03:.' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dkc. 1. 



used in this way: When the old farmers got 

 their, cider made in the fall, and put into the 

 barrels tliey would let it stand, and would say, 

 "Let it bumfuzzle:" that is. let it work a little, 

 and throw out and off the impurities. Some 

 would let it bumfuzzle longer than others. Tlie 

 longer it bumfuzzled, the harder and stronger 

 would be the cider. When it had bumfuzzled 

 to suit the man's taste it was racked off, put 

 into a clean cask, and tightly bunged up for 

 winter; so tiie meaning of tlie word seems to be 

 tocleanfic ov lopu.rifii; and perhaps tlu> presi- 

 dent was only doing his duty when he was try- 

 ing to bumfuzzle them. There is a great deal 

 of bumfuzzling needed in many places. 

 Atwood. 111., Nov. 23. J. W. C. Gray. 



Our Homes and My Neighbors. 



Lord, remember me wlien tliou coraest into thy 

 kingdom. Luke 33:42. 



While spending Sunday in the city of Lan- 

 sing. Mich.. I, of course, as is my habit, attend- 

 ed as many religions meetings as possible. 

 During the afternoon I met some pleasant- 

 looking young men on the streets, who were 

 passing out cards. One of the cards read as 

 follows: 



"THE DETECTIVE." 



A TALK FOR MEN 



CHAS. E. THOMAS. 



SUNDAY, AT 4 O'CLOCK P. M., 

 at the Young Men's Christian Association Rooms 



YOV ARE INVITED.— Social fionu fsei-vicc. 



and short talks every night diuiim the 



week at 7:30. 



At four o'clock I was promptly on hand for 

 the address. The speaker was a converted 

 lawyer. He handled his subject much as law- 

 yers" do in pleading a case. There is something 

 wonderfully interesting to me in hearing a 

 lawyer plead Christ's cause. They are accus- 

 tomed to give their subject a certain kind of 

 intense thought and study that we seldom meet 

 among the clergy. His hearers were mostly 

 young men. Toward the close of his discourse 

 he gave us a thought that was new to me— at 

 least he presented it so as to give one side of it 

 I had never thought of before. I wish I could 

 present it to you, deal' friends, as he presented 

 it to us on that Sunday afternoon: and may 

 the Holy Spirit guide me as I undertake the 

 task. 



The theme was the crucifixion, as you will 

 gather fiom the text. He called onr attention 

 especially to the two thieves on the cro.ss. They 

 were botJi sinners. In fact, one of them said as 

 much; and Mark tells us that "they that were 

 crucified with him reviled him;" Matthew tells 

 us that the people were reviling him, and say- 

 ing, "He trusted in God; let him have him now 

 if he will: for he said. I am the Son of God." 

 And then Matthew goes on to say further, 

 "The thieves also which were crucified with 

 him cast the same in his teeth." Finally one 

 of the thieves, beholding the Son of God, and 

 perhaps being impressed with his demeanor 

 and his meekness under all his sufferings and 

 cruel taunts, seemed to notice him more closely: 

 and when his companion said. "If thou be the 

 Christ, sas'e thyself and us," he rebuked him, say- 

 ing, " Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in 

 the same condemnation?" And then he adds, 

 "And ire indeed J»sf?i/, for we receive the due 



reward of our deeds; but this man hath done- 

 nothing amiss." You see, he acknowledged 

 that their punishment was just; and this par- 

 ticular one. instead of railing at his persecutors 

 — instead of finding fault witii the laws of the 

 land, and Instead of blaming the Son of God for 

 their cruel tortiu'e, he acknowledges the justice, 

 and in the same breath confesses that Jesus, 

 unlike him and his c(mip(tni(>n, is innocent. 

 Finally, as he approaches death, in a very few 

 simple words he makes a faint and feeble con- 

 fession of Christ Jesus, acknowledging his 

 power, and shows a glimpse of a feeble sort of 

 faith. Hebelieves in the Savior, and he trusts 

 him, at least a little. At the same time he 

 seems to have such a glimpse of his own griev- 

 ously sinful life that he evidently does not 

 expect i'e7^y much nor seem to have very much 

 hope. He turns and speaks to the suffering 

 Redeemer, and says, simply, " Lord, remember 

 me when thou comest into thy kingdom." He 

 does not ask for pardon: perhaps he does not 

 deem it possible that such a thing can happen; 

 but he ventures to ask the Savior to remember 

 him. He evidently has heard something of 

 Jesus' kingdom; possibly he has heard others 

 talk about this kingdom, even if he has not at 

 some pi'evious time heard Jesus himself speak. 

 The I'eply of the Savior was as simple and brief 

 as the confession of the penitent thief: but, oh 

 what a promise was summed up in those few 

 words — "Verily I say unto you. To-day shalt 

 thou be with me in pdradise''! 



For many long years I have ti'ied to think 

 what a wonderful privilege it would be to be 

 with the Savior, as the disciples once went with 

 him here on earth. When I I'ead of how Jesus 

 called to the blind man, it has seemed to me as if 

 I would rather hear his voice calling me than to 

 have any other wish granted that this world or 

 this (Uiii'ej'se has to offer. And this poor thief 

 was honored with a promise of the privilege of 

 being with Christ Jesus. Yes. and he was 

 cheered amid his deathly agony by the promise 

 that it should be done "to-day.'' And, finally, 

 he was to be with him in paradise. All this 

 was his reward for just those few words of 

 recognition and of acceptance, and as a reward 

 for that simple prayer, "Lord, remember me." 



" Now." said the speaker. " we come to the 

 point of this illustration. These two thieves 

 were sinners — yes. hardened ci'iminals. They 

 confessed it. and did not dispute it. When one 

 continued to I'all and taunt the Savior, the 

 other turned and defended him while he rebuk- 

 ed his companion. He turned from crime and 

 sin to Jesus and justice. The two thieves had 

 gone thus far through life side />{/ side, but now 

 they separate. A sharp dividing line comes 

 between them. One confesses Christ, and asks 

 to be remembered by him; the other one dies 

 as he had lived." The speaker went on to say, 

 "Dear brothers, the line that separated the two 

 thieves separates us hei'e to-night; and part of 

 you. in your own hearts, decline to recognize 

 the claims of the Son of God. You decline to 

 ask him to be your help, your intercessor, your 

 friend, your spokesman. Those of you on the 

 other side of the line have chosen him— have 

 believed in him, and are resting in his promises 

 and in his willingness to save. Oh will you not 

 — at least one of you — come 'over the line'*' 



* oil ! tender and sweet was tlie Master's voice 



As he loving'ly called to me, 

 " Come over the line— it is only a step— 



I am waiting, my child, for thee." 



"Over the line," hear the sweet refrain; 



Anttels are chanting the heavenly strain : 

 " Over the line!" wlij' should 1 remain 



With a step between me and Jesus'^ 



