the knowledge of the true God have departed from the earth. Thus the
beacon light of nations had been extinguished, and the last altar
erected to Jehovah had been broken down: for the other descendants of
Shem were fast departing from the God of their fathers,--and if the
children of Keturah and Ishmael for a period retained the faith of
Abraham, the torch which kindled the fire on their altars was lighted at
that which was kept burning on those of Isaac and Jacob, and the example
of their families preserved alive the remembrance and the acts of the
living God in the nations around them.

With a train which became the suitor of a prince, with costly presents
of gold and ornaments according to the custom of both ancient and modern
days, but more particularly conforming to Eastern usage, the
confidential servant of Abraham was sent on his embassy to the kindred
of his master, there to receive a bride for the son of the patriarch. We
gain a delightful impression both of the piety and intelligence of the
household of Abraham from the account of the messenger to whom this
important transaction was intrusted. The faith of the patriarch animated
the other members of his household, and a strong chain of love encircled
all. After a long journey, the train reached the plains of Mesopotamia,
and then the tents of Nahor appeared in view; and then, in the prospect
of the immediate discharge of his commission, the messenger of the
patriarch sought explicit direction from the God of Abraham.

While the description of the interview at the fountain, "without the
gate of the city," gives a most beautiful view of the manners of the age
and the people, and an unsurpassed picture of the freshness and
simplicity of pastoral life, it proves at once the piety and the clear
discrimination of the agent employed. The beauty of the youthful Rebekah
caught his eye, while the test he devised afforded a safe criterion of