embraced him, and wept. On beholding his wives and his children, he asked him-" Who are those? Do they belong to thee?" Jacob replied-" Yes, my lord,, they are the children which God has given me." Leah then drew near to him with her sons, and having bowed before him, Rachel advanced and bowed also. "What," demanded Esau, "were those herds which I met in my way?""I sent, them in order to find favour in the presence of my lord."-" I am rich enough, my brother; keep for thy own use the things which belong to thee."-" Let it not be so done, I pray thee; but, if thou forget my offence, receive from me this humble present. Since I saw thee last, I think I have beheld the face of the Lord; look upon me, then, with an eye of kindness, and do not refuse those presents which I have received from God, the disposer of all things." Overcome by the intreaties of his brother, Esau refused no longer. "Let us pro

ceed together," said he'; "I will be the companion of thy way."-" Thou knowest that I have with me tender infants, and ewes with charged udders. Let my lord proceed first; I will follow. after as quickly as my little children may allow me, and join him in a short time in Seir."-Thus it was determined.

When Jacob was come near to the valley of Mamre, he sent the youngest of his slaves to apprize the aged Isaac of his return. Soon as he beheld Arbe, the dwelling of his grandfather Abraham, Arbe the spot so dear to his childhood! his eyes were filled with tears. As he advanced, a cloud of dust arose at the end of the road. A numerous company of servants, of women, and of children, were running to see him. Full of joy, he alighted from his camel, and, as if he had been related to him, embraced the first of them that arrived,

"And my mother?" exclaimed he; "and Isaac my father?"" They live,"

replied the servants, "they live! and, behold, thy mother cometh this way!"

Rebecca, leaning on the daughter of his nurse, advanced with hastened footsteps. Her son forgot to bow before her*, and ran into her arms. She breathed with difficulty, and continued some time without speaking:-" My son! my best beloved!" said she, at length: "God of Abraham! have I then lived to embrace my dear son!"

Isaac, who had for a long time been confined to his bed, commanded his servants to convey him before the entrance of his tent.-When he heard the footsteps of those who approached him (for he was blind), he seemed to forget his age, and arose to walk; Jacob ran towards him, and supported him in his arms. He replaced him in his chair, and bowed himself before him: "O! my father!" said he," there has not

* The uniform practice of the orientals.

passed a day whereon I have not besought the Lord to prolong thine years.

He has granted my request; and I once more embrace thy knees, and behold thy face! The Lord be blessed in thee, O thou most righteous among men!" Isaac was moved, and could answer only by his sighs :-and he died in the midst of his transports!-The venerable father was buried with all the respect due to his character as the minister of God on the earth.

Some time after Jacob's arrival, the Lord regarded Rachel. She announced that she was pregnant; and this was to the whole of the family a new obligation to bless the Lord. Shortly she brought into the world that Joseph, whose history is so celebrated. The elder daughter of Laban overcame, by her tenderness and love, the indifference of her husband; and her happiness, so long panted after, became as animating as her sufferings had been afflictive.

Despise not, ye wives, who are unhappy in your marriages, the example which this ancient and simple history sets before you. Patience, in submitting to your troubles, is a path which may conduct you to felicity.

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS AND

CHINESE.

THE Egyptians and the Chinese were the most early civilized people of the world; I shall therefore consider in one view the condition of women among these two nations.

If we credit some writers, the ancient Egyptians, in spite of the jealousy which, in proportion to the heat of the climate, and the degrees of violence which it imparts to the passions, has always been more or less powerful among mankind, allowed the women