1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



927 



the place, and had some particular reason for 

 wanting to finish the job up before dark. I 

 told my friend he had better keep thai man if 

 he could ; that he might try a good many be- 

 fore he got one that was his equal. 



Now, I should like to stop right here, for it 

 would be very pleasant to bestow only words 

 of praise on a young man whom I admire and 

 respect ; but it would not be truthful to leave 

 the story right here ; and, besides, I should not 

 bring out the thought of our text. With all 

 his good qualities this capable young friend is 

 an inveterate user of tobacco. He made me 

 think of the mechanical draftsman. He not 

 only smokes outdoors, but he smokes in his 

 own room until that part of the house is — per- 

 haps I had better be gentle, and say perfumed 

 with the weed. There are young boys in the 

 household who may be induced to follow his 

 example. Yes, and there are young ladies 

 who are obliged to endure the smell of tobacco. 

 They have not complained, not one of them ; 

 but I do know that this man would get more 

 pay if he had all his other good qualities and 

 did not use tobacco. Now, some of my read- 

 ers who smoke and chew may say, "Why, 

 Bro. Root, you are unconsciously putting in a 

 great plea in yazwr of tobacco. How do you 

 know that the two men you have mentioned 

 are not both capable of greater endurance, 

 mental and physical, because of the stimulus 

 of the narcotic ? " 



I have thought of that, dear friends, and I 

 have watched it closely. Thank God I have 

 seen just such men break away from the to- 

 bacco habit, and I never saw one who lost vim, 

 energy, skill, or endurance by the change. 

 But the main thing we are discussing just now 

 is, " What shall we do with cases like these?" 

 What would /^5«5 do ? I think he would take 

 mankind as he finds it ; and instead of com- 

 batting and arousing fierce opposition by an 

 unchristianlike way in rebuking sins he would 

 first win the man's respect and esteem, and, if 

 possible, his confidence and friendship, and 

 then leave him, at least to a great extent, to 

 make a direct application of his sayings. 



It is not only the men who have been tried 

 and perhaps sorely vexed with the hired help, 

 but our wives and daughters are having simi- 

 lar trials. In the present state of society, help 

 in the home as well as on the farm is almost a 

 necessity ; and, oh dear me ! what stories we 

 hear about hired girls ! Some of them are 

 jewels along certain lines ; but, the first thing 

 you know, there is a sad defect somewhere. 

 When we hear the story of it we are templed 

 to say, " Well, I would not have such a girl on 

 the premises over night." Then the good 

 housewife tries another one. The new one 

 is, perhaps, all right so far as the fault of her 

 predecessor is concerned ; but, pretty soon, 

 out crops another one, may be worse than the 

 first. Shall we try again ? My dear brother 

 and sister, I have grown ffray in trying to solve 

 these problems. If you turn a boy or girl off 

 and hire somebody else, as a rule you do not 

 make either of them any better. Then the 

 question comes up, " What aie we here for ? " 

 Did God place us here to live a human life just 

 to have us learn how to get along easily, with- 



out care or worry, or did he put us here to 

 help lift the burdens that rest on humanity ? 

 If you succeed in getting one of these boys or 

 girls to recognize their sinful ways, and to set 

 about overcoming their bad habits, then you 

 are saving a soul from sin — you are doing mis- 

 sionary work without going to Africa, India, 

 or China. " He which converteth the sinner 

 from the error of his way shall save a soul from 

 death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." 



I often advise men and women to keep their 

 hired help in spile of grievous faults. Some- 

 times a woman will say to me something like 

 this: "Mr. Root, would you advise me to 

 keep a girl who looks me square in the face 

 and tells deliberate lies ? " Before answering 

 the question I usually ask a lot of others. If 

 the girl has redeeming traits, and there seems 

 to be hope that she may be partially or entire- 

 ly cured of this terrible sin, I would say, keep 

 her ; and I have even gone so far as to advise 

 keeping a man who steals. Keep temptation 

 out of his way. Exhort him on general prin- 

 ciples to be , honest and upright — that is, 

 while you lack absolute proof of his stealing. 

 Pray for him day after day, and you may some 

 time have one of your pleasant surprises by 

 discovering that your prayers are being an- 

 swered ; and in regard to the hired-girl ques- 

 tion, -dear sisters and mother or daughter, do 

 not be loo exacting. Pray for grace and wis- 

 dom. Ask God every morning to help you 

 not to expect too much of the girl in your em- 

 ploy. Watch for her good qualities. Encour- 

 age her in developing them. Hold these up 

 before you instead of dwelling too much on 

 the shortcomings. Remember we are all self- 

 ish and sinful in God's sight. Breathe often 

 the little prayer, ' ' Forgive my debts as I for- 

 give my debtors." Ernest once said, "Fa- 

 ther, you must not expect every one to be sound 

 all around. The very best men in the world 

 have some lamentable weaknesses ; even our 

 college professors — men who should be above 

 reproach — now and then not only show folly 

 but sonieluncs downright wickedness and sin. 

 You will find it in everybody. Do not be too 

 hasty in condemning. We must ' size a man 

 up ' and try to let his general good qualities 

 overbalance his infirmities in certain direc- 

 tions." 



Dear friends, what I have to say in closing I 

 try to say with reverence and respect toward 

 the chief magistrate of our land. Some little 

 time ago I was overtaken by a storm while out 

 on a wheelride, and stopped at a farmer's. 

 He knew me by reputation, and he was anx- 

 ious to have my opinion on the political issues. 

 He had been reading the papers, and was 

 pretty well informed. He was a man of ex- 

 cellent physique, and seemed to have a very 

 good general all-around judgment and percep- 

 tion. He was a very loyal and strong defend- 

 er of the present administration. When I told 

 him how I felt troubled in regard to the mat- 

 ter of intemperance in the army he said some- 

 thing like this : 



" Mr. Root, we all have our opinions in re- 

 gard to these matters. I may not be right ; 

 but these things you have mentioned in regard 

 to the attitude that the President has taken 



