meat he had prepared, without a painful anticipation of what was to follow? And when Esau heard the words of his father, and when he lift up that great and exceeding bitter cry, "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father!" who can hear, and see his agony, unmoved? Isaac had, it is true, but one such blessing, and for this reason, because the blessing was not (and that Isaac well knew) the act of individual parent, addressing an indi

it was the prophetic con's promises and God's

ially through the ewish nation, in herefore, you

t be sepa

nassured

before

Isaac

can copy from those who are older than themselves: how they seize hold of every thing they hear, treasure it up in their memories, and bring it into action years and years after! and it frequently happens that words uttered in their company, sometimes unconsciously and by the merest accident, form with children the foundations of habits of the greatest consequence to their temporal and eternal welfare.

Thus our voices speak, when we ourselves are dead and gone; and may God grant, that the voice which our children shall thus one day listen to, may be the sounds of a good Shepherd, and not of a wolf that destroys the flock.

One word more, as to Esau and the blessing. Who can witness the keen, heart-rending disappointment of this poor young man at the loss he had sustained, without the deepest interest? Who can see him returning from hunting, and hastening to his father with the savoury

meat he had prepared, without a painful anticipation of what was to follow? And when Esau heard the words of his father, and when he lift up that great and exceeding bitter cry, "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father!" who can hear, and see his agony, unmoved? Isaac had, it is true, but one such blessing, and for this reason, because the blessing was not (and that Isaac well knew) the act of an individual parent, addressing an individual son: no; it was the prophetic confirmation of God's promises and God's decrees, conveyed officially through the Patriarch to the whole Jewish nation, in ages yet unborn: and therefore, you must clearly see, it could not be separated. This blessing had been assured by the Almighty to Jacob, even before his birth; and of this fact also, Isaac was aware, though he seems to have strangely forgotten it for the moment: and it was the sudden refreshment of his

memory upon this point, by the entrance and discovery of Esau, that caused the great trembling to come over him, when he thus found, how near he had been to defeat the divine purpose; for he adds immediately, "I have blessed him, yea,

and he shall be blessed." Still the feelings of Esau are perfectly natural and intelligible. What can make amends for the loss of a father's blessing! We may have wealth; we may have fame; we may have friends; we may have the whole round of sensual pleasure about us; and yet, the consciousness that we have forfeited a father's love, may cast a cloud across the brightest scene, and plant a thorn in the fairest flower. My brethren, let these truths sink deeply into your minds: let those who have parents, lay, for themselves, by an affectionate and dutiful kindness, the foundation of future peace. Let them here present, whose parents are departed, remember the precepts of their former care!

And finally, and above all, may we never forget, that over each of us, there is one Father, whose blessing is eternal, and who has a blessing for all: "Our Father who dwelleth in Heaven." He smelleth the sweet savour of the humblest offering his eye waxeth not dim, for to him all hearts are open, and from him no secrets are hid. Whenever we approach his altar of mercy, no hypocrisy avails there; he tears away the false covering from the formal professor; he knows Jacob from Esau, and blesses them who inherit the promise. But, he has no blessing for the proud; none for the high-minded nor worldly-minded; none for the inconstant, nor impure, nor lukewarm, nor inactive, nor uncharitable: they only are welcome at his footstool, who have embarked their all in the ark of Christ's covenant; they, with whom dwells that lowly heart, that broken spirit, that faithful confidence, that ardent devotion, that burning love, that clasping to the soul of the cross of