the feet of those who were "shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace."

God sent his only begotten Son into the world. The schools of the Pharisees, and the seats of the Scribes learned in the Law were passed by, and as shepherds abode in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night, "lo the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the Angel said unto them, Fear not for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God."

"And when He bringeth in His First Begotten into the world He saith, And let all the Angels of God worship Him." "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace-good will toward men." Such was the song with which the heavenly host appeared :—praising God for the manifestation of Him in the flesh, whose goings forth were from of old-from everlasting. Such was the hymn in which angels rejoiced in the birth of Him who is called "Wonderful-Counsellor-The Mighty GodThe Everlasting Father-The Prince of Peace." They who rejoiced when, in the beginning, God pronounced what He had made very good-they who saw how man, in his depravity, had turned that good into evil-the angels who

desired to look into the mighty plan of redemption, and were not able: well could they resume the heavenly anthem, when in the birth of the child JESUS, both God and man, they saw perfected the purposes of Almighty Love. It was a theme worthy the celestial choir; it was a joy in which they could well rejoice, who swelled the heavenly chorus, when, at the creation, the morning stars sang together.

It was fitting that the humble peasant should first receive the glorious intelligence, for Jesus came to preach the Gospel to the poor. The pride of human rank, and the glitter of human wealth-the vanity of beauty and the glory of strength-the boast of intelligence and all the circumstances which mark inequalities and cause wars, are nothing in the sight of the King of David's line, whose sceptre is a right sceptre, and whose reign is in righteousness. It was in beautiful harmony with the character of Christ, and with the type by which He was spoken of by the prophets, and the name which He applied to Himself that shepherds should be the first to hear of His birth. “I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep."

"Glory to God in the Highest," opens the heavenly chorus-the next stave of the hymn falls upon earth's discords like oil upon the troubled wave: "On earth, Peace!" It is the overture to the Holy Reign, when the Prince of Peace shall rule in all the earth, when swords shall be beat into ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither

shall they learn war any more. The coming of Christ was to unite under one dominion all the nations of earth, whom God hath made of one blood. The wall of partition which excluded the Gentiles is broken down; and all the world shall see the salvation of our God.

"Good will toward men." Thus closed the music of the vision. And while the awe-struck shepherds listened, the echo of the beatific strains died away amid the silent hills; and the glory which had dimmed the stars faded as they gazed, until Orion and the Pleiades shone out again. The lights in the firmament resumed in silence the habitual praise, which had been theirs from the time that by the WORD, now made flesh to dwell among men, they were first set to "divide the day from the night, and to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years." But though the echo of the hymn ceased among the hills, from that hour to this it has not wholly died in men's hearts. Amid all the chances and changes of this evil world, above all the din of folly-amid all the clang of arms, and stronger in its holy strength than all the war-shouts of infuriate man, the angels' song, like the still small voice in Horeb, proclaims "on earth peace." God was in the voice which the prophet heard-God's will was the good will which the Angels sung.

II.

Che Massacre of the Innocents.

The shepherds hastened to Bethlehem, saying one to another, "Let us now go and see this thing which hath come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." And they came, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. The assembling of the families or their representatives, in the places to which they belonged by birth or lineage, had crowded the "city of David." There was no room in the inn for the carpenter's family; and therefore they took refuge in the place set apart on ordinary occasions for the beasts upon which the travellers rode. No doubt many others were in the like case; and the hospitality of the dwellers in Bethlehem was taxed to entertain strangers, while temporary expedients, tabernacles and other hasty means of shelter were devised for the accommodation of the people who came up to be enrolled, according to the imperial mandate. The early custom of the Jews was to number the people by tribes and families; and to this they adhered through their whole history as a distinct people. Their hope and boast was, "we have Abraham to our father," and they therefore carefully procured that their << numbering" should be as the descendants of Abraham,

marking families and tribes. John, the beloved disciple, saw in his vision on Patmos, the sealing of the servants of God by their tribes, "their houses and lineage."

The visit of the shepherds, and the story of their vision of angels, Mary kept and pondered in her heart. Mary was prepared for the miraculous announcement. She had been told before the birth of Jesus, by the angel Gabriel, sent from God, that her Son should be called The Son of the Highest; that the Lord God should give Him the throne of his father David, that He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. She had heard the benediction of Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost; and by the inspiration of the same Spirit she had answered, "My soul doth magnify the Lord," in a Psalm, inferior in grandeur and in devotion, to no song of the Psalmist King. She knew the wonders which had accompanied the birth of the child of her cousin Elizabeth: and that amid these miracles John was declared the Forerunner, who should go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. To Joseph also had God vouchsafed the revelation by an angel, of the fulfilment of the prophecy in her son Jesus. With these heavenly assurances had she gone up to Bethlehem; and while others wondered at the miraculous events which attended the birth of the babe who was laid in the manger, Mary pondered them in her heart, and repeated the Psalm and the sentiment of gratitude with which she had received the salutation of Elizabeth: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my