only to escape from present evil; she can give no answer to the angel who asks whither she would go, but confesses that she has fled from the face of her mistress. It is a touching trait in the character of Hagar, that she makes no attempt to justify herself by complaint of the unkind usage she has received; indeed, the consciousness of the presence and omniscience of God, which she expresses in the name given to him who spake to her, seems to imply that her thoughts dwelt on her own faults. The angel comforts her by an assurance that her affliction has been regarded, and a promise of numerous descendants; and bids her return and submit herself to lawful authority. The race of which the Messiah was to be born must be "beyond every possible impeachment of its legitimacy;" and after the lapse of fourteen years another revelation renews the covenant; and the names of Abram and Sarai are changed by the Divine command, in token of their parentage of many nations. At the announcement that the covenant is to be established with the son whom Sarah was to bear, the father's love for his firstborn is touchingly exhibited. His whole heart is poured out in the prayer for Ishmael. The blessing is to be inherited by one unborn. What should become of the boy whose birth had first brought joy to his tent-in whom his soul was bound up! The strength of the parental feeling in Abraham's bosom is thus shown, in his tender solicitude for the child who had first awakened it. His prayer is answered by the promise of the blessing, though a subordinate one, to Ishmael. The pastoral simplicity of the world's infancy comes before us, as we contemplate the picture presented in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis-of the aged patriarch sitting in his tent-door in the heat of the day, the approach of the three strangers, and his reception of them with Oriental hospitality. We are not told if Abraham perceived at first sight the real character of the mysterious visitors, or if the truth was revealed to him by any after D intimation; but it is probable that his lowly obeisance, when he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and invited them to rest under the tree and refresh themselves, was an act of respect rather than of worship. The quick preparations for their entertainment, in which the master and mistress are active as well as their servants, and the particulars related, strongly mark the simple and generous character of that ancient hospitality. The meal was partaken of under the spreading tree which shaded the tent; and then the chief of the three strangers renewed the promise of a son before given, and fixed the time of his birth. The laughter of Sarah, who heard this promise in the tent-door behind, indicated the unbelief of her heart, and was reproved, though mildly, by the Almighty visitant. It is remarkable, that by a few words in the verses succeeding, light is thrown upon the character of both Abraham and Sarah in their domestic relations. The patriarch's habitual exercise of due authority over his household, and pious zeal in instructing them, is attested by the Lord in the disclosure of his gracious purpose towards him. "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him," is not said as a reason for the bestowal of the blessing at first promised-for the very fitness to receive it was a gift from above-but it was part of the plan of benevolence. The father of the faithful had once listened to the persuasions of his wife, and obeyed them in espousing Hagar; instances of misconduct and criminal distrust of God's protection through scenes of peril, are also recorded of him; but his heart, by the Divine aid, was set to do that which was right, and the same grace would be granted to keep him faithful to the end, and to cause his descendants to "keep the way of the Lord." It appears from several particulars mentioned, that the patriarch was naturally disposed to exercise his own judgment in shaping his course. His disingenuous equivocation concerning his relations to Sarah, in Egypt and in Gerar, strongly evinces this - tendency; but under the appointed discipline, these corrupt inclinations were gradually overcome. The last severe ordeal through which he was called to pass in the sacrifice required of his only son-was met in a manner that showed him then advanced in the life of faith beyond the weakness which had marked its early growth; and thenceforward we hear of no more doubts or shortcomings. The expression of Sarah in the eighteenth chapter, calling Abraham "my lord," seems to be referred to by St. Peter in his commendation of her obedience to him. The life of this couplegrowing old in faithful affection, and in expectation of the blessing mysteriously promised is simply and beautifully delineated, Sarah was subject to Abraham as her head, superior, and guide. Abraham, "the friend of God," leaned on the Divine counsel and support. The son born to them--the child of promise—the heir of unknown blessing-the channel of mercy fore-ordained for the whole race of mankind, was a gift received from the hand of the Creator, and unspeakably precious. The circle of the family life was thus complete. The bondwoman and her son had no proper part therein and they were to be removed from the association, The custom of men in that primitive age allowing a plurality of wives, it was not expressly censured; but that the practice was a violation of the principle on which the marriage relation was founded, and tended to the subversion of domestic comfort and peace, is plain from the examples in the case of the patriarchs. Abraham was doomed to suffer the consequences of his own fault, by the necessity of parting with the son born to him by Hagar. The haughty spirit of Sarah could ill brook the boyish insolence of Ishmael; and remembering Abraham's former yielding to her complaints, she demanded peremptorily the expulsion of the boy and his mother. It was hard for the father to send from him the child he had first loved, and in whose opening faculties, wild as his nature was, he felt a parent's pride. "The thing was very grievous in his sight;" and in his anguish he doubtless sought the direction of that great Being by whom hitherto his steps had been guided. The answer, couched in gracious and comforting terms, commands him to comply with the apparently unreasonable demand, and to yield to his wife the unlimited control over her servant assigned her by the usage of pastoral tribes. An intimation is added of blessing destined Ishmael for Abraham's sake; and Abraham, obedient to the Divine vision, rose up early to make preparations for the departure of the two. There is something unspeakably touching in the very simplicity of the account, which leaves room for imagination to dwell upon the melancholy scene. The aged and affectionate father, placing in Hagar's hands the provisions which could sustain them only a brief way on their lonely journey, and sorrowing that he should see the face of his child no more-the Egyptian mother, bowed down in humiliation for this abrupt dismission from the home that had been hers so long; perhaps reproaching herself for the unseemly pride and arrogance which so provoked her mistress-and the spirited lad, who would naturally feel the separation less keenly, in his youthful love of adventure, to be indulged without restraint in the wild and uninhabited districts where they were to seek their fortune. What a scene, with its deep pathos, for the embellishment of poetry! We may well believe that tears in abundance were shed as the patriarch bade farewell to Hagar, and strained his son for the last time to his bosom in agonized embrace. The heart of Sarah must have melted at the sight of his grief, and her anger have given way to a willingness for reconciliation. could not see the suffering of him she loved; she could not see the handmaid who had served her so long, the boy who had grown from infancy by her side, go forth from her door, driven thence by her severity, to wander through the world, without a revulsion of feeling. But a higher purpose than hers was to be accomplished; and the words she had uttered in anger were exponents She of the decree fulfilled in after-ages. Abraham obeyed, not the imperious demand of his wife, but the Divine direction; and the consciousness of this, and that he was committing Ishmael, not to the uncertainties of a dreary future, but to the care of One who had promised to protect him, took away from the bitterness of parting. The fervent prayer with which he commended the boy to the keeping of his Heavenly Father, ascended upwards from his pious heart on the wings of faith, and was heard. Then the Egyptian and her son went forth from the patriarch's dwelling. The wandering of the outcast Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness their sufferings from the failure of the supply of water, and the anguish of the mother, who lays down her child to die, and retires to weep, that she may not behold his last agonies-are recounted in a description which has never been surpassed in simple pathos. Here again is a scene for the artist, whose fancy could add no colouring more striking than is presented. The familiar story, with its typical meaning, need not be dwelt upon here, as the Egyptian and her son were no longer a portion of the family of Abrahamn. When the command came-the keenest trial to the parental feeling, as well as to the faith of Abraham-to offer up Isaac in sacrifice, we read of no struggle nor hesitation, as in the case of Ishmael. He utters no murmur, though bidden to cut short, with his own hand, the life on which his expectation depended of a numerous posterity, and the blessing which, through him, was to pervade the whole earth. As before, after the vision, he "rose up early in the morning," and prepared for his journey, having provided wood for the burnt-offering. Those who were with him knew not of his intention; and it is not likely that he confided the matter to Sarah, whose feebler faith and maternal anxiety might have interposed obstacles. Through the journey—which did not terminate with their arrival at Mount Moriah till the third day-there appears no objection or want of alacrity on his |