of luxury and cultivation. Communities which are simple in their habits are comparatively pure in moral character; but where luxury abounds without a restraining religious influence, there may the greatest depravity be found.

The building of cities and living in communities is another proof of the advanced state of the useful and ornamental arts. In a wild and wandering life all the more refined arts are dispersed and lost, but the collection of men in cities tends to concentrate and bring them to maturity.

Thus it conclusively appears that the antediluvians were familiar with many of the inventions and improvements which pertain to the arts of peace and war; and that they planted the seeds of knowledge, of which we are reaping the fruits, in all science, philosophy, and the arts.

CHARITY.

1 COR. XIII.

SWEET Charity! the fairest of the graces
Our world hath ever seen;

How lovely are her bright and glowing features,
How graceful is her mien !

She moves with gentle yet with ardent footstep,
Along life's varied path;

Bearing the richest and the costliest blessings
To every home and hearth.

Truth, in her eye, so clear and radiant beameth;
Peace showeth on her brow:

She dwelt with man amidst the bowers of Eden,
And cheers his exile now.

Like the rich dew, her kindly influence falleth
On parch'd and barren hearts;

And where the sunshine of her smile is resting,
All chill and gloom departs.

Against the threats of envy and of slander

She makes a vigorous stand;

And on the outcast, bow'd with shame and sorrow, She softly lays her hand.

Lowly and simple as Spring's earliest flowers,

No haughty look she shows;

But sweet humility marks every gesture,
As on she meekly goes.

With beautiful unselfishness she striveth

To lighten others' cares;

And with a cheerful and a calm demeanour,

All provocation bears.

When dark suspicion clouds another's goodness,
Steadfast to hope she clings;

And gladly over every fault and failing

Her lovely mantle flings.

All things on earth are frail and evanescent-
The rich prophetic lore,

Which animates and aids the weary pilgrim,

He soon will want no more.

The brightest gifts which help to cheer life's transit, Each in its turn must fail;

And some fair graces, now his guardian angels,

Pass not through death's dark vale.

But Charity, sweet Charity, attends him

To realms of light above;

And fills with joy those everlasting mansions,

For what is heaven but Love?

H. M. W.

CHRIST IS RISEN.

BY MISS ANNA MENNELL.

Ir is the early dawn of the first Easter morning; and with loving and sorrowful hearts some gentle mourners are wending their way from Jerusalem to the sepulchre of their departed Saviour. They bear with them sweet spices and perfumes with which to embalm His precious remains; and as they hasten upon their sad errand, they speak to each other of the difficulty they may have in the removal of the great stone which seals up that last resting-place. The sun is just rising as they reach their destination; and to their surprise and consternation, they find the stone rolled away and the sepulchre empty! No, it is not empty; for although the body of Jesus is no longer a tenant of that tomb, an angelic visitant is stationed there as its guard. And he says, in sympathizing tone, to the alarmed women, "Fear not: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: He is risen." They came to find Jesus, and they are bidden to rejoice because they do not find Him! Does this surprise you? If the angel had stopped at the utterance of these words, "He is not here," these sorrowing seekers might still weep on; but the key-note of their song of gladness is given to them in this brief, but all-comprehensive announcement, "He is risen!" Christ is risen! Welcome

tidings! good news! this, to these ardent and warmhearted friends of Jesus. They may go back now with lightened hearts and joyous steps to their fellowdisciples, and comfort them by this happy and unexpected intelligence. Christ is risen! The night of gloom is succeeded by the morning of joy: the sunshine of Easter, and the glory of the resurrection, have dispersed for ever the shadows of Good Friday, and the terrors of the grave.

"Jesus which was

Dear reader, are you seeking crucified"? Saddened by the remembrance of sin, and longing for the pardon and peace which He has procured for sinners, are you weeping with Mary at the sepulchre because you cannot find the Saviour? Fear not; He is not here; He is risen!

Yes, perhaps you reply, I know He is risen, but that does not comfort me. In the Man of sorrows, the despised Nazarene, the crucified Redeemer, there is more to soothe and to attract me than in the glorious Conqueror, the risen and the ascended Saviour. My transgressions are many, my griefs are bitter; what relief can I gain in the thought of Christ's resurrection?

All that you want, dear reader, to satisfy conscience, to fill you with joy and peace, and to strengthen you for trial and temptation.

Christ is risen! Then his work is completed, his sacrifice is accepted. And for whom was that sacrifice offered? For sinners, for me, for you. you. Look, then, to that hour wherein Christ was raised from the dead, as the hour wherein God declared your freedom from condemnation, and your consequent admission to eternal life.

Christ is risen! And where is He now? At his Father's right hand, where He ever lives to make intercession for you. He prays for you, that your faith may not fail; He pleads for you, that you may be kept from the evil which is in the world.

Christ is risen! And when God raised Him from the dead, He put all things under his feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church. All, therefore, that you can want both for time and for eternity, Christ is able and willing to bestow. He is risen, to manage your affairs-to fulfil his precious promises to impart the Holy Spirit-to prepare a place for you in his Father's mansions.

Christ is risen! Then you too shall rise. His re

surrection is the pledge of yours. He is the “firstfruits" of them that sleep; the "forerunner" who "for us " has entered into heaven. As you think of death and the grave, remember that He is the resurrection and the life.

Christ is risen! Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body. Rom. vi. 12. As Christ was raised from the dead, so also should you walk in newness of life. Strive more and more to know Him, and the power of his resurrection. Seek those things which are on high; live above the world; follow in the steps of your Saviour.

Christ is risen! How few there are who gratefully realize this most stupendous fact, or who are practically influenced by it. Look, at this festive season, into that richly-lighted and decorated ball-room, and observe that fashionable and frivolous young lady there, whose chief object in life seems "to see and to be seen." Self is the centre-point of all her aims— the circumference of all her desires. Eager in the pursuit of worldly gaieties and pleasures, she is so absorbed in the "present," that she rarely glances at the "future." And yet she calls herself a Christian ; she thinks herself a Christian; by profession she certainly is one. She would not upon any account miss going to church this Easter, where she will join with the assembled congregation in beseeching that through the grave and the gate of death she may pass to her joyful resurrection, for His merits, who died, and was buried, and rose again for her." But does she really and intelligently believe the doctrine of Christ's resurrection, with all the great and glorious consequences which are linked with it? Has she any sympathy with the mighty achievements and loving purposes of a risen Saviour?

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Őr, look at that money-getting, money-loving man of business, on whose anxious and harassed brow you may read a lesson on the cares of this life, and the