626 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. I. 



hatred. He was attending to his own busi- 

 ness, and was not, if I am correct, even im- 

 prudent. No one would think of his being 

 attached in such a public place. Well, these 

 fellows who were robbing him, or trying to, 

 grabbed him by the throat, and commanded 

 _him with horrible oaths and curses to shut up 

 or they would kill him. Why, if I were to 

 tell you the language they used, and of the 

 names they called him because he kept calling 

 for help, it would almost make your blood 

 run coM. What called forth or stirred up 

 this fierce pissiou and hatred they exhibited? 

 They hat d him, and threatened with foul 

 oaths and curses to kill him, just be- 

 cause he didn't hand out the money that was 

 honestly his own. Shall we as followers of 

 Christ Jesus submit meekly to such treatment 

 as that ? Could any good come from permit- 

 ting oneself to be murdered and robbed? 

 Would he not, on the contrary, be guilty of a 

 crime against humanity if he bore it all and 

 made no protest? Does not the obligation we 

 e-ich and all of us owe to society dejuand we 

 should do all in our power to uphold and have 

 our laws enforced ? What ought my friend 

 and neighbor to have done under the circum- 

 stances? You see it is not exactly a question 

 as to what Jesus would do, but what would he 

 have vs do ? Perhaps some of the friends will 

 suggest there are places in the life of the dear 

 Savior where he declared he did ;?0i' come into 

 thfi world to do away with the enforcement of 

 law. He once said to the Jews who tempted 

 him, " Render unto Csesar the things that are 

 Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 

 God's." 



The incident I have given was a small pri- 

 vate matter — I mean the one in regard to the 

 burglars. While I write, the government of 

 this country is guilty, at least indirectly, of 

 carr\ ing intoxicaits to the inhabitants of the 

 Philippine Islands — the ignorant heathen 

 whom we are undertaking to civilize. I do 

 not think thev are doing it according to 

 law. The Presbyterian, Methodist, and other 

 churches have collectively uttered vehement 

 protests. The harm they are di ing is a thou- 

 sand fold greater — in fact, it is not to be com- 

 pared to the indignity my neighbor suffered 

 at the hands of two outlaws ; because it is go- 

 ing to stir up ill feeling, and possibly war, 

 shall we, as followers of Christ Jesus, let the 

 thing go on ? 



Yes, I do know " a sort of insanit)' possess- 

 es " even temperance people when they get 

 really engulfed in a bitter fipht ; that is, it 

 does unless we pray constantly for grace from 

 on high, and for the influences of the Holy 

 Spirit. I myself am afraid of getting into a 

 quarrel ; and if there is any time in this world 

 when I constantly repeat my little prayer, 

 "Lord, help," it is when I am called on to 

 push forth into a hand-to-hand conflict with 

 the powers of darkness. I am glad to see you 

 admit " the evils arising from the excessive 

 use of alcoholic liquors are very great." Yes, 

 I do think it is a less evil to provoke bitter 

 hostility between large classes of community, 

 providi'"g always that at least one of the classes 

 is striving to be guided by Christ Jesus. Sure- 



ly you would not undertake to say war is 

 never right and proper. If the police had 

 succeeded in getting hold of the niiscreants 

 who robbed my neighbor, there would doubt- 

 less have been "bitter hostility." The out- 

 laws would, perhaps, have killed people right 

 and left before submitting ; but surely you 

 would not recommend letting them go because 

 of this. We have recently had examples in 

 our great cities of permitting law-breakers to 

 go " scot free ;" and, while I think of it, I do 

 believe there is a growing evil just now more 

 to be feared than even intemperance ; and that 

 is, this disposition to ignore law, or perhaps, 

 rather, to defy law. The horrible massacre in 

 China that is startling the world at the present 

 time, it seems to me is only the result of let- 

 ting law-breakers go unpunished, and may be 

 this country is indirectly responsible as well 

 as the rest of the world. Dear brethren, I do 

 think it behooves every one of us, whether 

 professing Christians or not, to be very careful 

 — yes, exceedingly careful — about unttecessari- 

 ly provoking strife and bitterness. I am so 

 firmly convinced of this that I feel sorry to see 

 our different political parties having their 

 parades. I feel sorry to see our boys wearing 

 badges. If each parade carried the American 

 flag, then I could say most heartily, "God 

 speed the procession ; ' ' and if the badges 

 showed forth the American flag, and nothing 

 more, then I would say, " Let us have them. 

 The more the better." No one should ever be 

 ashamed to show his colors, no matter where 

 he is, or under what circumstances. Let him 

 boldly show forth the red, white, and blue. 

 Let him proclaim, " I belong to the Unittd 

 States of America ; " and let every Christian 

 in like manner be not only willing but ready 

 to let all men know, no matter what crowd he 

 is in, 'I belong to Christ Jesus." And, dear 

 brother, let us all remember the words of the 

 Master when he said, " Be ye wise as serpents 

 and harmless as doves." Even when we are 

 in the thickest of whatever fight the defense 

 of our country or the defense of the dear Re- 

 deemer's name shall call us, let us always 

 have in our hearts the spirit of that good old 

 hymn I used to hear away back in my child- 

 hood days : 



Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, 

 With all thy quick'ning powers ; 



Kindle a flame of sacred love 

 In these cold hearts of ours. 



NOTES or TRAVLU 



I . BY ■ >AxiJROOT.: 



TRAVELS IN THE WEST, CONTINUED FROM 

 LAST ISSUE. 



I found Western Springs, 111., a very pretty 

 little town, after I got to it. Vaughan's group 

 of greenhouses occupies a side hill fronting 

 the south and also fronting the railway, so one 

 has a very pretty view of the whole plant from 

 the cars. There are about two dozen green- 

 houses all together, all running east and west. 

 In the center is a packing-shed or potting- 



