tious in all his relative duties, who nevertheless is, or appears to be, very careless and cold in the offices of devotion and in the higher exercises of religion. How is this? What opinion are we to form of such persons? Would it be right to deny the piety of the one, or of the other, or of both? Certainly not that would be uncharitable and unjust.

In the history of practical godliness there are four things which it would be well to remember: that different men excel in different virtues; that the same men excel in different virtues at different periods of their history; that in no man do all the virtues shine with equal radiance; and, finally, that the best of men are far from perfection here. These are wellknown truths; but sometimes we act as if it were not so. The habitual recollection of them is a duty; it will help us to form a just estimate of human character, promote our charitableness, and make us long for the perfections of the higher world.

Thus we have glanced at the virtues of Simeon; their nature, development, and mutual relation. In him they shone beautifully and harmoniously. His love to God produced universal propriety of conduct towards men; and that is what I would call true religion.

II. I now proceed to notice THE PUBLIC SPIRIT OF SIMEON. That is beautifully expressed in these words-"Waiting for the consolation of Israel." He was not only a just and devout man, but he was also waiting for Him who was to be Israel's consolation and glory and the Gentiles' light. Simeon was not a man of a narrow, contracted, selfish mind. Oh, no. His thoughts, desires, solicitudes, and hopes were not limited to himself, nor to his own nation; his heart burned for the public good; he was an observer and interpreter of public events. Through the divine medium of prophecy he surveyed the far-spread scenes of futurity. From the mount of Vision he contemplated the evolutions of Providence, the source and the spread of redemption, the changes and the predestinations of the world-of the universe. He had

long waited for the day of the Lord: at last it sweetly dawned upon his hopes. Faith and prayer ever wait for those eras of light and renewal, by a succession of which God has promised to draw humanity nearer and still nearer to himself. Simeon waited for the coming of Messiah: expectation was the habitual attitude of his spirit; it was the theme of his conversation; the breath of his prayers; the bright beam that ever cheered the long path of his pilgrimage. In the teachings of the synagogue, in the sacrifices of the temple, in the changes which were passing over the institutions of his people, the devout patriarch saw the prophetic signs of the Son of man. His constant waiting for Christ kept his affections in a state of healthy excitement, spiritualized his piety, shed an unearthly lustre around his general character, and raised him far above the men of

his age.

But it may be said that the Jews as a nation, waited for the Messiah. True: they did so. But then we must bear in mind, my brethren, that their expectation was grounded upon a wrong interpretation; a narrow, selfish, secular interpretation-of prophecy; for it was this false interpretation that led them to condemn and crucify as an impostor the true Messiah, the Son of God. They waited for an earthly, political Saviour; one that would crush Rome, fight for the temple, and make Jerusalem the empress of the world. But very different from that were the anticipations of Simeon. He studied universal interests, and

studied universal interests in connection with universal and eternal principles. His address in the temple contains a sublime prediction of the personal history and public influences of Jesus. But I can only just glance on it at present, naming some of the principles which it embraces, without attempting to discuss them.

Simeon gives three distinct views of Jesus. He refers to Him as the object of human hostility; as the cause of great moral revolutions; and, finally, as the divine source of spiritual blessings.

First. The text refers to Christ, as an object of human enmity. He was to be a "sign to be spoken against❞—the mark of evil men and evil spirits. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed." He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame ; "for consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself." To give a minute account of the sufferings of the Saviour is not necessary on this occasion: the wonderful history of them is written in our Bible-is written in our hearts. It is impossible to think of men's opposition to Jesus—to think of the general and special sources whence it sprang of the varied forms which it assumed-of the manner in which it was borne-of the extraordinary scenes in which it issued-and of the marvellous bearings which it had on the history of man and the government of God ;it is impossible, we say, to think of these things without being instructed and moved. Oh! how they teach us to weep for our race and to cling to the dear cross of our Lord. Secondly, Simeon pointed to Jesus as the cause of great moral revolutions. He was to be "for the fall and the rising of many in Israel ;"" the thoughts of many hearts were to be revealed." Here two great effects are attributed to the presence of Jesus on earth; a revelation of human thoughts, and a revolution in human affairs. One of the mighty works which Jesus came to accomplish was to set men to think to think with freedom, earnestness and force; and this He actually did to an extent before unknown. His aim was not to affect the mere surface of our nature, to alter only its moral forms and fashions; but to send its influence down to its very centre. He came to speak to our inner being, to give liberty to thought, to open the doors of its prison, and to show it the path of light. He set mind in motion; he touched the mysterious springs of its power: and this he did by the conjoined influence of two things-his truth and his character. Both these were original, perfect, divine. The

impulse which he thus imparted to our nature has been deepening and widening ever since. He originated a succession of improving changes, which can no more be stopped than the course of the stars. He broke at once the monotony and the monopoly of religious thinking, opened for it new channels, and made it flow through regions which it had never visited before. There was more thought at work in Palestine during Christ's residence there than ever before. The new leaven soon spread throughout the Roman empire, and became blended with its religions and legislation, its philosophy and literature. The living power of the Gospel, by rousing humanity to action, elicited its true character: opposing elements were set in commotion; the good and the evil rose to the surface; and thus "the thoughts of many hearts were revealed."

Simeon foresaw also that the Holy Child would be "for the fall and rising of many." Here again we meet another wonderful principle-we say principle-for risings and fallings in our world are not mere accidents or chances, but events regulated by a fixed law; and that law is administered by the divine Mediator. We fancy we can see emblems of these moral changes- these risings and fallings—even in the material world. The motions of the heavens-the processes of matter everywhere around us-the revolutions of the seasons-continually remind us of them. This revolu tionary principle seems to be in constant operation in the government of our disordered race. It pervades the internal and the external history of humanity: it presides over all the alterations which take place in the ideas, the characters, and the institutions of men. How very remarkably was its energy displayed during the first age of Christianity. Then truth rose higher than it had ever done before then error and ignorance began to fall; and, blessed be God! they have been falling and falling and falling ever since. Then the old schools of religious teachers fell; and a new one rose under the inspirations of Jesus, which is one day to fill the world with its doctrine. Then the first covenant disappeared, to

give place to a better one. Then, in a word, the ancient church fell, and the new rose into being; and the rise of this new society was one of the grandest results of Christ's descent to our earth; it was, if we may be allowed the expression, the incarnation of one of the sublimest ideas of he Son of God. What a wonderful society is this;—a society which is based on the social affections and social wants of our renewed nature; which is so simple in its constitution and design as to be adapted equally to all climes and all ages; which requires no qualifications for membership but hatred to sin, confidence in Christ, and good will to men; a society which is destined to receive unborn generations into its bosom, and to fill all worlds with the praises of its Founder. Oh! may the blessedness of belonging to this divine society be ours.

Thirdly Simeon speaks still more definitely of the Saviour. He represents Him as the source of all spiritual blessings. Three precious gifts, he predicted, would flow from this divine Fountain; light, consolation, and glory. He is the light of men. We have already spoken of Christ as the quickener of mind: we must not forget, however, that the great instrument He employs is truth. "In him was light, and the light was the life of men." The divine light that was in Him broke forth brightly upon the world from every part of his outward history. His doctrine, his miracles, his cross, his grave, were all so many beams of pure light. All the truths which the world needs respecting God, man, salvation, and immortality, are to be found in Christ, and only in Christ. May his Spirit breathe them into our dark hearts, that we may live for ever. Christ is the consolation of men. It is quite unnecessary to spend time in formally proving that Christ is the great, the supreme Consoler-that He is the con solation of our erring, guilty, troubled, anxious race. know the precious truth; instead, therefore, of enlarging upon it as a theological doctrine, let us turn our heavy hearts to it as our great relief. There is enough here to carry us through; is there not? Let me speak to thee, my dear brother. Is

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