But favouritism has ever been the bane of families, it has been the source of untold troubles; for when parents, who ought to cherish all their children alike, make an invidious distinction, they break a law of nature; and no man can break a law of nature without suffering the consequent penalty. So it happened in this case. Isaac wished to bless Esau, and made arrangements for that purpose; but to this Rebekah would not consent, for she had set her heart on the advancement of Jacob. Hence the fraudulent transaction which followed, in which Isaac was wickedly imposed upon, and Jacob unlawfully secured his brother's blessing. As might have been expected, the hardy and impulsive Esau, smarting under an intolerable sense of wrong, began to meditate revenge; he resolved upon taking away his brother's life, and thus retrieve his shattered fortunes. Ever after a cloud hangs over the hitherto sunny home; Jacob must flee for safety to his mother's relations, Rebekah is deprived for the rest of her life of the society of her favourite son. Though so many centuries separate us from the time when all this took place, though human affairs have in the meantime undergone a thousand changes, still this event seems to send to us down the ages a warning voice, saying, "Parents, beware how you conduct yourselves towards your children; avoid the weakness of preferring some above the others; as you value your

own happiness, as you value your domestic peace, as you value the welfare of your offspring, strive to be impartial, just, and fair."

But we can almost With a heavy heart Trifling objects

Now Jacob leaves home-leaves home for the first time and we may imagine the painful emotions which must have filled his breast. We know not how he took leave of his aged father, we know not the particulars of his last interview with his mother, for on these tender scenes the record has preserved the strictest silence, being too sacred, I suppose, to be exposed to the view of others. fancy we see him as he goes. he turns his face towards the desert. now seem to be invested with a peculiar charm; the cattle, the fields, and even old familiar stones, suddenly grow in importance; as he passes them by, and leaves them behind, he becomes more and more conscious of the hold they had upon his affections. At last he arrives at a point from which he must take the last look at his home, for after that it will come no more within the range of his vision. Motionless he stands for a-while; he strains his eyes to take in every feature of the old house lying in the distance; he thinks he can see his mother still standing at the door, and looking after him through her tears; then with an effort, a struggle, a pang which he will never, never forget, he turns abruptly round, and hastens on his way.

Let us try to conjecture what his feelings were at this stage of his progress, now that he had fairly bidden farewell to the scenes of his childhood. His feelings, no doubt, were not unlike what the feelings of any other young man would have been under similar circumstances. He was going to a strange country—a country of which he knew nothing as yet save by report. His kindred dwelt there; but would they give him a favourable reception ? would they treat him with that consideration which his case required? would he find among them the affection to which he had been accustomed at home? Such questions as these must have given him some misgivings. Now, did he pause to recall the past, or was he altogether occupied with his prospects? No, he could not forget the past, however much he might have desired it. His present difficulties were due to his past misconduct. It was Esau's hatred, Esau's thoughts of revenge, that had compelled him to take his flight, and in his heart of hearts he must have felt that Esau's hatred was just, that Esau's thoughts of revenge were natural. Ah! my friends, this was unquestionably the bitterest thought of all. When we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, when we suffer for doing what is right, there are moments in which we are supremely blessed; our cup of sorrow is mingled with elements of joy. But when suffering is the consequence of transgression, when

we have sown the wind and reap the whirlwind, then comes a darkness over the soul which is relieved by no streaks of light; then suffering becomes so intense, that it may be called suffering indeed. But before him lay the future, stretching far away into the mists of the unknown-the future with all its grand and glorious chances and possibilitiesthe future with its joys and sorrows, its triumphs and defeats. To the future, then, he would direct his gaze, encouraged, no doubt, by the pleasing thought that opportunities might yet be afforded him to wipe away the past, to cover with virtuous achievements the memories of bygone transgressions. This gave him hope, strength, courage; this confirmed his resolution to pursue his journey. This, my friends, reminds us of one of the most wonderful arrangements of the most merciful provisions of our heavenly Father. Though we fall through culpable negligence, we may again regain our footing. However dreary the past, the future is radiant with hopefulness.

"And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran." The day was now rapidly drawing to its close; the sun had just disappeared beneath the horizon, the shades of evening crept softly over the scene, when the solitary wanderer lighted upon a certain place where he resolved to spend the night. It is difficult now to ascertain the exact position of

this place, though there are certain circumstances which help us to form conjectures. A recent traveller describes a locality in the central thoroughfare of Palestine, which he thinks is the very spot described here. It is an uneven valley among the hills, covered with large sheets of bare rock having the appearance of gravestones, "some here and there standing up like the cromlechs of Druidical monuments." Of the stones which lay scattered about the ground Jacob made for himself a pillow. Tired and worn by his day's march, he could not be fastidious about the quality of his bed; and now, with many a weary mile lying between him and his home, with the stillness of death reigning round about him, with the bright sparkling stars looking down upon him from the immeasurable heights of the firmament, I imagine that he became oppressed by a painful sense of loneliness. He felt himself alone, deserted, forsaken; the solitude without, however, pourtrayed but very imperfectly the solitude within his soul. This is by no means an uncommon experience. comes to all of us once at least in our lifetime. Don't you remember an hour of agony in your own history, when you thought yourself neglected by the world and forgotten of God, when you could scarcely look for sympathy to any living being, when you were lost, perplexed, bewildered in the howling wilderness of life? If not, then you have escaped as

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