1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



399 



But, dear brother, how about helpless 

 children who are not old enoug'h to have an 

 cpiQiou in reg-ard to the matter? I tell you, 

 friends, it is a serious thing to neglect the 

 aid of a skilled up-to date physician 



Another writer suggests that if we had 

 doctors who were Godfearing men, temper- 

 ate, pure minded, and devoted Christians, 

 we who are professors of religion and mem- 

 bers of churches could more consistently 

 think of calling in the aid of a physician. 

 I have often thought of this. I have some- 

 times wondered whether we were not de- 

 manding too much of our family physician. 

 We expect a mmister of the gospel to be in 

 every way a model of righteous and godly 

 living; but when we become intimately ac- 

 quainted with them we are pretty sure to 

 find that even they are human. We may 

 know a man for long years, and deem him 

 almost a perfect sample of manhood; yet 

 closer acquaintance, or a longer on^^, will, I 

 was going to say invariably — perhaps I 

 should say almost invariably — show that he 

 has soma peculiarities, or perhaps I might 

 say that, under certain tests, he shows 

 himself to be frail. Now, we hardly ever 

 expect a phjsician to be up to the spiritual 

 standard of the minister; but I do think he 

 ought to come pretty near it. 



Not very long ago I was a little vehement 

 in declaring I would not patron ze or avail 

 myself of a certain man's services because 

 he had a bad record: but the manager of 

 our business looked me square in the eye 

 and said, ''Father, if you are going to 

 carry out that rule you will blcck business, 

 and deprive yourself of many great and 

 good privileges. Again and again we need 

 certain things done that are exceedingly 

 important, not only to ourselves but to the 

 world at lar^e; and the only available man 

 is the one whom you would call, and per- 

 haps with justice, a bad man. What shall 

 we do?" 



I think it was Ernest who suggested here 

 that vfe had better accept the good, or, in 

 other words, put the man at work at some 

 honest employ ment, forgetting or overlook- 

 ing, for the time being, his past, or what 

 may be at some time a bad record. In oth- 

 er words, it seems to behoove us to make 

 the best of humanity as it lies before us — 

 encourage the good and discourage the bad, 

 at the same time praying for divine guid- 

 ance and inspiration, remembering the 

 words at the head of our text. 



April S. — I have just returned from the 

 convention at Traverse City and a brief vis- 

 it to the cabin in the woods. During my 

 absence a great pile of letters have come to 

 hand in regard to this mntter of divine 

 healing and Mrs. Root's recent sickness. 

 Letters are on my desk from the advocates 

 of every line of divine healing, from bright 

 intelligent men and women; and my atten- 

 tion is called to many precious Bible prom- 

 ises that I had never before discovered or 

 understx)d. I finally took all of these let- 

 ters over home, and Mrs. Root and I went 

 over them together. As each one was read 



we agreed that the writer must have some 

 kind word of recognition; but as my time 

 and strength are limited in this matter of 

 correspondence, we tinally decided that I 

 should thank the friends who have thus 

 written, here on these pages. Perhaps a 

 little later I may make extrac'rs from differ- 

 ent letters. There is truth, without doubt, 

 in all of them, and I believe we are all get- 

 ting nearer together in this matter of treat- 

 ing disease. 1 hope physicians as well as 

 their patients will all unite in asking God 

 to guide us in the way of all truth, for then 

 we certainly shall eventually come on the 

 same ground or pretty nearly so. What a 

 beautiful world this would be if all were 

 seekers after truth and righteousness! One 

 great point comes out strong and clear to 

 me in all this correspondence: That the 

 time is coming soon when this mitter of 

 "robbing sick people" by fraud and deceit 

 will be, largel> at least, done away with. 

 There is wisdom enough in this age in 

 which we live to do away with superstition, 

 and with what is worse still, ihe downright 

 swindling and hypocrisy in this matter of 

 heal'ng the human frame divine. A large 

 number of the letters tell us of those who 

 formerly put their faith in drugs, spending 

 vast sums of money in going from one thing 

 to another, like the woman mentioned in 

 Mark 5:26, who "had spent all she had, 

 and was nothing better but rather grew 

 worse." There are many letters from such 

 people, closing with the glad news thit, 

 after they put their faith in God, and had 

 prayerfully searched for the laws of health, 

 they found not only health but happiness 

 too, without medcine of any J-ind. I am 

 sure there is a great awakening just before 

 us — an emancipation out of darkness into 

 light; and it is caming through the gospel 

 of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. I am 

 begining to think the Bible is considerable 

 of a "doctor book" after all, if we search 

 it more carefully and take it right. 



SOMETHING GOOD FROM THE MODERN FAR- 

 MER AND BUSV BEE. 



Not long ago I suggested that Mr. Abbott, 

 editor of the above, sometimes lets his pe- 

 culiar zeal and fighting qualities get start- 

 ed in the wrong direction. But now he is 

 on the right track for sure, and we take 

 pleasure in copying two of his recent edi- 

 torials. 



OUR STATE AND COUNTY FAIRS; DRIVING 

 OUT LIOUOR-SRLLERS, ETC. 

 " Our fair will be clean this year." is what Ihe presi- 

 dent of the IliinoisStdtr- Fair Association writes to the 

 Bleeders' Gazette. Good! We are making progress: the 

 fakir and the drunka'd maker must go. Who will be 

 next? It is an ins It to the fa mers to announce an 

 agiicultural show, and then fill up the grounds with 

 saloons fakirs, and all kind-; of disgraceful semi-nude 

 shows just as though he and his wife and children 

 were capable of enjoying only the filihy debauijheries 

 which cnaracterize so many agnculiural lairs. Good 

 for Illinois! Missouri wt koines her into the ranks of 

 the clean fair S a'es. What State will be next to 

 banish all this filthy and di.'^gusting debauchery from 

 its fairgrounds? I,et the good work go on until there 



