its spreadings, as one magnificent cathedral, whose aisles, rich with the tracery of stars and planets, are every where inhabited by Deity. But nevertheless it has appeared from the first, that certain niches, so to speak, in this infinite edifice were peculiarly to be consecrated to God, so that, if the whole creation were holy, there might be spots in it which should each serve as a "holy of holies." We find the patriarchs were accustomed to rear altars, hallowing the scenes where they called on the name of the Lord. We know that, when Israel wandered through the wilderness—the pillar of cloud his guide by day, and the pillar of fire by night-God required that a tabernacle should be reared with costly and curious skill, condescending even to inspire the artificers with wisdom, that the workmanship might be unequalled in beauty. And who can forget, that, when the land of promise was gained, and God had given to the chosen seed rest from their enemies, the blood on David's hands, though it was that of the Lord's foes, deprived this righteous monarch of the honour of rearing a temple, -God hereby showing that the work was so holy and august, that not even the appearance of pollution could be tolerated in those who were employed thereupon? The honour was reserved for Solomon, a prince upon whom God had bestowed such rare endowments, and whom He had exalted by such a concurrence of prosperous events, that it would seem, says an old divine, "as if God had made it his business to build a Solomon, in order that Solomon

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might build Him an house." The work was completed; and, almost burdened with the riches of the earth, the temple of Jerusalem soared above the city, the splendid triumph of architecture. Then it was that a demonstration, never to be forgotten, was given of the favour with which God regards places devoted to his worship. The monarch stood on a scaffold of burnished brass, and round him were gathered the princes and nobles of the land. The congregation of Israel had assembled as one man at the bidding of their king, and sheep and oxen were sacrificed which could not be told nor numbered for multitude. Levites, clothed in white linen, stood at the east end of the altar, having cymbals, and psalteries, and harps; and with them an hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets. And it came to pass, that, whilst the firmament rang with the music of these divers instruments, and the voices of the singers rose high in God's praise, there descended majestically a cloud of glory: the Almighty took possession of his house with such overpowering tokens of approval, that the priests shrank back, as though withered by the brilliant manifestation, and "could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud."

There ought never after this to be question, that "God loves the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." And when, in addition to the proofs furnished by what took place under introductory dispensations, we can adduce the uniform practice of the Christian Church from apostolic days down

ward, we feel that the solemn ceremonies of this morning have so high a vindication, that it were worse than superfluous to discourse on their propriety. To God, then, and to his service, has this building been devoted. Henceforward it is to be statedly used for public worship, the preaching of the Gospel, and the administering of the Christian sacraments. And I know not that I could select a more appropriate subject for the first sermon delivered within these walls, than that presented by our text. Let us take angels for our pattern in commencing, as it were, the proclamations of the Gospel the words which the birth of Christ drew from these lofty intelligences, must be specially adapted for the opening announcement of the great scheme of redemption.

These words naturally divide themselves into two parts, the one, a demand of praise to God from the highest orders of being; the other, a statement of the reason why this praise should be given. Or we may say, with no great variation from this account of the doxology, that the incarnation, with its consequences, is here represented as a fresh cause why angels should glorify God; whilst the work, which the new-born babe will achieve, is described as "peace on earth," or "good-will towards men." shall observe this division in arranging the remainder of our discourse, trusting that, after expounding to you the angelic account of that Gospel, for the propagation of which this house has been reared,

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there will be little need for any lengthened remarks on the duty of assisting in providing churches for a rapidly increasing population. Our first topic, then, will be, the motive to the glorifying God, which the incarnation furnished to angels; the second, the accuracy of the description of redemption, that it is "peace on earth," or "good-will towards men."

Now we may fairly doubt, whether up to the time of Christ's birth, angels had been made thoroughly acquainted with the plan of our redemption. The cherubim, who bended over the ark, full as it was of solemn and typical mysteries, seemed to denote by their attitude-an attitude to which St. Peter refers when saying, "which things the angels desire to look into," that God had given to them, as to mankind, only obscure intimations of his great purpose of mercy. Since, moreover, St. Paul speaks of the manifold wisdom of God as now made known by the Church unto the powers and principalities in heavenly places, we seem warranted in supposing that it was not until the eternal Son had actually entered on his awful undertaking, that its nature was fully revealed even to the highest created intelligence. Then, it may be, it burst at once on the angel and the archangel, so that the incarnation was to them the discovery of the long-hidden secret. It was enough for them to know that Deity had mysteriously united itself to humanity, and the problem was solved on which they had hopelessly bent all the might of their

intellect. They had, then, that element in the stupendous calculation, which, left to themselves, they could never have introduced, but which, once furnished, made comparatively easy the ascertaining all the rest. So that the moment in which the Mediator was born, would be to them the moment of immense discovery; and we might expect to find it one of loud ascriptions of praise. And forasmuch as the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God comprehend all his attributes, and to acknowledge these is to give Him glory, we have only to examine whether these were not singularly manifested to angels in the incarnation of Christ, and you will understand why that event caused the heavenly beings to glorify God.

We begin with wisdom; and shall we hesitate to say of the scheme of our redemption—a scheme, you observe, all whose parts were thrown open at once to angels by the incarnation—that it is the mightiest display ever put forth of this divine property? Here was a province of God's empire, that had thrown off its allegiance, a province on which He had shed profusely the rich and the beautiful, which He had given to creatures fashioned after his own image, on whose faculties there was no bias to make them swerve from obedience, and on whom He imposed the gentlest trial as preparatory to admission to still higher enjoyments. And when these creatures, in spite of every advantage thus liberally imparted, yielded at once to the suggestions of evil, there