hills of Bethlehem, and borne onward from that hour through the lapse of ages, unbroken, unceasing, by every successive generation of the redeemed:
“Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace, good-will to men.”
It is Merry Christmas, indeed! Every beautiful festival we hold in religious reverence, is connected with this greater festival; they all, laden with blessings and graces, follow in the train of this holy day. Ay, it is the rising of the Sun of Righteousness on Christmas morn, which has even softened the Jewish Sabbath, and given us, with every successive week, the milder, purer light of the Lord's day. "What better joy have we, indeed, from the first to the last hour of every passing year of life, which does not flow from the event we this day bear in fervent, thankful remembrance? Every mercy of the past dates from the advent we joyfully celebrate to-day. Every hope for the future looks to the same great mystery. Every prayer offered to Heaven, becomes an acceptable prayer only through faith in the same ineffable Name. Every exalted anticipation of final release from sin and sorrow, of attainment to the unspeakable joys of purity and wisdom, obedience and peace, is utterly groundless, save as it is connected with the Nativity hymned this day by the Christain Church Catholic.
It is, in truth, Merry Christmas! Peace on earth, good-will to man, sang the heavenly host; and, as though even the solemn recollection of the holy words were accompanied by a blessing, we find that the sweet charities, the better feelings of the heart, become more active on this holy day. There is nothing more striking in the daily course of the world, than the recklessness
