886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



Westminster Avenue, and were addressed by Mr. 

 Fred B. Smith, not in a sensational way, but with 

 plainness and directness. His subject was a difficult 

 one, the text being, "One thing thou lackest," and 

 his effort was to show that mere morality was not suf- 

 ficient. A hundred and thirty railroad men came 

 forward, and for the first time made public confession 

 of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. At the farewell 

 meeting at the same place probably fifty men and 

 women took the same step. At the Association head- 

 quarters, forty-four young men did the same, and at 

 other points there were marked results. 



This conference has been a great study in the rela- 

 tions of capital and labor, and its lessons may be 

 quickly learned, but, we fear, will be more slowly put 

 in practice. 



Well, it is not alone in the line of temper- 

 ance work where we may see, if we watch 

 closely, that the teachings of Christ Jesus are 

 being recognized and endorsed. Bright busi- 

 ness men, whether they are professing Chris- 

 tians or not, are getting hold of Christ's teach- 

 ings. Best of all, they are beginning to recog- 

 nize that the Savior's precepts, even though 

 those precepts go against the grain of the 

 natural man, are, after all, sound reason and 

 plain common sense. Let me illustrate : 



You know how often I visit bee-keepers in 

 their homes, and I thank God for the privi- 

 lege. We do not always agree in theology, 

 and sometimes our convictions are widely 

 apart ; but because of a love for all rural in- 

 dustries we often become exceedingly well ac- 

 quainted, and in the pleasantest way imagina- 

 ble talk over our peculiar views. 



I was once stopping with a bee-keeper over 

 Sunday. Although he was an energetic work- 

 er, and a well-posted and successful man in 

 rural industries, he did not particularly ad- 

 mire the type of Christianity that he found 

 round about his home. I am afraid it was not 

 altogether the faults of church-members. He 

 had got into the way that so many of us have 

 of noticing (and I fear magnifying) the faults 

 of his neighbors, or such of them as made 

 some sort of profession of religion. I usually 

 carry a Bible with me, but on this particular 

 occasion it was in my valise at the hotel. I 

 was to speak in the church near by that even- 

 ing, and I had selected some texts, but I was 

 not sure I had quoted them correctly. I did 

 not really like to ask for a Bible, but I thought 

 I could perhaps find one by looking among 

 the books, without troubling any one. Final- 

 ly my friend noticed I was searching for some- 

 thing, and asked what I wanted. I told him 

 I was looking for a Bible. I noticed a comi- 

 cal look on his face as he called out to his wife 

 in the next room : 



"Say, Mollie, what did you do with the Bi- 

 ble when you had it the other day ? Mr. Root 

 wants it." 



The reply came from the adjoining room : 



" Mr. Root, he is ashamed to tell you the 

 truth, and, like most of the men from Adam's 

 time down to the present day, he thinks he 

 will push the responsibility off from his own 

 shoulders to those of his wife.* The plain 

 square truth is, there is not a Bible in our 



* Perhaps I had better mention here, before I forget 

 it, that when I was bidding them good-by all round, 

 at the close of my visit, the good wife said something 

 like this : " Mr. Root, I want you to be sure to come 

 again, and come as soon as you can conveniently ; and 

 on your next visit you may be sure there will be a Bi- 

 ble in our home." 



house anywhere — at least, not to my knowl- 

 edge. If //^ is afraid to tell you, /am not." 



Of course, the above was all pleasantrj^ and 

 one of the little girls brought me a Testament 

 as soon as she heard what was going on, and 

 that contained the texts I wanted. My friend 

 then began defending himself by way of 

 pleasantry, something in this way : 



"Mr. Root, I do not quite agree with you 

 and with what the Bible says in many things. 

 For instance, if a man serves you a mean dirty 

 trick, you and the Bible teach that we should 

 take no notice of it, and do him a kindness 

 in return. Now, I think it is a better way to 

 let such a man know that you have found him 

 out, and just what yqu think of him ; for by 

 your plan you are just encouraging him in go- 

 ing on in his meanness." 



His wife, however, overheard what was go- 

 ing on, and came to the door and put in a re- 

 monstrance something as follows : 



"Now, John, you do not believe any such 

 thing, and you do not practice it either. 

 While you and Mr. Root are having so many 

 talks, perhaps you had better tell him that 

 story about the raspberries last summer." 



John hung down his head and laughed. 

 But his wife continued : 



" Well, if you will not tell it, /will." 



Then she commenced : 



' ' We had a very nice patch of red raspber- 

 ries over toward the woods ; but just as they 

 were getting ripe, and while they commanded 

 a big price, we found somebody was picking 

 them. The matter kept on until John declar- 

 ed he would put a stop to it, even if he had 

 to watch for the pilferers ; and he declared he 

 would prosecute them, when he found them, 

 to the fullest extent of the law. Now, John, 

 you tell the rest of it." 



John reluctantly, with some promptings- 

 from his wife, continued the story, which was 

 about as follows : 



One Sunday afternoon he was over by the 

 woods, and accidentally spied two of his neigh- 

 bors with tin pails going over toward the rasp- 

 berry-patch. They looked over toward his 

 house anxiously, stooped down behind the 

 bushes until they reached a spot where they 

 could not be seen from the house, even if 

 somebody should be outdoors, and began fill- 

 ing their pails. Before they had reached the 

 coveted position, however, John dropped down 

 in the wheat where he was standing, out of 

 sight, and there were his two neighbors almost 

 within an arm's length, busily appropriating 

 his berries. John had time to meditate. The 

 more he thought about having a row and stir- 

 ring up the neighborhood with bad feeling 

 over a few raspberries, the more he felt as if 

 it was small business all round for men who 

 could count their acres by the hundred. So 

 he got up naturally as if he had just come on 

 the scene, spoke pleasantly to his neighbors, 

 and told them to go right on and help them- 

 selves, etc. 



At this juncture of John's narration his 

 wife put in : 



"Now, be fair about it and tell Mr. Root 

 that you also picked berries, and helped them 

 fill up their pails." 



