Ver. 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the
Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham.

It is not uncommon for a man of property to keep a concubine in the same house with his wife; and, strange as it may appear, it is sometimes at the wife's request. Perhaps she has not had any children, or they may have died, and they both wish to have one, to perform their funeral ceremonies. By the laws of Menu, should a wife, during the first eight years of her marriage, prove unfruitful; or should the children she has borne be all dead in the tenth year after marriage; or should she have a daughter only in the eleventh year; he may, without her consent, put her away, and take a concubine into the house. He must, however, continue to support her.-ROBERTS.

Ver. 14. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, (putting it on her shoulder,) and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow-shot; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. Chardin has given us, at large, an amusing account of these bottles, which, therefore, I would here set down. After observing that the bottle given to Hagar was a leather one, he goes on thus: "The Arabs, and all those that lead a wandering kind of life, keep their water, milk, and other kind of liquors in these bottles. They keep in them more fresh than otherwise they would do. These leather bottles are made of goat skins. When the animal is killed, they cut off its feet and its head, and they draw it in this manner out of the skin, without opening its belly. They afterward sew up the places where the legs were cut off, and the tail, and when it is filled, they tie it about the neck. These nations, and the country people of Persia, never go a journey without a small leather bottle of water hanging by their side like a scrip. The great leather bottles are made of the skin of a he-goat, and the small ones, that serve instead of a bottle of water on the road, are made of a kid's skin. Mons. Dandilly, for want of observing this, in his beautiful translation of Josephus, has put goat skin in the chapter of Hagar and Ishmael, instead of a kid's skin bottle, which, for the reasons assigned above, must have been meant." He reassumes the subject in another part of the same volume, in which he tells us, they put into these goat-skin and kid-skin vessels every thing which they want to carry to a distance in the East, whether dry or liquid, and very rarely make use of boxes and pots, unless it be to preserve such things as are liable to be broken. The reason is, their making use of beasts of carriage for conveying these things, who often fall down under their loading, or throw it down, and also because it is in pretty thin woollen sacks that they enclose what they carry. There is another advantage, too, in putting the necessaries of life in these skin vessels, they are preserved fresher; the ants and other insects cannot make their way to them; nor can the dust get in, of which there are such quantities in the hot countries of Asia, and so fine, that there is no such thing as a coffer impenetrable to it; therefore it is that butter, honey, cheese, and other like aliments, are enclosed in vessels made of the skins of this species of animals." According to this, the things that were carried to Joseph for a present, were probably enclosed in little vessels made of kid skins; not only the balm and the honey, which were somewhat liquid; but the nuts and the almonds too, that they might be preserved fresh, and the whole put into slight woollen sacks.-HARMER.

"that

That Ishmael should, when just ready to faint, and unable to proceed onward in his journey, desire to lie down

I knew a couple with whom this occurred, and the wife delights in nursing and bringing up the offspring of her husband's concubine.

under some tree, where he might be in the shade, was quite natural: in such a situation Thevenot (Travels, p. 164) fell in with a poor Arab in this wilderness, just ready to expire. "Passing by the side of a bush," says this writer, "we heard a voice that called to us, and being come to the place, we found a poor languishing Arab, who told us that he had not eaten a bit for five days; we gave him some victuals and drink, with a provision of bread for two days more, and so went on our way." Ishmael was, without debate, fourteen years old when Isaac was born, (compare Gen. xvi. 16, with chap. xxi. 5,) and probably sevenieen when Isaac was weaned, for it was anciently the custom in these countries to suckle children till they were three years old, and it still continues so; the translation then of the Septuagint is very amazing, for instead of representing Abraham as giving Hagar bread, and a skin bottle of water, and putting them upon Hagar's shoulder, that version represents Abraham as putting his son Ishmael on the shoulders of his mother. How droll the representation! Young children indeed are wont to be carried so; but how ridiculous to describe a youth of seventeen, or even fourteen, as riding upon his mother's shoulders, when sent upon a journey into the wilderness, and she loaded at the same time with the provisions. Yet unnatural and odd as this representation is, our version approaches too near to it, when it describes Hagar as casting the youth under one of the shrubs: which term agrees well enough with the getting rid of a half grown man from her shoulders, but by no means with the maternal affectionate letting go her hold of him, when she found he could go no farther, and desired to lie down and die under that bush: for that undoubtedly was the idea of the sacred writer; she left off supporting him, and let him gently drop on the ground, where he desired to lie. In a succeeding verse, the angel of the LORD bade her lift up Ishmael, and hold him in her hand, support him under his extreme weakness; she had doubtless done this before, and her quitting her hold, upon his lying down, is the meaning of the word (75) shalak, translated casting, that word sometimes, indeed, signifying a sudden and rather violent quitting hold of a thing, but at other times a parting with it in a gentle manner. It may also be wondered at, how Hagar came to give way to despair at that time, as she certainly did; for since there were several shrubs in that place, we may suppose it was a sure indication of water, and that therefore maternal anxiety would rather have engaged her to endeavour to find out the spring which gave this spot its verdure. But it is to be remembered, that though Irwin found many shrubs in that part of the wilderness through which he travelled, yet the fountains or wells there were by no means equal in number to the spots of ground covered with shrubs, a latent moisture in the earth favouring their growth, where there were no streams of water above ground: she might, therefore, having found her preceding searches vain, very naturally be supposed to have given up all hope of relief, when the angel made her observe where there was water to be found, upon drinking which Ishmael revived.HARMER.

Ver. 16. And she went, and sat her down over against him, a good way off, as it were a bowshot.

This is a common figure of speech in their ancient. writings, “The distance of an arrow. So far as the arrow flies." The common way of measuring a short distance is to say, "It is a call off," i. e. so far as a man's voice can reach. "How far is he off?" "O, not more than three calls," i. e. were three men stationed within the reach of each other's voices, the voice of the one farthest off would reach to that distance.-ROBERTS.

Ver. 19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. Few European readers are, probably, able to form an adequate idea of the horrors of such a situation as is here described. The following description may serve to paint to us the terrors of the desert, and the danger of perishing in it with thirst. "The desert of Mesopotamia now presents to our eyes its melancholy uniformity. It is a con

tinuation, and, as it were, a branch of the Great Arabian deser on the other side of the Euphrates. Saline plants cover, at large intervals, the burning sand or the dry gyp

sum.

Wormwood spreads here, as the furze in Europe, over immense tracts, from which it excludes every other plant. Agile herds of gazelles traverse those plains, where many wild asses formerly roved. The lion concealed in the rushes along the rivers lies in wait for these animals; bu: when he is unable to seize them, to appease his hunger, he sallies forth with fury, and his terrible roaring rolls like thunder from desert to desert. The water of the desert is, for the most part, bitter and brackish. The atmosphere, as is usual in Arabia, is pure and dry; frequently it is burning in the naked and sandy plains: the corrupt vapours of stagnant waters are diffused there; the exhalations of the sulphureous and salt lakes increase the pestilential matter. Whenever any interruption of equilib rium sets a column of such infected air into rapid motion, that poisonous wind arises, which is called Samum or Samyel, which is dreaded less in the interior of Arabia than on the frontiers, and especially in Syria and Mesopotamia. As soon as this dangerous wind arises, the air immediately loses its purity, the sun is covered with a bloody veil, all animals fall alarmed to the earth, to avoid this burning blast, which stifles every living being that is bold enough to expose itself to it. The caravans which convey goods backward and forward from Aleppo to Bagdad, and have to traverse these deserts, pay a tribute to the Arabs, who consider themselves as masters of these solitudes. They have also to dread the suffocating wind, the swarms of locusts, and the want of water, as soon as they leave the Euphrates." A French traveller affirms, that he was witness to a scene occasioned by the want of water, the most terrible that can be imagined for a man of feeling. It was between Anah and Dryjeh. The locusts, after they had devoured every thing, at last perished. The immense numbers of dead locusts corrupted the pools, from which, for want of springs, they were obliged to draw water. The traveller observed a Turk, who, with despair in his countenance, ran down a hill, and came towards him. "I am," cried he, "the most unfortunate man in the world! I have purchased, at a prodigious expense, two hundred girls, the most beautiful of Greece and Georgia. I have educated them with care; and now that they are marriageable, I am taking them to Bagdad to sell them to advantage. Ah! they perish in this desert for thirst, but I feel greater tortures than they." The traveller immediately ascended the hill; a dreadful spectacle here presented itself to him. In the midst of twelve eunuchs and about a hundred camels he saw these beautiful girls, of the age of twelve to fifteen, stretched upon the ground, exposed to the torments of a burning thirst and inevitable death. Some were already buried in a pit which had just been made; a great number had dropped down dead by the side of their leaders, who had no more strength to bury them. On all sides were heard the sighs of the dying; and the cries of those who, having still some breath remaining, demanded in vain a drop of water. The French traveller hastened to open his leathern bottle, in which there was a little water. He was already going to present it to one of these unhappy victims. "Madman!" cried his Arabian guide, "wouldst thou also have us die from thirst?" He immediately killed the girl with an arrow, seized the bottle, and threatened to kill any one who should venture to touch it. He advised the slave-merchant to go to Dryjeh, where he would find water. "No," replied the Turk, at Dryjeh the robbers would take away all my slaves." The Arab dragged the traveller away. The moment they were retiring, these unhappy victims, seeing the last ray of hope vanish, raised a dreadful cry. The Arab was moved with compassion; he took one of them, poured a drop of water on her burning lips, and set her upon his camel, with the intention of making his wife a present of her. The poor girl fainted several times, when she passed the bodi's of her companions, who had fallen down dead in the way. Our traveller's small stock of water was nearly exhausted, when they found a fine well of fresh and pure water; but the rope was so short, that the pail would not reach the surface of the water. They cut their cloaks in strips, tied them together, and drew up but little water at a time, because they trembled at the idea of breaking their weak rope, and leaving their pail in the well. After such dan

gers, they at last arrived at the first station in Syria.BURDER.

Ver. 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

When a father dies, the mother begins to look out for a wife for her son, though he may be very young; and her arrangements will generally be acceded to.- -ROBERTS.

Ver. 28. And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flocks by themselves. 29. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe-lambs, which thou hast set by themselves? 30. And he said, For these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well. 31. Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.

Mr. BRUCE, (Travels, vol. i. p. 199,) relating the manner in which a compact was made between his party and some shepherds in Abyssinia, says, "Medicines and advice being given on my part, faith and protection pledged on theirs, two bushels of wheat and seven sheep were carried down to the boat."-BURDER.

CHAP. 22. ver. 3. 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.

There is no ground for supposing that the ancient eastern saddles were like our modern ones. Such were not known to the Greeks and Romans till many ages after the Hebrew judges. "No nation of antiquity knew the use of either saddles or stirrups," (GOGUET;) and even in our own times, Hasselquist, when at Alexandria, says, "I procured an equipage which I had never used before; it was an ass with an Arabian saddle, which consisted only of a cushion, on which I could sit, and a handsome bridle." But even the cushion seems an improvement upon the ancient eastern saddles, which were probably nothing more than a kind of rug girded to the beast.--BURDER.

CHAP. 23. ver. 2. And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

The ancient Greeks were accustomed to lay out the body after it was shrouded in its grave-clothes; sometimes upon a bier, which they bedecked with various sorts of flowers. The place where the bodies were laid out, was near the door of the house: there the friends of the deceased attended them with loud lamentations; a custom which still continues to be observed among that people. Dr. Chandler, when travelling in Greece, saw a woman at Megara, sitting with the door of her cottage open, lamenting her dead husband aloud; and at Zante, a woman in a house with the door open, bewailing her little son, whose body lay by her dressed, the hair powdered, the face painted and bedecked with gold leaf. This custom of mourning for the dead, near the door of the house, was probably borrowed from the Syrians; and if so, it will serve to illustrate an obscure expression of Moses, relative to Abraham: "And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her." He came out of his own separate tent, and seating himself on the ground near the door of her tent, where her corpse was placed, that he might perform those public solemn rites of mourning, that were required, as well by decency as affection, lamented with many tears the loss he had sustained.-PAXTON,

Ver. 7. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

The politeness of Abraham may be seen exemplified among the highest and the lowest of the people of the East in this respect, nature seems to have done for them, what art has done for others. With what grace do all classes bow on receiving a favour, or in paying their respects to a superior! Sometimes they bow down to the ground; at other times they put their hands on their bosoms, and gently incline the head; they also put the right hand on the face in a longitudinal position; and sometimes give a long and graceful sweep with the right hand, from the forehead to the ground.-ROBERTS.

Ver. 9. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me, for a possession of a buryingplace among you.

This is the most ancient example of a family vault or an hereditary sepulchre in a cave. In the southern mountainous part of Palestine, there are many natural caves in the rocks, which may easily be formed into spacious buryingplaces. There are still found in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, many such sepulchral caves, which have been frequently described by travellers who have visited those countries. These sepulchres are differently contrived. Sometimes they descend; only those which are made in the declivities of the mountains, often go horizontally into the rock. In Egypt, also, there are many open sepulchres, which run horizontally into the rock, but most of the mummy-pits are open perpendicularly, and you must let yourself down through this opening. In Palestine and Syria, on the contrary, the sepulchres which descend, are provided with steps, which are now for the most part covered with heaps of rubbish. Many of them consist in the inside of many chambers which are united by passages; in some of them the back chambers are deeper than the front ones, and you are obliged to descend some more steps to come to them. These chambers, as they are still found, are pretty spacious; in most of them recesses, six or seven feet long, are made in the walls all round, to receive the dead bodies;

in others stone slabs of the same length are fixed against the walls; sometimes several, one above another, on which the dead bodies were laid; in some few there are stonecoffins, which are provided with a lid. It is nearly in this manner that the arrangement of graves is prescribed in the Talmud; only there is always to be an antechamber and recesses made in the walls of the square sepulchres, the number of which may be different.-BURDER.

Ver. 15. My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

Respectable people are always saluted with the dignified title, "My lord;" hence English gentlemen on their arrival, are apt to suppose they are taken for those of very high rank. The man of whom Abraham offered to purchase Machpelah, affected to give the land. "Nay, my lord, hear me, the field I give thee." And this fully agrees with the conduct of those, who are requested to dispose of a thing to a person of superior rank. Let the latter go and ask the price, and the owner will say, "My lord, it will be a great favour if you will take it." "Ah, let me have that pleasure, my lord." Should the possessor believe he will one day need a favour from the great man, nothing will induce him to sell the article, and he will take good care (through the servants or a friend) it shall soon be in his house. Should he, however, have no expectation of a favour in future, he will say as Ephron, "The thing is worth so much; your pleasure, my lord."-ROBERTS.

CHAP. 24. ver. 2. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all

that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3. And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.

The present mode of swearing among the Mohammedan Arabs, that live in tents as the patriarchs did, according to de la Roque, is by laying their hands on the Koran. They cause those who swear to wash their hands before they give them the book; they put their left hand underneath, and the right over it. Whether, among the patriarchs, one hand was under, and the other upon the thigh, is not certain; possibly Abraham's servant might swear with one hand under his master's thigh, and the other stretched out to Heaven. As the posterity of the patriarchs are described as coming out of the thigh, it has been supposed, this cere mony had some relation to their believing the promise of God, to bless all the nations of the earth, by means of one

that was to descend from Abraham.-HARMER.

Ver. 11. And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water, at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

It is the work of females in the East to draw water both morning and evening; and they may be seen going in groups to the wells, with their vessels on the hip or the shoulder. In the morning they talk about the events of the past night, and in the evening about those of the day: many a time would the story of Abraham's servant and Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, be repeated by the women of Mesopotamia in their visits to the well.-ROBERTS.

nence.

The women among the orientals, are reduced to a state of great subjection. In Barbary they regard the civility and respect which the politer nations of Europe pay to the weaker sex, as extravagance, and so many infringements of that law of nature, which assigns to man the pre-emiThe matrons of that country, though they are considered indeed as servants of better station, yet have the greatest share of toil and business upon their hands. While the lazy husband reposes under some neighbouring shade, and the young people of both sexes tend the flocks, the wives are occupied all the day long, either in toiling on their looms, or in grinding at the mill, or in preparing bread or other kind of farinaceous food. Nor is this all; for to finish the day, "at the time of evening," to use the words of the sacred historian, even at the time that women go out to draw water," they must equip themselves with a pitcher or goat's skin, and tying their sucking children behind them, trudge out in this manner, two or three miles, to fetch water.-PAXTON.

Ver. 16. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin; neither had any man known her and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher and came up.

of, for the purpose of carrying water, is described as like The vessel that the Eastern women frequently make use our jars, and is, it seems, of earth. Bishop Pococke, in his journey from Acre to Nazareth, observed a well, where oxen were drawing up water, from whence women carried water up a hill, in earthen jars, to water some plantations of tobacco. In the next page he mentions the same thing in general, and speaks of their carrying the jars on their heads. There is no reason to suppose this kind of vessel was appropriated to the carrying water for the they carried it for domestic uses. purposes of agriculture, it might do equally well when Such seems to have been the sort of vessels in which the women of ancient times fetched water, for it is called a kad in the history of Rebecca, Gen. xxiv. 14, &c. and I have elsewhere shown, that the word signifies a jar of considerable size, in which

they keep their corn, and in which, at least sometimes, they

fetched their water.

Since the above was written, I have observed a passage

in Dr. Chandler's Travels in Asia Minor, that confirms and illustrates the preceding account: "The women," says the Doctor, "resort to the fountains by their houses, each with a large two-handled earthen jar, on the back, or thrown over the shoulder, for water." This account of the jars made use of by the Greek women of the island of Tenedos may, very naturally, be understood to be a modern, but accurate comment on what is said concerning Rebecca's fetching water. The Eastern women, according to Dr. Pococke, sometimes carry their jars upon their heads; but Rebecca's was carried on her shoulder. In such a case, the jar is not to be supposed to have been placed upright on the shoulder, but held by one of the handles, with the hand over the shoulder, and suspended in this manner on the back. Held, I should imagine, by the right hand over the left shoulder. Consequently, when it was to be presented to Abraham's servant, that he might drink out of it, it was to be gently moved over the left arm, and being suspended by one hand, while the other, probably, was placed under the bottom of the jar, it was in that position presented to Abraham's servant, and his attendants, to drink out of. She said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. Ver. 18.-HARMER.

Ver. 18. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

As

We met on this road (from Orfa to Bir) with several wells, at which the young women of the neighbouring villages, or of the tribes of the Curds and Turkomans, who were wandering in these parts, watered their flocks. They were not veiled like those in the towns. They were well made and beautiful, though tanned by the sun. soon as we accosted them, and alighted from our horses, they brought us water to drink, and likewise watered our horses. Similar civilities had indeed been shown to me in other parts. But here it appeared to me particularly remarkable, because Rebecca, who was certainly brought up in these parts, showed herself equally obliging to travellers. Perhaps I have even drank at the same well from which she drew water. For Haran, now a small place, two days' journey to the south-south-east of Orfa, which is still visited by Jews, was probably the town which Abraham left to remove to the land of Canaan, and his brother Nahor's family probably remained in these parts. LEONARD RAUWOLF, a German traveller, who visited these countries about two hundred years before, observes, in his Travels, (part i. p. 259,)" This town (Orfa) is supposed by some to have been formerly called Haran, from which the holy patriarch Abraham, with Sarah, and Lot, his brother's son, removed by the command of God; so that the abundant well is still called Abraham's well, at which his servant first recognised Rebecca, when she gave him and his camels water to drink from it. The water of this well has more of a whitish colour than others, and also, as I drank it from the

Ver. 43. Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink.

It is still the proper business of the females to supply the family with water. From this drudgery, however, the married women are exempted, unless when single women are wanting. The proper time for drawing water in those burning climates, is in the morning, or when the sun is going down; then they go forth to perform that humble office, adorned with their trinkets, some of which are often of great value. Agreeably to this custom, Rebecca went instead of her mother to fetch water from the well, and the servant of Abraham expected to meet an unmarried female there who might prove a suitable match for his master's son. In the East Indies, the women also draw water at the public wells, as Rebecca did, on that occasion, for travellers, their servants and their cattle; and women of no mean rank literally illustrate the conduct of an unfortunate princess in the Jewish History, by performing the services of a menial. The young women of Guzerat daily draw water from the wells, and carry the jars upon the head; but those of high rank carry them upon the shoulder. In the same way Rebecca carried her pitcher; and probably for the same reason, because she was the daughter of an eastern prince.-PAXTON.

Ver. 47. And I put the ear-ring upon her face,

and the bracelets upon her hand.

Nothing is more common than for heathen females to have a ring in the nose; and this has led some to suppose, that the jewel here alluded to was put into that member, and not on the face. "I put a jewel on thy forehead;" Ez. xv. 11. The margin has, for forehead, "nose." It does not appear to be generally known, that there is an ornament which is worn by females in the East on the forehead. It is made of thin gold, and is studded with precious stones, and called Pattam, which signifies dignity. Thus, to tie on the Pattam, is to "invest with high dignity." Patta-Istere, "is the name of the first lawful wife of the king." In the Sathur-Agaraathe, this ornament is called "the ornament of the forehead." Tyerman and Bennet say of a bride they saw in China, "Her headdress Sparkled with jewels, and was most elegantly beaded with rows of pearls encircling it like a coronet; from which a brilliant angular ornament hung over her forehead, and between her eyebrows."--ROBERTS.

Ver. 57. And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.

Do people wish to know the truth of any thing which has been reported of another, they say, "Let us go and

Ver. 22. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold.

The weight of the ornaments that the servant of Abraham put upon Rebecca appears to us rather extraordinary. Sir J. Chardin assures us as heavy, and even heavier, were worn by the women of the East when he was there. The ear-ring, or jewel for the face, weighed half a shekel, and the bracelets for her hands ten shekels, Gen. xxiv. 22, which, as he justly observes, is about five ounces. Upon which he tells us, "the women wear rings and bracelets of as great weight as this, through all Asia, and even much heavier. They are rather manacles than bracelets. There are some as large as the finger. The women wear seyeral of them, one above the other, in such a manner as sometimes to have the arm covered with them from the wrist to the elbow. Poor people wear as many of glass or horn. They hardly ever take them off: they are their riches."-HARMER.

mouth." Do servants ask a favour of their mistress, she will say, "I know not what will be the birth of the master's mouth; I will inquire at his mouth." So the mother and brother of Rebecca inquired at the mouth of the damsel, whether she felt willing to go with the man. "And she said, I will go."--ROBERTS.

Ver. 59. And they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

How often have scenes like this led my mind to the patriarchal age! The daughter is about for the first time to leave the paternal roof: the servants are all in confusion; each refers to things long gone by, each wishes to do something to attract the attention of his young mistress. One says, "Ah! do not forget him who nursed you when an infant:" another, "How often did I bring you the beautiful lotus from the distant tank! Did I not always conceal your faults?" The mother comes to take leave. She weeps, and tenderly embraces her, saying, "My daughter, I shall see you no more ;--Forget not your mother." The brother infolds his sister in his arms, and promises soon to come and see her. The father is absorbed in thought,