making time. But ought it to be such with the Christian? Whether Christmas is right or wrong; whether the descendants of the good old Nonconformists ought or ought not to keep this day, we do not pause to inquire. Constituted as society now is, they cannot but be involved in the circumstances of the age and country in which they live; and it is for them, therefore, to be careful, if they keep this festive season, that the parties should be such as become those "professing godliness." The family party is one of the most delightful which assembles on these occasions. The ancient sire, with his children and children's children around him, enjoying a green old age, sitting and recounting to them "the way in which the Lord has led him," is a sight enchanting beyond description. How refreshing to hear him tell of his childhood, and boyhood, and youth; his entrance on the great ocean of life, and the providence which formed his connexions, furnished his business, built him up into a family, supplied his wants, and permitted him to see the third and fourth generations; while many of his youthful contemporaries have "dropped off like the leaves in autumn;" and that, in addition to this, God has given him the riches of grace, and enabled him to live to his glory, is a thing which thrills through the feelings, and does good to the soul. This, too, is heightened when a numerous family meet, and the greater number are partakers of the fellowship of the saints; the Christian family party is, in such a case, a delightful meeting, and a happy close of the fleeting year.

The social party is another group, which meets at Christmas. This is not select, as the former, and has none of its attractions. The large parties which are formed at this season are, indeed, not always unexceptionable; and Christians ought to consider seriously whether such parties are consistent with the piety they profess. What a mixture they present! The mere professor of religion, and the true believer, are seated side by side, and often know very little of each other, except that they go to the same place of worship, or may belong to the same religious denomination. This leads to desultory conversation: there is no religious sympathy, and no interchange of thought, beyond the politeness of society, or the business and politics of life, and the evening passes with tediousness and unprofitableness. It sometimes happens in such circles, that there is one of the company that will be heard, and has a favourite topic, and this, perhaps, some business transaction, some city affair, some debate "in the House," or to be "brought into the House" that night, and perhaps there is not an idea advanced worth listening to; thus the time passes without benefit. In such a case a good man should put on a bold front, and intersperse a wise and holy remark, that men may not speak as if the world were governed only by a cabinet council, and that Providence had ceased to care for us.

The social parties are often very large, a thing which of itself renders it difficult to make them profitable. It sometimes happens, that the pastor of the family is invited; and then, if it be that they are all Christians, upon him is imposed the burdensome task of speaking loud enough to edify twenty persons at once; or else the company is frittered into two or three separate bands, each talking of trifles; and he has to go from one little group to another, to show kindness to

all, and say what he can to each. Such parties often leave the mind barren, both intellectually and spiritually. The number is too great to spend the evening profitably; and it is more than probable, that each expected from the visit more than was realised; and all this for the want of that interchange of pure, intelligent thought, which might have been obtained in a smaller party.

There is, too, a great evil in large parties which savours much of the world. They are almost always "dress parties." In this silent way the fashion of the world creeps into the private life of the wealthy or the respectable believer. The splendour of the dress and the table, which is sometimes seen, is a sad indication of the vanity of the heart: while, perhaps, in the midst of all this, the godly and the ungodly servants waiting on the company catch some sentences, and wonder at the religion of those about them.

Juvenile parties are a third class, which meet at this season; and who would break them up? who would check the buoyancy of youth? who would rigidly exact a thing which is unnatural and unsuitable ? This ought not to be done, but they should be well regulated. It is to be regretted that many Christian families practise private dancing, and the Christmas parties of the young are often of this description. Is it, therefore, a matter of surprise, that the youthful part of the congregations of dissenters become worldly and church-going, when there is so much of the world permitted in their associates and their amusements? But it is often said-Young persons must have their pleasures, and what harm is there in a dance? Without reminding those who ask this, that the first dance we read of was round a golden calf, and produced the anger of God; that the next, through a holy joy, produced a quarrel between the hushand and wife; and that another issued in John the Baptist losing his head; we may say, is there no harm in coming so close to the world, as to create an improper love to it? is there no harm in an amusement which produces undue levity? is there no harm in that which unfits for devotion? If the direct evil could not be pointed out, yet the indirect tendency to draw the heart from God is enough to deter every Christian parent from allowing his children to mingle in such amusements. How can you expect a dancing son to become a member of the church of Christ? How can it be supposed that a daughter who is fond of dancing, will love the sobriety of godliness? If Christmas is to be kept, either by the aged or the young, it should be by a careful avoidance of the spirit and amusements of the world.

There is one thing which frequently attaches to parties of each kind, and that is, the late hours at which they break up. Christians should be circumspect in this matter. How many families are by this very thing deprived of family worship! The servants, except one or two, are retired to rest; the master and mistress return home, and the evening ends without the holy and beneficial close of the day; and, recollect, this is not a solitary thing: that very evening there may be twenty other families, with whom you have met, who are just doing the same thing; so that the late hours, and the worldly party, or the half worldly, have caused this neglect of family worship in twenty houses. It is a grevious thing. If religion is to flourish in our souls, our

families, and our churches, we must have consistent piety: then when Christmas presents us with the long wintry evening, whether we meet the family party or the social party, the cheerful close of the year will be in perfect keeping with the Christianity we profess.

NOEL.

CHRIST, A COMPASSIONATE HIGH PRIEST.

COMPASSION supposes weakness or sorrow, and to be effectual it must be accompanied with the power of melioration. The angels who never sinned and the saints in heaven are not now, nor will they ever be objects of compassion. Their state is not such as to produce the development of pity. They are objects of complacency. Impressed with the image of their Maker, dignified with a moral elevation that can never be reached on earth, and destined to the enjoyment of suitable and never-ending bliss. Jehovah himself exults and rejoices over them. In the position and misery of devils and damned spirits; in their deep moral debasement, their implacable hatred of all moral excellence, and their endurance of untold and never-ending torture there is much to excite our fears. Their ruin has been brought on by obdurate rebellion. Amid all that could have linked them in holy allegiance to the Deity, they sinned: and who that views sin in its true colours can do otherwise than affirm, that their punishment is just? While, therefore, we may start back at sin which has ruined them,—and fear lest by disobedience their position may eventually become ours, as their doom is unalterable their position and circumstances are unchangeable-pity for them is vain. The objects of Christ's compassionate regard are dwellers on earth. They are neither in the position of beatified spirits beyond the assailment of sin and sorrow, nor yet in the position of the lost where sympathy is of no avail. The Apostle says, "We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was, in all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin." While clinging to Jesus as our High Priest, trusting alone in the efficacy of His atonement, and living under the influences of His Spirit, we realize His compassionate regard, and are the objects of His peculiar care. He is with us at all times and under all circumstances even in affliction's darkest hour-to strengthen, to comfort, and to gladden our hearts. Let us, then, inquire, What are the principles on which the compassion of our High Priest is founded, and by which He is enabled to manifest it in all its fulness to His people?

I. The Compassion of our High Priest is identified with His Assumption of our Nature.

In the Old Testament, the Divine Being is often spoken of as possessing affection accompanied with pity. "As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." "In all their affliction He was afflicted; and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and pity he redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried

them all the days of old." We do not understand these passages literally. They are figurative expressions intended to strike home to the hearts of God's people. They give a shade and a softness to the majesty of Jehovah, which tends to repress our fears and excite our confidence.

In the manifestation of Christ in our flesh, our Divine High Priest, is brought near to ourselves. He is clothed with the sympathies of our common humanity. His sensibilities are excited amidst scenes of wretchedness, and his compassion is evinced in acts of kindness and love. "His goodness is the goodness of human nature exalted and rendered perfect." In several passages of Scripture intimation is given that Christ assumed our nature, in order that he might be capable of sympathising with us. As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, himself likewise took part of the same, that, through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage. For, verily, he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things, it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." And there are other pas sages which describe him in his upward flight, and place him before us, exalted in our nature, amid the glories of His mediatorial throne, to sympathize with his followers still on earth. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Our High Priest then is one of ourselves. The glories of His ascension have not diminished his sensibilities as a man. The same Jesus, who now sits at God's right hand, was once a babe in the manger at Bethlehem. When He stood, in His majesty, gazing on the mangled form of the martyred Stephen, there was as much affection in His looks, and sympathy in His heart, as when clothed in human habiliments he stood at the grave of Lazarus and wept. Still amid our sorrows we hear him speak to us as he spoke to many on the morn of his resurrection," Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things."

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II. The Compassion of Jesus, as our High Priest, is a Result of his Sufferings.

"We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." The word "touched" means "fellow-feeling." The negative form of speech is adopted by the Apostle to describe more

emphatically the reality of the Saviour's sympathy. He had felt it himself amid his sorrows and temptations, "I will glory in my infirmities," said the Apostle Paul on one occasion, "that the power of Christ may rest on me." When I am weak, then I am strong." But the confidence expressed by the Apostle when writing to the Hebrews, was grounded specially upon a consideration of the temptations to which Jesus had been subjected, and the afflictions through which he had passed. "He was, in all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Anything that may induce sin is a temptation. Evil suggestions, persecutions, afflictions, bereavements, and painful providences, are, in this sense, temptations. They may be the cause or occasion of our committing sin. Christ was tempted, in these respects, as we are. He was assailed by devils, persecuted by men, and forsaken by God. These various temptations had an effect upon his heart, and excited within him feelings of sadness. How must his whole soul have revolted at the suggestions of Satan in the wilderness! How sad his heart when he wept over Jerusalem, and remembered how he had been treated, notwithstanding the evidences he had given of the Divinity of his Mission, in the miracles he had performed, the doctrines and precepts he had delivered, and the pure and benevolent life which he had led! But look at him in the garden of Gethsemane ! What a picture! Innocence oppressed with anguish! "Father! if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Listen to him as he speaks from amid the gloom which thickens around him at the cross. "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me!" O what sorrow! O what a conflict! And yet he conquered. In vain Satan tempts. In vain men deride. In vain the soldiers mocked, scourged, and crucified him. There was no depraved nature to work upon. There was no hidden passion to burst forth, when the match of temptation was applied. He came through all unscathed. He was tried in the furnace, but there was no dross-all was pure gold. "He was tempted like as we are, yet without sin." And here is the ground of our confidence. Affliction has had a similar effect upon him as upon ourselves. Israel had been a stranger in a strange land, and knew the heart of a stranger from his own feelings and experience while in Egypt, and on this was grounded the duty of kindness to strangers. The High Priest, under the Mosaic economy, was chosen from among men, that conscious of his own infirmity he might have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that were out of the way. St. Paul tells the Corinthians, that one design of his afflictions was, that through the consolation which he himself received he might be able to impart sympathy and consolation to others. Just in the same way, "the Captain of our salvation is made perfect through suffering."

"Touched with a sympathy within,

He knows our feeble frame:

He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he hath felt the same."

It is true, sometimes those who have struggled through difficulties have, in altered circumstances, refused that pity unto others which once wiped the tear drop from their own cheeks, and removed the load from