and all, to give no place to the fancy that such. a Type as this of Israel's Redemption out of Egypt is a mere intellectual speculation. It is, on the contrary, a practical reality,-given us to guide, and to help, and to inform, and to illustrate, and to explain. If you are wise, you will let all your thoughts at this solemn season flow in the channel which the Services of the Church Catholic from time immemorial have prescribed. From this day onward, the days move by like the figures in a funeral. The The procession begins from to-day; and as on Good Friday comes the Sacred Body of our Redeemer, very Man as well as very GOD. Our wisdom all the while, yours and mine, -is to see two actions going on side by side: the substance, this, and that, the shadow. But the shadow is not to be overlooked, for it is made up of living men. The Fathers of Israel are even now preparing to quit the scene of their affliction,the land of their Captivity. They will learn next week to keep their Passover, and afterwards we shall see them crossing the Red Sea in safety, while the Egyptians lie dead upon the shore. O as we desire to make up one great Church hereafter:-O as we desire to be where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob already are in bliss:

:

-O as one common hope has sustained all the generations of men from the beginning, and we yearn back to the Saints of those ancient days and eagerly confess a common brotherhood with them—so let us hang on the tale of their deliverance!... And if we know anything of sins which must be repented of and forgiven, ere we can hope to enter into Rest:-if anything of iron bondage and a furnace of spiritual affliction if our memories witness to us of Satan's malice, and our consciences upbraid us with Satan's craft and power;-then let us exult in the promise that our Redemption draweth nigh: -and by renewed earnestness,-increased seriousness, redoubled efforts: by more frequent prayers, more solemn self-examination,-more devout approach to the Table of our LORD :— let us shew that we feel as if to us the Angel of the Covenant had announced from the midst of the bush which burned with fire,-"I am come down to deliver THEE out of the hand of the Egyptians!"

The Annunciation of the Blessed

Virgin Mary.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

S. LUKE i. 46.

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the LORD.

How the Blessed Virgin was engaged when the Angel Gabriel "came in unto her" with his famous words of heavenly Salutation on his lips, -we know not. We do but know that she was within and we picture the maiden's astonishment to be so found out in her privacy; and so addressed, amid the modest simplicity, not to say the poverty, of her home. We read that "when she saw him, she was troubled;" as well as perplexed at his message. Then came the prophecy that she should give birth to One who should be great, and who should be called the Son of the Most High: One, to whom the LORD GOD should give the throne of David, His remote ancestor who should reign over the House of Jacob for ever, and of whose Kingdom

there should be no end. Then she asked a question, not in unbelief, but in faith; so that it incurred no punishment, as when Zacharias asked a similar question: but, on the contrary, brought a gracious disclosure of God's wondrous mercy, and unimaginable design; as well as a further revelation concerning her cousin Elizabeth. After which, the Angel departed from her.

And then, we follow her in thought as she hastily takes her journey into the hill country of Judah, and (at Hebron probably) visits her kinswoman, the wife of Zacharias. Heaven seems to come down to Earth, as we read of the greetings of these holy matrons. Elizabeth, filled with the HOLY GHOST, addresses the Virgin as the Mother of her LORD; and again and again proclaims her blessedness. Whereupon the other breaks out in divinest rapture; and pours forth the words of that inspired Hymn which has ever since made a part of the Church's daily worship :-" My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in GoD my SAVI

OUR."

It is well worth while to single out from the rest of Scripture the slender details concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary which are found there;

and reverently to lay them together as illustrative of her character. Very singular are those evidences of maidenly reserve and thoughtfulness, those indications of "a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of GOD of great price." Betrothed as she was, she left it to GOD, who had dealt so wonderfully with herself, to communicate to Joseph in His own good time,in His own gracious way,—the great secret of His providence. The visit of the Shepherds, after Angels had sung the Gloria in Excelsis, Mary "kept, and pondered in her heart.”—The sayings likewise of her Divine SON, she is said to have "kept in her heart."-And yet this was she, who pressed up even to the Cross of CHRIST crucified,-enduring that sight which pierced her soul like a very sword. And thus, you have the outline of all that is best in Woman's nature habitual modesty, reserve, quietness, thoughtfulness: yet, if need be, Love strong in Death, and ability to suffer things which sterner natures shrink from. Above all, you have that holiness of heart,-that purity of body, soul, and spirit,-which brings Angels down from heaven to be its companions ;-yea, with which God Himself is content to come down from Heaven to dwell!