have just named, seen from the hill on the north of Nazareth, and certainly the other views I have myself had are each inferior to that. During the youth and early manhood of the life that has changed the course of the ages, He, who was chief among ten thousand, must have often looked here upon the wide, far-flashing sea, beyond which, in Gentile nations, His kingdom was to have, during eighteen centuries, its chief seats; and upon snowy, gigantic Hermon, itself not to be as enduring as that kingdom. I am impatient when I hear this little valley, a mile long and half a mile wide, the town on its northwestern side, spoken of as secluded. It is secluded only as an eagle's nest is, at the summit of far-looking mountains. It stands on the heights of the ranges extending from Mount Tabor to near the sea, on the north side of the great Plain of Esdraelon. If a swallow's nest beneath the eaves of a palace is secluded, then is Nazareth so; for it is built at the edge of the colossal roof of the palace of Palestine. It may be secluded from the population, but not from the natural scenery, and especially not from the historic sites of the oldest history of the Holy Land. This is a shadow valley at the summit and on the edge of a range of mountains, and Nazareth is thus a mountain city.-JOSEPH COOK.

Christ of the People.

He was born in a common house of entertainment, where all might come to Him, and He died with His arms extended as a pledge that He continued to receive all who came to Him. He never spoke of men as the

common multitude, the vulgar herd, but He made Himself at home among them. He was dressed like a peasant, in the ordinary gown of the country-a garment without seam, woven from the top throughout. He mixed with the multitude, went to their marriage feasts, attended their funerals, and was so much among them, a man among men, that slander called him a gluttonous, man and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. In all respects our Lord was raised up from the midst of us—one of our own kith and kin. "For this cause He is not ashamed to call us brethren." He was our brother in living, our brother in death, and our brother in resurrection; for after His resurrection He said: "Go, tell my brethren." He also said: "My father and your father, my God and your God." Though now exalted in. the highest heavens, He pleads for us and acts as a High Priest who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. God has graciously raised up such a Mediator, and now He speaks to us through Him. O sons of men, will, ye not hearken when such an One as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man, is ordained to speak of the eternal God? -SPURGEON.

Condensed Comments.

He knew the fearful power

Of hunger, in that hour

When nature pines and starves for want of bread;
Though, at His high command,

The harvest clothed the land,

And hungry thousands at His word were fed.

J. LOTON. S

We must love the grand half-visions of this world.. Like Moses, being unable to see the face of the Almighty, we must be content with the rustle of His flowing garments. Unable fully to measure the Christ, let us say: "Here is the only incarnation within the realm of evidence, and here the quality of the being is such that reason may forgive us and faith commend us if we say: 'Truly, this was the Son of God.'"-SWING.

If you have done nothing but exhibit in your lives the precious results of grace you will have done well. If you have presented to your companions truths that were sweetness itself to you and tried to say, in broken accents, "Oh, that you knew this peace !" it shall give you joy unspeakable to meet those in glory who were attracted to Christ by such a simple means. -SPURGEON.

You may go the world over, and you will not find a single believer who is disappointed in the once crucified, now glorified, soon coming King. This is the best answer to the skepticism of the day. Take any class of society, the highest or the lowest, and there is not an instance of one who trusted in the Lord and was confounded. -PENNYFATHER.

Brighten darkened lives; soften the rude; make a sunshine of peace in stormy places; cover the faults and follies of men with the flowers of love. That is the best religion, the life of Christ, the very life of God.-H. C. POTTER.

The hoary centuries are full of Him. The echoes of His sweet voice are heard today. His love has perfumed

the past eighteen hundred years, and He lives todav, as the Head of His church. He lives today, the object of the warmest adoration, the most passionate love, for whom millions would die this very hour. Empires have fallen, thrones have crumbled; but Jesus lives, His empire extending every day, His throne gaining new trophies of His grace.-A. E. KITTREDGE.

The world can not bury Christ. The earth is not deep enough for His tomb; the clouds are not wide enough for His winding-sheet. He ascends into the heavens, but the heavens can not contain Him. He still lives in the church which burns unconsumed with His love; in the truth that reflects His image; in the hearts which burn as He talks with them by the way. -EDWARD THOMSON.

All the world's joy comes from the grave of our risen Lord. It was a dark and sad earth to which Jesus came with His revealings of love. But who can write the story of blessing which began with the first Christmas? How poor the world would be today if there had never been a manger cradle at Bethlehem, and then a cross on Calvary and a broken grave !-J. R. MILLER.

Saying:

"O heart I made, a heart beats here;
Face my hands fashioned see it in myself;

Thou hast no strength, nor mayst conceive of mine;
But love I gave thee, with myself to love,

And thou must love me who have died for thee."

ROBERT BROWNING.

The most destructive criticism has not been able to dethrone Christ as the incarnation of perfect holiness.

The waves of a tossing and restless sea of unbelief break at His feet, and He stands still the supreme model, the inspiration of great souls, the rest of the weary, the fragrance of all Christendom, the one divine flower in the garden of God.—HERRICK JOHNSON.

No other fame can be compared with that of Jesus. He has a place in the human heart that no one who ever lived has in any measure rivaled. No name is pro

nounced with a tone of such love and veneration. All other laurels wither before His. His are ever kept fresh with tears of gratitude.-W. E. CHANNING.

O Jesus, King most wonderful!
Thou conqueror renowned!
Thou sweetness most ineffable,

In whom all joys are found!
When once Thou visitest the heart,
Then truth begins to shine;
Then earthly vanities depart,

Then kindles love divine.

E. CASWALL.

Oh, let us understand that the power of Christianity lies not in a hazy indefiniteness, not in shadowy forms, not so much even in definite truths and doctrines, but in the truth and the doctrine. There is but one Christ crucified. All the gathered might of the infinite God is in that word.-HERRICK JOHNSON.

Oh, for a man to rise in me,

That the man I am may cease to be!

You never get to the end of Christ's words.

TENNYSON.

There is

something in them always behind. They pass into prov

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