1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



857 



way, went back, and stood before his face, 

 and mildly but firmly told him just how I 

 felt abaut it. and that I vvcis satished he had 

 deceived me, and unless he confessed the 

 truth I would take measures to make him do 

 so. He cowad down before me, and owned 

 up. Perhaps I should add, that intemper- 

 ance was a factor in the case. I was sur- 

 prised asain when I went home with a light 

 heart. In fact, I felt like singing praises to 

 God, who had so plainly indicated to me my 

 duty in this matter, anil it was indicated by 

 these regrets. Since then, after I have evad- 

 ed some unpleasant duty in a sort of cow- 

 ardly way, I have sometimes experienced a 

 thrill of pleasure after doing duty, and I felt 

 happy abaut it, even though the duty in- 

 vovled giving great pain to s >mebody, provid- 

 ing it was done with the view of bringing 

 better feelings in the end. I believe man- 

 kind err, as a rule, in too little charity in- 

 stead of too much, as I have said before ; 

 but it is a cheering tliought, that these re- 

 grets that God sends will instruct and teach 

 us, in the language of tlie text, when we are 

 letting things go too easily, as well as the 

 reverse. 



Who has not felt what a glorious thing it 

 is to be able to choose that golden mean be- 

 tween letting things run along in a slip-shod 

 sort of way, and "the other extreme of mak- 

 ing a great fuss about every small matter? 

 One who goes through the world accomplish- 

 ing very much must choose carefully be- 

 tween these two extremes; and what can 

 guide us better than God's voice V And does 

 not this voice come in the shape of these re- 

 grets I liave spoken of V Those who are 

 seeking to m?ike God a partner in all the du- 

 ties of life will be looking to him constantly 

 for guidance and instruction. We push 

 ahead in what seems to ns to be tlie right 

 course ; then we stop and listen, as it were. 

 The feeling may be, •• Well done, thou good 

 and faithful servant ; " or it may be, •' Wait 

 a little, my child ; do not go any"further just 

 now;" or, the circumstances maybe such 

 that tlie feeling will be, " You are doing 

 Avell, but you must not falter a moment 

 here ; push on, and hold the advantage you 

 have got. Fear not ; I will guide thee with 

 mine- eye."' 



Dear friends, it seems to me we can not, 

 any of us, make any very great mistake when 

 our attitude is one of an obedient pupil 

 keeping his eyes toward the master, ready 

 to go or stand still, or to turn about or go to 

 the right or the left. Is it not a glorious 

 thought, that this guidance we may all have, 

 and that, no matter haw poor and weak we 

 may be, if we have this obedient spirit, we 

 may be sure the result is eventually heaven- 

 ward, and that the goal we shall surely 

 reach is life eternal? 



It may be well to state, that I do not mean 

 by regrets, giving away to our emotions. A 

 child may need punishing for his own good. 

 No true parent can punish his child without 

 feeling badly about it. It is a great cross 

 for him, and he may feel badly about it for 

 some time afterward ; but I tliink I am not 

 mistaken in saying that, when he has de- 

 liberately and calmly thought of the matter, 

 instead of regret that he did his duty, there 



will be a feeling of peace and happiness that 

 he could not have had, had he let his emo- 

 tions stand in the way of doing this work 

 that needed to be. Many people are moved 

 to give traveling beggars or tramps a meal of 

 victuals, or some old clothing, because the 

 story they told appealed to their emotions; 

 and they would rather give something than 

 to refuse, when past experience and reason 

 might decide, that to refuse would be the 

 right and proper thing, wliile emotions and 

 feelings would say something like this: '•Well, 

 I would rather lose 25 cents than to see the 

 l)oor fellow go away looking so pitiful." I 

 do not mean, in the above illustration, to 

 decide that it is always wrong to give to 

 those who come begging at our doors, for 

 each individual must decide this matter for 

 himself. 



If we are not careful, our emotions may 

 be mistaken for the voice of conscience. 

 Tiie Sundaij- School TinViA said recently, that 

 were a good deal of the talk about '"' doing 

 good " changed to doing your dutt/, it would 

 be much better for all parties, and I think 

 they are striking at a great truth. Do your 

 duty, whether you feel like it or not; and 

 sooner or later you will feel God's approving 

 voice. I do not believe anybody very often 

 experiences regrets for having done his dutv, 

 and the duties of each hour are generally 

 made plain as we go along, if we follow the 

 light that is -given us. 



T will instruct thee and teach thee in the way 

 which thou Shalt go: I will g-uide thee with mine 

 eye. 



]^EP0^¥^ DlgC0U^^6IAI6. 



V PLEASANT ASSESSMENT Or DAMAGES. 



for damages, I told you I would not ask any, 

 although I lost four or five days' honej'-flow, 

 but I have lost manj- times more than that 

 since, by not having the flow. I had i:! 

 stands, spring count. I increased this sum- 

 mer to 24; extracted about 180 lbs. honey; have 

 doubled back to 21, and expect to double back still 

 further, as I am not able to feed all up, and don't 

 think it advisable, as the pasture gives out too 

 soon. Poplar, linden, sumac, and other honey- 

 bearing trees are all gone from our forests; in fact. 

 our forests are all gone. 1 have fed about 150 lbs. 

 granulated sugar this fall; have fed f 1.50 worth of 

 sugar for every 7.5 cents' worth of honey received. 



I have aPelham milll should like to sell; would 

 like to sell 15 stands of bees. I have W or 40 lbs. of 

 beeswa.x' to sell. 1 am too poor to advertise. I will 

 ship all to you, if you will dispose of it. I have also 

 24 chaff hives; would sell Ifi or 18 of them if I could; 

 I never felt so poor in my life. 



John H. Daniel. 

 ("umberlaiid, Guei-nsey Co., O., Nov. 5, 1884. 

 Many thanks, friend I)., for letting us oft' 

 so easily on the delay. It is a little amusing 

 to hear you tell about lu)vv nmch honey you 

 lost because it didn't come. I guess there is 

 a good lot of ns who h ive been in that same 

 hx a good many times. In regard to the 

 forests being gone, I do not see any other 

 remedy than to set to work and plant some 

 more trees. I would not be in haste to sell 

 out, friend D. May be another season your 



