302 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



fact it will never be heard, unless I jump to 

 action in a moment, and heed its prompt 

 warning. Should I once ignore its call, and 

 go right on in what I ■was tempted to do, its 

 voice would, in all probability, be fainter, 

 and finally stilled. If, on the other hand, I 

 look and listen for it, and recogniz3 it truly 

 as being the voice of Him whose hands and 

 feet were cruelly lacerated by the nails of 

 the cross, my life will be nearer to him day 

 by day, and new and brighter will be the ex- 

 periences, until death opens the golden 

 gates, and — 



" I shall be with him there." 



Does not the Bible promise some thing 

 like I have mentionedV See:— 



He shall g-ive his angels charge over thee, to keep 

 thee in all ihy waj's.— Psalm 91 : II. 



There is something about this little warn- 

 ing voice, commencing to take up the otfice 

 of warning against any kind of sin, that re- 

 minds me of a little incident of our home 

 life. "Caddy," our youngest, is very much 

 inclined to be boisterous during the minute 

 devoted to asking a blessing at the table, and 

 so we have been accustomed to ask her to 

 fold her hands during the simple service. 

 You see, if her hands were folded, and kept 

 so, she could not very well get up a "clat- 

 ter-' with her little knife, fork, and spoon. 

 Well, for the first time in her life she went 

 with her mother and sisters to some sort of 

 an ice-cream festival in the public square. 

 They sat at a little table by themselves, and 

 after the dishes were set before them, dur- 

 ing a momentary pause there wvs a move- 

 ment of the little hands to clasp them in the 

 accustomed way, while she glanced about to 

 see who was going to ask the blessing in 

 papa's absence. It was the force of habit 

 and education, in her case, as well as with 

 the warning voice of conscience I have been 

 telling you about. She had been obedient, 

 just as I had, and when the circumstances 

 were changed, the force of former training 

 would carry us both safely still. 



Now a word in regard to business matters. 

 The greater part of you know me so well 

 that you will not take my words amiss. 

 Will such extreme honesty starve a man? 

 Of course, you all know it won't, lie who 

 strives to be honest before God, will surely 

 be honest before men ; and if 1 heed this 

 little warning voice, my business will con- 

 tinue to build up until it reaches the utter- 

 most corners of the earth, fen' it will be in 

 God's hands, and he will be responsible for it. 



I used to have trouble in borrowing money 

 when I needed it, or thought I needed it ; 

 now I am asked to take people's money, as a 

 favor to them ; this, too, when I have only 

 half fought these battles as I might have 

 done. Instead of giving me credit for what 

 you have seen of me that you approve, give 

 the credit to the book that teaches,— 



Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 

 God.— Matt. 5:8. 



WiU out- friends please turn to (he letter on 

 page 250 of our May No., to which this is the 

 answerf 



I have just read both chapters you refer 

 to, friend L.; in fact, I used to wonder, as 

 you do, why such chapters were put into the 



Bible. When I first noticed them, as they 

 troubled me some, I concluded I would drop 

 them until I got a little older in Bible lore, 

 or until God saw fit to make it plainer to me. 

 May I take the liberty to suggest right here, 

 that it is hardly wise to speak as you do, in 

 saying you know a thing is or is not soV The 

 best-educated men 1 have ever met were 

 very slow to make positive statements in re- 

 gard to what they A?)c?«. If we wish to have 

 our opinions considered of importance, 

 should we not all be very careful in saying 

 we knoa\ especially in regard to matters on 

 which even wise and good men differ? The 

 chapter in Genesis is one that would espe- 

 cially stamp the Bible as a truthful narration, 

 because it tells the bad as faithfully as the 

 good. Had all these characters been pic- 

 tured as pure and upright, we should have 

 been discouraged in attempting to follow 

 them. If you will look closely, you will see 

 that the Bible nowhere indorses such sins, 

 but only gives a history of them as they oc- 

 curred. Every page so plainly exhoi'ts to 

 purity and uprightness, that no one can pos- 

 sibly mistake the tenor of the book as a 

 whole. You would say, living in this en- 

 lightened age, that such portions should 

 have been omitted from the book. Those 

 who have labored hardest for the suppres- 

 sion of crime, and who have, as it were, had 

 the greatest hand-to-hand conflicts with sin, 

 decide, I think, with one voice, that the 

 Bible, as it is, is the beat book to give one who 

 wishes to reform. Again, how could we 

 have ever admired the character of Joseph 

 as we do, and how could wh have given him 

 proper credit for his crowning act in life, did 

 we not know how common was the sin of li- 

 centiousness all around and about him? 



The psalm you refer to (109fh), is called, I 

 believe, one of the " impiecatory '' psalms. 

 At first glance, Uavid would seem to be 

 praying that God would send curses on his 

 enemies ; but if you read it through care- 

 fully you will find, I think, that he alludes 

 to the enemies of God, justice, and right. 



The keepers of saloons and gambling- 

 houses are, in one sense, your enemies and 

 mine. Would you want "to pray that they 

 might prosper in their work of ruin? A few 

 days ago, one of our boys was enticed to 

 drink; and as often as we would get him 

 back, some of the saloon-keepers' allies 

 would Avaylay him and get hun intoxicated 

 again. I asked the question of a friend, 

 how it was possible that any one knowing 

 him could have the heart to "hold the bottle 

 to his lips, and why they should work so 

 hard to accomplish his ruin. The reply was, 

 that thej^ had no particular spite against 

 him, but it was their hatred of our institu- 

 tion, and the Sunday-school and reform 

 work connected with it. They have not only 

 an enmity against my poor self, but against 

 God. Please, noAv, read the chapter, keep- 

 ing this class in view, and I tliink you will 

 find it not far from the sentiment you would 

 indorse toward them. See— 



They cnmpassod me about also with words of ha- 

 tred; and fought agaiast me without a cause. 



And again,— 



Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, 

 let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 



