demption drawing nigh. The prayers of all her children are now ascending on every wind of heaven to supplicate the hastening of this divine consummation. Wise men, not only from the east, but also from the west, from the north, and from the south are now presenting their treasures, as well as their adorations at the feet of the Son of God. They are sending his word in every language to all the nations and kindreds of men. Faithful ministers run to and fro through the benighted corners of the world, and proclaim to the startled inhabitants, "Behold we bring you glad tidings of great joy, for unto you "is born a Saviour in the city of David, who is Christ the "Lord." The synagogue, the mosque, and the pagoda already begin to echo the angelic song, "Glory to God in the "highest, peace on earth, and good will towards men."

This divine spirit, this breath from heaven has breathed upon your own land. The dead here awake. Skeletons here are clothed with flesh, stand upon their feet as a great army, and inhale immortal life. Catch this divine influence yourselves, and let its glorious efficacy be conspicuous in every part of your conduct. Unite your hearts and hands with those of all good men in spreading religion at home and abroad; in enlarging the borders of the divine kingdom; in multiplying salvation, and in increasing the number of the first-born.

You have long and often assembled in this house for the worship of God. You are now assembled in it for the last time. When this week is ended, you will meet together no more on this side of the grave. But you will again be gathered before the last tribunal. How glorious, how transporting will it then be to hear you all with one united voice say, "Lord, thou deliveredst unto us five talents; behold, we have

gained beside them five talents more ;" and to hear him reply, "Well done, good and faithful servants; ye have been "faithful over a few things; I will make you rulers over many "things: enter ye into the joy of your Lord."

SERMON XXV.

JACOB'S VOW.

To the Candidates for the Baccalaureate, in 1810.

GENESIS XXVIII. 20, 21, 22.

"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my Father's house in peace, then shall Jehovah be my God; "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.""

THE story, of which these words are a part, is in substance the following:

:

Isaac, improperly attached to his eldest son Esau, because he ate of the venison which he provided for him by hunting, directed him to go out into the field and take venison, and make for him savoury meat, such as he loved, that he might eat and bless him before he himself should die. The blessing which Isaac proposed to confer upon Esau, was the peculiar blessing originally given by God to Abraham, and afterwards to Isaac himself. This blessing Rebekah knew was designed by the author of it for Jacob, and she also knew that, in intending to confer it upon Esau, Isaac was influenced solely by his doating fondness for that son. Her own affection for Jacob was

equally excessive, and induced her, in the pursuit of an object in itself warrantable, to employ means which cannot be vindicated. The co-operation of Jacob was indispensable to the success of her design. It was necessary to proceed with expedition, and no way suggested itself which promised a favourable issue, except deceiving Isaac. The deception was therefore resolved on, and the authority and influence of a mother were employed to persuade a son to deceive his father by telling him a known, palpable falsehood.

When we see moralists, and even divines of great distinction, vindicating the lawfulness of such deception, uttered on specific occasions, it cannot be thought strange, that at a period when there were no Scriptures, and when even moral philosophy had not begun to have a name, Rebekah should be satisfied concerning the rectitude of her conduct, in a case so pressing, and in the pursuit of an object directly approved by God himself.

Jacob, it would seem, had more scruples, as well as greater fears. Rebekah, however, silenced them all, and persuaded him to act the unworthy part which her plot had assigned to him. Through their united fraud the blessing was obtained.

the

Esau, deeply wounded by the unworthiness and success of the imposition practised against him, determined to revenge injury as soon as Isaac should be dead, by taking away the life of his brother. Rebekah, alarmed for the safety of her favourite son, persuaded Isaac to send him away on a visit to her brother at Padan-aram. Isaac accordingly called Jacob, and blessed him anew, and sent him to Laban, in Haran, on the border of the Euphrates. Jacob immediately set out upon his journey. He had proceeded but a little distance, when, night having overtaken him in a certain place, he laid himself down to sleep. Here he dreamed, that a ladder rose from the earth to heaven, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending. Above it stood Jehovah and said, "I am Jehovah, "the God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac. The "land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. And thou "shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the

"north, and to the south. And in thee, and in thy seed, shall "all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am "with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou

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goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not "leave thee until I have done that of which I have spoken to "thee." Astonished at this vision, Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and poured oil upon the top of it, as an offering to God. And he called the name of that place Bethel, or the house of God. Having finished this religious service, he vowed the vow recited in the text. It is introduced with the conditional observation," If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way "that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put 66 on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace." All this God had just before promised to do. And Jacob entertained not a doubt that the promise would be fulfilled. It ought therefore to be rendered as since, or seeing that, or, in more modern English, because God will be with me and will keep me, therefore Jehovah shall be my God. Accordingly, the Hebrew particle, here rendered if, has this meaning in a variety of places.

On this occasion Jacob quitted his father's family without any expectation of ever being a member of it again. In the common, colloquial English of this country, he was going to set up business for himself, and like other young men, was thrown upon the world. Here he was to take his chance, or in better language, his allotments, as they should be rendered by Providence, and was to find health or sickness, riches, competence, or poverty, reputation or disgrace, friends or enemies, a quiet or troublesome life, and, universally, prosperity or adversity, as God should determine.

For reasons which do not appear, Isaac, when he sent Jacob away, gave him no portion, as Abraham had done to his sons by Keturah when he sent them away. Although Isaac was a man of great wealth, yet Jacob was dismissed with nothing but a scrip and a staff. This heir of a princely fortune set out upon a journey, in an important sense the journey of his life, alone, on foot, to go to a country several hundred

miles distant, through an immense wilderness, inhabited by beasts of prey, and haunted by savages of a still fiercer and more dangerous nature. Here his lodging was the ground, a stone his pillow, and the sky his covering. The issue of his enterprise was in the meantime incapable of being foreseen. Whether he should ever reach the end of it was absolutely uncertain. If he should, it was equally uncertain what reception he should find from his uncle, or what success he should meet with in his future life. It will not be questioned that in these circumstances Jacob needed the protection and blessing of God, or that the vision which he saw was in the highest degree fitted to yield him consolation, and inspire him with hope.

Thus comforted, thus inspired, Jacob began his journey anew with fresh vigour of mind, and with those supporting expectations which were excited and established by the cheering promises announced in his vision. But before he commenced his progress, he uttered the vow recited in the text and founded on these promises. This vow consists of three distinct parts.

"Jehovah shall be my God."

"This stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's "house."

"Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give a tenth "to thee."

The two last of these resolutions may be paraphrased in the following manner :—

"I will regularly worship God in his house and elsewhere, "according to his commandment ;" and

"I will consecrate the tenth of all my property to pious and "charitable purposes."

These resolutions of Jacob are undoubtedly the best which were ever formed on a similar occasion, and a perfect pattern for all succeeding young men when beginning to act for themselves, and commencing their own proper business for life. No subject of thought, no scheme of practice can be more perfectly suited to such an occasion as the present. I persuade myself, therefore, that the audience, particularly the youths, for whose instruction this discourse is especially intended, will