as Elisabeth and Zacharias, which would cause the account she gave of her state to be credited, and thus prevent injurious suspicions as to her character, "Mary in those days," about that time, and soon after the angel's visit, arose and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth."

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Though the name of the city is not here mentioned, the description of its situation, and the circumstance of Zacharias, who was a priest, dwelling in it, render it sufficiently plain that it was Hebron. In Joshua xx. 7, it is thus mentioned among the cities of refuge: "Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah." The journey from Nazareth to Hebron was of considerable length; some say forty miles. Having arrived at the city, Mary entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. We are not told what she said. It is the natural conclusion, however, from the whole bearing of the passage, that little was said by her, except what courtesy required, by way of introduction and salutation on such an occasion. It seems, therefore, that the sentiments which Elisabeth soon expressed were not at all the result of her own reflections on information which her visitor had communicated to her, but the result of immediate inspiration. She was led to interpret her extraordinary emotions and sensations at the time, as indicative of the arrival of her who was to be the mother of Messiah; and it is expressly said, "Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost;" that is, she was immediately so filled by the Holy Spirit, as to be endowed with the gift of prophecy. In this, and such instances, was fulfilled the prophecy by Joel: "It shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids will pour out my Spirit."

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Under the influence of this inspiration, and in holy rapture, Elisabeth said, not in a whisper, but in a loud voice, as not ashamed, or afraid, but as glorying in what she was to speak: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." The first part of this sentence corresponds exactly with what was said by the angel. Doubtless, Mary was highly honoured, and very happy in being the mother of him who was the Son of

God, and who came into the world to rescue men from the most dreadful ruin, and to procure for them, and bestow on them, the most precious blessings. And blessed beyond all description and all human conception was the fruit of her womb; most blessed was he, and is he, in respect of the glories and the happiness of his nature, and in the prosecution of his most benevolent saving work. Most worthy is he to receive all blessing, and glory, and honour, and power. "Men shall be blessed in him, and all nations shall call him blessed." With regard, however, to Mary herself, it is proper to recollect that highly blessed as she was, as the mother of Christ, she was far more blessed as one of Christ's believers and disciples. When the woman cried out to him from the crowd, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked,” he said: " Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." In thinking, or speaking, therefore, of Mary, we should avoid the extremes both of superstition and disrespect.

“And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" In the view which Elisabeth here takes of Christ, she acknowledges both his divine and human nature. She acknowledges his divine nature and exalted dignity and power, by calling him Lord; and she acknowledges his human nature by saying that Mary was his mother. Jesus Christ is indeed Lord; he is Lord of all. He is possessed of power to save, and of a right to rule. Elisabeth called him her Lord, thereby testifying her own submission to his grace and government. We, too, call him Lord, Lord; and we say well, for so he is. Let us see to it, however, that we do indeed individually submit ourselves to him. Let each of us, in the contemplation of his personal glory and mediatorial work, be enabled to cry out from the heart, “ My Lord, and my God." And let us ever practically remember his own words: " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven."

In this passage, too, Elisabeth expresses a feeling of most becoming and exemplary humility. "Whence is this unto me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?" In respect of outward station, there is every reason to think that Elisabeth was by much the superior of the

two. She was the wife of a priest, who was not only of official respectability, but of much personal worth. Mary's parents, it is true, were of worthy character, and also descended from an illustrious house, but they were poor and little known. Elisabeth, however, deems herself highly honoured by her visit, and speaks of it as something far beyond what she deserved, or could have expected. In this she was, no doubt, right, and evidenced the strength of her faith: and yet it was commendable to make the acknowledgment. True piety is always accompanied with true humility. "What am I," said David, "and what is my father's house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" "I have need," said John, "to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" "I am not worthy," said the centurion, "that thou shouldest come under my roof." So Elisabeth, "Whence is this unto me?" But, my friends, have not all believers at least as good cause for humble gratitude as she? Have they not also experienced, at least, as signal proofs of condescension? It is true, that Mary does not come to their house and abide with them for months: but Mary's Son comes to their door, and enters, and fixes with them his permanent residence. "Behold," says he, "I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me"- "If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." What is man, that the Lord should thus be mindful of him, and visit him? God grant that we may be blessed and honoured with the fellowship of the Father, and of his Son Jesus Christ, and enabled to regulate our dwellings and our hearts, as becomes the dignity of our heavenly guests.

Having expressed her sense of the honour conferred on her by the visit, and having also stated the emotions of joy which that visit occasioned, Elisabeth added:

"And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." This is a confirmation of what we already remarked, as to Mary's happiness consisting chiefly in her being a believer. It is not unlikely that Elisabeth may have here intended an oblique, though, as was becoming, a tender and delicate, reference to Zacharias' unbelief, which brought on him so marked a chastisement. As for him,

he still continued deaf and dumb; he was unable to bid

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Mary welcome when she arrived at his threshold, and he was incapable of holding any oral conversation with her, now that she was an inmate in his family. But as for Mary, she at once gave full credit to the promise, and was, therefore, to have its fulfilment without any check or rebuke. This verse may fairly be considered as affirming the blessedness and the security of all believers. This blessedness, in the most important sense, may be ours. ، Blessed are they," said Jesus to Thomas, "who have not seen, and yet have believed." "Whom having not seen," says Peter, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." They are happy, indeed, who, interested in the promises, have to rely on the absolute certainty of these promises, and the unchanging faithfulness of God. Not one good thing shall fail them of what the Lord has spoken; but all shall come to pass.

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After this account of Elisabeth's inspired address to her guest, there follows what is commonly called the song of the Virgin Mary-a song so full and particular, so beautiful and sublime, that the paraphrases which have been made of it must be allowed to have failed of coming near the text as it stands in our Bibles-a song which seems rather to discourage than invite any lengthened comment, as if the true way to feel its beauty, and to enter into its spirit, were to read it exactly as it is. And yet we can hardly pass it over in this way, but feel inclined to linger over it, were it only to repeat some of its lines. Many of its sentiments will be found to coincide with those of the song of Hannah, in the 2d chapter of 1 Samuel; and though some ideas refer to what was peculiar to Mary herself, the general strain of the song may be taken up by every believer.

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Mary being, no doubt, greatly animated by the congratulations in which she had just been addressed, and being also especially influenced by the Holy Spirit, breaks out all at once in the language of devout adoration and holy rapture: My soul doth magnify the Lord." Creatures cannot magnify God in the sense in which he magnifies them; they cannot, strictly speaking, make him great; they cannot add to his dignity. But they are said to magnify, or, which is much the same, to glorify him, when they confess him, and proclaim him to be great and glorious, as he is, when they honour him in their life, and when they offer him actual worship and praise.

"And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Soul and spirit are probably two words for the same thing, and teach us, that the mind must go along with our tongue, and that we must praise God cheerfully, and with our whole heart and soul. We may observe here, too, that as Mary rejoiced in God, and did not rest in the honour done to herself, that, and that only, is true religious joy, when we do not make the mere sensible good the primary object of our joy, but God himself, and when we rest in him as our rejoicing. Mary here, also, rejoiced in God as her Saviour, in which character alone he can be contemplated with satisfaction by sinners of mankind.

"For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden." The word is properly rendered "low estate," as referring to her outward condition. It would be contrary to the proper acceptation of the word, as well as to sound doctrine, to suppose that Mary, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, should speak of her humility of mind, or of any other qualification, as the meritorious cause of the honour which was about to be conferred on her. She had more true humility than to be guilty of this. She thankfully and humbly acknowledged that the Lord regarded her-that is, looked to her with an eye of favour, poor, lowly, and unworthy as she was. So, in general, the special favour of God is often extended to those who are in the humblest walks of life. So far is his grace from being confined to the wealthy and the high, that as their number altogether is but small in comparison with others, so the proportion of believers among them is also small: "Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." This fact should be improved by those whose station in life is more favourable, to teach them not to trust in uncertain riches, or human wisdom, or human power, but in the living God; and it should be improved by the lowest, to teach them contentment under all their outward disadvantages, seeing that by far the most important blessings are equally accessible to them as to the greatest; and it should inspire them with gratitude, if they have been enabled to choose the better part, and thus to become rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom.

Elisabeth had already called Mary blessed, but that was