is not the real Canaan

there remaineth still beyond it and

above it a rest for the people of God."

We next read of his address to the children of Heth, and his dealing with them for the purchase of a tomb. First of all they offered him any of their own sepulchres, but these he would not accept. The sepulchres were cut out of the solid rock; the remains of them are to be found to this day, and indeed the very spot where Sarah was buried can be distinctly and clearly traced out now in the land of Canaan. I say, most of these sepulchres were cut out of the rock, and these people offered Abraham any of their own; but any of these he would not accept. He wished for a separate one, according to Eastern customs and Eastern predilections; and he required it, not gratis, but for money, and accordingly applied to Ephron, the son of Zohar.

Now, this Ephron was a specimen of genuine Eastern courtesy; he had his eye to the price of the tomb; but, like all Easterns, he expressed himself as if that were a mere trifling matter. An Eastern comes now and says,

I am your slave.”

He speaks of himself in the most humble terms, and of you in the most exalted; you have in Ephron a type of Eastern character to this day, when he said, in an off-hand style, Nay, my lord, hear me; the field I give thee, and the cave that is therein." And when Abraham answered, "I will give thee money for the field," he said, "My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver;" but you see how beautifully he adds, "What is that betwixt thee and me?" We must not stand on such a trifle; I am most desirous to oblige you, whose dignity and character are entitled to so much. But Abraham, with all the exactness of the most rigid man of business, combined with all the courtesy of the most finished European gentleman, and yet with all the

beautiful and characteristic delicacy of a true Christian, said, "No; I cannot accept this; I require it as my property, and I am ready to give you so much for it." And he sets us here a precedent for our imitation. We sometimes say, I do not like to deal with such a man as if he were a rogue, and to insist on signature, and seal, and witnesses, and all the legal etiquette of bargain-making. But Abraham did insist upon it; he required witnesses; he had deeds, signed and sealed, and documentary evidence. And I have found, from my little experience, that it is always the best way to do these things in the most business-like way. There is no defect of Christianity or violation of duty in so doing, and there is an immense saving of much painful, anxious, and irritating after-dispute that may incidentally occur, even among friends. I am quite sure that the most perfect business transaction need not be the least Christian transaction; and that, however much confidence you have in a brother, it is always the best way to have the transaction signed and sealed in the presence of "the children of Heth," that you may have it for an everlasting possession, without dispute, without cavil, and without law-suit.

one

The expression that Abraham employs is a very peculiar Bury my dead out of my sight." What a testimony to the change that has passed upon all, that that face which reflected our sunshine, which reciprocated our sorrows, which was the mirror of many a bright and beautiful recollection, even a husband, a son, must bury out of sight! Sin has entered, and death by sin, and therefore death hath passed upon all.

When he required this sepulchre, he offered so much money, we are told shekels of silver - and this money

was weighed. This informs us that silver came so early as this period of the world to be currency. think, before, that the earliest money was

I mentioned, I cattle. Hence,

the Latin word pecunia, from which our expression pecuniary transactions is derived, comes from pecus, which means cattle. And it is very singular that in the Greek language every word that is used for purchase or property is a derivation from some other word denoting an animal. Thus, the Greek word agvvo@aι, which means "to bargain," is derived from a Greek word that means a lamb. Again, whεw, to sell, is derived from the word used for a colt. Again, the Greek word wrεqual, to profit, comes from a word signifying an ass. Again, the Greek word лgоßασis, revenue, is derived from the Greek word ngoßatov, sheep or cattle. In short, all the words in Greek and Latin that mean property transactions, buying and selling, are derived from cattle, and the earliest figures that were struck upon ancient coins were figures of cattle. A man was said to be possessed of so many thousand oxen or sheep, and, when they entered into a bargain, they gave so many sheep, or so many oxen, to the person from whom they were purchasing. Here, for the first time, we have silver introduced as currency, that which, in fact, is still the currency of the greatest portion of the nations of the earth, gold being restricted to very few countries, as the representative of property — mainly, I believe, in this country; whereas on the continent it is, I believe, chiefly silver.

The sepulchre was thus secured, and Sarah was buried at Mamre, the place where they had often worshipped, “and the field, and the cave that is therein," being amid the fields

*A Spanish Jew, Benjamin of Tudela, visited the place about six hundred years ago, and states that he saw Sarah's-grave, and also Isaac's, Rebekah's, and Jacob's. He states that close to them are tons of the bones of the children of Israel.

A more recent writer states that the tombs of the patriarchs are covered with rich carpets, furnished by the Sultans of Constantinople.

and trees that constituted the grove which was Abraham's first temple, and Sarah's last resting-place; and these "were made sure unto Abraham,” that is, by documents, "for a possession of a burying-place, by the sons of Heth." Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!

CHAPTER XXIV.

ELIEZER'S CALL TO ABRAHAM

RIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN

THE STEWARD'S DIFFICULTY — MARPREPARATION - DRAWING WATER

RACHEL LABAN'S AVARICE-LOVE AT SIGHT.

IN offering a few necessarily superficial remarks upon the exquisitely touching, beautiful and ancient portrait I have read, you must recollect that it refers to times when modern modes and modern etiquette were altogether unpractised and unknown. It will be a question, of course, for you and all to consider whether there were not excellences in those old patriarchal days worthy of our imitation, and defects in what we think the more excellent way, that might properly be exchanged.

I have to remind you that in the previous chapter we had the touching and melancholy portrait of the death of Sarah; her burial in a tomb purchased by Abraham from the people of the land of Heth; and in this chapter we have the record of another incident, very beautiful, and in many parts exquisitely picturesque, full of instruction, and fitted to do good to those who will fully, diligently, and prayerfully weigh it.

But I must first explain that the person here called the servant in Abraham's house, was not a slave or a menial, as it might be supposed from his description. It was the custom then, and it is the custom even now, to call the highest officers of the prince, servants. The prime minister of our country is, and calls himself, the servant of the queen; and this person,