And as all mankind then spoke the same language, they could easily help each other and work together; and they went to a large plain in a land called Sennaar, and there they said to each other, "Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to heaven, and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands." When they had built this tower, they thought they would be safe from all floods, or any such evils; for they did not believe in God's promises, and in their pride they thought they could protect and take care of themselves against Him.

But God never permits His sinful creatures to lift up their heads against Him, and He saw their great tower rising up in all its earthly grandeur and splendour towards heaven, and at once decreed to overthrow it. He said, "Behold it is one people, and all have one tongue" (that is, speak the same language); "and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs till they accomplish them in deed. Come ye, therefore, let Us go down and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech." So these builders of the tower instantly began each to speak a different language from the other, and thus found it impossible to make each other understand and to carry on their work; and this great city or tower was called Babel, which means confusion,' and they were scattered into all lands.

*Pious and learned writers have told us that the expression, "Let Us," used so often by God when speaking of His designs, refers to the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.

ABRAM THE FRIEND OF GOD.

NOE was nine hundred and fifty years old when he died. And there was a man who was one of the descendants of Sem, whose name was Abram: he was a very holy man, and loved and served God constantly; and his wife was called Sarai. And Abram had a great many sheep and oxen belonging to him, and servants also: he had great earthly riches, as we may say. But his heart was with God for all this; his riches had no hold upon his affections, for he desired to love and serve God above all things. And God, seeing how great Abram's faith in Him was, and how earnestly he desired to do His will, promised to make a great nation of his children and descendants. But Abram had at this time no child, and he said to God, "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me? I shall go without children, and the heir to all my possessions is the son of my steward." God had permitted, Abram said, that his steward should have a son, whom he could make his heir; but to himself and his wife God had denied the blessing of children. But God told him that his steward's son should not be the inheritor of all his possessions, but that he should have a son of his own for his heir; and then He showed Abram the stars, and asked him if he could count them, and said, As countless as the stars shall be the number of your descendants. And in those days God allowed men to marry more than one wife; and it was often the case when they had two wives, that one of these was not of such high rank as the other. And Abram married, besides Sarai, his bondwoman, or slave, named Agar; and Abram and Agar had a little son born, whose name was Ismael; and at first

Abram thought that this was the son who was to inherit the promises of God. But God appeared to Abram, and told him that it would be to a child of Sarai, and not of Agar, that His promises would be given; and that although both Abram and Sarai were very old, they should have a son, who should be the father of a mighty and great nation, from which should spring first kings, and at last a great and mighty Prince, who should be the Saviour of His people and of all mankind. And then God changed the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, which names signified greater dignity and power.*

And then Abraham and Sarah had a little son, who was called Isaac. And it was a great happiness to them to have this little child, and they both loved him very dearly. And the little boy grew, and was weaned, and the day he was weaned Abraham made a great feast;. and during the feast, the two little boys, Ismael and Isaac, were playing together; but Sarah, who saw them playing, was displeased that the son of the bondwoman should be the companion of her son. To Isaac God's promises had been given; and Sarah, perhaps, felt that Ismael was to become only the chief of a worldly tribe, whereas Isaac was the promised child of God, and to become the father and founder of a holy people, the forefather, according to His earthly parents, of our Blessed Saviour, and as such should not keep company with the children of those who were less likely to hold the true faith and religion; and she went to Abraham, and asked him to send away

*As God changed the name of Abram to Abraham, signifying 'father of the people,' in the old law,' so did He afterwards, in the new, change the name of the simple fisherman Simon-Barjona to Peter, signifying the 'Rock' on which is built His Church.

Agar and Ismael. And at first Abraham was grieved on account of his son Ismael; but God again spoke to him, and desired him to do as Sarah had said, repeating again that Isaac was the son in whom His promises should be fulfilled.

Abraham is called the "Father of the Faithful," which his name signifies, and Scripture is always holding him up to us as a pattern of perfect faith in God; and we may see that on all occasions he no sooner hears God's will than he obeys with a blind obedience, simply trusting in God's love and power to bring good out of what might appear to be simple evil. And God saw this trusting and exalted faith in his servant Abraham, and loved him for it so much that He promised to make a great nation of Ismael also, because He was Abraham's son.

When, therefore, Abraham had received the command of God to send away Agar and her son, he did not hesitate, but at once did so he gave Agar some bread and a bottle of water, and bade her depart with her child.

It must have seemed a very sad fate to Agar to go out homeless upon the earth with her little son, and she wandered about in the wilderness of Bersabee. And the sun of those countries is very hot, and people feel the want of shade and water very much; and when Agar and her child had passed all the day walking and straying about in the hot sun, not knowing whither to go for shelter or comfort, Agar saw her boy beginning to droop and faint; they had drained out the last drop of water from the bottle, and she could see no spring or well of water to give him any relief or quench his burning thirst. And with grief and anguish in her heart she laid her child down under one of the trees that were in the place, and went to some distance off, that she might not see him die, and sat down and wept bitterly.

God, we know, in His tender love and pity, sees the tears of His creatures and compassionates their grief sooner and more deeply than any man can do ; and He sent an angel, who called to Agar from heaven, and said to her, "What art thou doing, Agar? fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the boy from the place wherein he is. Arise, and take up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation." We know, of course, that God hears the voices of all His creatures at all times; but God meant here to tell Agar, by the words of His angel, that He had listened to the cries of the little Ismael in order to send him help, and that He meant Ismael should be the founder and father of a great and numerous tribe of people.

And God opened Agar's eyes, and she saw, as it were suddenly, a well of water in this sandy desert, where before she could find none; and she went and filled the bottle, and gave her boy some water, who soon revived. And he and his mother remained in the wilderness, which was called the wilderness of Pharan; and Ismael grew up, and married a wife from the land of Egypt.

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM.

WE shall now hear a very beautiful and touching story about Abraham, which will show us how deep and perfect was his faith in God and in His promises. The Scripture says, after these things God tempted Abraham; which does not mean that God tempted Abraham to evil; for as God is goodness itself, He could not by His own nature do that; but that He sent a great trial to Abraham, as we know He often