tion? Surely the influence of this eminent pair, and their weight of character, must have been great; and where had these fallen with so much weight as on such sons? Yes, unquestionably, their influence and their example must have had corresponding power over these their children.

In adverting to the Sun of Righteousness, I could not persuade myself to be less particular, since, if guided by his light, parental duty and influence will be regarded as belonging to the very root of society, and as laying a deep foundation for spiritual prosperity in the church. For what is all this, if it is not a family-group, or a little group of families? What is it but "the hearts of the fathers turned to their children, and the hearts of the children turned to their fathers?" Is it not now manifest-is it not felt how remarkably, and to what extent our blessed Lord availed himself of the influence of the paternal character, and the power of natural family attachments, where the fear of God had been made the bond of union!

Second, THE POWER WHICH THE PARENT ENJOYS OF FORMING THE CHILD TO GREATNESS OF CHARACTER, is another striking proof of the energy inherent in the Family Constitution

To this source the eminence of most of the great men in Scripture may be traced. Whether the children at last rose to be prophets, or legislators, or kings, though much more is recorded of them than of their parents, their hand and their influence is, in many instances, abundantly manifest; nay, even when nothing else is recorded of the son, except the name, his lineage is thought deserving of notice. Of the sixteen prophets, whose writings we consult and so admire, we know perhaps less than of any other men so eminent. The only mark of inspired dis

tinction, however, is the record of their descent. Eight out of the sixteen are named in connection with the father who gave them birth: Zechariah's grandfather is also mentioned, and Zephaniah's ancestors are traced back to the extent of the fourth generation This patronymic style, I am aware, is generally passed over, as recording nothing more than the surname of the individual; yet I query, whether in the Sacred Writings it is not often intended to involve something more. However, putting these extraordinary men altogether out of view, I may notice two or three others from Scripture, before proceeding to various proofs taken from authentic general history, corroborative of the remark at the head of this division.

DAVID. The king of Israel, taken all in all, was one of the most extraordinary men of whom we read, since he was, in fact, the highest personal type of the Messiah. On him, it is true, at a very early period, the eye of the Almighty had been fixed; but with the training up of Jesse, or of his worthy partner, the mother, he will not interfere; nor is David taken out of their hands till an impression is made which never left him. The first notice of him in Scripture is after Samuel had mourned for years together over the misconduct and the rejection of Saul. He is then informed that God had found a youth among the sons of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, suitable for the throne. His youth indeed seems to have staggered all parties. His brethren are displeased, while Samuel and Saul are alike astonished at his premature character; and well they might. When he was anointed to be king another day, the ruddy boy," withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to," could not be more than fifteen years of age! Shortly after this, he was familiar with remarkable interpositions in his favor, which he

rightly interpreted as divine. At such an early age he had encountered and destroyed a lion and a bear, and he was but about twenty when he slew Goliah. Very soon after this, his character for bravery, and his skill in music, are alike established, and he is also represented as "prudent in matters." Now, this development of character, at such an early period, is a circumstance decidedly in favor of the influence of his parents. The truth is, that David was the son of their old age, for Jesse "went among men for an old man in the days of Saul," and on him they were encouraged to bestow peculiar pains.

The name of this good old Parent, however, is more than once introduced in Scripture in connection with a greater than David; and this it is which seems to mark him out as a character of great influential power. Is it nothing that, long after David was gone to the grave, his name should be glanced at in such language as this? "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord God shall rest upon him." And when even the conversion of the Gentiles is spoken of, a similar style is preferred. "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, -to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious." What though this form of expression was adopted to symbolize the lowliness of the Redeemer's parentage, surely it is to the honor of the father of David that he is so introduced? This connection of David with his father had, however, been recognized when, at the age of fifteen, he was first introduced to notice. "I have found David, the son of Jesse," said Jehovah, "a man after my own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." Now, is it too much to suppose that the foundation of the Divine choice rested on his past filial obedience? Was it not this that afforded the fairest promise of his future conduct? Indeed I should not wonder if his exaltation to the throne was intended to ope

rate on him, partly as a reward of his uniform respect and subjection. Having reverenced the father of his flesh, he is now called to display his superior reverence to the Father of his spirit. If God knew Abraham, from his past conduct, that he would command his children, so he knew David, that he would obey, as he had already done. "He will," said the Lord, "do all things that I will."

Yes, to this old man David certainly had been a most dutiful child; and when, in other days, he came into deep distress, so highly did he think of his beloved mother as to plead even his descent from her, if not also the pains she had taken with him, as one ground of his petitions. "O turn unto me," he prays, "and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid." On another occasion he says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." I have thought it not improbable, that here he alluded to the death of his mother, since, as though he had desired to follow in her train, he immediately adds, " O Lord! truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid." "Not only," as though he had said, "am I subject to thine authority and obedient to thy laws, but I am a child of a godly mother." In delineating character, the greatest caution is observable in Scripture: let the reader therefore only consider what is involved in the expression, "handmaid of the Lord,”—the terms employed with reference to the mother of Samuel and the mother of Jesus, he will then be disposed to admit the influence which the wife of Jesse, as well as Jesse himself, had in forming the man "according to God's own heart."

One scene in the life of this great man shows the high regard which he entertained for these his parents. Concealing himself from Saul in the cave of Adullam, he felt in the greatest extremity. Appealing to God, he ex

claimed, "They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down." As for himself, his mind was fixed. "In the shadow of thy wings," says he, "will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." But when his parents came to sympathize with him there, they must not be so exposed. Recollecting, perhaps, that the grandmother of Jesse, his father, was a Moabitess, he conducts him and his mother to the other side of the Dead Sea, to Mizpeh of Moab: "and he said to the king of Moab, Let my Father and my Mother, I pray thee, come forth and be with you till I know what God will do with me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the cave."

The death of this venerable pair, or at least the solace of their company, and the benefit of their advice, David surely had in view on another occasion; for whatever others did, long as they lived, they never cast him off; no, they never once voluntarily forsook him; and his language goes to the heart as finely descriptive of the only way in which he imagined, that, to him, the loss could ever be repaired in this world. Leave me not," he says, "leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation! When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up! Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies." At all events, for an individual grown up to manhood, who had already been celebrated by the daughters of Israel for his prowess as a warrior, who had been anointed to be a king, and had the prospect of a throne, and such a throne! for such a man thus to refer to his father and mother, and to hand this down to posterity, I must consider as indubitable proof of a great mind: and if, by this time, he was already on the throne, these expressions of filial regard render him greater still. What