promote the designs of his eternal providence.

Modern days and Christian institutions allow no examples of the exact
type of the strife and rivalry exhibited in the household of the
patriarch of Israel. Yet, while human nature remains as it is, there
will ever be the jealousies, the strifes, the bitterness arising from
misplaced affection, or alienated hearts, or jarring interests. There is
still to be found the coquetry which would win love from a sister or a
friend, and the treachery that would supplant the rival--as there are
still fathers who, for motives of interest, would sacrifice their
daughters, regardless of their hearts or their happiness. Youthful
beauty still attracts the eye and wins the heart, and the best and
wisest of men are too often enthralled by mere personal attraction.

Human nature is ever the same, and the motives and feelings which swayed
the generations who have mouldered back to dust are still felt and
acknowledged.

While we thus attempt to trace the outlines of the domestic history of
these individuals, we cannot but feel that there is a surpassing beauty
and excellence in the character of Abraham. He bore the fresh impress of
a renovated world, and was truly worthy of the pre-eminence which is
always allotted to him. Isaac seems to have dwelt in quiet, peaceful
prosperity. Inheriting great wealth, dwelling until mature age with his
parents, there seem to have been few occasions in which the prominent
traits of the character are displayed. His life offers less of interest,
less to excite, less to praise and less to blame than either Abraham's
or Jacob's. The father's energy, patience, faith and obedience had
prepared the way for the prosperity of the son; and Isaac, nursed in
affluence and cherished by maternal affection, seems to have exhibited