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needful labour and expense upon the formation of a well in an arid district, to a certain extent creates its fruitfulness, it is considered still in some parts (as in Persia, for instance) to confer a proprietorship in the land so fertilized. It was, doubtless, on this account that the Philistines took pains to fill up the excavated wells both of Abraham and of Isaac, or disputed the possession of them; as fearing that the wealthy strangers might establish a claim upon the lands which they occupied, that might afterwards prove inconvenient.*

In the dominions of Abimelech, there might be some justice in the rigid exclusiveness of the Philistines; and Isaac readily departed at the suggestion of the king, and pitched his tent in the valley, which seems to have remained as yet unappropriated. Having re-opened the old wells which Abraham had digged, he gave to them the names which had been originally conferred on them by that patriarch. The custom of naming wells, no doubt, arose from the desire of establishing a right to the water; and tradition would preserve the circumstances which induced the selection of the name, (for this was always significant,) much longer than if no distinctive appellation had been given. We are not told that the Philistines interfered with Isaac in these operations; perhaps they felt that the evidence of property which the revival of the old names gave was too strong to be openly resisted; though they had not scrupled to fill up the wells secretly. But on his digging new ones, matters came to an open rupture. The servants of Isaac, digging in the valley, came

* Dr. Kitto.

upon a fine spring, which roused the envy of the Philistine herdmen who were pasturing their flocks in the neighbourhood, and they disputed the possession of the water by force of arms. Another well

was the subject of similar contention; and Isaac meekly relinquished both, having first bestowed upon them the odious names of Esek and Sitnah, signifying strife and hatred. The Philistines in these transactions appear peculiarly unamiable, selfishly seeking to derive exclusive advantage from the labours of another-labours which they had not energy or skill to perform for themselves. But Isaac exemplifies the lovely principle of grace, giving up his right for the sake of peace; content, although confessedly the stronger, "much mightier than they," to be imposed on, rather than resist evil, where only his convenience or interest was concerned: like his promised Seed, to whom he looked in anticipative faith, and of whom he was an illustrious type, he "restored that which he took not away."

XVII.

THE RIVER NILE.

TOPOGRAPHY-Ancient Renown-The White and Blue RiversValley of Egypt-Periodical Overflow-Consequent FertilityAncient Monuments-Early Civilization-Abram's Visit-Moses -The Plagues of Egypt-Subsequent History.

WE now again leave the goodly land of Canaan, to consider a river, mighty and renowned, indeed, but one whose name would be chiefly associated in the mind of Israel with memories and traditions of bitter captivity, the "iron furnace" of Egyptian bondage. The Nile is the great river of northern and eastern Africa, pursuing a course of more than 1,800 miles, in a direction nearly due north, from the centre of that great continent to the Mediterranean. The various sources of this river are yet involved in obscurity; but they are believed to rise in lofty mountains to the north of the equator. The principal branches are called the White and the Blue rivers, which, after passing through Abyssinia, unite in the region of Sennaar. From this point it receives but one tribu

tary of any importance, until it falls into the Mediterranean, by several diverging mouths, forming the Delta of Egypt. The greater part of its course lies through a narrow valley, rarely exceeding a few miles in width, hemmed in on both sides by low ranges of mountains. Some portions of even this narrow strip

are little better than the sandy desert around; but other parts, especially the lower course of the river, forming the land of Egypt, possess an astonishing fertility, owing to the annual deposition of a rich

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alluvial mud, by the overflow of the river in

summer.

After the waters have retired within their banks, which takes place in November, the agricultural preparations begin; and the valley soon assumes the appearance of a delightful garden, covered with verdant crops, enamelled with flowers, and interspersed with groves of fruit-trees and luxuriant palms. The harvest is gathered in March and April, after which the heat becomes intense, and the suffocating khamseen, or south wind, sweeping along clouds of fine sand, and parching up all vegetation, makes the inhabitants look forward with eagerness to the rise of the Nile, the hope of the succeeding year.

All through the valley, on both sides of the river, lie scattered, in astonishing profusion, the monuments of ancient Egypt;-grand and imposing palaces, temples, sepulchres, and colossal statues, the remnant of the power and science of those early days, when Abram visited the land of Ham, and Joseph preserved her from destruction.

The name of the Nile does not occur in Scripture, (unless it be the "Sihor" of Jer. ii. 18;) but it is spoken of as "the river" more than twenty times, and much of the early history of God's chosen people is linked with it. To describe all the scenes associated with it would be to transcribe nearly one-third of the books of Genesis and Exodus; but the limits assigned to this little volume will not permit us to do more than enumerate some of the most prominent of the incidents with which it is connected.

The researches of modern times, and the light reflected from the ancient monuments, prove that