Germs of Thought.

SUBJECT:-Jacob's Death-bed.

"All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one aecording to his blessing he blessed them. And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."-Gen. xlix. 28-33.

THIS

Analysis of Homily the Six Hundred and Forty-second.

HIS is a brief, simple, and touching record of the death of a man, who, notwithstanding his many glaring imperfections of character, occupied a position in the world's history and displayed qualities of excellence which attract to him the thoughts of the devout in all subsequent times. He stands as one of the grand mountains in the landscape of history, rugged, deformed and hideous in many a part, it is true, still studded along its slopes with many spots of refreshing loveliness.

cant.

The account which he gave of his own life, when an old man, to Egypt's proud despot, was sadly affecting and signifiJacob said unto Pharoah, "the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years, few and evil have the days of the years of my life been." "Few and evil" are weighty words that characterize with greater or less accuracy the life days of all. Shortness and sadness mark our sojourn here. The last day of Jacob's life has now

dawned, and the last hours are about striking. He is on his death-bed, and it is in this posture we have to study him now.

Three things deserve our attention :-His affection for the living; His sympathy with the dead; His magnanimity in all,

I. HIS AFFECTION FOR THE LIVING. From his death-bed he sends a summons to all his children to attend-" and Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days." While all are around him, he speaks to each in the presence of all; some he reproves for their faults, others he commends for their virtues, and with the spirit of prophecy upon him, he fortells with remarkable accuracy the place that each should hold in the world's history.

After this he blesses them all. "He spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them." The particular blessings he pronounced upon each we know not; we may rest assured, however, that they were all of a spiritual character. We may rest assured that the dying patriarch commended each to the loving guidance of the Everlasting Father. Two things are noteworthy concerning the parental affection which expresses itself now on his death-bed.

First: His affection was impartial. He gathered them all together; the twelve were there. To each he spoke, and for each he craved a blessing. He had, as a father, before been guilty of partiality, (Gen. xxxvii. 3,) which led to serious evils in his family, and brought grief to his old age; but he does not show that now. To love all alike where the degrees of character were so dissimilar, would be impossible, yet on this occasion he feels and shows an equal interest in the wellbeing of each of his offspring. He exhibits no parental favoritism now. Such favoritism is an evil which parents should ever be careful to avoid.

Secondly: His affection was religious. "He blessed them;" by which we understand that he invoked the benediction of God upon them. Their spiritual and eternal happiness was

This should

The parent

undoubtedly the strongest wish of his love. always be the strongest wish of parental love. whose strongest wish for his children is mere secular prosperity, desecrates the parental instinct. He who breathes into the spirit of his child the quickening thoughts of religion, confers a boon on him infinitely greater than if he bequeathed to him the greatest empire on which the sun ever shone : His death-bed exhibits

II. SYMPATHY WITH THE DEAD. This is expressed in his request concerning his burial. "He charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah," &c. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah, all of whom were in the grave, he felt a loving interest in now. We cannot divest our minds of the idea of consciousness, when thinking of the grave; hence we talk of the dark grave, the cold grave, &c. An American Indian, on seeing his brother's corpse lowered into a grave with snow at the bottom, is said to have exclaimed with horror at the sight: "Oh lay him not in the cold snow." A natural feeling this, though reason may denounce it. This feeling which Jacob now expresses concerning his burial, suggests two things—

First That there is something in man stronger than logic. There is nothing in reason to warrant this wish of Jacob's. Reason would say, "It matters not where you are buried, at home or abroad, amongst friends or foes, in the caverns of the earth or in the abysses of the sea, for your corpse will not be conscious of its resting-place;" still the heart says, "Bury me here or there, with these or those." I would not disparage reason, but it is well for us to remember, especially in an age when men are disposed to deify intellect, that there is something in man deeper and stronger than all the deduc'tions of reason. For example, (1) The sentiment of immortality in man is stronger than reason. The intellect often denies it, where the heart holds it with tenacity.

(2) The sentiment of responsibility is stronger than reason. Intellect often argues man into an irresponsible machine, where the heart groans under a sense of its accountability. Herod is an illustration of this. (3) The sentiment of a God is stronger than reason. Intellect has often argued God out of an existence when the heart has cried to Him in distress. Volding in the storm is an illustration of this. This feeling of Jacob's suggests

Secondly: That the dead exert a powerful influence upon the living. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, were names acting with power upon the heart of Jacob now. It is ever so. Thousands that are in their graves to-day are working in the memories of the living, and producing great effects. The grave confines not our influence. There are men who have long since mouldered to ashes, with whose names we may electrify a nation, and thrill the world. The dead rule the living. His death-bed exhibits

How sublimely calm he

III. HIS MAGNANIMITY IN ALL. seems as he lies on that bed. There is no perturbation. He is on the banks of the Jordan, and the cold stream has reached his feet, and is swelling around him, but he has no spiritual shivering, no fear ripples his nature; all is calm; he has finished his work, and he is ready to be gone. "When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people." He adjusts his body and lays him down to sleep. Two things alone can explain this calmness.

First: Faith in his future existence. Had the idea of annihilation seized him, would he have been calm? Would not a mere doubt about a future life have disturbed him? The eternal laws of human nature prevent it from committing itself with composure to annihilation. Jacob believed that he should live.

Secondly: Faith in the happiness of his future existence. Had he believed in a future existence, and regarded that exist

ence to be one of misery, he could not have been calm. The prospect of misery disturbs. But he felt that all was right with him in the future, that his peace was made with God, and that he was going to join the spirits of those with whose dust he wished his own body to sleep.

Brothers, in retiring from this death-bed, let us remember that the event we have witnessed is one which none can escape. We must all die. The hour hastens, when we, like Jacob, shall gather up these limbs and adjust them in their final posture. Let us, as parents, bear away with us the memory of Jacob's conduct towards his children, as an example for our imitation, and let us resolve to seek with renewed earnestness that faith by which the patriarch discharged the duties, and met the solemnities of the final hour, with such heroic calmness.

SUBJECT:-The True Foundation of Character..

"For other foundation cay no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."-1 Cor. iii. 11-15.

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Analysis of Homily the Six Hundred and Forty-third.

OTHING is so important to man as his moral character. (1) It is that alone which he can call his own. He has produced it, no one else. (2) It is that alone which determines his real worth. As is his character, so is he before God and the universe. (3) It is that alone which decides his destiny. Out of it will bloom his Eden or flame his Hell. (4) It is that alone which he carries with him beyond the grave. Friends, property, and even his own