her to be brought to his palace. The situation of Abram must have been very distressing, even amidst the distinctions and presents which were showered upon him. To be robbed of his beloved partner in a strange land, and that by his own imprudence, could not but produce the most agonizing sensations. But the Almighty still watched over his servant, and visited Pharaoh's house with such unusual plagues, that he consulted his priests and magicians on the cause, who informed him (says Josephus) that it was for taking another man's wife, and that too of a stranger who had sought refuge in his dominions. The Egyptian king, shocked at the information, "called Abram, and said, what is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife ? Why saidst thou, she is my sister ? So I might have taken her unto me to wife? now therefore, behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had."

The conduct of the Egyptian king claims our admiration. Possessed of absolute power, he might have retained the wife of Abram without opposition. The man was a stranger, and an enemy to the religion of the country, consequently he was obnoxious to the priests; but notwithstanding these pleas, which a person in his station might have alleged for indulging his criminal passion, Pharaoh rejected them, because he viewed the crime of adultery with horror. His intention was to have married Sarai; but when he discovered that she was the wife of another, he immediately restored her to her husband with considerable presents.

When the famine was over in the land of Canaan, the patriarch returned thither, abundantly increased in riches; but his heart was not set upon earthly possessions. He measured his steps towards the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai, unto the place of the altar

which he had made there at the first: and there Abram "called on the name of the Lord."

After a considerable absence from a favourite spot, how delightful is it to return again in peace and prosperity! The sight of familiar scenes, endeared to the heart by former joys and friendly intercourse, is peculiarly cheering, and gives health and vigour, and renews the days and joys of youth! The mind is busy in retracing former incidents, the eye is gratified in beholding what it was wont to admire in early life, and all the faculties seem to undergo a regeneration. But how much more pleasant and exhilarating is the contemplation of scenes where we have experienced eminent instances of providential kindness; received peculiar tokens of favour; been blessed by manifestations of love; and have held sweet intercourse with the God of our mercies! The Psalmist felt this when he so pathetically breathed this pious exclamation; "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." Psalm lxxxiv. 1.

Such, no doubt, was the feeling of Abram as he journeyed towards Bethel, where he received the confirmation of the promise, and had experienced the Divine favour in the most eminent manner.

At length he descries the sacred spot, and presse forward with alacrity to the altar which he had erected before his exile. What a beautiful picture is here exhibited to our view! The venerable patriarch, surrounded by his relations and domestics, stands before the holy altar, on which he offers a sacrifice of gratitude, and in the fervour of his heart calls upon the name of the Lord. He proclaimed aloud his thanks to the GOD of heaven, by whom he was called, and in whom he trusted.

The next circumstance in the life of Abram sets him before us in the most amiable light. Above the narrow policy which marks the character of too many persons who have young relations under their

care, the patriarch treated his nephew Lot as his brother.

The young man was an entire dependant upon the protection of his uncle; but the generous Abram did not place him, as many would have done, in the capacity of a domestic. He gave him an opportunity to form a household for himself, and Lot partook of the blessing which descended upon the family of Abram, increasing in flocks and herds.

In a short time, however, this enlargement of their stock produced jealousies and dissensions; not, indeed, on the part of the uncle or nephew, but their servants. "There was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle."

Feuds among servants frequently disturb the tranquillity of their masters, and occasion differences between their nearest friends. Abram saw that these jarring discords between his people and those of Lot would increase in proportion to the enlargement of their possessions; and he was apprehensive that some unpleasant misunderstanding might in consequence take place between him and his nephew. To prevent this, he prudently formed the resolution of separating from Lot; to whom he made this noble and disinterested proposal: "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

No language can do justice to the conduct of Abram in this instance. Though Lot had acquired all his property under the protection and by the encouragement of his uncle, the venerable man readily gave him the choice of any part of the country around them to settle in, foregoing his own particular advantage, or any partiality which he himself had to one spot more than another, in order to pre

serve a good understanding between them. He might with justice have asserted his own claim to the selection; he might from his age, and his authority, from his power, and the obligations under which Lot lay to him, have chosen that part of the land which was most pleasing or convenient to himself: but, with a forbearance truly magnanimous, he renounced all uch pretensions for the sake of peace.

The conduct of Abram was that of an enlightened mind; that of Lot was mercenary and ungrateful. No sooner did his uncle make this generous offer, than he lifted up his eyes with eagerness to choose that part of the country which was the "most fertile and well watered." The generosity of Abram ought to have filled him with gratitude, and produced correspondent expressions by way of return. Instead of this, we read that Lot "lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other."

Lot had no regard to the conveniency of his uncle, but was covetous to possess that part of the country which was the most desirable. Avarice is in all a mean, narrow, and ungrateful vice, but in young persons it is particularly odious, and indicates a sordid spirit, little calculated for noble purposes.

Lot never considered the moral character of the neighbourhood in which he was desirous to dwell; on the contrary, provided worldly advantages were to be gained there, he had no concern about the bad society with whom he must necessarily associate to obtain them.

How careful ought young persons to be, at their outset in life, to choose proper situations, and to form good connexions! What are all the advantages of wealth when purchased at the expense of a

good conscience? How can a person who lives daily amidst corruption and wickedness, remain wholly uncontaminated by evil example, especially when the entrance into that sort of association has been the result of his own choice, without consulting the advice of friends, or praying for the protection of heaven?

While Abram dwelt in peace, enjoying the favour of GOD in the plains of Mamre, Lot, by his situation, was exposed to all the horrors of war. Certain kings confederated against those of Sodom and Gomorrah, with their allies, and defeated them, in the vale of Siddim. The victors then plundered the country where Lot dwelt, and took him captive with all his household. When the news of his nephew's misfortune came to the knowledge of Abram, the good and compassionate man forgot the indiscretion and ingratitude of Lot, and, alive only to his distress, determined to undertake his rescue. He armed his servants to the number of three hundred and eighteen men, and calling in the assistance of his neighbours Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, he hastened with all the ardour of a veteran soldier in pursuit of the plunderers.

Having recovered Lot and the captives, together with the spoil, Abram returned in triumphant satisfaction. On the way he was met by the king of Sodom, who gratefully offered him the whole of the property taken from the enemy. But Abram, with a spirit of generosity unparalleled in history, refused to accept a single article. His language, in reply, is most solemn and devout: "I have lifted up mine hand (says he) unto the Lord the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say I have made Abram rich: save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went out with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.'