WELCOME, blessed day! The Saviour, who had lain in the grave, has risen from the dead. The angels beheld him gloriously rise. He lived a life of severest suffering. He died a death of deepest agony. Then he rested in the grave. Then he perfumed the resting-place of the saints. Then he opened the gate to our Father's house. O beautiful day. From the night of the grave came forth he who is the life of all beings. He enters upon his eternal princely inheritance, as the heir of all things. Yet still he remains our brother. Blessing on you, ye reviving fields and gardens. On you I behold the traces of the resurrection power. Every flower that comes forth from the bosom of winter is His-is from Him, and blooms for Him. Today is my revived and reviving heart glad in Him. How is my spirit rejoiced to see again my dear Lord who has come forth from the tomb. I will spread palm-branches in his way, as once did Salem's children. He shall move in triumph before me; and my own heart shall feel his victories in new life and joy. He does not, it is true, ride before me as he did before the multitude down the side of Olivet; and I cannot honor him in the same way as they did, yet I see him by faith, exalted to a far higher seat; and I withdraw to-day from the joy of the world, to meditate upon my victorious and exalted Lord. Instead of palm-branches, I lay my heart as an offering at his feet. Receive it, O Saviour, and make it ever more like thine own. As an Easter gift bestow upon me a pure heart, full of love and peace. Lead me through this life quietly, if it may be; and if not, walk thou on the waves that toss me, and speak thou to the storms that beat upon me. There yet shall dawn upon me a more lovely Easter day than this! One that shall so bless my heart as not to leave a single wo behind. Through death and the resurrection I shall reach that glorious day—a morning without clouds, a day that will know no setting sun. Then I shall see thee, my Saviour, in the gladsome groves of Heaven; and all whom I have known and loved on earth, that have also loved thee, shall be gathered around me. Let there be none lost! In thy kingdom alone there is eternal peace; and as thou art exalted, draw us all after thee. As I look towards thy holy heaven to-day, my heart is enlarged with hope, and grows tender with love. Deep in my spirit I hear a voice, sweet as thine, which seems to say: My peace I leave with you! Hail! glorious Easter. Hail! my risen Lord! HUMAN LIFE. How short is human life! The very breath -HANNAH MOORE. 鹰 HOW TO BECOME EDUCATED. BY J. V. E. It is not an uncommon thing to hear persons complain of their ignorance. This complaint, although common, is not always made by those only who can scarcely read, write and cypher. The reason why such persons do not in general complain in this way, is because it requires some learning to make us acquainted with our ignorance. It is most frequently made by those who have advanced somewhat in the rudiments. Their eyes have been partly opened to the value of knowledge, and hence they have a longing after more. This is natural: the intellectual vision increases in proportion as the mind becomes active and enlightened. With the increase of such vision, new objects for contemplation are observed, and new branches of the stream of wisdom and truth are discov ered, which increases their desire for their exploration. So in the pursuit of one science or art we are brought into contact with another, and as we advance, with still another. All truth, science and art, make up one grand whole truth. The entering into one rivulet of the stream of wisdom, will, if pursued, lead to the fountain head of all wisdom. Hence if we have pushed our inquiries so far as to see faintly what is not yet understood by us, we are in a happy position for advancing farther. Perhaps there is some young reader of The Guardian who has ardent desires for knowledge, and faint glimpses of the light, but how to become educated better is the perplexing question. To such we propose to lend some aid. Will you follow me young friend, sincerely, when I promise to assist you in surmounting the difficulties you imagine stand in your pathway and prevent you from becoming educated. You have the desire, but not the means and opportunity, you think, and hence need not cherish those ardent desires for wisdom which are doomed, as you suppose, to disappointment sooner or later. Only cherish that hope in your breast of becoming wise, and you will yet be able to rejoice in its realiz ation. What are the obstacles in your way of becoming educated? Do you say: 1. You are too poor-you cannot spare the time to study. It is true some persons are apparently in more favorable circumstances than others for the realization of their hopes. Poverty, in some respects, is an almost insurmountable obstacle. But we believe it is much oftener a blessing than a curse. It is a stimulant to industry, which is one of the first qualities necessary in the student. All that makes a person eminent in science and art, is the result of toil. Wisdom is not a gift of nature. Mental labor makes the man of learning, and not birth. Any thing that prompts to this should be looked upon as an especial blessing. Suppose Luther had been the son of very wealthy parents is it very probable that he would have become the resolute, iron-willed reformer? Suppose that Calvin had been raised in ease and affluence, would he have become so eminent in the cause of Christ? Suppose that Bunyan had been the son of a king or nobleman, would his labors have so much cheered the hearts of Christ's pilgrims? We believe not. Their circumstances urged them to industry. They saw no escape from fulfilling the command, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Having thus a basis formed by necessity for becoming useful, the Lord influenced them in the direction where He wanted their services. Thus God often places persons in limited circumstances to make them industrious, and accustom them to habits of toil, that He may make them useful. An idle, lazy person God does not make eminent. Many eminent and worthy persons in Church and State are such, in part, just because poverty drove them to labor. Believe me, young friend, if you plead your poverty as an excuse for not making effort to become learned, you are making that as an excuse which God designs as a reason to urge you on. You also say you cannot spare the time for study. I suppose you think if you could have the opportunity to sit down day after day, with your books in your hand, your situation would be the most favorable one for becoming learned. Let me tell you, you are mistaken. It is not always those that spend the most uninterrupted time with books that know the most. The body needs exercise to give life and action to the mind. The mind is a living organism, and not a blank sheet upon which impressions are made. The more strength it gains, by virtue of the health of the body, the more capable it will be of active reflection and thought. Consequently, if bodily exercise is connected with mental labor, the latter can be endured much better and with greater success. So that it is the very best thing for us if our time is equally divided in this way. To become educated, it is not necessary that a person be always engaged in reading books. He needs much time for the mind to work and act upon what it has gathered through books, observation and practice. The mind, like the stomach, must have time to digest what it has received. Those persons who exercise their mind most in this way are likely to become the most learned. For this reason we should always try to understand rather than learn by rote. By thus exercising the mind we will be able to add some original ideas to the general stock of literature, and not only be the mere echo of others. Have you not time for this? It is easy to take up one or two branches of science at a time, and spend a few hours each day, which every person cau command if he will, and thus secure intellectual food for digestion, when at work or business. In this way you cannot fail to become more or less learned. But few persons who have the desire are prevented for want of time from educating themselves. If the time that is spent in idleness, nonsense and wickedness was devoted to study there would be few ignorant people. Many a man has made himself eminent in this way. The leisure time wasted by the majority of people would make up, in a score of years, a sufficient amount to study all the branches taught in our colleges. It is not the want of time, but the want of activity, determination, and effort that prevents most persons from the blessings of an education. Let any young man or lady try the experiment for one or two years, and they will be surprised at the amount of wisdom they will come to possess. The humble writer of this article gathered much of his limited knowledge by making good use of his leisure hours and evenings, and reflecting on it while at secular work. Do you say, secondly, that because you cannot go to high school or college you cannot become educated? The advantage of a college course, it is true, is a great help. It is to be regretted that so many active, zealous and worthy young men are deprived of the privilege. But that should not be held as a reason for neglecting study. The facilities for educating the mind have become so great, that it might be said that the only difference in the advantages of the college student and the private one is that of the living teacher, in addition to the books, in the case of the former. However great the value of the living teacher as a help, his assistance is not so great that it is altogether impossible to become learned without it. In fact he is often a real injury, especially to lazy students, as his explanations are often depended on as an excuse for diligent study. If we are compelled to climb the mount of science we will become the better nerved for succeeding efforts. The more difficult the path, the greater effort will be required, and with every unassisted triumph we gain new courage. Herein lies the advantage of unaided efforts. Every man is self-made, whether in or out of college; but those who are thus made by unassisted study are often the most resolute, determined and unconquerable scholars. "They attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;" believing hopefully— "That nothing's so hard but search will find it out.” Our advice to every young reader of The Guardian is: study hopefully, study prayerfully, whether in or out of college. Study with determination, and you will without doubt become educated. Do you say, thirdly, that you have not the natural genius to make a man of learning? If you conceive this to be your best reason for not endeavoring to elucate yourself, you are mistaken. Are you sane?— have you common sense? Then you are naturally prepared for a course of study. That is the principal basis necessary for an education. The difference of men in intellectual qualifications is caused more by their difference in i. .ustry than in natural endowments. Show me an idle and careless young man, and I care not how superior his talents, he will never make much until a change takes place in his habits. Tell me a man's habits of study, and I will judge better of his qualifications than by hearing a phrenological description of the faculties of his mind. There is nothing we believe that deceives young men more in this respect than the notion that, unless they have a big head, they can never become learned. I tell you, young friends, if you have a desire for an education, go to work. Leave the measurement of brains to others, and work! work! work! That's the secret. "Richard Burke being found in a reverie shortly after an extraordinary display of powers in Parliament by his brother, Edmund Burke, and questioned by a friend as to the cause, replied, 'I have been wondering how Edmund has contrived to monopolize all the talents of the family; but then, again, I remember, when we were at play, he was always at work.' The force of this anecdote is increased by the fact, that Richard Burke was considered not inferior in natural talents to his brother. Yet the one rose to greatness, while the other died comparatively obscure. Do not trust to genius, young man, if you would rise, but work! work! work!" UNPRINTED LITERATURE. BY THE EDITOR. "I trace the tale To the dim point where records fail." THERE is a great deal of literature that floats for ages, unwritten and unprinted, in the memories of the people. Sometimes it is, in this form, the possession of whole nations. This is the way in which the Iliad of Homer, the Kalewala of the Finns, the poems of Ossian, and the most ancient epics and popular songs of many other nations have been preserved for centuries, till they were embodied at last in the recorded literature of these nations. The art of printing has done away with much of this kind of traditionary wisdom; not perhaps without some injury to the popular memory, which is growing too good-naturedly content to leave knowledge to rest undisturbed in books. Still this traditionary mode of preserving literature has not been entirely done away. There are yet many quiet vallies and neighborhoods where the venerable spirit is not entirely lost; and, in a quiet and modest way, there is still much useful knowledge preserved orally, and in manuscript, which does not aspire to a place among printed wisdom. It is worthy of remark, too, that without any ambition to be known in the world, much of it has really obtained a wider circulation than thousands of huge volumes of learning to which the types have lent their aid. This fact may stand to the praise of modesty, and as a reproof to literary ambition. In attempting to bring to light some of this unpublished literature, we do not sin against the humble spirit by which it has been produced, seeing that the authors of it are long since beyond the reach of praise. Besides, we have numerous instances in which admiring and grateful disciples, having gathered the thoughts of their teachers and published them posthumously, to the great profit of the world. Thus are men's thoughts, which they themselves modestly withheld from the public, happily preserved in the archives of science. A like work, in an humble way, would we here perform. We cannot, of course, go over the entire field in one brief article. There are to be found in the sphere of letter-writing alone sentiments and poetical gems, never published, not drawn from books, but orally learned and preserved enough to fill many pages. There is not, for instance, a passage of sentimental love in Moore, or of heroic love in Byron, that has so often been made the bearer of good tidings from one heart to another, as the familiar traditionary couplet— "My pen is bad, my ink is pale, My love for you shall never fail." To record in print these scraps of literature, belonging to the sacred inner circle, would be an act too much like the sacrilege of that wicked |