Rev. Brooke Herford preached in Appleton Chapel last evening on the world which surrounded Christ's early years. The Jews, long oppressed and maddened by the Roman rule were still clinging to their expectation of a Messiah; a king who was to overthrow the oppressor and give Jerusalem the supreme power. But at the time of Christ's birth, cruelty and bloodshed were constantly increasing, with Herod as their chief agent. The fact that the slaughter of the innocents is not noticed in secular history is significant of his career. No notice of the massacre of a few babies could be taken amid a series of murders, of his sons, wife, relations, courtiers and subjects, which was in itself too great to be recorded in detail. When such were the characteristics of the reigning power it is not hard to imagine what the subjects must be. Hatred and violence could be held down only for brief periods, and issued again and again in the wildert revolutions. The puritanical Jew, outraged by insults to his religion and always watching for opportunity to injure his oppressors and all who hated his beliefs, and the consequent quarrels were fierce and bloody.

In the midst of this uproar, but far above it, Christ grew up. When it is realized that His calmness and beauty shone out from a back-ground of such wildness, how can it be argued that Christ was no more than the product of His times? How could His life have dawned in such darkness if it had not been from God?

The choir sang the following: Hymnal, "O Come Emmanuel" - ancient melody; the anthems, "Ye Shall Dwell in the Land" - Stainer, and "O Blessed" - Stainer.