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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



OUR 



HOMES, 



"" '.I. ROOT. 



And be sure your sin will find you out. — Num. 32 : 23. 

 Sin is folly, and our text explains ivhy sin 

 is folly. It is folly because, sooner or later, 

 it is going to be found out. Oh ! why is it 

 that humanity, with all the examples that are 

 strewn before it at every turn, can not learn 

 that it pays to be honest? Now, dear old 

 friend, do not think that I mean to commence 

 this tirade by taking it for granted that / am 

 honest, and that all the rest, or the greater 

 part of them, are dishonest, for it is not true. 

 I can truthfully and honestly say, "Why in 

 the world can / not learn through all the 

 examples that are round about me, that dis- 

 honesty and deceit do not pay ? "' You ask if 

 I really own up that I aui dishonest ? In one 

 sense. There is a constant temptation run- 

 ning all through my life to keep things out of 

 sight that do not look well — to keep on doing 

 selfish things, and to try to cover them up or 

 to make it appear that my motives were good 

 ones instead of selfish ones. I do not believe, 

 however, that these wrong things go on very 

 long. The presence of the Holy Spirit I am 

 praying for every day (and I hope I may say 

 feeling every day), is constantly prompting 

 me to repent and reform, and make good my 

 shortcomings. The great difference between 

 the Christian and the unbeliever is, in my 

 opinion, this : The Christian is being con- 

 stantly prompted to repent, and fight down 

 these selfish tendencies. The unbeliever may 

 be prompted to a certain extent in the same 

 way by public opinion and things of a like 

 nature; but he is not looking constantly to the 

 great Father above, and asking him to reprove 

 and rebuke him whenever he is going wrong. 

 A beautiful passage in the 139lh Psalm, verses 

 23 and 24, brings this with wonderful vivid- 

 ness before us : 



Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and 

 know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked 

 way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 



The matter alluded to in the above has been 

 brought vividly to my mind at this season of 

 the year, because, as usual, we have been 

 obliged to decide what help we shall keep and 

 what we shall let go. Our board of managers 

 have consulted with the foremen of the differ- 

 ent departments, and considered which ones 

 we should keep. As a rule, the newer hands 

 are expected to lie off and give place to the 

 older ones ; and, other things being equal, 

 this is the rule ; but where one of the new 

 hands shows tinusual proficiency, or, what is 

 better still, a clean-cut, honest, and conscien- 

 tious spirit, we often keep such and let the 

 older ones go. In fact, there is something 

 inexpressibly sad to me, when we are dismiss- 

 ing help in the fall of the year. It comes 

 along in the line of the homely adage, "A new 

 broom sweeps clean." With the younger 

 ones we can make allowances. I remember 

 one quite small boy who came to help us early 

 in the spring, among the plants. He was so 



faithful, and did so well, and accomplished 

 so much work in a short time, that I really 

 felt proud of him ; but after a few weeks he 

 seemed to get tired of the monotony of setting, 

 plants, and did not accomplish as much as he 

 did the first week. So I decided I would have 

 to let him go, because he would be looking 

 around to the right or to the left, seeing what 

 somebody else was doing, and paying no 

 attention, comparatively, to his own work. 

 Finally the boy was wanted in one of the 

 buildings. I told the foreman that the boy 

 had much ability, but he seemed to get tired 

 of his work after a little; but he concluded to 

 try him. For about a week the boy did tip- 

 top. In fact, he was better than some of the 

 older boys. But his zeal seemed to decrease 

 as before, until he was of but little use any- 

 where. Of course, I talked with him, and 

 remonstrated, but the good effect was only 

 temporary. Now, this case we can excuse, 

 because it was only a boy ; but I think that 

 that boy's mother had better watch carefully, 

 and see to it that this trait does not follow 

 him through life. 



As I have said, we can excuse such things 

 in a child, and many children outgrow them. 

 I know this, for some of the most laithful and 

 capable men and women I have around me 

 had this very fault when they were small. Do 

 you know, friends, it has been a rare pleasure 

 for me through all these years of "work and 

 wages " to see boys and girls grow from child- 

 hood into manhood and womanhood, and 

 while they grow physically to know that they 

 have grown in grace and wisdom, and in the 

 knowledge of the Lord ? But, even though it 

 is not a pleasant thing, I must go back. 



I have seen those who seemed to be so sure 

 their sins of this kind would not find them 

 out that I have been obliged to let them go. 

 Physicians have a list of diseases that are said 

 to be, as a rule, incurable. Now, may God 

 forbid that I should say that there are sins 

 that are incurable; but sometimes I have been 

 led to feel that it is almost that way. There 

 are people who hnve been so habituated to 

 cheating their employer that it seems almost 

 as if they never could get over it. My first 

 sad experience in this line happened so long 

 ago that I think I can mention it without hurt- 

 ing anybody's feelings. 



When I was in the jewelry business I had a 

 sort of craze to manufacture gold and silver 

 jewelry. I wanted to do this, because then I 

 could give honest goods according to my 

 notion. I applied to one of the down-east 

 jewelry factories for a good man who could 

 work solid gold and silver. Somewhat to my 

 surprise they agreed to let me have a man 

 who, they said, was capable, and the price he 

 wanted was less than I expected. He proved 

 to be all I wished, and I often wondered why 

 his employers let him go. After he became 

 pretty well acquainted, however, and settled 

 down to a certain routine, I discovered why 

 they were willing to let him go, and why he 

 worked for low wages. First, he would get 

 the daily paper under his bench, and, when 

 no one was around, he would read the war 

 news, getting 25 cents an hour for so doing. 



