his little shoes 

 that he has outgrown. He will chew this, 

 and wet it all over with his little drooling 

 lips, more than almost any thing else. Now 

 to my experiment, une day I gave him my 

 large nickel-plated door-key, and he was 

 much delighted with it. Of course, he push- 

 ed the bow of it into his little juicy mouth, 

 the first thing. Then I put out my hand for 

 it and said, "Papa have it?" He at once 

 pulled it out of his mouth with the bow of 

 the key webbed over with a sort of soap-bub- 

 ble (you know how it would look), and in- 

 stantly pushed it into my mouth. My exper- 

 iment succeeded, and we had a big laugh. 



He evidently derived great satisfaction by 

 puttirg the pretty plaything into his own 

 mouth, and, in the generosity of his little 

 heart, he acted upon the impulse of the hap- 

 py thought to let his papa enjoy it in the 

 same way too. 



Now, children, just a word in regard to 

 selfishness. I am inclined to think it is a 

 fact, that babies and children of all ages are 

 much more liable to take naturally to selfish- 

 ness and otlier sins, than tliey are to be gen- 

 erous and fair and kind. What do you sup- 

 pose a Ijaby would be, brought up on an 

 island, like Robinson Crusoe— that is, sup- 

 pose the thing were possible V Poor little 

 Iluber could liardly live a few brief hours 

 Avithout neighbors, or his own natural pro- 

 tectors, if you choose, to care for him, and 

 watch tliat he didn't tip over and bump his 

 little head, and suchlike accidents. When 

 he gets to be several years old he might pos- 

 sibly live on an island ; but what sort of a 

 boy would he be V W' e are dependent upon 

 friends and human help, not only for the 

 food that we eat, but for the Bread that 

 Cometh down from heaven as well, and I do 

 not know how we should ever know God, or 

 love him, or even know the sinfulness of 

 selfishness, were it not for the kind friends 

 God has so wisely placed here to guard us 

 from going into the broad road that leads to 

 destruction. Do we not, indeed, owe a great 

 debt to our neighbors, and to God lor having 

 given us neighbors, even such as they are V 



THE DISCOVERY OF SILK. 



COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY MISS NELLIE LINCOLN 

 ROSSITER. 



Continued. 

 ^JjlBSEQUENTLY, silk became an article of ex- 

 ^^ portation. From China, it went into all the 

 other countries of Asia, and afterward to 

 Europe. The traders of Serica journeyed, at tirst, 

 with the silken stutCs over the whole breadth of Asia. 

 Two hundred and forty three days were usually 

 spent by the caravans in going from the coasts of 

 China to those of Syria. The prices they obtained 

 far exceeded the expenses incurred ; and thus the 

 silken stuffs were found in every mart : but princi- 

 pally in Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, and among the 

 most active traders in the world, at that epoch, the 

 Phoenicians, who at length carried them to the east 

 of Europe. 



The Greeks derived their first knowledge of silk 

 from the military expeditions of Alexander, into 

 Persia and India; and Aristotle called to it the atten- 

 tion of his countrymen as early as .%0 years before 

 Christ. I have already related by what means the 

 Romans obtained their silks. At first, on account of 

 the high price of the i=il4c, tbos? stntTs had but the 

 chains of sillc, and the tilling either of linen or cot- 

 ton, or vice-versa, and may, therefore, be called 

 half-Silk stuffs. Roman writers gave them diitinct 

 names. But ageneral outcry s )on arose, even againi-if 

 Ihehalf-sUk stuffs, under the pretense that they were 

 too expensive and too womanish. Under the Em- 

 peror Tiberius, 17 years after Christ, Haterius and 

 Pronto declared themselves strongly on the subject; 

 and it was ordered, that " no silk dress should hence- 

 forth degrade a Roman citizen." Even under Mar- 



