III. RETROSPECTION.

"So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel; he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-bethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. . .

...

"And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins ; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

"And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon."-GEN. Xxxv. 6, 7, 9–14.

RETROSPECTION.

ETHEL again. After days and nights of wandering; after long years of

exile; after journeyings often; after perils of waters and perils of robbers; after weariness and painfulness, and watchings often, he whom the Lord had called by name stands once more on the spot whence his covenantcharter has its date.

The unforgotten land-marks are scarcely needed to guide him to the spot. On this side stands the mount consecrated by the remembrance of Abraham's choice; to the far east, the Jordan valley with its running streams; further south, the land of the cities of the plain afterwards to be washed out from the earth which, even in its fallen estate, their presence too deeply defiled; all around, the great stones

of that place, in yet our day testifying to its identity. And amongst these, one rude pillar telling its own tale-one lonely memorial of a night many years past, standing firm even as the covenant which it recorded, and by its presence, speaking to him who now draws nigh with the mighty power of silent witness.

How different his approach to that of the houseless wayfarer who years before had laid himself down to rest in that place! This long household train, these flocks and these herds, these women and children, is this company his who on this spot lay down alone under the stars -his staff his only defence, his prayer that he might have bread to eat and raiment to put on? Yes; the terms of the covenant spoken by the mouth of the Lord when night covered the earth, and those only were near at hand who serve Him day and night, have been fulfilled. Once more the heir of the land treads the ground of his inheritance, and throughout the past his bread has not failed, and his water has been sure. The earnest of future fulfilments have been accorded. The God of Bethel has been true to His word.

And now a more public ceremonial is to consecrate the stony sanctuary of Bethel. For the rude pillar of the first covenant, a family altar is raised. All common and unclean things have been removed. The occasion is one of solemn retrospection of equally solemn anticipation. It is as though the entail were to be fastened upon the sons of the patriarch, before God and their father, and their right to the land acknowledged on the spot where the fief had been first bestowed.

Fain would we recall the liturgy of that early consecration service. Perchance some stray beholder from the near abodes of Luz, wandering forth to survey the strange company for whose sake the terror of God was on the cities round about, gazed wonderingly upon the men who realised the presence of an Invisible God, and who raised stone upon stone in pursuance of mysterious rites before Him. Perchance the report reached the city that the moss-grown pillar, which had stood erect amongst its kindred stones while men wondered what it should signify, had been found by those whose long secret it had kept, and was now built up with yet other stones, and sanctified