his God. May He grant that all British soldiers shall feel this, so that in youth and in age, in sickness and in health, in life and in death, they may be Christ's, worshipping in spirit and in truth, as well when alone as amidst the crowd, and resting all their confidence on the merits of Him, who has promised that from the prayers of the pious and the believing He will never turn away. Let this spirit arise in the British army-a spirit every way consistent with the bearing of brave men-and each individual soldier will find that He who trained up Abraham to view the blessing from afar, will train up him to reap its benefits; so that when his hour of departure comes, it will come not undesired, because angels and the spirits of the just made perfect will welcome him to heaven.

SERMON VIII.

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.

GENESIS Xxii. 18.

In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

In a former discourse I explained the process by which God gradually enlightened the mind of Abraham touching his own designs; after he had tried the patriarch's faith by repeated disappointments, till the hope of children had well nigh ceased to cheer him. The chapter from which my present text is taken, has brought before us a narrative which will enable me to complete this branch of my subject. The narrative of the sacrifice of Isaac is, indeed, above all the histories

contained in the Old Testament, at once the most remarkable and the most full of meaning; and, therefore, after I have slightly taken up the thread of history, so as to bring it, if I may so speak, correctly into view, to that, and to that alone, I mean, on the present occasion, strictly to confine myself.

In fulfilment of the promise so often given, Sarah at length bore a son; she being then ninety, and her husband an hundred years old. He was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, according to God's command, and received the name of Isaac. As the child grew and prospered, the envy of Hagar and Ishmael was excited, -till in the end it became necessary to remove them; and Abraham, in consequence, giving them provision for their immediate subsistence, sent them forth to find a habitation for themselves, in a world which was then very thinly peopled,-and, of course, abounded with all things of which man

could stand in need. From that Ishmael have descended the Arabs of the desert, with many other tribes, all of whom continue to this day the rite of circumcision, -though almost all have forgotten, or at best very indistinctly recollect, the source from which their forefathers derived it.

After the dismissal of Hagar and her son from his household, Abraham appears to have dwelt quietly at a place called Beersheba, in the land of the Philistines. His days were spent in peace, because God was with him, and his son Isaac, trained up to habits of piety, and obedience to the Divine will, seemed not unworthy of succeeding to his father's blessing. Thus it was till the lad had attained to early manhood; when God, who had resolved to withhold no secret from his servant, who had shown him much, yet hitherto kept back one great truth from his knowledge, consented at last to enlighten him on that head also. For though the details given

in the Bible are necessarily short, we cannot suppose that the many days which Abraham spent at Beersheba, were spent without frequent and direct communion with his Maker; or that in these high interviews, the patriarch ceased to inquire both when and how the great blessing should be wrought. From the vision of the smoke and of the lamp he had indeed learned that it was to be first partial, then bright and universal; and now the sole point which he desired to ascertain, was, by what instrument God would work it Even on that head the Lord was not deaf to his intreaties, and he took the following method of clearly enlightening his understanding.

out.

On a certain day God tempted Abraham, or put Abraham's feelings to a severe trial. He said to him, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burntoffering upon one of the mountains which