world." What say you to that now? do not talk of God's being your glory, if you do not love his cross. If God is our glory, we shall glory not only in doing, but in suffering for him; we shall glory in tribulation, and count ourselves most highly honoured when we are called to suffer most for his great name's sake. I might enlarge, but you may easily judge, by my poor feeble voice this last week, that neither my strength of voice or body will permit me to be long to-night, and yet I will venture to give you your last parting salutation; and though I have been dissuaded from getting up to preach this night, yet I thought, as my God was my glory, I should glory in preaching till I died, O that God may be all our glory! All our own glory fades away, there is nothing will be valuable at the great day but this, Thou art my God, and thou art my glory. It was a glorious turn that good Mr. Shepherd, of Bradford, mentions in one of his sermons, where he represents Jesus Christ as coming to judg ment, seated upon his throne, in a sermon preached before some ministers. Christ calls one minister to him, Pray what brought you into the church? O, says he, Lord, there was a living in the family, and I was presented to it because it was a family living: Stand thou by, says Christ. A second comes, What didst thou enter into the church for? O Lord, says he, I had a fine elocution, I had pretty parts, and I went into the church to shew my oratory and my parts: Stand thou by, thou hast thy reward. A third was called, And what brought you into the church? Lord, says he, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I am a poor creature, vile, and miserable, and unworthy, and helpless, but I appeal to thee my glory, thou sittest upon the throne, that thy glory and the good of souls brought me there: Christ immediately says, Make room, men, make room, angels, and bring up that soul to sit near me on my throne. Thus shall it be done to all that make God their glory here below. Glorify God on earth, and he will glorify you in heaven. "Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," shall be your portion: and if so, Lord God Almighty make us content to be vilified whilst here, make us content to be despised while below, make us content to have evil things spoken of us, all for Christ's sake, yet a little while, and Christ will roll away the stone: and the more we are honoured by his grace to suffer, the more we shall be honoured in the kingdom of heaven. O that thought! O that blessed thought! O that soul-transporting thought! it is enough to make us leap into a fiery furnace; in this spirit, in this temper, may God put every one of us.

If there be any of you that have not yet called God your God, may God help you to do so to-night. When I was reasoning within myself, whether I should come up, or whether it was my duty or not, I could not help thinking, who knows but God will bless a poor feeble worm to-night? I remember, a dear friend sent me word after I was gone to Georgia, "Your last sermon at the Tabernacle was blessed to a particular person;" I heard

from that person to-day: and who knows but some may come to-day, and say, I will go and hear what the babbler has to say? Who knows but curiosity may be overruled for good? Who knows but those that have served the lust of the flesh and the pride of life for their god, may now take the Lord to be their God? O! if I could but see this, I think I could drop down dead for you.

My dear Christians, will you not help me to-night, you that can go and call God your God? Go and beg of God for me, pray to heaven for me, do pray for those that are in the gall of bitterness, that have no God, no Christ, to go to, and if they were to die to-night, would be damned for ever. O poor sinner, where is your glory then? Where is your purple and fine linen then? Your purple robes will be turned into purple fire, and instead of calling God your God, will be damned with the devil: O think of your danger! "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!"

If you never were awakened before, may the arrows of God, steeped in the blood of Jesus Christ, reach your hearts now! Think how you live at enmity with God, think of your danger every day and every hour, your danger of dropping into hell; think how your friends in glory will leave you; and may this consideration, under the influences of the Holy Ghost, excite you to choose God for your God! Though the sun is going down, though the shadow of the evening is coming on, God is willing, O man, God is willing, O woman, to be a sinner's God, he has found out a way whereby he can be reconciled to you. I remember, when I saw a nobleman condemned to be hanged, the lord high steward told him, that however he was obliged to pass sentence on him, and did not know that justice would be satisfied but by the execution of the law in this world, yet there might be a way whereby justice might be satisfied and mercy take place in another: when I heard his lordship speak, I wished that he had not only said, there might be a way, but that he had found out the way wherein God could be just, and yet a poor murderer coming to Jesus Christ should be pardoned.

You that can call God yours, God help you from this moment to glorify him more and more: and if God be your God and your glory, I am persuaded, if the love of God abounds in your hearts, you will be willing, on every occasion, to do every thing to promote his honour and glory, and therefore you will be willing at all times to assist and help, as far as lies in your power, to keep up places of worship, to promote his glory in the salvation and conversion of sinners; and I mention this because there is to be a collection this night: I would have chosen, if possible, to have evaded this point, but as this Tabernacle has been repaired, and as the expense is pretty large, and as I would choose to leave every thing unencumbered, I told my friends, I would undertake to make a collection, that every thing might be left quite clear: remember, it is not for me, but for yourselves; I told you on Wednesday how matters were; I am now going a

thirteenth time over the water on my own expense, and you shall know at the great day, what little, very little assistance I have had from those who owed, under God, their souls to my being here but this is for the place where you are to meet, and where I hope God will meet you, when I am tossing on the water, when I am in a foreign clime. I think I can say, thy glory, O God, calls me away; and as I am going towards sixty years of age, I shall make what despatch I can; and I hope, if I am spared to come back, that I shall hear that some of you are gone to heaven, or are nearer heaven than you were. I find there is near £70 arrears; I hope you will not run away; if you can say God is my glory, you will not push one upon another, as though you would lose yourselves in the crowd, and say no body sees me; but does not God Almighty see you? I hope you will be ready to communicate, and when I am gone, that God will be with you-as many of you will not hear me on Wednesday morning. O may this be your prayer, O for Jesus Christ's sake, in whose name I preach, in whose strength I desire to come up, and for whose honour I desire to be spent, O do put up a word for me, it will not cost you much time, it will not keep you a moment from your business; O Lord Jesus Christ, thou art his God! and, Lord Jesus Christ, let him be thy glory!-If I die in the waters, I shall go by water to heaven; if I land at the Orphan-house, I hope it will be a means to settle a foundation for ten thousand persons to be instructed; and if I go by the continent, as I intend to do, I hope God will enable me to preach Christ; and if I return again, my life will be devoted to your service. You must excuse me, I cannot say much more,-affection works; and I could heartily wish, and beg it as a favour, when I come to leave you, that you will excuse me from a particular parting with you; take my public farewell: I will pray for you when in the cabin, I will pray for you when storms and tempests are about me; and this shall be my prayer for the dear people of the Tabernacle, for the dear people of the Chapel, for the dear people of London, O God, be thou their God! and grant that their God may be their glory. Even so, Lord Jesus! Amen.

SERMON LXXIV.

JACOB'S LADDER.—A FAREWELL SERMON.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south : and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.-Genesis xxviii. 12, &c.

THE wise man observes, that "in the multitude of dreams there are many vanities," being often the effects of a peculiar disorder of body, or owing to some disturbance of the mind. They whose nervous system has been long relaxed, who have had severe domestic trials, or have been greatly affected by extraordinary occurrences, know this to be true by their own experience; but however this may be, there have been, and possibly may be still, dreams that have no manner of dependence on the indisposition of the body, or other natural cause, but seem to bring a divine sanction with them, and make peculiar impressions on the party, though this was more frequent before the canon of scripture was closed, than now. God spake to his people in a dream, in a vision of the night; witness the subject of our present meditation, a dream of the patriarch Jacob's, when going forth as a poor pilgrim with a staff in his hand, from his father's house, deprived of his mother's company and instruction, persecuted by an elder brother, without attendants or necessaries, only leaning on an invisible power. I need not inform you in how extraordinary a way he got the blessing, which provoked his brother to such a degree, as determined him to be the death of Jacob, as soon as ever his aged father dropped to what a height did this wicked man's envy rise when he said, "The days of mourning for my father will soon come;" and what then? Why, though I have some compassion for the old man, and therefore will not lay violent hands upon my brother while my father is alive, yet I am resolved to kill him before my father is cold in his grave. This is the very spirit of Cain, who talked to his brother, and then slew him: this coming to the ears of his mother, she tells the good old patriarch her husband, who, loving peace and quietness, takes the good advice of the weaker vessel, and orders Jacob to go to his mother's brother, Laban, and stay a little while out of Esau's sight, (perhaps out of sight, out of mind,) and by and by probably, said he, thou mayest come to thy father and mother again in peace and safety. Jacob, though

sure of the blessing in the end, by his father's confirmation of it, yet prudently makes use of proper means; therefore he obeyed his parents and woe, woe be to those who think a parent's blessing not worth their asking for! Having had his mother's blessing, as well as his father's, without saying, I will try it out with my brother, I will let him know that I am not afraid of him, he views it as the call of God, and, like an honest, simple pilgrim, went out from Beersheba towards Haran. Was it not a little unkind in his parents not to furnish him with some necessaries and conveniencies? When the servant was sent to fetch a wife for Isaac, he had a great deal of attendance, why should not Jacob have it now? his father might have sent him away with great parade; but I am apt to believe this did not suit Jacob's real, pilgrim spirit: he was a plain man, and dwelt in tents, when, perhaps, he might have dwelt under cedar roofs; he chose a pilgrim's life, and prudence directed him to go thus in a private manner, to prevent increasing Esau's envy, and giving the fatal blow.

Methinks I see the young pilgrim weeping when he took his leave of his father and mother; he went on foot, and they that are acquainted with the geography of the place, say, that the first day of his journey he walked not less than forty English miles: what exercise must he have had all that way! no wonder, therefore, that by the time the sun was going down, poor Jacob felt himself very weary, for we are told, ver. 11. " that he lighted on a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set." There is a particular emphasis to be put upon this term, "a certain place;" he saw the sun going down, he was a stranger in a strange land.-You that are born in England can have very little idea of it, but persons that travel in the American woods can form a more proper idea, for you may there travel a hundred and a thousand miles, and go through one continued tract of tall green trees, like the tall cedars of Lebanon; and the gentlemen of America, from one end to the other, are of such an hospitable temper, as I have not only been told, but have found among them upwards of thirty years, that they would not let public houses be licensed, that they may have an opportunity of entertaining English friends: may God, of his infinite mercy, grant this union may never be dissolved!

Well, Jacob got to a certain place, and perhaps he saw a good tree that would serve him for a canopy; however, this we are told, he tarried there all night because the sun was set, and be took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillow, and laid down in that place to sleep; hard lodgings for him who was used to lie otherwise at home! I do not hear him say, I wish I were got back to my mother again, I wish I had not set out; but upon the hard ground and hard pillow he lies down; I believe never poor man slept sweeter in his life, for it is certainly sweet sleep when God is near us; he did not know but his brother might follow and kill him while he was asleep, or that the wild beasts might devour him; (in America, when they