Easter spirit, he gives away his winnings to somebody too poor to buy eggs for an Easter feast. 13. In a certain part of Oxfordshire, England, up to a recent period, there was a custom of throwing apples into the churchyard after evening service on Easter Sunday, those who had been married within the year being expected to throw three times as many as the rest. The chronicle fails to tell why the apples were thrown into the church-yard, and whether anybody took the pains afterward to gather them up; but the farmers and their wives and children finished the ceremony by adjourning to the house of the clergyman to eat bread and cheese and drink spiced ale. 14. The most beautiful "Easter way" that I know about is that which sends flowers to the sick and the sorrowful on the morning of Easter Sunday. This year there will be a great many varieties from which to choose, and nobody need refrain from the charming attention because he or she cannot buy expensive bouquets in conventional arrangements from the florists. A few of the first wild flowers, if you live in the country, or a dainty bunch of pussy-willows and grasses, will carry comfort wherever they go. And if your hyacinths and callas are in flower, your jonquils and crocuses laughing up to the sky, you will certainly want to take some of them to church, where they can help the happy people to praise God. 15. In many Sunday schools and households, children present their offerings, saved or earned perhaps by the self-denials of Lent, on the afternoon of Easter Sunday. One little girl has broken herself of the habit of procrastination and been rewarded therefor; her brother has learned to rise when first called in the morning; a little friend has sewed or gone on errands, or worked in some way to earn Easter money and give it to the Lord. We can give to the Lord only by denying ourselves and making others happy, and this is the true spirit in which we should leave Lent behind us and enter upon Easter, the feast of our ever-living King. That which we do to help the poor, the sick, the sorrowful, or the little children, He accepts as done unto Himself. MARGARET E. SANGSTER. XIX. TRUE NOBILITY. CHARLES SWAIN (1803-1874), called "the Manchester Poet," was a native of Manchester, England. His best-known work is Dryburgh Abbey, written in 1832. 1. WHAT is noble? To inherit Wealth, estate, and proud degree? Fitted to create and center 2. What is noble? 'Tis the finer Portion of our mind and heart, Some improvement yet to plan And, like man, to feel for man! 3. What is noble? Is the saber Nobler than the humble spade? Truer than e'er pomp arrayed! 4. O'er the forge's heat and ashes, 5. 'Mid the dust and speed and clamor 6. What is noble? That which places E'en though Scorn's malignant glances Freedom and the cause of man! CHARLES SWAIN. XX. SOMEBODY'S MOTHER. THE woman was old and ragged and gray, The street was wet with the recent snow, She stood at the crossing and waited long, Of human beings who passed her by, Down the street with laughter and shout, Came the boys like a flock of sheep, Past the woman so old and gray Nor offered a helping hand to her, Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet At last came one of the merry troop- He paused beside her and whispered low, "I'll help you across if you wish to go." Her agèd hand on his strong young arm He guides her trembling feet along, Then back again to his friends he went, She's somebody's mother, boys, you know, For all she's agèd and poor and slow; And I hope some fellow will lend a hand If ever she's poor and old and gray, And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head Was, "God be kind to the noble boy, Who is somebody's son and pride and joy!" Anon. |