the first holy place was discovered or invented; for then the great principle which Christ himself had enunciated at the well of Samaria was practically abrogated: 'Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.'

In the second century, the place of our Lord's birth was first mentioned by Justin Martyr, who says, 'It was a certain cave very close to the village, which cave the prophet Isaiah had pointed out.' The cave was accordingly taken possession of: it was portioned off into sections corresponding to the various acts in the sacred drama; it was gorgeously decorated with gold, silver, and precious stones; one of the noblest churches in the world was built over it by the Empress Helena; thousands of pilgrims flocked to it from the ends of the earth, to do what He whom they profess to honour expressly commanded them not to do.

Twenty-ninth Weck-First Day.

GOOD TIDINGS.-LUKE II. 8-20.

Ar the time that Jesus was born in the stable of the khan at Bethlehem, there were shepherds abroad on the neighbouring common, watching their flocks by night. Suddenly they were startled by the appearance of an intense brightness before them, in the midst of which they discerned a form not of earth. They were terrified; but the heavenly visitant hastened to reassure them: Fear not;' and to make himself known as the messenger of glorious and happy tidings for them and for the world: Behold, I bring you good 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, as if at once and for ever to rectify the common notions of earthly glory which they probably, like most of the Jews, connected with the appearance of this great personage, the angel added, And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe'-where? Wrapped up in goodly Babylonish garments-reposing beneath canopies of state, upon a couch of ivory and gold? Nay, but 'wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger.' Familiar with far different expectations, did it cast a chill into their hearts, to learn that this great Deliverer was born into a condition of life no better than their own? It did not. Perhaps this very fact gave a touch of tenderness to their sympathies, which had else been wanting ; and probably it was in regard to the heartfelt nature of the sympathies with which they especially would hail one who, by the manner of his coming, announced himself as the friend of the poor and lowly, that to these shepherds, rather than to the learned or the great, was this proclamation made. To the one class, the swaddling-clothes and the manger had

been an offence and a scorn; to the other, they were badges to signify that He was come--come at last, prayed for and waited for so long-as their friend,-as one who would be constrained by his own circumstances to know their state, and to feel for them.

6

Besides, who could be cold in the presence of that great joy which moved the heavens? For no sooner had the cheerful voice of the angel ceased, than there broke in a full chorus of song from a multitude of the heavenly host.' And these were the words they uttered: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.' O happy shepherds, who alone among men were ever privileged to hear the songs of heaven! And the song was well worthy of angels, expressing the greatest and most blessed truths, in words so few, that they become, to an acute apprehension, almost oppressive by the pregnant fulness of their meaning. First and chief of all, GLORY TO GOD—for devising a means for man's renovation and redemption which 'the angels desire to look into,' and which they have not failed, and for ever will not fail, to extol in their songs on high as the most renowned demonstration of the glory of his goodness. Then, PEACE ON EARTH; 'for He that was born was the Prince of peace, and came to reconcile God with man, and man with his brother; and to make, by the sweetness of his example, and the influence of a holy doctrine, such happy atonements1 between disagreeing natures, such confederations and societies between enemies, that the wolf and the lamb should lie down together, and a little child, boldly and without danger, put his hand in the nest and cavern of the aspick.'" It was probably not without important significance with regard to this fact, that it had been so ordered, in the providence of God, that at the time this child was born, an unwonted and universal peace

1 Observe the now obsolete sense of reconciliation, in which this word is here used, and which its very texture shows to have been its primary signification-at-one-ment.

2 JEREMY TAYLOR'S Great Exemplar. Angel in Ivie Lane. 1653.

London, at the signe of the

pervaded the Roman empire, and through its vast extent man lifted not up sword or spear against his fellow. Augustus having then composed all the wars of the world, caused, in sign thereof, the gates of the temple of Janus to be shut; being only the third time this had occurred during the seven centuries over which the history of Rome then extended. Surely, as the great writer just cited remarks, 'it could be no less than miraculous that so great a body as the Roman empire, consisting of so many parts, whose constitutions were differing, their humours contrary, their interests contradicting each other's greatness, and all these violently oppressed by an usurping power, should have no limb out of joint-not so much as an aching tooth or a rebellious humour in that huge collection of parts; but so it seemed good in the eye of Heaven, by so great and good a symbol, to declare not only the greatness, but the goodness of that Prince that was there born in Judea, the Lord of all the world.'

But the glad tidings which the angels brought to the shepherds were fraught not only with glory to God and peace to the earth, but with GOOD-WILL TOWARD MEN. Of that goodwill, the manifest rapture of the angels, at an event in which they had no other than a benevolent concern, nor any other interest than that which all pure natures feel in whatever redounds to the glory of God, is most interesting evidence. Some find difficulties in this appearance of the angels, and even say, more or less plainly, that they would willingly dispense with it. Not so with us. We could not spare it on any account. If it were only for this one sentence, their appearance becomes most necessary and valuable. There have been times when the manifest delight of angels, at the tidings they were commissioned to deliver, has seemed to us of itself such strong and touching evidence of the 'goodwill towards men' which they declared, and has impressed so distinct a sense of reality upon all those marvellous things in which they took part, and on that intercourse between earth and heaven of which they are the agents, as served to refresh and strengthen our faith, and impressed the feeling, that even

VOL. VII.

E

here we are citizens of a large dominion, of which this earth, with all its too-absorbing interests, is but a part. It seems to raise one in the scale of creation, to feel himself thus the object of such benevolent sympathy to heavenly natures; and their own good-will authenticates a feeling still higher and more precious, the good-will of God to man in Christ—the new-born Redeemer-which they proclaimed with so much joy. The intelligence was so great, and its significance so marvellously strange in the midst of all its impressive earnestness, that it had scarcely gained belief from a cold or unsympathizing messenger; but these happy, rejoicing, thankful angels carry our hearts with them, and convince us that there is indeed, as they declare, good-will in heaven towards man. Who can measure the depths of that good-will? Even the angels cannot fully fathom it; and man-how little, too often, does he regard it! how little does he strive to realize an adoring sense of its magnitude! how little to rest upon it in full assurance of faith!. Of this good-will, the gift of a Saviour to those who were otherwise utterly undone and lost, was the highest possible manifestation; the evidence in which of love to man, no words can adequately express, no heart adequately feel. But if not adequately, we can entertain this vast conception vitally; and to be counted worthy of this, is the highest privilege of which our mortal state—or indeed, the state beyond the grave-is capable: and 'Behold, how He loved us!' is probably the most frequent, as it is the noblest, expression of holy contentment and satisfaction in the realms of light.

The good shepherds waited but to hear the close of the angels' song; and when all again was dark and silent, they hurried away, leaving their flocks behind, to witness at Bethlehem that which the Lord had made known unto them. They found the child lying in the manger; and being thus satisfied that the vision of angels, with which they had been favoured, was no illusion, 'they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.' This publication, however, was probably confined to a small circle, and soon passed out of present or active remembrance; the object being, appa