Catalogues on request Special Designs and Estimates Furnished The Gorham Company Ecclesiastical Department Fifth Avenue & 36th Street, New York of the famous Swiss guard that perished in defense of the Tuilleries. His best work is generally considered to be that of Christ and the Twelve Apostles in the Lutheran Church of Copenhagen. Art has given us various conceptions of the Resurrection scene. It has been represented by some as the guards awakened and the soldiers aiming a b'ow at the risen Christ. Ostentatious emphasis has been laid upon the supernatural, such as a guard asleep upon the sealed sepulchre, while the fact that Christ is soaring above prove that He had passed the double barrier. However, Martin Schon and Albrecht Durer, those trusty Germans, would have none of this and instinctively returned to the early acceptance of an open tomb. To realize the Easter event we must be rid of the theatrical, of the stiff and unspiritual elements, and must not be in servile obedience to the undramatic slavishness of tradition. We must gladly come to what is exquisitely simple. Thus the genius of Lorenzo di Credi, Barroccio, Albertinelli, Correggio, and above all Titian, have lifted us out of the stiffness of less worthy art into a better conception of Christ's resurrection glory, but no one in any epoch, painter or sculptor, has better combined those elements of simplicity and grandeur in the risen Christ than Thorvaldsen. A very good replica of the Risen Christ as Saviour is found in the Church of the Atonement, 138th street and Edgecomb avenue, New York. It is the altar piece and is a worthy reproduction of the master's genius displayed in his colossal statue at Copenhagen. In this statue of the Risen Christ there is the Greek serenity of early Christian ages, the stern righteousness of Byzantine, and the sympathetic, though suffering, expression of Gothic, as well as the fuller life development of later times. The Law Fulfilled As Jew and Gentile alike are under sin, the superior privilege of the Jew does not diminish his guilt. As the knowledge of sin comes through the law, there is not justification by the works of the law. Apart from the law, a righteousness has been manifested. So Christ has fulfilled the law that by faith we might be justified freely by His grace and not of ourselves. Our own merit, strength or works are not enough to save us. We secure this through faith in Christ. When we exercise faith in Christ we are freely justified for His sake. It is when we believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour we are received into God's favor; and for Christ's sake our sins are forgiven. By His death Jesus Christ made satisfaction for our sins, fulfilled a broken law, and His righteousness is imputed to us. For us the law was fulfilled in Christ by His perfect obedience. Christ becomes a pattern to us. His life is an example of ideal manhood. It is not theory but practice we see in Christ's example of fulfilling the law. If you are inclined to take other men as a pattern, let Jesus Christ be your standard. It is this daily life of Christ among men that will show your need of Him. A conviction will take powerful possession of you that His is the only perfect life. Your growing sense of sinfulness will bring you to prayer and to cling to the Cross of Christ. By paying the death penalty for sin in our stead we see that He took our place, and His perfect life was lived for our example and salvation. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. This He did by doing the will of Him that sent Him and finishing the work, even unto the Cross, His Father gave Him to do. So he paid our penalty and fulfilled the law. R. N. S. The center of population of the United States is steadily moving Westward, at the rate of about fifty miles every ten years. The following is the center point at each census: 1790 22 miles east of Baitimore. 1800 18 miles west of Baltimore. 1810 40 miles northwest of Washington. 1820 16 miles north of Woodstock, Va. 1830 19 miles west by s. w. Moorfield, W. Va. 1840 16 miles west of Clarksburg, W. Va. 1850 23 miles s. c. of Parkersburg, W. Va. 1860 20 miles south of Chillicothe, Ohio. 1870 48 miles east by north of Cincinnati. 1880 8 miles west by south of Cincinnati. 1890 20 miles east of Columbus, Ind. 1900 6 miles southeast of Columbus, Ind. The roses were the first to hear- The lilies on that Easter morn; The roses were the first to hear: Ere yet the dark had dreamed of dawn, His feet upon the threshold fall. PERHE The lilies were the first to see: They, watching in the morning gray, And roll the mighty stone away; His face reflected in each flower. The roses were the first to hear, And every heart the rapture share -Century Magazine. An Easter of the Long Ago ERHAPS among the antique places of interest to the tourist, no place is more frequently visited than the Coliseum-hard by the seven-hilled city-occupying a site midway between the ruins of the baths of Titus and the Palatine Hill. It was completed by Titus, after conquering Jerusalem, in the year 80, and was more extensive than any of the many amphitheaters then in existence. It was built of immense stone blocks clamped together with iron and faced with marble. It covered an area of five acres, in the old gladiatorial days, and the portions of the wall still standing show the enduring qualities of not only the material built into the structure, but also the strength of the masonry work put upon it. It was estimated that fully eighty thousand people could be seated in the building, and on the great days it was thronged with a crowd including all ages, classes and stations in life. Though much time and attention were devoted to athletic sports, innocent and helpful in the main, the noble monument of man's skill was frequently desecrated by cruel spectacles, which were neither harmless, graceful nor instructive. Wild beasts, taken from their native lairs, were brought to the amphitheater, and, after being tortured into madness, were turned loose to tear and devour each other. while the delighted spectators looked on, shouting and applauding the cruel, inhuman sport. Not satisfied with witnessing the deaththroes of the untamed animals, the bloodthirsty spectators cried out for human gore. Then, to appease the demand, bands of gladiators were introduced, and the crowds went wild over the barbarism displayed in the combat between the athletes. As a rule, the gladiators were low-born, often slaves trained for the sport of amphitheaters, but occasionally men from the higher walks in life, particularly those possessing great physical strength and endurance, entered the arena, proud of an opportunity to gain for themselves the short-lived fame of the noisy populace. Another and more pitiable class of combatants comprised the hated Christians, condemned to the ignominious death for the amusement of the persecutors. When, through mere brute force, the conqueror stood over his vanquished foe, he raised his eyes to cheering crowds above him his determination to make a finish unto death or spare the victim was taken from the sign he received from the onlookers. If the hands were extended with the thumbs upward, the bleeding form of the fallen foe was not mo lested further; but if the thousands of thumbs pointed downward, nothing could save the vanquished from a speedy death. For many years this licensed butchery continued, but finally, through the softening touch of the Christian religion, the barbarous amusement was once more confined to the fights between infuriated beasts. When Alaric, the Goth, invaded the Roman empire, leaving death and devastation everywhere in his trail, Stilicho, the brave Roman general, assembling his forces, went out to meet the barbarians, and, gaining a decided victory, scattered and discomfited the foe, thus saving the imperial city from falling into their hands. The senate and citizens, in their desire to do the brave man homage, arranged for a grand Easter ovation, at which the young emperor, Honorius, and his great general were guests of honor. At the close of the demonstration they dere invited to the Coliseum to witness the athletic sports of the active young Romans. This was succeeded by the introduction of the old animal combats, and finally a long array of swordsmen appeared, ready for a gladiatorial combat. Just as the tragedy was about to begin, a gray-haired old man, dressed in peasant's attire and without shoes on his feet, sprang into the arena and, separating the combatants, turned his fine old face upward with a most pathetic appeal to the people to stop this useless shedding of human blood before it should begin. He reminded them of the mercy of God in saving them from the invaders' power, and warned them not to requite His mercy by such a display of human passions. But, excited by the flow of blood which they had witnessed, the people called for the sport to go on. Again the old man thrust himself in the way, entreating the sportsmen to be men and resist the people's demand for blood, and again the cry came from the tiers above: "On, gladiators! Put the old man out." Fired with frenzy at being thwarted thus, the gladiators sprang forward once more, and when the commanding presence of the old man would have held them back they struck him down with their swords. Then, seeing him lying dead at their feet, his long white hair stained with his own blood, they stepped back, unconsciously betraying' by their faces the regret they felt over the cowardly deed. The peaceful countenance of the man who had sacrificed his life for the sake of the principle so dear to his heart touched a chord of sympathy in those who, by aiding and abetting. had become partakers of the crime, and, with remorse, they begged that the flow of blood might be stayed. Inquiry revealed the murdered man to be a man of prayer-one pledged to stand up ever and always for the right, and, as the sequel proved, to die for it if need be. Though the hero was so much appreciated when his motive came to be thoroughly understood, his name could not be discovered, and nothing could be learned about his career, except that he had come from the mountains of Asia, and had died to save Rome from retrograding into barbarism. And as the sequel proved, his death was not in vain. His devotion to the right left a deep impression on the hearts of the assembled multitude, and as they returned to their homes they resolved that the days of barbarism for Rome were forever past. Through the death of a nameless hero came life for the purity of Roman principles-the glad Easter in which the empire arose from a deathlike sleep into which the nation was ready to relapse. Very soon the gladiators disbanded of their own accord, and from that Easter 403, no human blood was ever again made to flow on the sands of the arena. The Easter of the soul, as well as the Easter in nature, can only come through death; for "How can it be quickened, except it die?"Lutheran Observer. Daily Bible Readings Sunday, March 16-Psa. 2:10-12; Zech. 9:9-10. Sunday, April 6-Rom. 10:8-10; I Pet. 3-15. Sunday, April 13-Matt. 12:2-4; Exod. 15:20-21. |