ging the twelve tribes of
Israel! All this shall come, and blessed is that servant whom his Lord
when He cometh shall find ready! All this we shall not see before we
die, but we shall see it when we rise in the perfect material and
spiritual ideal, in the kingdom of God!

_Letters and Memories_.

Christ's Coming. January 31.

Christ may come to us when our thoughts are cleaving to the ground, and
ready to grow earthy of the earth--through noble poetry, noble music,
noble art--through aught which awakens once more in us the instinct of
the true, the beautiful, and the good. He may come to us when our souls
are restless and weary, through the repose of Nature--the repose of the
lonely snow-peak and of the sleeping forest, of the clouds of sunset and
of the summer sea, and whisper Peace. Or He may come, as He comes on
winter nights to many a gallant soul--not in the repose of Nature, but in
her rage--in howling storm and blinding foam and ruthless rocks and
whelming surge--and whisper to them even so--as the sea swallows all of
them which _it_ can take--of calm beyond, which this world cannot give
and cannot take away.

And therefore let us say in utter faith, Come as Thou seest best--but in
whatsoever way Thou comest, Even so come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

_Last Sermon_. _MS._ 1874.

SAINTS' DAYS, FASTS, & FESTIVALS.

Since we gave up at the Reformation the superstitious practice of praying
to the saints, Saints' Days have sunk--and, indeed, sunk too much--into
neglect. We forget too often still, that though praying to any saint or
angel, or other created being, is contrary both to reason and Scripture,
yet it is according to reason and to Scripture to commemorate them. That
is, to remember them, to study their characters, and to thank God for
them,--both for the virtues He bestowed on them, and the example which He
has given us in them.

_MS. Sermon_.

JANUARY 6.
The Epiphany,
Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

On this day the Lord Jesus was first shown to the Gentiles. The word
Epiphany means "showing." The Wise Men were worshippers of the true God,
though in a dim confused way; and they had learnt enough of what true
faith, true greatness was, not to be staggered and fall into unbelief
when they saw the King of the Jews laid, not in a palace, but in a
manger, tended by a poor village maiden. And therefore God bestowed on
them the great honour that they first of all--Gentiles-