CIVIL SOCIETY AND CHRISTIANITY. lî? 



before lie Ijk-ssed tlioin. Xou' mark, (iciitlcinon, -vve 

 have hero, not the authority of superior age, we liave the 

 right of testament ! In tlie experience of his entire life, 

 condensed into that supreme act, — in tlie ])i-()})helic li.L;ht 

 Avhicli sliincs about liim, one feeble ray of which is by 

 and by to glance and touch upon the Christian fathers, 

 Jacob sees the future of each of his children, and takes 

 the measures Avhich the Avelfare of his race demands. 

 Through the dimness which covers his eyes, with that 

 look of the soul which pierces every veil, he gazes on his 

 eldest son: ''Reuben," cries he, "my first-born, that 

 sliouldst have been my might, thou hast been the be- 

 ginning of my troubles. Thou hast flowed aAvay like 

 water. Thou shalt not increase. Thou hast defiled 

 thy father's house, thou canst no longer hold control 

 therein.''* 



*• But thou, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren 

 shall praise ; thy father's children shall bow down be- 

 fore thee. Judah, how fair thine eyes ! They glow 

 like wine within the cup, and whiter are thy teeth than 

 milk. Bind thy foal to the vine, my son, thine ass's 

 colt to the choice vine. Thou shalt wash thy garments 

 in vv'ine, thy clothes in the blood of the grapes."t How 

 imposing this sight in its simplicity ! There they Avere, 

 twelve men prostrate in tears at the feet of a dvinor 

 man, — twelve alien Hebrews on the soil of Egypt : and 

 the authority of the father, exercised in the right of 

 testament, consecrated by religious faith, created an 

 immense nation, v/ith whose existence were bound up 

 the destinies of mankind, — an indestructible race, de- 

 tached at last from its own land under the crush of 

 formidable and repeated invasions, only to fill tlie whole 

 Avorld with the miracle of its immortality ! 



* Geneeie, xlis. 4. (See the Vnl-ate version.) + Genesis, xUx. 11. 12. 



