1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



239 



i\o not know that it is any body's business, 

 if I choose to work every '.Sunday. Sir, is it 

 any worse to work on the Sabbath, than to 

 go "to prayer meeting Siniday evening, talk 

 and pray with the young pe'ople, and then 

 go home and soak your building with coal 

 oil and set Hre to it,' just to defraud the in- 

 surance companies of tlieir Jionest earn- 

 ingsV" 



Now, I shall have to ex])lain, my friends, 

 that it is true, that one of oiu'citizens. a man 

 that stood high in the estimation of almost 

 every body, did come to our young i)eople"s 

 prayer meeting, and although he did not 

 join in prayer, he talked to the young folks, 

 ;!nd made professions of Christianity, and 

 then, that very night, saturated the con- 

 tents of his store and dwelling, which were 

 all together, and set tire to them. There 

 was a zero temperature at the time, and it 

 was with extreme difficulty that our tire 

 engine could be made to work. Our whole 

 town was in danger of destruction, for his 

 store was right in the midst of a long block 

 of tall buildings. The lives of our citizens 

 also, and our tiremen. were greatly endan- 

 gered. 



I replied, ■'! heartily agree with you, my 

 friend, that you have no such men in Liver- 

 pool, and that the crime was innneasiu'ably 

 worse than Sabbath breaking ; but the Me- 

 dina people have not sent me here, and know 

 nothing of my errand." 



"Who did send you? and where is your 

 nuthority?'" 



"God sent me, and the book that com- 

 mands us all to remember the Sabbath day 

 to keep it holy, is my authority, if such it 

 may be called. I do'not come to dictate, or 

 to find fault, but only, in a friendly way, to 

 suggest, and to beg the iirivilege of talking 

 over the matter pleasantly." 



''But you have tried Sabbatli school work 

 1800 (?) years, and yet the world is only 

 growing worse. Do you not think it is time 

 to try something better?" 



''Then you do think, my friend, that we 

 are growing worse, and that Sabbath schools 

 are insufficient?" 



''Yes." 



"And will you not come over to the ])rayer 

 meeting to-niglit. and give us suggestions in 

 regard to a better way?" 



"I yv\\\ tell you a better way ; there is too 

 3nuch whisky drank and sold in tliis town, 

 and the remedy is to prosecute both the 

 drinker and the seller, according to law, and 

 then they would stop it." 



"It may be l)est, but, my friend. I would 

 ratlier go to the man who g'ets drunk, and to 

 the man who sells tlie drink to him. and talk 

 with both of tliem, in the same pleasant 

 and kind way in which you and I have just 

 been talking, and I have a feeling that 

 neither law nor ju-osecutionswill be needed. 

 That is the way in which I would make the 

 Sabbath schools a power in our land, and a 

 way of w(n'king in which I Innir (Jod will be 

 with us." 



"You are right, Mr. Root. I know you are 

 right ; your plan can do no hann, for it nev- 

 er makes enemies. Go on, and do not be 

 discouraged." 



The above mav not be his exact words. 



but it is the sum and substance of them, and 

 as I thanked God that I had— no, not L but 

 that the spirit of Christ had once more, that 

 day, come out victorious, do you know how 

 happy I felt? We had met enemies, but had 

 left friends, every where we had been. 



We had an excellent ]n-ayer meeting that 

 night, and the few words which the young 

 superintendent spoke, as he publicly conse- 

 crated his life to the work, were worth going 

 miles to hear. After he sat down, a man 

 who had been for yenrs a professor, but who 

 had never thought it his duty to go to Sim- 

 day school, until I had had a talk with him 

 that day, got up, and promised to give his 

 life and energies also, and to stand by his 

 young brother. Others took up the key note, 

 and after meeting closed, one who had never 

 been a professor, came to me, and said he, 

 too, was ready to enlist, and give God the 

 remainder of his life. My friends, do you 

 not think I felt on my way home, that^tliere 

 was a pretty fair prosi)ect that business 

 would give way to tlie Sabbath school on 

 Sunday? and do you not think 1 could feel, 

 too, that I had done a pretty fair day's 

 work? or rather, perhajjs, that so long as 

 God saw tit to bless my humble efforts in the 

 way he had done that day, I could hardly 

 afford to si)end many Sabbaths idly? 



It seems to me, that some of my readers, 

 and I can't blame them, are saying, "Mr. 

 R.. why do you not carry this same spirit 

 and armor, into your work among the bee 

 journals? and disarm by kindness those who 

 speak so harshly and uid'jiudly of you, now 

 and then? why are you mixed up in so many 

 quaiTels and controversies?" 



I humbly acknowledge the justice of the 

 reproof, but yet, I do not know how to do 

 very much differently. Could I see the par- 

 ties who censure me so severely, and talk 

 with them as I did with those last' Sunday, — 

 I do not know about that, after all. When 

 1 am doing mission work, I am in a different 

 mood. I am then free from l)usiness, am 

 working without pay, and prepared to turn 

 the other cheek also, with more thorough 

 consecration, than at other times. I am 

 afraid it is not possible to get through this 

 world, and have everybody feel pleasant to- 

 ward you, especially, if you are going to take 

 the part to a very great "extent, of those who 

 are being wronged ; but I do know that 

 kindness and gentleness might, a great many 

 times, be substituted for severity. It takes 

 a gi'eat deal of wisdom, to decide on the best 

 course in such matters, and I ana afraid your 

 friend errs a great deal, in tliis direction. I 

 can talk kindly with a druid^en man who is 

 abusing his wife, or the one who sells liim 

 the drink, but the man who goes around de- 

 manding and getting money from people 

 who are using a simple bee bi^'e. claiming 

 falsely that he lias a patent covering it, I 

 am afraid I should not treat ])le;'.santly ; or 

 even if I did, I am afraid he would not feel 

 kindly to me, if I spoiled his business, es- 

 pecially, if he had some slim excuse for his 

 coui-se. 



About the man who attended the prayer 

 meetings, and tlien set his building on fire ; 

 although lie has attended these meetings 

 considerably, for the past year or two, during 



