Moriah is only forty-two miles, and they did not arrive there till the third day; but, indeed, the aged man had no inclination for a rapid journey. Perhaps he faintly hoped for some interposition or some countermand from heaven on the way-probably looked around anxiously, as he went, for some angel-form to appear to him, as was done when, in his tent, the announcement of Isaac's approaching birth was made. No doubt he listened nervously at night for the well-known heavenly voice, till expectation, and at last all hope, had become extinct. There was the mountain: he must proceed to it: there was to be the end! Yet through all this journey, and with all these lacerated feelings—even hope extinguished—faith was firm and true. He looked up to God with a clear, undoubting eye. The belief prevalent among those nations that the sacrifice most acceptable to their deity was that which was nearest and most precious to the person offering it, strengthened his sentiment of obedience now, as he went on toward an act from which all natural feeling and all affection recoiled as horrible. What a tempest there was in his heart! But faith was strongest even

now.

He directed the servants, at a proper time, to remain behind with the ass; and placing the fuel on the young man, and taking the fire and knife, he left them and proceeded with his son to the mountain.

"My father," said the young man, as they went, “ behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burntoffering?" He answered,

"My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burntoffering."

On the mountain the altar was built, and the wood was laid upon it; then the secret of the intended sacrifice was all revealed to the young man! But there was no resistance on his part. The belief prevalent in the country had no doubt taken hold of him also; and he felt, in addition to

that, the faith which was so strong in the father. He saw and knew all the anguish in the father's heart, and that the sacrifice in that heart would be a more frightful thing than that of his own life would be to himself. He was bound and laid on the altar, upon the wood. "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.'

But an angel interposed. A voice from heaven ordered him to stay the knife and directed his attention to a ram caught in a thicket near by; and this was offered on the altar as a burnt-sacrifice.

We now, after a lapse of thirty-eight hundred years, gaze back at that faith so clear and unsullied in the old man's anguished heart. Many millions since that time have gazed back at it. It is a wonderful spectacle that may well make us strong, as it has made myriads since that day strong, in faithful obedience to God. We think of the wild hurricane of feeling in the father's heart; of the anguish in all his lacerated being; of his persistence in duty; and then of the crushing weight lifted suddenly off, and of the thrill of joy in the relief; and the Christian beholds in all the touching scene a typical presentation of a greater Sacrifice voluntarily chosen, where was no relief; CHRIST OFFERED, and THE

SACRIFICE MADE!

By this altar, where Abraham stood on Moriah, promises were given to him, renewed from former occasions, but now with greater form and solemnity: "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord;" and then the words declare that blessings should flow upon him and his posterity. Among the promises was one most precious, as it was widest in extent, of all: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." The promise has been fulfilled, and in a Sacrifice where the Victim was not spared.

Death, however, came not many years after this' to make

1 Josephus says twelve years.

really desolate the tent of Abraham. In his migratory, pastoral life he had removed again to the neighborhood of Hebron; and there he saw life ebb and pass away from her who had for so long a time been his faithful wife and true friend. Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years old when she died. She had been his wife for more than sixtytwo years, and had accompanied him in sincere and unshaken affection, first from her ancient home and kindred, and then in his varied changes of place; at times even too obedient to his wishes and too careful of his well-being and his life. Her jealousy came from the very strength of her affections; and its manifestations were entirely in accordance with customs such as we see still prevailing among those Eastern people. She must have possessed remarkable beauty, even to an advanced age. She appears to have presided well over the domestic affairs, and was a good companion, good mother, and a faithful wife.

Abraham, after he had mourned for her according to the forms of the country, and in a depth of grief which no outward forms can ever reach, presented himself before the rulers of Kirjath-arba (Hebron) and asked, for her remains, a burial-place which he had selected adjoining to their city, and probably by the spot where he and she had often resided in their "tent-house." In a grove in front of Hebron was a cave, seemingly a double cave, if we may judge from its name, Machpelah (a doubling, from Kaphal, to double), and also from the results of explorations recently made. Probably there were two partly separated by a natural wall. To his request the rulers answered, " Hear us, my lord; thou art a mighty prince among us; in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead." He requested them to intercede with Ephron, the owner of the cave, for the sale of it and a portion of the ground; but the latter offered it as a gift. There is a singular beauty in the

courtesies of these people on this occasion, when the griefstricken old man came before them at the gate of their city, -the usual place for public official transactions;—and also in the dignity of Abraham, with his heart set on having a resting-place for the dead so near his own home, but still, in his deep sorrow, observing the courtly forms of the people of that country: "And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee hear me; I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there." Ephron answered, "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."

The place was purchased, and "the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of all the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of the city."

This spot, still capable of being identified beyond any doubt, is now enclosed within a high wall carefully guarded by the Mohammedan possessors against all intrusion by either Jew or Christian. It will be noticed more at length in a future part of this work.

10 *

1 Estimated to be equal to about $250 of our money.

CHAPTER XI.

HOW ALPHABETS WERE ORIGINALLY MADE.

THE

HE statement that the field of Ephron and the cave of Machpelah "were made sure unto Abraham for a possession" seems to convey the idea of a written contract, and brings us to a most interesting query respecting writing in those times. That subject, if investigated, will show the reader the origin of the very printed letters which are now meeting his eye in this book, and their close connection with such writing as that to which Abraham probably there put his name; and will moreover put before us the progressive action of the human mind in one of the most difficult of all undertakings, that of making objects presented to the eye combine in intelligible forms addressed to the ear. The matter on which we are now entering must also be understood in order to a full comprehension of affairs in Egypt, soon to come before us. So we enter upon it here.

The first effort among any people to convey ideas by delineations would be such as we still see on our Indian lodges, where rude drawings of the human figure, and also arbitrary marks, answer the purpose sufficiently to a certain extent. But only to a very small extent; and when definite or minute information is needed, these must fail. If it was desirable, for instance, to state that Menes built Hara,' al

1 Hara, the On of Gen. xli. 45, 50, and xlvi. 20, and the Heliopolis of the Greeks, was the most sacred city of Egypt, and is believed to have been built by Menes, the first of the Egyptian kings. The commencement of his dynasty is variously estimated by Egyptologists, Poole placing it at 2700, Bunsen at 3643, and Lepsius 3793 B. C.; the latter two doubtless misled by supposing certain Egyptian dynasties consecutive, which were in reality contemporaneous in different parts of the country.