so much tenderness, and who was dearer to him than any earthly treasure he possessed-would he part with him at the command of God? This trial now awaited him.

When Isaac was grown up, God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thy only son Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."*

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him."

"Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you."

"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together."

"And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

*The hill of Moriah, was one of the four hills upon which the city of Jerusalem afterwards stood. The splendid Temple of Solomon was erected on this mountain.

"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both of them together."

"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood."

"And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and beheld behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up as a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

"And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nation of

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the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

This was the last trial of the faith of Abraham. Let us try to imitate this great and good patriarch, and be ready like him to give up without a murmur any happiness which God sees fit to take from us. Even children should learn to submit cheerfully to disappointments; they should recollect that the very smallest circumstance is known to God, and that he will be pleased if they try to bear patiently the little trials which he sends them.

Some years after the offering of Isaac, Sarah died at Kirjath-arba, or Hebron. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, to serve as a burying place for her, and for his family. It was the custom in many ancient countries to hollow chambers out of the rock, and place the dead in them. Sometimes the bodies, after being embalmed, were laid in stone coffins, and placed in niches round the walls of these large subterraneous chambers, and this seems to have been the usual manner of burying distinguished persons in Canaan: the common people were interred. In Egypt the dead were embalmed, and the mummies, as the bodies were then called, were placed either standing upright, or lying in niches over each other, along the sides of galleries made under ground; these galleries often extended for many miles. We shall find that the bodies of Jacob and Joseph were embalmed, after the manner of the Egyptians, though they

were brought out of Egypt, and buried in the land of Canaan.

NOTE -For an interesting account of the funeral rites of the Jews, and their public mourning and fasts see, Abbé Fleury's work entitled Moeurs des Israelites et des Chrétiens,'

CHAPTER IV.

ISAAC MARRIES REBEKAH.

ABRAHAM DIES.

ABRAHAM had a faithful steward over his household, the eldest servant in his house, in whom he had entire confidence: And he commanded him to take presents, and go to Haran, the country of his kindred, and bring from thence a wife for his son Isaac: the Canaanitish nations being idolatrous, Abraham desired that his son should not take a wife from among them. And Abraham said to his servant, "The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence."

The servant took an oath that he would faithfully execute his master's commands, and imme

diately set out with ten camels, and attended by a train fitted to conduct with honour the bride of his master's son. When he arrived, after a long journey, near the city of Haran, he made his camels kneel down to rest by a well of water which was there and it was the time of evening, when it was usual for the women of the city to come out to draw water. And he prayed to God, and said,

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"O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac? and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master."

The prayer of the faithful servant was hardly ended, when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came forth, with her pitcher on her shoulder, to draw water. This was the common custom in that age, however singular it may appear to us now. And the damsel was very fair to look upon; and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher and came up. "And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said drink, my lord;