PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



AT $1.00 PER AMmUM. 



35th Year. 



CHICAQO, ILL., NOV. 7, 1895. 



No. 45. 



Cojptributed /Vrticlcs^ 



On Important Ajyiarian Subjects* 



Reminiscences of Rev. L. L. Langstroth. 



BY REV. W. F. M'CAULEY. 



When I was a mere boy, my oldest brother, 13 years my 

 senior, became interested in bee-culture. I remember hearing 

 him at that tioie speak of the "Langstroth" bee-hive. 

 Little did I then think that I would eventually become the 

 pastor of the inventor and be, for over eight years, perhaps 

 his most intimate ministerial friend. 



In 1SS6, I became the pastor of the Park Presbyterian 

 Church, Dayton, Ohio, and in August, 1887, Bro. Langstroth 

 — such was the geniality of his disposition that, notwithstand- 

 ing his age, I always thought of him as "brother" rather 

 than as " father " — moved to the city with the family of his 

 daughter and her husband — Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Cowan. It 

 was a delightful family circle of three generations that was 

 thus added to my congregation. In this my first pastorate I 

 received material help from association with Mr. Langstroth, 

 whose good nature was always like an overflowing fountain, 

 and whose friendship was " steady as a balance wheel." 



After some years, my work changed to a new field in the 

 city, where the foundations had to be laid amid unusual diffi- 

 culties, and in that work he shared to the extent of his oppor- 

 tunity. His hopefulness and courage were sources of strength, 

 and his confidences created a oneness of feeling between him- 

 self and his pastor, to the advantage of the latter. The temper 

 of his mind, the general evenness of his judgment, and the fair- 

 ness of his logical methods, made him valuable as a friend. 

 He could enter sympathetically into another's experiences; 

 and however much he might differ from you on some points, 

 you were always sure of an unprejudiced hearing, and of a 

 sweet converse that never descended to the level of a debate. 

 His habit of scientific investigation led him to apply the same 

 method to other matters : he did not seek to establish a 

 theory, but to ascertain the facts. He was not a man to prac- 

 tice concealment, though prudent in the expression of his 

 views: when he discovered a truth, it was a thing to be made 

 known, not juggled with; hence, his friendship was a posi- 

 tive, not a negative, quantity. He was an all-round man, 

 useful in any position, with a large amount of adaptability, a 

 workman of skill, able for the blasting of refractory ledges, or 

 for the fencing out of ecclesiastical quicksands. 



I have long regarded him as a man of remarkable powers 

 of mind, who could have risen to eminence as a preacher of 

 the gospel, had it not been for the physical afllietion that pre- 

 vented continuous work in the pastorate. But who shall say 

 that he did not really accomplish more, by the direction of 

 Providence, through his scientific researches, conducted and 

 given to the world, as they were, in such a religious mode ? 

 His career seems to me an instance of God's over-ruling wis- 

 dom, by which a life consecrated to general religious work was 

 turned into a specific direction, that a great industry might be 

 leavened with the thought of the Creator of all things. 



While I am speaking only of Mr. Langstroth's latter 

 years, I have thought it proper thus to give my impressions of 

 the man himself, as gained from intimate association during 

 the period when his individual characteristics could be studied 

 in the light of his life work. He retained the vigor of his 



thought to the last, and took an interest both in religious and 

 in general affairs. Ho was fertile in suggestions, and ex- 

 hibited the inventiveness which had formerly characterized 

 him ; but the distinguishing characteristic of his closing years 

 seemed to be an intense spirituality, and a warm-hearted in- 

 terest in all religious work. Q^ 



He passed through two periods of melancholy, resulting 

 from his recurring piiysical ailment, while in Dayton ; the first 

 of these lasted, I think, about three years. At such times he 

 did not have a single comfortable thought; but though he 

 could not summon energy to undertake any task, yet his mind 

 was still clear, and he held on by faith to the promises of 

 scripture. It was a beautiful instance of simple trust through 

 darkness like that of the "shadow of death." When under- 

 going these experiences, he cared to see no one, and if asked 

 if he wished to converse with a visitor, would probably say, 

 "No;" yet if any one were admitted unannounced, he could 

 probably be led into conversation, and derive some benefit 

 from the visit. When the attack passed away, his activity 

 and vivacity were marked. It was like the shining of the sun 

 after weeks of rain and gloom, when all the world seems new. 

 It is probable that at such times he was tempted to overdo his 

 strength, and doubtless attempted too much at times, in the 

 rebound from a state of inaction and depression. 



On one occasion, when calling in my study, I gave him a 

 saying I had found somewhere — "It is right to wear yourself 

 out, but not righff to (c«r yourself out!" The phrase struck 

 him as specially significant, and he used to repeat it with 

 great satisfaction. In September of the present year, when 

 on his way to the convention in Toronto, he and his daughter, 

 Mrs. Cowan, spent a night in Toledo. The final attack of 

 melancholy had passed away, and he was exercising as much 

 self-repression as possible. The old phrase just quoted came 

 up in the conversation, and I added a couplet of my own : " It 

 is wrong to ru.st yourself out, but worse to /u.5s yourself out !" 

 "Now," said he, "write all that down, and sign ' W. F. 

 McCauley' to it, and give it to me." This I did, and doubt- 

 less he meant to make the sayings a rule for his own restraint 

 in labor. 



In the earlier part of his residence in Dayton, he used to 

 call on me frequently, but, fearing that he might intrude on 

 my time, was accustomed to limit himself in the length of his 

 calls. I have known him to come in and say: "Take out 

 your watch ! What time is it? I just want ten minutes!" 

 Then after several minutes' conversation, he would say : 

 " Now, how much time is left ?" " I will tell you just this in- 

 cident." And he would leave, having spread around him a 

 gleam of sunshine which it lightens one's heart to remember. 



Having been brought up in the East, he had reminiscences 

 of the Beechers. One concerning Lymin Beecher repre- 

 sented that noted divine as being found fiddling vigorously in 

 his home when people were dying in the village from a pesti- 

 lence. "Why, Mr. Beecher," said the horrified church officer, 

 "how can you do this when there is such a scourge about us?" 

 " I must fiddle or die !" replied Mr. Beecher. Said Mr. Lang- 

 stroth, " His feelings were wrought up to so tense a pitch by 

 the sorrow about him, that he felt that he must seek relief in 

 the manner indicated." Even Mr. Beecher's fiddling was thus 

 a testimony to the power of his sympathy. 



On another occasion, Lyman Beecher overheard two ladies 

 discussing him in a public place. One, in describing him, said 

 that the hair on his head stood up "just like a hedgehog." 

 Mr. Beecher marched up to a mirror, took a glance at himself, 

 ran his fingers through his hair, and screeched out loud 

 enough for all to .hear: "Hey! Hey! Hedgehog, sure 



