89r? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dkc. 1. 



and solemn look, then she knelt, and I either 

 saw, or imagined that I did. her lips moving in 

 prayer. I do not know what she said, of course; 

 but is it not possible — nay, likely — that she was 

 honest and sincere, while something like the 

 following passed through her mind? 



"Holy Father, help me to be better than I 

 have been. Give me grace to be more gentle 

 and kind to tjie baby. Help me to be more pa- 

 tient, even when my mistress is unreasonable; 

 and e'^pecially. O Holy Father, help me to over- 

 come my growing habit of telling fibs and 

 falsehoods, (iive me courage from on high to 

 confess my faults, instead of telling little lies 

 to screen myself and creep out of them. Help 

 me to otvn up when I have been forgetful. 

 Help me in my efforts to avoid evil companions 

 that I know are harmful. Help me to love 

 more this thy holy church, and forgive all my 

 many sins. Amen." Our stenographer suggests 

 that he fears I have been stretching my imagi- 

 nation on the side of charity. Well, the truth 

 is, that neither he nor I know just what 

 thoughts and emotions are in the hearts of these 

 people when they kneel in that old clurch where 

 thousands have knelt before them. Of course. I 

 should want every prayer to be made in the 

 name of Christ, for " no man cometh unto the 

 Father but by the Son;" but from what I know 

 of them, this is not their way ; and our ste- 

 nographer again suggests that their address 

 would more likely be made in the name of the 

 " holy mother'' than to the Holy Father. But 

 even if that be true, I trust and believe that, 

 with the large business traffic that is now open- 

 ing in Paso del Norte, with us, thoughts of God 

 and Christ may soon be carried in; and I 

 hope, too, that there may gradually commence a 

 practical form of praying, even if they have not 

 done it already, instead of formulated prayers 

 and mechanical actions without heart or spirit 

 in them. 



I told Mrs. Root that I was not going away 

 without taking some part in their religious ser- 

 vices; perhaps she feared that I too was going 

 to kneel and pray on that stone floor. I did not 

 feel quite called upon to do that, however, buti 

 did — what do you suppose? Why, I dropped a 

 nickel into a little box that had an inscription 

 over it, soliciting funds for the purpose of keep- 

 ing up the church and its services. Some of 

 you may think, perhaps, that civilization in its 

 progress should tear down and obliterate this 

 sort of religion — especially when we recall the 

 bloodshed and crime and superstition that have 

 been more or less attached to it in times past. 

 Now. I can not agree with this. Of course, I 

 know very little about the whole matter; but I 

 should like to see that very church-building, 

 those very services, and the same people that 

 frequent them now. gently molded over to some 

 practical religion. May be it can't be done, and 

 has never been done; but I tell you, friends, the 

 universality of Christ's religion — that good time 

 that Habakkuk foresaw when he declared that 

 the "knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth 

 as the waters cover the sea," and that Daniel 

 foresaw when he said that the stone cut out of 

 the mountain should fill the earth, is even now 

 at hand— a kingdom that Christ said should 

 stand against all the assaults of the enemy ; a 

 time when his prayer will be answered for the 

 unity of all his people. The Endeavor Society 

 is making a big stride in that very direction, or, 

 at least, in a direction that will bring harmony, 

 close acquaintanceship, and brotherly love be- 

 tween the members of various religious organ- 

 izations we now have scattered over the world. 

 The walks in front of this old church, the 

 stone edgings, and the shrubbery, give one a 

 glimpse of Mexico. The inscriptions were all 

 in an unknown language, so we could tell but 



little about them. The fine monument, with 

 its little enclosure, in the foreground, we judge 

 to be quite modern. Our proof-reader tells me 

 that the inscription, seen in the photography 

 reads. " A Benito Juarez " — " In Honor of Ben- 

 ito Juarez," president of Mexico. 



The dogs are quite plentiful in Mexican 

 towns and streets. Two of them you notice are 

 even now in view. The big one at the left 

 looks so exactly like the chap that walks over my 

 glass sash across the way, smashing the glass 

 at every step, that I fairly ache, every time I 

 look at the picture, to chop off that tail of his 

 that sticks up in tlie air so like a flag; only, if I 

 could choose just where to have it cut off. I 

 would let the ax fall just back of his ears. You 

 will notice a goat standing in the shade of the 

 president's monument. Goats are also quite 

 plentiful in Mexico, and they are just as nasty 

 there as anywhere else. The Mexican, seen 

 with something on his head, with his shawl 

 wrapped about him. looks like the fellow who 

 was selling fried yams. Perhaps he is moving 

 off to another part of the towti to find a fresh 

 lot of customers. The young trees visible. I 

 judge to be the beautiful'umbrella-tree. When 

 they get a little larger, their beautiful foliage 

 ranges itself toward the sun and light, almost 

 like shingles on the roof of a house, and it is a 

 veritable great umbrella, affording a delicious 

 shade, which is needed in Mexico almost every 

 day in the year 



Oh! I forgot to tell you that, as we passed out 

 of the church, we noticed some lettering on the 

 stones undei- our feet, and we were informed 

 that the former priests and oiiticials of the 

 church have their resting-places under these 

 very stones, so that, while we Avere standing on 

 the walk, we were really stepping over "the 

 tombs of the prophets." The dates went back 

 to the 15, 16. 17. and 18 hundreds. 



Now, as I try to tell what we saw tliere I am 

 aware that I have doubtless drawn some very 

 erroneous conclusions. If so, I wish some read- 

 er of Glea.nin6s, who is competent, would set 

 me right. I should be especially glad to know 

 something more of this strange religion that 

 has scattered the ruins of these old mission 

 churches throughout such a large part of our 

 land — ruins that go back almost to the discov- 

 ery of America by Christopher Columbus. 



In many of the shops we saw beautiful speci- 

 mens of Mexican onyx and Mexican filigree 

 jewel-ry. This filigree jewelry is probably more 

 artistic than anything else in that line made 

 in the world. Some of it is so fine that it re- 

 quires a magnifying-glass to see the spiderweb 

 wires that form the beautiful scrollwork and 

 frostwork; and I am told that the greater part 

 of it is made entirely by hand. The material is 

 chemically pure silver. The shopkeepers urge 

 visitors to buy. because of the saving of all 

 duties and customs ijetween foreign countries. 

 In fact, iit Paso del Norte they import laces, 

 precious stones, and every thing in that line, 

 from all parts of the world, free of all customs 

 duties. "It costs you only ten cents to come 

 over here, and ten cents to go back again, and 

 you can save dollars by making your purchases 

 here," urged a shopkeeper. But I insisted that 

 we should show the goods we had purchased, 

 and offer to pay customs, as we went back over 

 the bridge. At this our friend put up both 

 hands in disgust. "Why. put the goods in your 

 pocket, and I assure you"— and he brought his 

 hand down with emphasis — "that they will 

 never say a word, and you will not have a bit 

 of trouble." I tried to make him understand 

 that that was not the point at all. If it were 

 contrary to the laws and regulations -between 

 the two countries. I did not want the goods in 

 my pocket, and I did not want to save tlie duty. 



