The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-01-26
HONEY OF THE WORLD.
It May Seem Delicious, but Often
Produces Death.
Rev. DIR. Talmage Uttersa Warning Against
Allurements Which Entrap the Un-
wary-Evils of Gambling and
Strong Drink Shown Up.

DR.. Talmage prepared the following
sermon which contains some useful
lessons His text was l. Samuel IA: 43:
II did but taste little honey with the
end of the rod that was in my hand,
and, 10, must die"
The honey bee is most ingenious
architect-a Christopher Wren among
insects; geometer drawing hexagons
andpentagons, a freebooter robbing the
fields of pollen and aroma, wondrous
creature of God whose biography, writ
ten by Huber and Swammerdam, is an
enchantment for any lover of nature.
Virgil celebrated the bee in his fable
of Aristaeus; and Moses, and Samuel,
and David, and Solomon, and jeremiah,
and Ezekiel, and st. John used the del
icacies of bee manufacture as Bible
symbol. A'miracle of formation is the
bee; five eyes, two tongues, the outer
having a sheath of protection, hairs on
all sides of it's tiny body to brush up
the particles of flowers, its flight so
straight that all the world knows of the
bee line. The honeycomb is palace
such as no one but God could plan and
the honey bee construct; its cells, some
times dormitory and sometimes a
storehouse, and sometimes cemetery.
These winged toilers first make eight
strips of wax, and by their antenne,
which are to them hammer, and chisel,
and square, and plumbline, fashion
them for use. Two and two these work.
ers shape the wall. If an accident hap
pens they put up buttresses of extra
beams to remedy the damage. When
about the year 1776 an insect before
unknown attacked the beehivcs all
over Europe, and the men who owned
them were in vain trying to plan some
thing to keep out the invader that was
the terror of the beehives of the con-
continent, it was found that every
where the bees had arranged for their
own protection, and built before their
honeycombs an especial wax with port
holes through which the bees might go
to and fro, but not large enough to ad-
NIT the winged combatant, called the
Sphinx Atropos.
Do you know that the swarming of
the bees is divinely directed? The
mother bee starts for new home, and
because of this the other bees of the
hive get into an excitement which
raises the heat of the hive some four
degrees, and they must die unless they
leave their heated apartments, and
they follow the mother bee and alight
on the branch of tree, and cling
to each other and hold on until com
mittee of two or three bees have eX-
plored the region and found the hollow
ofa tree or rock not far from stream of
water, and they here set up new col
ony, and ply their aromatic industries,
and give themselves to the manufac-
ture of the saccharine edible: But who
can tell the chemistry of that mixture
of sweetness part of it the very life of
the bee, and part of it the life of the
fields?
Plenty of this luscious product was
hanging in the woods of Bethaven dur
ing the time of Saul and Jonathan.
Their army was in pursuit of an enemy
that by Gods command must be exter-
minated. The soldiery were positively
forbidden to stop to eat anything until
the work was done. If they disobeyed
they were accursed. Coming through
the woods they found place where
the bees had been busy-a great honey
mandatory. Honey gathered in the
hollow of the trees until it had over
flowed upon the ground in great pro-
fusion of sweetness. All the army
obeyed orders and touched it not save
Jonathan, and he, not knowing the
military order about abstinence, dipped
the end of stick he had in his hand
into the candied liquid, and as yellow,
and tempting, it glowed on the end of
the stick, he put it to his mouth and
ate the honey. Judgment fell upon
him, and but for special intervention
he would have been slain. In my text
Jonathan announces his awful mis-
take: Il did but taste little honey
with the end of the rod that was in my
hand, and, 10, must die" Alas, what
multitudes of people in all ages have
been damaged by forbidden honey, by
which l mean temptation, delicious
and attractive, but damaging and de-
structive! s
Corrupt literature, fascinating but
deathful, comes in this category. Where
one good, honest, healthful book is read
now, there is hundred made up of
rhetorical trash consumed with avidity.
When the boys on the cars come
through with pile of publications,
look over the titles and notice that nine
out of ten of the books are injurious.
Corrupt literature is doing more to-
day for the disruption of domestic life
than any other cause. HEl6pements,
marital intrigues, sly correspondence,
fictitious names given at post Office
windows, clandestine meetings in
parks, and at ferry gatesc andSin hotel
parlors, and conjuga1 perjuties are
among the .ruinous results. When a
woman, young or old, gets her head
thoroughly stuffed with the modern
novel she is in appalling peril. But
some one will say; THE heroes are so
adroitly knavish, and the heroines so
bewitchingly untrue, and the turn of
the story SO exquisite, and al the char
acters SO enrapturing, / cannot quit
them" My brother, my sister, you can
find styles of literature just as charm
ing that will elevate, and purify, and
ennoble, and Christianize while they
please The devil does not own all the
honey. There is wealth of good
books coming forth from our publish
ing houses that leave no excuse for