divine answer to the one, and gracious fulfilment of the other.

Before the birth of Isaac, however, Abraham and his family once more removed their dwelling, partly, it may be supposed, to fulfil the words of the Lord previously spoken :-"Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee;”— and partly from the desolate appearance and poisonous vapours of the once beautiful vale of Sodom, and in consequence of the cessation of travellers, to whom Abraham had so delighted to show hospitality. We shall pass lightly over the next event in the life of Sarah, having already made our remarks on a similar occurrence. The fault of the patriarch in again passing his wife for his sister, was indeed much greater than it had been at the first. He had now no longer the excuse of not sufficiently knowing the ways of the Lord, to trust in Him, even in the midst of those dangers incidental to mankind, yet seeming too trivial for the interference of the Most High. He had had nearly thirty years' experience, that he was in truth the chosen servant, and the well-beloved of the Lord-that there was not an event in his life which had not been ordered and guided by a special providence; and he ought to have known that this danger, as every other, would be over-ruled. Yet, while we regret that this incomprehensible weakness should overshadow the beautiful character of our great ancestor, we may not condemn: for, at this distance of time, and complete change in manners and customs, it is impossible for us to know the temptation he may have had to act as he did, or the extent of danger to which he was exposed. The most truly pious, the most expe

rienced in religion, have often to mourn their "iniquities in holy things."-The painful struggle it is always to realise faith, to trust without one doubt, and more particularly in the smaller trials of life, which they deem too trivial for the notice, compassion, or interference of the Eternal. Nor can even proofs of a superintending providence always conquer the weakness of human nature. In this world, the likeness of God will at times be completely hidden in the earthly shell, however it may stand forth at others, as if nought of clay could dull it more. And this was the case with Abraham, who, though the beloved of the Lord, was yet human, and liable to all the weaknesses and frailties of human nature. We are not therefore to condemn, and so withdraw our admiration of his great and most consolingly beautiful character, because in two instances he falls short of our ideas of perfection, but rather thank God, that in His Word, human nature is recorded as it is, simply that we may not despair. It is enough for us, in this part of our narrative, to notice that our gracious God demands no more of His creatures than He knows they can perform; that Abraham's faulty weakness in this one instance, could not blot from the recollection of the Lord his pure and simple faith in every other; and that He permitted all that occurred in the kingdom of Gerar, to make manifest, alike to Abraham and the nations, His continued watchfulness and miraculous interposition in favor of those whom He loves-His power to protect them from all harm, and also, that nothing was too wonderful for Him. Sarah had imagined she was too old to enjoy the felicity of becoming a mother-too old in any way to excite admiration, save to the beloved husband

of her youth; and, ignorant that her beauty had been supernaturally renewed, neglected to assume the veil, which was worn by all Eastern women dwelling in towns. This explains Abimelech's present of a "covering for the eyes," and the words "thus she was reproved,” or warned, that her beauty subjected her to as much danger as had been the case in her youth.

Miraculously protected by the Eternal, and publicly vindicated from all dishonour by the king of Gerar, Sarah and her husband continued to dwell in Abimelech's dominions, some few miles to the south of Gerar; a place afterwards called Beer-Shebang, or Well of the Oath, from the covenant of peace there made between the patriarch and the king. Here it was, that at the appointed time, "God visited Sarah as He had said;" and the promised seed-the child of rejoicing-Isaac was born. What must have been the emotions of Sarah on beholding him? Not alone the bliss of a mother; but that in him, the infant claimer of a love and joy which she had never so felt before, she beheld a visible and palpable manifestation of the wonderful power and unchanging love of the Most High God. Devoted, as Sarah had been, to the service and love of the Lord, how inexpressibly must those emotions have been heightened as she gazed upon her babe, and held him to her bosom as her own, her granted child. To those who really love the Lord, joy is as dear, as bright, as close a link between the heart and its God, as grief is to more fallen natures. We find the hymn of rejoicing, the song of thanksgiving, always the vehicle in which the favored servants of the Lord poured forth their grateful adoration, thus proving that the thought of the beneficent

Giver ever hallowed and sanctified the gift; and therefore we believe, with our ancient fathers, that though not translated metrically, Sarah expressed her joy in a short hymn of thanksgiving. The peculiar idiom of

the Hebrew text confirms this supposition,* and we adopt it as most natural to the occasion. Her age had had no power, even before she became a mother, to dull her feelings, and her song of thanksgiving well expresses every emotion natural, not alone to the occasion, but to her peculiar situation. As a young mother, full of life, of sentiment, of affection, she felt towards her babegiving him his natural food from her own bosom-tending his infant years-guiding him from boyhood to youth-from youth to manhood, and lavishing on him the full tide of love which had been pent up so long. The very character of Isaac, as is afterwards displayedmeek, yielding, affectionate almost as a woman's-disinclined to enterprise-satisfied with his heritage-all prove the influence which his mother had possessed, and that his disposition was more the work of her hand than of his father's.

"The child grew and was weaned," Holy Writ proceeds to inform us; "and Abraham made a great feast the day Isaac was weaned,”—a feast of rejoicing, that the Eternal had mercifully preserved him through the first epoch of his young existence. He was now three years old, if not more--for the women of the East, even now, do not wean their children till that age. The feast, however, which commenced in joy, was, for the patriarch, dashed with sorrow ere it closed. Educated with the

* See the Rev. D. A. De Sola's translation and note thereon.

full idea that he was his father's heir-though the words of the angel before his birth gave no warrant for the supposition to Ishmael and his mother, the birth of Isaac must have been a grievous disappointment. And we find the son committing the same fault as his mother previously had done-deriding, speaking disrespectfully of Sarah and her child. The youth of Ishmael, and Sarah's request, that the bond-woman, might also be expelled, would lead to the supposition, that it was Hagar who had instigated the affront. The age of Sarah, and the decidedly super-human birth of Isaac, must, to all but the patriarch's own household, have naturally given rise to many strange, and perhaps calumniating reports. In the common events of life, all that is incomprehensible, is either ridiculed, disbelieved, or made matter of scandal; and, therefore, in a case so uncommon as this, it is more than probable, reports very discreditable both to Sarah and Abraham, were promulgated all around them. Hagar, indeed, and Ishmael must have known differently:-that it was the hand of God which worked, and therefore all things were possible; but it was to Ishmael's interest to dispute or deny the legitimacy of Isaac; and, therefore, it was not in human nature to neglect the opportunity. No other offence. would have so worked on Sarah. We are apt to think more poetically than justly of this part of the Bible. Hagar and her young son, expelled from their luxurious and happy home, almost perishing in the desert from thirst, are infinitely more interesting objects of consideration and sympathy, than the harsh and jealous Sarah, who, for seemingly such trifling offence, demanded and obtained such severe retribution.