136 



GLEA^'lISGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



have been brought to my notice. For in- 

 stance, if we want a steam-boiler to do work, 

 we must look out for the outlets. Lf steam 

 is esca|)iug at any point, even a mile away 

 from the boiler, the engineer may pile 

 in shavings and coal, and do his utmost, 

 and yet not keep the steam up. When 

 every thing is tight, the steam set free even 

 under one little boiler may do a vast amount 

 of work, and serve over a vast territory. Jt 

 will warm np thfi house as if by magic, turn 

 great wheels, melt wax and honey, cook food, 

 and prove a wonderful help in many depart- 

 ments of life ; and while it is kept within 

 bounds, the engineer has not a very difficult 

 task to keep every thing moving nicely. 

 JL,et even a little leak show itself, however, 

 and although the steam that lirsti escapes is 

 so insigniticant as to make no perceptible 

 difference, if allowed to go on unchecked, 

 soon wears the orifice larger, and by and by 

 it whistles through with a shrill scream, as it 

 were. The pressure on the pipes of the whole 

 institution diminishes, and seems to rush 

 frantically, as it were, to the place of outlet. 

 The machinery slacks, the great pipes cool 

 off, and so long as this little opening, far 

 away and out of sight, it may be, remains 

 nncared for, the whole steam-boiler is for 

 the time almost useless. How should the 

 steam in the pipes, far away, know that 

 there is a place of exit here? And why 

 should the whole establishment suffer from 

 just this one little flaw V 



So it is with a human life. We learn from 

 ancient history that 'J'hebes had a hundred 

 gates, i have sometimes thought that there 

 are a hundred gates, or places of danger, 

 to the human heart While all of these are 

 closed, or carefully guarded by the vigilant 

 owner, he is auspful member of society; but 

 let one in the hundred get open, or unguarded, 

 and the soul of the man oozes out, little by 

 little, and he is a lost soul. The man may 

 be perfect in every respect, except that he 

 has longings for strong drink that sometimes 

 overpower him. If they have overpowered 

 him once, they will be pretty sure to do so 

 again, and each time he yields he is less of a 

 man. If he has a violent temper that he 

 sometimes gives way to, this is another open- 

 ing through which manhood may go If he 

 is addicted to untruth, and has become hard- 

 ened so that he does not scruyjle to falsify 

 when he thinks he won't be found out, steam 

 has commenced to escape ; and if the break 

 is not ])romptly closed, the man is soon use- 

 less. l)id you ever know a person whom 

 you had learned to put no dci)endence in r 

 and have you noticed how quickly everybody 

 found it out, even the children? And the 

 poor fellow, iniconscious of his fall, goes 

 through the world passing falsehood for 

 truth, and thinks nobody detects it. 



Within a few days back, another opening 

 has occurred to me where one's usefulness 

 and value to society ooze out, and it is a sin 

 of which most of us are more or less guilty. 

 It is in falling into a habit of commencing a 

 great many things which we never finish— 

 of scattering our powers. A farmer chops a 

 tree down, and then lets it lie and rot ; a 

 mechanic begins a machine or a vehicle, and 

 consoles himself by thinking that some day 



when he feels like it he will finish it up. 

 Pretty soon the individual has a life full of 

 half-finished projects. He gets behind hand 

 and in debt, while if all the labor he had be- 

 stowed on this, that, and the other were 

 utilized and turned into cash, he might be 

 outof debt, and have a little surplus besides. 

 Such habits are like escaping steam, that 

 will ruin a man if he does not shake them off 

 and free himself. .Now, it is not only direct 

 falsehoods, evil liabits. and half-finished tasks 

 and things of this sort, that c.iuse a man to 

 lose his soul in the sense in which I have 

 put it, but there are things not at first as a])- 

 ])arent as the positive sins, that may lead to 

 the same result. When we laid the steam- 

 pipes over to our liouse. I declared to the 

 men who were doing it that the pipes must 

 be absolutely dry, and therefoie on my own 

 responsibility, although they did not seem to 

 think it really necessary, I had a tile under- 

 drain laid in the ground under the box that 

 held the pipes. During the flood of water 

 we had a few days ago, while the ground 

 and many outlets were held fast in frost, the 

 water backed up in this drain, and covered 

 the steam-pipes. I was watching for the ef- 

 fect. The engineer soon announced that he 

 could not keep up steam possibly, although 

 every outlet was absolutely tight. The trou- 

 ble was, ice-cold water had backed up and 

 covered the steam-pipes ; and before steam 

 could be made to pass through these pipes, 

 this whole body of ice water, with the cold 

 wet ground surrounding, must be raised to 

 the boiling-point of water. The consequence 

 was, that while there was no opening in the 

 pipes, the ice water surrounding them con- 

 densed the steam as fast as the boiler coiUd 

 make it, and such an immense draft on the 

 powers of the boiler and fuel was more than 

 it could stand. When the steam was shut 

 off from tliis line of pipes, all went well. 



You see. friends, although there was no 

 break or flaw in the pipe, the surrounding 

 influences made almost as much difference 

 as a break would. A young man with the 

 best of parents, under the influences of 

 friends, home, and Sunday-school, Christian 

 people, and all else that can be brought to 

 bear, is not safe against the corrupting in- 

 fluer.ces of bad society and late hours. 

 It would corrupt a saint to be compelled 

 to be wliere he daily heard blasphemy, ob- 

 scenity, irreverence toward (iod, and things 

 of that kind. jSothing can be brought to 

 bear on a young man to counteract constant 

 evil associations and surroundings. 



It is a Christian duty for every man to 

 keep away from bad influences as far as he 

 can. and iieglect no necessary duty. A part 

 of the Lord's prayer includes this thought — 

 keep us from temptation. For a time, we 

 may not see tliat contaminating influences 

 are dolus us harm ; and we may think that 

 our trust in God, and our h'old on spiritual 

 things, is such that nothing can shake it. 

 But remember, that he that thinketh he 

 standeth should take heed lest lie fall. It is 

 customary to cover steam-pipes with a sort 

 of non-conducting material, to prevent con- 

 densation, and 1o retain the heat. And so 

 should a Christian do. He should surround 

 himself with good influences, with Christian 



