to be thrown in the way of the very Maiden, to whom it would be in the Will of The ALMIGHTY that Isaac should be allied, for the furtherance of his own happiness and the fulfilment of his Father's pious purpose, instead of at once resting on his own judgment and discrimination, by at once introducing himself amongst all the People of the City, is another commendable feature in this wise-hearted Servant, a course so simple in its suggestion, and so calculated to develope character in the Female; and the Direct Answer to the prayer is an obvious Proof of A Particular PROVIDENCE, Which it would be well if we all individually so sought, and so confided in. The right-minded Rebekah, full of one of the leading and endearing qualities of her Sex, a readiness to oblige, and an active spirit of attention to the wants and reasonable wishes of Others, not only met the direct solicitation of the Steward in giving him of the water she had drawn, but instantly of her free will extended her service, and doubtless, not without much Personal exertion, drew successively till she had filled and, perhaps, refilled the trough with a supply that satisfied the thirst of no less than eight camels after a wearying journey; an animal peculiarly copious in its draughts, from the enlarged formation of its stomach, to enable it to sustain its progress through the thirsty deserts. The renewed piety of the Steward, at finding his hope thus PROVIDENTIALLY Seconded, shows the vital Hold that Abraham's GOD Had upon his heart. We find, also, that though Abraham had left, and long left, the Land of his Kindred, the knowledge and worship of The True GOD had not forsaken it with him, for both Laban and Bethuel manifested the Patriarchal faith, in saying to the Steward, "The Thing Proceedeth from The LORD! We cannot speak unto thee bad or good" they probably meant that they would not, by any other decision of their own than entire resignation to The DIVINE Will, interrupt the Course so Graciously Pointed out to the Steward; and, therefore, they put such guard over their tongues, though of words seemingly and intentionally good, lest the views of the Steward might be changed, and his search for a Wife for his young Master be elsewhere directed. Their after proposal that Rebekah might have some ten days allowed her to prepare for her departure, and that her Kindred's minds might by degrees become reconciled to such a separation from her, appears quite consistent and reasonable after the consent given to the betrothment-and their ultimately yielding to Rebekah's decision, proved their determination to render their natural feelings subordinate to their religious impressions. The parting Blessing they invoked, from The FOUNTAIN of All Good on Rebekah, was in accordance with the Prophetic Destiny of the Husband of her choice.

The short description of the courtship and marriage, under the peculiar circumstances and habits of the Age and Place, and the expression of Isaac's warmth of feeling under his new Relationship, leave to the imagination the easy task to supply the picture of mutual endearment interchanged between the Objects of an Union so evidently Superinduced and Countenanced by GOD, Whose faith they mutually cherished, and Whose willing Servants they gratefully proved. In such a consummation of the fondest wish of a pious Parent's heart, what joy must that Union, in its prospects, as well as present appearance, have imparted to Abraham; and in the piety as well as the fidelity of his Steward, and probably in the influential acknowledgment and worship of The True GOD by the Members of his Household generally, what reflective delight must the Soul of the Patriarch have received under the consciousness that his own piety had tended to Bring down Such Accumulated Blessings upon him. May we so live and so act, Each in our peculiar circumstance and Connections, as that we may taste of such reflective and prospective happiness under a sense of The DIVINE Favour, by a sacred regard to The DIVINE Will, that both we and our Household may serve The LORD. In continuance of Abraham's History it is Declared, that "Then again

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Abraham took a Wife, and her name was Keturah :"-Gen. xxv. 1. (by whom he had six Children). · And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac: but unto the Sons of the Concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and sent them away from Isaac, his Son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the East Country.”— Gen. xxv. 5, 6. Assured by DIVINE Revelation that Isaac was the Child, who was the Elect of GOD, and in whose SEED all the Families of the Earth were to be Blest, Abraham invested him in a pre-eminent degree with his Substance, that he might the more readily establish a Name upon Earth and become the Founder of that Nation, Which was to Spring from his loins. And probably to prevent the influence of jealousy and envy, Abraham dismissed the Others of his Offspring into a distant Land, giving them a provision sufficient for their wants; yet not enough to arm them with power against Isaac.

In the conclusion of this interesting and important History of the Father of the Faithful, it is Said, "And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life, which he lived, an hundred three score and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the Ghost, and died in a good old age, an old Man, and full of years; and was gathered to his People. And his Sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the Cave of Machpelah."-Gen. xxv. 7 to 9. The years of Man are now ordinarily a century short of those Allotted to Abraham; but ample time, in the contracted span of this our Generation, is Afforded to every One to work out the Great Work of Salvation through faith in CHRIST JESUS; and though a Man be of a good old age and full of years at the end of three score years and ten (at which age Abraham is only introduced Historically to our notice, beyond the mere mention of his birth and marriage), yet may the Everlasting Inheritance of the Heavenly Canaan and the possession of the Joys Thereof, Which are immeasurably more than the heart can conceive, be ours, if the time Allotted us, after Abraham's example, be employed in obedience to the Word, and in Submission to The SPIRIT of GOD -and then will our latter end be like Abraham's, full of Consolation in the confidence of Redemption and Sanctification through JESUS CHRIST, The SEED of Eternal Blessedness to All faithful Believers.

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The meeting of the Brothers, Isaac and Ishmael, to perform the last office of reverence to their venerable and venerated Parent, is alike creditable to Both. The Testimony Borne in other parts of Scripture, including as well the New as the Old Testament, to the character and merit of Abraham, is extensive, and may be profitably consulted. In the Renewed Promise of Blessedness to Isaac, That in his SEED should All the Nations of the Earth be Blessed," The ALMIGHTY _Expressly Thus Assigns, as the Reason for Such Pre-eminent Distinction, "Because that Abraham obeyed My Voice, and kept My Charge, My Commandments, My Statutes, and My Laws."-Gen. xxvi. 5. And again, on The LORD'S Appearance to Isaac, He 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."-ib. 24. In the dying benediction of Isaac to his Son Jacob, when manifesting a Parental care and discretion in the choice for him of a Wife from amongst his Mother's Kindred, he said, "May GOD ALMIGHTY Bless thee, and Make thee Fruitful, and Multiply thee, that thou mayest be a Multitude of People; and Give thee the Blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy Seed with thee!"-Gen. xxviii. 3 and 4. Isaac thereby manifesting the most Filial reverence and ingenuousness towards the memory of his Father Abraham by thus passing over, without even any mention of It, the Blessing Promised to himself; and referring, with equal humility and justice, to him from whose merits had originated the Pledge of Such Gracious Promises.—When the Anger of The LORD was Kindled against Israel for their idolatry, whilst Moses was separated from them in Mount Sinai, one of the reasons urged by Moses for

appeasing The DIVINE Displeasure and averting the Threatened Judgment of Universal Destruction, was the merit of Abraham in his faithfulness, and The Promises Made to him and his immediate Issue, thus recalling them, as it were, to The ALMIGHTY'S Thoughts, "O LORD GOD, Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel Thy Servants, to whom Thou Swarest by Thine Own Self, and Saidest unto them, I will Multiply your Seed as the Stars of Heaven; and all this Land, that I have Spoken of, will I Give unto your Seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.' And The LORD Repented of the Evil, Which He Thought to Do unto His People."-Ex. xxxii. 11, 13, 14.—Deut. ix. 26, 27. When the terrors of an invading Enemy had seized the Inhabitants of Judah, their King Jehoshaphat, in his admirable prayer, which he publicly offered up on the occasion for The ALMIGHTY'S Succour, impressively asks, when addressing Him as The LORD GOD of their Fathers, "Art not Thou our GOD, Who didst Drive out the Inhabitants of this Land before Thy People Israel, and Gavest it to the Seed of Abraham, Thy Friend, for ever?"-2 Chron. xx. 7. And can a more distinguishing mark of exalted worth be found than in Such a Designation? and with how much justice, since it is Established by GOD'S Own Adoption of the very Term, when, Expos tulating by His Prophet with the People of Israel, He thus Addresses them as "the Seed of Abraham, My Friend!"-Is. xli. 8. To the same effect was the general acknowledgment of the Israelites on the celebration of the Fast after their Release from the Babylonish captivity, "THOU, LORD GOD, hast Made Heaven, the Heaven of Heavens, with all their Host, the Earth and All Things That are therein, the Seas and All that is therein; and Thou Preservest them All: and the Host of Heaven worshippeth Thee! Thou art The LORD, The GOD, Who didst Choose Abram, and Broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and Gavest him the name of Abraham; and Foundest his heart faithful before Thee, and Madest a Covenant with him."-Nehem. ix. 6 to 8. Even David himself addressed The DIVINE BEING as "The GOD of Abraham."-Ps. xlvii. 9. In the New Testament the Same Chain of reverential respect for the piety and virtue of Abraham and his exemplary obedience is continued. The Holy JESUS Adverts to the Saying of GOD Himself in the third ch. of Exodus, ver. 6 and 16, "I Am The GOD of Abraham, and The GOD of Isaac, and The GOD of Jacob," and Urges it as an Evidence of our Spiritual Existence after the death of the body, Saying, "GOD is not The GOD of the Dead, but of the Living."Matt. xxii. 32; and, when Exhorting Others to repentance, Points to Abraham's Spirit as assuredly within the Pale of Salvation; from Which the Faithless will be excluded, Saying of and to the Latter, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets in The KINGDOM of GOD, and you yourselves thrust out."-Luke xiii. 28. The Same Infallible ORACLE Declared that Salvation had Come unto the House of the Publican Zaccheus "forsomuch as he also was a Son of Abraham."Luke xix. 9; Meaning, doubtless, not because he was a Descendant from Abraham; but because he was, like him, not faithless but believing as on another Occasion is explained beyond misunderstanding, where Some of the Jews, priding themselves upon being descended, according to the flesh, from Abraham, and therefore of his Seed, JESUS thus Exposed the fallacy of such dependence, "If ye were Abraham's Children, ye would do the works of Abraham."-John viii. 39. That Abraham was in spirit and in truth a Christian we have also the Assurance of CHRIST Himself; for when Accusing the unbelieving Jews, who boasted that they were the Seed of Abraham, though seeking to kill JESUS, Ho thus Spake, "This did not Abraham, for he rejoiced to see My Day, and he saw It and was glad."-John viii. 40, 56. St. Peter, in his Sermon at Jerusalem, which was the occasion of so comprehensive a Conversion amongst his Hearers, when

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preaching JESUS, from the Practical Text Illustrative of His Power through the Virtue of His Name, on the Restoration of the lame Man to the free use of his feet, addresses them as the Children of the Prophets," adding, "and of the Covenant Which GOD (Whom he elsewhere expressly calls The GOD of Abraham) Made with our Fathers, Saying Unto Abraham, And in thy SEED shall All the Kindreds of the Earth be Blessed ;' and unto JESUS the Apostle points as Fulfilling That Promise.-Acts iii. 25, 13, &c. St. Stephen, in the Discourse, which immediately preceded his martyrdom, enters into a brief narrative of the Grand Events in the Jewish History, as admitted by All, and dwells on the Promise Which GOD (Who St. Stephen affirms, Himself Declared to Moses on Mount Sinai, that He was The GOD of Abraham) had Sworn to Abraham. Acts vii. 17, 31, 32. St. Paul, too, in the Sermon he Preached at Antioch, addressed his Audience as “Children of the Stock of Abraham, to whom the Word of Salvation by JESUS CHRIST was Sent."-Acts xiii, 26. This latter Apostle, in his Dissertation on the comparative efficacy of faith and works (as differently estimated by Such as had not Spiritual discernment; for to the truly Spiritualized mind they are as inseparable as cause and effect), enters into an examination of the religious qualities of Abraham, not only confirming by the result the Truth of the Scriptural Delineation of them, but removing some dangerous misconceptions which had been formed with reference to the principle of the supposed sufficiency of Self-righteousness for Salvation, and holding it up to view in its misguiding colours; for after insisting, in the most solemn manner, that by a right faith in The Incarnate SON of GOD, The PATTERN of All Excellence, is the Law of good works and obedience unto Holiness Established, he refers at once to Abraham, the acknowledged Father of the Faithful, as an Authority for such Position and so All-Important Doctrine, prefacing his remarks with the force of interrogation; "What shall we say then that Abraham, our Father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were Justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before GOD. For What Saith the Scripture?(Gen. xv. 6.) Abraham believed GOD; and it was Counted unto him for Righteousness.' How was it then Reckoned? when he was in Cirenmcision, or in Uncircumcision? Not in Circumcision, but in Uncircumcision: and he received the Sign of Circumcision, a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the Father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that Righteousness might be imputed unto them also; and the Father of Circumcision to them who are not of the Circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that Faith of our Father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised for The Promise, that he should be the Heir of the World, was not to Abraham or to his Seed through the Law, but through the Righteousness of Faith. For if they, which are of the Law, be Heirs, Faith is made void; and The Promise made of none effect: because the Law worketh wrath: for where no Law is, there is no transgression. Therefore, it is of Faith, that it might be by Grace; to the end The Promise might be Sure to All the Seed: not to That only which is of the Law, but to That also which is of the Faith of Abraham, who is the Father of us all (as it is Written, Gen. xvii. 5, 'I have made thee a Father of many Nations'), before Him Whom he believed, even GOD, Who Quickeneth the Dead; and Calleth those Things, which be not, as though they were,-referring to Abraham,—who, against hope, believed in hope, that he might become the Father of many Nations, according to That Which was Spoken (Gen. xv. 5, in allusion to the Stars), 'So shall thy Seed be!' And being not weak in Faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old; neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: he staggered not at The Promise of GOD through unbelief, but was strong in faith; giving Glory to GOD; and being fully persuaded that What He had Promised, He was

Able also to Perform; and therefore, it was Imputed to Him for Righteousness." From all which exposition and reasoning, the Apostle draws this conclusion, which is alike consolatory to Gentile and to Jew." Now It was not Written for his sake alone, that It was Imputed to him, but for us also, to whom It shall be Imputed, if we believe on Him That Raised up JESUS, our LORD, from the Dead; Who was Delivered for our offences, and was Raised again for our Justification."-Rom. iv. 1 to 3, 9 to 25.

*** In his Epistle to the Galatian Converts, when reasoning with them on the folly and falsity of resting exclusively their hope on an assumed observance of the Law, without admitting the necessity of Faith, he says, with peculiar energy of expression, "O foolish Galatians! who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the Truth! Before whose eyes JESUS CHRIST hath been Evidently Set forth, Crucified among you. This only would I learn of you, Received ye The SPIRIT by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of Faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in The SPIRIT, are ye now made Perfect by the Flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He, therefore, that ministereth to you The SPIRIT, and worketh Miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of Faith ?-Even as Abraham believed GOD; and it was Accounted to him for Righteousness." And the Apostle then goes on in illustration of the comprehensive and beneficial Effects of Faith in CHRIST, and of the Promise Founded on Abraham's illustrious Exemplification of it, to say, "Know therefore, that They, which are of Faith, the Same are the Children of Abraham: and the Scriptures, Foreseeing that GOD would Justify the Heathen through Faith, Preached before The Gospel unto Abraham, Saying, 'In thee shall all Nations be Blessed!' So then, They, which be of Faith, are Blessed with faithful Abraham." St. Paul, afterwards, thus exposes the danger of a reliance on the Law, or works without Faith, "For as Many as are of the works of the Law, are under the Curse, for it is Written (Deut. xxvii. 26), Cursed is every One, that continueth not in all Things, which are Written in the Book of the Law, to do them.' But that no Man is Justified by the Law in the Sight of GOD it is evident, for the Just shall live by Faith-Habbak. ii. 4; and the Law is not of Faith; but the Man, that doeth them, shall live in them."-Levit. xviii. 5. The Apostle thence proceeds to show the Efficacy of That Mediation, Which, if faithfully accepted, Cleanseth from all unrighteousness, and Qualifieth for the becoming Heirs of Immortal Glory in The KINGDOM to Come. "CHRIST hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law, being Made a Curse for us; for it is Written (Deut. xxi. 23), 'Cursed is every One that hangeth on a tree;' that the Blessing of Abraham might Come on the Gentiles through JESUS CHRIST; that we might receive the Promise of The SPIRIT through Faith." And in further confirmation of the Apostle's belief in JESUS CHRIST, as That Blessing upon all Nations Which was to be Exemplified in Him, The Appointed SEED of Abraham according to the Flesh, St. Paul adapts his reasoning to their understandings who had not yielded implicitly to such Doctrine of Faith; but whom, nevertheless, in the zeal of Christian charity, he wished to bring within the Pale of Salvation, "Brethren! I speak after the manner of Men; Though it be but a Man's covenant; yet, if it be confirmed, no Man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his SEED were The Promises Made. He Saith not, And to Seeds,' as of Many, but as of ONE, And to thy SEED, Which is CHRIST.' And this I say, that The Covenant That was Confirmed before of GOD in CHRIST, the Law, Which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the Promise of none effect. For if the Inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of Promise. But GOD Gave It to Abraham by Promise." The Apostle then anticipates the very question, that would have arisen in the minds of his doubting and disputing Correspondents; "Wherefore