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THOSE readers who

are acquainted with Mr. Nelson's Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England, will frequently observe such a striking resemblance, both in matter and style between the contents of that compilation and of the following sheets, as will naturally demand an explanation. The truth is, that both Mr. Nelson and the author of this volume have derived their historical information chiefly from the same source, viz. Dr. Cave's Primitive Christianity, of which they have made a liberal use. This acknowledgment of obligation to that elaborate work is intended to preclude the necessity of distinct references to its several pages.

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ST. ANDREW'S DAY..

Almighty God, who didst give such grace unto thy holy Apostle Saint Andrew, that he readily obeyed the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him without delay; Grant unto us all, that we being called by thy holy word, may forthwith give up ourselves obediently to fulfil thy holy conmandments, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

TH

HE Apostle St. Andrew, for whose ministry the church calls on her members to magnify the goodness of God on the thirtieth day of November, assigning to him the precedence in her Calendar because he was first favoured with the knowledge of Christ; was born at Bethsaida, a city of Galilee, on the lake of Gennezareth. He was the son of Jonas, a fisherman of that town, and the brother of Simon Peter.

It will be remembered that Galilee was the chief scene of our Lord's personal ministry; for it is noticed by all the evangelists. Nazareth, where His parents resided, and where He was educated, was a city of that district. Capernaum, in whose synagogue He first opened His Divine commission, was its metropolis. And Cana, where His first miracle was wrought, also belonged to it. There was His ordinary residence, and throughout all its borders He preached the kingdom of God. From among the inhabitants of Galilee He selected His apostles, who were afterwards contemptuously

styled Galileans. Now all these circumstances had a reference to prophecies which were herein accomplished, and which, by their accomplishment, exhibited Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah; for the inspired historian declares, (Matth. iv. 13, 14, 15) that," leaving Nazareth, Jesus "came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon "the sea-coast in the borders of Zabulon and "Napthali: that it might be fulfilled which was "spoken by Esaias the prophet," (chap. ix. 1, &c.) saying, the land of Zabulon and the land "of Napthali by the way of the sea beyond Jor"dan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which "sat in darkness saw great light: and to them "which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."

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St. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, by whose doctrine he was prepared to receive Jesus as the Messiah. And therefore when the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the true Messiah to his followers, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God," the appointed sacrifice of whom Isaiah spake, of which all the offerings appointed by the law were types, and "which taketh away the sin of the "world," Andrew immediately followed Him to the place of His abode. Being fully convinced, as it should seem, by personal intercourse with Jesus, of His Divine character, he did, what every true convert does-he went and invited his brother Peter to accompany him into the presence of Jesus, with exultation relating the blessed discovery that he had made. True religion is invariably communicative, and inspires all its votaries with an earnest zeal to bring all their friends to an acquaintance with Jesus.

Andrew however did not become our Lord's stated follower till a year after this interview;

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when receiving full demonstration of the Divine character and mission of Jesus by the miraculous draught of fishes, and being called by Jesus to become His continual attendant, he left all and attached himself to the person of the Divine Saviour of the world.

We have no memoir of the occurrences of St. Andrew's life after our Lord's death communicated to us by any inspired writer. Antient ecclesiastical historians have, however, with one accord asserted, that in the division of the world among the apostles Scythia became the principal scene of St. Andrew's labours: And that, after he had widely diffused the knowledge of the gospel, he suffered martyrdom at Patræ in Achaia: That, after being scourged in a dreadful manner, he was crucified, being fastened to the cross with cords and not with nails; by which mode of execution his death was rendered more lingering and painful. In this si-tuation he survived for two days, during which he instructed and confirmed his followers in the faith of Jesus.

Having given this brief sketch of St. Andrew's life, we proceed to consider the collect which is appointed to be used on the festival dedicated to his memory. It consists of a preface, a petition, and a ground of hope on which the petition is built.

The preface records the call of St. Andrew to become a follower of Christ, the obedience which he paid to that call, and the agency by which that obedience was produced.

The collect is addressed to " Almighty God," because the act which it describes is exclusively the work of Omnipotence. He, in the person of the incarnate Jesus, summoned Andrew to follow Him: and He, by His effectual grace, inclined

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