away. By bread and water in scripture, is expressed all necessary provisions, and we seldom find any other term made use of; so that Abraham, without doubt, provided every thing that they had been used to for common food, which they could conveniently carry with them; for it is reasonable to suppose, that the lad took part of the provisions on his shoulders, as well as his mother. And this was no more than the usual way of travelling in those times, and is still the practice in parts here spoken of to this day; there being no inns, every one is obliged (who travels) to carry with them their provisions: and in those ages it was customary for persons even of note to carry their provisions themselves, when they journeyed from one place to another. We have no mention made of any servant that Jacob had with him, when Isaac sent him away to Padan-aram, which was a journey of a considerable distance. Many other instances might be brought of this sort in these early ages, so that Hagar and Ishmael were put in no worse condition than persons in general were, when they travelled or journeyed from one place to another. It is mentioned that Abraham got up himself early on this occasion; he did not leave the putting out of Hagar to the insolence of any of his servants, but arose up himself to do it without any witness; so that it is reasonable to conclude that he furnished her and the lad with all things necessary, and directed her to some particular place in the wilderness, where she might settle; for we are not to imagine that this wilderness was an uninhabited desert, as there were houses, and even cities or villages, scattered up and down in it, but it was called a wilderness, as being a mountainous tract, and less inhabited than any other parts of the country; and probably Abraham here intended to have supplied her with what was farther necessary: the whole of her distress seems to have arisen from an accident which he did not foresee, from her loseing her way in the wilderness. To this may be added, that in those days, there was such a plenty of all sorts of creatures, that any one might kill sufficient in any place (especially uncultivated ones) for a maintenance; and we find accordingly, that they were all brought up to hunting, and depended much on what they killed with their own hands for their subsistence, as many nations do even to this day. And undoubtedly, as Ishmael was grown up to such an age, he had been sufficiently instructed how to take, or kill the

creatures, so as to enable him to get enough for his own and his mother's subsistence; and not only this, but he was of an age to let himself out to hire to those that kept flocks, which we find was an usual and no disgraceful or uncommon practice; for Jacob himself did the same, and thereby came to have large flocks, &c. of his own; so that by this means they might be upon a better footing than they could be in Abraham's family, for as Isaac was declared by God the heir of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael could be no better than bond servants to Isaac, which was the lowest degree of servitude, and perpetual from one generation to another; but being put away, they became free, and so had the means of improving their condition, and raising an independent family, and accordingly, we find Ishmael hereby became a great nation. These circumstances considered, the putting away of Hagar and Ishmael does not appear the hard and unjust act which at first view it seems to be. The sacred historian further informs us, that Ishmael and his posterity were to be wild, fierce, savage, ranging in the desarts; and not easily softened or tamed to society: and whoever hath read or known any thing of this people, knoweth this to be their true and genuine character. We find in that period of sacred history, that Ishmael himself dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer; and the same is no less true of his descendants than of himself. He dwelt in the wilderness, and his sons still inhabit the same wilderness, and many of them neither sow nor plant, according to the best accounts, both ancient and modern. And he became an archer, and such were the Itureans, some of his descendants, whose bows and arrows are famous in all authors; such were the mighty men of Kedar, others of his descendants in Isaiah's time; and such the Arabs, his descendants likewise, have been from the beginning, and are at this time. It was late before they admitted the use of fire arms amongst them, the greater part are still strangers to them, and still continue skilful archers; and it is remarkable, that to this day, the greatest part are still called the wild Arabs. Ishmael lived by prey and rapine in the wilderness; and his posterity have all along infested Arabia, and the neighbouring countries, with their robberies and incursions; they live in a state of continual warfare with the rest of the world, and are both robbers by land, and pirates by sea. And as they have been such enemies to mankind, it is no wonder that man

kind have been enemies to them, that several attempts have been made to extirpate them; and even now, as well as formerly, travellers are forced to go with arms, and in caravans, or in large companies, and to march and keep watch and guard like a little army, to defend themselves from the assaults of these freebooters, who run about in troops and rob and plunder all whom they can by any means subdue. And these robberies they justify, "by alleging the hard usage of their father Ishmael, who being turned out of doors by Abraham, had the open plains and desarts given him by God for his patrimony, with permission to take whatever he could find there. And on this account they think they may with a safe conscience indemnify themselves as well as they can, not only on the posterity of Isaac, but likewise on every body else." This is very extraordinary, that "his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him," and yet that he should be able to "dwell in the presence of all his brethren;" but extraordinary as it is, this also hath been fulfilled both in the person of Ishmael, and his posterity. As for Ishmael himself, the sacred historian informs us, that the years of the life of Ishmael were 137, and he died in the presence of all his brethren; and as for his posterity, they dwelt likewise in the presence of all their brethren, Abraham's sons by Keturah, the Moabites and Amonites decendants of Lot, the Israelites decendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Edomites decendants of Abraham, Isaac and Esau. And they still subsist a distinct people, and inhabit the country of their progenitors, notwithstanding the perpetual enmity between them and the rest of mankind. Part of the country possessed by the decendants of Ishmael, has been famous from antiquity for the happiness of its climate, its fertility and riches, so as to obtain the name of Arabia the Happy; though, besides this temptation, the plundering way of life of the Arabs, and the damage they did to others, has stirred up many great princes, their neighbours, to extirpate them; yet all attempts of this sort have ever proved vain: all the great conquerors of antiquity, Cyrus, and the Persians, Alexander, and afterwards the Romans, who seem to have conquered, and brought under their subjection most parts of the world with great case, could by no means bring the Arabs under their subjection. Didorus, a heathen writer, says of them, that neither the Assyrians, nor the kings of the Medes and Persians, nor yet any of the Ma

cedonians, were able to subdue them; nay, though they led many and great forces against them, yet they could not accomplish their attempts. And undoubted history informs us of such remarkable interpositions of providence to preserve them when they have been on the brink of ruin, that when we consider them, we cannot help being struck with admiration at the holy scriptures, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done: all the words of which (being by the inspiration of God) stand fast for ever, and will be accomplished, notwithstanding all the obstacles that men, or any other beings may raise to make them void, when Alexander the great (whose conquests astonished the world,) overturned the Persian empire, and conquered all Asia, the neighbouring prince, sent their ambassadors to make their submissions. The Arabs, (the descendants of Ishmael) alone disdained to acknowledge the conqueror, and scorned to send any embassy, or take any notice of him. This slight provoked him to such a degree, that he meditated an expedition against them, and humanly speaking, considering the vast army he had, the great assistance he would have received from all the neighbouring princes, and his being in want of nothing that could contribute to his success, we can scarcely suppose but he would have entirely destroyed them: But whilst this project was going on, God took him away by death, and put an end to all that his resentment had formed against them. When the Romans subdued the rest of the east, Arabia alone stood out; and when Lucullus, one of their generals, had subdued some of the Arabs, he was recalled, and Pompey sent in his room: He, though he triumphed over three parts of the world, could not yet conquer Arabia: he was indeed in a fair way for it, having obtained some victories, and penetrated into the country; but the word of God was against him, so that when success seemed ready to crown him with an entire subjection of the country, other affairs obliged him to leave it, and by retiring he lost all the advantages he had gained. Aelius GalJus, a Roman general, in the reign of Augustus, penetrated far into the country, but then a strange distemper made terrible havock in his army, and after two years spent, he was glad to escape with the small remainder of his forces. But the interposition of providence to save them, was still more remarkable at the times they were attacked by the emperors Trajan and Severus, which is related by an

heathen historian, (viz. Dio) when the emperor Trajan besieged the city of the Hagarenes, (who were descended and denominated from Hagar) Dio relates, that as often as the soldiers attacked the city, the whole heavens shook with thunder, rainbows were seen in the sky, (both considered as terrifying omens by the Romans) violent storms, hail, and thunderbolts, fell amongst them; and that all these were repeated as often as they returned to the assault of the city; and that as often as they sat down to refresh themselves with a repast, a multitude of flies, lighting both on their eatables and liquor, made all that they eat or drank most nauseous, so that by these things the emperor was forced at last to raise the siege, and retire with disgrace into his dominions. And this must appear still the more remarkable, from what an ingenious and learned writer asserts, viz. That with great care he revolved all the accounts of Arabia, to see whether the things which Dio relates to have so greatly distressed the Roman army, were common to the country, and that he could not find any instance of any one of them, except sometimes storms of wind; that even rain is very seldom seen there, and hail (as far as he could find by all accounts) never. It may be further observed, that when they were attacked by Trajan, the power of the whole world was united into one empire, and the whole of that empire in his hands; and that he was himself a man of as consummate abilities as ever lived, remarkably beloved by his soldiers, indefatigable in the toils of war, greatly experienced in all that belongs to it, and fearless of death in dangers, so that if it was possible for God's promise of subsistence to Ishmael in freedom, though at enmity with the rest of the world, could be defeated by human wisdom, or mortal might, it must have been at this time: but God had declared that Ishmael, (which included his posterity likewise) should be free as the wild ass, whose bonds he has loosed, who scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver: That though his hand should be against every man's, and every man's hand against him, yet he should dwell in the presence of all his brethren; that is, subsist perpetually before their faces, notwithstanding all their endeavours to extirpate him, or bring him under subjection. About eighty years after, the emperor Severus besieged the same city with a numerous army, and a formidable train of military engines, the most stupendous and most destructive that were ever devised: disdaining that