:

darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.—Thine heart shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee:—and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.—The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.-Isaiah lx.

Listen, O Isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people from afar; the Lord hath called me from the womb; and said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

-I

-It is a light thing, that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light for the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither

shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.-Isaiah xlix.

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon him; and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.-St. Luke iii.

This beginning of miracles (the turning of the water into wine) did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.—St. John ii.—Read the whole of these Chapters.

EPISTLE FOR THE DAY.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.-Eph. iii.

GOSPEL FOR THE DAY.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.-(Read, how Herod, having made enquiry about it, sent them to Bethlehem,) and they departed; and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and

stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.-St. Matthew ii.

MANIFESTATION TO THE GENTILES.

Bishop Andrews is of opinion, that these sages received instruction from the prophecy of their countryman Balaam, "There shall come a star out of Jacob."-(Numbers xxiv.)-But after all, as Dr. Sparke well observes, "the safest truth is, that it was revealed to them from heaven, without whose illumination what a palpable darkness are we in! without a guide from heaven, there's no getting thither; no finding the way to Christ, without his star do lead us."

The first manifestation was of the Star, the Gentiles' guide to Christ. The second Epiphany or manifestation, was that of the glorious Trinity at the baptism of Christ. The third was of Christ's glory or divinity, by the miracle of turning water into wine.-Bp. Sparrow's Rationale, p. 106.

PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL.

When we use the Collect for this day, we declare to Him, unto whom all hearts are open,

that we know Him by faith. Is this true? If it be so, we are certainly doing something, and that too according to our means, for the propagation of this faith throughout the world: for it is not possible that they, "into whose hearts the true light hath shined," should quietly sit by, and look on those, who are still "in darkness and the shadow of death." If we are as yet doing nothing of this kind, we are lying to God: and it is high time that we should repent: for the day is coming when there will be no repentance; and if we refuse to repent now, we shall not then, according to the prayer of the Collect, enjoy the glory of God. The manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles was to ourselves: for we were never the chosen people of God, but Gentiles, just the same as the heathen are to this day. Have we then no fellow feeling for our brother Gentiles? Besides the case of the heathen, there is another consideration that may well move us. We have sent away for our own convenience, multitudes of our own brethren to distant colonies. At home they had their parish churches, but in many parts where they are now, they have neither Churches, nor Clergy, nor any other means of grace; and we must bear in mind that they are the poor and not the rich, and so can afford to do little or nothing for themselves. We are not all called to be Missionaries, but there is not one among us, who has it not in his power to

do something toward this blessed work; for there are different societies connected with our Church, through any one of which a private person may give his assistance according to his means. It is of importance that these societies should be rightly constituted, and duly subject to the Church authorities for if any where, surely in the presence of the heathen whom we desire to convert, we must, as Christian men, shew forth the fruits of our faith, in unity and obedience, in peace and love. This is unhappily not the case with all our Societies, for we have lately heard the Bishop of Calcutta (as well as other Colonial Bishops) complaining, that he is sadly impeded in his Episcopal duties; and he has stated on a former occasion, that "he discovered a system at work in the extreme South of India (under the Missionaries of one of our societies) in direct opposition to our Protestant Episcopal Church, by the members of which they were sent out—a system so ruinous in his judgment, to the holiness and peace of the new converts, as to threaten a subversion among them of Christianity itself." (Preface to Charges, 1835.) There is, however, one society quite free from all these objections, namely, that for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, established A.D. 1701, and from the Committee of that society in Calcutta, the Bishop states, "that he has met with nothing since he has been in India, but cordial and zealous co-operation." (Note to Charge,