Logos, who, before his incarnation, often appeared to the patriarchs under the style of "The Angel of the Lord." Hagar knew it was no ordinary angel that addressed her; for in the thirteenth verse Moses says, "She called the name of the Lord that spake to her, Thou, God, seest me.” Moses, indeed, calls the angel Jehovah; for, adds he, "She called the name of the Lord [Shem Yehovah] that spake to her."

Thomas. Did you not on a former occasion tell us that this "angel of the Lord" appears under other names in the sacred writings of the Old Testament?

Olympas. Yes; he is called Ham maleak, Hagoel, the Angel, the Redeemer; Maleak Panaiv, the Angel of his Presence; Maleak ha berith, the Angel of the Covenant; and here Maleak Yehovah, the Angel of Jehovah. The angel speaks of himself as both omniscient and omnipotent-at least he speaks of himself in reference to such works and ways as pre-suppose the existence of these divine attributes. His predictions concerning Ishmael on the present occasion indicate this. Who gave the name Ishmael, William?

William. The Lord gave this name before Hagar's son was born.

Olympas. What does the term mean, Reuben?

Reuben. The margin says, heard," or shall hear my affliction.

"Ishmael"

The Lord hath

Olympas. What, Thomas, is the amount of the prediction concerning this child Ishmael?

Thomas. It was preached before his birth that he should be a wild man-"his hand uplifted against every man, and every man's hand against

him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.'

Olympas. What nations now existing have sprung from Ishmael, Reuben?

Reuben. The Bedouins, wandering Arabs, and probably some of the American Indians, have sprung from Ishmael.

Olympas. What country do the Ishmaelites proper, or the wandering Arabs now occupy?

William. It reaches from Aleppo to the Arabian Sea, and from Egypt to the Persian Gulf -almost two thousand miles in length by one thousand in breadth.

Olympas. Have these people never been subdued, Thomas ?

Thomas. It is said Sesostris, Cyrus, Alexander, Pompey, and some of the Cesars have attempted their subjugation without success. So that for almost four thousand years they have possessed their own country, despite of all the world.

Olympas. This then is a singular demonstration of the inspiration of Moses. A people exactly answering the prediction-their hands against the world in the character of freebooters, warriors, depredators, and the whole world against them, in every age; and yet inhabiting their own deserts, and retaining their own character, despite of all revolutions and changes in human affairs, is an irrefutable demonstration of the divine mission of Moses and the truth of the Pentateuch. What name, Eliza, was given to the well at which Hagar received this oracle?

Eliza. It was called Beerlahairoi; but I do not understand this hard name.

Olympas. It was a sort of dedicatory name: a

well this is to the Living One who now sees me." She intended it to be a memorial of the interview which she had with the angel of Jehovah who had spoken to her such strange words concerning her progeny for so many ages to come. And is not this case worthy of our observation and regard ? In the eighty-sixth year of Abraham's age, an Egyptian slave gave to Abraham and the world a child of such lawless liberty and freedom of life, that he transmitted for so long a time, to so many millions, such a love of liberty, plunder, and rapine-such a hatred of the restraints of social life— of cities, towns, and settlements—that, like a wild ass (phere Adam, a wild ass-man,) "his house should be the wilderness, the barren land his dwelling, and that his hand should be lifted up and stretched out against every man, and every man against him." You must mark a few singular particulars in this case. 1. This is the first time in the history of man in which we read of the appearance of an angel. 2. It is the first time that we have the name of any person given by the Lord before he was born. 3. This is the first time also that a nation's history for many an age was pronounced before its origin, not having any special relation to the Messiah; and it is the first time in ancient history in which the outward condition of both mother and child was so diametrically opposed to the spirit and character of all their posterity. Upon the whole the history of Ishmael, from first to last, affords a monument imperishable as the mountains of the truth of prophecy, and of the divine authenticity of the Bible. The following notes from two distinguished persons must finish our present lesson

"They dwelt in tents in the wilderness as long ago as Isaiah's and Jeremiah's time—(Isa. xiii. 20; Jer. iii. 2) -and they do the same at this day. This is very extraordinary, that, "his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him;" and yet that he should be able to "dwell in the presence of his brethren;" but extraordinary as it was, this also has been accomplished, both in the person of Ishmael and in his posterity. As for Ishinael himself, the sacred historian afterwards relates, chapter xxv. 17, 18, that "the years of the life of Ishmael were a hundred and thirty and seven years; and he died in the presence of all his brethren." As for his posterity, they dwelt likewise in the presence of all their brethren: Abraham's sons by Keturah; the Moabites and Ammonites, descendants of Lot; the Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and the Edomites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. They still subsist a distinct people, and inhabit the country of their progenitors; they have from first to last maintained their independence; and notwithstanding the most powerful efforts for their destruction, still dwell in the presence of all their brethren, and in the presence of all their enemies."-Bp. Newton.

"The region inhabited by the Arabs is not remote or insulated, separated from social life; and, therefore, exempt from the influence which naturally results from intercourse with other countries. It is situated in that portion of the globe in which society originated, and the first kingdoms were formed. The greatest empires of the world arose and fell around them. They have not been secluded from correspondence with foreign nations; and thus attached, through ignorance and prejudice, to simple and primitive manners. In the early periods of history they were united as allies to the most powerful monarchs of the East: under their victorious Prophet they once carried their arms over the most distinguished kingdoms of the earth; through many succeeding ages the caravan of the merchant and the companies of Mahometan pil. grims passed regularly over their deserts even their religion has undergone a total change. Yet all these circumstances, which, it might be supposed, would have subdued the most stubborn prejudices and altered the most inveterate habits, have produced no effect upon the Arabs; and they still preserve unimpared a most exact resemblance to the first descendants of Ishmael."-Richards,

CONVERSATION XVIII.

GENESIS XVI, XVII.

AFTER reading over the sixteenth and seventeenth chapters of Genesis, Olympas proceeded as usual-calling upon the seniors for New Testament allusions to the case of Hagar and Sarah, and their sons.

Thomas. We find a beautiful allegory made out of this case by Paul to the Galatians iv. 21-31, which we will read with your permission: "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free-woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bond-woman and her son: for the

now.