personating _Esau_, is a Matter of no small Doubt and Dispute. He was ('tis evident) much surprised at the _Cheat_, put on him by his _Wife_ and _Son_, and would doubtless very willingly have given _Esau_ the Preference, according to his first Intention; but something _supernatural_ seems now to have seized and satisfied him, that _Jacob_ was the Person intended; for he cries out, "I have blessed him, yea and he shall be blessed." And this latter Assurance, and the Energy and Satisfaction wherewith the Words were pronounced, I take _rather_ to have been the _true Blessing_ than the _other_. For, as the Reason of _Jacob's_ Dissimulation was intirely owing to his Mother's Diffidence and Impatience; so, there is no Doubt to be made, but that the _Almighty_ himself would, had she not interfered, have brought it about in a manner becoming his _Holiness_, and not by _Falsehood_, _Deceit_, and _Dissimulation_. _Religion_ can never be _more_ dishonoured, or the Despensations of God to Mankind receive _greater_ Reproach, than when _Divine Purposes_ are (under God's immediate Direction) said to be accomplish'd by Methods in themselves _evil_ and _immoral_, and altogether opposite to His Commands. Hath he forbid us Lying, under the _Penalty_ of _Hell-Fire_, and shall he himself practise it, or immediately influence another to do it, for the sake of bringing to pass some Event, which he could as easily have accomplish'd, by Methods purely righteous and honourable! And had _Jacob_ never been prompted, or attempted to obtain the Blessing in the manner he did attempt it, 'tis more than probable, that God, who removed _Isaac's_ Surprise, and caused him to break forth as he did, "I have blessed him, yea and he shall be blessed," would never have permitted or impowered _Isaac_, to have _blessed Esau_, in an _effectual_ manner beyond his Brother: Or if a mere Pronouncing of Words, when uttered as a Blessing from the Heads of Families, was in itself an _irreversible Blessing_, and _Isaac_ had attempted to bestow it on _Esau_, God no doubt would have stayed his Mouth by _Intimations within;_ as he did, on another Occasion, the _Hand of Abraham_, by an Angel without: Provided, I say, it be allowed, that a _formal Blessing_, from the Mouth of _Isaac_, was necessary to confirm on _Jacob_ those superior Privileges, which God had designed for him; and that this Interpretation of the Text is more honourable, and better becoming the Truth and Majesty of the _Divine Being_. I appeal not to Reason only, but to Mr. _Cole_ himself: For whatever Influence Prejudice, or Enthusiasm, may have on some Minds, there are certain Seasons, wherein Truth will display itself to the Realm and Understanding of Mankind, and extort, even from the Mouths of those, who sometimes oppose her, the most ample Concessions in her Favour. Take the following as an Instance--_Cole's Sovereignty of God_, Page 41, 2d Edit. "To this also might be added the strict