she had taken in the matter; while she must have known that she-however obscure her lot-was one of the not large number of women to whom the later prophecies had limited that hope. The keen apprehension with which she seized the full meaning of the angel's intimations, well shows her preparedness of mind. That the Son thus announced should be ‘great ;' that He should be called the Son of the Highest ;' that 'the Lord God should give unto Him the throne of his father David;' and that He should reign over the house of Jacob for ever,'-nothing of all this astonished her. But there is one thing that did. She understood rightly that all which has now been mentioned was then to take place; but how she should become a mother, while not yet fully married, perplexed her. And observe, she had no incredulity as to the fact itself, but was at a loss to know in what manner it could be accomplished. She said not, 'Can this thing be?' but, How shall this be?' Like all her people, she supposed, as the Jews still suppose, that there would not be anything miraculous in the birth of Christ; but that He should be born in ordinary course, in the house of David. She now therefore learned, and learned it with surprise, that the functions which belonged to Him, higher than the Jews in general recognised, required that He should take man's nature on Him in such a manner as should evince his heavenly origin. The idea was new; but when reminded that the power of the Highest was sufficient to accomplish this, she needed nothing more to satisfy her, although the angel, to let her see that with God nothing is impossible, disclosed to her the strange fact, that her aged cousin Elisabeth had conceived a son in her old age, and that it was now the sixth month with her who was called barren.

This was enough for Mary. To know that the Lord would accomplish it, satisfied her that it could be done, though contrary to all thought and experience. She questions no further how. It was his will, his purpose; and it would be accomplished in the way that seemed best to Him. That she, who was personally interested in the matter, questioned so little concerning the mode in which this prodigy was to be effected,

is a fair lesson to our faith. 'The faithful heart, when once it understands the good pleasure of God, argues no more, but sweetly sets itself in a quiet expectation. "Behold the servant of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”

Though in humble life, and betrothed to one of her own class, Mary was of royal blood. She appears to have been in her house, probably at prayer, when Gabriel addressed her. The splendour of his appearance, though it must have astonished her, did not discompose her calm, trustful mind. She was conscious, before this time, that God was with her, and she therefore felt that she had no cause to fear his messenger. But the wondrous salutation troubled her. She knew not why she should be addressed with such homage by an angel. She could not comprehend the message besides. There was something in it beyond the reach of her

mind.

Seeing by divine intuition the inward working of her soul, responding to her anxious though silent desire, Gabriel again addressed her. The revelation then made-the most wonderful ever made to mortal-was received with that meek humility and implicit faith which characterized the virgin of Nazareth. Unlike Zacharias, she never questioned the truth of the announcement. The learned priest and simple village maiden stand out thus in striking contrast. Still it was too mysterious, too profound, for her intellect to fathom. It even seemed, upon reflection, to be impossible as well as incomprehensible. Hence she asked, not

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in unbelief, but for explanation, 'How shall this be?' for granted that it will be, because God's angel said it. inquires how, in what way that would be brought about, which, in the order of nature, was an impossibility.

An answer was given with a clearness, a delicacy, and at the same time a sublimity, which showed its emanation from a source infinitely wise and holy. The heavenly origin of the promised Son is stated, his divinity is anew affirmed. Now, also, for the first time, the advent of the Forerunner is announced to Mary. And lest, in the feebleness of the human intellect, or the inherent unbelief of the human heart, the possibility of this glorious fact might still cast a shadow of doubt, Gabriel closed his message by a declaration sufficient to account for it-sufficient also to answer the cavils and objections of sceptics in every age: 'With God nothing shall be impossible. These words were spoken, perhaps,

not so much in reply to Mary's question, as to the internal wonderings of her thoughtful mind, and the prospective desires of God's people.

The glorious truth thus revealed to Mary, and the unparalleled dignity conferred upon her, gave rise to no feelings of pride. She seems never to have thought of self. Her meekness and humility were, if possible, greater after than before the annunciation. The honours since heaped upon her memory and her name, and the homage paid at her ten thousand shrines, would have been as repugnant to the feelings of the humble virgin of Nazareth as they are opposed to the revelation of God. With meek submission, with holy resignation to the divine will, with faith implicit in divine power and protection, Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' There was a moral heroism in this which may not at first sight be apparent. By the Mosaic law, infidelity on the part of a betrothed female was a capital offence. Mary knew this. She knew also that, though the law might remain a dead letter, yet her honour, dear as life itself, was at stake; and that any declaration of the truth from her lips, even to her destined husband, would be vain. None would believe her. Any statement she might make would be likely to lay her open to the still graver charge of blasphemy. Yet, with a faith unparalleled, she left the whole-her honour, her life, her all-in God's hands.

Twenty-eighth Week—First Day.

MARY'S VISIT TO ELISABETH.-LUKE I. 39-56.

THE intimation which the angel had given respecting Elisabeth greatly impressed the mind of Mary, and created a strong desire to visit and confer with that aged relative, under the very peculiar circumstances in which she was placed. There were grounds on which she might suspect the actual relation between these extraordinary circumstances. She could not but know what had happened to Zacharias in the temple; and if, as would seem probable from her not being already apprised of the fact, the particulars of the vision had not yet become equally notorious, the information given by the angel pointed, as coming from him, to a connecting link which she would be anxious to trace more fully.

They were separated by the extent of more than half the kingdom; and we know not precisely how the journey was made, except that we are quite of opinion that it was not in company with her affianced husband, although the painters so represent it. This would have been adverse to the usages of the time and people. But the journey might, nevertheless, be easily accomplished. Our impression is, that she went in a party of friends and neighbours to one of the festivals at Jerusalem; of which party Joseph, as well as her own immediate relatives, may have been. At Jerusalem she would meet Zacharias, who, as a priest, would certainly attend the festival, even if not on actual duty; and having made known her wish to him, would accompany him when he returned to his home.

When she arrived, she was hailed by Elisabeth with a most unexpected greeting. Much had that aged lady pondered who might be that one of David's line, greater than her own great son, whose path he was to prepare. And when this lowly

daughter of that royal house approached her, the singular emotion evinced by the babe in her womb, which a light from heaven enabled her rightly to interpret, convinced her that she whose womb contained that Mighty One stood there before her. To this conviction she gave instant utterance, in the joyful salutation, 'Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' Both had been highly favoured but Mary most; and recognising in her the mother of Him who was the hope of Israel, this exalted her young relative so highly in her eyes, that, although in actual condition of life superior, Elisabeth felt her comparative lowliness. The lesser visits the greater; but here the greater-the mother of her Lord that unborn Lord, to whose presence her own unborn son renders homage, visits her. One cannot but compare her declaration with that of her son, when Jesus came to be baptized of him in the Jordan: 'I have need to be baptized of THEE, and comest THOU to me!'

This ample and cheering recognition, on the part of one whose counsel she had come to seek, and who could not yet have known what had happened to her, stirred the depths of Mary's soul within her, and caused her to give vent to her feelings in a beautiful hymn of thankfulness and triumph. It is full of phrases and images drawn from the Old Testament, and proving how well she had stored her mind from that holy book. Especially does it resemble the song of Hannah, showing that her mind naturally reverted to it, as affording much that was suited to her own condition, and that gave adequate expression to her own feelings.

She declares her joy, that from her low estate she had been exalted to this high honour. My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.' And why? not for what she had done, but for what had been done to her; not for her own perfections and excellencies, but because the Lord had given to her the happiness for which so many sighed