formed them of the nature of his embassy, that Divine Providence was materially conthe great success that had attended him in cerned in the whole affair. Concluding, his journey, and the fortunate incident of therefore, that it would be exceedingly his meeting Rebecca without the city. He wrong to refuse Eliezer's request, they readlikewise gave them an ample account of the ily consented, and told him he might take state of his master's family; of the wealth Rebecca to her intended husband as soon as and prosperity wherewith God had blessed he thought proper. him; of the son and heir which he had given him in his old age; and of the large expectances which this heir had, not only from the prerogative of his birth, but from the donation and entail of all his father's possessions. Having thus minutely related every particular relative to his embassy, he demanded an immediate answer, saying, till 3 Bracelets. (Brit. Mus.) 1. Gold Egyptian Bracelets. 2. Silver do. 3. Bronze, with bell attached, taken from mummy of a girl. 4. Iron with carnelian setting. 5. Bracelet of cowries. This business being settled, the trusty servant presented Rebecca with jewels of silver and gold, and fine raiment, which he had brought with him for the purpose. He likewise gave some considerable presents to her mother and the rest of the family; and the remainder of the evening was dedicated to mirth and festivity. a Egyptian Ear-rings, from originals in the British Museum, except the one marked a, which is from the collection at Alnwick Castle. that was obtained, he could not, with any satisfaction, take the least refreshment. From the very singular circumstances that had occurred in the course of Eliezer's journey, Laban and Bethuel* were of opinion * This Bethuel could not be the father of Rebecca, because, had that been the case, it would have been improper to have had Laban either named before him, or to have given answer to Abraham's messenger when his father was by; and, therefore, since Josephus makes the damsel tell Eliezer that her father had been dead long ago, and that she was left to the care of her brother Laban, this Bethuel (who is here named after Laban, and never more taken any notice of during the whole transaction) must have been some younger brother of the family. Assyrian Bracelets. (Nineveh Marbles.) Early in the morning, Eliezer, being im patient to acquaint his master with the suc † Dr. Shaw, who resided many years in the East, tells us, that among the Arabians, the person who settles a marriage contract, first adorns the espoused person with jewels, and then makes presents to her relations, according to their rank. He adds, that, on such occasions, it is expressly stipulated what sum of money the husband shall settle on the wife; what jewels she shall wear; how many suits of raiment she shall have; and, lastly, how many slaves shall be allowed to at tend her. cess of his embassy, desired to be dismissed. | tating on the beauties of nature, and the This request greatly surprised the family, beneficence of that Being who formed the who, influenced by natural affection, desired creation. Seeing at a distance his servants that Rebecca might be permitted to tarry with them a few days, to take, perhaps, a 1-7. From the sculptures. 8. Gold with pearls, found at last farewell. But the diligent and faithful on the occasion. When Eliezer came within some distance of his master's house, it happened that Isaac was then walking in the fields, medi and camels on the road, he hastened to meet them, anxious to know the result of Eliezer's embassy. As he approached near, Rebecca asked who he was, and being informed, she immediately alighted from her camel, threw a veil * over her face, and waited to receive the first compliments of her intended husband. When Isaac came up to Rebecca, he addressed her with great respect, and immediately conducted her to his mother's tent, which had been previously fitted up for her reception, and designed for her future habitation. A few days after they were joined in wedlock, and Isaac grew so fond of her, that his mind was greatly relieved from that perturbation with which, for three years, it had been loaded, for the loss of his affectionate mother. Such was the pious regard children had for their parents in those days; and such was the amiable example set by Isaac for all who should follow! Sometime after Isaac's marriage, his father, though far advanced in life, yet still possessing great strength of constitution, made an addition to his family, by taking another wife, whose name was Keturah, and by whom he had six sons. But, lest they should interfere with Isaac in his inheritance of Canaan, as they grew up he portioned them off, and sent them towards the east, where, settling in Arabia and Syria, they became, in time, the rulers of different nations. These are the last circumstances mentioned by the sacred historian, relative to the great patriarch Abraham, who at length, worn out with bodily infirmities, quietly gave up the ghost, in the one hundred and seventy-fifth year of his age, leaving behind him a name famous to all posterity. He was buried by his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, in the cave play part or the whole of their faces on ordinary occasions. It is in fact, the indispensable costume for the occasion. Whether the bridal veil was distinguished from other veils does not appear; but we observe that one of red silk or muslin is affected by the Persians on such an occasion, although the ordinary veils are white or blue; and Dr. Russell, in his account of a Maronite marriage, observes that the bride's veil was of the same color. Thus we see that Rebecca, by enveloping her person in a veil, put herself into the costume usual for a bride when conducted to the tent or * Whether veiled before or not, she now covered herself" - her whole person with the ample enveloping veil with which brides are still conducted to the bridegroom. Rosenmuller, in illustration of this passage, quotes an ancient father (Tertullian), who, with an express reference to the same text, observes, as a custom still existing in his time, that the heathen brides were also conducted to their husbands covered with a veil. It is still all but universal in the East, and it will be observed that it is used, not only by the females whose faces are always concealed both before and after marriage, but by those who dis-house of her husband. of Machpelah, where, about forty years before, he had deposited the remains of his beloved Sarah. though not his heir, lived many years after his father. He died at the age of one hundred and seven, leaving behind him Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham, twelve sons. sons.* WHEN Isaac married Rebecca, he was forty years old, and lived with her nearly twenty years before she had issue. He had been so long uneasy on this account, that he at length prayed to God to grant him an heir, who being pleased to listen to his request, bestowed that blessing he had so earnestly wished for, and the long barren Rebecca now conceived, to the great satisfaction both of herself and husband. After Rebecca had been pregnant some months, the struggles of the children (for she had twins within her) gave her such * THE ISHMAELITES. We know not whence the strange opinion arose that the whole Arabian nation is descended from Ishmael, and that, consequently, the names of the Ishmaelites and Arabs are co-extensive, unless from the Chaldee and Arabic paraphrasts, and from other Jewish writers, whose historical authority, at all times of the least possible value, becomes a perfect nullity when open to any obvious influence, such as the wish to represent Abraham as the father of so great and wide-spread a nation as the Arabians. The whole testimony of the oriental writers, and all the inferences deducible from the sacred narrative, are opposed to this conclusion The Arabians have a history anterior to Ishmael; and it would be preposterous to suppose, that Arabia, even to its deserts, was not occupied before his time. According to the Arabian writers, Arabia was occupied a few generations after the flood by the successive settlement within it of variously descended tribes, all of whom ultimately gave way to the races from which the present Arabs claim to be descended, either from being destroyed by them or lost in them. These latter proceed from two stocks, of which the most ancient is that of Kahtan, the same who in the Bible is called Joktan, a son of Eber; and the other that of Adnan, who descended in a direct line from Ishmael. To the posterity of the former is given the distinguishing title of eminence, al Arab al Araba, (equivalent to "a Hebrew of the Hebrews among the Jews), that is, the genuine or pain and uneasiness, that she began, in a manner, to wish herself not with child. Unable to account for the cause of her extreme pains, she went to consult the divine oracle, and received for answer, that the two children, which she then bore, should be the heads of two different nations, and that they would long contest for superiority; but that, in process of time, the glories acquired by the elder would be eclipsed by the more resplendent transactions of the younger. When the time of Rebecca's delivery arrived, the child that first entered the world : pure Arabs while those of Ishmael receive that of al Arab al Mostáreba, meaning naturalized or mixed Arabs. But some writers, who wish to be more precise, apply the first and most honorable title to the most ancient and lost tribes to which we have alluded, while the descendants of Kahtan obtained the name of Motáreba, which likewise signifies mixed Arabs, though in a nearer degree than Mostáreba; those who acknowledged Ishmael for their ancestor (through Adnan) being the more distant graft. Considering the origin of Ishmael, it is no wonder that those supposed to be descended from him should have no claim to be admitted as pure Arabs; but as he is alleged to have contracted an alliance with the Jorhamites (descended from Jorham, a son of Kahtan), who possessed Hejaz, by marrying the daughter of their emir Modad, whence, and by subsequent intermarriages his descendants became blended with them into one nation, their claim to be regarded as Mostáreba is beyond dispute. It must not be inferred that the Arabs undervalue the descent from Ishmael in comparison with that from Kahtan, on account of their applying to it a less honorable designation. This is by no means the case; for, on the contrary, they set a high value, like the Jews, on the privilege of being descended from Abraham; and this distinction is, in the eyes of the modern Arabs, greatly enhanced by the circumstance that Mohammed belonged to this race, and gloried in being de scended from Ishmael and Abraham. was covered all over with red hair,* for which reason his parents called him Esau; and the other came so close after him, that he took hold of his heel with his hand, and was therefore called Jacob, to denote (what he afterward proved) the supplanter of his brother. As these two children grew up, they became very different in their tempers, and when they arrived at the age of maturity, followed different employments. Esau, the elder, being strong and active, delighted in the chase, and thereby frequently supplying his father with venison, obtained his particular affection; while Jacob, who was of a more courteous disposition, by staying at home in the tent, and employing himself in family offices, became the favorite of his mother. Esau having one day greatly fatigued himself with hunting, returned home just at the time his brother Jacob had prepared a mess of pottage † for his own refreshment. Esau, being almost spent with hunger, was so struck with the looks of the pottage, that he anxiously begged of his brother to let * This expression, according to some commentators, is taken two ways, namely, either that Esau was, at his birth, covered with red hair, or that the color of his skin was red, like a coat of red hair. He was called Esau, from the word Eschau, which in the Hebrew language, signifies a hair-cloth; as Jacob was named from Hekel, the heel, and signifies a supplanter, or one that taketh hold of, or trippeth up another's heels. † The edom, or red pottage, was prepared, we learn from this chapter, by seething lentils (adashim) in water; and subsequently, as we may guess from a practice which prevails in many countries, adding a little manteca, or suet, to give them a flavor. The writer of these observations has often partaken of this self-same "red pottage," served up in the manner just described, and found it better food than a stranger would be apt to imagine. The mess had the redness which gained for it the name of edom; and which, through the singular circumstance of a son selling his birthright to satisfy the cravings of a pressing appetite, it imparted to the posterity of Esau in the people of Edom. The lentil (or Lens esculenta of some writers, and the Ervum lens of Linnæus) belongs to the leguminous or podded family. The stem is branched and the leaves consist of about eight pairs of smaller leaflets. The flowers are small, and with the upper division of the flower prettily veined. The pods contain about two seeds, which vary from a tawny red to a black. It delights in a dry, warm sandy soil. Three varieties are cultivated in France "small brown, ""yellowish," and the "lentil of Provence." In the former country they are dressed and eaten during Lent as a haricot; in him participate of the repast. But Jacob (who was probably so instructed by his mother) refused to comply with his request, unless on the following conditions; namely, that he would immediately make over to him his birth-right. Esau reflecting on the danger to which he was daily subject, from the nature of his employment, set no great value on what Jacob required; and the latter, perceiving his disposition to comply (that he might have the right more firmly conveyed to him), proposed his doing it by way of oath. Notwithstanding the singularity of the request, Esau complied with it, and the bargain being made, he ate very greedily of the food prepared by his brother. Thus did the unthinking Esau dispose of his birth-right, with all the privileges belonging to it, for so simple a thing as a mess of pottage. Isaac, at this time, lived at Beersheba, but a dreadful famine happening in the land of Canaan, he resolved (as his father Abraham had done on a similar occasion) to avoid its consequences by retiring to Egypt. He accordingly proceeded as far as Ge Syria they are used as food after they have undergone the simple process of being parched in a pan over the fire. It should be understood, that previously to the establishment of a priesthood under the Law of Moses, the first-born had not only a preference in the secular inheritance, but succeeded exclusively to the priestly functions which had belonged to his father, in leading the religious observances of the family, and performing the simple religious rites of these patriarchal times. The secular part of the birthright entitled the first-born to a "double portion" of the inheritance; but writers are divided in opinion as to the proportion of this double share. Some think that he had one-half, and that the rest was equally divided among the other sons; but a careful consideration of Gen. xlvii. 5-22, in which we see that Jacob transfers the privilege of the first-born to Joseph, and that this privilege consisted in his having one share more than any of his brethren, inclines us to the opinion of the Rabbins, that the firstborn had merely twice as much as any other of his brethren. It is certainly possible, but not very likely, that in the emergency, Esau bartered all his birth-right for a mess of pottage; but it seems more probable that Esau did not properly appreciate the value of the sacerdotal part of his birthright, and therefore readily transferred it to Jacob for a trifling present advantage. view of the matter seems to be confirmed by St. Paul, who calls Esau a "profane person," for his conduct on this occasion; and it is rather for despising his spiritual than his temporal privileges, that he seems to be liable to such an imputation. This |