250 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



in the night time, and did not pay for their 

 load of produce at all ; and bye and bye they 

 cheated their friend in the city, who tooli their 

 ill gotten gains oft' their hands, and then a 

 quarrel came on, and the iron arm of the law 

 restored peace and tranquillity. Liberty, that 

 great blessing that (-jmes direct from the 

 Father Himself, was taken away, and long 

 weary days of bondage paid the debt. Did he- 

 not have time to meditate, and to see that hon- 

 esty is the best policy V Yes, he had time, but 

 I fear that instead of being sorry that he did 

 evil, he was only sorry that he got caught, 

 and when restored once more to liberty, he 

 was soon among old companions. "Lead us 

 not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 

 Docs the world half realize the meaning of the 

 prayer that so often passes their lips 'i 



Everybody is ready to admit that selfishness 

 is unprofitable, whfn carried, .to too great an 

 extreme, but how many are there who have 

 the courage to boldly cast their bread on the 

 waters in the way our Lord has commanded 

 us to do ? It is very easy to talk about ii, and 

 to make good resolutions, but when you are 

 annoyed very much by having your tools bor- 

 rowed and not returned, it is a pretty hard 

 matter to obey the injunction to "Lend, hop- 

 ing for nothing again." Sometimes there 

 seems no other way than to get off by one's 

 self, where we can tell that Heavenly Parent 

 all about it, just as a tired child would come 

 home to its mother, just to tell of all its griev- 

 ances and troubles. How it raises us up, and 

 how everything clears away after such forti- 

 fying. "Yes, I can keep lending them things, 

 audi am glad to be able to help them ; I have 

 so much to be thankful for, and they seem to 

 have so little. It is true, it is all or nearly all 

 their own fault, but if they have no faculty 

 for getting along, I presume it is my duty to 

 help them," and we are all cheerful and pleas- 

 ant again. 



It is so natural to be selfish, and so unnat- 

 ural to be looking out for the good of other 

 people, that it were strange if poor humanity 

 unaided, should ever make much progress in 

 the direction pointed out by the text. 



This season the water tank at our door has 

 had an unusual amount of patronage. So 

 much so, that I began to fear the expense of 

 ice and attendance was rather more than I 

 could aflord to stand. To add to this, the boys 

 have seemed moro rough with it than usual, 

 and it has several times been broken down, 

 bruised and misused in various ways, until it 

 almost seemed as if forbearance ceased to be 

 a virtue. They also waste a great deal of the 

 water, when it costs us so much time and 

 trouble. What pains me more than all, is, 

 that they will persist in swearing, while gath- 

 ered around the tank awaiting their turn, un- 

 til it almost seems as if it, by some strange 

 freak, provokes oaths and curses. Over and 

 over again have T, almost in anger, declared 

 (mentally) I would furnish water no longer 

 for such an ill-mannered and ungrateful set, 

 but soon after the sight of some wearied child 

 or woman, as they timidly asked if the water 

 was free to all, made me ashamed of myself, 

 and I thanked God for giving me the oppor- 

 tunity and means of helping poor tired hu- 

 manity, to even so much as a cup of cold wa- 



ter. As I write, the cups are j,ingling, anc! 

 those who go away look refreshed and thank- 

 ful, even if they do not say so. God knows 

 all our trials, and the pay that He sends in 

 the way of peace and thankfulness, is worth 

 more than all the silver and gold that was ev- 

 er coined. I finally made up my mind to bear 

 the expense for the season alone, if necessary^ 

 and to cultivate that broad charity and pa- 

 tience that is needed in all Christian work, as 

 well as I could in my own humble way, when 

 right in the hottest part of the weatuer, our 

 townsmen seemed to remember, all at once as 

 it were, that something more than kind words 

 was needed, and when the words came along 

 with a shining half dollar, I almost had to 

 turn my head to keep away the tears ; tears of 

 joy to think my Heavenly Father had remem- 

 bered me after all, and of shame to think I 

 had h'Jd such unkind and unjust thoughts ol 

 my own fellow townsman. Aye, and the 

 prayers for those who would persist in taking 

 God's name in vain, are being answered too, 

 as I purpose telling you about in another chap- 

 ter. 



Now please do not understand that I expect 

 you to get rich by supplying your fellow' 

 townsmen with ice water, for I have no idea 

 that you will get money enough to pay for 

 much more than the ice used, to say nothing 

 of the care and trouble ; but I do expect that 

 such an institution in every town would do so 

 much good, that it would open the hearts of 

 all, in time, and most especially of the one who 

 bears the responsibility of the whole institu- 

 tion. The morals of the town will be im- 

 proved, and very soon, as a natural conse- 

 quence, the prosperity ; and th'3 one who has 

 shaken oft" the o!d Adam of selfishness euougi> 

 to take delight in laboring for the good of the 

 community, will, if he is enterprising and in- 

 dustrious, "make money," if he wishes to, and 

 I think he will make a great deal more than 

 he can possibly, by grasping all he can from 

 a.11 sides, for his own individual use. God 

 does not see fit to pay us all right down in 

 cash every Saturday night, but he, neverthe- 

 less, does pay more surely than any earthly 

 employer. 



While I would earnestly recommend giving 

 freely where we have reason to think good 

 may come of so doing, 1 would in no wise en- 

 courage a disposition to be lavish and loose 

 in disposing :of one's property. Giving care- 

 lessly, or injudiciously, or being slack in tak- 

 ing care of your property, is almost if not 

 quite as grievous a fault as selfishness. If a 

 neighbor has borrowed your tools and does 

 not bring them back, do not abuse him behind 

 his back, nor yet to his face, but tell him 

 plainly how much trouble his negligence has 

 caused, and do it all with that genial good na- 

 ture that never oftends. Get him to assent to 

 the idea in the abstract, and instead of apply- 

 ing the matter to your own individual case, 

 make him understand that it is for the good of 

 the neighborhood. Teach your children, your 

 hired men, your friends and relatives and all 

 about you, the importance of respecting the 

 ri9:hts of others, and of holding a borrowed 

 tool as something saered. If a tool gets ru- 

 ined, do not, for the good of your neighbors, if 

 ' nothing el^e, let, the matter drop, but allow 



