Apostle, neither at first was a throne prepared for him in the Sacred College; when, the lot having already fallen on him, "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind," that wind which "bloweth where it listeth," and on him as on the rest the Fiery Tongue of consecrating power lighted and sat.

Kindly as the Hepatica thrives amongst us, it yet is no native of England, but comes to us from Switzerland. Thus if Hepaticas prefer repose, they yet submit to transference, blooming cheerfully in their allotted sphere. Be careful for nothing.-Philippians iv. 6.

The Annunciation of the

Blessed Virgin Mary.

25 MARCH.

The Sacred Text.

EAR ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel.-Isaiah vii. 13, 14.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth

a Son, and shalt call His Name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David : and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.-St. Luke i. 26, &c.

GLORIES OF THE ANNUNCIATION.

UCH is the prophecy and such the narrative of a mystery which angels and men alike can celebrate but cannot utter. And surely if our Lord, the Infinite Eternal God, was as Man contented to have a beginning, to be matured and come to the birth after the fashion of

all his fellow infants, to arrive as a speechless Creature amongst His own creatures, to stretch out to his Mother small helpless hands, and in natural human

order to increase in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man; we may surely for the present be well content, yea thankful, to be faithful over only a few things and those belonging to Another, and to see no more than darkly through a glass, and to wait for knowledge since we already can steep our spirits in wisdom.

On this day, whereof an angel in lieu of a skylark preluded the dawn, the dormant Sap stirred in the Root of Jesse; the Tree of Life burgeoned towards bringing us forth food and medicine; the Vine left not its wine, yet being promoted over the trees cheered God and man; the Divine appeal by the prophet began to be fulfilled, “What could I have done more, that I have not done?" Mercy and Truth met together, Righteousness and Peace kissed each other, Truth bowed its strength to spring out of the earth, and Righteousness looked down from Heaven. On this day God set forth Christ Jesus, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. On this day therefore let us pray God to establish us for ever upon Christ the Rock of Ages, the Rock that is higher than we, and setting our feet thereon to order our goings. Let us with holy Samuel take a Stone (that very Stone which the builders refused), setting It up before God for a Memorial, calling It Eben-ezer, and protesting, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us :" then with a good courage let us go on to vanquish the hosts of hell.

Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.-Deuteronomy xxxii. 31.

What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it ?—Isaiah v. 4.

Jesu Christ, Very Man, whereby know I that Thou art Very God of Very God, no less than God, no other than God? I gauge not the height and depth of possible perfection in the creature for how perfect may not that be which is the handiwork of the All-Perfect and All-Able? What we divide, may again and again be divided without ever dwindling to nothing: what we double, may again and again be doubled without ever attaining to infinity. All moreover are in God's hand: and of Him we read:

God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.-1 Corinthians i. 27, 28.

Could He not, then, much more have enlightened a Cherub to outwit the father of lies, or have girt an Archangel to vanquish the strong man armed, or even have stirred up in a Seraph (though such yearnings had remained barren of fruit) yearnings to die in our stead? Yea, Lord God, if so it had pleased Thee: nevertheless, He Who maketh must still of necessity excel that thing which He maketh. But, O Thou Who givest not Thy glory to another, how hadst Thou then appealed to us, saying: "What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" For verily a Seraph had done more, if graced with a glory of self-sacrifice unlike any glory of Thine own; and some sinners had done more, who for their beloved have even dared to die. Whence I perceive that the Right Hand and holy Arm of God Himself have gotten the victory. When Thou, my God, puttest forth