It will be my endeavour, IN THE FIRST PLACE, somewhat more explicitly on the one hand to explain the prophet's meaning, and on the other, to illustrate the sentiment which he avers; and IN THE SECOND, to infer, from what may be advanced, some practical hints of special application to ourselves in these most critical and signally portentous times.

I. IT WILL BE MY ENDEAVOUR SOMEWHAT MORE EXPLICITLY ON THE ONE HAND TO EXPLAIN THE PROPHET'S MEANING AND ON THE OTHER TO ILLUSTRATE THE SENTIMENT WHICH HE AVERS.

Of course Isaiah speaks in metaphor. He evidently has in view the ultimate resolution of that fearful crisis which the vision' had forewarned him was at hand.' He conceives of the catastrophe under the image of a tree which has been shorn of its foliage, and which stands upon the spot that gave it birth and sustenance, a leafless trunk, which might, for all appearance to the contrary, be already dead. Yet it has substance in it' notwithstanding. When the blasts of winter have retired, and the sunny spring returns, it will therefore soon recover all its former glory, and revive in more than all its ancient strength. "Like that tree then, when it casts its leaf," Isaiah virtually says, "this realm of Judah may indeed become, when her approaching crisis is resolved; but still, as even in its desolation that now leafless trunk retains its sap, which having once returned into its wonted channels, the tree will yet once more reclothe itself with beauty and with strength-so even in the bitterness of her calamity, Judah's holy seed, although 'cast down yet not destroyed,' shall prove 'the substance' of her life, and therefore she shall also rise again, and ultimately stand before the world, far greater and more glorious than she ever seemed before!"

This paraphrase of the prophetic metaphor, leaves but one enquiry to be entertained, and then, I hope,

the meaning of this passage will be plain. That enquiry is, What should we understand Isaiah to intend by 6. THE HOLY SEED?"

6

You will remember that Abraham sustained two distinct relationships. In virtue of the one he was the founder of A STATE, in virtue of the other he was the founder of A CHURCH. A similar remark applies especially to Jacob, who, for reasons with which you are all familiar, was also called by the name of "Israel." In Judah, therefore, as of old, and subsequently, so also in Isaiah's time, there were in fact TwO SEEDS,the one distinguished as the seed according to the FLESH,' the other as 'the seed according to the SPIRIT.' In other words, 'a seed,' which solely on account of its descent from Abraham and the patriarchs by blood,' was vested with the right of absolute propriety in the land of promise,' and another seed which exclusively upon the ground of fellowship with their forefathers in like precious faith,' was also, and additionally vested with the rights of heritage in 'all the promises' of grace. The seed according to the flesh, related to the patriarchs by blood,' constituted the STATE; only that, however, which was related to the patriarchs by faith, ever constituted the CHURCH: and therefore the one, although embraced within the other, was always and perfectly distinct therefrom both in privilege and in character. Now, it was the STATE that was about to fall:-THE HOLY SEED must therefore mean, not that which was related to the patriarchs by BLOOD,' but on the contrary, that which stood related to the patriarchs by FAITH: -in other words, the seed,' 'whose circumcision was not outwardly, in the flesh,' but inwardly, in the heart' the spiritual church of the living God.

The sentiment thus averred, then, by the prophet will amount to this- What THE SAP is to THE TREE, 'its substance when it casts its leaf,' that should 'THE CHURCH 'be to 'THE STATE,' when its catastrophe

had come to pass,-its life, its rescue, its salvation. All her hope of ultimate recovery, therefore, Judah is constrained to rest upon the few, it might be most obscure and neglected men of God, who, amid the profligacy and the wickedness that finally ensued in the fearful though but temporary overthrow of their country's independence and prosperity, still retained the fervour of their piety, and the earnestness of their faith, entire, undiminished, and active to the last. How eagerly that hope was seized when the predictions of the prophet came to pass, and how triumphantly it was fulfilled, the history of Judah's ultimate return, as well as that of her surviving influence upon the destinies of the entire world, at once most strikingly illustrates, and most fully proves.

The application was indeed specific, but the sentiment itself is absolute. It has a bearing fraught with seriousness upon ourselves; and not upon ourselves alone, but also upon every other people dwelling on the earth. THE SUBSTANCE of a nation, never may be sought for in her councils, or her commerce, or her opulence; least of all in the destructive prowess of her conquest-loving warriors; it is always to be looked for in her praying, earnest, and devoted men of God! The pomp of princes, the sagacity of statesmen, the precautions of policy, and even the apparently ennobling virtues of intelligence, unsanctified by faith in God, only prove a mockery, and a delusion, and a snare,' when stormy dangers threaten from without, and violent convulsions peril from within:-a nation's strength,-a nation's sap,—a nation's lasting life, and permanent prosperity, consist exclusively in the accumulated influence and prayers of her pious men. Without that influence, although exalted seemingly to the very pinnacle of greatness, a nation cannot long survive; it will wither and be desolate, fall, and from sheer corruption soon become entirely extinct!

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In vindication of these strong remarks, I need not challenge history, nor need I venture upon any line of argument that does not lie upon the surface of the case. Each constituent of the entire nation, is a free but fallen man. Every individual, however, is so intimately linked with every other, that there cannot be disease or health in any one, but it extends its vigor or its virulence in more or less degree to all the rest. Each influences thus the whole for evil or for good, directly by his intercourse, and indirectly by the power of example. Sentiments of generosity, and sentiments of selfishness,-habits of anarchy, and habits of order,-equity or oppression, whether in the acts or the spirit of individuals, or those of subordinate communities-therefore spread their influence with lightning-speed throughout all ranks and classes and conditions of society,-soon become embodied in the national character, thence re-act upon the individuals from whom their influence originally sprang,multiplying and accumulating their virulence or vigor in the recoil,-and all takes place in every land with such unfailing regularity, that the people neither does nor can exist, which each successive generation does not leave either vastly more consolidated by the healthy and uniting influence of what is right, or vastly more dismembered by the perilous, disintegrating and convulsing influence of what is wrong, than it was or could have been when first that generation saw the light. The nation is, in this respect, just like the woman's meal; and the spirit, sentiments, acts, and habits of its several constituents, in this respect just like the 'leaven that leaveneth the lump ;' and consequently as the leaven which predominates, so the lump' must be at last. If the leaven that predominates is godless, vicious, and corrupt,-if it is selfish and oppressive, cruel and unjust,-although the nation tower as it were to heaven, in the sunny height of her prosperity, and have raised herself to be

the wonder and the envy of the world, the scab of leprosy is at her heart. Law and statesmanship will soon discover their utter weakness even to retard and keep the virulence of the disease in check, (and that is all they ever can accomplish, even where they prove of most avail, the CURE must be sought elsewhere,)-policy and opulence will in the long run only serve to stimulate the ravages of her corruption, and augment the bitterness of her calamity: such a nation's case is evidently DESPERATE,-survive she cannot,-fall she must! But if the leaven which predominates be that of piety inflamed with zeal for God, and breathing universal love to man,-of the wisdom that is from above, first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy,'

that of hearts which have been graciously enlarged to all the comprehension of the precept-" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;"-then, albeit that the nation seem to halt in her prosperity-be alarmed and panic-stricken by 'fightings without and fears within,'-there is 'substance in' that nation still, -there is life, and hope, and vigour still in that community,-it shall revive again, and having so revived, become enfranchised with increasing liberty and growing strength; in which rejoicing, she shall yet discharge upon the world's wide field a noble and a glorious part,—a part that, under God, in its accomplishing shall surely re-act upon herself, for lasting peace and permanent prosperity, and in its issues mightily advance that happy consummation under which the Son of Man shall have inflicted on the kingdom of the wicked one its last death-blow, and having then embraced all nations, every tribe, and every people under heaven in his own-thenceforward reign among them Lord of all below, as he is Lord of all above!