418 



GLEANINGS IN BEE Cl'LTURE. 



June 1. 



times that the most cruel overseer in the 

 world was one who had been promoted from 

 the place of a common slave ; and somebody 

 has said (but I hope it is not true) that the 

 harshest and most severe housekeeper with 

 her hired girls is the one who has been a hired 

 girl all her life, and who has been suddenly 

 promoted by marrying a rich man. Is it true 

 that there is a tendenc}' in this direction ? Af- 

 ter God has forgiven us our debts (or our 

 sins), can it be true that at such a time we are 

 less inclined to be merciful to those who are 

 indebted to us? From the very fact that this 

 thought takes a prominent place in that won- 

 derful prayer, may we rightly infer that we 

 are constantly in danger of forgetting what 

 we have said in our devotions, "Forgive us 

 our debts as we forgive our debtors " ? 



There are bee-keepers among our readers 

 who have struggled hard to pay off the mort- 

 gage on the little home. After years of toil 

 and prayer, God has seen fit to grant your pe- 

 tition. The debt is wiped out, and the prayer 

 is answered. Now, are you going to be a bet- 

 ter Christian *^ are you going to havf' more 

 faith afler God has lifted the load, or are you 

 going to be proud, and say by your actions, 

 " I am all right now, and do not need to work 

 as hard (nor ti.> pray as hard) as I have been 

 doing. I can take care of myself now pretty 

 well"? Does that sound pretty hard and 

 rough, dear brother? Well, it suggests what 

 I have found in my own self. I am getting 

 old, and it is right and proper that I should be 

 relieved from some of my cares and worries ; 

 but if the relief induces me to pray less, then 

 it may not be a very good thing to give me 

 rest, after all. A few days ago I sought the 

 old spot where I have prayed so many times ; 

 and my prayer was something like this : "O 

 Lord, I come to thee again in trouble. I come 

 to thee because thou has helped me and shown 

 me a way out of these same troubles during 

 all these years that are past and gone. Thou 

 hast piloted me safely through many perplex- 

 ing trials ; therefore I come to thee once more 

 in faith believing. If, however, it is thy will 

 that I should bear this grievous burden for 

 Christ's sake, give me grace and strength to 

 bear it patiently." Do you know that I felt 

 happier and stronger right away ? In fact, I 

 felt almost glad that the trouble had come, 

 for it had sent me back to the feet of my Sa- 

 vior. Yes, it had sent me very low at his 

 feet — lower than I had been for some time be- 

 fore. Now, do you think it is always best for 

 us that we should be spared these trials? 

 Why, if every thing succeeded and nothing 



*Dear friend, after God has g;ranted your prayer are 

 you sure you always remember to thank him, as you 

 proposed at the time of your earnest petition you 

 would do? It may not be financial troubles. Suppo.se 

 a loved one has been near death. In very anguish of 

 spirit vou have prayed that the precious life might be 

 spared. Now look back through the years that are 

 past, and answer me truthfully : When God granted 

 your prayer, did you afterward love to read your Bible 

 more ? Did the answer to prayer prompt j-ou to kneel 

 to him oftener in thanksgiving and praise? Some- 

 times — nay, frequently — God does not see fit to spare 

 the loved one. And is it not true that affliction some- 

 times brings us nearer to him than granting our re- 

 quests? Alas, poor humanity I Truly, "he knoweth 

 our frame ; he remembereth that we are dust." 



went wrong, I am afraid I should get to be a 

 lazy and indolent Christian ; and I think the 

 servant who took his brother by the throat 

 must have been a lazy and indolent servant. 

 Cowards are always lazy and indolent. 



Now, even if the presence of the Holy Spirit 

 docs make one at times feel very uncomfort- 

 able, I am going to continue to pray that his 

 influence may be ever near me. I hope he 

 may chide and restrain me when I am chasing 

 the dogs out of the garden in an unchristian- 

 like way ; and may he ever so much more 

 chide and restrain me whenever I seem called 

 upon to stop iniquity and fraud and injustice, 

 wherever I may meet them. 



PURE WATER TO DRINK. 

 I am ashamed to think that I have lived to 

 be toward sixty years old without having ever 

 discovered what a delicious and refreshing 

 beverage pure water is. I am a.shamed to 

 think 1 have been so many years in ignorance 

 of one of God's most precious and greatest 

 gifts. I have now been drinking distilled wa- 

 ter in considerable quantities three or four 

 times a day ever since we got the Sanitary- 

 still ; and the more I drink of it the better I 

 like it. You may urge that it costs some- 

 thing. The proprietors of the machine say it 

 costs two cents a gallon when you burn gaso- 

 line to produce it. But let us say it co^X&five 

 cents a gallon. Lemonade, cream soda, and 

 other " temperance " drinks, cost five cents a 

 glass. Surely we can afford it when every- 

 body may have it at a cost of only five cents a 

 gallon ; and it does not seem to me I shall 

 ever more want summer drinks, especially 

 sweetened drinks, when I can have pure water 

 instead. It is not because it is a new hobby or 

 notion I have got. Several times I have 

 tried drinking cistern water instead, and boil- 

 ed it as I used to do to be sure it contained no 

 germs, either animal or vegetable. But the 

 cistern water does not " set " as well as does 

 the distilled water. It leaves a .suspicious 

 taste of some foreign matter in my mouth, and 

 the digestive apparatus complains just a little 

 that it does not have the solvent and refresh- 

 ing power of aqua pura. I have read before 

 that distilled water possesses solvent proper- 

 ties considerably beyond those of any other. I 

 have been told that it is much more whole- 

 some, especially where there is any tendency 

 toward indigestion ; but I never believed it 

 was possible for one to learn to enjoy and 

 thirst for pure water as I do. The rain water 

 at Bermtida is something like it ; but rain wa- 

 ter is pretty sure, unless exceeding care is 

 exercised, to dissolve something from the 

 roofs of the houses, or from the stone tanks 

 that contain the water. I suspect the princi- 

 pal impurity in the average cistern water of 

 towns and cities comes from coal smoke that 



