1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



505 



liKely, as I have said, including inurder, and 

 admits that their suffering and anguish are 

 only the due reward of sin. Confession and 

 penitence, dear brother and sister, are the first 

 sure ground worli of a better life. 



We do not know how much the crowd knew 

 in regard to the life of Jesus. The chief priests 

 certainly knew he was innocent. Those who 

 had had a hand in getting up a mock trial knew 

 how shamefully preposterous the whole affair 

 ■was, from beginning to end. The thousands who 

 had come together from curiosity may have 

 known a little in regard to this. Most of them 

 probably did not care. But this penitent thief 

 said to his companion, " Eut this man hath 

 done nothing amiss."' I can imagine that the 

 poor soul at this point was getting such a 

 glimpse of his own sins that he had almost for- 

 gotttn his physical anguish. They say drown- 

 ing men catch at straws. This man was cer- 

 tainly like a drowning man. His case was 

 liopeless, and he was Jielpless. If he had any 

 sort of faith in God, he dared not come to him 

 at such a time after such a record. He had bro- 

 ken almost all, and perhaps all. of God's com- 

 mands. There was no chance and no hope. He 

 must hang there, suffering one day, may be two 

 days, and may be three, and then be ushered 

 into the presence of the mighty One whose eve- 

 ry command he had broken. He had heard of 

 this man Jesus. The Jews had been saying 

 that he called himself the Son of God. He had 

 heard the few words uttered by this strange be- 

 ing who was for the time classed with the 

 transgressors. He had heard him say, " Fa- 

 ther, forgive them, they know not what they 

 do." He had caught glimpses of the human 

 part of our Savior as well as of the divine. 

 Perhaps he begins to have a weak kind of faith 

 in that kingdom, so different and so strange— so 

 unlike earthly kingdoms; and in his poor weak 

 faith he catches at the last frail straw, as it 

 were. He throws himself into the care and 

 keeping of that stranger. How modestly, and 

 with what trembling faith, he makes his re- 

 quest — " Lord, remember me when thou comest 

 into thy kingdom." I can imagine, dear read- 

 er, that, even while he was speaking, a strange 

 peace began to come into his heart, such as he 

 had never known in all his life before, even un- 

 der the terrible existing circumstances. Hu- 

 man words can not express it. Before the gra- 

 cious Savior had even time to reply. I can im- 

 agine the guilty stains began to be washed 

 away, leaving the poor sin and crime stained 

 soul washed and clean and pure. Christ Jesus 

 came from heaven to earth to save sinners. His 

 lot was cast among sinners. He spent his life 

 pleading with them. Some of the skeptics have 

 said that he was a disappointed man. Well 

 might he have been disappointed. The same 

 skeptic, however, had forgotten that the old 

 prophets tell ns he was to be " a man of sorrow.s, 

 and acquainted with grief " — grief becau'se even 

 he, the Son of (rod. so utterly failed in teaching 

 men how much better are the incorruptible and 

 eternal riches of a clean heart than all the 

 treasures that this earth has to offer. Well, it 

 seems the great God above, in his eternal plan, 

 had arranged that the poor disappointed Son 

 should make one more conquest over evil, and 

 t?iat even at the last moment. He grasped the 

 situation, as it were, and replied to the poor 

 penitent sinner, " Verily I say unto thee, To-day 

 shalt thou be with me in paradise." Many who 

 read these words can look back at a time in 

 their lives when the Savior spoke peace and 

 pardon to their souls; and I am sure we shall 

 all remember that period to the last da y of onr 

 lives. There is nothing like it in the whol e line 

 of experience in a human life. My impression 



is, we should, think of that period in our lives 

 oftener. We should pray more earnestly to get 

 back to that very startingpoint. At that time, 

 dear brother or sister, the things that this world 

 had to offer you faded into utter insignificance 

 compared with the things pertaining to eternal 

 life. " Why do ye spend money for that which 

 is not bread, and labor for that which satisfieth 

 not?" 



Let us take another glimpse. Suppose we 

 could find men for our public offices — suppose 

 we could find men to occupy different positions 

 in the management of the aft'airs of the great 

 cities — men who had gotten such glimpses of 

 the Christlike life that the bribes and tempting 

 offers would have no effect on them. What 

 would be the effect upon our nation? What a 

 relief it would be to those who are laboring 

 hard, and trying to be honest — to the poor op- 

 pressed farmers who are paying the taxes — if 

 they knew that the men who take charge of all 

 this money and property were men who are de- 

 voted soul and body to the bettering of man- 

 kind—that they were men who feel that they 

 were sent here on earth to help sinners out of 

 darkness and into life, and who feel that every 

 thought and act in life are under the careful 

 scrutiny of the eye of the Almighty, and who 

 would conduct themselves accordingly! 



And finally, dear reader, are you not ready to 

 say as did this poor sinner on the cross, " Lord, 

 remember me when thou comest into thy king- 

 dom " ? If you have been disappointed, and if 

 you have been discouraged, oh let me, I beg of 

 you, persuade you to choose Christ Jesus as 

 your advocate before the throne of God. and 

 trust your life and affairs in his care and keep- 

 ing; and a new life, bright and joyous, full of 

 hope and peace — a life that shall newer end — 

 shall open up before you. and continue so long 

 as you continue faithful on your part. 



DAN white's system OP GROWING STRAW- • 

 BERRIES. 



If you will turn to page 782, Oct. 15. 1895, you 

 will find a description and diagram of the 

 above. All along during strawberry time I had 

 been thinking of that model plantation of Gan- 

 dies; but I could not get time to go over and 

 take a look at it until our own picking began 

 to slacken up. Just about this time the follow- 

 ing came to hand: 



I am now picking- my Gandy berries. 1 send them 

 to Cleveland, and they net me 12X cts per quart. 

 My raspV)erry-fi('ld is a grand sig-ht. and promises a 

 big yield. Bees are working- nicely on clover, and 

 ■we have extra prospects for a good season. 



New London, O., June Li. Dan White. 



I hastily made arrangements with the boys 

 to take care of what strawberries there would 

 be next dav. Saturday, and in due time I fetch- 

 ed up at Mr. White's pleasant home. He was 

 off to town with berries; but his hired man 

 showed me around, and gave me all the point- 

 ers. The patch had just been pretty well pick- 

 ed, so I did not see many of the finest berries; 

 but it was kept in apple-pie order, and it had 

 already given a very satisfactory yield at that 

 date, June 13. This was about two weeks 

 ahead of the time the Gaudies usually ripen. 

 But almost every thing is that much in advance 

 this present season. In one place there was a 

 row or two that showed something that was 



