"Behold a silly,[1] tender Babe, In freezing winter night, In homely manger trembling lies; Alas! a piteous sight, The inns are full, no man will yield This little Pilgrim bed; But forced He is, with silly beasts In crib to shroud His head. Despise Him not for lying there, First what He is inquire: An orient pearl is often found In depth of dirty mire. "Weigh not His crib, His wooden dish, Nor beasts that by Him feed; Weigh not His mother's poor attire, Nor Joseph's simple weed. This stable is a Prince's court, The crib His chair of state, The beasts are parcel of His pomp, The wooden dish His plate. The persons in that poor attire His royal liveries wear; The Prince Himself is come from Heaven, This pomp is prized there. With joy approach, O Christian wight, Do homage to thy King; And highly praise His humble pomp, Which He from Heaven doth bring." [Footnote 1: Old English--simple.] The cheerful sounds spread themselves through the ship like the flavor of some rare perfume, bringing softness of heart through a thousand tender memories. Anon, the hour of Sabbath morning worship drew on, and Elder Brewster read from the New Testament the whole story of the Nativity, and then gave a sort of Christmas homily from the words of St. Paul, in the eighth chapter of Romans, the sixth and seventh verses, which the Geneva version thus renders: "For the wisdom of the flesh is death, but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace. "For the wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." "Ye know full well, dear brethren, what the wisdom of the flesh sayeth. The wisdom of the flesh sayeth to each one, 'Take care of thyself; look after thyself, to get and to have and to hold and to enjoy.' The wisdom of the flesh sayeth, 'So thou art warm, full, and in good liking, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, and care not how many go empty and be lacking.' But ye have seen in the Gospel this morning that this was not the wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was Lord of all, became poorer than any, that we, through His poverty, might become rich. When our Lord Jesus Christ came, the wisdom of the flesh despised Him; the wisdom of the flesh had no room for Him at the inn. "There was room enough always for Herod and his concubines, for the wisdom of the flesh set great store by them; but a poor man and woman were thrust out to a stable; and _there_ was a poor baby born whom the wisdom of the flesh knew not, because the wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God. "The wisdom of the flesh, brethren, ever despiseth the wisdom of God, because it knoweth it not. The wisdom of the flesh looketh at the thing that is great and strong and high; it looketh at riches, at kings' courts, at fine clothes and fine jewels and fine feastings, and it despiseth the little and the poor and the weak.