per.

Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face; because thou art yet alive." Not content with these strong expressions of sonal duty and respect, Joseph now availed him self of his power and station to fix his father's fa mily in the enjoyment of those comforts and advantages, which the land of Egypt afforded in the universal dearth, which then oppressed that region of the world. For this purpose, as well as to give another public taken to his family, and to the country, of the deep reverence with which he regarded his parent, he introduced the aged patriarch to Pharaoh himself." And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh : and Jacob blessed Pharaoh." And the sovereign of Egypt received a benediction from this venerable stranger.-" And Joseph (the account proceeds) nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families."

It remains to be seen, how Joseph conducted himself towards his father, on the two occasions, in which alone it was left for him to discharge the office, and testify the affection of a son; in his sickness, and upon his death. "And it came to pass," we read, "after these things, one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick and he took with him. his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim." Joseph delayed not, you find, to leave the court of Pharaoh, the cares and greatness of his station in it, in order to pay the last visit to his dying parent; and to place before him the hopes of his house and family, in the persons of his two sons." And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. (Now the eyes of Israel were dim, so that he could not see.) And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them and Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and lo! God hath shewed

me also thy seed. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth." Nothing can well be more solemn or interesting, than this interview; more honourable or consoling to old age; or more expressive of the dignified piety of the best of sons, and the greatest of men.

We now approach the last scene of this eventful history, and the best testimony, which it was possible for Joseph to give, of the love and reverence with which he had never ceased to treat his father, and that upon the occasion of his death, and the honours which he paid to his memory; honours, vain no doubt to the dead, but, so far as they are significations of gratitude or affection, justly deserving of commendation and esteem. "And when Jacob had matte 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. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. And the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: and there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan; and there they mourned with a great and a very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days."

Thus died, and thus was honoured in his death, the preserver of the Jewish nation, who, amidst many mercies, and many visitations, sudden and surprising vicissitudes of afflictions and joy, found it the greatest blessing of his varied and eventful life, that he had been the father of a dutiful and af fectionate son.

It has been said, and, as I believe, truly, that there is no virtuous quality belonging to the human character, of which there is not some distinct and eminent example to be found in the Bible; no rela tion in which we can be placed, no duty which we have to discharge, but that we may observe a pattern for it in the sacred history. Of the duty of children to parents, of a son to his father, maintained under great singularities and variations of fortune, undiminished, nay, rather increased by absence, by distance, by unexampled success, by remote and foreign connexions, you have seen in this most interesting and conspicuous of all histories, as amiable an instance, as can be met with in the records of the world, in the purest, best ages of it existence.

SERMON X.

(PART I)

TO THINK LESS OF OUR VIRTUES, AND MORE OF OUR SINS.

My sin is ever before me.-Psalm li. 3.

THERE is a propensity in the human mind, very general and very natural, yet, at the same time, unfavourable in a high degree to the Christian character; which is, that, when we look back upon our lives, our recollection dwells too much upon our virtues; our sins are not, as they ought to be, before us; we think too much of our good qualities, or good actions, too little of our crimes, our corruptions, our fallings off and declension from God's laws, our defects and weaknesses. These we sink and overlook, in meditating upon our good properties. This, I allow, is natural; because, undoubtedly, it is more agreeable to have our minds occupied with the cheering retrospect of virtuous deeds, than with the bitter, humiliating remembrance of

sins and follies. But, because it is natural, it does not follow, that it is good. It may be the bias and inclination of our minds; and yet neither right, nor safe. When I say that it is wrong, I mean, that it is not the true Christian disposition; and when I say that it is dangerous, I have a view to its effects upon our salvation.

I say, that it is not the true Christian disposition; for, first, how does it accord with what we read in the Christian Scriptures, whether we consider the precepts which are found there applicable to the subject, or the conduct and example of Christian characters.

Now, one precept, and that of Christ himself, you find to be this: "Ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do." It is evident, that this strong admonition was intended, by our Saviour, to check in his disciples an overweaning opinion of their own merit. It is a very remarkable passage. I think none throughout the New Testament more so. And the intention, with which the words were spoken, was evidently to check and repel that opinion of merit, which is sure to arise from the habit of fixing our contemplation so much upon our good qualities, and so little upon our bad ones. Yet this habit is natural, and was never prohibited by any teacher, except by our Saviour. With him it was a great fault, by reason of its inconsistency with the favourite principle of his religion,humility. I call humility not only a duty, but a principle. Humble-mindedness is a Christian prin ciple, if there be one; above all, humble-mindedness towards God. The servants, to whom our Lord's expression refers, were to be humble-minded, we may presume, towards one another; but towards their Lord, the only answer, the only thought, the only sentiment, was to be, "We are unprofitable servants." And who are they, that were instruct

*Luke xvii. 10.

ed by our Lord, to bear constantly this reflection about with them? Were they sinners, distinctively so called? were they grievous or notorious sinners? nay, the very contrary; they were persons "who had done all those things that were commanded them!" This is precisely the description which our Lord gives of the persons to whom his lesson was directed. Therefore, you see, that an opinion of merit is discouraged, even in those who had the best pretensions to entertain it; if any pretensions were good. But an opinion of merit, an overweaning opinion of merit, is sure to grow up in the heart, whenever we accustom ourselves to think much of our virtues and little of our vices. It is generated, fostered, and cherished, by this train of meditation we have been describing. It cannot be otherwise. And if we would repress it; if we would correct ourselves in this respect; if we would bring ourselves into a capacity of complying with our Saviour's rule, we must alter our turn of thinking; we mnst reflect more upon our sins, and less upon our virtues. Depend upon it, that we shall view our characters more truly; we shall view them much more safely, when we view them in their defects and faults and infirmities, than when we view them only, or principally, on the side of their good qualities; even when these good qualities are real. I suppose, and I have all along supposed, that the good parts of our characters, which, as 1 contend, too much attract our attention, are, nevertheless, real: and I suppose this, because our Saviour's pa rable supposes the same.

Another great Christian rule is, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. These significant words, "fear and trembling," do not accord with the state of a mind, which is all contentment, satisfaction, and self-complacency; and which is brought into that state by the habit of viewing and regarding those good qualities, which a person believes to belong to himself, or those

*Philip. ii. 12.