The Gospel. St. Matth. ii. 13.

HE Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the

young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth; and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

THE GOSPEL. It was a remarkable interference of Divine Providence which thus carried Jesus into the country which had been the cradle of the chosen race. There Israel passed his infancy in bondage; and there Jesus, as a fugitive, passed the early days of childhood. The rage of Herod was part of the punishment which every wicked man experiences when he in vain endeavours to turn the wisdom of the wise to his own purposes. But it added to the sorrow of the sinful and the stricken people. Jeremiah spoke at first of the miseries of an approaching captivity. Rachel's tomb was near Rama, a small town in the tribe of Benjamin, and the prophet represents her, as a mother of Israel, mourning over the miseries of her children. Jer. xxxi. 15. The number of children who are said to have perished has been differently computed, but the most probable conjecture fixes it at about fifty.

The Sunday after Christmas-day.

LMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

THE COLLECT.-The seven days immediately succeeding the principal festivals were observed in the early churches, and the octave or eighth day had a service corresponding to that of the festival. On these days the same Collect continued to be read; and hence the repetition of that for the Nativity on the following Sunday. In the original service, that is as it stood before the compiling of the reformed liturgy, the Gospel of the day was the 2nd Chapter of Luke, from verse 33 to verse 41. The whole of the first of Matthew was inserted in the early editions of the prayerbook.

The Epistle. Gal. iv. 1.

OW I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governours, until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

THE EPISTLE.-A being like man, left to the capricious influence of his passions, or, still worse, to the dominion of acknowledged corruption, finds in this imaginary liberty the very bane of his existence. It is infinitely better, therefore, that he should be placed by his Creator under any system of law, than that he should be left to himself. The law of Moses was given to convince men of sin; to prove the justice of God in withdrawing his primary gifts and blessings, and yet to furnish those who sighed after a better state of things with some guide towards the knowledge of holiness. With all the sad penalties, therefore, attached to the breaking of this law, and limited as it was in the communication of spiritual principles, it was the best gift which man had received since the fall. How vast, then, is the treasure bestowed by the Gospel! How benign in power: how infinite in gracious consequences, that plan of grace, which brings us, by the methods of mercy, under subjection to a law perfect as unshadowed truth; bright and beautiful as heavenly love! The obedience of a servant where God is the Master is fruitful of good; how much more then the obedience of sons who owe their life to his own regenerating Spirit! The evidence of Christianity is proportionable to the importance of the system. But no mere outward proofs could have made it so. It is with the heart alone we can really believe. Faith is a spiritual grace; and though embracing all the testimonies of reason, and giving due weight to every sensible manifestation of the truth of things, it cannot itself be embraced or comprehended by reason, or acknowledge subjection to the evidence of sight. The greatest blessing conferred by the system, is the highest possible proof of its truth. If, on receiving the Gospel, we feel strengthened for the pursuit of virtue and wisdom by a power new to our nature;-if a fountain of thought be opened in our minds, which takes not its rise either from the teaching or the experience of the world ;-and both in mind and heart, we are thus filled with principles hitherto unknown, but as dignified as they are benign; -have we not hereby the best of all possible arguments for the truth of our Religion, and its connexion with the Source of life? And the gift of that Spirit which teaches us to cry," Abba, Father!" is ever followed by these results, confirming the promise that, doing the will of God, we shall know the truth of His Word. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." John vii. 17.; and the Comforter and the Sanctifier is he whose grand office it is to "teach all things." John xiv. 26.

The Gospel. St. Matth. i. 18.

HE birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost: And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins. (Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.) Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: and he called his name JESUS.

THE GOSPEL.-Christ's divinity, as the Word, is the subject of the Gospel for Christmas-Day. His conception by the Spirit, his birth of a woman, is the subject of the present. A devout mind will consider with profound delight the incidents here related. Familiar as they are in the letter, their deep spiritual meaning is ever fresh, as the waters of a running brook which, however often the weary traveller seeks it, supplies him at each return with water newly sprung from the source. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus ;" and, " He called his name Jesus," furnishes of itself a subject for thought, which neither the mind nor the heart can exhaust. God designated his Son a Saviour: may we all, as readily as Joseph did, call him by the same name; feel him to be so, and as such worship and obey him!

LMIGHTY God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(GT-Neither the Collect for this day, nor the portions of Scripture selected, appeared riginal Liturgy. The day itself does not appear to have been observed till about the tenth ry, but to those who view it aright it may be made serviceable by many important considerChrist submitted as an example merely to the baptism of John; but it was absolutely ry that he should be circumcised, since otherwise he could neither have fulfilled the law, ed from the curse of the law. If the day of his Nativity, then, is kept to awaken holy kul meditation, so also for the same end may that of his Circumcision be observed. The pobral application of the mystery is taught by the Collect, the substance of which is found in " ...la. Paul:"Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter."114 2