890 



GLEANINGS INfBEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



feeble efforts in laboring for the upbuilding 

 of his cause. 



The more Nehemiah prospered, however, 

 the more determined his enemies seemed to 

 be to put a stop to the work. They even 

 laid i)lans to kill him. Then Ihey pretended 

 to be his friend. They told him that slan- 

 derous rei)orts were started that would do 

 great damage. He was sharp enough, how- 

 ever, to be slow to accept their sudden uver- 

 tiiies of friendship. Then they went and 

 liribed one of Nehemiah's own high-priests, 

 wlio advised him to retire to the temple and 

 lock the doors, to save his life. Nehemiah, 

 however, saw through this scheme, and he 

 denounced the traitor to his face. He tri- 

 umphed over all obstacles, and builded the 

 wall in a little less than two month.s— at 

 least, he made it strong enough to keep out 

 the enemy. Then he liad quite a battle to 

 light with his own people, to get them to ob- 

 serve the Sabbath. Xehemiah was a man 

 of peace when it was possible to observe 

 Gods holy laws in a peaceful way ; but 

 when the Sabbath-breakers still hung around 

 the gates, trying to start trade and traffic on 

 the holy day, he gave them to understand 

 he was not only on the side of liglit, butth^t 

 he was not afraid. He says to them, " AVhy 

 lodge ye about the wall V If ye do s ) again, 

 I will "lay hands on you." And wp are t<ild 

 they cleared out then and came no more. 

 His troubles did not end speedily. how«-vei-. 

 The Hebrew youth would persist in inter- 

 marrying with the good-looking heathen 

 damsels, and alliances were formed with 

 the very men who plotted to take Nehemi- 

 ahs life. Our humble friend wa^ hcginning 

 now to be quite a hero, however, and he 

 cleared out the rebels, man and wiie both, 

 and gave them to understand that those 

 who shared in the upbuilding of .Jerusalem 

 must be either on one side or the other. 

 You see, friends, that, even in olden time, 

 one with God on his side was a host. 



Let me now tell you a little story of mod- 

 ern times. I have been lequested not to 

 give tlie luimes. so I think 1 will try to tell 

 my story without mentioning any. About 

 fifteen years ago a poor invalid who lived 

 out west began to meditate, on a sick-bed, 

 as to how slie might do more for the cause 

 of Christ Jesus, especially in the matter of 

 assisting the work in foreign lands. She 

 could use her pen while reclining on her 

 bed, and she was also able, when her dis- 

 ease troubled her least, to do some kinds of 

 handwork with the needle, and other like 

 occupations ; but she longed to do more 

 than these avenues afforded. She became 

 interested in bee-keeping ; and although 

 one might smile to think of a person keeping 

 bees who could not sit up at all, she could 

 not give the matter up. Her first experience 

 was a good deal disheartening. It was mon- 

 ey out of pocket, with no income. Almost 

 every thing she did seemed to be the wrong 

 thing. She borrowed some books, and some 

 kind friend lent her papers ; but one said 

 one thing, and the other something else ; 

 and what could she do to make the bees 

 prosper where there were so many confiict- 

 ing directions? In November, 1873, she 

 wrote me a letter, telling me of her troubles, 



and asking me to tell her if they had been 

 doing the right thing or not with the few 

 bees they then had. I gave her, perhaps, 

 more encouragement than she had ever re- 

 ceived before. 1 told her that what she had 

 done was exactly right, and that 1 felt pret- 

 ty sure she would be rewarded in due time. 

 Quite a correspondence sprang up, and I 

 soon became quite well acquainted, and a 

 good deal interested. From the outset I 

 was surprised to find such faith and energy, 

 such a continual studying and devising plans 

 and means from one who was, as the world 

 would declare, completely shut off or cut off 

 from any such projects as were continually 

 welling up in her heart. I am sorry to say 

 that I was not a Christian at the time. Her 

 faith in God and faith in jjrayer meant noth- 

 ing particularly to me. When, however, I 

 came out decidedly on the Lord's side, there 

 was a new bond of friendship between us. 

 Her talks abt)ut mission work before this 

 had been dull and uninteresting to me ; but 

 now they were to me glimpses of one of 

 God's divine plans and purposes. 



As I had predicted, her bees came out in 

 good condition ; and when the weather per- 

 mitted them to fiy in the spring, she became 

 so enthusiastic in regard to this wonderful 

 new industry, that reports from her hus- 

 band and the other kind friends who waited 

 on her did not satisfy her. The longing to 

 be out in the open air among them became 

 an inspiration, and she crawled outdoors 

 rather than walked out. As no bad results 

 followed, she got out again and again. The 

 hum of the bees, God's bright sunshine, 

 and pure air, did her good, as I felt sure 

 they would, and the excitement of using 

 her mind as well as muscles, instead of fa- 

 tiguing her proved to be a stimulus. Lit- 

 tle by little she gained strength to sit up 

 and open the hives. When extracting time 

 came, she worked the extractor while lying 

 on a loimge. She even made comb founda- 

 tion, and scraped the propolis from the hon- 

 ey-boxes. God answered her prayers, and 

 gave her, as he usually does, even viore than 

 she asked for. She asked for money with 

 which to assist missionaries ; and in an- 

 swer to this prayer, came, by slow degrees, 

 a degree of health she had not known for 

 years. Doubtless many of you will take up 

 the thread of my story without any further 

 help. Did she get proud of her success? 

 No, she gave Christ Jesus all the glory and 

 praise. Did she buy fine things— horses and 

 carriage and such like, that she might ride 

 at her ease, and outshine her neighbors? 

 God forbid ! I do not know any thing about 

 the horses and carriage. Perhaps slie has 

 one with wliich to go to church when she is 

 able ; but I am quite certain she has never 

 thought of outshining anybody. 



Let me digress a little. Years ago a young 

 man in one of our jails expressed a wish 

 that the Lord would send him $5UU When 

 I asked him what he would do with it, his 

 answer exhibited such a bad state of heart 

 that God could not consistently answer the 

 prayer, for it would not be a prayer at all. 

 By some queer freak, the nature of which I 

 can not understand, I have for years had 

 dreams every now and then— yes, veritable 



