this, we require to read carefully and thoughtfully through the accounts in the New Testament; and by means of the descriptions of travellers, and pictures of the scenery, bring home to our thoughts the real living facts. The garden of Gethsemane, with its aged olive-trees, will impress us with a feeling of the im portance of the contest which was waged there, when, amid the silence of peaceful night, Christ prayed in an agony, and found strength and comfort in answer to his prayer. The walls and streets, and houses of Jerusalem, changed as they are, during 1,800 years, will call up images of what must have been the upper chamber and the judgment-hall, and the street along which he carried his cross. And whether the spots now shown as Calvary and the Sepulchre are the real places or not, no one can gaze at them, or the pictures of them, without feeling convinced that the blood of the holy Jesus was shed, and his body was laid low in the tomb, somewhere near them. By such contemplation we bring home to ourselves the great fact, that a pure, holy, loving Being consented to die a painful, disgraced, and horrible death, giving himself freely up to torture, because he felt it to be God's will, and the means by which God would work good to man. He was influenced solely by Love, submissive love towards God, as a child to his parent, all-powerful love to mankind, as a brother to his brethren. We have here, then, an example of loving self-sacrifice; and Easter should be hallowed to us by an effort to imitate this, after our little measure, each one giving up something for the sake of the good of others, all resigning every thing to God's disposal, and submitting without a murmur to his will. Another great fact is, that this death on the cross was not the end of Jesus. The disciples who, sorrowing, laid him in the tomb, soon found that he was alive again, were re-assured and sent forth with courage on their Christian labours, by communion with him ;-and they and we thus learn, that suffering in the cause of duty is never in vain; that even the death of God's beloved-because faithful—children, is no evil to them; the spirit which is thus set free from the body is kept safe by the Father of spirits, and restored to conscious Said to be the spot where Pilate showed Christ to the people, being by His will. Evil may for a time appear to triumph, but good will rise, even from the grave, to the life and peace and joy which are its natural rights. Understand, meditate on, and apply these facts and truths,feel and live them,and you will properly keep the festival of Easter. THE LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. (Concluded from page 44). BECAUSE George Stephenson is known all over the world, as the great engineer-the inventor of railway travelling by steam-the drainer of Chat Moss-the builder of the high-level bridge at Newcastle, and many other wonderful works, it is very interesting to dwell upon the simple occupations of his early days. Whilst his brain was employed upon his inventions in science, his fingers were occupied in the humblest work that came to hand. He told his friends, with great glee, that he had once mended the shoe of his sweetheart, and what pleasure he had in carrying that shoe in his pocket for some days. He also repaired his neighbours' coats and jackets. Some years after, when he was a famous man, and visiting Sir Robert Peel, he saw his daughters working embroidery, when he surprised these ladies by saying to them, "I know all about that; I used to work the pitmen's button-holes, by the engine-fires at night." We thus learn, how an active mind and a willing heart can find time for small duties as well as great ones. Although we may repeat some things already noticed, we must give part of a speech made by George Stephenson, at a public dinner, when he had become renowned. He spoke thus, of his humble beginnings:"In my early days, I worked in a coalpit; I had then to work early and late, and my employment was a most laborious one. For about twenty years I had often to rise to my labour at one and two o'clock in the morning, and worked till late at night. Time rolled on, and I had the happiness to make some improvement in engine-work. Lord Ravensworth lent me money to carry out my plans, and I called the first engine, My Lord * * *. In what has been done under my management-the merit is only in part my own. Throughout, I have been most ably seconded by my son. In the early period of my career, when he was a little boy, I felt how deficient I was in education, and came made up my mind that I would put him to a good school. I determined that he should have as liberal a training as I could afford to give him. I was, however, a poor man, and how do you think I managed it? I betook myself to mending my neighbours' clocks and watches at night, after my daily labour was done. By this means I saved money, and was thus enabled to give my son a good education. While quite a boy he assisted me, and became a companion to me. He got an employment as under-viewer, and at nights when we home we worked together at our engineering." This good son lately said in public, that he and his father had often, when coming from the mine, put out their lights for safety, and walked more than a mile underground to the pit-mouth,-so fearless and familiar were they with the dark passages! In due time George Stephenson saw clearly that he could make steamengines (now called locomotives) move upon a railway, and draw other carriages at the rate of ten miles an hour or more. Although certain that he was right, it was impossible to make some people believe this, and they jeered him, and called him a madman! This opposition caused him greater trials of his patience and perseverance. No one who has not been so tried can tell what courage and strong faith is necessary to persevere when those who should assist, instead of helping on a wise man's efforts, are trying to discourage him : but he was successful at last, and now that we all can see how clear and correct he was, those who scorned and laughed at him must blush at their own prejudice and ignorance. Instead of ten miles an hour, a train can go with safety at the rate of twenty, thirty, and even forty miles an hour. To complete the first railroad between Manchester and Liverpool, it was necessary to drain a large bog, and to make a firm road over it. This was done at last by George Stephenson's skill, and his fame rests on this wonderful work as much as on his inventions in machinery. He became, after many years, a very wealthy engineer, with some hundreds of men working under his orders. For these men he built comfortable cottages, schools, and a church and chapel. With increased riches, George Stephenson did not grow greedy of gain, nor lose his early integrity. He had taken out a patent for a certain kind of cast-iron, and it was his interest that this sort of iron should be used; but when his experience proved that another sort was better, he would not recommend his own, which was a loss to him of £500. When the directors of the first railway became impatient to have it completed, one of them said to Stephenson, "Now, George, thou must get on with the railway, and have it finished without farther delay. Thou must really have it ready for opening before the first of January next.' George replied, "Consider the heavy character of the works, Sir, and how much we have been delayed by the want of money, not to speak of the wetness of the weather; it is impossible!" "Impossible!" said the director; "I wish I could get Napoleon to thee; he would tell thee there is no such word as impossible in the vocabulary." Tush," said Stephenson, with warmth; "Don't speak to me about Napoleon! Give me men, money, and materials, and I will do what Napoleon couldn't do,—drive a rail-road from Liverpool to Manchester, over Chat Moss!" And truly a road over a bottomless bog was a far more difficult task than a road across a mountain. George Stephenson showed extraordinary judgment and observation with respect to the works of others. Once, when travelling in France, he said that a certain bridge over the river Dordogue would never stand long. For some years he was believed to be a false prophet, but at last this bridge fell as some troops were passing over it, and many lives were lost. His last appearance in public 66 was at a dinner in Leeds. When his health was drunk, he said: "He stood before them but as a humble mechanic. He had risen from a lower standing than the meanest person there; and all that he had been enabled to accomplish in the course of his life had been done through perseverance. He said this for the purpose of encouraging youthful mechanics to do as he had done-to persevere.” The writer of the book from which this account is taken, says little of George Stephenson's religion in words, but we see clearly by his deeds that this cele |