Perchance (for they had journey'd far,
As lowliest travellers might),
Weary and faint, they vainly crav'd
A lodging for the night.

A stable and a manger, where
The oxen low'd around,
Was all the shelter Bethlehem gave,
The welcome that they found!
Yet blessed among women was
That holy mother-maid,

Who on that night her first-born Son
There in the manger laid.

And blessed among men was he

Who did such favour find,

That to his care the wondrous Babe
And Mary were consign'd.

And should not we with thankful hearts
That wondrous night recall,
When such glad tidings of great joy
Were brought to us and all?

Then first to Mary's arms was given
The long expected Child,
And rapture fill'd her heart on whom
The new-born Saviour smiled.
He was not born in palace halls,
Nor rock'd in cradle-bed,

No downy pillow, love, like thine,
Received His infant head.

The King of kings, and Lord of lords, E'en from His very birth,

Had not a place to lay His head,

An outcast in the earth:
And yet, my child, that little Babe
Was tender to the touch,

And weak as other infants are;
He felt the cold as much!

Upon the chilly midnight air
His infant wail was heard,
And early in His mother's heart
The fount of tears was stirr'd.
Oh, with what tender duteous care
The holy Child she still'd,

And warmed Him when the wintry blast
His feeble frame had chill'd!

In swaddling bands she wrapped Him round,
And smooth'd his couch of straw,
While unseen angels watch'd beside
In mute, adoring awe.

How softly did they fold their wings
Beneath that star-lit shed,
While eastern sages from afar
The new-born radiance led!

Yet only to a chosen few

The secret was reveal'd:

From midnight skies the glory shone
Round shepherds in the field;
The angel of the Lord came down
Glad tidings to declare,

And many-voic'd, the angels' song
Was floating in the air.

And therefore 'tis, my little child,
That as this night comes round,
So sweetly underneath the moon
The Christmas carols sound.
Because to us a Child is born,

Our Brother, and our King,
Angels in heaven, and we on earth,
Our joyful anthems sing.

Nay, look not thus with wondering eyes,
I know what thou wouldst say:

We see not now the heavenly host,
Nor hear the angels' lay;

But yet, my darling, be thou sure
That hymn is heard on high,
And round about us from that hour
The angels hover nigh.

Yea, mindful of the night when Christ
In Bethlehem's manger lay,
They watch for Him thy cradle-bed,
And tend thee through the day.
And though we see them not, we know
How once our Saviour told,
The guardians of His little ones
The Father's face behold.

The blessed Virgin did not need
To see the heavenly throng,
Or hear when over Bethlehem's plains
Rung out their glory-song.
She looked upon the little Babe,

And own'd Him Christ the Lord,

And in His deep humility

Ador'd the Incarnate Word.

Nor should we need an angel now
The joyful news to bring,
Nor need we yet again to learn

Of angels how to sing.

But if my little child should wake

At midnight hour and hear

The Christmas song of those who watch

Without in moonlight clear,

Then, like the shepherds, mayst thou rise,

Nor tarry till the dawn;

For so they sought the blessed Babe,

And worshipp'd e'er the morn: And thou mayst kneel upon thy bed,

And in thy chamber dim,

With folded hands repeat to God

The holy angels' hymn.

VII.

The Circumcision of Christ.

FESTIVAL DAY, FIRST OF JANUARY.

AND when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the Child, His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

St. Luke ii. 21st verse.

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.

He took upon Him the form of a servant.

CHAPTER VII.

How few of us, dear children, when giving or receiving the joyful salutation of " A happy new year!" remember what on this day the Church has taught us to commemorate-the circumcision of our Lord! The Holy Child is on this day set before us, as made under the law, subject to all the penalties of that holy law of God which we had broken; and on this day did Joseph, according to the word spoken unto him by the angel, call His name Jesus,- that is Saviour,- for of Him it was declared, "He shall save His people from their sins." A Babe of eight days old, He began thus early to suffer for our sins; for circumcision was not, like baptism, a painless rite,

as it is beautifully expressed in some verses, which
I would recommend you to learn by heart :-
The year begins with Thee,

And Thou beginn'st with woe,
To let the world of sinners see
That blood for sin must flow.

Thine infant cries, O Lord,
Thy tears upon the breast,
Are not enough-the legal sword
Must do its stern behest.

Like sacrificial wine

Pour'd on a victim's head,

Are those few precious drops of Thine,
Now first to offering led.

They are the pledge and seal

Of Christ's unswerving faith

Given to His Sire our souls to heal,
Although it cost His death.

I would not have you think, dear children, that in calling these things to your mind, I am seeking to cast any shadow, save the blessed shadow of the cross, over the gladness of a day to which the young at least look forward as to a holiday; but the holiday of a Christian child is, or should be, a holy-day, and such may every new-year's day be to my readers.

We are not to suppose that our Blsseed Lord was carried up to Jerusalem to be circumcised in the Temple. His first appearance there was on the day of the purification of His virgin Mother, when, as we are told by St. Luke, " they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord." The rite of circumcision was not