moment thousands of tapers are lighted; and on every side is heard the greeting which will run to-day through the length and breadth of the land: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!"'

Viewed as a religious rite, the ceremony is sufficiently degrading; but as a spectacle, it is impressive in the highest degree, and admirably calculated to work upon the feelings of a nation remarkable for devotional fervour, and almost childishly fond of theatrical display.

D. K.

A TRUE INCIDENT.

GENTLE girl lay dying. Around her were gathered her books and little treasures, on which her mother, by her directions, wrote the names of her young friends or schoolfellows, who were to possess the gifts as memorials of her.

'And now, dear mother,' she said, as the last name was written, 'call little Janey, that I may tell her myself about death, and where I am going to.'

The merry little child, but four years of age, was speedily seated beside her dying sister, whom she had dearly loved.

Very

'I am going away soon, Janey dear,' she began. soon you will come into this room, and you will see me lying here quite quiet, and very white. You will speak to me, but I will not answer you. You will touch me, and you will feel me so very cold, and then you will know that I am dead. But although you see me then, it will be only my body; for my spirit, which is speaking to you, will be far away in the happy land you so often sing to me about; and I want you to know what makes me so happy to die, and to leave you all. It is because I know I am going to live with Jesus, who has forgiven all

my sins, and who loved me, and has taught me to love Him too, although I did nothing to deserve His love; and He is now coming to take me away, to be happy with Himself for ever. And I want you, Janey, to learn to love Him, and to trust Him, and to pray that you may never grieve Him; so that you may go to Him when you die.'

The next evening the house was very still, and Janey's papa gathered all the children round him, and told them that sister Mary was in heaven. The little boys crouched down together in a corner; and after their tears, which had flowed for some time, were dried, they remained silent and awestruck all the evening; but little Janey romped and laughed as merrily as ever. 'She knew,' she said, 'that Mary was not dead.'

Next morning she rose early and stole into the room where Mary lay. She stood gazing for a minute on the pale and changed face, then said softly: 'Mary! sister Mary, can't you speak?' Then she climbed on the bed, and sung, in her clear baby tones, the sweet hymn that never before failed to call forth a loving response:

Never taking her eyes for a moment from the unmoved face, she sang it to the end; then timidly stretching out her hand, she touched the cold cheek, and springing from the bed with a bitter cry, she rushed into the arms of her aunt, who had been watching her unperceived. 'I know now that Mary is dead and has gone to Jesus,' she repeated again and again.

May we not hope that little Janey, now no longer 'little,' has never forgotten the dying charge of her dear sister, but has obeyed the call of the loving Saviour, who in that hour was knocking at the door of her heart, and seeking an everlasting entrance into it?

KISS ME GOOD NIGHT.

A LITTLE girl said to her mother, as she gave her a good-night kiss, 'I wish you would kiss me always, mother, the very last thing at night. I am happier in my sleep when you kiss me, and I think I rest better.'

'Dear mother, when my prayer is said,

Before you take the light,

Oh! lean your head so closely down,
And always kiss good-night:
For I am happier in my dreams,
And sleep is sweeter rest,
If I have laid my lips to thine,
And thine to mine are press'd.

'One kiss, dear mother, for the love
My heart keeps warm for thee;
And one for all the tenderness
Thy sweet eyes look to me.
Kiss me forgiveness of my wrongs;
Kiss me with hope and prayer,
That I shall be a better child,
And more reward thy prayer.

'Kiss me for some poor orphan child,
To whom no kiss is given ;
And next for all the happy ones,
And then for one in heaven.
Kiss me for everything I love,
The beautiful and bright;

Sweet mother, kiss me for thyself
Once more, and now Good night.'

Christian Intelligencer.

A GOLDEN RULE.

LEASE, sir, will you ring the bell for me?' said a little girl, called Anna, to a gentleman who was passing a house, the bell of which she had tried in vain to reach up to.

The gentleman was either too proud or too much engrossed with his own thoughts to listen to Anna's petition, for, as he walked quickly past, he said to her, 'Go away, I have nothing for you !'

Anna was very vexed, for she was a tidy little girl, and did not like to be taken for a beggar child. She gave a deep sigh, and looked sadly up at the door, and said half aloud: 'Oh! what shall I do?'

At this moment a big boy, with a basket on his head, came along. 'I will not ask him,' said Anna to herself. 'I don't believe he will help me, and perhaps he will laugh at me.' But the boy stood still before the door, and put down his basket.

He saw the distress the little girl was in, and had compassion on her; and going up to her with a kindly smile, he said—

'Can you not reach the bell? Come, I will pull it for you.'

"Oh, I will be so glad,' replied Anna; 'I have waited here so long, and am very tired.'

The boy pulled the bell, the door was opened, and Anna's trouble was at an end.

Dear children, do you know the golden rule which Christ has given us? It reads thus: 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'

Did the proud gentleman follow this rule when he gave Anna the ungracious answer? Certainly not! But the boy followed it fully-did he not?

A LITTLE BOY MOVES A GREAT SHIP.

E have somewhere read that at an English dockyard a great ship was to be launched: an immense multitude assembled to see it glide down the slides that were to carry it into the water. The blocks and wedges were knocked away, but the massive hull did not stir, and there was disappointment. Just

then a little boy ran forward, and began to push the ship with all his might. The crowd broke out into a laugh of ridicule; but it so happened that the vessel was almost ready to move, the few pounds pushed by the lad were only needed to start it, and away it went into the water.

This teaches an important lesson to every boy and girl. You often think that the little you can do is of no account. You don't know that. A little word, a kind act, however small, may be, and often is, the turning in one's own history, and often of great importance in its influence upon others. A good deed, or the resistance of a temptation, may start up good thoughts in the mind of a playmate, which may suggest other thoughts and deeds. The train of thought in one's mind is like a train of cars. The little frog or tongue on the rail, no larger than your finger at its point, may direct the locomotive upon the right track, or, if wrongfully placed, it may turn the engine aside and hurl it down a steep bank to fearful destruction. So the smallest word may start the mind on a right or wrong track. Dear young friends, your little words, little thoughts, and little works are important. Strive earnestly to be right, noble, generous, at all times, in secret and in public.

When, in the future, we come to see the great map of human action and influences spread out, it will then be found that you are daily and hourly exerting an influence that is telling upon the characters of your brothers, sisters,