Satisfied with life, he left it with a hope full of immortality, for he saw the day of Christ and was glad.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael joined in doing the last sad offices to a parent who was an honor to them and to human

nature.

Here we see to what a state of moral excellence the grace of God can exalt a character, when there is simple, implicit faith, and prompt obedience. Abraham walked before God, and Abraham was perfect.

Perhaps. no human being ever exhibited a fairer, fuller portrait of the perfect man than Abraham. He has manifested in his own person those virtues for which reason and philosophy could scarcely find out names, when trying to sketch the character of their sophist—wise or perfect man.

Without being under the law, he performed the most essential duties it requires; and as to the gospel, its grand object was that on which he had fixed his eye-that Jesus whose day he rejoiced to see; and as to its spirit and design, they were wondrously exemplified in that faith which was imputed to him for righteousness, receiving that grace which conformed his whole heart and life to the will of his Maker, and enabled him to persevere unto death.

As a son, as a husband, as a father, as a neighbor, as a sovereign, and above all as a man of God, he stands unrivaled; so that under the more exalted and perfect of all dispensations, the gospel of Jesus Christ, he is proposed and recommended as the model and pattern according to which the faith, obedience and perseverance of the followers of the Messiah are to be formed.

Happy for all, if like Abraham, regardless of all consequences, they follow the directions of God's word, and the openings of his providence, leaving all events to Him who doth all things well.

CHAPTER III.

Isaac.

HIS MARRIAGE; REMOVAL TO GERAR; SETTLEMENT AT BEER SHEBA; IGNORANT BESTOWAL OF BLESSING ON JACOB; HIS

BLINDNESS AND FINAL DISSOLUTION.

N contemplating the history of Isaac, we observe the character of one who was not indeed exempted from his share of the ills which flesh is heir to, but one whose afflictions being private and domestic, called him more particularly to the exercise of patient fortitude and calm endurance, than any public display of signal virtues.

He was emphatically a man of peace, and the example of his piety and christian virtue did more to instruct and bless mankind, than all the conquerors which ever existed, from Nimrod of Assyria down to the present.

The first seventy-five years of the life of Isaac seem to be blended with that of his illustrious father; and so entirely subject was he to the will of his parent, that his own energies were but slightly developed, and his self-reliance scarcely noticeable.

In speaking of him, we shall only take up those particulars of his story which are more personal and peculiar; in which he was an agent or a sufferer.

We find him at a very early period feeling distress and suffering persecution; and it is remarkable that almost all, at least the severest trials, which this patriarch endured, arose from his nearest and dearest relations. Hated and scorned from the very first, by his brother; devoted in sacrifice, of his father; called early to mourn the loss of his affectionate mother; vexed continually with the strife of his jealous sons, struggling for superiority; mortified and grieved to the heart, with the inconsiderate, unwise, idolatrous marriages of his

favorite Esau; practiced upon, and deceived in old age and blindness, by the address and cunning of his wife and younger son; involved in quarrel upon quarrel, with his powerful neighbors, through the rashness and contentiousness of his servants; never faulty, yet throughout unfortunate.

The memorable transaction on Mount Moriah presents the character of Isaac to us, in admirable light. It was no less a proof of his faith, than of Abraham himself. As the obedience of the father was prompt and cheerful, so was that of his son. If the resignation of Abraham merits praise, the submission of Isaac claims no less; for his consent must undoubtedly have been obtained. In both it was In both it was "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, and a reasonable service;" and the blessing pronounced from heaven on that occasion, applied to both, equally and in the same manner.

The next important event of Isaac's life, upon the sacred record, is his marriage. Swallowed up in sorrow for the loss of his mother, or absorbed in devout meditation, he leaves all concern about his future fortunes, and establishment in the world, to the care and wisdom of his father.

He commissioned his faithful servant to go to his own kindred, to choose a companion for his son, and with duly solemn preparation the messenger went forth on his important errand.

In the various particulars of this transaction, we have a beautiful and interesting picture of the simplicity of ancient manners and customs. It is an excellent commentary upon that injunction of the wise man, "In all thy ways acknowledge God, and he shall direct thy paths." Abraham's servant implored the Divine guidance, and hardly had he finished his address to heaven, when lo, Providence, which works unseen, unknown, unobserved by us, brought the subject of his prayer, the object of his search, directly before him, in the person of the fair Rebekah.

Fully satisfied she was the destined bride of Isaac, he took her to his master's tent, and as he neared those peaceful shades, where was the one particularly interested in his return?

He had gone out "to meditate, or to pray, in the field at the eventide." This is the leading, prevailing lineament in

the good man's character; a heart tuned to devotion, an eye continually directed toward heaven.

The faith of Isaac, placid and contemplative, sought the happiness of communion with God in calmness and solitude, and ever satisfied itself with the secret, untumultuous delight of beholding his family built up, and the promises of God advancing to their accomplishment.

He continued to abide in his father's tent, quietly tending his flocks for many years. God's blessing attended him, and sons were given them.

Death came, at length, and removed from him his aged. parent. Hitherto he had trusted every thing to the wisdom and affection of his kind father; but now, his own children. growing up fast upon him, he is under the necessity of arising and exerting himself.

We accordingly find him, with the prudent sagacity of a good husband, father, and master, directing the removal of his family from place to place, as occasionally circumstances rendered necessary; forming alliances with his powerful neighbors, for their mutual security; and presiding in the offices of religion, his favorite employment.

The distresses which embittered the remainder of Isaac's life, were chiefly internal and domestic,-having their source in his own infirmity-a fond partiality in favor of his eldest son. While his family was thus torn with internal dissension, Providence was pleased to visit him with a grievous external calamity.

A famine in the land made it necessary for him to seek a new home. By Divine intimation he turned aside from Egypt, the land which had afforded his father shelter, and retired to Gerar, a city of Palestine.

Here he grew so rich and great, the people became envious of him. That dark, malignant passion prompted his jealous foes to cut off one source of his wealth, by depriving him of his wells of water, and thus destroying his flocks.

The peace-loving spirit of Isaac prudently gives way, and withdrawing the hated object from before the eyes of envy, he pitches his tent in the valley of Gerar.

He finds himself still pursued by the pride and selfishness of his neighbors; but at length conquers by yielding,—a victory the most certain, the most honorable, and the most satisfactory.

Finally, to prevent, as far as in him lay, every ground of quarrel, he fixes his residence at a still greater distance. "He went up from thence to Beer sheba ;" where, feeling himself at home, after so many removals, he at once pitches his tent for repose, and builds an altar for religion; and the hatred and violence of man is lost and forgotten in communion with God.

A delightful calm of eighteen years ensued, of which no traces remain to inform or instruct men, but which from the well known character of this patriarch, we may well suppose were spent in such a manner as to be had in everlasting remembrance before God.

At the close of this period, his domestic tranquillity was again cruelly disturbed, and, by his favorite son; who, in the fortieth year of his own life, and hundredth of his father's, introduced two idolatrous wives at once into the holy family.

Whether it was from the vexation occasioned by this event, from disease, from accident, or some natural weakness in the organs of sight, we are not informed, but we find Isaac, in the one hundred and thirty-fifth year of his life, in a state of total blindness; and he was probably visited with the loss of that sense at a much earlier period. Forty-five years, at least, of his earthly pilgrimage, were passed in this dark and comfortless state.

At the beginning of this period, we find Isaac sensible of his growing infirmities, feeling the approach of death, though ignorant of the day of it, and anxious to convey the double portion, the patriarchal benediction, and the covenant promise, according to the bent of his natural affection, to his elder and more beloved son.

He calls him with accents of paternal tenderness, and proposes to him the mingled gratification of pursuing his own favorite amusement, of ministering to his fond father's pleasure, and of securing to himself the great object of his ambition and desire, the blessing, with all its valuable effects.