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PART I.

CAL

A DISCOURSE,
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ISAIAH XXI. 11, 12.

The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watch-
man, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
The Watchman said, The morning cometh; and also the night.
If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return; come.

THIS passage of Scripture is unconnected with any thing, which either precedes or follows it. The first clause is merely a title, or caption, denoting the country concerning which the prediction is uttered: "The burden of Dumah;" or more properly, as it is rendered by Bishop Lowth, "The oracle concerning Dumah." Dumah was the country of Idumæa, or Edom ; which was inhabited by Esau, and his descendants. "He calleth to me out of Seir." Seir, as you know, was a mountain in that country; the place originally chosen by Esau for his residence; whence his posterity spread over the neighbouring region. They were often at war with the people of Judah. Saul attacked them, and vexed them: 1 Samuel xiv. 47. David subdued them, and put garrisons in their fortresses; so that they became his tributaries: 2 Samuel viii. 14. 1. Chronicles xviii. 12, 13. In the days of

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Solomon, Hudud, one of the royal family, who had fled from the invasion of Joab into Egypt, returned, and re-established himself in the kingdom: whence, it would seem, he did much mischief to the people of Israel. In the time of Jehoshaphat, they united with the Ammonites, and the Moabites, to invade the kingdom of Judah. But the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten: for the children of Ammon, and Moab, stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another, After this singular event, the Edomites were effectually broken down for a course of years. There was then, we are informed, no king in Edom: a deputy was king. In the days of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, they revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves: and although Jehoram defeated them in battle, they still preserved their independence. Amaziah afterwards attacked them, and destroyed 20,000 of their men. Stili they continued

an independent people, till they were finally subdued by John Hyrcanus, according to the predictions of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah. They then submitted to be circumcised; and soon ceased to be a distinct people.

Of this nation, one, in the name of the rest, calls to the prophet Isaiah from mount Seir. Or perhaps the call is intended to be from the whole nation, personified agreeably to the manner of writing, which is so customary with the prophets of the Old Testament. That the call is directed to Isaiah himself, there can be no doubt: because he asserts it in the most direct

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terms," He calleth to ME.' The prophet is addressed under the figurative character of a Watchman; i. e. a watchman, appointed by GOD for the nations of the earth. As his predictions were successively uttered against many nations, and might be expected to include many more, the Idumæans, who were kindred to the Jews, and lived in their neighbourhood, are very naturally exhibited as wishing to know, from this inspired minister of the true GOD, what were the events, which were to befall themselves; and to learn whether the prophet, with the eye of Revelation, saw any danger approaching to them. This is the more natural, as he had just been predicting the ruin of all the neighbouring countries; of Egypt, of the country of the Philistines, Syria, Judæa, Moab, and Babylon. After these predictions, the people of Idumæa could hardly fail of trembling, lest their own destiny should be next announced, or of anxiously inquiring of what nature it should be.

The inquiry, so solicitously made by this voice from Mount Seir, is," Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night ?” “The night" here denotes, I apprehend, merely the period of time for which the watchman was set as an inspector of the passing events. In familiar language, it was the prophet's watch, or season of watching. This is the season concerning which they inquire; and the occurrences of which, so far as they respected themselves, they were desirous to know. The repetition of the inquiry shows, that they ask eagerly, and anxiously, because they are deeply alarmed by the miserable end of the surrounding nations concerning the fate of their own.

The answer of the prophet is, like the question, concise and figurative. "The Watchman said, the

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morning cometh; and also the night. If ye will inquire, inquire ye: return; come." The morning, the light, and the day, are in the Scriptures familiar figurative expressions to denote prosperity. Night and darkness, are with the same familiarity used to denote adversity. Such, I apprehend, is the use of these terms in the present case. The prophet may, therefore, be considered as saying to the people of Seir, and to the Idumæans generally, The morning cometh; and also the night, i. e. a season of prosperity is immediately before you, and will be succeeded by a season of adversity. The remaining words of the answer may, I think, be naturally paraphrased in the following manner. 'If ye are really desirous to know your destiny, and to learn the things which belong to your peace, come, and inquire at the mouth of GOD. Return to him by returning to the religion from which you have departed, ever since the days of your first founder. Come again; and renew your allegiance to GOD.'

Such, I apprehend, is the whole meaning of this very concise, very figurative, and therefore very obscure, passage of Scripture.

A religious assembly, gathered in this land at the present moment, can hardly be supposed to feel a spirit of indifference with respect to the existing state of the world, and particularly of their own country. At no time, since the deluge, has the situation of the human race been so extraordinary; the world so shaken; or its changes so numerous, sudden, extensive, and ominous. He, who is indifferent to these things, must be supposed to have neither heart, nor understanding, nor eyes, nor ears. In addition to all the other solemn and ill-boding events of the present

period, to use the language of our chief magistrate, the righteous Providence of GOD has permitted the nation to which we belong to be engaged in an offensive war, the multiplied evils of which must be felt by all, but its end cannot be discovered by human agency.' Our own cause, as well as that of the rest of mankind, is now in agitation. Even if we have been able to behold with indifference the general convulsion of the world, and to see nation after nation blotted out from under heaven, it can scarcely be credible, that the most stupid among us can fail of being serious, solemn, and solicitous, when our own case is under trial, and when our allotments are now, perhaps, to be finally settled. I well know, that there are thoughtless, giddy, empty minds, who on the one hand consider this event as a victory, and on the other as a defeat, of their own party; and extend their views no further. I also know, that there are men of passion and violence, who feel satisfied with carrying, or mortified with failing to carry, a point; that their views, and their horizon, terminate here; and that even their wishes extend no further than to the gratification of their feelings. To persons of this description it is in vain to urge consequences; although consequences, in almost all cases, involve whatever is important in each case; while the objects at which they aim have in themselves no importance at all. A sober man, especially when possessing an enlightened mind, will expand his thoughts beyond the present moment, and the passing event; and will look forward, in every solemn situation, with intense anxiety, to discern, as far as he may, the effects of those transactions, in which he is now interested; and will regularly perceive, that that which is to come,

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