THE ANGEL ANNOUNCING THE NATIVITY.

AUGUSTUS CAESAR, the Roman emperor, issued a general edict that all persons in the Roman empire should be registered at certain appointed places, according to their respective provinces, cities, and families. In consequence of this proclamation, Joseph and Mary his wife, being both of the tribe of Judah and family of David, were obliged to repair to Bethlehem, the capital city of their tribe, there to have their estates and names enrolled. Bethlehem, the town in which our Saviour was born, for there was another city of the same name in the tribe of Zebulon, was about two leagues distant from Jerusalem, and thirty from Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary resided. The great influx of people upon this occasion to the holy city had already filled all the inns, so that no better place remained for the lodging of the holy family than a stable, in which the blessed Virgin was almost immediately delivered of the promised Emmanuel, whom she Notwithbound in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. standing, however, the obscurity of our Saviour's birth, the Almighty was pleased that very night to announce his nativity by an angel. "And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men*. No sooner was this heavenly concert ended, than the shepherds remembering the sign which the angel had given them before he disappeared, immediately hastened to Bethlehem, where they found the virgin mother and Joseph attending the divine infant in humble adoration, a stable being its birth-place and a manger its bed.