The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-01-29

REV. TALMAeE. with the end of the
rod that was in my hand, and, 10,
must die"
The honey bee is a most ingenious
architect, a Christopher Wren among
insects; geometer drawing hexagon:
and pentagons, a freebooter robbing
the fields OF. pollen and aroma, won
drous creature ofGod whose biography
written by. Huber and Swammerdam,
is an enchantment for any lover .ot
nature. Virgil celebrated the bee in
his sabel OF Aristaeus; and Moses, and
Samuel, and David, and Solomon, and
jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and St John
used the delicacies of bee manufac-
ture as q 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 its tiny
body to brush up the particles of
flowers, its fight SO straight that all
the world knows of the bee line. The
honSycomb is a palace such as no
one but God could plan, and the
honey bee construct; its cells, some
times q dormftory and sometimes q
storekouse, and sometimes a cemetery.
These winged toilers first make eight
strips of wax, and by their -antennae,
which are to them hammer, and chisel,
and square, and plumb-line, fashion
them for use. Two and two these
workers shape the wall. If an acct
dent happens, they put up buttresses
of extra beams to remedy the damage.
When about the year 1776 an insect
before unknown, in the night time at
tackled the bee hives all over Europe,
and the men who owned them were In
vain trying to plan something to keep
out the invader that was the terror of
the bee hives of the continent, 1t was
found that everywhere the bees had
arranged for their own protection, and
built before their honey-combs an es-
pecial wall of a with portfolios
through which the bees might go to
and fro, but not large enough to adj
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 a new home. and
because of this the other bees of the hive
get into an excitement which raises
the heat of the hive some fourrdegrees,
and they must die unressT they leave
their heated apartments and follow
the mother bee and alight on the
branch of a tree, and cling to each
other until a committee of two or
three bees have explored the region
and found the Hollow of q tree or rock
not far off from n stream of water. and
they here set up a new colony, and ply
their aromatic industries. and give
themselves TO the manufacture of the
saccharine edible. But who can tell
the chemistry of that mixture of sweet.
ness, 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 ex-
terminated. The soldiery were posi-
lively forbidden to eat anything until
the work was done. 1fthey disobeyed
they were accursed. Coming through
the, woods they found1a place where
the bees had-b been busy-a great honey
manpfactory. 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 ave
Jonathan, and he, not knowing the
military order about abstinence,
dipped the end ola stick he had in his
hand into the candied liquid, and, as
yellow and tempting 1t glowed on the
end of the stick, he put 1t to his mouth
and ate the honey. Judgment fell up
him. and but for. special interven-
ton he would have been slain. In my
text Jonathan announces his awful
mistake: II did but taste q little
honey with the end of the rod that
was In my hand, and; 10, ] must die"
Alas; what multitldes of people Ia all
ages have been damaged by forbidden
honey, by which I mean temptation,
delicious and attractive, but damaging
and destructiyeI
Corrupt literature, fascinating. but
deathful, comes In this category.
Where one good, honest, healthfnl
book Is read now, there is q hun dred
made up of rhetorical trash consumed
with avidity. When the boys on the
cars come through7with a pile of pub
locations, look over the titles and mo-
tice that nine out of ten are injurious.
All the way from here to Chicago or
New Orleans notice that Questionable
books dominate. Taste for pure liter,
ature Is poisoned by this of the
publishing house. Every book In
sin triumphs over virtue, OF in
q glamour Is thrown over dissi-
or which leaves YOU at Its last
line with less respect for the marriage
institution aud less abhorrence for the
paramour, is a depression of your own
character. The bookbindery
be attractive, and the plot dra-
--Ala 81 -Ha-enP and fhA 0fula ~
writing sweet as the honey that Jona-
than took up with his rod, but your best
interests forbid it, your moral safety
forbids it, your God forbids 1t. and a
tasLe of it may lead to such bad re-
suits that you may have to say at the
OF the experiment, or ut the close
Of a misimproved lifetime: II did but
a little honey with the rod that
In my hand, and, 10, I must die"
literature is doing more to-
lay for the disruption Of domestic life
than any other cause. Elopements,
intrigues, sly correspondence,
names given at post ONCE
windows, elandestine meetings tp
and at ferry gates, and In hotel
and conjugal ~perjuries are
among the ruinous results. When .
WOndu, young or OAus BCLS bCE hSo4
thoroughly stuffed with the modern
novel she is In appalling peril. But
one will say: THE heroes are
70 adroitly knavish, and the h%eroines
20 bewitchingly untrue, and the turn
Of the story 10 exquisite, and all
the characters 90 enrapturing, / can
not quit them" My brother. my
sister, you can find styles Of lit
just as charming that will Sls-
vate, and purify, and ennoble, and
christianize while they please. The
does not own all the honey.
There is a wealth of good books COM
forth from our publishing houses
that leave no excuse for the choies OF
which il debauching to body,
mind and soul. Go to some iptellt.
gent man or woman, and@6sk for Q list
Of books that will be Strengthening to
your mental and moral condition. Life
: 60 short and your time for improve.
nent 60 abbreviated that you cannot
afford to fill up with husks. and cin-
lers, and debris In the interstices
II business hat young man is read
uR that which will prepare him
be 8 merchant prince, and that
young woman is filing her mind with
In intelligence that will yet either