124 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



strange to say. this man also came from the 

 town of . in the good old State of Penn- 

 sylvania. When the landlord got to the 

 • luestion. •• And wliy "did yon move away 

 from . mv friend V" he got the follow- 

 ing reply: 



■ \\ liy, my dear sir. 1 wonld not have 



moved away from for anything in the 



world, had it not l)een for some espei-ial rea- 

 sons wliicli I need not now enumerate: for 

 we lia<l just tlie nicest lot of neighluirs there 

 lliat any one ever liad anywhere. I have no 

 hope tiiat I shall evei' meet such a good kind 

 lot of whole-souled ("hiistian men and wo- 

 men as we had there, and it is with feelings 

 of sorrow and sa(hiess that we Itroke the ties 

 that have existed so numy years, and start 

 for a new place among ahiiost entire stran- 

 gers."" 



Now the face of our Yankee philosopher 

 l)eamed with kindness and good will, and he 

 broke fortli : 



■"Look liere, neighbor, you need not be 

 troubled, or feel sad. for you will tind just 

 such ueighl)ors in your new home as those 

 yt)u left behind. The world is full of them, 

 for it is pretty much all alike. Our neigh- 

 bors are as we^ make them."" 



Now. tlien. my little chicles, what sort of 

 neighbors have >()U got across the wav. and 

 to tlie right and'to the left of you — up'street 

 and down V Are they mean and seltish and 

 quarrelsome and disagreeable, or are they 

 like that good man I told you about last V 



Give, and it shall be given unto you. 



UIIIGENCi;: IN BC SINESS. 



M ItRIVING at tho years of understanding, every 

 Jr^_ person finds bimself in a position where he 

 ^ must soon decide what course he will pursue 

 through life. The question of preference, whether 

 be would be in this world or not, was not left for 

 him todeciiie. He finds himself in the world regard- 

 less of his own wishes, and now come up the ques- 

 tions: How shall r pass away this life I find placed 

 before meV how shall I live to find the most happi- 

 ness for myself? how shall I live to be of the most 

 use in the world? can I find the most happiness pos- 

 sible for me to enjoy, unless I live for the benefit of 

 those about meV These are questions which come 

 to every one, sooner or later, and in the deciding of 

 them we make our future destiny, and have an in- 

 fluence either for good or bad. In deciding this mat- 

 ter, many seem to feel that, in gathering riches and 

 honors to themselves, will come the greatest happi- 

 ness. I think this a mistaken idea so far as it turns 

 toward self and selfishness: but in getting riches to 

 do good with them, and in doing that good, comes a 

 blessing greater than which there is no other, ex- 

 cept that which comes from having the I'^ve of God 

 filling the heart. So, then, we have first, '• Seek first 

 the kingdom of God and his righteousness;" and 

 second, a life of industry in doing what we canto 

 make the world better for our having lived in it. As 

 I do not propose to make this a religious epistle, I 

 will not dwell on the first, except to say to those 

 who know nothing of the love of God in the heart, 

 that there is a happiness in knowing that jou are 

 one of God's children, far greater than any other 

 happiness of this world. If you do not believe it, 

 and can not see it in this light, it is simply because 



the things of the "spifitare spiritually discerned;" 

 hence if your heart is not filled with this spiritual 

 love, you can not expect to enjoy it. 



In our'second we have a busy life, as giving us 

 the greater happiness of any except the first, sup- 

 posing that, if we gain more than is necessary to 

 carry us through life, we are to use it for the good 

 of those about us. As a busy life means " diligence 

 in business," I have so headed this article. Many 

 years ago it was thought to produce much happi- 

 ness to be near and be commended by the king of 

 the land. AVe think it an honor to see and shake 

 hands with the president of our own United States. 

 Those who attended the North American Bee Con- 

 vention at Toronto, thought it an honor to shake 

 hands with Father Lanestroth ([ wish I could have 

 been there, and had that pleasure), and so we find it 

 always considered as giving happiness to stand be- 

 fore and shake hands with great men. Now, we 

 have a promise in the Bible to the " diligent in busi- 

 ness" which reads, " Seest thou a man diligent in 

 his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall 

 not stand before mean men" (Prov. 23:29), and thus 

 we find the men whom the world delight to honor to ' 

 be those who have, through diligence in their calling, 

 become proficient in the same. It is a rare thing 

 that I refer directly to my own life in any of my 

 writings for publication ; but to best illustrate what 

 I wish to. I will give the juveniles a brief sketch of 

 my life thus far. 



I was born of parents in very moderate circum- 

 stances, who gave me an education such as was af- 

 forded by the district school. Till I was nearly 1.") 

 years of age my life was an aimless one. I went to 

 school simply because my parents sent me, as per- 

 haps some of you are doing who read this. At].") 

 years of age I believed 1 had " passed from death 

 unto life," was baptized, and joined the church. At 

 this time I began to wish for an education, but my 

 parents now decided that I ought to help at home 

 during the summer, while I was allowed to attend 

 school for the next three winters. During those 

 three winters my motto was, "Strive to excel," and 

 to that I owe all the education I now enjoy, which is 

 only that which is termed the common branches. I 

 was brought up a farmer, lather thinking that such 

 was the avocation I should choose in life; and as I 

 had not yet obtained a liking for the bees, I decided 

 that father was riarht. After so deciding, I adopted 

 the same motto as I did at school, and tried to put it 

 in practice in all I did. After making some failures, 

 falling short of excelling, I asked myself what was 

 the trouble. I soon decided that I was expecting to 

 reach the top of the ladder by trying to begin to 

 climb at the middle, instead of the bottom. In other 

 words, I was trying to accomplish a piece of work 

 rapidly, without first knowing how to do it well, and 

 the result proved a failure. I now decided, if I 

 would excel I must first be wUling to go slow and 

 learn to. do a thing well; and after so doing, learn to 

 do it rapidly, without neglecting any part of it. 

 Soon after thus deciding, I remember trying to 

 shear the first sheep. For three, hours I labored 

 patiently to accomplish the job. When about half 

 done, one of the men who was shearing at the same 

 time tried to persuade me to give it up, and let him 

 finish shearing the sheep; but I desired to accom- 

 plish what I had begun, so declined to be persuaded. 

 I well remember the satisfaction I had in seeing that 

 sheep go out of the barn, looking nearly as smooth 

 as those sheared by those who were experts at it. 



