Her all of hope below;
So long his father's pride and joy,
And yet--from _him_ the blow!
Alone she must his head sustain,
And watch his sinking breath,
And on his bright brow mark the stain
Of the destroyer, Death.

"Let me not see him die," and lo!
The messenger of peace!
Once more her tears forget to flow,
Once more her sorrows cease.
Life, strength, and freedom now are given
With mighty power to one
Who from his father's roof was driven,
And he--the outcast's son.

How often we, like Hagar, mourn,
When some unlook'd for blight
Drives us away, no more to turn
To joys we fancied bright!
Forced from our idols to retreat,
And seek the Almighty's care,
Perchance we are sent forth to meet
A desert-angel there.

[Illustration]

THE PARTIAL AND INTRIGUING MOTHER--REBEKAH.

[Illustration]

After the departure of Hagar and her son from the tents of Abraham,
peace seems to have returned, and it became the abode of filial and
parental as well as of conjugal affection. Sarah's days were still
prolonged, that she might exercise the duties and enjoy the pleasures of
a mother.

The heir of wealth, and the child of love and indulgence, the character
of Isaac seems to have been the reverse of his brother, the restless,
wandering Ishmael. The one, cast off from the care of the father and
taught to rely upon his own energies, early distinguished himself, and
became the leader of a band, and a prince among the nations around;
while the other, cherished and cared for, was content to dwell in the
peaceful enjoyment of wealth and prosperity. Thus do we find that trials
are necessary to develope the higher qualities and to call them into
action. The truly great and noble, the eminent in talent or usefulness,
are never nursed in the bosom of ease.

Sarah died; and while the bereaved husband felt his loss, the son could
not have been insensible. There was a dreary void in the home of the
patriarch when the wife and the mother had been laid in the sepulchre.
There was no one to fill the place of Sarah--no one to bless their
simple meals. She no longer appears to welcome them as they returned
from the field or the flock. The tribe is without a mother, the
household without a mistress. Many considerations led Abraham to desire
the marriage of his son, and he cast around his thoughts for a wife
worthy of