80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mah. 



by nature, and who hardly seem to know what 

 fear is, but there is a far larger class that have 

 a natural shrinking from dans^er, that it seems 

 almost harsh to call cowardice. I am not 

 writing to praise those who have natural gifts, 

 nor to encourage those who are eo reckless of 

 danger as to have it amount to foolhardiness. 

 1 write rather to those timid ones — if I were 

 speaking of myself alone I would say those 

 who have found by experience that they are 

 both selflgh and cowardly, and who tind it a 

 tremendous task to break away from such 

 feelings. To such I would say take courage, 

 for when we once get out of these besetting 

 sins, we feel a joy, that those who are natur- 

 ally brave, know nothing of Perhaps such is 

 always the case when we are led to see our 

 own peculiar failings, and strive manfully to 

 overcome them. 



When I first commenced keeping bees I so 

 feared the wicked stings that every hive I 

 opened would set me in a perfect sweat and tre- 

 mor, and when I got it all shut up safely, I 

 would draw a breath of relief that might do 

 credit to a man who had just been drawn out 

 of a well. Now the fear of the stings, was 

 much greater than the pain, find had I school- 

 ed myself in the first place to taking the con- 

 sequences and bearing them like a mau, or 

 rather like a sensible being, I should have got 

 along much faster, and suffered less. When 

 duty demands that we should go among those 

 having the small-pox or cholera, or that we 

 should boldly approach a fractious horse when 

 the inmates of some carriage are helpless or in 

 danger, if we can by earnest prayer still the 

 "v^eakaess that would induce us to consider 

 our own psrsonal safety before that of anyone 

 else, I tell you a glorious recompense awaits 

 us if we come ofl'the conqueror. 



Now in regard to walking ; did you never 

 feel a dislike to goihg out into the keen wintry 

 air during some cold morning, and feel that 

 you had much rather stay iu-doors ? Well, at 

 such a time suijpose you provide good well 

 fitting l)oots, gopd mittens — they are much 

 warmsr than gloves — get warmly clad, and 

 start out with a determination to laugh at 

 storms or frost. For a little while, you may 

 wish yourself back in a warm room, but after 

 you have walked a half mile or so, the warm 

 blood begins to tingle to the very ends of your 

 lingers and toes, and as you unbutton your 

 coat collar, and may be put your mitten-^ in 

 your pocket, you begin to feel like looking 

 about and . enjoying nature, in her robe of 

 white. There is a kind of fascination, in feel- 

 ing that you can defy the cold, and as you 

 swing your arms, and draw in the full breaths 

 of the delicious froity air, and under its in- 

 vigoratin;^ influence spring forward almost as 

 if you had wings, you feel that a mile is a 

 mere triflj, and wonder how you could have 

 ever considered it a hardship to be obliged to 

 "go OD foot." 



I believe I am now about ready to get at our 

 beauuful text at the head of this chapter. It 

 is not that I wish you all to take a humble 

 seat in this world, but that you are perfectly 

 satisfied and contented to do so. A man said 

 a short timr; ago, "1 have done more towards 

 building up the town of Medina, than any oth- 

 er man, and yet what thanks do I get?" Do 



you suppose such a state of mind is an envia- 

 ble one ? You have heard people tell how 

 they had worked themselves to death for the 

 community in which they lived, and yet the 

 more they did gratuitously, the more people 

 expected of them, and that was all the thanks 

 they got. Now while I am about it, perhaps 

 instead of abusing others I had better own 

 right up that I have been very fond of telling 

 how much I have done for the world, and how 

 little pay I have had, and how some one else 

 has always taken all the credit of it. I do not 

 believe I have done very much of it lately, 

 however, for I havn't had time, and besides I 

 thank the Lord that I have begun to see that, 

 the world is about right, that some one else, 

 does deserve the credit of very much I had 

 been so fond of calling my own. It comes 

 about very much like going on foot to Sunday 

 school ; when we once get started, we find 

 ourselves too busy in the Lord's service to 

 stop to inquire whether we are doing some- 

 thing beneath our dignity or not, and by and 

 by we are astonished to tind ourselves so hap 

 py that even should some one say unjust and 

 unpleasant things about us, we have lost all 

 disposition to feel hurt or troubled about it at 

 all, but can smile back as pleasantly and kind- 

 ly as if it were nothing to feel worried about. 

 Two years ago the Women's Temperance 

 League placed a tank of ice water on our 

 streets and paid for having it kept supplied 

 with ice all summer long. In the fall, with 

 some difficulty a collection was taken up to 

 defray the expenses. Afcer it was carried on 

 in this way for two years, thQy became dis- 

 couraged and turned the water tank over to 

 me to take care of. I decided to try an exper- 

 iment on humanity, and resolved to ask no 

 one for a cent ; if my fellow citizens chose to 

 partake of th? water all summer long without 

 caring who provided it, or how the expenses 

 were paid, all right, and instead of blaming 

 them, I would decide the fault to lie in the 

 system and not the people. The ice cost just 

 f23.00, and that entire amount to within a few 

 cents, was handed me with pleasant words, 

 and kind wishes, that were worth more than 

 could be estimated in dollars and cents. One 

 remarked that there was a temperance lecture 

 that was really "business ;" another, as he 

 handed in a dollar, "a dollar for water, bat 

 not one cent for beer ;" another, as he handed 

 in the same amount, ''I have boys on the 

 street, and when they are thii'sty, I wish them 

 to drink water," and so on. It was suggested 

 that a little bank should be kept over the tank, 

 that pennies might be dropped into it, but I 

 could not feel this to be just the right way, so 

 long as we wished every one to feel that the 

 water was free to all, without money and 

 withouG price. One Sabbath, I told the child- 

 reti that GJod provided the money to j>ay for 

 this icL>, as we were studying about Elijah and 

 the widow's handful of meal and cruse of oil. 

 "Can any one tell how God sent that money," 

 said I. "He put it into the minds of good uicn 

 to como and hand it to you," was the immedi- 

 ate reply. Now dear friends, I would not for 

 anything appear to boast of the way in which I 

 have succeeded in this matter, for I may make 

 a sal blunder this season with the same tern 

 perance question, but I do feel that Go! will 



