bare them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, 'dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat ' of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod' pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that' < same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold I am at the point to die: and 'what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, ( swear to me this day,; and he sware unto him: and he sold 'his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and 'poltage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.'

I must keep the reader in mind, that the Bible is a collection of traditionary tales and songs, which existed in an unlettered age, and were narrated and sung by that class of persons we call bards, and thus handed down from generation to generation, until the knowledge of letters: when their compilation was undertaken by a very unskilful hand. Thus in the twenty-fourth chapter we are told, that Abraham was old and well stricken in age: and it further appeared, that his' only wish before death was, that Isaac should possess a wife from the daughters of his own family. In the present chapter we find Abraham sufficiently vigorous to take another wife, who bears him six children! I know not how to account for this, further than what I have before stated, that in Asia there were a variety of tribes who claimed their descent from Abraham, and as the pretended origin of all the nations of Asia is given in the Bible, we can only consider it to have been fabricated for that purpose. In this chapter Abraham is represented in the character of an oriental sultan, with numerous concubines. In a former chapter we were told that Hagar and Ishmael were obliged to quit the family of Abraham and to wander in the wilderness, where we had an account of Ishmael being provided with a wife, and were led to suppose that he had settled; but here again we find him assisting Isaac in the burial of his father. We have also an account of the twelve sons of Ishinael, each of whom formed an independent nation and became a prince. Each is also represented as possessing a castle; but I am doubtful whether any fortified places existed at so remote a period. It is the first mention made of any thing of the kind. The chapter concludes with a very delicate tale, according to English notions of delicacy, but

as much stress is laid on, and frequent reference made to, all the supposed descendants of Abraham, it will be necessary to pass nothing unnoticed, that will bear noticing. It appears that Rebekah like her mother in law, was barren and could not obtain children until Isaac had prayed for her. She then conceived! The sentence which expresses that she went to enquire of the Lord what was the cause of the struggling she felt in her womb, is rather curious. Where did she go to enquire? How very similar this to the running after the seers and prophets of the Bible, the oracles of the Pagan world, and the fortune tellers and astrologers of the present day. It is worthy of notice, that every birth which is mentioned in Genesis produces the chief of some nation, thus the children in the womb of Rebekah are promised to be two nations, and to produce two manner of people. But as it is much easier to invent the origin of what doth exist, than to say what shall exist; I consider the former cause to be the ground-work of the Bible. As to the story about Esau selling his birthright. for a mess of pottage, to me it appears a fiction without the appearance of truth; but the character in which Jacob is depicted is an exact portrait of the general character of the Jew for traffic.

I now proceed to the twenty-sixth chapter. "And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went unto Abimelech 'king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the Lord appear❝ed unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt: dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for unto thee, and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries: and in 'thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Be'cause that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. And Isaac 'dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him of his 'wife; and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah: because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass when he had been there a long time, ' that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Be

hold of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She ' is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest "I die for her. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness C upon us. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, 'He that toucheth this man or his wife, shall surely be put 'to death. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in 'the same year an hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great and went forward, and grew un'til he became very great; for he had possession of flocks, ' and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and 'the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his fa'ther's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us: for 'thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and 'dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, 'which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father: 'for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abra'ham: and he called their names after the names by which 'his father had called them. And Isaac's servant's digged in 'the valley, and found there a well of springing-water. And 'the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is our's: and he called the name of the well 'Esek; because they strove with him. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the ' name of it Sitnah. And he removed from thence, and dig'ged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the 'Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the 'land. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. And 'the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am 'the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with 'thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy' seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he builded an altar there, and 'called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent 'there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well. Then 'Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzath one of his friends, and Phicol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you ? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and

we said, Let there be now an oath betwist us, even betwixt 6 us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee: that 'thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and C as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent • thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of the Lord. "And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they arose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to ano'ther: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him ' in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's ser'vants came and told him concerning the well which they had 'digged, and said unto him, We have found water. And he 'called it Sheba; therefore the name of the city is Beer"sheba unto this day. And Esau was forty years old when 'he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and ⚫ Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.'

This chapter is nothing more than a tale thrice told-it is similar to the twentieth; only Isaac and Rebekah are substituted for Abrahsm and Sarah, snd a few other alterations. The reader needs no further comment upon it: he can com'pare it with the two former tales.

I proceed with the twenty-seventh chapter. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so 'that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am 'I. And he said, Behold now, I am old; I know not the day of my death. Now therefore, take, I pray thee, thy wea'pons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out, to the field, and * take me some venison; and make me savoury meat, such as 'I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son and Esau went to the field to * hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto 'Jacob her son, saying, behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the • Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death, And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau 'my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man; my father

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peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And 'he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: ' and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. 'And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck.. And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came 'unto his father, and said, my father: and he said, here am 'I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, how is it 'that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac 'said unto Jacob, come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. 'And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, ' and said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the 'hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, becausehis 'hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed ' him. And he said, art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And ' he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought 'him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his rai'ment, and blessed him, and said, see, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: there'fore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of 'the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let the people 'serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had 'made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce 'gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his 'brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father; and said unto