should procure a wife for him among his own kindred, and not from the daughters of the Canaanites. Having obtained this solemn oath, Abraham told his servant to go into Mesopotamia, which was the place of his nativity, and there choose a wife, out of his owa kindred, for his son Isaac. On receiving these orders, the servant asked him this question: "If," says he, "the woman refuse to follow me into the land of Canaan, must I return and fetch thy son to her?" The patriarch immediately answered in the negative, as no consideration could prevail on him to suffer his son to return to a land which he himself had left on account of the inhumanity and idolatry of its inhabitants. To encourage the servant in the prosecution of his intended expedition, Abraham assured him that a heavenly messenger would conduct him to the place whence he should bring a wife unto his son; and that if the woman pitched on should refuse to follow him, he should be free from the oath he had taken, and be considered as having properly discharged the business with which he was intrusted.

These matters being settled, Eliezer (for that was the name of this trusty servant) set out on his embassy, attended by a number of servants and camels, agreeably to the importance of his business, and the dignity of the person by whom he was employed.

After undergoing great fatigue, both from the badness of the roads and the want of water, this trusty servant, with his attendants, reached Mesopotamia, and repaired to Haran,* a city belonging to his master's brother Nahor. When he had arrived near the entrance of the city, he stopped at the public well (whither it was customary for the young women of the place to come every morning and evening for water), in order to refresh the camels.†

ed, and of the deep disgust which they inspired. They were neither to take the females of other nations, nor give their own females to them (Deut. vii. 3, 4); and the reason was, “For they will turn away thy sons from following me." While this principle inhibited marriages with other nations, there was another law which preserved the integrity of property in the respective tribes, by directing that daughters having any inheritance should not marry out of the tribe of their father, (Num. xxxvi). "So shal, not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe." These principles, taken from the subsequent laws of the Hebrews, afford the best explanation of the conduct of the patriarchs with regard to the mar riages of their sons. Among the Bedouin Arabs there is no regulation precluding the intermarriages of dif ferent tribes; but in practice a man seldom takes a wife from any other tribe than his own; and still more rarely, although there is no national or religious difference, will a Bedouin give his daughter in marriage to the inhabitant of a town, or to a cultivator or artisan. Some tribes never do so; but others are rather less strict. So, as Ward informs us, among the Hindoos, the parents who find employment at a distance from their original homes, always marry their children in their own country and among their old acquaintance. *"CHARRAN," as given by St. Stephen, is the proper reading of tlus name, and is, therefore, different from the name of Abram's brother, which is truly spelt Haran. The site of this place is very questionable. Most writers on scriptural geography identify it with the place called Charra by the Greeks and Romans, and renowned in history for the defeat of Crassus. But we are inclined to think that this identification is scarcely compatible with that which finds Ur in Urfah; for not only is this Charran in the same plain with Urfah, but is actually, at almost all times, visible from it, being distant not above eight hours' ride to the south; so that a removal to this distance hardly corresponds with the historical intimations which refer to it. There are three other sites to which different writers refer the Charran of our history. One is Oruros, on the Euphrates, about fifty miles below the embouchure of the Chaboras; the second is Hare, about twenty miles to the east-northeast of Palmyra; and the third, Carræ, about thirty-eight miles northeast from Damascus. All these places would, however, be out of the way in proceeding from Urfah to the land of Canaan, excepting the one near Damascus, which, on many grounds, we should hold to offer the preferable claim, were it not that the account of Jacob's journey to the same place expressly informs us that Haran was in Mesopotamia, on which ground the site, with the mention of which we commenced this note, must still be held to have a little the preference, notwithstanding the objections which apply to it, as none of the others answer to this condition. We think it very likely that the site of Ur, and more than likely. that the site of Haran, are yet to be found.

+ Water is usually drawn in the evening, and frequently in the cool of the morning also. Fetching wate. is one of the heaviest of the many heavy duties which devolve upon the females in the East, and one which the most sensibly impresses us with a sense of their degraded condition. The usage varies in different countries. Among the Arabs and other nomades, and also in many parts of India, it is the exclusive employment of the women, without distinction of rank. But in Turkey and Persia the poorer women only are subject to this servile employment, respectable families being supplied daily by men who make the supplying of water a distinct business. The tents of the Bedouins are seldom pitched quite near to the well from which they obtain their water; and if the distance is not more than a mile, the men do not think is necessary that the water should be brought upon the camels: and, unless there are asses to be employed on this service, the women must go every evening, sometimes twice, and bring home at their backs long and heavy leathern bags full of water. The wells are the property of tribes or individuals, who are not always willing that caravans should take water from them; and in that case, a girl is sometimes posted at the well to exact presents from those who wish to have water. It is not likely that Abraham's servant travelled without a leathern bucket to draw water, and it is therefore probable that he abstained from watering his ten camels until he should have obtained permission. The women, when they are at the wells in the evening, are generally obliging to travellers, and ready to supply such water as they may require for themselves or their beasts. The women of towns in Turkey and Persia have seldom far to go, except under peculiar circumstances in the situation or soil of the place, or quality of its water. Their water-vessel depends much upon the distance; if rather far, a skin will probably be preferred as most convenient for carrying a good quantity; but if near, an earthern jar will often be chosen. The present well seems to have been quite near the town, and we concur in the translation which renders Rebecca's vessel "a pitcher." The

Having been properly instructed by his master in the fear of God, and being sensible of the importance of the business, as well as fearful of not executing it to his master's satisfaction, he made a mental prayer to God, beseeching him to direct him, by a certain sign, to a proper object of choice for his young master. He had no sooner solicited this divine assistance than his request was immediately complied with, and the sign given was, that she who, at his desire, permitted him to drink of her water, would be the person appointed by God for the wife of his servant Isaac. Soon after this, Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, came to the well, with her pitcher, for water; after she had filled it, the servant (having taken notice that she was exceedingly beautiful) accosted her in a very humble manner, begging that she would give him a draught of the water, he being exceedingly thirsty. Rebecca readily consented, and not only gave him to drink, but also went several times to the well to fetch water for the refreshment of his camels.*

This propitious occurrence highly delighted Abraham's servant, who, after paying some general compliments to her beauty and benevolence, made inquiry concerning her family and relations. To which the lovely virgin replied, that she was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, and kinswoman to Abraham.

This intelligence gave fresh spirits to the faithful messenger, who was now convinced that God approved of the alliance between Rebecca and Isaac. He therefore presented to her a pair of gold ear-rings, and some other female ornaments, requesting her to accept them as a token of his esteem for her virtues, and a grateful return

word (kad) is different from that (chemitz) rendered "bottle" in the narrative of Hagar's expulsion; and is the same word used to describe the vessels in which Gideon's soldiers concealed their torches, and which they broke to produce a crashing and alarming noise. The women contrive to draw an enjoyment even out of this irksome duty, as it affords the best opportunity they have of meeting and talking together, and of displaying their finery to each other. They by no means appear to the worst advantage, as to dress, at the wells; and this circumstance shows that Abraham's servant might there, without any incongruity, invest Rebecca with the ornaments he had brought. To a traveller in the East, the best opportunities of making his observations on the females will occur in the evening at the wells. Eliezer was aware of this, and regarded the opportunity as favorable for his purpose. It appears that the unmarried females even of towns went unveiled, or only partially veiled, on ordinary occasions, in these early times. Now all go veiled; and the more extended use of the veil in modern times has probably, in one respect, operated favora bly for the women, by exonerating those in families decently circumstanced from the very heavy duty of fetching water, the proper management of the veil being scarcely compatible with the performance of this laborious office. Accordingly we find that this duty devolves more exclusively on the females, without distinction of rank, in those Asiatic countries or tribes where the women are not obliged to veil their faces, as in India, and among the Arabian and other nomade tribes. We have already noticed the Arabian usage In consequence of the modifications which we venture to think that the extended use of the veil has produced among the inhabitants of towns west of the Indus, it is perhaps in India we are to look for the most precise parallels to the patriarchal customs. Accordingly we find, that in many parts of India, women of the first distinction draw water daily from the public wells. They always fetch it in earthern jars carried upon their heads. Sometimes two or three jars are carried at once, one upon the other, forming a pillar upon the bearer's head. As this necessarily requires the most perfect steadiness, the habit gives to the females a remarkably erect and stately air. It seems that it is a distinction to carry the jar on the shoulder; and Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs," relates an anecdote of an intelligent native who, when this highly interesting passage was read to him, inferred that Rebecca was of "high caste," from her carrying the pitcher on her shoulder. The text, however, does not necessarily imply that she carried the jar erect upon her shoulder, but quite as probably means that it was carried at the back, the handle being held over the shoulder by the hand or leathern strap.

*The pastoral poetry of classical antiquity, which has been imitated more or less in all nations, has rendered us familiar with the idea of females of birth and attractions acting as sheperdesses long after the practice itself has been discontinued, and the employinent has sunk into contempt. When nations originally pastoral settled in towns, and adopted the refinements of life, the care of the sheep ceased to be a principal consideration, and gradually devolved upon servants or slaves, coming to be considered a mean employment, to which the proprietor or his household only gave a general and superintending attention. The respectability of the employment in these patriarchal times is not evinced by our finding the daughter of so considerable a person as Laban engaged in tending the flocks, for in the East all drudgery devolves upon the females; but by our finding the sons of such persons similarly engaged in pastoral duties, which in Homer also appears to have been considered a fitting employment for the sons of kings and powerful chiefs. We are not aware that at present, in the East, the actual care of a flock or herd is considered a dignified employment. Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs," mentions, that in the Bramin villages of the Concan, women of the first distinction draw the water from wells, and tend the cattle to pasture, "like Rebecca and Rachel." But in this instance it can not be because such employments have any dignity in them, but because the women are obliged to perform every servile oflice. So, among the Bedouin Arabs, and other nomade nations, the immediate care of the flocks devolves either upon the women or the servants; but most generally the latter, as the women have enough to occupy them in their multifarious domestic duties. However, among some tribes, it is the exclusive business of the young unmarried women to drive the cattle to pasture. "Among the Sinai Arabs," says Burckhardt, "a boy would feel himself insulted were any one to say, 'Go and drive your father's sheep to pasture; these words, in his opinion, would signify, 'You are no better than a girl." These young women set out before sunrise, three or four together, carrying some water and victuals with them, and they do not return until late in the evening. Throughout the day they continue exposed to the sun, watching the sheep with great care, for they are sure of being severely beaten by their father should any be lost. These young women are in general civil to persons who pass by, and ready enough to share with them their victuals and milk. They are fully able to protect their flocks against any ordinary depredation or danger, for their way of life niakes them as bardy and v gorous as the men.

for her distinguished condescension. As it grew late, and he had valuable property about him, he entreated permission, for that night, to reside at the house of her relations. Rebecca, in a most engaging manner, permitted him this convenience, but begged that she might previously apprize the family of so unexpected a visiter. Accordingly, having accepted the presents, she immediately hastened home, leaving Eliezer full of contemplation and acknowledgments to the divine favor for the happy incident.

As soon as Rebecca entered the house, her brother Laban, observing the bracelets on her arms, asked her by what means she had obtained such costly ornaments. Rebecca acquainted him with every particular that had happened, from her going out till her return; upon which Laban immediately went to the well, where finding Eliezer and his attendants, he brought them home with him, and ordered proper provision to be made both for him and his retinue.

As soon as Eliezer had paid the necessary compliments to Rebecca's family, he informed them of the nature of his embassy, the great success that had attended him in his journey, and the fortunate incident of his meeting Rebecca without the city. He likewise gave them an ample account of the state of his master's family; of the wealth and prosperity wherewith God had blessed him; of the son and heir which he had given him in his old age; and of the large expectances which this heir had, not only from the prerogative of his birth, but from the donation and entail of all his father's possessions. Having thus minutely related every particular relative to his embassy, he demanded an immediate answer, saying, till that was obtained, he could not, with any satisfaction, take the least refreshment.

From the very singular circumstances that had occurred in the course of Eliezer's journey, Laban and Bethuel* were of opinion that Divine Providence was materially concerned in the whole affair. Concluding, therefore, that it would be exceedingly wrong to refuse Eliezer's request, they readily consented, and told him he might take Rebecca to her intended husband as soon as he thought proper.

This business being settled, the trusty servant presented Rebecca with jewels of silver and gold, and fine raiment, which he had brought with him for the purpose.

He likewise gave some considerable presents to her mother and the rest of the family; and the remainder of the evening was dedicated to mirth and festivity.

Early in the morning, Eliezer, being impatient to acquaint his master with the success of his embassy, desired to be dismissed. This request greatly surprised the family, who, influenced by natural affection, desired that Rebecca might be permitted to tarry with them a few days, to take, perhaps, a last farewell. But the diligent and faithful steward would admit of no delay; upon which, the matter being referred to Rebecca herself, she agreed to go with him whenever he thought proper. Accordingly, the necessary preparations being made, and the bridal blessing bestowed, she took her leave, attended by her nurse (whose name was Deborah) and other servants appointed on the occasion.

When Eliezer came within some distance of his master's house, it happened that Isaac was then walking in the fields, meditating on the beauties of nature, and the beneficence of that Being who formed the creation. Seeing at a distance his servants and camels on the road, he hastened to meet them, anxious to know the result of Eliezer's embassy. As he approached near, Rebecca asked who he was; and being informed, she immediately alighted from her camel, threw a veil over her face, and waited to receive the first compliments of her intended husband.

This Bethuel could not be the father of Rebecca, because, had that been the case, it would have been improper to have had Laban either named before him, or to have given answer to Abraham's messenger when his father was by; and, therefore, since Josephus makes the damsel tells Eliezer that her father had been dead long ago, and that she was left to the care of her brother Laban, this Bethuel (who is here named after Lahan, and never more taken any notice of during the whole transaction) must have been some younger brother of the family.

+ Dr. Shaw, who resided many years in the East, tells us, that among the Arabians, the person who settles a marriage contract, first adorns the espoused person with jewels, and then makes presents to her relations, according to their rank. He adds, that, on such occasions, it is expressly stipulated what sum of money the husband shall settle on the wife; what jewels she shall wear; how many suits of raiment she shall have; and, lastly, how many slaves shall be allowed to attend her.

Whether veiled before or not, she now" covered herself"-her whole person--with the ample envel oping veil with which brides are still conducted to the bridegroom. Rosenmuller, in illustration of this passage, quotes an ancient father (Tertullian), who, with an express reference to the same text, observes, as a custom still existing in his time, that the heathen brides were also conducted to their husbands covered with a veil. It is still all but universal in the East, and it will be observed that it is used, not only by the females whose faces are always concealed both before and after marriage, but by those who display

When Isaac came up to Rebecca, he addressed her with great respect, and immediately conducted her to his mother's tent, which had been previously fitted up for her reception, and designed for her future habitation. A few days after they were joined in wedlock, and Isaac grew so fond of her, that his mind was greatly relieved from that perturbation with which, for three years, it had been loaded, for the loss of his affectionate mother. Such was the pious regard children had for their parents in those days; and such was the amiable example set by Isaac for all who should follow!

Some time after Isaac's marriage, his father, though far advanced in life, yet still possessing great strength of constitution, made an addition to his family, by taking another wife, whose name was Keturah, and by whom he had six sons. But, lest they should interfere with Isaac in his inheritance of Canaan, as they grew up he portioned them off, and sent them towards the east, where, settling in Arabia and Syria, they became, in time, the rulers of different nations.

These are the last circumstances mentioned by the sacred historian, relative to the great patriarch Abraham, who at length, worn out with bodily infirmities, quietly gave up the ghost, in the one hundred and seventy-fifth year of his age, leaving be hind him a name famous to all posterity. He was buried by his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, in the cave of Machpelah, where, about forty years before, he had depos ited the remains of his beloved Sarah.

Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham, though not his heir, lived many years after his father. He died at the age of one hundred and seven, leaving behind him twelve

sons.

part or the whole of their faces on all ordinary occasions. It is, in fact, the indispensable costume for the occasion. Whether the bridal veil was distinguished from other veils does not appear; but we observe that one of red silk or muslin is affected by the Persians on such an occasion, although the ordinary veils are white or blue; and Dr. Russel, in his account of a Maronite marriage, observes that the bride's veil was of the same color. Thus we see that Rebecca, by enveloping her person in a veil, put herself into the costume usual for a bride when conducted to the tent or house of her husband.

THE ISHMAELITES.-We know not whence the strange opinion arose that the whole Arabian nation is descended from Ishmael, and that, consequently, the names of the Ishmaelites and Arabs are co-extensive, unless from the Chaldee and Arabic paraphrasts, and from other Jewish writers, whose historical authority, at all times of the least possible value, becomes a perfect nullity when open to any obvious influence, such as the wish to represent Abraham as the father of so great and wide-spread a nation as the Arabians. The whole testimony of the oriental writers, and all the inferences deducible from the sacred narrative, are opposed to this conclusion. The Arabians have a history anterior to Ishmael; and it would be prepos terous to suppose that Arabia, even to its deserts, was not occupied before his time.

According to the Arabian writers, Arabia was occupied a few generations after the flood by the successive settlement within it of variously-descended tribes, all of whom ultimately gave way to the races from which the present Arabs claim to be descended, either from being destroyed by them or lost in them These latter proceed from two stocks, of which the most ancient is that of Kahtan, the same who is in the Bible called Joktan, a son of Eber; and the other that of Adnan, who descended in a direct line from Ishmael. To the posterity of the former is given the distinguishing title of eminence, al Arab al Araba (equivalent to "a Hebrew of the Hebrews" among the Jews), that is, the genuine or pure Arabs: while those of Ishmael receive that of al Arab al Mostáreba, meaning naturalized or mixed Arabs. But some writers, who wish to be more precise, apply the first and most honorable title to the most ancient and lost tribes to which we have alluded, while the descendants of Kahtan obtained the name of Motáreba, which likewise signifies mixed Arabs, though in a nearer degree than Mostáreba; those who acknowledged Ishmael for their ancestor (through Adnan) being the more distant graft. Considering the origin of Ishmael, it is no wonder that those supposed to be descended from him should have no claim to be admitted as pure Arabs; but as he is alleged to have contracted an alliance with the Jorhamites (descended from Jorham, a son of Kahtan), who possessed Hejaz, by marrying the daughter of their emir Modad, whence, and by subsequent intermarriages his descendants became blended with them into one nation, their claim to be regarded as Mostáreba is beyond dispute.

There is considerable uncertainty in the descents from Ishmael to Adnan, which is the reason why the Arabs have seldom attempted to trace their genealogies higher than the latter, whom they therefore look upon as the founder of their tribes. The account of this Adnan does not commence, however, till 122 B. C.; so that the uncertainties extend over a period of about 1800 years. This is a very awful circumstance at the first view, but the line of descent is not compromised by it, notwithstanding. The uncer tainties refer merely to the numbers and names of the generations which fill the interval, and arise from the contracted manner in which genealogies, extending over a long series of ages, were necessarily kept. Thus they do not specify all the generations from A to Z, in this way:-"Z, the son of Y; Y, the son of X: X, the son of W," and so on up to A: but knowing it to be a matter of perfect notoriety and unques tionable truth that Z is descended from some eminent ancestor, say S, and that it is equally notorious and unquestionable that the remote ancestor of this S was M, and that M was descended from G, and G from A.-they may omit the intermediate ancestors, through whom Z descended from S, and S from M, and M from G, and G from A, and state the matter thus: "Z, the son of S, the son of M, the son of G, the son of A and thus it may occur that not only the names but even the numbers of the generations between A and Z may, in the course of time, become involved in great uncertainty through their not being given in detail in the genealogies, while the truth yet remains certain and unquestionable that Z is descended from A through G, M, and S. Hence, it is not questioned that Adnan is descended from Ishmael, and a certain number, eight or ten, of illustrious names are mentioned to mark out the line of descent, while the names of the mass of intermediate ancestors is lost, and even the numbers of their generations may be a subject of fair dispute without the main question being touched. It is, therefore, surprising to see some able writers so much in the dark as to imagine, that, because the Arabian writers give us only some eight or