“George, can you tell me how the birth of our Saviour became known?”――“Did not the shepherds tell it to all they met, mamma.” “Yes, my dear, but how did they know it?” “Angels,” said Howard, “told it to them:――they were watching their flocks, at night, to keep them from the wolves.” “Would you not think it hard to be out on a winter’s night, Howard?” “I should not have suffered so much there, as here; the climate is so much warmer.” “But, I think,” said Mrs. B. “you said the shepherds were watching their flocks?”――“Yes, mamma, and while they were watching, an angel appeared to them: they were frightened at first, but the angel told them not to be afraid.” “Cannot you repeat the passage of Scripture?” “Yes, mamma, it is in the 2nd chapter of St. Luke, and the 10th and 11th verses:――‘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.’” “Do you recollect what took place after this?” “The shepherds exceedingly rejoiced, and went to Bethlehem where they found the Babe, with his father and mother; precisely in the situation which had been foretold; the shepherds then told the great news to all they knew.” “Do you recollect, Howard, what is said of Simeon, a devout man, who is spoken of, in the 2nd chapter of Luke, which records the nativity, or birth of our Saviour?” “When the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, and offer a sacrifice for him, which the law required, Simeon was dwelling at Jerusalem,――but, mamma, I would rather hear you relate this.” “You were right, so far, my dear: Simeon was a believer in Christ when he was yet unborn;――he had studied the prophets of the old Testament, and as the Scripture says, ‘he was waiting for _the consolation of Israel_,’ that meant, to _see Christ_; for it had been revealed to him that he should not see death, until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. “When the young child was brought into the temple, Simeon, it is said, was led by the Spirit to go there. George, do you repeat what the good old man said, when his eyes beheld the Babe of Bethlehem, as our infant Saviour was called.”