Atril, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



299 



The first paragi'apli attracted my atten- 

 tion. Is it really true that there is not a 

 nation on the face of the earth that always 

 does right? If so, I suppose we shall have 

 to wait until we are assured that " God's 

 kingdom " has come. The statement in the 

 above, in regard to divorces, is worse — far 

 worse — than I supposed. May God be 

 praised for the good record that Canada 

 makes in this matter. Can somebody tell 

 us how it comes about? If 20,000 Cana- 

 dians have really crossed the borders in 

 order to obtain divorces which they could 

 not get at home, may God have mercy on 

 us. And now comes the astounding state- 

 ment that 40 per cent of the children in 

 reformatories are the result of divorced 

 parents. We have been in the habit of 

 thinking that the liquor traffic is the darkest 

 cloud that shadows America ; but the above 

 would make it seem that this may he a 

 mistake. 



In conclusion let us consider that last 

 paragraph, that we need God, not only on 

 our coins, but also in the lives of our 

 people. 



" What God hath joined together, let not 

 man put asunder." 



After the above was in type my good 

 friend, Rev. A. S. Gregg, of the Civic Re- 

 form Club, sent me the following clipping 

 from the Commercial Tribune, Cincinnati: 



The investigation conducted by Rev. Mr. Gregg 

 ha« disclosed a deplorable condition in Ohio as re- 

 gards divorces. For every three marriages in the 

 state last year one divorce was started ; and for 

 every six marriages one divorce was granted. A 

 decade ago there was an average of one divorce to 

 every twelve marriages. Lucas County shows one 

 divorce to every four marriages. 



It is also into the causes of divorce that Rev. Mr. 

 Gregg proposes to make an investigation. In Ohio 

 last year 299 divorces were granted husbands on 

 the ground? that their wives had been unfaithful. 

 But only 196 divorces were granted on the grounds 

 that the husbands had been unfaithful. 



Records show that wives obtained 3014 divorces 

 for absence and neglect while only 13.54 were grant- 

 ed to husbands on the same allegations. On charges 

 of drunkenness, 394 divorces were granted wives, 

 while only thirty-eight were given to the husbands 

 of drunken wives. In suits which charged cruelty 

 on the part of the husbands 1607 divorces were 

 granted to women while only 201 were granted to 

 men who were mistreated by their wives. 



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 PRAYING TO BE "SEEN OF MEN.'' 



A good brother sends us an article, too 

 long to print, in regard to tliat paper about 

 "talking with .Tasus;" but T will make just 

 one brief extract, omitting his nnino foi- ob- 

 vious reasons : 



Having listened to prayec by a lady whose utter- 

 ances were the embodinioiil rf iiprfcctinii in her 

 choice of words, I regretfully lc;iinfd afterward that 

 this person merely prayed in public to be heard of 

 men and women, and that her life was far from be- 



ing blameless. The reaction at that time (before 

 understanding prn.\cr as I now do) placed nic fur- 

 ther away from churches where audible prayer was 

 carried on, tho little understood as prayer is under- 

 stood today. 



The above not only hits me but it disturbs 

 me quite a little. A good many times I am 

 asked to lead in prayer in our prayer- 

 meetings, and also am often asked to close 

 with a brief word of prayer, etc. Down in 

 our Florida home the superintendent of the 

 Sunday-school usually, when announcing a 

 hymn, says, " Brother So and So will lead 

 in prayer at the close of the hymn." This 

 gives tlie brother an opportunity to prepare 

 himself; and I do believe it is a good plan 

 all around to give any brother or sister a 

 little opportunity to get ready. Now, in 

 this mental preparation should we consider 

 how our prayer may be taken by the audi- 

 ence, or how it will be taken by the L' rd '? 

 and as I have been thinking it over my con- 

 science has troubled me because I have 

 thought too much of what the audience 

 might think of my prayer, especially when 

 among strangers. After praying over this 

 very matter I have decided tl.at a prayer 

 before an audience should be a little differ- 

 ent from one made while we are off alone 

 by ourselves " talking with God." On sev- 

 eral occasions I have been asked to lead in 

 prayer quite unexpectedly, and quite often 

 at such limes I have found myself in no 

 suitable frame of mind, if I may so express 

 it, to lead in prayer. At such times you can 

 hardly imagine how fervently my short 

 prayer wells up, " Lord, help !" and the helj) 

 comes. Perhaps it comes all the sooner be- 

 cause it is nearer the " Lord's prayer " 

 than A. T. Root's prayer. I do not mean 

 that I use the Lord's prayer as given in the 

 Bible, but a prayer fitting the circumstances 

 that the dear Savior furnished on " short 

 notice;" and a feeling of happiness comes 

 into my heart afterward because I have 

 tiled, at least once, to let the dear Savior 

 speak instead of too much of my own poor 

 self. 



DID GOD MAKE WOMAN TO BE MORALLY 

 SUPERIOR TO MEN?" 



The above is the title of a sixteen-page 

 pamphlet by Prof. T. W. Shannon, of 

 Delaware, Ohio. I copy one paragi'aph 

 from the first page. You can get the whole 

 of it from Prof. Shannon as above. The 

 ])vice is (wo for 5 ets. ; ten or more, 2 cts. 

 each. 



In every land, in all ages, among all races, sages 

 .■uul s.iints alike — Jews and Gentiles, Mohammedans, 

 Buddhists and Christians, barbai-oiis and civilized 

 peoples — all have held a higher standard of morals 

 for women than for men. Many more women 



