1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



405 



but yet in going over the matter in detail, self 

 or vSatan (which is it?) seems to say, "Why, 

 that is all right," and so on clear to the end. 



When you are fighting, even for Christ's 

 sake, do not get a going with such vehemence 

 that you can not stop when you ought to. 



We need fighting Christians for the cause of 

 temperance. God only knows where our na- 

 tion would land if we did not have fighting 

 Christians. Yes, and we need fighting i/n'nis- 

 fers. May God be praised that we have quite 

 a few of them at the present time. Some have 

 lost their lives — have died martyrs to the 

 cause of temperance. But there are more who 

 are ready to die when it seems as if somebody 

 must die to stop this awful and overwhelming 

 traffic. While I write, this country is waging 

 war with a foreign nation. If I am right, it is 

 almost the first, or, say, one of the first, battles 

 fought directly for the sake of humanity. We 

 are not fighting for our relations, and we are 

 not fighting because it is Americans who are 

 suffering wrong and oppression. The spirit of 

 the times seems to say that every suffering son 

 of humanity is our neighbor, and our country 

 has accepted that great Bible truth, brought 

 out so prominently when Cain asked the ques- 

 tion, " Am I my brother's keeper? " We are 

 recognizing the Cub lus as our brothers, no 

 matter what the race, color, or condition. 



For years past the world has been discuss- 

 ing the question whether it is right and proper 

 for a nation to interfere when some other na- 

 tion is torturing its people by prolonged star- 

 vation, bloodshed, and outrage. During the 

 atrocities perpetrated on the Armenians, Glad- 

 stone and a host of Christian people back of 

 him called loudly for intervention by the pow- 

 ers — intervention by war if nothing else would 

 answer. None of the nations saw fit to move 

 in the matter. Finally, however, may God be 

 praised, our own nation has seen fit to move 

 when a repetition of these same cruelties came 

 a little nearer our own shores. If this should 

 be the means of bringing about a new depar- 

 ture that shall spread over the whole wide 

 world — a new departure that shall by custom 

 authorize the intervention of foreign powers 

 when cruelty goes beyond a certain limit, then 

 I say again, may God be praised. 



It used to be taken for granted that a father 

 Gould punish his child just as much as he saw 

 fit ; and if anybody remonstrated he could say, 

 "Tend to your own business and I will tend 

 to mine.""' But of late many a father has 

 found to his sorrow that he can not carrj- this 

 thing beyong a certain limit, before the neigh- 

 bors interfere. Not very long ago some very 

 ungrateful sons went too far in being cruel 



* Until within a few years a man could whip his 

 horse as long as he felt inclined; and if anybody re- 

 monstrated he could tell him to " mind his own busi- 

 ness;" but, thanks to the Humane Society, the Chris- 

 tianity of to-day says, " Not so;" so that in one sense 

 the Christian and humane world are beginning to 

 regard even domestic animals as our neighbors in the 

 sense that Jesus put it when he gave us that wonder- 

 ful parable of the good Samaritan. The Christian 

 says, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." To 

 be sure, it is a hard thing to go to court and incur a 

 neighbor's displeasure and ill will; but one can not be 

 a consistent Christian unless he bears such crosses as 

 these, and, when nothing else will do, takes up the 

 sword in defense of the helpless and unprotected. 



and inhuman to their father. They were 

 greatly astonished when not only the neigh- 

 borhood but the whole community tttrned out 

 and interfered ; and I believe people generally 

 are fast learning that public opinion may be 

 outraged only about so far. God forbid that I 

 should encourage lynching or mob law ; but I 

 do rejoice that community is beginning more 

 and more to hold each person responsible for 

 his acts. Perhaps our Endeavor Societies, that 

 have pleased and astonished us so much by 

 their wonderfully rapid growth, may, when 

 they get to be a little older, take up a little 

 more aggressive Christianity. While the great 

 meeting was in progress in San Francisco 

 there were terrible strikes going on throughout 

 our land. Some of them almost threatened 

 civil war. I suggested at the time that, as 

 there were Endeavorers, without question, on 

 both sides of the opposing forces, this great 

 Endeavor meeting should try to bridge over 

 the chasm between capital and labor. There 

 are enough Endeavorers to do a tremendous 

 work in the way of arbitration. If that should 

 fail, what a mighty work the Endeavorers, if 

 they would fall into line, might do in battling 

 for right ! and in the same way along many 

 other lines. They have already accomplished 

 a good deal in the way of discouraging Sunday 

 traffic and Sunday exctirsions. The Young 

 Men's Christian Association is another organ- 

 ization embracing Christians of a/l denomina- 

 tions. Surely we may expect the grace of God 

 to go with and guide these friends of ours in 

 fighting for the banner of Christ Jesus. 



When this present war is ended (and I have 

 believed from the very start that God would 

 help us to make it a brief one) there is going 

 to be an opportunity for spreading the gospel, 

 such as the world never had before. Every- 

 body seems astonished at the ease with which 

 men and ihoney came forward when war was 

 proclaimed. May God grant that, when peace 

 reigns again, this same spirit of patriotism 

 may prompt mankind to have a like enthusi- 

 asm in coming forward to stipport the mission- 

 ary work ! The call for teachers the call for 

 printing-presses and books, was never before 

 so great as now. The most benighted nations 

 — those that have been deepest steeped in su- 

 perstition and heathen darkness — are waking 

 up and groping toward the light. God help 

 us that we may be able to give them ivlwle- 

 sottie truth instead of whisky, opium, and to- 

 bacco. 



MISTAKEN VALUES. 



We clip the following from a recent issue of 

 the Sunday-school Times: 



The man who cheats another thinks that he has 

 the best of a bargain, because the character for hon- 

 esty and truth which he sold he valued at less than 

 the few dollars which he gained. Yet those few dol- 

 lars a single day of honest labor might have given 

 him, while that lost innocence, that is beyond price, 

 can never again be recovered. 



Let me suggest that the above applies to 

 those who not only willfully cheat a neigh- 

 bor but who charge a larger profit on things 

 than they themselves would be willing to give 

 under like circumstances. 



