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war in America, have for months been thrown out of employment, and been cast entirely upon the mercies of her more wealthy countrymen for support. Our good Queen has, of her own private means set us an example in the matter, and subscriptions are now being gathered in from one end of the land to another for their relief. It remains for you to do this day what God requires of you, what a faith in his Word would suggest and recommend to you, and what the wants of a suffering and starving people can demand of you.

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SERMON VIII.

"Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him."-Matt. iv., 18-20.

WE have much for which to thank the compilers of our Book of Common Prayer, and for this especially that they have preserved to us in such a lively manner the memory of all the leading events connected with the first birth and after-growth of Christianity. This they have done not only in the prayers of the Church, nor in the several creeds which we use, but by dividing the year into various seasons, each season being designed to commemorate some one important event in particular, all the leading events connected with our faith being celebrated every year in regular succession.

Thus, for instance, Christmas day is set apart to the memory of our Saviour's birth; Good Friday to the memory of His death; Easter Sunday to the memory of His resurrection; another day is made to commemorate His ascension; Whit-Sunday is appointed to keep us mindful of the descent of the Holy Spirit; and Trinity Sunday is de

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signed to remind us that both the eternal Son and the Holy Ghost are Persons of the same Divine Being with God the Father. Then, again, there are other days appointed to be observed in memory of less important events, such as those which are designed to remind us of the circumcision of our blessed Lord, or His first manifestation to the gentiles on the Epiphany. Again, there are certain seasons appointed as seasons requiring special preparation-as, for instance, the forty days of Lent which go before Good Friday, and the days of Advent which immediately precede Christmas. Some days there are which are dedicated to the memory of the Apostles. The whole series of these sacred days bring before our minds a most complete and comprehensive view of our Christian faith. And if we would only take the pains to examine the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, appointed to be used on these days, we should find a most perfect summary of Christian teaching. It is a study much neglected by all of us, and very greatly to our loss, for certainly there is no easier method for us to make ourselves acquainted with what we ought to believe and what we ought to do than to study the Collects, the Epistles, and Gospels, and the proper lessons appointed to be used on these special occasions.

To-day is a day which carries me out in my observations in a very beautiful and remarkable

manner.

To-day is called the first Sunday in Advent. In four weeks' time we shall be celebrating the birth of our blessed Lord on Christmas day, and, in order that that day may be a joyful day to us, four weeks are set apart in some measure to prepare us for this happy though solemn event in man's history. And if you examine the Collect for this Sunday you will be obliged to confess what a beautiful lesson we are there taught in connection with the Saviour's coming. The Church would beg us to look back to the time when Christ appeared in great humility, and forward to that more awful and solemn day when He shall appear again in His glorious majesty to judge the world. This is the great point which the Church would have us direct our attention to in the interval between this Sunday and Christmas day. She would have us pray that God will "give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now, in the time of this mortal life in which Christ Jesus came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge the quick and dead we may rise to the life immortal."

To-day, however, is not only the first Sunday in Advent. It so happens that the first Sunday in Advent falls this year upon a day which is dedicated to the memory of the Apostle St. Andrew,

and for this reason I have chosen my text from the Gospel for St. Andrew's day.

St. Andrew was one of the first two called by our blessed Lord to be His disciples, and for this reason, doubtless, his name comes so early in the Church's year. If you look at the Gospel for St. Andrew's day, you will there find a very beautiful example of readiness and submission for you to imitate. The Epistle for the same day you will find is purposely appointed to teach what the nature of our calling is to a great extent. I would ask you to examine these several portions of Scripture for yourselves.

You, too, like St. Andrew, have your worldly callings to fulfil. Some of you have your farms to attend to; some of you have your daily labour to fulfil, or your trades to carry on. Most of you have your daily bread to get by daily labour, and by the sweat of your own brow, just as St. Andrew had to supply his wants by the profession of a fisherman. In St. Andrew, therefore, you may have more than ordinary sympathy, and in his example you may find more than ordinary instruction.

First of all, learn from his example that you have more than a worldly calling to fulfil; you have more than meat and drink to provide; you have more than this world to live for. This world will soon have passed away, with all its business, all its grandeur, all its engagements, all its disap

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