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Gleanings in Bee Culture 



A. I. Root. 



But I say unto you. Love your enemies, bless 

 them that curse you, do good to them that hate 

 you, and pray for them which despitefully use you 

 and persecute you. — Matt. 5 : 44. 



Then came Peter to him, and said. Lord, how oft 

 shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? 

 till seven times? 



Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until 

 seven times, but until seventy times seven. — Matt. 

 18:21, 22. 



Last Sunday, Oct. 15, Mr. T. B. Lanham, 

 Secretary of our County Y. M. C. A., ad- 

 dressed our Men's Brotherhood in the base- 

 ment of the Congregational church. He 

 told a little story of some of his early experi- 

 ence in early life that impressed me so much 

 that I asked him to let me have it for one 

 of my Home papers, and here it is: 



HOW I "won out." 



A few years ago I had the honor of being elected a 

 member of the town council in the little southern 

 town in which I lived. This was considered quite 

 an honor for a young man, as 1 was only nineteen 

 years of age at the time. During my administra- 

 tion, one Sunday three boys decided that they 

 would "paint the old town red." They "tanked 

 up " on booze, got in their rigs, and drove through 

 the streets at a tremendous rate, etc. On the 

 following morning they were brought before the 

 council. 1 might say that such cases came before 

 the council in our State instead of before the may- 

 or. Our mayor was a man with a strong back- 

 bone; and after we had discussed the matter very 

 thoroughly, he thought, and the other members of 

 the council thought, that we ought to make an ex- 

 ample of those young men for their own sakes as 

 well as for the sake of other boys, and so he im- 

 posed a heavy fine— twenty-five dollars each. 1 do 

 not know why it was, but they seemed to censure 

 me for the fine being so heavy; and one of the 

 number — as fine a specimen of humanity as I ever 

 saw (over six feet tall), who played football with a 

 college team— said that if 1 came down out of that 

 courtroom he was going to open me up — meaning 

 that he was going to use his knife on me. Well, 1 

 knew he was a better man than 1, but I did not 

 propose to stay in that courtroom always. So alter 

 we adjourned I came down the steps and passed 

 very near him. He did not cut me. I can not tell 

 why, because I knew, and 1 knew that he knew he 

 was the better man. I had simply done what I be- 

 lieved to be my duty, and had no animosity what- 

 ever against those three boys, all of whom were as 

 good friends as I ever had. 



The next day I met the three young men on the 

 street— Ben, Charley, and Frank. I spoke to them, 

 calling them by name. None of them noticed me. 

 I thought that, perhaps, 1 might be mistaken, and 

 so 1 resolved to speak again. 1 spoke to them the 

 second time, but with the same result. Then there 

 was a fight on in my life. I had often heard the 

 old saying, "Three times and out," and so I said I 

 would try the third time; and if they did not speak 

 then, they could—" go to Boston." 1 met them the 

 third time and spoke to them, but not one of them 

 replied. I had often heard my old pastor say that 

 we ought to put God to the test; and that was a 

 testing-time for me, and 1 decided that 1 would 

 continue to speak to those fellows. I passed and 

 repassed those three boys almost daily for three 

 months, speaking to them just as if nothing had 

 happened, and each time there was no response 

 from any of them. All the time the Devil was say- 

 ing to me, "You are humiliating yourself by run- 

 ning after those boys for their friendship. Why 

 don't you be a man?" Many such suggestions 

 came from him; but 1 determined to win out in 

 that fight. After three months, one day 1 spoke as 

 usual, " Good morning. Ben, Frank, and Charley" 

 (for the three were usually together) , and I noticed 

 that they nodded their heads. After that they be- 

 gan to speak, and we soon became as warm friends 

 as we ever were. Now, I think this is worth while. 



But this is not all the story; tor this same young 

 man — this athlete — the boy who was going to 



"open me up," preached to me the greatest ser- 

 mon I ever heard from any one. It was less than 

 a year after this story I have just given you, that 

 an uncle of my friend the athlete rode up on horse- 

 back to the little store in which I was at work, 

 and said, "Ben wants to see you — he is dying." 

 I was never so shocked in my life; for in that lit- 

 tle town I knew everybody, and every thing that 

 was going on, and yet at that time I had not even 

 heard of Ben"s illness. I did not say a word, but 

 leaped up behind this man on his horse, without 

 blankets, and we rode to the boy's home, which 

 was just a mile from the square, as fast as the 

 horse could go. I went into Ben's room. He was 

 as conscious as I am just now. He said, "Tom, I 

 am dying, and I have sent for you. Look over on 

 the table and get that Bible of my mother's; and I 

 want you to read from that, and pray with me, for 

 I want to say to you that I have confidence in yoia- 

 kind of religion." 



Now, I ask you if all the humiliations I under- 

 M'ent (and I grant you they were many, and the 

 fight against the old self was hard) were not worth 

 while. I had not always done that, I assure you; 

 but this one instance is a bright spot in my life to- 

 day, and I thank God that I did not yield to self 

 and to the insinuations that came from Satan— for 

 I believe that all such come from him. I yielded to 

 the influence of a higher power. 



The above strikes exactly on a point that 

 is being considered and discussed all over 

 our land at the present time. This man, 

 only nineteen years old, was called upon to 

 see that the law was enforced against some 

 boys of his own age, and who were his per- 

 sonal friends. How often the question 

 comes up, " Shall one be just as ready to see 

 that the law is enforced when it strikes a 

 personal friend or neighbor as somebody 

 else'?" Friend Lanham does not tell us how 

 much he had to do with imposing the fine 

 of $'25.00 each against his three comrades. 

 From what I know of him I suspect he put 

 personal friendship out of the question, and 

 considered only the good of humanity or 

 the good of his own little community. Ex- 

 Governor Frank Hanley,whohas been prom- 

 inently before the political world for several 

 years past, was scored unmercifully because 

 he refused to screen a personal friend — one 

 who not only stood high in the community, 

 but a man who had been prominent in help- 

 ing him to the governorship. Because this 

 man had done him many and i:)erhaps great 

 favors in times past, should he permit him 

 to go "scot free" on that account"? Mr. 

 Hanley decided to do his duty before God 

 and before humanity, without regard to 

 personal favors or personal friendship; and 

 I fear that many people will never forgive 

 him because he did his duty. 



In the case before us, one of the guilty 

 boys was a col lege athlete — a leader, perhaps, 

 among the other boys. In a personal con- 

 flict, Mr. Lanham (at that time) would have 

 been only a child in his hands; and yet, 

 knowing his threats, he unflinchingly came 

 out of the building and passed close by 

 him. I have had some trials of that kind 

 myself. Years ago I visited a young man 

 in our county jail The circumstances were 

 something like those that surrounded my 

 friend Fred whom I have recently told you 

 about (p. 188, Mar. 15) . The boy seemed to 



