1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



r5i 



ever nature, will manage this one too, espe- 

 cially since it is only a question as to fi07V and 

 in what niauiur we shall come to him and 

 how at his feet, as we give him our lives and 

 " crow II him Lord of all." 



A SERMON TO BOYS AND GIKLS. 



THK IMVS' 1HI> HA1((;A1N. 



By If. T. i:Un<i. 



A (Trent niniiy .ve;irs hl-o twin brottiers were born. 

 1 <1() lint kiiiiw wht-tlier tlu'ii- mdllicr (Irt ssi'd thorn 

 alike. :i-- ii)(itlu'r-< friMiuiMitl\- do now. 1)ut. althouKh 

 tlioy may liave worn the satne kind of clothes, there 

 never were twins wlio differerl so much as these two 

 boys. Tiiey were just as different as day is from 

 nijrht, or as light from darkness. One of the boys 

 wag very quiet He was a shepherd; and at niglit, 

 when he liad broug-ht the tiock into the fold, he 

 would go to his tent, kindle ids fire, and cook his 

 supjier. But tlie otlier brother was very restless; 

 he did r.ot like walkitig quietly behind a flock of 

 sheep, but was far moi'e at home when on the 

 chase. So lie became a hunter, and went out from 

 the tent every morning with tlie bow across his 

 shoulder, and case full of ariows. 



Jacob, the shepherd boy, would often run into his 

 mother's tent with a pitchcrful of milk, or a bundle 

 of wool for her to spill into coats and dresses; there- 

 fore the mother loved him. Esau, the other brother, 

 often came home, carrying on his shoulder not only 

 bis faithful bow but a good fat deer for his fatiier. 



In the country where these boys lived, there was 

 a law thiit the first-born son should rpceive a double 

 portion of his father's money When the father 

 died, the tirst-born son also received his father's 

 blessing and otiior great honors. Tliis was < ailed 

 the iHithiisrtit, and bolongpd to Rsau. the hunter. 



On'' (lav Esau had iieen hunting all day. and had 

 become very hungry in roaming through the fields 

 for game. At last lie came to liis i lotlier's tent. 

 Jacob had his sheep in the fold, and had cooked 

 some porridge of red bean meal. The whole tent 

 was full of the delightful odor of the steaming por- 

 ridge-pot. The hungry huntpr said, "Give me of 

 that red." He meant of that red porridge; but a 

 hungry man uses few words. Jacob, who was very 

 quiet and never in a liurry, but always ready to 

 drive a sharp bargain, said: 



"Esau, you know you were born a little before 

 me, and, according to our law, the birthriglit is 

 yours; but I'll tell you what I will do with you. If 

 you will give me your birthright I will give you my 

 porridge." 



Esau said, " Well. T am going to starve any way, if 

 I don't get something to eat. I may.iust as well 

 sell the birthriglit, for the best birthright in the 

 world is of no value to a dead man. Give me your 

 porridge and I will give you my birthright." 



But Jacob, who was in 'some ways a mighty 

 mean boy. and who always looked out for the big- 

 gest end of a bargain, said, " You swear to me, that 

 you will sell your birthright for the porridge." 



Esau then made a solemn promise before God 

 that he would stick to the bargain. So Jacob gave 

 to Esau the porridge, and some bread and water. 



After Esau had eaten he went away and fell 

 asleep in his own tent; but, oh how sorry he was 

 afterward that he had made stich a bad bargain! 

 Day and night, with tears and a sad heart, he tried 

 to get the birtiiright back but he failed. Esau has 

 ever since been known as tin- hoy who madi^ a bad 

 bargain. Esau made a had bargain because he 

 gave more than h" received: and every iioy who 

 gives more than he receives makes a lad bargain. 

 Esau has been dead nearly 4000 years; but hie fool- 

 ish bargain has npver been fo'gottcn. 



But although the first E^^au is dead, there are a 

 go' d many hoys who migh' with good right be 

 called '• Esau." Some of thtseboys are veiy popu- 

 lar, just like Es;iu: they take a great de.al of interest 

 in manly sports. There are many of them fine fel- 

 lows, too, but tliey make bad bargains, and there- 

 fore we will call them "Esau." 



I. — THE SMOKING ?:SAU. 



The boy who begins to smoke makes a bad bar- 

 gain. We will say he gives a nickel for his first 



cigar. Now, what does ho get '? A white, duatlily 

 face, an awfully sick stomach, and somrtiincs a good 

 whipping from his mother. 1 think there is not a 

 boy in America so foolish that he wc vild not rather 

 h:ive a. nice liright tlve-cent iiiec than a pale face, a 

 sic-k St inach, and a wliippin'j-. So \oii see the boy 

 makes a bad bargain with his first- smoke. But, you 

 say, it is not fair to judge by tlie Hrst smoke. 'The 

 boy will not, always bo sick, and his mother will not 

 always object to his srnoking. That is true. Let 

 us, therefore, take not the first, but the one hun- 

 dredth smoke. What does the boy now give for 

 smoking? He gives not one but a good many five- 

 cent jiioces. It will all depend upfm how much 

 money he has. Suppose ho is a poor boy, and 

 spends only five cents each day until he is twenty- 

 one. This makes .3.5 cents a week, $IS20 a year, 

 which, put ill a bank ;it a low rate of interest, 

 would become a sum of over $27.5 by the time the 

 boy is twenty-one. Now, what does the young 

 smoker get for his $375? He gets only one thing, and 

 that is pleasure There is not any other advantage 

 in smoking; and the only question is, "Does it pay 

 to acquire an appetite which is not natural, at so 

 great a cost?" 



"Ah ! but," you say, " I get something else. I am 

 in the fashion." 



I do believe that you are not in the fashion with 

 the majority of good people. If I should call on all 

 the old smokers in America, and say. "Gentlemen, 

 which boys do you admire most— those who smoke 

 or those who do not smoke?" I am quite sure the 

 majority of them would say, "Although we smoke 

 ourselves, we like the boys best who do not smoke." 

 The boys who do not smoke are looked upon by all 

 sensible people as the best. 



The smoking boy makes a bad bargain, because 

 all good physicians will tell you that smoking is 

 bad for a boy who is growing. To the boys who 

 already smoke, and are not willing to give it up, 

 let me say that cigarette-smoking is the worst thing 

 you can do. The nicoiine. or tobacco-oil, is a deadly 

 poison; and if you are determined to smoke, the 

 Jeest dangerous way is to smoke a long clay pipe, 

 which partlj' draws in the poison. 



But smoking is a bad bargain, because, when you 

 once begin it is hard to give it up. A little over 

 three hundred and fifty years ago the only smokers 

 in the world were the North American Indians. 

 The tobacco-plant was first brought to Spain, and 

 there it grew in the vards as an ornamental plant 

 until a man named Nicolo Manardes said. "Tobacco 

 is good as a medicine." Men all over Europe began 

 to use it; but it was at first looked down upon by 

 almost every government. Two hundred and fifty 

 years ago the men who smoked in Russia had their 

 noses cut off. In Turkey the Sultan beheaded 

 smokers in the most cruel manner. In England, 

 King James I. was very bitter against it. He said, 

 "It is loathsome to the eyes, hateful to the nose, 

 h.'irmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs; 

 and the stinkinir fumes resemble the smoke of the 

 bottomless pit." But all the opposition of kings 

 did no good. The habit was stronger than czr, 

 sultan, or sword. The people kept on smoking. 

 They liked it. and the habit grew stronger and 

 stronger, until to-day almost every man in Persia 

 and Turkey smokes. Millions in Europe smoke: 

 and in Asia, not only the men but women, and even 

 the girls, smoke. 



A habit which, in three hundred years, spread 

 over the whole world, must be fearfully strong Tt 

 is with smoking as it was with the threads with which 

 the Lilliputians bound Gulliver. Thp '^tojy is so 

 interesting I will tell it to you. Gulliver was a 

 sailor «nd a great traveler He had bt en in about 

 every part of the world. One day he was wrecked 

 on the shores of a strange land All of the crew 

 wore drowned but Gulliver. He was very tired and 

 wet, so he lay down on the warm sand and went to 

 sleep The peo])le who lived on th island were 

 very little, and were called Lillipufiars. The largest 

 were not as big as Gulliver's thumb, ^yhen they 

 saw him, like a mount airu sleeping on the sand, 

 thev were frightened, but soon came nearer. They 

 held a mass-meeting, and determined to take Gul- 

 liver prisoner. So they got ladders :ind ropes, and 

 ■•ameto him. They put the ladders on the sides of 

 his body, and climbed up Then they carried thou- 

 sands of threads across Gulliver's nody. and drove 

 little pegs into the sand to fasten the thread=, so 

 thoy worked a great many hours. Finally Gulliver 

 woke up and tried to stir; but he was fastened eo 



