mm* 
 
 HE ENCHANTED 
 
 p ARDENi 
 
 Alexander R.Gordon 
 
Class *fe S 5 
 
 Book > Go fe> 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEP03m 
 
i 
 
THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 ALEXANDER R. GORDON, D D. 
 
THE ENCHANTED 
 GARDEN 
 
 STORIES FROM GENESIS 
 RETOLD FOR YOUNG FOLK 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER R. GORDON, D.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE POETS OF THE OLD TESTA- 
 MENT," "THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD 
 TESTAMENT," ETC. 
 
 NEW XBr YORK 
 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 

 COPYRIGHT, 1920, 
 BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 
 OCT -8 1S20 
 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 ©CU576774 
 
TO 
 MARGARET and JANETTE 
 
PREFACE 
 
 There is no book in the Bible more fascinating 
 than Genesis. It charms us in our childhood, and 
 it holds its spell to the end. For it is not only 
 full of the enchanted poetry of the East; it is a 
 shining mirror of life in every age and under every 
 sky. As we follow these ancient tales, we seem to 
 be reading the story of our own souls. 
 
 This book has been written for young folk be- 
 ginning to look out on the wonder of life. But I 
 trust it will appeal also to older readers who still 
 retain the dew of their youth, especially to parents 
 and teachers who seek to win their children to the 
 love of beauty and goodness. May this re- telling 
 of Genesis help them in their heavenly task! 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Trees in the Garden 13 
 
 The Serpent and the Cherubim 16 
 
 The Croucher at the Door 20 
 
 Walking with God 24 
 
 The Sweet Scent 28 
 
 Building a Tower 31 
 
 A Good Sportsman 33 
 
 A Brave Adventure 37 
 
 Half-Truths 41 
 
 A Fatal Choice 44 
 
 The King of Peace . , 48 
 
 The Flaming Torch 51 
 
 The God That Sees 54 
 
 A Good Man's Prayer 58 
 
 The Smoking Furnace 62 
 
 The Well in the Wilderness 65 
 
 Swearing an Oath 68 
 
 The Ram in the Thicket 70 
 
 A Lonely Grave 73 
 
 An Evening Romance 77 
 
 Old Wells Opened Again 82 
 
 The Sale of a Birthright 84 
 
 The Stolen Blessing 87 
 
 A Hillside Dream 91 
 
 ix 
 
x CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stepping Out 95 
 
 Love at First Sight 98 
 
 Changed Looks 100 
 
 Meeting with Angels 104 
 
 Wrestling with God 108 
 
 Back to Bethel 112 
 
 The Gentleman's Coat .116 
 
 A Boy's Dreams ,«.... 119 
 
 The Black Hole m . . 122 
 
 A Faithful Servant , 126 
 
 The Just Man in Jail , . ■ 130 
 
 Dreams in the Dungeon 134 
 
 From Prison to Palace ••«...„... 137 
 
 The Money in the Sacks 141 
 
 In Bond for a Brother 145 
 
 A Royal Forgiveness 152 
 
 A United Home 154 
 
 A Happy Ending 157 
 
THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
THE ENCHANTED 
 GARDEN 
 
 i 
 
 THE TREES IN THE GARDEN 
 
 WE all love a garden. Some of us have gar- 
 dens of our own, and we know the joy of 
 tending them. In the bright spring months we 
 sow the tiny seeds ; we watch them break through 
 the ground, and unfold their stems and leaves to 
 the sunshine; we water the young plants, and 
 keep them clear of weeds, until the whole garden 
 is a mass of glowing colour. Even those who live 
 in the city have some share of this joy. We have 
 our public parks and playgrounds. Perhaps also 
 we have a patch of soil where we grow a few 
 favourite flowers. And when the hot summer 
 comes, we leave our dusty streets behind us, and 
 wander through garden and orchard, weaving^ 
 sweet bouquets of daisy and lily and rose, pluck- 
 ing the ripe berries from the bush, or gathering 
 our baskets full of golden orange and red-cheeked 
 apple. And we feel that life in a garden is life 
 indeed. 
 
 It makes us glad to know that God also loves 
 13 
 
14 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 a garden. When He created this world, He 
 planted a garden in Eden, "the land of Delight,' ' 
 on the rich plain of Mesopotamia. This garden 
 He laid out with every kind of tree that is pleas- 
 ant to the eyes and good for food, trees on whose 
 branches the birds sang with joy, and round 
 whose stems the beasts of the field roamed in 
 blissful freedom. The grassy slopes of the gar- 
 den He decked with flowers, and He brought a 
 river from Eden to water it. Here He placed the 
 man and the woman whom He had formed, "to 
 dress it and to keep it." And He used to come 
 down in the cool of the evening, to enjoy with 
 them the beauty of the garden, and to walk and 
 talk with them, as a father talks with his children. 
 
 This is no mere tale of far-off days. It is a 
 true parable of life. God's garden is the soul, 
 in which He has sown the seeds of all lovely flow- 
 ers and trees. And He has made us His garden- 
 ers, that we may watch over the seeds, and help 
 them to blossom and bear fruit. The flowers of 
 the soul are just those gracious habits which St. 
 Paul has written about: "love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, 
 temperance." And the trees are the manlier vir- 
 tues which boys admire so greatly: virtues like 
 courage, strength, endurance, truthfulness, loyalty 
 to comrades, willingness to help others in time of 
 need. If the garden of our soul be filled with 
 such flowers and trees, God will delight to come 
 down and walk in it, to call us His friends, and 
 to talk with us as freely as He did with Adam 
 and Eve. 
 
 It was God's wish that His children should pass 
 
THE TREES IN THE GARDEN 15 
 
 all their days in the innocent enjoyment of Eden. 
 So He placed in the midst of the garden "the 
 tree of life," that they might eat of the fruit of 
 it, and live for ever. But if they were to be worthy 
 of immortal life, they must be tried and proved. 
 So beside the tree of life He placed "the tree of 
 the knowledge of good and evil," warning them 
 not to eat of it, for on the day they ate they 
 would surely die. 
 
 I think we all know the meaning of this tree. 
 In the garden of the soul there are the good 
 fruits of love and peace, gentleness, courage, 
 strength and truthfulness ;, but there are also the 
 evil fruits of hatred, malice and strife, ill-temper, 
 cowardice and falsehood. And as the good fruits 
 are wholesome for the soul, the evil fruits are 
 poisons which kill the soul. Thus God bids us 
 "abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is 
 good. ' ' And we cannot make our choice too early 
 in life. For the voice of heavenly Wisdom says, 
 "I love them that love me;, and those that seek 
 me early shall find me." 
 
 \' 
 
 % 
 
n 
 
 THE SERPENT AND THE CHERUBIM 
 
 IN the wonderland of Eden man lived in friend- 
 ship with the beasts as well as God. Only the 
 serpent hated him, and planned to do him harm. 
 So, finding Eve one day alone near the forbidden 
 tree, he began to talk with her. i ' Hath God really 
 said, Ye shall not eat of any of the trees of the 
 garden V 9 In simple innocence Eve answered, 
 "Of every tree of the garden we may freely eat, 
 save of the tree which stands in the midst of the 
 garden, of which God hath said, Ye shall not eat 
 of it, nor even touch it, lest ye die." But the ser- 
 pent was not to be put off by innocent words. 
 Fastening his eye on the woman, he hinted that 
 God did not mean what He said. God was jealous 
 of His children, and only wished to keep them 
 ignorant of life. "Ye shall certainly not die. The 
 truth is, God knoweth that on the day ye eat of 
 the fruit of the tree your eyes will be opened, 
 and ye shall become as God Himself, knowing both 
 good and evil." And poor Eve was caught by his 
 flattering speech. She looked at the tree, and saw 
 that its fruit was pleasant to the eye and sweet 
 to the taste; she thought also how delightful it 
 must be to know good and evil. So she plucked 
 an apple from the tree and ate it; then she went 
 to her husband, gave him some of the fruit, and 
 
 16 
 
THE SERPENT AND THE CHERUBIM 17 
 
 he also ate. Thus our first parents disobeyed the 
 word of the Lord. 
 
 We can all guess what the serpent was. 
 Temptation! Sleek and subtle as a serpent, it 
 winds its way into the heart, and tries to catch 
 us by honeyed words. It tell us how sweet the 
 forbidden fruit is, how fine a thing it is to know 
 good and evil, how mean God is to prevent our 
 enjoyment. And far too readily we yield to the 
 spell. We eat of the tree of knowledge, find the 
 taste of it pleasant, and soon begin to share the 
 fruit with our companions. 
 
 Ay, but how cruel is the serpent! Those glit- 
 tering eyes are shot with fiery hatred against us. 
 That tongue which speaks so smoothly has a sting 
 whose poison is death. And quickly the poison 
 begins to work. Adam and Eve had no sooner 
 tasted the fruit of the tree than they were 
 ashamed and afraid. When they heard the sound 
 of God's footsteps in the garden, they ran to hide 
 themselves among the trees. And when God ques- 
 tioned them about their guilt, they threw the 
 blame on one another. Adam said, * ' The woman 
 whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me 
 of the tree, and I did eat, ' ' And Eve said, ' * The 
 serpent tempted me, and I did eat." 
 
 How true it all is ! The moment we do wrong, 
 we become uneasy and alarmed. We can no 
 longer look our parents and friends in the face. 
 We try to keep away from God. We are afraid 
 even to think of Him. And we blame others for 
 our faults. We say our companions led us astray, 
 or the tempter caught us before we knew, or God 
 Himself threw the stumbling-block in our path! 
 
18 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 But it is useless to hide our sins from God. 
 His eyes can search the very thoughts of our 
 heart. And He is not mocked, "for whatsoever 
 a man soweth, that shall he also reap." God did 
 not, indeed, slay Adam and his wife. He gave 
 them many more years to enjoy the sunshine. 
 And to shelter them from the rough blasts of the 
 world, He made them coats of skin to cover them. 
 But He drove them out of the garden, to toil with 
 the sweat of their brow on the hard thorny soil of 
 the desert. And at the entrance to the garden He 
 placed two winged cherubim, with a flaming sword 
 that turned in every direction, to guard the way 
 to the tree of life. 
 
 I think we can guess what this also means. The 
 cherubim are the angels who protect God's pres- 
 ence against evil. And the flaming sword is con- 
 science. Once we have sinned, this sword of con- 
 science prevents us from ever returning to the 
 garden of innocence. But if there be no way back 
 to innocence, there is a way forward to victory. 
 We read that, when God sent Adam and Eve out 
 of Eden, He held out to them the hope that their 
 children would crush the head of the serpent, 
 though the serpent would still strike at their heels. 
 That is, they would conquer sin, though the vic- 
 tory would be gained through much suffering and 
 sorrow. And in this fight with sin, He would 
 Himself help them to conquer. 
 
 We have a far brighter hope than they had. 
 Jesus Christ has come to our world. He, too, was 
 tempted, "in all points like as we are," but with- 
 out sin. The suggestions of the serpent He flung 
 one after another behind Him; and on the Cross 
 
THE SERPENT AND THE CHERUBIM 19 
 
 He trampled him under His feet, though the ser- 
 pent stung Him to the heart. By His death He 
 brought us deliverance from sin. Thus He opens 
 the way once more to the tree of life, not that 
 which stood in the Eden that was lost, but that 
 which stands for ever in the Eden above the skies. 
 "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
 tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise 
 of God." 
 
m 
 
 THE CEOUCHER AT THE DOOR 
 
 THE lot of Adam and his wife outside of Eden 
 was a toilsome one. But love lightened the 
 load. And soon children came to add sunshine to 
 their love. Eve 's eldest son she called Cain, which 
 means Gotten, for she said, "I have gotten a boy 
 from the Lord." The second she called Abel, 
 which means Shepherd, for she hoped he would 
 help his father with the sheep. As they grew up, 
 Cain became a tiller of the ground, while Abel 
 kept the flocks. How Adam must have rejoiced 
 to see his two sons thus shouldering their end of 
 the burden ! But he longed still more to see them 
 grow together in the knowledge and love of the 
 Lord. Thus often he would tell them of the happy 
 time when he and their mother had walked so 
 intimately with God in the garden. And often he 
 would gather them round the family altar when 
 he offered his sacrifices of thanksgiving to God 
 for His goodness to all of them in the fields and 
 in the home. Ere long Cain and Abel began to 
 offer sacrifices for themselves. But the spirit in 
 which they offered them was different. Abel 
 offered his sacrifice with a frank, glad heart, be- 
 cause he loved God, and was grateful for His 
 mercies. But Cain offered his with a grudge, as 
 though it were a tax God forced him to pay 
 
 20 
 
THE CROUCHER AT THE DOOR *1 
 
 against his will. And as God loves only the cheer- 
 ful giver, He had respect unto Abel and his offer- 
 ing, while unto Cain and his offering He had no 
 respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his face 
 fell. His heart was bitter against the brother 
 whom God had favoured. He blamed him for 
 the respect of persons God had shown. And as 
 he brooded over it, the fire burned hot and fierce, 
 and he moved about the camp with dark and sullen 
 looks, consumed by a passion of hatred towards 
 the innocent. 
 
 Cain doubtless imagined he was doing no wrong 
 in harbouring such feelings against his brother. 
 He may even have persuaded himself that he was 
 in the right. But God unveiled the sin that lurked 
 beneath his anger. "Why art thou wroth? And 
 why is thy face fallen? If thou doest well, 
 shouldest thou not hold it up, like a man of hon- 
 our? But if thou doest not well, sin croucheth at 
 the door; and unto thee is its desire, while thou 
 shouldest rule over it." 
 
 We have here a wonderfully vivid picture of 
 temptation and its stealthy approach. In the gar- 
 den of Eden it had appeared as a serpent, the 
 subtlest and most venomous of reptiles. Now it 
 takes the shape of a tiger, beautiful in outward 
 appearance, lithe and graceful in all its move- 
 ments, but crafty and cruel as it is beautiful, not 
 stalking like the lion in lordly majesty, but lying 
 in ambush, or gliding softly through the jungle, 
 then crouching at the house door, ready to' leap 
 upon its unwary victim, and tear him in savage* 
 fury. 
 
 How true this picture also is! Like Cain, w© 
 
22 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 often imagine we can indulge in bitter feelings, 
 and yet be guilty of no sin. But once we allow 
 our hearts to be haunted by evil passions, sin 
 crouches at the door, waiting for a chance to 
 spring in and overpower us. Sin lay at the door 
 of Cain's heart; and as soon as the door was 
 opened, when he and Abel were alone in the field, 
 the sin rose and mastered him, and he slew his 
 brother. With us, too, a sinful thought is the first 
 step to a sinful deed. While the spell of evil is 
 still upon us, the temptation comes, and we fall 
 almost before we realise our danger. Like a wild 
 beast sin holds us in its clutches, and we are lost. 
 But there is another side to the picture. "Unto 
 thee is its desire, while thou shouldest rule over 
 it." As Browning says, 
 
 "Why comes temptation but for man to meet 
 And master and make crouch beneath his foot, 
 And so be pedestalled in triumph ?" 
 
 Man has little strength to cope with a wild beast 
 suddenly springing from its lair. But in the open 
 field he is master of the strongest. The very look 
 of his eye is enough to make the king of the forest 
 quail before him. And with his weapons he can; 
 bring down the fiercest of his foes. So also, hope- 
 less as it seems for us to struggle against the sin 
 that crouches at the door, we are more than a 
 match for the temptations that meet us on the 
 highways of duty and honour. There are those 
 that shrink before a fearless look. Stand up to 
 your temptations, and often they will leave you 
 without a blow. And though sometimes you must 
 fight, as Christian fought with Apollyon, cour- 
 
THE CROUCHER AT THE DOOR 23 
 
 age and faith will make you "more than con- 
 querors. ' ' 
 
 But even if we have allowed our temptations to 
 icrouch at the door, we can yet find strength to 
 overcome. He who warned Cain of the presence 
 of the tempter would have helped him to the mas- 
 tery, had he only given heed to the warning. And 
 He is still ready to help all who seek His help. 
 Sin may crouch at the door. But Jesus stands at 
 the door and knocks. And if any man hear His 
 voice and open the door, He will come in and abide 
 with Him. Before the glance of His pure eye the 
 sin that desires to bring us down will flee away 
 abashed. Or if it still dare to attack us, in Jesus' 
 strength we shall make it crouch beneath our foot, 
 "and so be pedestalled in triumph." For 
 temptation has a real place in God's great plan 
 of life. It is the athletics of Christian character. 
 Without temptation we should be poor, weak 
 creatures, unable to play our part with vigour 
 and success. But through facing and mastering 
 our temptations, we become good soldiers of 
 Jesus Christ. And on the day of the Grand Re- 
 view we shall receive the crown which He has 
 promised to all who have fought and won. 
 
 "To him that o'ercometh God giveth a crown; 
 Through faith we shall conquer, though often cast 
 
 down; 
 He who is our Saviour our strength will renew; 
 Look ever to Jesus — He will carry you through." 
 
IV 
 WALKING WITH GOD 
 
 IN 1 the East one who slays his fellow is banished 
 to the wilderness, and there left to the ven- 
 geance of the dead man 's family and friends. His 
 only hope of safety is to flee to another tribe, to 
 receive their mark, and to pass nnder their pro- 
 tection. When Cain became a fugitive and wan- 
 derer in the earth, he had no one to turn to. But 
 God took pity upon him, and set His mark on his 
 forehead, that no one finding him should slay him. 
 Thus He seasoned justice with mercy. 
 
 Once launched out for themselves, the descend- 
 ants of Cain made rapid progress in the arts of 
 life. Some of them began to rear cattle, others 
 worked in brass and iron, while the inventive 
 genius of Jubal devised the first simple instru- 
 ments of music. But with all these gifts they for- 
 got the Giver. Thus their very progress proved 
 a way of sin. The brass and iron they forged 
 into spears and swords to war with one another. 
 And their musical talents they employed to cele- 
 brate their deeds of violence. The earliest song 
 in the Bible is that in which Lamech boasts of the 
 blood he has shed. 
 
 "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; 
 
 Ye wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech : 
 24 
 
WALKING WITH GOD 25 
 
 A man have I slain for wounding me, 
 
 And a boy for bruising me : 
 If Cain be avenged seven times, 
 
 Then Lamech seventy and seven." 
 
 Amid so much darkness one man's character 
 shines out like a star. It is summed up in four 
 words ; but the whole essence of life is contained 
 in them. " Enoch walked with God." As we read 
 the simple statement, we are carried back in imag- 
 ination to the sinless days when Adam walked 
 with God in Eden. Not that God appeared to 
 either Adam or Enoch in outward form. To walk 
 with God means just to be the friend of God, to 
 love Him, to worship Him "in spirit and in 
 truth,' ' to try to please Him in all things. Enoch's 
 life was one unbroken round of such happy fel- 
 lowship with God. In the morning he would wake 
 up glad at heart for the new day His goodness had 
 given him. On his way to work he would keep 
 his eyes open to the wondrous beauty of heaven 
 and earth. The active hours he would fill up 
 with honest toil, putting his very best into his 
 work for God's sake. He would have a smile and 
 a kindly greeting for all he met. He would be the 
 constant friend of the poor and needy. At home 
 he would seek to train his children in the fear of 
 the Lord. But there would be nothing morose in 
 his training. He knew that the fear of the Lord 
 is joy and love ; therefore he would throw himself 
 with eager interest into all their childish activi- 
 ties, taking a real delight, both in their work and 
 in their play. Often in the evening he would wan- 
 der out alone under the starry skies, to commit 
 
86 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 them to the care of Him who had created all these 
 things. TThen night came, he would reverently, 
 kneel with them in prayer, and together the/j 
 would sleep the sleep of the righteous. So, what- 1 
 ever he did, he would carry on his face the reflec- 
 tion of the Friend with whom he walked, and help 
 to shed the light of heaven on earth. 
 
 It may seem' hard for little ones to walk with 
 God in this way. Yet Jesus said, "Of such is the 
 Kingdom of heaven." And if we remember that 
 He is the living image of God, we shall no longer 
 think it so hard. He has always been the friend 
 of children. When He lived here, the boys and 
 girls of Palestine crowded about Him, clambered 
 on His knees, clung to His arm, and nestled in 
 His bosom. And though we cannot see and touch 
 Him as they did, we can read the story of His 
 life, think of Him and pray to Him, follow Him 
 as our great Leader, and try to be more like Him 
 in word and deed. This is walking with God. And 
 we can practise it in everything we do, in our 
 games as well as our prayers. For God means us 
 to walk with Him, not as grown-up men and 
 women, but as boys and girls, full of the bright- 
 ness and gaiety of youth. The happier we are, 
 the more will He rejoice in our friendship. For 
 sunshine of heart and mind is the soul of friend- 
 ship, with God as well as with men. 
 
 Enoch walked many years with God. Then sud- 
 denly, one bright morning, he vanished from the 
 sight of men. "He was not; for God took him." 
 He had lived so near to heaven that God simply 
 opened the door and led him in. 
 
 God may still call His friends home to Him as 
 
WALKING WITH GOD «1 : 
 
 quietly as that. One of Lord Tennyson's most 
 touching poems, In The Children's Hospital, tells 
 of Emmie, the girl with "the prettiest prattle" 
 and "the gratefullest heart," who feels that her 
 end is near, and asks "wise little Annie," in the 
 cot beside her, what she should do. Annie bids 
 her "cry to the dear Lord Jesus," who has said, 
 "Little children should come to me." But how 
 is He to know her, with so many beds in the ward? 
 
 "That was a puzzle for Annie. Again she consider 'd 
 and said: j 
 
 * Emmie, yon pnt ont your arms, and you leave 'em 
 ontside on the bed — 
 
 The Lord has so much to see to ! but, Emmie, you tell it 
 him plain, 
 
 It's the little girl with her arms lying out on the coun- 
 terpane.' " 
 
 In the morning doctor and nurse visit the ward, 
 and see 
 
 "Her dear, long, lean, little arms lying out on the coun- 
 terpane. ' ' 
 
 They believe her asleep again. But, like Enoch, 
 she is not ; for God has taken her. 
 
 "The Lord of the children had heard her, and Emmie 
 had past away." 
 
THE SWEET SCENT 
 
 THE influence of Enoch's faith, waned all too 
 quickly, and the world grew worse and worse. 
 The spirit of God wrestled with men, but they 
 would not repent. At last He made up His mind 
 to destroy them "by a great flood. Only Noah 
 found favour in His eyes. He was a good man, 
 who walked with God as faithfully as Enoch had 
 done. At God's command he built him an ark 
 of cypress wood, into which he brought his wife 
 and children, with a few animals of every kind. 
 "When they had entered the ark, the flood de- 
 scended upon the earth. For forty days and nights 
 it rained in pitiless torrents. The waters rose 
 till they covered the highest mountains, and every 
 living creature died, except those in the ark. Then 
 the rain ceased, and the waters began to sink. In 
 course of time Noah opened the window of the 
 ark, and sent out a raven, to see whether the 
 earth was dry. The raven had no love for the 
 ark, and remained on the surface of the waters, 
 flying to and fro till the land appeared. Then 
 Noah sent out a dove, but she "found no rest 
 for the sole of her foot," and soon returned to the 
 ark. Seven days later he sent out the dove again, 
 and she returned in the evening, with a freshly 
 plucked olive leaf in her mouth. By this sign 
 
 28 
 
THE SWEET SCENT S9 
 
 Noah knew that the trees had appeared. So he 
 waited seven other days, and sent out the dove 
 again. This time she returned no more to him, 
 and he knew that the earth was dry. Then he 
 opened the door, and went out, he and all that 
 were with him in the ark. And he built an altar, 
 and offered sacrifices of every clean beast and 
 bird. And God "smelled the sweet scent' ' of the 
 sacrifice, and vowed never again to curse the 
 ground for man 's sake. And in token of the vow 
 He caused a rainbow to appear in the sky, as a 
 pledge that, " while the earth remaineth, seed- 
 time and harvest, and cold and heat, and sum- 
 mer and winter, and day and night, shall not 
 fail." 
 
 "What made the sacrifice smell so sweetly to 
 God was the gratitude that lay behind it. Noah's 
 whole soul bubbled over with praise ; and his sac- 
 rifice was the utterance of that praise. For the 
 same reason Jesus delighted in the sweet scent 
 of Mary's ointment. To Him it was the outpour- 
 ing of a heart which loved much because it had 
 been forgiven much; and He prophesied that the 
 memory of her gracious deed would remain fresh 
 and fragrant wherever the Gospel was preached. 
 Over every good man 's life hangs a scent like that 
 which lingers round Mary's name. When Profes- 
 sor Drummond visited Lake Shirwa, in the depths 
 of Tropical Africa, he met an old female chief, 
 who told him that long ago a white man had come 
 to her village, spoken kindly to her, and given 
 her a present of cloth. It was David Livingstone. 
 And Drummond adds, "Wherever Livingstone's 
 footsteps are crossed in Africa, the fragrance of 
 
SO THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 his memory seems to remain.' ' Of that later 
 African heroine, Mary Slessor, the White Queen 
 of Okoyong, her biographer says she was like "a 
 sweetbriar bush, hidden away in a lonely and 
 lowly spot," whose fragrance scented the air on 
 every side. So Florence Nightingale carried 
 fragrance through the hospital wards of Scutari, 
 and many another angel of mercy into the hearts 
 of our soldiers in the last Great War. But we 
 need not wait till we are older to become what 
 St. Paul calls "savours of Christ" in the world. 
 You remember Browning's Pippa, the little mill- 
 girl of Asolo, who passed through the city streets 
 singing her sweet songs of God in His heaven. 
 As she sang, the whole atmosphere seemed to be 
 purified. Men living in sin were brought to a 
 better mind; the dishonest returned to ways of 
 honesty ; love was awakened in the hearts of those 
 who scoffed at love; the artist was inspired to 
 produce better work ; and the patriot was imbued 
 with a purer passion for his country. If we can- 
 not sing like Pippa, we can at least have a bunch 
 of flowers for the sick, a cup of cold water for 
 the thirsty, a kind word for the friendless, a 
 bright smile for everyone. In these ways we, too, 
 can help to sweeten life, to fill it with the scent of 
 Paradise. 
 
 "Little deeds of kindness, 
 
 Little words of love, 
 Make our earth an Eden, 
 
 Like the heaven above.' ' 
 
VI 
 BUILDING A TOWER 
 
 AFTER the flood men began to multiply once 
 more on the earth. For many years they 
 remained one family, speaking one language. As 
 they journeyed in the valley of the Euphrates, 
 they came to the plain of Babylon, where they 
 pitched their tents. Soon they determined to build 
 a city, with a tower reaching to heaven, that they 
 should never be separated, and might make them- 
 selves also a great name. So they dug up clay, 
 baked it into bricks, used bitumen for mortar, and 
 began to build. But in their plan for the build- 
 ing they took no account of God. They imagined 
 they could work even better without Him, for 
 there would then be no hindrance to their ambi- 
 tion. But He came down to see what they did; 
 and when he discovered how godless were their 
 aims, He threw confusion into their language, that 
 they could no longer understand each other's 
 speech. So the building stopped, and they were 
 "scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth." 
 Like the builders of Babylon, we, too, are rais- 
 ing towers to the sky. These towers are just our 
 achievements, that which we make of our lives. 
 The bricks are the works we do. The strength 
 and beauty of the towers will thus depend on the 
 quality of our works. If they be shoddy, rough 
 
 31 
 
32 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 and loose, the towers will rise up coarse and 
 crooked ; if they be true and good, the towers will 
 mount in stately grace, " four-square to all the 
 winds that blow." There need be no limit to the 
 height of our towers. If we have any real ambi- 
 tion, indeed, we shall raise them as near to heaven 
 as we can, and so win ourselves a name among our 
 fellows. But for that we need a sure foundation. 
 Many of us build without a foundation; and our 
 towers are but castles in the air. Others build on 
 the foundation of selfishness. Like the man de- 
 scribed in Tennyson's Palace of Art, they make 
 for themselves "a lordly pleasure-house/ ' where 
 their soul may "live alone unto herself in her 
 high palace there ; ' ' but living only for themselves, 
 they lose their touch with other men, and fall 
 "like Herod, when the shout was in his ears." 
 Too many great Emperors, Alexander and Caesar, 
 Napoleon and William the Second, have built on 
 this foundation. They tried to conquer the world; 
 but God confounded their plans, and they ended 
 their days in exile or by the sword. In one way 
 or other selfishness always leads to ruin. The 
 only sure foundation is Jesus Christ and His rule 
 of life. "Do unto others as ye would that they 
 should do unto you." On this foundation men 
 like "Washington and Lincoln, Gladstone and Gen- 
 eral Gordon built. They had their ambitions ; but 
 their chief ambition was to do good, to fight for 
 country and honour, to free the slaves, to secure 
 justice for all men. So their towers reached to 
 heaven, while their names enjoy immortal renown. 
 We may not have gifts as great as theirs ; but if 
 we do our best with the gifts we have, we, too, 
 
BUILDING A TOWER 33 
 
 shall build towers that will last, and onr names 
 will be held in grateful remembrance. 
 
 "For me — to have made one soul 
 
 The better for my birth ; 
 To have added but one flower 
 To the garden of the earth; 
 
 To have struck one blow for truth. 
 
 In the daily fight with lies ; 
 To have done one deed of right 
 
 In the face of calumnies; 
 
 To have sown in the souls of men 
 
 One thought that will not die ; 
 To have been a link in the chain of life 
 
 Shall be immortality. ,, 
 
 B. Hatch. 
 
VII 
 A GOOD SPOETSMAN 
 
 AMONG the people scattered from Babylon 
 were those who founded the Empire of As- 
 syria, with its capital at Nineveh. They were 
 great conquerors ; they were also great sportsmen. 
 On their wonderful clay tablets we can still see 
 pictures of their fights with lions and other wild 
 beasts. But the Assyrians were cruel, both in 
 war and in sport. The prophet Nahum calls Nine- 
 veh a city of blood. One man, however, was of a 
 different stamp. Nimrod was a great sportsman; 
 but he was a good sportsman. He was "a mighty 
 hunter before the Lord. ' ' 
 
 The love of sport is one of our earliest instincts. 
 The little child tosses its legs and arms about in 
 pure playfulness. Boys and girls have their 
 games of baseball and cricket, racing, skipping, 
 hide-and-seek, clubs and housekeeping. Older 
 folk enjoy their quieter recreations of golf and 
 bowls, fishing and shooting. God has planted this 
 love of sport in our souls, and He wishes us to 
 play heartily and well. One day Jesus was watch- 
 ing the children of Jerusalem at their games and 
 he saw some of them sulky and cross. Their com- 
 panions proposed a wedding, and began to pipe 
 and dance; but they would not play. Then they 
 tried a funeral, and began to weep and wail ; still 
 
 34 
 
A GOOD SPORTSMAN 35 
 
 they would not play. And Jesus was greatly dis- 
 pleased. He liked to see children happy at their 
 games. He liked also to see them play fair, to 
 see them play like Nimrod " before the Lord." 
 Many of us spoil the game, not only by our 
 peevish temper, but by selfishness, cruelty, or 
 foul play. We try to win by any means we can ; 
 and if we are beaten, we are vexed and sour. The 
 good sportsman will always "play the game." 
 He wishes not so much to gain glory for himself, 
 as to help his team to win. As the master says 
 in that splendid old book, Tom Brown's School 
 Days, "he doesn't play that he may win, but that 
 his side may." So he obeys his captain's orders, 
 keeps in touch with his fellows, and passes to the 
 next-hand man, if he has a better chance of scor- 
 ing. He does his best to win ; but he would rather 
 lose than cheat. And if he does lose, he takes it 
 manfully. He shakes hands, and leaves the field 
 in perfect temper. 
 
 Sport is not merely an enjoyment for the 
 moment : it is a training for the harder contests of 
 life. You have all heard of Wellington's remark 
 that "Waterloo was really won on the playing 
 fields of Eton." With equal truth we may say 
 that the battles in France and Flanders, Palestine 
 and Mesopotamia, were won on the school-grounds 
 of Europe and America. For it was there that 
 our soldiers developed that strength and courage, 
 discipline, devotion to duty, cheerfulness and good 
 humour, which carried them through to victory. 
 But sport is as real a training for ordinary work. 
 The good sportsman will "play the game" at 
 school and college, in business, on the farm and 
 
$6 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 ranch, or wherever he is. He will try to excel; 
 hut he will never stoop to mean and selfish meth- 
 ods. His hands will be clean, his heart high and 
 brave, his spirit generous. He will do his best 
 to work with others, for he knows that the purest 
 success is that which comes through the working 
 together of each for all. And whether he reaches 
 his full ambition or not, he will enjoy the proud 
 sense that he has "done his bit" before the Lord. 
 
 "There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night — 
 
 Ten to make and the match to win — 
 A bumping pitch and a blinding light, 
 
 An hour to play and the last man in. 
 And it 's not for the sake of a ribboned coat, 
 
 Or the selfish hope of a season 's fame, 
 But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote — 
 
 ' Play up ! play up ! and play the game 1 ' 
 
 The sand of the desert is sodden red — 
 
 Red with the wreck of a square that broke; — 
 The gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead, 
 
 And the regiment blind with dust and smoke. 
 The river of death has brimmed his banks, 
 
 And England's far, and Honour a name; 
 But the voice of a school-boy rallies the ranks — 
 
 ' Play up ! play up ! and play the game ! ' 
 
 This is the word that year by year, 
 
 "While in her place the School is set, 
 Every one of her sons must hear, 
 
 And none that hears it dare forget. 
 This they all with a joyful mind 
 
 Bear through life like a torch in flame; 
 And falling fling to the host behind — 
 
 'Play up ! play up ! and play the game ! ' " 
 
 H. Nbwboi/p. 
 
vni 
 
 A BKAVE ADVENTURE 
 
 IN those days of restless movement an Eastern 
 chief called Terah settled at Ur of the Chal- 
 dees, a famous old city on the delta of the Tigris 
 and Euphrates. The land round Ur was of gor- 
 geous beauty. Great palm-trees dotted the plain. 
 Emit grew in rank luxuriance. Ur itself was a 
 birthplace of learning and art. Its people, how- 
 ever, were idolators. They had long since for- 
 gotten the true G-od, and worshipped the sun, 
 moon and stars. But God did not wish His chil- 
 dren to remain in darkness, so He revealed Him- 
 self to Abram, the son of Terah. 
 
 A beautiful Jewish legend tells how the lad went 
 out one morning and saw the sun rise in its glory. 
 He said to himself, "Surely this is the Lord of 
 the world ; Him will I worship. ' ' But the evening 
 came, and lo ! the sun set, and the moon appeared 
 with its galaxy of silver stars. Then he said to 
 himself, "This now is the Lord of the world, and 
 the stars are His servants; to Him will I kneel." 
 But morning came once more ; the moon and stars 
 sank, and the sun rose anew in its glory. So he 
 said to himself, ' ' Now I know that neither the sun 
 nor the moon is the Lord of the world; but He 
 who controls both of them as His servants is the 
 Creator and Ruler of all." 
 
 37 
 
38 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 However this may be, Abram came to know God 
 so intimately that he was called "the friend of 
 God." And God chose him to be the father of 
 the faithful, through whom all the families of the 
 earth should be blessed. But he could not be the 
 father of the faithful in that land of idolatry. 
 So God bade him leave his country, his kindred, 
 and his father's home, to go unto a land that 
 He would show him. And Abram rose up, and 
 went forth, "not knowing whither he went." 
 
 It is a fine proof of Abram 's strength of char- 
 acter that Terah his father joined him in his 
 brave adventure, along with Sarai his wife and 
 Lot his brother's son. Together they made their 
 way along the Euphrates, until they reached 
 Haran, the great market-town of Syria. There 
 Terah died; but Abram and Lot pushed ever on- 
 ward, past the luscious orchards of Damascus, 
 and over the Jordan, till they set foot in Palestine. 
 This was the land God meant to give them. So 
 Abram built an altar, and claimed it in the name 
 of the Lord. But they found no city to dwell in, 
 for "the Canaanite was then in the land." So 
 they passed through Jezreel to the charming val- 
 ley of Shechem, where Jesus sat by Jacob's well, 
 and on to Luz or Bethel, where Jacob saw his 
 vision of angels. And wherever they went, Abram 
 set up an altar, and called upon the name of the 
 Lord. "For he looked for a city which hath foun- 
 dations, whose builder and maker is God." 
 
 Three hundred years ago another band of pil- 
 grims left their country, their kindred, and their 
 fathers' home. They, too, were friends of God. 
 But they found no "freedom to worship God" in 
 
A BRAVE ADVENTURE 39 
 
 England. So they set sail on the Mayflower, "to 
 go unto a land that He would show them." The 
 parting from their friends was sorrowful. The 
 voyage was long and stormy. The land they first 
 sighted was bleak and inhospitable. But they car- 
 ried with them the faith that had supported them 
 in so many trials. And no sooner did they reach 
 the harbour than, like Abram, they called upon 
 the name of the Lord. As one of their number 
 tells us, "They fell on their knees and blessed 
 the God of heaven, who had brought them over 
 the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them 
 from all its perils and miseries." Thus they 
 claimed America for God. And they and their 
 children were blessed abundantly, and became a 
 blessing to all the families of the earth. 
 
 Our own lives are just such ventures upon the 
 unknown. In our fathers' homes our vessels are 
 shaped, and trimmed, and fitted with bow and 
 helm, masts and rigging. When all is ready, we 
 put out to sea, our sails unfurled, and our flags 
 streaming in the breeze. "We do not know what 
 skies may look down on us, what calms or storms 
 may meet us, what strange lands may beckon us 
 to their shores, what other ships may cross our 
 path. This only we know, that, if God be the 
 steersman, all will be well. The sunshine will 
 cheer us, while the mists and storms will make 
 us the finer sailors. Wherever God's hand at the 
 wheel may direct our course, goodness and mercy 
 will follow us like favouring winds. We shall 
 carry lights that will help our comrades on the 
 deep. And at the end we shall sail with masts 
 
40 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 erect and colours flying into the haven of Eternal 
 Life. 
 
 "We watch a ship sail out to sea 
 
 Upon the ebbing tide, 
 And on the heaving ocean wave 
 
 "We see it gently ride ; 
 The sails are spread, the helmsman steers 
 
 To some far distant strand, 
 And well he knows he leaves behind 
 
 His friends and native land. 
 
 Upon the far horizon-line 
 
 The ship now disappears, 
 And yet we know the helmsman has 
 
 No need for anxious fears, 
 For other seas, both broad and wide, 
 
 Are stretched before his eyes; 
 And he still steers to some fair port 
 
 That in the distance lies. 
 
 And, lo, when dear ones pass away 
 
 And vanish from our sight, 
 They, too, will sail o'er level seaa 
 
 Towards God's eternal light; 
 The dim horizon-line will be 
 
 To them no sudden change; 
 We call it death — it is the Life 
 
 Beyond earth's narrow range. " 
 
 A. C. Fryob. 
 
IX 
 
 HALF-TKUTHS 
 
 ABEAM had not been long in Palestine when 
 his faith was sorely tried. " There was a 
 famine in the land." The rains had failed, and 
 the crops and grass dried np. Abram's flocks 
 grew lean for want of food, while he and his house- 
 hold began to suffer the pangs of hunger. Often 
 during these dark weeks he must have thought 
 regretfully of the rich harvests in TJr. But there 
 could be no going back to the land of his fathers. 
 So he went down to Egypt, that well-stored gran- 
 ary by the Nile. This caused him another trial. 
 He had left his altar behind him; and he was 
 nervous and depressed. He felt as if God had 
 brought him there to die. He may even have 
 heard the story, which we can still read in an 
 Egyptian book, of a Pharaoh sending armed men 
 to carry away a beautiful woman from her hus- 
 band. And, as Sarai was "a woman fair to look 
 upon/' he was afraid they might slay him to get 
 possession of her. So he bade her say she was 
 his sister, that no harm might come to him on her 
 account. 
 
 This was not exactly a lie. It was what we call 
 
 a half-truth. For Sarai was really the daughter 
 
 of his father, though not the daughter of his 
 
 mother. But half-truths are sometimes more 
 
 41 
 
42 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 dangerous than downright lies. In Tennyson's 
 poem, The Grandmother, the poor old woman re- 
 calls with bitter shame a half-truth she had uttered 
 seventy years before. And she says : 
 
 "The parson made it his text that week, and he said 
 
 likewise, 
 That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of 
 
 lies, 
 That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought 
 
 with outright, 
 But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to 
 
 fight." 
 
 Had Abram told the full truth, Pharaoh would 
 have treated him and his wife with all respect. 
 As it was, he nearly involved them both in great 
 sin. For, when the princes of Egypt spoke to 
 him of Sarai 's beauty, he sent for her, and learn- 
 ing she was Ab ram's sister, he brought her to 
 the palace, intending soon to make her one of his 
 queens. Thus the blessing promised to Abram 
 would have been turned into a curse. 
 
 Some of us have tried to get out of difficulties 
 by shifts and evasions of the truth. But we have 
 only found ourselves by these means plunged into 
 deeper bogs than before. The one safe rule is 
 to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
 but the truth." There is no character in fiction 
 more admired than Jeanie Deans, the heroine of 
 The Heart of Midlothian. Sir Walter Scott tells 
 us he drew the picture from Helen Walker, the 
 daughter of a small farmer in the parish of Iron- 
 gray, near Dumfries. Her sister Tibbie had com- 
 mitted a terrible crime, and was on trial for her 
 
HALF-TRUTHS 43 
 
 life. Helen might have gained her acquittal by 
 a little prevarication. But she said, "It is impos- 
 sible for me to swear to a falsehood; and, what- 
 ever may be the consequence, I will give my oath 
 according to my conscience." She did so; and 
 Tibbie was condemned to death. But Helen would 
 not leave her thus to her fate. She got up a peti- 
 tion, telling in simple words the peculiar facts of 
 the case, walked the long, weary way to London, 
 laid it before the Duke of Argyle, and secured 
 the pardon she asked for. So she saved her sis- 
 ter's life. But she likewise saved her own hon- 
 our. And honour is the precious gold of character. 
 
 "This above all: to thine own self be true, 
 And it must follow, as the night the day, 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
A FATAL CHOICE 
 
 ABEAM returned from Egypt a sadder but a 
 wiser man. He had learned his own weak- 
 ness; but he had learned also the secret of 
 strength. So he went his way to the altar at 
 Bethel, and there anew "called upon the name of 
 the Lord." Then he rose from his knees deter- 
 mined to live more worthily of his faith. From 
 that moment prosperity seemed to pour down on 
 him. Both Lot and he became so rich in substance 
 that "the land was not able to bear them," and 
 quarrels broke out between their herdsmen. 
 Abram was saddened by their quarrelling, all the 
 more because "the Canaanite and the Perizzite 
 dwelled then in the land," and made sport of their 
 feuds. So he begged Lot that their strife might 
 end, for they were brethren. "Is not the whole 
 land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, 
 from me ! If thou will take the left hand, then I 
 will go to the right ; or if thou wilt take the right 
 hand, then I will go to the left. ' ' 
 
 Abram's proposal was as generous as it could 
 be. Had Lot been a man of his spirit, he would 
 have left the choice with him. Unhappily, he 
 was a mean and grasping character, who thought 
 only of himself. So "he lifted up his eyes, and 
 beheld the circle of land round the Jordan, that 
 
 44 
 
A FATAL CHOICE 45 
 
 it was well watered everywhere, like the garden 
 of the Lord." And he chose that circle of land 
 as his own, and moved his tent toward Sodom, 
 while Abram was driven to the rough, uncultivated 
 highlands in the West. 
 
 Jesus tells us it is possible to lose life by trying 
 to save it for selfish ends, and to save life by being 
 prepared to lose it for God and honour. So these 
 two men found it. Lot attempted to gain the whole 
 world, but he lost everything in the attempt. 
 "When he moved his tent toward Sodom, he was 
 regardless of the fact that "the men of Sodom 
 were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceed- 
 ingly. " If he thought about it at all, he may have 
 imagined he could keep clear of their sinful 
 ways. But little by little he and his family were 
 drawn into the full current of the stream. At 
 first he had pitched his tent outside of Sodom. 
 Then he built a house in the city itself. His wife 
 made friend with the ladies of Sodom. His daugh- 
 ters were betrothed to men of Sodom. And when 
 the city was destroyed, as we shall see, Lot was 
 saved only " as by fire. ' ' His wife was so attached 
 to Sodom that she lingered to look back upon the 
 city, and was caught by the sulphur fumes, and 
 turned into a pillar of salt. His daughters were 
 left homeless. He himself sank into deep dis- 
 honour. All this while the blossoms of God's 
 favour were falling thick on Abram. No sooner 
 had Lot gone than He led him to the top of the 
 hill above Bethel, and bade him lift up his eyes, 
 and look northward and southward, and eastward 
 and westward. And He said to him, ' ' All the land 
 which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to 
 
46 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 thy seed for ever. ' 9 And when Abram moved his 
 camp to the plain of Mamre, near Hebron, God 
 renewed His promise of blessing. His hidden 
 plans He revealed to him. For his sake He spared 
 Lot from destruction. He made him a centre of 
 good to his neighbours. He blessed him in his 
 home as well as his heart. He gave him children 
 and grand-children. And in the course of the 
 ages He sent His own Son, born of the seed of 
 Abraham, to be the Saviour of the world. 
 
 The time comes when every one of us must 
 choose where and how he is to live. Too many 
 choose as Lot did. They care for nothing but 
 worldly success. So they choose a career that 
 will bring them riches and pleasure, without re- 
 gard to the nature of the work, or the friendships 
 they will form. Such a choice is always fatal. A 
 man may pile up millions; but if his life is dis- 
 honourable, his millions are but dust in the bal- 
 ance. And if his companions are evil, he will not 
 be long in learning their evil ways. To make the 
 most of our lives, we must " seek first the kingdom 
 of God and His righteousness." Then we shall 
 find that all other good things will be added to us. 
 The man who takes conscience as his guiding light 
 is sure of success. He may not leap into sudden 
 wealth. But he will steadily gain a position of 
 honour and influence. He will eniov the respect 
 of all good men. Above all, he will find favour 
 with God and will live in the sunshine of His love 
 for ever. 
 
 "0 happy is the man who hears 
 Instruction's warning voice: 
 
A FATAL CHOICE 47 
 
 And who celestial "Wisdom makes 
 His early, only choice. 
 
 For she has treasures greater far 
 
 Than east or west unfold ; 
 And her rewards more precious are 
 
 Than all their stores of gold. 
 
 In her right hand she holds to view 
 
 A length of happy days; 
 Kiches, with splendid honours joined, 
 
 Are what her left displays. 
 
 She guides the young with innocence, 
 
 In pleasures ' paths to tread ; 
 A crown of glory she bestows 
 
 Upon the hoary head. 
 
 According as her labours rise, 
 
 So her rewards increase ; 
 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
 
 And all her paths are peace." 
 
XI 
 THE KING OF PEACE 
 
 LOT soon learned the folly of his choice. The 
 kind of Sodom had picked a quarrel with 
 Chedorlaomer, the powerful ruler of Elam, and 
 challenged him to fight. Chedorlaomer promptly 
 accepted the challenge. With three vassal kings, 
 he swept down on Palestine, ravaged the land of 
 the Canaanites and Perizzites, joined battle with 
 the king of Sodom and his allies in the valley of 
 Siddim, near the Dead Sea, defeated them utterly, 
 sacked their cities, and carried off prisoners and 
 spoil. Among the other prisoners he took Lot, 
 who then " dwelt in Sodom/ ' together with all his 
 household. 
 
 By good chance one of the prisoners escaped, 
 and told Abram what had happened. Had he been 
 a selfish man like Lot, he would have received the 
 message with indifference or contempt. Lot had 
 made his bed with the men of Sodom: now let 
 him lie in it as best he could ! Many of us would 
 have felt like that. But Abram's chivalrous heart 
 rose up in great sympathy for Lot. He was his 
 own brother's son; and he could not abandon him 
 to his enemies. So he rose up, armed his trained 
 men, three hundred and eighteen in number, led 
 them by forced marches against the invaders, and 
 caught them up at Dan, near the sources of the 
 
THE KING OF PEACE 49 
 
 Jordan. Then he divided his men into three 
 bands, fell on Chedorlaomer's camp by night, 
 smote them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, 
 on the left side of Damascus. And he brought 
 back all the prisoners and spoil, with Lot, his 
 family and his goods. 
 
 The king of Sodom was deeply moved by 
 Abram's generosity, and he came to meet him on 
 his return from the battle. With a true sense of 
 fairness, he asked only for the prisoners, well 
 content that Abram should keep the rest of the 
 spoil. But Abram's generosity surpassed all he 
 had expected. He would take nothing for him- 
 self, not even a thread or a lace for his sandals, 
 lest the king of Sodom might say, "I have made 
 Abram rich." Only for his servants did he seek 
 an allowance for the food they had eaten on the 
 march, and for certain men who had gone with 
 him, Aner, and Eshcol, and Mamre, their due 
 portion of the spoil. 
 
 At this point a new character steps upon the 
 scene. Melchizedek, king of Salem or Jerusalem, 
 "the city of Peace," brought bread and wine to 
 refresh Abram and his men. And he blessed 
 Abram in the name of God Most High, whose 
 priest he was. And Abram accepted the blessing 
 with gladness, and gave him tithes of all that 
 he had. 
 
 Imagination has played round the figure of Mel- 
 chizedek. The Epistle to the Hebrews describes 
 him as "without father, without mother/ ' and 
 likens him to Jesus Christ, the Son of God Most 
 High. The writer means that he received his 
 kingdom, not by inheritance from father or 
 
50 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 mother, but directly from God Most High, because 
 of his name and character. Melchizedek is "the 
 king of Righteousness"; and only a king of 
 Righteousness could be prince of "the city of 
 Peace." The character of Melchizedek was in all 
 respects equal to his name. He lived in the fear 
 of God Most High, and ruled his kingdom with 
 justice. Thus he kept the city in peace, and be- 
 came a prophecy of Him who is the true King of 
 Righteousness and Prince of Peace. 
 
 We must sometimes fight, and we should then 
 fight as bravely as Abram did. But we all love 
 peace. We wish to have peace of mind. We wish 
 to live in peace with our neighbours. And we long 
 to see peace on earth. But peace will only come 
 through righteousness. We can have no peace 
 of mind if we do wrong. For conscience will keep 
 us troubled and tormented. Nor can we have 
 peace with our neighbours if we treat them un- 
 fairly. Our foolish quarrels all spring from in- 
 justice in some form or other. And the wars 
 that have deluged the world in blood are the result 
 of men's selfishness and greed. The angel of 
 peace will descend on earth when we learn to do 
 the right, straight thing to everyone, when we 
 play fair in our games and in our work, when we 
 deal with others as we would be dealt with our- 
 selves. For, as Isaiah saw long ago, 
 
 "The effect of righteousness shall be peace, 
 And the fruit of justice abiding security; 
 My people shall dwell in abodes of peace, 
 In sure habitations and quiet resting-places. ' ' 
 Isaiah xxxii : 17, 18- 
 
xn 
 
 THE FLAMING TOECH 
 
 THE excitement of battle was over, and Abram 
 returned to bis flocks and berds. Once more 
 be felt lonely and discouraged. He was sur- 
 rounded by jealous neigbbours wbo sougbt to take 
 advantage of bim. At any moment, too, Cbedor- 
 laomer migbt fall upon bim witb stronger forces. 
 And tbere was no sweet sound of cbildisb voices 
 in tbe borne to cbeer bim, no young life to sbare 
 bis burdens, and to inberit bis substance wben be 
 was gone. "Bebold! I sball pass away cbildless, 
 and tbe beir of my bousebold sball be tbis Eliezer 
 of Damascus/ ' But tbe word of tbe Lord came 
 to bim in a dream by nigbt, saying, "Fear not, 
 Abram ! I am tby sbield ; and tby reward sball be 
 exceeding great. " His enemies migbt be many and 
 powerful, but God would defend bim against tbem 
 all. And bis reward would be great beyond bis 
 expectations. In God's good time a son would be 
 given bim. And wben be was gatbered to bis 
 fatbers in peace, tbat son would be beir botb to 
 bis wealtb and to bis blessing. And bis seed 
 would become as numerous as tbe stars of beaven. 
 And after years of affliction and exile tbey would 
 receive tbe land of Palestine as tbeir borne. And 
 tbe blessing would never fail tbem, but would be 
 51 
 
53 THE, ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 as a light upon their path, "shining more and 
 more unto the perfect day." 
 
 Abram believed God, and He counted it to him 
 for righteousness. Yet he wished for a sign that 
 all this would happen. So God said to him, ' ' Take 
 me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of 
 three years old, and a ram of three years old, and 
 a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' ' And he took 
 them all, and divided them in two, and laid the 
 pieces over against each other. And when the 
 birds of prey swooped down upon the pieces, he 
 drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram 
 sank into a deep sleep, "and, lo! an horror of 
 great darkness fell upon him.'' Then he saw in 
 his dreams a furnace belching forth volumes of 
 fire and smoke. From the mouth of the furnace 
 their leapt a tongue of fire, like a ' i flaming torch, ' ' 
 which passed between the pieces, and consumed 
 them. So God accepted the sacrifice. And that 
 same night He made a covenant with Abram that 
 He would assuredly fulfill all His promises. 
 
 The flaming torch is just the light which ac- 
 companies God's presence. Sometimes that light 
 rises like the morning sun, scattering the shadows 
 of night, and flooding the world with brightness 
 and warmth. Sometimes it blazes like "a con- 
 suming fire," melting all things by its heat. But 
 even when it burns, it purifies and saves. The 
 rough ore from the mine is thrown into the cruci- 
 ble, and passed through red-hot flames. The alloy 
 is melted off, and the sterling gold comes out. 
 Thus also God's presence refines our souls, burn- 
 ing up what is false and foul in us, and making 
 what is good shine with a purer lustre. So He 
 
THE FLAMINGG TORCH 53 
 
 prepares us to dwell at last in that light of His 
 in which there is no darkness. 
 
 " God's eternal fires are melting 
 
 Precious gold from meaner dross; 
 God alone completes the labour — 
 Love allows no flaw or loss. 
 
 Love will cast the priceless treasure 
 
 Into fair enduring mould; 
 God will burnish bright His metal — 
 
 Virgin grain of proven gold." 
 
XIII 
 THE GOD THAT SEES 
 
 YEARS passed, and no child came to Abram's 
 home. At last Sarai lost all patience, and re- 
 solved to take things into her own hands. So she 
 followed an evil custom of the time, and gave her 
 Egyptian maid Hagar to Abram as a second wife. 
 Hagar became quite vain of her new position, and 
 soon began to despise her mistress. This roused 
 Sarai's quick temper, and she treated Hagar so 
 harshly that the poor girl fled from her presence, 
 and like a wounded creature made tracks for her 
 old home in Egypt. When she reached the desert 
 of Shur, close to the Egyptian border, she lay 
 down wearied beside a well. There the angel of 
 the Lord appeared to her, saying, "Hagar, Sarai's 
 maid, whence earnest thou? and whither goest 
 thou?" Hagar answered and said, "I flee from 
 the presence of Sarai, my mistress." Then the 
 angel said, "Return to thy mistress, and submit 
 thyself to her hands." And He went on to prom- 
 ise her a son called Ishmael, which means "God 
 heareth," because God had heard the cry of her 
 affliction. And Hagar said, "Thou art a God 
 that seeth," and she called the name of the well 
 Beer-lahai-roi, "The well of the Living One that 
 seeth me." 
 A writer much loved by young folk, Sir J. M. 
 
 54 
 
THE GOD THAT SEES 55 
 
 Barrie, tells us in A Window in Thrums that this 
 was his mother's favourite text, and that she 
 learned to love it through a terrible experience 
 that happened to her. She had a little son, Joey, 
 who meant to be a minister, and planned to preach 
 his first sermon from "Thou God seest me." But 
 when he was six years old a cart ran over him, 
 and "a handful of men carried Joey's dead body 
 to his mother. ' 9 Twenty years afterward she said, 
 "That day he was coffined, for all the minister 
 prayed, I found it hard to say, 'Thou God seest 
 me. ' It 's the text I like best noo, though, an ' when 
 Hendry an' Leeby is at the kirk, I turn't up often, 
 often in the Bible. I read frae the beginnin' o' 
 the chapter, but when I come to 'Thou God seest 
 me, ' I stop an' let the Book lie in my lap, for aince 
 a body's sure o' that they're sure o' all. I dinna 
 ken 'at I would ever hae been sae sure o' that 
 if it hadna been for him, an' so I think I see 'im 
 sailin' doon to the pulpit juist as he said he 
 would do." 
 
 I fear to many of us the text is not so dear as 
 it was to her. We have been taught by some 
 foolish nurse or teacher to think of God's eye as 
 a great lantern staring down from the sky upon 
 us, spying on all we do. And we try to keep away 
 from the sight of it. We feel like the child who 
 said, "Oh, I wish there were at least one room 
 in the house where God could not see me." But 
 God's eye is not that of a spy: it is that of a 
 Father. We know what a joy it is to wake up in 
 the morning and find the eyes of father or mother 
 bent over us. Or if we are walking with our 
 friends, and see them coming to meet us, how our 
 
56 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 own eyes light up with pleasure ! If we are run- 
 ning a race, or playing some other game, how keen 
 we are to do our best if we know they are watch- 
 ing us ! If we are hurt, or in trouble of any kind, 
 what a comfort just to look into their eyes, and 
 drink in the love and sympathy that pour from 
 them as from a fountain ! And on the closing day 
 of school, when we are called up for the prizes we 
 have won, how our faces flush with happiness if 
 we catch their eyes gleaming with pride at our 
 success ! The eye of God is even more tender than 
 that of a parent. It falls upon us when we do 
 wrong, but far more in love than in anger. When 
 the prodigal left his father's home, the father 
 watched for his return day after day ; and when at 
 last he saw him afar off, his eyes shone with a 
 great glow of affection, and he ran, and fell on his 
 neck, and kissed him. God's eye is fixed on us with 
 a love like that. It is filled with tears of sorrow 
 when we sin, and with tears of gladness when we 
 come back to Him. It overflows with pity when 
 we are in trouble, and with pleasure when we are 
 happy. Above all, it shines with joy when we do 
 well. If we love God as our Father in heaven, 
 we shall do what we can to bring Him this joy. 
 Then we shall no longer fear His eye upon us, 
 but shall be glad like Hagar to think that 
 
 "God is always near me, 
 Hearing what I say, 
 Knowing all my thoughts and deeds, 
 All my work and play; 
 
 God is always near me — 
 In the darkest night 
 
THE GOD THAT SEES 57 
 
 He can see me just the same 
 As by mid-day light ; 
 
 God is always near me, 
 
 Though so young and small ; 
 Not a look, or word, or thought, 
 
 But God knows it all. ' ' 
 
XIV 
 A GOOD MAN'S PRAYER 
 
 HAGAR returned to her mistress, and soon 
 Ishmael was born. He grew np a strong, 
 sturdy boy, full of spirit, free and daring as a 
 young wild ass. Abram loved his open, sunny 
 ways, and longed that he might "live before the 
 Lord," and so become heir to the promised bless- 
 ing. But God appeared once more to Abram, and 
 told him that in another year Sarai would have a 
 son called Isaac, "the laughing boy," who would 
 not merely gladden their own hearts, but would be 
 a fountain of joy to all the world. And in token 
 of the promise He changed his name to Abraham, 
 "father of a multitude," while Sarai 's name He 
 changed to Sarah, "princess," for she would be 
 the mother of many kings and princes. 
 
 A few months later, Abraham was sitting at 
 his tent door in the plains of Mamre, when he 
 lifted up his eyes and saw three men standing 
 near him in the heat of the day. With true East- 
 ern hospitality, he ran to meet them, bowed him- 
 self toward the ground, and invited them to rest 
 a little and wash their dusty feet under the oak 
 of Mamre, while he would fetch them "a morsel 
 of food." Then he hastened to Sarah, and bade 
 her knead three measures of fine flour, and make 
 it into pancakes. Next he ran to the flock, and 
 
A GOOD MAN'S PRAYER 59 
 
 picked out a calf " tender and good," and gave 
 it to a young man to prepare. When all was 
 ready, lie brought the cakes and the calf, with 
 some curds and milk, and spread a table for them 
 on the green grass under the tree, waiting upon 
 them in person while they ate the food. 
 
 These men were messengers from the Lord, and 
 they began to tell him again of the boy Isaac who 
 should be given to Sarah and him. All this time 
 Sarah remained hidden behind the curtain of the 
 door. When she heard the men speak of Isaac, 
 she laughed in sheer unbelief. Then one of the 
 men, who was the angel of the Lord, said to 
 Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything 
 too hard for the Lord? At the set time, when the 
 season cometh round, I will return unto thee, and 
 Sarah shall have a son." In great fear Sarah 
 denied that she had laughed. But the angel said, 
 "Nay; but thou didst laugh." And Sarah stood 
 blushing for shame. 
 
 When the meal was finished, the three men rose 
 up, and turned their eyes toward Sodom, while 
 Abraham went to escort them a little distance on 
 their way. Then the angel of the Lord said, 
 "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am 
 about to do ? " So He told him of the sin of Sodom, 
 and of His intention to destroy it utterly. Abra- 
 ham's heart was filled with sorrow, not only for 
 Lot and his family, but for any other innocent 
 souls that might be found in the city. So he drew 
 near to plead with the Lord for them. "Wilt 
 thou consume the righteous with the wicked? 
 Perchance there may be fifty righteous within the 
 city. Wilt thou not spare the place for the fifty 
 
60 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 righteous that are therein? Far be it from Thee 
 to slay the righteous with the wicked ! Shall not 
 the Judge of all the earth do right?" And the 
 Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous within the 
 city, then I will spare all the place for their 
 sake." And Abraham answered and said, "Be- 
 hold now ! I have taken upon me to speak unto the 
 Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. Perchance 
 there may lack five*of the fifty righteous. Wilt 
 Thou destroy all the city for lack of iiveV 1 And 
 He said, "If I find there forty and five, I will not 
 destroy it." And Abraham once more answered 
 and said, "Perchance there may be forty found 
 there." And He said, "I will not do it for forty's 
 sake." And Abraham said, "Oh, let not the Lord 
 be angry if I speak yet again! Perchance there 
 may be thirty found there." And He said, "If 
 I find thirty there, I will not do it." And Abra- 
 ham said, "Behold now! I have taken upon me to 
 speak unto the Lord. Perchance there may be 
 twenty found there." And He said, "I will not 
 destroy it for twenty's sake." And Abraham 
 said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry if I speak 
 again but this once ! Perchance there may be ten 
 found there." And He said, "I will not destroy 
 it for ten 's sake. ' ' 
 
 Abraham could plead no more, so he returned 
 to his tent, while the angel of the Lord followed 
 His companions on their way toward Sodom. Per- 
 haps Abraham did wrong not to plead still further. 
 At all events, Jesus placed no limit to the power of 
 prayer. He prayed for Jerusalem, even when He 
 foretold that not one stone of the Temple would 
 be left untouched upon another. He prayed for 
 
A GOOD MAN'S PRAYER 61 
 
 the enemies who nailed Him to the Cross. He 
 prayed for Judas who betrayed Him. So too He 
 taught His disciples that they " ought always to 
 pray without fainting." Not that our prayers 
 are invariably answered in the way we expect! 
 Like Jesus Himself, we must remember to pray, 
 "Not my will, but Thine, be done." If we pray 
 in this spirit, we shall not merely receive the 
 answer God sees to be good for us, but we shall 
 feel a warmer sympathy with those for whom 
 we pray, and shall help to lift their life and our 
 own a little nearer to heaven. 
 
 "If thou shouldst never see my face again, 
 Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer 
 Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
 Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
 For what are men better than sheep or goats 
 That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
 If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 
 Both for themselves and those who call them friend ? 
 For so the whole round earth is every way 
 Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
XV 
 
 THE SMOKING FURNACE 
 
 WHILE the angel of the Lord talked with Ab- 
 raham, the two others went on to Sodom. 
 They reached the city in the cool of the evening, 
 and found Lot sitting alone at the gate. As soon 
 as he saw the strangers, he rose up, like Abra- 
 ham, bowed himself to the ground, and begged 
 them to come to his house, and spend the night 
 with him. When they refused, he " urged them 
 greatly"; so they went with him, and entered his 
 house. "And he made them a feast, and did bake 
 unleavened bread, and they did eat." But the 
 men of Sodom heard of it, and they came throng- 
 ing to Lot's house, and demanded that he should 
 hand over the strangers to them. Fearing lest 
 harm should befall his guests, Lot went out, shut- 
 ting the door behind him, and prayed the men to 
 leave them alone. But they began to insult him, 
 and to threaten him with still worse things. "And 
 they pressed sore upon Lot, and drew near to 
 break the door. ,, But the angels put forth their 
 hand, and pulled Lot into the house, and shut the 
 door behind him. ' ( And they smote the men that 
 were at the door of the house with blindness, both 
 small and great, so that they wearied themselves 
 to find the door." 
 When they had thus saved Lot from the vio- 
 
 62 
 
THE SMOKING FURNACE 63 
 
 lence of the people, they told him of the destruc- 
 tion God meant to bring on Sodom, and asked him 
 to get together his wife and daughters, and the 
 men who were to marry them, and flee with them 
 out of the city. So he went to the men who were 
 to marry his daughters, and said, "Up, get you 
 out of this place! for the Lord will destroy the 
 city." But he seemed to them as one that jested, 
 and they refused to go with him. When the morn- 
 ing broke, the angels urged Lot, saying, " Arise, 
 take thy wife, and thy two daughters which are 
 here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the 
 city." As he still hesitated, they laid hold of his 
 hand, and of the hands of his wife and daughters, 
 and hurried them outside the city, and said, "Es- 
 cape for thy life ! Look not behind thee, nor lin- 
 ger in all the circle of the Plain! Escape to the 
 mountains of Moab, lest thou be consumed!" 
 
 The way was far, and Lot felt himself too weak 
 to cover it all that day. So he pleaded with the 
 angels to let him rest at Zoar, a little city near at 
 hand. And the angels granted his request, and 
 spared the city for his sake. By the time Lot 
 reached Zoar, the sun had fully risen. Then the 
 Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and up- 
 on the other cities of the Plain, brimstone and fire 
 out of heaven. "And He overthrew those cities, 
 and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the 
 cities, and everything that grew upon the ground." 
 And when Abraham went that morning to the 
 place where the Lord had talked with him, he lifted 
 up his eyes to the Plain, t ' and lo ! the smoke of the 
 land went up as the smoke of a furnace. ' ' 
 
 The plain on which Sodom and Gomorrah once 
 
64 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 stood, that circle of land which seemed to Lot like 
 "the garden of the Lord," is now a scene of 
 ntter desolation. No tree or grass grows on it. 
 No living thing crosses its dreary wastes. It is a 
 standing witness to the judgment of God. The 
 cities of the Plain were so corrupt that they pol- 
 luted the whole land, so He had to wipe them off 
 the face of the earth. We are reminded of many 
 other examples of God's judgment: Babylon and 
 Nineveh swallowed up by the sands of Mesopo- 
 tamia, Pompeii and Herculaneum buried beneath 
 the ashes of Vesuvius, Jerusalem itself rising like 
 a smoking furnace before the torches of Titus and 
 his soldiers. In later times we have seen great 
 Empires like Spain and Germany crushed under 
 the weight of their military pride, and Turkey dy- 
 ing a slow death for her cruelty. As with nations; 
 so with men. "The soul that sinneth, it shall 
 die." He who gives himself up to sinful indul- 
 gence falls a victim to loathsome disease. Even 
 if he live on, his life is but a lingering death. His 
 bodily strength is sapped, his senses are dulled, 
 his conscience is seared as with a hot iron, his af- 
 fections are hardened. At last he sinks into the 
 grave like a spent volcano. And after death he 
 must meet God with a soul naked and empty, a 
 prey to the worm that dieth not and the fire that 
 is not quenched. 
 
 " Though the mills of God grind slowly, 
 Yet they grind exceeding small; 
 Though with patience He stands waiting, 
 With exactness grinds He all." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
XVI 
 THE WELL IN THE WILDEBNESS 
 
 SOON after Abraham returned from watching 
 the smoke of Sodom, his son Isaac was born. 
 Sarah could now laugh, not in unbelief, but for 
 pure joy of heart. Abraham was as happy as she. 
 Though now an old man, he loved to dandle the 
 boy on his knee, to play with him, and to sing him 
 the sweet songs of childhood. On the day he was 
 weaned, he made a great feast, at which the whole 
 camp sat down to share in his happiness. But one 
 little cloud threw a shadow over his mirth. Sarah 
 saw Ishmael, the son of Hagar, playing with 
 Isaac. Annoyed that he should have an equal 
 place with Isaac in the home, she demanded that 
 Abraham should cast him out with his mother. 
 Abraham was grieved to part with Ishmael, for 
 he still loved the high-spirited boy. Yet Isaac 
 was his heir, and could not enjoy his rightful 
 standing in the camp if Ishmael were allowed to 
 remain. So he rose up early in the morning, and 
 took bread and a skin full of water, and placed 
 them on Hagar 's shoulder, with the child, and 
 sent her away. Once more the friendless girl 
 turned her steps in the direction of Egypt. But 
 when she reached the wilderness of Beersheba, 
 many miles from her journey's end, she found 
 the water spent in the skin. Having no hope of 
 65 
 
66 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 saving the child's life, she cast him tinder a shrub 
 in the wilderness, while she went and sat down 
 about a bowshot off, that she might not see him 
 die. But God heard Ishmael's cry, and He sent 
 an angel who called to Hagar from heaven, say- 
 ing, "What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not! for 
 God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 
 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine 
 hand; for I will make of him a great nation.' ' 
 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of 
 water; "and she went, and filled the skin with 
 water, and gave the lad drink." 
 
 The African traveller, Mungo Park, was once 
 wandering like Hagar through the wilderness. 
 He was alone, destitute, robbed of all he had, and 
 in danger from men and beasts. He felt as if 
 nothing remained for him but to lie down and die. 
 But at that moment "the extraordinary beauty of 
 a small moss" caught his eye, and he reflected, 
 that he was still "under the protecting eye of that 
 Providence who has condescended to call Him- 
 self the stranger's friend.' f So he rose to his 
 feet, and continued his journey with new courage 
 and hope ; assured that relief was at hand. And in 
 this he was not disappointed. On another occa- 
 sion, when he was almost parched with thirst, he 
 heard in the distance the loud, harsh noise of the 
 croaking of frogs. In his ears it sounded like 
 "heavenly music," for it sang of water. He fol- 
 lowed the sound, and ere long arrived at some 
 muddy pools, "so full of frogs that it was diffi- 
 cult to discern the water." But to the thirsty 
 traveller those muddy pools were as truly a gift 
 of God as the purest and freshest of springs. So 
 
THE WELL IN THE WILDERNESS 67 
 
 once more he lifted his eyes to heaven, and 
 thanked the Friend who had provided for his 
 needs by opening np a "well in the wilderness.' ' 
 And he went on his way with a brave, glad heart. 
 If only onr eyes are open to the goodness of 
 God, we shall find many such wells in the wilder- 
 ness. A glint of sunshine piercing the mist, the 
 virgin beauty of the snowdrop, the lark's song in 
 the sky, the rippling laughter of a child, "the lit- 
 tle, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and 
 of love": all these are fountains of living water, 
 which refresh our thirsty souls, and help us to 
 carry on the daily round with thankfulness and 
 joy. As Robert Louis Stevenson says, 
 
 "The world is so full of a number of thing, 
 I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." 
 
 But the true well of life is found in Jesus 
 Christ. He that tastes even of the sweetest 
 springs of earthly enjoyment shall thirst again; 
 "but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
 give him shall never thirst; but the water that I 
 shall give him shall be in him a well of water 
 springing up into everlasting life." 
 
xvn 
 
 SWEAKING AN OATH 
 
 ABEAHAM now moved south to Gerar, on the 
 Philistine border. Here, too, he built an 
 altar, and called on the name of the Lord. All 
 things continued to prosper under his hand. 
 When Abimelech, king of Gerar, saw how God 
 was with him in all that he did, he asked Abra- 
 ham to swear an oath that he would be his 
 friend, and would show kindness to himself, and 
 his son, and his son's son, as he had shown kind- 
 ness to him. So Abraham swore an oath. But 
 soon there came a rift in their friendship. Abime- 
 lech 's servants had seized some wells that Abra- 
 ham had digged, and Abraham went to Abime- 
 lech to complain. Abimelech said he knew 
 nothing at all about the matter. So Abraham 
 digged another well. And he brought seven ewe 
 lambs from his flock, and gave them to Abimelech 
 as a witness that the well was his. And the two 
 of them made a covenant with one another, and 
 swore an oath to maintain it. And they called the 
 name of the place Beersheba, "the Well of the 
 Oath." 
 
 In swearing the oath, Abraham was just con- 
 forming to the practice of his time. Men had then 
 so little faith in each other's word that they would 
 believe nothing that was not backed by an oath. 
 
SWEARING AN OATH 69 
 
 So they swore not only in God's name, but by 
 heaven and earth, by Jerusalem, even by the hair 
 of the head. I fear the habit of swearing has by 
 no means died ont. There are many among ns, 
 boys as well as men, who punctuate every other 
 sentence by an oath. Such a practice is very dis- 
 pleasing to God. The third commandment says, 
 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
 God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guilt- 
 less that taketh his name in vain." And Jesus 
 bids us swear not at all. "Let your communica- 
 tion be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is 
 more than these cometh of evil." 
 
 No one follows Jesus ' rule in this respect more 
 sincerely than the Quakers. They will not even 
 take an oath in the law-courts. But just because 
 of this men accept their word without a shadow 
 of doubt. For the simpler our speech, the more 
 men trust it. Should we have occasion to take an 
 oath as witnesses or servants of the State, let us 
 do it with all solemnity, as before the everlasting 
 God. Otherwise, let our words be pure and true. 
 And men will honour us as they did Proteus, of 
 whom Shakespeare writes in The Two Gentlemen 
 of Verona: 
 
 "His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles, 
 His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate, 
 His tears pure messengers sent from his heart, 
 His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
xvm 
 
 THE RAM IN THE THICKET 
 
 ABRAHAM was at last reaping the full reward 
 of his faith. He was prosperous in business, 
 rich in goods, surrounded by all the comforts that 
 wealth could buy him. He enjoyed the respect of 
 his neighbours. Above all, he was happy in his 
 home. Sarah was more than ever the delight of 
 his eyes. And their son Isaac was growing up to 
 be a fine young man, the joy and hope of their 
 declining years. But at the very moment when; 
 the star of Abraham's fortune seemed to shine 
 most brightly, his faith was touched to the quick. 
 It was the custom in those days for a father to 
 offer up his eldest son as a sacrifice to the gods. 
 Abraham felt called upon to make the same great 
 proof of faith. One evening, as he slept, he 
 heard a voice saying to him, " Abraham, Abra- 
 ham !" He answered, "Here am I." Then the 
 voice said, "Take now thy son, thine only son, 
 whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into 
 the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a 1 
 burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I will 
 tell thee of." How these words must have cut 
 into Abraham's heart! But he would not with- 
 hold even Isaac from the Lord. So he "rose 
 early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and 
 took two of his young men with him, and Isaao 
 
 70 
 
THE RAM IN THE THICKET 71 
 
 his son j and he set off toward the place of which 
 God had told him.' ' 
 
 On the third day of their journey, "Abraham 
 lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off;" 
 so he left his young men with the ass, took the 
 fire and the knife in his hand, laid the wood for 
 the burnt-offering on Isaac's shoulder, "and they 
 went on both of them together.' ' As they con- 
 tinued their journey in silence, Isaac said to Ab- 
 raham, ' ' My father ! ' ' And Abraham said, ' ' Here 
 am I, my son." And he said, "Behold! the fire 
 and the wood : but where is the lamb for a burnt- 
 offering?" And Abraham said, "God will see 
 to the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son." So 
 they went on both of them together. 
 
 When they came to the place that God had told 
 him of, Abraham built an altar, laid the wood in 
 order upon it, bound Isaac his son, and placed 
 him on the altar, above the wood. Then he 
 stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to 
 slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called 
 to him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abra- 
 ham!" And he said, "Here am I." And the 
 angel said: "Put not forth thine hand against the 
 lad, nor do any harm to him at all ! for now I know 
 that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not with- 
 held thy son, thine only son, from me." And Ab- 
 raham lifted up his eyes, and behold ! there was a 
 ram caught by his horns in a thicket near him. 
 And Abraham went and took the ram, and of- 
 fered him up for a burnt-offering instead of hia 
 son. And he named the place Jehovah- Jireh, 
 ' ' The Lord will see to it. ' ' 
 
 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham 
 
73 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 a second time out of heaven, and said, "By myself 
 have I sworn, saith the Lord : Because thou hast 
 done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, 
 thine only son, I will bless thee abundantly, and 
 will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and 
 as the sand which is upon the sea shore ; and thy 
 seed shall win possession of the gate of their 
 enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of 
 the earth be blessed.' ' And Abraham returned to 
 his young men, and they rose up and went together 
 to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. 
 
 A little girl once heard a minister pleading for 
 Christmas gifts to the poor. He said they must 
 give the very best they had. The girl had just 
 received a beautiful doll, chosen and dressed by 
 her mother with loving care. So she gave this. 
 It was like sacrificing her own child, and nearly 
 broke her heart, while it caused pain also to her 
 mother, who felt that her gift was not appre- 
 ciated. But God does not mean us to make 
 martyrs of ourselves or our children without 
 cause. The sacrifice He asks for is the willing 
 sacrifice of heart and mind. That is, he wishes 
 us to live for His honour, to use our talents faith- 
 fully, and to do what we can to make this world 
 a better place. He wishes also that we should 
 train our children to walk in the same ways. If 
 in course of time He bid us give them to some 
 great labour of love, at home or abroad, "the 
 Lord will see to it." As Jesus said, "There is no 
 man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, 
 or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, 
 who shall not receive manifold more in this present 
 time, and in the world to come life everla sting.' * 
 
XIX 
 A LONELY GEAVE 
 
 ABEAHAM was now called to drink the bit- 
 terest cup of sorrow. His wife Sarah died 
 in Hebron, the centre of so many happy mem- 
 ories. "And Abraham went in to mourn for 
 Sarah, and to weep for her." When his first 
 outbreak of grief was over he had to find a grave 
 in which to bury her. So he went to the children 
 of Heth, who owned the land near Hebron, and 
 with delicate courtesy laid his request before 
 them. "I am a stranger and a sojourner with 
 you : I pray you, give me possession of a burying- 
 place with you, that I may bury my dead out of 
 my sight.' ' With equal courtesy the children of 
 Heth met his request. "Hear us, my lord! Thou 
 art a prince of God among us. Therefore in the 
 choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead ; for none 
 of us will withhold his sepulchre from thee." 
 Then Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the 
 ground before the children of Heth, and said to 
 them: "If ye be willing that I should bury my 
 dead out of my sight, I pray you, speak a good 
 word for me with Ephron, the son of Zohar, that 
 he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is 
 in the corner of the field that belongeth to him. 
 For the full market price let him give it to me 
 in your presence as a burying- ground. ' ' 
 73 
 
74 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 Then Ephron, the son of Zohar, answered and 
 said to Abraham: "I pray thee, my lord, hear 
 me ! The field and the cave that is therein I give 
 thee as a free gift : in the presence of the sons of 
 my people I give it thee. Bnry thy dead in it." 
 Once more Abraham bowed himself to the gronnd 
 before the children of Heth, and said to Ephron 
 in the presence of his people : "If thon wonldest 
 but hear me ! Of a surety I will give thee the price 
 of the field. Take it of me, that I may bury my 
 dead there. ' ' Then Ephron answered and said to 
 Abraham : "I pray thee, my lord, hear me ! It is 
 land worth four hundred shekels of silver, but 
 what is that between me and thee ! Bury thy dead 
 in it." And Abraham weighed out the amount 
 of silver Ephron had mentioned, even four hun- 
 dred shekels of silver, in money current with the 
 merchants, and gave it to Ephron. So the field 
 of Machpelah, with the cave that was in it, was 
 made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the 
 presence of all the children of Heth who went in 
 at the gate of the city. Aoid Abraham buried 
 Sarah in the cave. 
 
 Thus Abraham's first stake in Palestine was a 
 grave. For centuries he and his family had no 
 other foothold in the land. But the sacred dust 
 that lay there was the pledge of full possession. 
 And to the present day Machpelah is the most 
 hallowed spot in Palestine alike to Jews and 
 Moslems. So, too, the graves of our fathers are 
 our most precious claim to an inheritance in our 
 country's glory. 
 
A LONELY GRAVE 75 
 
 "Our fathers' sepulchres are here, 
 And here our kindred dwell, 
 Our children, too; how should we love 
 Another land so well ? ' ' 
 
 In a special sense the fields on which brave men 
 fought and died are holy ground. The Greeks 
 honoured Thermopylae as the altar of their free- 
 dom. For the same reason the Englishman ven- 
 erates Kunnymede, the Scotsman Bannockbnrn, 
 the American Gettysburg, and all together the 
 blood-red plains of France and Flanders. Over 
 each of them we may breathe Lincoln's immortal 
 words at Gettysburg: 
 
 "We are met on a great battle-field. "We have 
 come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final 
 resting-place for those who here gave their lives 
 that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting 
 and proper that we should do this. But, in a 
 larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot con- 
 secrate—we cannot hallow — this ground. The 
 brave men, living and dead, who struggled here 
 have consecrated it far above our poor power to 
 add or detract. The world will little note, nor 
 long remember, what we say here, but it can never 
 forget what they did here. It is for us the living, 
 rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work 
 which they who fought here have thus far so nobly 
 advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated 
 to the great task remaining before us — that from 
 these honoured dead we take increased devotion to 
 that cause for which they gave the last full meas- 
 ure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that 
 these dead shall not have died in vain — that this 
 
76 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 nation, nnder God, shall have a new birth of free- 
 dom — and that government of the people, by the 
 people, for the people, shall not perish from the 
 earth. ' ' 
 
 Bnt there is one spot on earth more sacred to 
 the heart of Christians thai) any of these. It is 
 the grave where onr Lord lay, and from which He 
 rose victorious on the first Easter morning. That 
 grave is the centre of all onr hope ; for it brings 
 us the assurance of life eternal. As He rose, we 
 shall rise. As He lives, we shall live. 
 
 "0 death, where is thy sting? 
 grave, where is thy victory? 
 The sting of death is sin; 
 
 And the strength of sin is the law. 
 But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, 
 Through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 1 Cor. xi:55-57. 
 
XX 
 
 AN EVENING EOMANCE 
 
 FEOM scenes of death and burial we pass to 
 one of the most charming idylls in the Bible. 
 Isaac had now reached full manhood, and must 
 marry and settle down in life. It was the father's 
 duty then to arrange a marriage for his son. Now 
 Abraham did not wish Isaac to take to wife any 
 of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom 
 he dwelt. So he sent his servant Eliezer of 
 Damascus to Haran, his old home, to fetch him a 
 bride from among his own people and kindred. 
 Eliezer took ten of his master's camels, laden with 
 costly presents, and went to Haran. He reached the 
 gate of the city one evening, " about the time when 
 the women go out to draw water.' ' So he made 
 his camels kneel down beside the well, and prayed 
 to the Lord, the God of his master Abraham, to 
 send him good speed, and show kindness unto his 
 master Abraham. Then he thought of a sign by 
 which he should know the bride whom God had 
 chosen for Isaac. " Behold! I stand by the well, 
 and the daughters of the men of the city are now 
 coming out to draw water. If then I say to a girl, 
 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may 
 drink,' and she say, ' Drink, and I will give thy 
 camels drink also,' let her be the one whom Thou 
 has appointed for Thy servant Isaac!" 
 77 
 
78 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 Eliezer had hardly uttered the words when 
 Eebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of 
 Abraham's brother Nahor, came down to the well, 
 with her pitcher on her shoulder. Eebekah was a 
 young woman of great beauty, "very fair to look 
 upon." She had also that winsome grace which 
 comes from a kindly heart. Thus no sooner did 
 Eliezer ask for a drink than she hastened to let 
 down her pitcher, and gave him drink. When she 
 had satisfied him, she said, "I will draw for thy 
 camels also, until they have had enough.' ' So 
 she hastened to empty her pitcher into the trough, 
 and ran again to the well, and drew water for all 
 his camels. All this time Eliezer watched her in 
 silence, wondering in his heart whether the Lord 
 had thus early answered his prayer. When she 
 had finished giving the camels drink, he had no 
 more doubt. So he took a gold ring of half a 
 shekel weight, and two gold bracelets of ten 
 shekels weight, and placed them on her hands. 
 And he asked her whose daughter she was, and 
 whether there was room in her father's house for 
 him and his camels to lodge in. She told him she 
 was Eebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, and as- 
 sured him there was both room and food in the 
 house for them to lodge in. And Eliezer bowed 
 his head, and worshipped the Lord, and said, 
 1 ' Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abra- 
 ham, who hath not left off His loving-kindness and 
 His truth toward my master, but hath guided me 
 in the straight way toward the house of my mas- 
 ter's brother." 
 
 Meanwhile Eebekah had run home, and told the 
 whole house what had happened. She had a 
 
AN EVENING ROMANCE 79 
 
 brother called Laban, a man who dearly loved the 
 sight of gold. When he heard Rebekah's words, 
 and saw the ring and the bracelets npon her hands, 
 he ran to Eliezer, as he still lingered with his 
 camels ronnd the well, and said, "Come in, thou 
 hlessed of the Lord! Why remainest thou here 
 outside the gate? For I have set the house in 
 order, and prepared room for the camels also." 
 And he brought him to the house, and ungirded 
 his camels. Then he fetched him water to wash 
 his own feet and the feet of his attendants; and 
 he set meat before him, and provided straw and 
 food for the camels as well. But Eliezer would not 
 eat until he had told his errand. So he related 
 the full story of his adventures since Abraham 
 had sent him to get a bride for Isaac, and asked 
 them to tell him plainly whether they would show 
 his master "loving-kindness and truth' ' in send- 
 ing Rebekah back with him. Then Laban and his 
 father Bethuel answered and said, "The thing 
 cometh from the Lord; we cannot say yes or no. 
 Behold! Rebekah is before thee. Take her, and 
 go, that she may be thy master's son's wife, as 
 the Lord hath spoken." And Eliezer bowed him- 
 self with his face to the earth before the Lord. 
 Then he opened his baggage, and brought out 
 ornaments of gold and silver, with many fine 
 clothes, as a present for Rebekah. He gave Laban 
 and his mother also gifts of various "precious 
 things. ' ' And he and his men ate and drank with 
 them, and stayed in the house all night. 
 
 In the morning Eliezer rose up early, and asked 
 to be sent home at once to his master. Laban and 
 his mother begged that Rebekah be allowed to 
 
80 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 remain at least ten days with them. But Eliezer 
 said to them, "Hinder me not, seeing that the 
 Lord hath prospered my journey.' ' So they laid 
 the matter before Eebekah herself, and said, 
 "Wilt thou go with this man?" And she said, 
 "I will go." And they sent her away, with De- 
 borah her nurse, and blessed her as she went. 
 Joyfully then Eliezer marched homeward, and in 
 due time reached Beer-lahai-roi, "the Well of the 
 Living One that seeth me," where Isaac was then 
 encamped. A quiet, thoughtful man, he had gone 
 out to the fields to meditate in the cool of the 
 evening, when he lifted up his eyes, and looked, 
 and behold! there were camels coming. He did 
 not know yet that the camels were his own, still 
 less did he know of Eebekah. But she had caught 
 sight of him, and asked who he was. When she 
 heard he was Isaac, she alighted from her camel, 
 veiled herself as Eastern etiquette demanded, and 
 went to meet him. With a glad heart Isaac wel- 
 comed her. Then he brought her into his tent, 
 and she became his wife. And he loved her, and 
 was comforted in her after his mother's death. 
 
 We all wish to be loved as Eebekah was. If so, 
 we must have a spirit like hers. It is not enough 
 to be beautiful. It is not even enough to be good. 
 There are many good people who are far from 
 lovable. Like Aunt Mirandy, in Mrs. Wiggin's 
 delightful Rebecca of Sunnybroolc Farm, they are 
 ' ' turrible hard to get along with, an ' kind o ' heave 
 benefits at your head same 's they would bricks. ' ' 
 To be loved, we must have grace as well as good- 
 ness. We must be open-hearted, cheerful, kindly, 
 ready to help our neighbours in their needs, and 
 
AN EVENING ROMANCE 81 
 
 to do it with shining' face and lightsome step. The 
 girl or woman with a disposition like this cannot 
 fail to be loved. 
 
 ' ' She is a woman to love, to love 
 
 As maid or wife, 
 And all of her that is sweet and true — 
 "Which is all of her — she will give to you, 
 
 To perfect life. 
 
 You cannot help but love, but love, 
 
 Nobody can. 
 She carries a charm with her everywhere: 
 In her gait in her glance, in her voice, in her hair, 
 
 Bewitching man. 
 
 Hear her laugh, as the children play, 
 
 See her bring 
 Light to the eyes of the old and weak; 
 And oh how wisely her lips can speak 
 
 As well as sing! 
 
 That is a woman to love, to love, 
 
 And to wonder at, 
 For whether she talks or walks, or rides, 
 'Tis as if she had never done aught besides 
 
 But perfect that. 
 
 W. C. Smith. 
 
XXI 
 
 OLD WELLS OPENED AGAIN 
 
 ABEAHAM saw his plans for Isaac blessed of 
 the Lord. He could now depart in peace. 
 1 ' Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a 
 good old age, and was gathered to his people.' ' 
 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him beside 
 Sarah in the cave of Machpelah. Their lives had 
 lain apart since the day when Ishmael and his 
 mother had been sent from the camp at Hebron. : 
 Ishmael had been a hunter in the wilderness, while 
 Isaac tended his cattle in the pastures round Beer- 
 sheba. For a moment they clasped hands over 
 their father's bier. Then they separated again, 
 Ishmael returning to his game; and Isaac to his 
 flocks and herds. 
 
 Isaac's life is but a feeble echo of his father's. 
 Almost all we read of him is that he occupied 
 Abraham's camping-grounds, that he built an 
 altar, "and called upon the name of the Lord," 
 as Abraham had done; that he forgot the Lord 
 and sinned, as he had sinned, and that "he digged 
 again the wells of water which his father's serv- 
 ants had digged, but the Philistines had stopped 
 and filled with earth," after the death of 
 Abraham. 
 
 In all this record there is nothing very heroic. 
 Yet the picture is one of a good and useful life. 
 Isaac kept up the traditions that had made his 
 
 82 
 
OLD WELLS OPENED AGAIN 83 
 
 father great. He was diligent in his business. He 
 looked to the welfare of his household and his 
 cattle. He turned the desert into fruitful soil by 
 opening up the old wells. He maintained the pur- 
 ity of the home. Above all, he was true to his 
 father's faith, and handed it down with light un- 
 dimmed to his children. So the Lord blessed him, 
 as He had blessed Abraham. " Isaac sowed, and 
 reaped that same year an hundredfold. Ajid he 
 grew richer and richer, until he was very rich. And 
 he had great possessions of flocks and herds, and 
 many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.' ' 
 Few of us can be bold and original characters 
 like Abraham. We must be content to move in 
 the common planes of life. Perhaps we have to 
 follow our fathers' footsteps as closely as Isaac 
 did, to succeed them in business, and to inherit 
 their home and goods. If so, we must be careful 
 to keep the old wells flowing. We must work as 
 earnestly as our fathers did. We must love and 
 honour home as they did. Above all, we must 
 stand fast by our fathers' faith. " Trust in God, 
 and do the right." And He will bless you wher- 
 ever your lot be cast. 
 
 "Is your place a small place? 
 Tend it with care! — 
 He set you there. 
 
 Is your place a large place ? 
 
 Guard it with care ! — 
 
 He set you there. 
 
 Whate'er your place, it is 
 Not yours alone, but His 
 Who set you there." 
 
 John Oxenham. 
 
xxn 
 
 THE SALE OF A BIETHRIGHT 
 
 LIKE their parents, Isaac and Rebekah had 
 many years to wait before children came to 
 them. At last twin sons, Esau and Jacob, were 
 born. Esau was a rough, shaggy boy, who loved 
 the open air, while Jacob was a soft, delicate child, 
 who preferred to stay in the tent. As they grew 
 up, Esau became a hunter like his uncle Ishmael, 
 while Jacob attended to the cattle with his father. 
 Their characters were as different as their call- 
 ings. Esau was a big, warm-hearted, frank and 
 generous fellow, the very type of a gallant sports- 
 man, fond of good company, and popular with 
 everyone. Jacob was quiet and reserved, cold in 
 manner, deep and crafty, with a furtive look in 
 his eye that led men to distrust him. Jacob was, 
 in fact, a born schemer, who would stick at noth- 
 ing to carry through his schemes. Yet there were 
 elements of real greatness in him. Esau was only 
 what he appeared on the surface. As the Apostle 
 says, he was a "profane man"; that is, a mere 
 worldling, with no regard for God or things 
 eternal. But Jacob had from the beginning a true 
 sense of the value of life. He was ambitious to 
 excel, he had strength of mind and purpose enough 
 to follow out his ambitions, and he had patience 
 to wait for success. Among his chief ambitions 
 84 
 
THE SALE OF A BIRTHRIGHT 85 
 
 was to stand high in the kingdom of God. He 
 knew that in his family lay the line of royal de- 
 scent. And he was eager to be a link in the chain, 
 to take his place with Abraham and Isaac among 
 the fathers of the faithful. 
 
 The ambition was quite honourable. But the 
 means he took were wrong. As the elder son, 
 Esau was entitled to be his father's heir. Jacob 
 felt he could reach his ambition in no other way 
 than by winning over the birthright to himself. 
 So he plotted to oust his brother. The chance 
 came one day when Esau returned home faint 
 with hunger from the chase. Jacob was cooking 
 some lentil pottage. Seeing the savoury mess, 
 Esau blurted out: " Hallo! let me swallow down 
 some of that red stuff! for I am faint.' ' Jacob 
 quietly answered: "Yes! if you first sell me your 
 birthright. ,, With a coarse laugh Esau disposed 
 of the matter. "Behold! I am at the point of 
 death: so what is the use of the birthright to 
 me! " To clinch the bargain Jacob asked him to 
 swear an oath to him. Just as carelessly he swore 
 the oath. Then Jacob gave him pottage and 
 bread; and he ate and drank, rose up, and went 
 his way. "Thus Esau despised his birthright.' ' 
 
 We cannot too strongly condemn the trick by 
 which Jacob secured the inheritance. But the 
 Bible condemns Esau's conduct still more 
 strongly. His was no ordinary birthright. He 
 was heir to all the great and precious promises of 
 God. He ought also to have been the ancestor 
 of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. But 
 this he threw away for a mess of pottage ! Not 
 that he really intended to part with his birthright. 
 
86 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 The day came when he bitterly regretted his fool- 
 ish bargain. It was his rooted worldliness of 
 mind that played him false. Like the Man with 
 the Muck-rake in The Pilgrim's Progress, he could 
 not lift up his eyes to the angel holding the celes- 
 tial crown over his head, "but raked to himself 
 the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the 
 floor." 
 
 Many are still throwing away their birthright 
 for trifles as light as these. The boy at school 
 wastes the precious hours in idleness. The young 
 man loses his chance of success through excessive 
 love of amusement. The heir to a princely for- 
 tune squanders it in frivolity and vice. The pos- 
 sessor of brilliant gifts degrades himself and 
 them by intemperence. The prodigal exchanges 
 the joys of his Father's home for "the husks that 
 the swine eat." While we avoid Jacob's mean- 
 ness, therefore, we should take to heart his ambi- 
 tion to succeed in life, his spirit of steadfast pur- 
 pose and resolution, his willingness to climb the 
 ladder step by step, his patience in biding his 
 time. Above all, we should imitate him in his 
 desire for a high place in the kingdom of God. 
 For he that stands high with God reaches also 
 the best in life. 
 
 "We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 
 
 P. J. Bailey. 
 
xxni 
 
 THE STOLEN BLESSING- 
 
 TSAAC 'S life went on in the same narrow grooves 
 * At last he became old and blind. Feeling that 
 his end was near, he called his son Esau to him, 
 and bade him take his bow and arrows, go to the 
 field, and get him some venison, make it into 
 savoury meat, such as he loved, and bring it to 
 him, that he might eat, and then bless him before 
 he died. In obedience to his father's wish, Esau 
 set out to the field to hunt for venison. But 
 Eebekah had overheard Isaac's words. So she 
 called Jacob, who was her favourite, and bade 
 him go to the flock, and bring two young kids, 
 which she would make into savoury meat for his 
 father, that he might receive the blessing instead 
 of Esau. Jacob did as his mother told him. Then 
 Eebekah made savoury meat, such as Isaac loved, 
 and placed it in Jacob's hand, with some bread 
 and wine which she had prepared. And she 
 clothed him in fine raiment that belonged to Esau, 
 covered his smooth neck and hands with the skins 
 of the goats, and sent him to his father. 
 
 Isaac was surprised that his son had returned 
 so speedily with the venison. But Jacob assured 
 him that God had brought it to him. Then the 
 old man asked him to come near, that he might 
 feel him, and find out whether he was his very 
 
 87 
 
88 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 son Esau or not. "And Jacob went near unto 
 Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, 'The 
 voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands 
 of Esau.' " Then he bade him bring the venison, 
 that he might eat it. And Jacob brought the 
 venison, and the bread and wine that Kebekah 
 had prepared. And Isaac ate and drank. Then 
 he bade his son come near, that he might kiss Mm. 
 And he came near, and Isaac kissed him. And he 
 smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, 
 saying: 
 
 1 ' Lo ! the smell of my son 
 Is as the smell of a field 
 That the Lord hath blessed. 
 God give thee of the dew of heaven, 
 And of the fat things of the earth, 
 Even plenty of corn and wine ! 
 
 Let peoples serve thee, 
 
 And nations bow down to thee; 
 
 Be lord over thy brethren, 
 
 And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. 
 
 Cursed be everyone that curseth thee, 
 
 And blessed be everyone that blesseth thee!" 
 
 When Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, 
 and Jacob was scarcely gone from his father's 
 presence, Esau came back from his hunting. He 
 also had made savoury meat, and he brought it 
 to his father, and said, "Let my father rise up, 
 and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may 
 bless me!" When Isaac heard his voice, he said, 
 "Who art thou?" And Esau answered gaily, "I 
 am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau." And Isaac 
 trembled exceedingly, and said, "Who then is he 
 
THE STOLEN BLESSING 89 
 
 that hath taken venison, and brought it to me, 
 so that I have eaten of all before thou earnest, 
 and have blessed him?" And with deep emotion 
 he added, 'Yea, and he shall be blessed.' ' Then 
 Esau cried out with an exceeding great and bit- 
 ter cry, "Bless me, even me also, my father!" 
 But Isaac answered, "Thy brother came with 
 subtlety, and hath taken away the blessing." And 
 Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Supplanter? 
 for he hath supplanted me these two times. He 
 took away my birthright; and behold! now he 
 hath taken away my blessing." And he pleaded 
 with his father, and said, "Hast thou not kept a 
 blessing for me?" But Isaac answered and said, 
 "Behold! I have made him thy lord, and all his 
 brethren have I given to him for servants, and 
 with corn and wine have I provided him : so what 
 can I do now for thee, my son?" And Esau said 
 to his father, "Hast thou but one blessing, my 
 father? Bless me, even me also, my father!" 
 And the great, strong man lifted up his voice, and 
 wept. Isaac was touched to the heart by his 
 piteous cries, but all he had for him was the 
 mockery of a blessing: 
 
 "Far from the fat things of the earth shall be thy 
 dwelling, 
 Far from the dew of heaven above. 
 By thy sword shalt thou live, 
 And thou shalt serve thy brother. 
 Only when thou breakest loose, 
 Shalt thou shake his yoke from thy neck." 
 
 Again we cannot too strongly condemn the cruel 
 deceit by which Jacob robbed his brother of the 
 
90 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 blessing. Yet Esau was reaping as he haa sown.; 
 He had despised the birthright; and now he lost 
 the blessing. Even had Jacob acted fairly, God 
 must have kept it back from him. Esau found 
 "no place of repentance. ' f But even repentance 
 cannot undo the past. The idle schoolboy may 
 become a scholar, but he cannot make good the 
 opportunities he has lost. The young man who 
 squanders his inheritance may win an honourable 
 position in the world, but he cannot reclaim the 
 wealth he has wasted. The drunkard may be 
 saved, but he cannot bring back his ruined health. 
 The prodigal may return to his Father, but he 
 cannot wipe out the memory of the years he has 
 spent among the husks. 
 
 1 ' God pity them both ! and pity us all, 
 Who fondly the dreams of youth recall. 
 For of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
 The saddest are these: 'It might have been.' " 
 
 [Whtttihb 
 
XXIV 
 A HILLSIDE DEEAM 
 
 ESAU was so angry with Jacob that he made 
 up his mind to slay him as soon as his father 
 was dead. But Eebekah learned of his plan, and 
 advised Jacob to flee to Haran, and remain a short 
 time with Laban her brother, until Esau's fury 
 should have passed away. Then she went to Isaac 
 and persuaded him to fall in with her scheme. 
 Esau had married two Hittite women, who were 
 a sore grief to both his parents. So she said to 
 Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of these 
 Hittite women. If Jacob take to wife another of 
 the daughters of the land, such as they are, what 
 good shall my life be to me !" Then Isaac called 
 Jacob to him, and blessed him, and charged him, 
 saying, ' ' Thou shall not take a wife of the daugh- 
 ters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to 
 the house of Bethuel thy mother's father, and 
 take thee a wife from thence of the daughters 
 of Laban thy mother's brother. And God Al- 
 mighty bless thee, and give thee the blessing of 
 Abraham, thyself and thy seed with thee, that 
 thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings, 
 which God gave unto Abraham!" Then Isaac 
 sent Jacob away, and he went toward Paddan- 
 aram, the home of Bethuel, his mother's father. 
 On the second or third night of his wanderings 
 he reached the hillside of Luz, where Abraham 
 
 91 
 
92 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 had built an altar. It was as dreary a spot as 
 one could imagine. Great crags and boulders 
 dotted the landscape. Over these led the path 
 which Jacob must take, looking like a giant stair- 
 case linking earth and heaven. Wearied with his 
 journey, he took one of the stones of the place, 
 put it under his head for a pillow, and lay down 
 to sleep. I suppose life had never worn so deso- 
 late an aspect for Jacob as on that night at Luz. 
 Home and friends far away, God he believed as 
 far away, conscience his accuser, and the future 
 dark and ominous. But as he slept, he dreamed, 
 and behold! the terraced steeps of the hillside 
 piled themselves into a ladder reaching from earth 
 to heaven. And behold! the angels of God 
 ascended and descended on it. And behold! the 
 Lord stood beside him, and said, "I am the Lord, 
 the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of 
 Isaac. The land on which thou liest, to thee will 
 I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall 
 be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread 
 abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the 
 north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy 
 seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 
 And behold! I am with thee, and will keep thee 
 whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee 
 again into this land; for I will not leave thee, 
 until I have done that which I have spoken to 
 thee of." 
 
 Like Jacob, we often imagine God to be con- 
 fined to sacred places like the Church and the 
 family altar. Then suddenly we awake to the 
 fact that He is with us everywhere. The poet 
 Wordsworth, in his Reverie of Poor Susan, tells 
 
A HILLSIDE DREAM 93 
 
 of a city outcast hearing the song of a thrush 
 at the corner of one of London's busy thorough- 
 fares. As she listens, she sees in her mind's eye 
 the trees and birds of her native glen, the fields 
 on which she gathered the wild-flowers, the path 
 along which she tripped with her pail, and the 
 cottage where she spent so many years of childish 
 innocence with father and mother. "She looks, 
 and her heart is in heaven." To her that 
 crowded street was the very house of God. The 
 vision may come to us also amid the bustle of the 
 city, or on some lonely moor or desolate hillside 
 like Luz, or perhaps as we wander in the fields 
 as Isaac did, or under the starry skies, or beside 
 the dancing waters. And from that moment we 
 begin, like Wordsworth, to see God wherever we 
 go, in "the light of setting suns, and the round 
 ocean, and the living air, and the blue sky, and in 
 the mind of man." 
 
 No one ever had such a sense of God's near- 
 ness as Jesus. To Him all Nature was the 
 Father's house, with its many mansions. The 
 blue sky was the roof, and the warm brown earth 
 the floor. The mountains were the walls, the trees 
 and valleys the pictures, and the grass and flowers 
 the carpets. The rooms were thronged with min- 
 istering angels, and the Father Himself walked 
 freely through the midst of them, loving and 
 blessing His children. If we learn of Jesus, we, 
 too, shall find this world to be a temple of God, 
 alive with heavenly presences. Then we shall be 
 as sure as the Apostle that neither death nor life, 
 nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor 
 things present nor things to come, nor height nor 
 
94 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able 
 to separate us from the love of God, which is in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 "The green earth sends her incense up 
 From many a thousand shrine; 
 From folded leaf and dewy cup 
 She pours her sacred wine. 
 
 The winds with hymns of praise are loud, 
 
 Or low with sobs of pain, 
 The thunder-organ of the cloud, 
 
 The dropping tears of rain. 
 
 The blue sky is the temple's arch, 
 
 Its transept earth and air, 
 The music of its starry march 
 
 The chorus of a prayer. 
 
 So Nature keeps the reverent frame 
 
 With which her years began, 
 And all her signs and voices shame 
 
 The prayerless heart of man." 
 
 [Wettteeb. 
 
XXV 
 
 STEPPING OUT 
 
 MOKNING came, and the dream faded away. 
 There, indeed, rose the rugged heights of 
 Luz, still towering up like a ladder reaching from 
 earth to heaven. But no more vision of angels 
 ascending and descending on it, no more words 
 from heaven to cheer the homeless wanderer I 
 The landscape was as cold and bleak as yester- 
 day, the facts of life as hard and stern, the future 
 as uncertain. But look more closely on the figure 
 of Jacob as he girds his loins afresh for the jour- 
 ney, and you will see a new light in his eye, a 
 new spring in his step, a new vigour and zest in 
 all his movements. 
 
 Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, "Surely 
 the Lord is in this place, although I knew it not. 
 This is none other than the house of God, and 
 this is the gate of heaven/ ' Then he took the stone 
 that he had put under his head, and set it up for 
 a pillar, and poured oil upon it, and called the 
 name of the place Bethel, "the house of God." 
 And he vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be 
 with me, and will keep me on this journey that 
 I am going, and will give me bread to eat and 
 raiment to put on, so that I come again to my 
 father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be 
 my God, and this stone which I have set up for 
 
 95 
 
96 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that Thou 
 shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto 
 Thee." 
 
 Then Jacob lifted up his feet, or "stepped out," 
 a phrase that vividly suggests the eager, resolute 
 march of a man with a purpose. The vision, in- 
 deed, was gone. But the memory of it was 
 stamped for ever upon his mind. The God of 
 Bethel was with him still. And His presence shed 
 light over the whole face of Nature and life. The 
 roughest roads, the most wearisome toils, were 
 bathed in the atmosphere of His love. And, what- 
 ever the future might give or withhold, Jacob 
 knew it could not separate him from the God who 
 had made His face to shine upon him at Bethel. 
 "And behold! I am with thee, and will keep thee 
 whithersoever thou goest." This promise was 
 the lodestar that guided him in all his ways. In- 
 spired by its gladdening beams, he stepped out 
 cheerfully, to brave the hardships of the desert, 
 and to face his fortune as it came to him, as one 
 who had seen the vision. 
 
 If we once realise that this world is our Father's 
 house, and that He is with us "whithersoever we 
 go," we, too, shall step out on our journey with 
 brave, glad hearts. We shall go to school with a 
 song on our lips. We shall do our lessons thor- 
 oughly. We shall fling ourselves with equal zest 
 into our games. We shall be good friends to all 
 our playmates. We shall be the light and life of 
 our homes. And in later years, when we must 
 choose a path for ourselves, we shall still step out 
 with courage and cheerfulness. Whether that 
 path leads through the green pastures and beside 
 
STEPPING OUT 97 
 
 the still waters, or over the rough places and the 
 hills of difficulty, or through the dark valleys and 
 the deep waters, we shall march breast-forward, 
 assured that God will bring us out to the sunny 
 plains of righteousness and peace. 
 
 "Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
 Is our destined end or way; 
 But to act, that each to-morrow 
 Find us farther than to-day. 
 
 Let us, then, be up and doing, 
 
 With a heart for any fate ; 
 Still achieving, still pursuing, 
 
 Learn to labour and to wait." 
 
 LONGFEIiLOW. 
 
XXVI 
 LOVE AT FIEST SIGHT 
 
 WITH quickened steps Jacob went on his way 
 till he reached Haran, the city of Bethuel, 
 his mother's father. Some little distance from the 
 city he came to a well in the field, with a great 
 stone covering the well. It was still early in the 
 afternoon, but three flocks of sheep were already 
 lying near at hand, waiting their turn to be 
 watered when the stone should be rolled away. 
 Jacob entered into conversation with the shep- 
 herds, and asked them whence they came, and 
 whether they knew Laban the grandson of Nahor. 
 The shepherds answered, "Yes, we know him." 
 Then Jacob asked, "Is he well?" And the shep- 
 herds answered, "He is well: and behold! Eachel 
 his daughter is just coming with the sheep." 
 
 Jacob was surprised that the shepherds should 
 be sitting so long idly at the well. So he advised 
 them to water their flocks at once, and lead them 
 back to their pastures. But the shepherds 
 answered that it was not the custom of the place 
 to begin watering the sheep till all were gathered. 
 While they were yet talking, Rachel arrived with 
 her father's flock. As soon as he saw her, Jacob 
 went himself to the well's mouth, rolled away the 
 stone, and watered her flock. i l Then Jacob kissed 
 Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept." It 
 was love at first sight. 
 
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 89 
 
 "He looked at her, as a lover can; 
 She looked at him, as one who awakes : 
 The past was a sleep, and her life began.' ' 
 
 Love is the sweetest of earthly blessings. It is 
 that which draws us closest to the heart of the 
 Father. But too often it is poisoned by selfish- 
 ness, and the poetry of the well passes into the 
 prose of the fireside. If we are to keep the springs 
 of love pure and undefiled, we must dig deep into 
 the love of God, the living fountain of all love. 
 We must love one another as He has loved us. 
 
 "Life is only bright when it proceedeth 
 Towards a truer, deeper Life above; 
 Human Love is sweetest when it leadeth 
 To a more divine and perfect Love." 
 
 A. A. Procter. 
 
XXVII 
 
 CHANGED LOOKS 
 
 HER heart aglow with love, Rachel ran home, 
 and told her father Laban of her meeting 
 with Jacob at the well. Jacob soon followed her, 
 and Laban ran to meet him, embraced him, and 
 kissed him, and brought him to his house. For 
 a full month Jacob stayed with Laban, helping* him 
 with his cattle, and seeldng no other reward than 
 his love for Rachel. Then Laban said to Jacob, 
 "Though thou art my kinsman, oughtest thou 
 therefore to serve me for nought? Tell me, what 
 shall thy wages be?" And Jacob answered, "I 
 will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy 
 younger daughter." Laban was glad to have 
 Jacob's services on these terms. "So Jacob 
 served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed 
 to him but a few days, for the love he bore to her." 
 He felt like Ferdinand in Shakespeare's Tempest: 
 
 ''This my task 
 Would be as heavy to me as odious; but 
 The mistress whom I serve quickens what's dead, 
 And makes my labours pleasures." 
 
 But Jacob was now to find that in Laban he had 
 met a man as keen, grasping, and crafty as him- 
 self. When the time came for him to receive 
 Rachel as his wife, Laban trapped him into marry- 
 100 
 
CHANGED LOOKS 101 
 
 ing her elder sister Leah, on the ground that it 
 was not the custom of the place "to give the 
 younger before the firstborn. ' ' But he was willing 
 to give him Eachel also, if he would serve other 
 seven years. So Jacob served other seven years 
 for Eachel. But the double marriage was the 
 source of endless heart-burning. Eachel was 
 "fair of form and fair of face," while Leah had 
 weak, pale eyes. Jacob loved Eachel, and cared 
 nothing for Leah. But Leah was a happy mother 
 of children, while Eachel had to wait for hers 
 almost as long as her aunt Bebekah. So Eachel 
 envied Leah her children, while Leah envied 
 Eachel her husband's love. When at last Joseph 
 was born to Eachel, he became his father's favour- 
 ite son, and this added to the bickerings. So the 
 household of Jacob was torn into rival camps, full 
 of mutual jealousies and strifes. 
 
 Out in the fields, too, it was ' ' diamond cut dia- 
 mond." When Laban found how good a servant 
 Jacob was, he proposed that he should stay on 
 for wages. Jacob asked only for the black lambs 
 and the "speckled and spotted" goats. But he 
 contrived that the stronger animals should be his, 
 and the feebler ones Laban 's. When Laban saw 
 how Jacob prospered, he changed his terms; but 
 Jacob once more outwitted him, so that "he in- 
 creased exceedingly, and acquired large flocks of 
 sheep and goats, camels and asses," with many 
 maidservants and menservants. Then Laban 's 
 sons began to grumble that Jacob was taking 
 away all the wealth that belonged to their father. 
 And Jacob saw that Laban 's own face was "not 
 toward him as aforetime." So long as Jacob 
 
102 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 served merely for love, it was all smiles. But 
 when the tables were turned, and good fortune 
 passed from him to Jacob, his looks changed, and 
 his face grew sour and surly." Thus the old 
 friendship withered and died. 
 
 In his fairy tale, The Snow Queen, Hans Ander- 
 sen tells of a magic mirror, the broken pieces of 
 which get into people's eyes, and make them see 
 nothing but what is mean and ugly, so that their 
 hearts become as lumps of ice, and their faces hard 
 and cruel. The magic mirror is jealousy. Once 
 we grow jealous of our friends, we see nothing 
 but what is mean and ugly in them. All the kind- 
 ness in our hearts freezes up, and our faces be- 
 come stiff and harsh. How unpleasant it is when 
 a spirit like this enters school or club ! How much 
 more unpleasant when it enters the home! The 
 only way to avoid it is to let love have free course 
 in our hearts. Love keeps the heart warm, and 
 the face bright. Love at school makes it like a 
 sunny garden. And love at home makes it a 
 heaven on earth. 
 
 Again we must remember that God is the source 
 of all love. Had Jacob been more mindful of the 
 God of Bethel, he would not have allowed his home 
 to become a hotbed of strife. As little would he 
 have tried to outwit Laban in the fields. Instead 
 of that, he would have met his wiles by openness 
 and honesty. In this way he would have been no 
 less successful. God would still have blessed him 
 with prosperity, and He would have prospered 
 Laban along with him. Thus work would have 
 brought both of them satisfaction and delight. If 
 we wish to be happy in our homes and in oar 
 
CHANGED LOOKS 108 
 
 work, we must let the heavenly vision guide us 
 in all that we do. For it is only in the paths of 
 duty that the blessing of Bethel comes to us. 
 
 "I slept and dreamt that life was beauty; 
 I waked and found that life was duty. 
 Dreams grow holy put in action, 
 Work grows fair through starry dreaming j 
 But where each flows on unmingling, 
 Both are fruitless and in vain. ' ' 
 
 A. A. Procter. 
 
XXVIII 
 MEETING WITH ANGELS 
 
 JACOB saw he could no longer live in peace 
 with Laban. So he called his wives Leah and 
 Eachel, told them how their father's face was 
 altered toward him, and asked them to return 
 with him to Palestine. Both of them were as 
 anxious as he to depart from Haran. For they 
 had long felt that they were counted as aliens in 
 their father's house. It chanced that Laban had 
 gone to shear his sheep. So Jacob rose up, set his 
 wives and children on camels, and gathered to- 
 gether his cattle, and all the other substance he 
 had gotten in Paddan-aram, and stole away from 
 Haran. Eachel also took with her the teraphim, 
 or household gods, which belonged to her father. 
 Soon they crossed the Euphrates, and set their 
 faces in the direction of Mount Gilead. 
 
 On the third day after their departure, it was 
 told Laban that Jacob had fled., So he took his 
 clansmen with him, pursued the fugitives for seven 
 days, and overtook them in Gilead. Laban had 
 intended to bring them back by force, but God 
 appeared to him in a dream by night, saying, 
 "Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either 
 good or bad." So he complained only that Jacob 
 had stolen away unawares, and given him no 
 opportunity to kiss his daughters and their chil- 
 
 104 
 
MEETING WITH ANGELS 105 
 
 dren, and to speed them on their journey "with 
 mirth and with songs, with timbrel and with 
 harp." He charged him also with having carried 
 off his gods. Jacob said he had gone thus 
 secretly because he feared Laban would attempt 
 to keep his daughters from him. As to the tera- 
 phim, he bade him search the camp, and put to 
 death the man in whose hand they should be 
 found. "For Jacob knew not that Eachel had 
 stolen them. ' ' Laban searched, but found not the 
 teraphim; for Eachel had hidden them in the 
 camel 's basket, and sat on the top of it. So 
 Jacob hotly rebuked him for his suspicions, and 
 reminded him of all he had done for himself and 
 his flocks during the twenty years of his stay in 
 Haran. To this Laban had not a word to answer. 
 So he proposed that they should make a covenant 
 with one another. They gathered stones, there- 
 fore, and built them into a cairn. Then they sat 
 down beside the cairn, and ate and drank together. 
 Thus they established their covenant. And Laban 
 called the name of the place Mizpah, or Watch- 
 tower, for he said, ' ' The Lord watch between me 
 and thee, when we are absent one from another." 
 At Laban's request Jacob swore a solemn oath 
 before the Lord that he would do no wrong to 
 Leah and Eachel. Then he offered a sacrifice at 
 Mizpah, and ate the bread of the sacrifice with his 
 companions. That night Laban and he stayed 
 together on the mountain. Then early in the 
 morning Laban rose up, kissed his daughters and 
 their children, blessed them, and returned on his 
 way toward Haran. Jacob also went his way. 
 But he had not gone far when a host of angels 
 
106 (THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 met him. On seeing them, Jacob said, "This is 
 God's camp." So he called the name of the place 
 jMahanaim, "Two camps." For there God's 
 camp had joined itself to his. 
 
 We may no longer meet with white-robed com- 
 panies of angels crossing our path. But if our 
 eyes are opened like those of the young man of 
 Dothan, we shall see angelic figures encompassing 
 us on every side. To the Psalmist, the clouds 
 and the tempest, the thunder and the lightning, 
 the fire and the heat, were God's angels. So also 
 the modern poet, "William Blake, could say: 
 "When the sun rises, I see an innumerable com- 
 pany of the heavenly host, crying, 'Holy, holy, 
 holy is the Lord God Almighty V " But not only 
 is the sky about us teeming with angelic presences. 
 We may find them in our homes, in our friend- 
 ships, even in "the trivial round, the common 
 task." A little child is an angel from heaven sent 
 to bless the home. The nurse in the hospital is a 
 ministering angel. Every good man or woman 
 is an angel. As Whittier sings, "I saw the angel 
 where they saw a man." In another of his poems 
 he speaks of the two angels, Pity and Love, who 
 drop "tears like rain" and "smiles like sun- 
 shine" on saddened hearts. Adelaide Proctor has 
 her angels of Joy and of Goodness, of Faith and 
 of Prayer, of Pain and of Death. The angel of 
 Joy bears "radiant gifts" of love on his "glitter- 
 ing rainbow wings"; the angel of Goodness brings 
 food, rest and comfort to the poor; the angels of 
 Faith and Prayer lift their sorrows to the Father's 
 heart ; and even the angels of Pain and Death come 
 with healing in their wings "to help and to save." 
 
MEETING WITH ANGELS 107 
 
 Angels ministered to Jesus after He was tempted, 
 and strengthened Him during His agony in the 
 Garden. Lazarus was carried by angels into 
 Abraham's bosom. And still "the angel of the 
 Lord encampsth round about them that fear Him, 
 and delivereth them. ,, The postscript of the last 
 letter which General Gordon wrote from Khar- 
 toum ends with the words, "The hosts are with 
 me — Mahanaim." Though surrounded by en- 
 emies, and with no hope of relief, he yet felt that 
 the angels of God were about him, and that no 
 real harm could overtake him. And soon after- 
 wards, when he fell before the sword of the Mahdi, 
 the angels carried him, as they had carried Laz- 
 arus, to the heavenly home. 
 
XXIX 
 WRESTLING WITH GOD 
 
 JACOB was much cheered by his meeting with 
 the angels. And certainly he needed all the 
 cheering he conld find. A few miles south of him, 
 beyond the brawling torrent of the Jabbok, his 
 brother Esau was encamped. He had just sent 
 messengers to tell him of his coming, and they 
 had returned, saying, "We went to thy brother 
 Esau, and behold! he cometh to meet thee, and 
 four hundred men with him." At this news 
 Jacob was greatly alarmed and distressed. So 
 he flung himself on his knees, and prayed to the 
 God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac to deliver 
 him from the hand of Esau, for he feared he might 
 come and smite both him and his household, "the 
 mother with the children." But while he thus 
 cast himself on God's protection, he did not for- 
 get his old cunning. So he divided his camp into 
 two, saying, "If Esau come to the one camp, and 
 smite it, the camp which is left shall escape.' ' 
 Next morning he set aside a portion of his sheep 
 and cattle as a gift for Esau, sending them for- 
 ward drove by drove, with a clear space between 
 each. And he commanded the leaders of the 
 various droves, as they met Esau, to say to him, 
 "This belongeth to thy servant Jacob; it is a 
 gift he hath sent to my lord Esau: and behold! 
 108 
 
WRESTLING WITH GOD 109 
 
 he himself is just behind us. ' ' In this way he 
 hoped little by little to break down Esau's anger, 
 so that he might see his face in peace. 
 
 All day the strange procession went on crossing 
 the Jabbok. When night fell, there remained only 
 Jacob, his wives, and his children. So he sent 
 them over the stream. "And Jacob was left 
 alone." As he prepared to follow, an unknown 
 Wrestler stepped out from the darkness, and 
 grappled with him. Hour after hour they fought, 
 neither yielding, neither winning, till the day was 
 about to break. Then the Wrestler touched the 
 socket of Jacob's thigh, and put it out of joint. 
 And He said to him, "Let me go now, for dawn 
 has come!" But Jacob saw by this time that he 
 Was contending with no human foe, and he said, 
 "I will not let Thee go, unless Thou bless me." 
 Then the Wrestler asked him, "What is thy 
 name?" And he answered, "Jacob." And He 
 said, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, 
 the Supplanter, but Israel, the Prince of God : for 
 thou has striven with God, as aforetime thou didst 
 strive with men, and thou has overcome." Then 
 Jacdb said to Him, "Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy 
 name!" The Wrestler rebuked him for making 
 such a request. "Why is it that thou dost ask 
 after my name ? ' ' But He blessed him there. And 
 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, "the 
 face of God"; for he said, "I have seen God face 
 to face, and my life is preserved." 
 
 I think we can dimly understand the meaning 
 of this weird struggle. Jacob was returning to 
 claim his inheritance in Palestine. But he was 
 still the same old Jacob. It is true, he had seen 
 
110 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 the vision of God at Bethel. He had learned also 
 to pray in times of difficulty and danger. Yet 
 he trusted far more in his own crafty schemes 
 than in God's guidance. He was preparing now 
 to leap across the Jabbok, and win his way to 
 his brother's heart by stealth. But God could not 
 allow a trickster like Jacob to inherit the prom- 
 ised land. So He checked him in the middle of 
 his headstrong career, brought him quivering in 
 pain to the ground, and showed him how weak 
 and helpless he was. 
 An old poet says : 
 
 "It is not but the tempest that doth show 
 
 The seaman 's cunning ; but the field that tries 
 The captain's courage; and we come to know 
 Best what men are in their worst jeopardies.' 
 
 It was in this worst jeopardy of his that 
 Jacob's true character came to light. All these 
 years there had been two natures in him strug- 
 gling for the mastery: the mean and treacherous 
 Jacob and the heroic, aspiring Israel. Till now 
 the Israel had lain crushed and beaten. But at 
 Peniel the Jacob died, and the Israel sprang into 
 victorious life. In his weakness and pain he 
 clung to the God who had put His hand on him, 
 and would not let Him go until He blessed him. 
 Thus he became strong enough to overcome God, 
 and pure enough to see His face and live. 
 
 Often God checks us as he checked Jacob. We 
 are bent on some foolish enterprise, or we are 
 trying to succeed by trickery and deceit. And 
 He pulls us up at the water's edge. Perhaps He 
 blocks the way so completely that we cannot go 
 
WRESTLING WITH GOD 111 
 
 on. Perhaps He sends us sickness and sorrow. 
 When we are thus brought low, we are inclined 
 to chafe and complain. But God checks us only 
 to draw out our full strength. Like a good doc- 
 tor, He hurts only to heal. He frees us from self- 
 ishness, and makes us pure and good. 
 
 * 'Then, welcome each rebuff 
 That turns earth's smoothness rough, 
 
 Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go! 
 Be our joys three-parts pain! 
 Strive, and hold cheap the pain ; 
 Learn, nor account the pang • dare, never grudge the 
 throe!" 
 
 Robebt Browning. 
 
XXX 
 BACK TO BETHEL 
 
 THE sun rose as Jacob passed over Peniel, and 
 went limping on his thigh to join his company. 
 No sooner had he reached them than "he lifted 
 up his eyes, and looked, and behold! Esau came, 
 and four hundred men with him. ' ' But there was 
 no longer any selfish regard for his own safety. 
 Putting his household behind him, with Eachel and 
 Joseph in the rear, Jacob went forward, and 
 bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he 
 came near to his brother. Esau met his advance 
 with the utmost chivalry. The last time he set 
 eyes on Jacob, he had vowed to slay him. But 
 now all his anger was gone, and his generous heart 
 was big with brotherly love. "Esau ran to meet 
 him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and 
 kissed him: and they wept." With the same gra- 
 cious courtesy he welcomed the women and chil- 
 dren, inviting them all to stay with him in Seir, 
 and offering himself as an escort. Nor would he 
 take any of Jacob's gifts until he entreated him. 
 "If now I have found grace in thy sight, I pray 
 thee, accept this gift from my hand, forasmuch as 
 I have seen thy face as one seeth the face of G-od. " 
 Thus Jacob learned that, when the heart is right 
 with God, it is right also with men. 
 
 Esau returned that day to Seir, but Jacob went 
 112 
 
BACK TO BETHEL 113 
 
 no further than Succoth, a mile or two west of 
 Peniel. There he built him a house, and made 
 huts for his cattle. But the lure of Palestine was 
 on him. So he crossed the Jordan, and made his 
 way to Shechem, where his grandfather Abraham 
 had once encamped. It was one of the sweetest 
 spots in Palestine, a valley watered by springs 
 in every direction, rich with corn and grass, and 
 gay with vineyards and gardens. But the people 
 of Shechem were heathen, and Jacob's family be- 
 gan to learn their ways. So Jacob heard a voice 
 from heaven calling him to go back to Bethel, and 
 there consecrate himself and them afresh to the 
 God who had blessed them so abundantly, even 
 when they had forgotten Him times without num- 
 ber. 
 
 We can imagine the feelings with which Jacob 
 approached Bethel. Twenty years ago he had 
 toiled along that weary road, a lonely outcast, 
 burdened with a load of shameful memories. But 
 as he slept, Gfod had opened the gates of heaven, 
 and spoken to him words of wonderful comfort. 
 Ever since then He had been faithful to His prom- 
 ise. He had made everything to prosper under 
 his hands, He had given him the heart of the 
 woman he loved, He had blessed him with home 
 and children, He had kept him in all his ways, 
 and now He had brought him back to his father's 
 house in peace. But how unfaithful to the cov- 
 enant he had been! As he retraced his steps 
 that day, he would recall with bitter pain "the 
 broken vow, the frequent fall," the sordid story 
 of his dealings with Laban, the sins of his children, 
 the idolatry of his beloved Rachel. When he was 
 
114 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 leaving Shechem, lie bade his household put away 
 the strange gods that were among them, purify 
 themselves, and change their garments, and ac- 
 company him to Bethel. And they gave him their 
 idols and charms, and he buried them under an 
 oak near Shechem. And they purified themselves, 
 and changed their garments, and went with him. 
 So when they reached Bethel, he built an altar, 
 and renewed his vows to the God who had 
 answered him in the day of his distress, and had 
 been w 7 ith him on the way which he went. And 
 the God of Bethel blessed him and his family, and 
 s«ent them forth rejoicing, to live a truer and 
 nobler life. 
 
 It is with the same emotion that we revisit the 
 Bethels where God has come near to us, the old 
 home where our parents taught us to lisp His 
 name in prayer, and the mountain, moor, or field 
 where His light first shone upon our path. As 
 we gaze upon these sacred scenes, we think of 
 God's unceasing goodness, and of our own faults 
 and failings. And we lift up our hearts to Him, 
 committing our lives anew to His keeping, and 
 asking for strength to be more worthy of His 
 goodness. But the Bethel to which we return most 
 often is the Church where we worship. How many 
 hallowed memories cluster round its walls ! There 
 our fathers met with God. There many of them 
 rest from their labours. There we were brought 
 to Him in baptism. There we have found peace, 
 and joy, and strength, and hope. There we have 
 buried our idols, and there paid our vows to the 
 Lord our God. There He has blessed us, and 
 there He will bless us to the end. For God will 
 
BACK TO BETHEL 115 
 
 not forsake those who love His name and His 
 house. 
 
 "0 God of Bethel! by whose hand 
 
 Thy people still are fed; 
 Who through this weary pilgrimage 
 Hast all our fathers led: 
 
 Our vows, our prayers, we now present 
 
 Before Thy throne of grace; 
 God of our fathers! be the God 
 
 Of their succeeding race. 
 
 Through each perplexing path of life 
 
 Our wandering footsteps guide; 
 Give us each day our daily bread, 
 
 And raiment fit provide. 
 
 O spread Thy covering wings around, 
 
 Till ail our wanderings cease, 
 And at our Father's loved abode 
 
 Our souls arrive in peace. 
 
 Such blessings from Thy gracious hand 
 
 Our humble prayers implore; 
 And Thou shalt be our chosen God, 
 And portion evermore. " 
 
XXXI 
 
 THE GENTLEMAN'S COAT 
 
 THE blessing at Bethel did not shield Jacob 
 from sorrow. His mother Eebekah had died 
 some time before, and now her old nurse Deborah 
 passed away, and was buried under the Oak of 
 Weeping at Bethel. Soon a worse grief befell 
 him. As they journeyed from Bethel to Ephrath, 
 his wife Eachel died when a second son was born 
 to her. With her last breath she called the child 
 Benoni, "the son of my sorrow.' ' Though his 
 own heart was breaking, Jacob changed the name 
 to Benjamin, "the son of the right hand"; that 
 is, the strong, helpful boy. Then he buried Rachel 
 on the spot where she died, and set up a pillar on 
 the grave, to keep her in lasting remembrance. 
 
 Ere long Isaac died at Hebron, and Jacob and 
 Esau buried him beside Eebekah in the cave of 
 Machpelah. Jacob's affections were now more 
 than ever twined round Joseph, the elder son of 
 Eachel. He was a boy well worthy of his love. 
 He inherited in full measure his own best gifts; 
 his keen intellect, his eagerness of spirit, and his 
 strength of will and purpose. With these qual- 
 ities he combined his mother's beauty and grace 
 of person, her bright, winning disposition, and her 
 charming manners. But what raised him most 
 highly above his brothers was his purity of heart. 
 
 116 
 
THE GENTLEMAN'S COAT 117 
 
 They were coarse, rough men, like most of the 
 shepherds with whom they mingled. But from 
 his earliest years he was the soul of purity. As 
 the needle to the magnet, he turned instinctively 
 to God and goodness. 
 
 It was only natural that Jacob should have 
 " loved Joseph more than all his children." He 
 did wrong, however, in showing his favouritism 
 so plainly. He made him, we read, "a long robe 
 with sleeves. " This was the gentleman's dress 
 of the time, corresponding to our silk hat and 
 frock coat. Joseph's brothers had to wear short 
 plain tunics which would not spoil with work. In 
 giving him the long sleeved robe, Jacob meant to 
 single him out as "the young gentleman of the 
 family," who should pass his days untouched by 
 the dust of toil and the struggles of common life. 
 
 Though it was intended as kindness, Jacob was 
 not merely sowing the seeds of deadly hatred and 
 strife in the home, but he was taking the surest 
 means of ruining Joseph's own character. We 
 can already trace the germs of priggishness work- 
 ing in the boy. He became too conscious of his 
 superior powers. He began also to tell tales of 
 his brothers' evil doings. Had he been left to 
 himself, he might have grown up a dandy, unfit 
 for work, and eaten up by a false sense of his 
 own importance. 
 
 We see examples of this all about us. Fathers 
 who have won their way to success by hard toil 
 and self-denial bring up their children in idleness. 
 Boys try to ape the young gentleman by their fine 
 clothes and foppish ways. But nothing can be 
 more fatal. It is not idleness and fine clothes 
 
118 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 that make the gentleman, but " clean hands and 
 a pure heart.' ' There never was a truer gentle- 
 man than Abraham Lincoln. His figure and dress 
 were uncouth; but his heart was a very temple 
 of honour and courtesy. The Christian gentle- 
 man, young or old, has his affections set on things 
 above. But he does not air his superiority over 
 others. Nor is he afraid to soil his fingers by 
 honest work. Tie is neither a prig nor a coxcomb. 
 Like Tom Brown at school, he speaks up, and 
 strikes out if necessary, "for whatever is true, 
 and manly, and lovely, and of good report"; but 
 he does not look down on his fellows in stupid 
 conceit of himself and his virtues. Nor does he 
 shirk his tasks. He tries "to do his duty, and 
 to help others to do theirs." To the best of his 
 ability, he lives in the spirit of Wordsworth's 
 noble sonnet to Milton : 
 
 "Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart; 
 Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea. 
 Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, 
 So didst thou travel on life's common way, 
 In cheerful godliness ; and yet thy heart 
 The lowliest duties on herself did lay." 
 
XXXII 
 A BOY'S DKEAMS 
 
 JOSEPH was saved from the worst effects of 
 his father's indulgence by his own ambition. 
 As a young lad, he began to have his dreams of 
 coming glory. One night he dreamed that he and 
 his brothers were binding sheaves in the field, and 
 behold! his sheaf arose, and stood upright, while 
 his brothers ' sheaves came round about, and made 
 obeisance to his sheaf. Soon his dreams took a 
 higher flight. He dreamed that he was one of 
 the stars of heaven, and behold ! the sun and moon 
 and the eleven other stars made obeisance to him. 
 
 The meaning of the dreams was clear, and 
 Joseph's father and brothers understood it at 
 once. He was to rise above them all! It was, 
 no doubt, foolish of Joseph to tell them of his 
 dreams. But the youth who " hitches his wagon 
 to a star" is on the way to success. He may not 
 reach the stars, but he will certainly shoot far 
 higher than he who aims at nothing beyond the 
 ground. 
 
 Like Joseph, every true boy has his dreams. 
 Very early in life he begins to take an interest 
 in farming, or engines, or books, or paintings. 
 And he is ambitious for success. This is right 
 and proper. God has given us our talents, and He 
 wishes us to make the best possible use of them. 
 
 119 
 
120 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 Yet our ambitions should reach beyond mere per- 
 sonal success. We should have a star to guide 
 us. This star may be love of parents and friends, 
 love of country, love of man. The boy whose 
 parents have done much for him should seek to 
 make their old age peaceful and happy. He who 
 has enjoyed the love of friends should remember 
 them in the day of his prosperity. And all of us 
 should be loyal to the claims of country and 
 humanity. You remember Burns ' fine ambition : 
 
 "I mind it weel in early date, 
 When I was beardless, young, and blate, 
 
 An' first could thresh the barn, 
 E'en then a wish (I mind its pow'r), 
 A wish that to my latest hour 
 
 Shall strongly heave my breast, 
 That I for poor auld Scotland's sake 
 Some usefu' plan or book could make, 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 It was the same ambition that stirred the heart 
 of the Italian patriots, Mazzini and Garibaldi, 
 when they dreamed day and night of freeing their 
 country from the Austrians, of Lincoln, when he 
 determined to strike the deathblow at slavery, and 
 of Gladstone, when he girded on his armour "to 
 force good causes forward.' ' We may not be able 
 to sing, or fight, or govern, as they did. But if 
 our heart be set on doing good to others, we shall 
 find opportunities that now we may not even con- 
 ceive of. Only we must have a fixed star, round 
 which all our other ambitions turn. This fixed 
 star is Christ, the centre of light and life. 
 
A BOY'S DREAMS 121 
 
 "What can a little chap do 
 For his country and for you? 
 What can a little chap do? 
 
 He can fight like a Knight 
 For the Truth and the Right- 
 That 's one good thing he can do. 
 
 He can shun all that's mean, 
 He can keep himself clean, 
 Both without and within — 
 
 That's another good thing he can do. 
 
 His soul he can brace 
 Against everything base, 
 And the trace will he seen 
 All his life in his face — 
 
 That's a very fine thing he can do. 
 
 He can look to the Light 
 He can keep his thought white, 
 He can fight the great fight, 
 He can do with his might 
 What is good in God's sight — 
 
 Those are excellent things he can do. 
 
 Though his years be but few, 
 He can march in the queue 
 Of the Good and the Great, 
 Who battled with fate 
 And won through — 
 
 That's a wonderful thing he can do. 
 
 And — in each little thing 
 He can follow The King. 
 Yes — in each smallest thing 
 He can follow The King — 
 
 He can follow The Christ, The King. 
 
 John Oxenham. 
 
XXXIII 
 THE BLACK HOLE 
 
 JOSEPH had by this time reached the age of 
 seventeen. All was bright and rosy about 
 him, when suddenly he was plunged into the deep- 
 est gloom. His brothers had gone to feed their 
 flocks in the old pastures near Shechem. They 
 had been away for several weeks, and their father 
 was growing anxious. So he called Joseph, and 
 asked him to go to Shechem, and find out if they 
 and the flocks were well. Gaily the young lad set 
 out on his fifty miles ' journey from Hebron. Buf 
 when he reached Shechem, he could discover no 
 trace of his brothers. As he wandered in the 
 fields, he met a man who told him they had gone 
 fifteen miles farther north to Dothan, where the 
 pastures were fresher. With a light heart he fol- 
 lowed them up to Dothan, and ran eagerly forward 
 to meet them. But when his brothers caught sight 
 of him, they scowled, and said, "Behold! this 
 dreamer cometh." And they conspired together 
 to slay him, and cast his dead body into one of the 
 pits in the place, telling his father that a wild 
 beast had devoured him. They would then see 
 what would become of his dreams ! 
 
 As the base men planned their deed of blood, 
 Reuben, the eldest of the family, spoke out. He 
 felt sorry for Joseph. He felt still more sorry 
 
 122 
 
THE BLACK HOLE 123 
 
 for his father. He could not bear to bring this 
 new grief upon him. So he proposed that they 
 should not slay their brother, but cast him alive 
 into the pit. Beuben intended later in the day to 
 draw him out of the pit, and restore him to his 
 father. But the rest of them meant to leave him 
 alone to die. So when Joseph drew near, they 
 fell upon him, tore the fine robe from his back, 
 and cast him into the pit. Then they sat down 
 to eat the bread he had brought them. 
 
 Joseph's life was saved. But it was little more 
 than saved. The pit was a dark tank or cistern, 
 cut in the ground, and used for storing water 
 during the dry season. In shape it was like the 
 bottle-dungeons into which prisoners used to be 
 thrown. It was quite narrow at the neck, but 
 broader near the bottom. There was no loop- 
 hole anywhere. Thus a more desperate plight 
 than Joseph's it would be hard to imagine. If he 
 dashed against the walls of the pit, he would de- 
 stroy himself, not them. Appeal to his brothers 
 was equally in vain. Long afterwards they re- 
 membered how he had pleaded with them to spare 
 him, and they would not hear. Only one little 
 glint of light came to brighten the gloom. 
 Through the open mouth of the pit he could still 
 see the blue of heaven, and toward evening per- 
 haps one or two of the stars of which he had 
 dreamed. And he would feel in some sense that 
 
 ''Darkness in the pathway of man's life 
 Is but the shadow of God's providence, 
 By the great Sun of Wisdom cast thereon ; 
 And what is dark below is light in heaven." 
 
124. THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 Like Joseph, we sometimes find ourselves in 
 holes from which there seems to be no escape. 
 Yet there is always a gleam of light somewhere: 
 the light of conscience within, the light of God's 
 love overhead, the light of Christ's presence lead- 
 ing the way. Lincoln had his plans time and again 
 blocked by his father's weakness, his partner's 
 folly, a*rid his enemies' determined opposition. 
 But he kept true to the call of Duty, and so tri- 
 umped over* every difficulty. Garfield was kept 
 by malarial fever from following out his early 
 ambition of going to sea. But he was guided 
 by his mother to the light of God in books, and 
 thus led to embark on his great career as soldier 
 and statesman. David Livingstone was prevented 
 by the Opium War from giving* his life to China 
 as he intended. When at last he found his sphere 
 in Africa, his station was burned, and he was 
 driven into the unexplored north. On his great 
 journeys he was often brought to the limit of his 
 resources. But he still kept his eyes open to the 
 light. ' ' Shall I tell you, " he* said to the* students of 
 Glasgow University, "what sustained me amidst 
 the toil and hardship and loneliness of my exiled 
 life? It was the promise, I am iMth ydu always." 
 However dark his path, Jesus was just in front. 
 And pressing after Him, he* was guided into God's 
 clear light. So, if we follow the gleam, we shall 
 be led in the way of light. 
 
 "0 young Mariner, 
 Down to the haven, 
 Call your companions, 
 Launch your vessel, 
 
THE BLACK HOLE 1%$ 
 
 And crowd your canvas, 
 And, ere it vanishes 
 Over the margin, 
 After it, follow it, 
 Follow the Gleam." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 A FAITHFUL SERVANT 
 
 "P)ELIVERANCE came to Joseph from an un- 
 *~* expected quarter. A caravan of Ishmaelite 
 traders, on their way from Grilead to Egypt, hap- 
 pened to be passing through Dothan. Their 
 camels were laden with spices of various kinds, 
 but they were not unwilling to add a slave-boy to 
 their other goods. So at Judah's suggestion 
 Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty 
 pieces of silver. His brothers then killed a young 
 goat, dipped his coat in the blood, took it home to 
 their father, and said. "This have we found: see 
 now whether it be thy son's coat or not." And 
 Jacob recognized it, and said, "It is my son's 
 coat; a wild beast hath devoured him; Joseph is 
 without doubt torn in pieces." And he rent his 
 clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned 
 for Joseph many days. And when his other sons 
 rose up to comfort him, he refused to be com- 
 forted, saying, "I will go down to my son mourn- 
 ing even to the grave." 
 
 In the meantime Joseph had been carried to 
 Egypt, and put up in the market, to be sold to the 
 highest bidder. Soon he was bought by Potiphar, 
 the captain of Pharaoh's body-guard, and sent to 
 his house to work. It must have been humiliating 
 
 126 
 
A FAITHFUL SERVANT 127 
 
 for a kingly spirit like Joseph to be handled, dis- 
 cussed, and bargained for, like a brute beast, and 
 finally to be led off at his master's beck and call, 
 to do the lowliest, most degrading tasks. I fear, 
 if we had been in his position, most of us would 
 have rebelled against both God and Potiphar. 
 But Joseph had by this time learned to trace 
 God's finger in all that befell him. So he set him- 
 self, with a stout, brave heart, to face his new lot, 
 and to perform its duties faithfully. Often it 
 must have been irksome and painful. His arms, 
 used to so very different treatment, must have 
 ached under their heavy load. His heart, too, 
 must have been sore within him. Yet he toiled 
 on manfully, seeking to do all as in God's sight, 
 and for His glory. 
 
 Once more things began to prosper in his hand. 
 Cleanliness and order became the rule of the 
 house. The furniture took on a new lustre. The 
 dishes shone as they had never shone before. 
 Work went smoothly and sweetly. Thus Joseph's 
 heart began to expand again. His genial charm 
 found a new outlet. His presence was like a ray 
 of sunshine in the home. The result was inevit- 
 able. Light cannot be long hid under a bushel. 
 Potiphar saw how all things prospered with Jos- 
 eph. He felt, too, the grace of his character, and 
 his influence over other men. So he promoted 
 him step by step, until he made him steward of his 
 whole estate. His faith in Joseph was complete. 
 "He left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he 
 troubled about nothing save the bread which he 
 ate." His faith was fully justified. Never had 
 he known a more capable, honest, and successful 
 
128 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 steward than Joseph. From the moment when he 
 placed him over his estate, "the Lord blessed the 
 Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of 
 the Lord rested on all that he had, in the honse 
 and in the field." 
 
 Boys and young men are often so carried away 
 by their ambition as to be "too big for their 
 jobs." They feel themselves born to rule, so they 
 will not serve. But the only way to rule is "to 
 bear the yoke in one 's youth. ' ' The young man of 
 gif ts must stoop to.conquer, serve to command. As 
 Lincoln said, "The true rule of life is to do one's 
 level best, leaving the rest to take care of itself. 
 The best preparation for the duties of to-morrow 
 is the faithful performance of the duties of to- 
 day." He was himself a perfect example of what 
 he taught. As ploughman, rail-splitter, and sur- 
 veyor, no less than President, his motto was 
 Thorough. So he mounted the ladder, rung by 
 rung, "from Log Cabin to White House." 
 
 We cannot have this lesson too strongly im- 
 pressed on us. Ambition is good. Without am- 
 bition we shall make little of our lives. But am- 
 bition should never lift us above the present duty. 
 Eather, it should spur us on to do our best in it. 
 While we are still at school, then, let us work with 
 all our heart. For what we learn at school is the 
 foundation of all else. And when we pass out to 
 the farm or office, shop or study, let us carry the 
 shining principle with us : "Whatsoever thy hand 
 findeth to do, do it with thy might." If we work 
 in this spirit, our work will bring us increasing 
 joy and success. It will satisfy our heart. It will 
 strengthen our powers. It will lead us in the 
 
A FAITHFUL SERVANT 129 
 
 way of advancement. It will give us influence 
 over others. And it will command the approval 
 of God. "Well done, good and faithful servant! 
 Thou has been faithful in a few things: I will 
 make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
XXXV 
 
 THE JUST MAN IN JAIL 
 
 JOSEPH had now to face the sharpest of all 
 his trials. His master's wife was strongly 
 drawn to him, and tried to win his love. But his 
 high sense of honour made him proof against the 
 temptation. In her anger she had him flung into 
 jail. And there he languished for several years. 
 The jail into which Joseph was thrown was very 
 different from ours. It was a vile dungeon, dark 
 and damp, where crimnials of every kind were 
 herded together in abject misery, their hands 
 bound in fetters, and their feet held fast in the 
 stocks. One would not have wondered had 
 Joseph's faith at last yielded to the strain. But 
 it only grew stronger as the iron cut into his flesh. 
 He was marvellously buoyed up by the thought 
 that he was innocent. He had the glad feeling, 
 too, that God was with him in the prison, as He 
 had been with him in the pit. Thus his face wore 
 its old sunny look. And in due time his star be- 
 gan to rise again. As the keeper of the prison 
 went his daily rounds, he could not but notice the 
 young Hebrew's fresh and honest countenance. 
 The more he saw of him, the better he liked him. 
 So he began to show him favour. He struck off his 
 fetters, and allowed him to wander freely through 
 the prison. Then he gave him the oversight of 
 
 130 
 
A JUST MAN IN JAIL 131 
 
 the prisoners. Finally he committed the whole 
 place to his charge, looking to nothing that was* 
 under his hand, * ' because the Lord was with him, 
 and made that which he did to prosper." 
 
 Many a man would have used his freedom for 
 his own ends. But Joseph's first concern was for 
 others. Even while his feet were still "hurt with 
 fetters," he had a smile and a kind word for 
 those who lay suffering near him. Now that he 
 was given the oversight of all the prisoners, he 
 had many more chances of doing them good. 
 There might be those among them who were inno- 
 cent as he was. And he could lead them, as he 
 had been led, to the Source of all comfort. There 
 would, no doubt, also be hardened criminals who 
 never in their lives had met with a friendly greet- 
 ing. For them, too, he would have his word of 
 hope and cheer. Or if their wounds were sore, he 
 would tend and soothe them. For he had already 
 learned the secret of true happiness, to which 
 John Wesley gave expression: 
 
 "Do all the good you can, 
 By all the means you can, 
 In all the ways you can, 
 In all the places yon can, 
 At all the times you can, 
 To all the people you can, 
 As long as ever yon can.'* 
 
 Joseph is thus the first of many prisoners for 
 conscience' sake who have turned their dungeon 
 into a house of Grod. Paul and Barnabas prayed 
 and sang praises to God while their feet were in 
 
132 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 the stocks. From his various prisons the Apostle 
 sent out those letters which did so much to 
 strengthen and build up the early Christian 
 Churches. The house where he was shut up in 
 Borne he found to be the very ante-room of 
 heaven. So also Samuel Eutherford headed his 
 letters in prison: "From Christ's Palace in Aber- 
 deen/ ? And he wrote to his friends: "Do you 
 know I thought of Jesus till every stone in the 
 wall of my cell glowed like a ruby. ' ' 
 
 We have no longer to surfer as they did. We 
 have perfect freedom of faith and speech. We 
 can at all times defend ourselves against injus- 
 tice. So it is only by accident that the innocent 
 man is put in jail. Yet we may have to bear other 
 forms of persecution, such as jests and jeers, con- 
 tempt and hatred, dogged opposition, and even 
 direct personal attacks. Every man who seeks 
 to "force good causes forward' ' is exposed to 
 treatment of this kind. To many sensitive minds 
 it is even more irritating than imprisonment. But 
 if God be with us, we shall keep our head high, 
 and our heart calm and brave, through all of it. 
 And we shall find like the brave old cavalier that 
 
 " Stone walls do not a prison make, 
 
 Nor iron bars a cage, 
 Minds innocent and qniet take 
 That for an heritage. 
 
 If I have freedom in my love, 
 
 And in my soul am free, 
 Angels alone, that soar above, 
 
 Enjoy such liberty." 
 
 Richard Lovelace. 
 
XXXVI 
 DEEAMS IN THE DUNGEON 
 
 PEISON has been the scene of many dazzling 
 dreams. In prison St. Paul was caught up to 
 the heavens, and saw a vision of things ' ' which it 
 is not possible for a man to utter." From his 
 prison in the island of Patmos John saw his great 
 Eevelation of things to come. In Bedford jail 
 John Bunyan dreamed his immortal dream, The 
 Pilgrim's Progress. And in the fortress of Sa- 
 vona, midway between sea and sky, those two 
 "symbols of the infinite," Mazzini dreamed of 
 free united Young Italy. 
 
 We do not read of any dreams that Joseph had 
 in the dungeon. But he acted as an interpreter of 
 dreams to others. Some time after he had been 
 given charge of the prisoners, there were handed 
 over to him Pharaoh's chief butler and baker. 
 They had offended their lord in some way, and 
 were cast like Joseph into the prison. One morn- 
 ing he found them looking gloomy and depressed. 
 They had each dreamed a dream, but could find 
 no one to explain the meaning of it. So Joseph 
 asked them to tell him the dreams, for "interpre- 
 tations belong to God," and he was God's servant. 
 
 Thereupon the chief butler told him how he had 
 seen in his dreams a vine budding and blossoming, 
 then putting forth clusters of ripening grapes, 
 
 133 
 
134 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 which he took, and pressed into Pharaoh's cup, 
 and gave Pharaoh to drink. And Joseph said to 
 him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three 
 branches are three days; so within three days 
 Pharaoh will lift up thine head, and restore thee 
 to thine office: and thou shalt give Pharaoh's cup 
 into his hand, after the former manner when thou 
 wast his butler. ' ' Then in a few wistful words he 
 pleaded with the butler to remember him in the 
 hour of his own freedom, to make mention of him 
 to Pharaoh, and so get him out of that place. 
 "For," he said, "I was cruelly stolen away from 
 the land of the Hebrews ; and here too I have done 
 nothing for which they should have put me into 
 this hole." 
 
 Encouraged by the interpretation Joseph had 
 given of his friend's dream, the chief baker pro- 
 ceeded to tell his. As he dreamed, behold! there 
 were three baskets of white bread on his head; 
 and in the uppermost basket were '"'all manner of 
 bakemeats for Pharaoh." But the birds came 
 down, and ate of the bakemeats in the basket. And 
 Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpre- 
 tation of it : the three baskets are three days ; so in 
 three days Pharaoh will lift up thine head, but 
 he will then hang thee on a tree; and the birds 
 will eat thy flesh from ofT thee." 
 
 It was as Joseph had said. The third day after 
 that was Pharaoh's birthday, and Pharaoh made 
 a great feast, to which he invited all his servants. 
 Among the others he brought the chief butler and 
 baker from prison to share in the feast. "And he 
 restored the chief butler unto his butler ship 
 again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand; 
 
DREAMS IN THE DUNGEON 135 
 
 but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had in- 
 terpreted to them." And then pathetically the 
 writer adds, "Yet did not the chief butler remem- 
 ber Joseph, but forgot him." 
 
 Ingratitude is one of the commonest of faults, 
 and it is one of the cruelest. It pains the heart 
 as few other sins do. And it strikes back upon the 
 ungrateful heart itself, and makes it hard and 
 cold, incapable of generous feeling, and closed 
 against those deeds of kindness which sweeten 
 life. 
 
 "Blow, blow, thou winter wind, 
 
 Thou are not so unkind 
 
 As man's ingratitude; 
 
 Thy tooth is not so keen, 
 
 Because thou are not seen, 
 
 Although thy breath be rude. 
 
 Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, 
 Thou dost not bite so nigh 
 As benefits forgot: 
 Though thou the waters warp, 
 Thy sting is not so sharp 
 As friend remember 'd not." 
 
 Shakespbaebl 
 
xxxvn 
 
 FEOM PRISON TO PALACE 
 
 FOB, two more years Joseph lingered on in 
 prison. These years must have been a time 
 of bitter trial for him. Hope deferred made his 
 heart sick. The ingratitude of the butler, too, 
 drove the iron more deeply into his soul. Yet we 
 can see how needful the delay was. Had Joseph 
 been set at liberty when he wished, he would only 
 have returned to menial service in some Egyp- 
 tian house. But God meant to make him ruler of 
 the land. And in the prison, as formerly in 
 Potiphar's kitchen, He was quietly training him 
 for that end. Little by little every touch of the 
 "spoiled child' ' dropped from him. The iron 
 entered his blood as well as his soul. He became 
 strong, self-reliant, wise, patient, and sympa- 
 thetic with others in their trouble. When at last 
 he had proved his metal, God opened the way for 
 his advancement both quickly and easily. 
 
 Pharaoh dreamed, and behold ! he stood beside 
 the river Nile. And behold! there came out of 
 the river seven cattle, fat and beautiful, that fed 
 in the reed grass by the water's edge. And be- 
 hold! there came up after them seven other cat- 
 tle, lean and ugly, that stood near them on the 
 brink of the river. And behold! the lean, ugly 
 cattle ate up the fat, beautiful ones. A second 
 
 136 
 
FROM PRISON TO PALACE 137 
 
 time, Pharaoh dreamed, and behold! seven ears 
 of corn, rich and full, came np on one stalk. And 
 behold! seven other ears, thin and blasted with 
 the east wind, sprang np after them. And be- 
 hold! the thin ears swallowed up the rich and 
 full ones. 
 
 When Pharaoh awoke in the morning, his spirit 
 was troubled because of the dreams. So he sum- 
 moned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. 
 But there was no one among them that could in- 
 terpret the dream. Then the conscience of the 
 chief butler smote him, and he told Pharaoh of 
 the young Hebrew slave who had interpreted his 
 dreams in the prison. So Pharaoh sent for 
 Joseph. And Joseph shaved himself, and changed 
 his clothes, and went to Pharaoh. And Pharoah 
 told him his dreams. And Joseph said to Phar- 
 aoh: "The dreams are one; and what God is 
 about to do He hath revealed to Pharaoh. The 
 seven good cattle and the seven good ears are 
 seven years of plenty; and the seven lean cattle 
 and the seven empty ears are seven years of fam- 
 ine. Behold ! there are about to come seven years 
 of great plenty over all the land of Egypt; but 
 there shall rise up after them seven years of 
 famine. And the famine shall consume the land, 
 and the time of plenty shall be no more remem- 
 bered in the land because of the famine that 
 cometh after, for it shall be very severe. And the 
 reason why the dream was doubled to Pharaoh is 
 that the thing is made sure by God, and that He 
 will shortly bring it to pass." 
 
 When Joseph had interpreted the dreams, he 
 urged Pharaoh to look out for a man of wisdom 
 
138 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 and intelligence to be governor of the land, and to 
 appoint under him officers who should gather up 
 the fifth part of the crops during the seven plen- 
 teous years, and store it as a provision against the 
 seven years of famine. The advice was welcome 
 to Pharaoh. And there was no one whom he 
 found more competent to be governor than Joseph 
 himself, "a man, in whom the spirit of God was." 
 So he said to Joseph, "Seeing that God hath 
 shown thee all this, there is none so intelligent 
 and wise as thou art ; therefore thou shalt be over 
 my house, and to thy word shall all my people 
 be obedient: only in respect of the throne will I 
 be greater than thou." Then he took off his sig- 
 net ring, and placed it on Joseph's hand. And 
 he arrayed him in vestments of fine linen, and 
 put a gold chain about his neck. And he made 
 him ride in the second chariot of the land, and 
 caused the fore-runners to cry, "Bow the knee!" 
 And he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter 
 of Potiphera, priest of On, the most influential 
 man in Egypt next to Pharaoh. 
 
 It was a hard test for a young man of thirty 
 to be thus promoted at a bound to the highest 
 position in the land. Too many of us would have 
 had our heads turned by it. But Joseph remained 
 the same dignified, courteous, kind-hearted gen- 
 tleman he had been in the days of his obscurity. 
 There was nothing servile in his attitude to Pha- 
 raoh, yet there was no trace of conceit. All 
 through his interview he preserved that modesty 
 which comes from a genuine faith in God. And 
 when he entered upon his rule, he showed him- 
 self equally free from haughtiness and from self- 
 

 FROM PRISON TO PALACE 139 
 
 seeking. He believed that the Prime Minister was 
 truly the " first servant" of the State. So he 
 went about his work in all humility, trying to do 
 Iris best for Pharaoh and his people, ever looking 
 to God for the help he needed. 
 
 "We see him as he moved, 
 How modest, kindly, all-accomplish 'd, wise, 
 With what sublime repression of himself, 
 And in what limits and how tenderly ; 
 Not swaying to this faction or to that ; 
 Not making his high place the lawless perch 
 Of wing 'd ambitions, nor a vantage-ground 
 For pleasure; but thro' all this tract of years 
 Wearing the white flower of a blameless life, 
 Before a thousand peering littlenesses, 
 In that fierce light which beats upon a throne, 
 And blackens every blot.'' 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
XXXVIII 
 THE MONEY IN THE SACKS 
 
 THE seven years of plenty were full of happi- 
 ness for Joseph. He was happy in his work, 
 happy in his relations with Pharaoh, happy in his 
 love for Asenath and their two sons Manasseh 
 and Ephraim. Then came the seven anxious 
 years of famine. All these years Joseph toiled 
 heroically to save his people, and to build up a 
 strong, just government in the land. And in the 
 course of his duties he found himself once more 
 in the bosom of his own family. 
 
 The famine had reached to Palestine, and Jacob 
 and his sons saw their food melting away before 
 their eyes. Then Jacob heard that there was 
 corn in Egypt. So he said to his sons, "Why 
 stand ye looking one upon another? Behold! I 
 have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you 
 down thither, and buy for us thence, that we may 
 live, and not die." And Jacob's sons went down 
 to buy corn in Egypt. Only Benjamin, the young- 
 est, remained at home with his father, who feared 
 lest mischief might befall him, as it had befallen 
 Joseph. 
 
 It must have been with a twinge of conscience 
 that the ten men entered Egypt, the land to which 
 they had sold their brother as a slave. But that 
 
 140 
 
THE MONEY IN THE SACKS 141 
 
 was twenty years ago, and they could hardly ex- 
 pect to meet him. At all events, they did not 
 recognise in him the princely governor, to whom 
 they " bowed themselves down with their faces 
 to the earth." But Joseph knew them, and re- 
 membered the dreams which he had dreamed of 
 them. Thus he learned how 
 
 1 'God gives the wishes of our youth, 
 But in His own best way. ' ' 
 
 Joseph's heart warmed at once to his brothers. 
 But he was not sure whether they had really re- 
 pented of the past. So he "made himself strange 
 unto them," and asked them roughly whence they 
 came, and what business brought them to Egypt. 
 They answered, "We have come from the land of 
 Canaan to buy food." But Joseph pretended not 
 to believe them, and said, "Ye are spies: to see 
 the nakedness of the land ye are come." But 
 they protested, and said to him, "Nay, my lord! 
 but to buy food are thy servants come. "We are 
 all one man's sons; we are true men, thy ser- 
 vants are no spies. ' ' Then he asked them whether 
 their father was alive, and whether they had any 
 more brothers. And they said, "We thy servants 
 are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the 
 land of Canaan ; and behold ! the youngest is this 
 day with our father, and one is not." Joseph was 
 now all eagerness to see Benjamin. So he said, 
 "Ye shall not go forth hence, except your young- 
 est brother come hither. Send one of you, and let 
 him fetch your brother, and the rest of you shall 
 be bound, that your words may be proved, and it 
 
14* THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 be seen whether there be truth in you : or else — by 
 the life of Pharaoh ! — surely ye are spies. " And he 
 left them three days under guard to discuss the 
 matter. 
 
 On the third day Joseph called his brothers, 
 and said to them, J ' This do, and live ! for I am a 
 God-fearing man. If ye be true men, let one of 
 you be bound, in the guard-house, where ye have 
 lain, and the rest of you go, take with you cora 
 for the famine in your homes, and bring your 
 youngest brother to me ; so shall the truth of your 
 words be shown, and ye shall not die." When 
 they heard these words, they said one to another, 
 "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, in 
 that we saw the distress of his soul, when he be- 
 sought us, and we would not hear; therefore is 
 this distress come upon us." And Eeuben 
 brought a fresh sting to their sorrow when he 
 added, "Spake I not unto you, saying, 'Do not sin 
 against the lad!' and ye would not hear? there- 
 fore also, behold! his blood is required of you.". 
 
 The brothers did not know that Joseph under- 
 stood their private talk. For as governor of 
 Egypt he had been speaking to them through an 
 interpreter. But he was so deeply touched that 
 he withdrew to another room and wept. Then 
 he washed his face, and returned to them. Hav- 
 ing learned how Reuben had sought to save him 
 from harm, he took Simeon, the next oldest, and 
 bound him before his brothers J eyes. Then he 
 commanded his servants to fill their sacks with 
 corn, and to put each one's money into his sack, 
 to give them also provision for the journey, and 
 to speed them on their way. "And thus was it 
 
THE MONEY IN THE SACKS 143 
 
 done unto them." So the ten men laded their 
 asses with their corn, and departed thence. 
 
 How like the goodness of our God ! Though we 
 have sinned against Him, He pours out His bene- 
 fits upon us. He sends the sunshine and the 
 showers, He gives us "sweet flowers and fruits," 
 ripening harvests, and all the other joys of earth. 
 He plants us in happy homes, and surrounds us 
 with love and friendship. He sent His own Son 
 to die for us. He fills us with the "sevenfold 
 graces" of His Spirit. And all without money 
 and without price ! 
 
 "Ho, then! everyone that thirsteth, come to the waters, 
 And he that hath no bread, eat ! 
 Yea, come ! buy corn without money, 
 And wine and milk without price! 
 
 Why spend ye money for what is not bread, 
 And your earnings for what will not satisfy? 
 Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, 
 And let your soul delight itself with fatness! 
 
 Incline your ear, and come unto me ; 
 
 Hear, and your soul shall live! 
 
 And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, 
 
 Even the sure mercies I promised to David. ' ' 
 
 Isaiah iv :l-3. 
 
XXXIX 
 IN BOND FOR A BROTHEB 
 
 THE guilty conscience is afraid even of gifts 
 So, when the ten sons of Jacob found theii 
 money in the mouth of their sacks, their hearts 
 failed them for fear, and they turned trembling 
 one to another, saying, "What is this that God 
 hath now done to ns?" In due time, however 
 they returned to their father, and told him all 
 that had happened to them in Egypt. And Jacol 
 said, "Me have ye bereaved of my children. Jos- 
 eph is not, and Simeon is not; and ye would 
 take Benjamin away also! All these things are 
 against me." Then Reuben spake to his father, 
 saying, "Hand him over to my care, and I will 
 surely bring him back to thee. Slay my two sons, 
 if I bring him not back to thee ! ' ' But Jacob re- 
 fused, saying, "My son shall not go down with 
 you ; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. 
 If mischief befall him on the way by which ye 
 have to go, ye shall bring down my grey hairs 
 with sorrow to the grave." 
 
 The famine still lay heavy on the land. Soon 
 Jacob and his sons had eaten up all the corn 
 they brought from Egypt. Then Jacob said to 
 them, "Go again, buy us a little food." But 
 Judah answered him, saying, "The man did 
 solemnly protest to us, saying, 'Ye shall not 
 see my face, except your brother be with you.' 
 144 
 
IN BOND FOR A BROTHER 145 
 
 So, if thou wilt send our brother with us, we will 
 go down and buy thee food; but if thou wilt not 
 send him, we will not go down." And Jacob said, 
 "Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man 
 that ye had another brother? " And the brothers 
 answered with one accord, saying, "The man 
 asked plainly about ourselves, and about our fam- 
 ily, saying, 'Is your father yet alive? Have ye 
 still another brother?' And we answered his 
 questions honestly. How could we by any means 
 know that he would say, 'Bring your brother 
 down!' " Judah further offered to be surety for 
 the boy. So Jacob said, "Well! if it must be so, 
 do this : Take of the choicest fruits of the land, 
 and carry them in your sacks as a present to the 
 man; and take double money in your hands, to- 
 gether with the money that was returned in the 
 mouth of your sacks, for perhaps that was an 
 oversight ! take also your brother, and arise, go 
 again unto the man; and God Almighty give you 
 mercy in the eyes of the man, that he may send 
 you back your other brother — and Benjamin! 
 And if I be bereaved of my children, I am be- 
 reaved." 
 
 Then Judah and his brothers took the present, 
 and the double money in their hands, and Ben- 
 jamin; and they went down to Egypt, and stood 
 before Joseph. When he saw Benjamin with 
 them, he bade his steward take them to his own 
 house, and make ready a banquet, for he would 
 dine with them at noon. But they feared he was* 
 only seeking an occasion to fall upon them, and 
 make them slaves, because of the money that was 
 returned to their sacks. So they approached the 
 
146 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 steward, and told him that they had "brought 
 back the money, and that they knew not who put 
 it in their sacks. But he said, "Peace be with 
 you ! fear not ! Your God, and the God of your 
 fathers, gave you the treasure in your sacks. 
 Tour money came to me." And he took them to 
 Joseph's house, and brought Simeon to them. 
 And he gave them water to wash their feet, and 
 food for their asses. Then he went to make ready 
 the banquet. 
 
 When Joseph came home at noon, they laid out 
 their present, and once more "bowed themselves 
 down to the earth before him." But this time he 
 received them graciously, and asked how they 
 were, and how their father was. Then he cast 
 his eyes on Benjamin, his own mother's son, and 
 said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom 
 ye spake to one?" And he blessed him, and said, 
 "God be gracious to thee, my son!" At these 
 words his feelings overcame him, and he has- 
 tened to his own room, and wept there. Then he 
 washed his face, and returned, and gave orders to 
 serve the dinner. And his servants set places for 
 Joseph and his Egyptian attendants, and his 
 brothers, each by themselves. For the Egyptians 
 would not eat at the same table as the Hebrews. 
 Much to their amazement, the brothers were 
 seated according to age. And messes were 
 brought them from Joseph's own table, Benja- 
 min's mess being five times as much as any of the 
 others. So they ate and drank, and were merry 
 with him. 
 
 When the dinner was over, Joseph instructed 
 his steward to fill the men's sacks with food, "aa 
 
IN BOND FOR A BROTHER 147 
 
 much as they could carry,' ' and again to put every 
 man's money in the month of his sack. To test 
 their loyalty to Benjamin, he bade him further 
 put his own silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin's 
 sack. "And he did according to the word that 
 Joseph had spoken." Next morning, 'at day- 
 break, the men laded their asses, and set out on 
 their journey. But when they were only a little 
 way from the city, Joseph bade his steward fol- 
 low them, and charge them with having stolen the 
 cup. The men indignantly denied the charge. 
 "Behold! the money which we found in our 
 sacks' mouth we brought again unto thee out of 
 the land of Canaan : how then should we steal out 
 of thy lord's house silver or gold?" If he still 
 suspected them, let him look through their sacks ! 
 And let the man in whose sack the cup should be 
 found be put to death, while the rest of them were 
 ready to be made slaves. The steward accepted 
 the challenge, though he modified the terms. "Let 
 it be then according to your words! He with 
 whom the cup shall be found shall be my slave; 
 but the rest of you shall be blameless." Then 
 they hastily brought down their sacks to the 
 ground, and opened them. And the steward 
 searched them, beginning with the eldest, and 
 leaving off with the youngest. "And the cup 
 was found in Benjamin's sack." 
 
 Had the brothers been the men they formerly 
 were, they would have left Benjamin to his fate. 
 They would even have been glad to get rid of one 
 who was now their father's favourite. But their 
 hearts were changed, and they resolved as one 
 man to stand by Benjamin to the end. So "they 
 
148 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, 
 and returned to the city." When they came to 
 Joseph's house, "they fell before him on the 
 ground. " Joseph asked them sharply, "What 
 sort of deed is this that ye have done? And did 
 ye not know that a man like me can surely divine 
 hidden things ! ' ' They answered, "What shall we 
 say unto my lord! And how can we clear our- 
 selves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy 
 servants. Behold! we are my lord's bondmen, 
 both we, and he in whose hand the cup hath been 
 found." But Joseph said, "God forbid that I 
 should do so! The man in whose hand the cup 
 hath been found, he shall be my bondman; but 
 as for you, get you up in peace to your father." 
 
 Then Judah drew near, and said to Joseph: 
 c ' my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a 
 word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger 
 burn against thy servant! for thou art even as 
 Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, 
 ' Have ye a father, or a brother?' And we said 
 unto my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and 
 a child of his old age, a little one ; and his brother 
 is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and 
 his father loveth him. ' And thou saidst unto thy 
 servants, 'Bring him down unto me; that I may 
 set mine eyes upon him/ And we said unto my 
 lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father; for if he 
 should leave his father, his father would die.' 
 And thou saidst unto thy servants, 'Except your 
 youngest brother come down with you, ye shall 
 see my face no more.' 
 
 "And it came to pass, when we came up unto 
 thy servant my father, we told him the words of 
 
IN BOND FOR A BROTHER 149 
 
 my lord. And our father said, 'Go again, buy us 
 a little food!' And we said, 'We cannot go down 
 only if our youngest brother be with us, will we 
 go down: for we may not see the man's face, ex- 
 cept our youngest brother be with us.' And thy 
 servant my father said unto us, 'Ye know that my 
 wife bare me two sons: and the one went out 
 from me, and I said, ' Surely he is torn in pieces ' ; 
 and I have not seen him since ; and if you take this 
 one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye 
 shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the 
 grave.' Now, therefore, if I go home to thy ser- 
 vant my father, and the lad be not with us — his 
 soul being knit with the lad's soul — when he seeth 
 that the lad is not with us, he will die: and thy 
 servants shall bring down the grey hairs of thy 
 servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 
 Moreover, thy servant became surety for the lad 
 unto my father, saying, 'If I bring him not back 
 to thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father 
 for ever. ' Now, therefore, let thy servant, I pray 
 thee, remain here instead of the lad as a bondman 
 to my lord ; and let the lad go up with his brethren ! 
 For how can I go up to my father — and the lad be 
 not with me — and look on the evil that shall fall 
 on my father?" 
 
 Truly, a noble plea! One that carries us over 
 the years to the pleader's great Son, "the Lion of 
 the tribe of Judah," who put Himself in bond for 
 His brethren, and "ever liveth to make interces- 
 sion for them." It is hard to realise that this is 
 the same Judah who gave the advice to sell Joseph 
 to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver! 
 But 
 
150 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 "I hold it truth, with him who sings 
 To one clear harp in divers tones, 
 That men may rise on stepping-stones 
 Of their dead selves to higher things." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
XL 
 A EOYAL FOBGIVENESS 
 
 JOSEPH was deeply moved as he listened to 
 Judah's words. At last he could no longer 
 restrain himself. So he gave orders that all his 
 attendants should leave the room. Then he broke 
 into loud weeping. And, as he wept, he cried out, 
 "I am Joseph! Is my father yet alive?" 
 
 His brothers were so confused by the dis- 
 closure that they could not utter a word. There- 
 fore he bade them come near to him, and said, "I 
 am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 
 But now be not grieved, nor angry with your- 
 selves, that you sold me hither ; for God sent me 
 before you to save life. For these two years hath 
 the famine been in the midst of the land; and 
 there are still five years in which there shall be 
 neither ploughing nor harvest. So God did send 
 me before you to save you with a great salvation. 
 And He hath made me father to Pharaoh, and 
 lord of all his house, and ruler t>ver all the land of 
 Egypt. Therefore, haste ye, *nd go up to my 
 father, and say to him, 'Thus sar i thy son Joseph, 
 God hath made me lord of all Egypt : come down 
 to me, tarry not : and thou shalt live near me, and 
 I will nourish thee — for there are yet five years of 
 famine — lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy 
 household, and all that thou hast.' " 
 151 
 
153 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 The brothers were still so confused that they 
 could scarcely believe what they heard. So 
 Joseph went on to say, " Behold! your eyes do see, 
 and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it 
 is my mouth that speaketh to you. Therefore ye 
 shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and 
 of all else that ye have seen. And ye shall make 
 haste to bring down my father hither. " Then he 
 fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept;, 
 and Benjamin wept upon his neck. After that he 
 kissed all his brothers in turn, and wept upon 
 them. Then they talked to one another of all that 
 was in their heart. 
 
 It was a royal forgiveness, full and free, as 
 God's forgiveness is. So ought we also to for- 
 give, as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. 
 
 1 ' In the course of justice, none of us 
 Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
 The deeds of mercy." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
XLI 
 A UNITED HOME 
 
 THE news that Joseph's brothers were with 
 him soon spread through all the palace, and 
 Pharaoh and his servants came to share in their 
 joy. Pharaoh courteously renewed the invitation 
 that Joseph had given them, and bade them take 
 wagons from Egypt to bring up their father, their 
 wives, and their little ones. Joseph then loaded 
 them with gifts of fine clothes, money and food, 
 sent them home to their father, and said to them, 
 "See that ye don't excite yourselves on the 
 way." 
 
 When they reached home they told their father 
 that Joseph was yet alive, and that he was ruler 
 over all the land of Egypt. But the news seemed 
 too good to be true, and he refused to believe till 
 he saw the wagons at the door. Then his spirit 
 revived, and he said: "It is enough! Joseph my 
 son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I 
 die." 
 
 So Jacob set out with all that he had, and came 
 first to Beersheba, the home of his father Isaac. 
 There he offered sacrifices to the God of Isaac; 
 and God appeared to him in a dream by night, and 
 cheered him with promises of good. Prom Beer- 
 sheba he went on to Egypt, sending Judah be- 
 fore him to announce his arrival to Joseph. When 
 153 
 
154 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 Joseph heard of his coming, he yoked his chariot, 
 and went to meet him in Goshen, on the north-east 
 border of Egypt. And when he came in sight of 
 him, he ran and fell on his neck, and wept there 
 a long while. And Jacob said to him, "Now let 
 me die, since I have seen thy face, and found that 
 thou art yet alive ! ' ' 
 
 Joseph wished his father and brothers to be 
 settled in Goshen, where the pastures were rich 
 and good. So he advised them, when they met 
 Pharaoh, to tell him that they were keepers of 
 cattle. Then he went back to Pharaoh, taking 
 with him five of his brothers. Pharaoh asked 
 them about their occupation, and they told him 
 they were herdsmen. They further begged that 
 he would allow them to dwell in Goshen. And 
 Pharaoh requested Joseph to choose the very best 
 portion of land in Goshen for them to dwell in. 
 And he added, "If thou findest some able men 
 among them, make them overseers of my own 
 herds.' ' 
 
 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob, and 
 presented him to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh greeted 
 him, and asked him his age. The old man an- 
 swered, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage 
 are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil 
 have been the days of the years of my life ; and 
 they have not reached the days of the years of 
 my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. ' ' And 
 he blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his 
 presence. 
 
 After that Joseph gave his father and brothers 
 a tract of land in the district of Barneses, the best 
 portion of Goshen. And Joseph supported them 
 
A UNITED HOME 15B 
 
 and their households with food. And they lived 
 happily together for seventeen years. 
 
 It is now seldom that scattered families are 
 united as Jacob's was. We may meet, perhaps, 
 at a wedding, or on a holiday. Yet it is only for a 
 short time. And even so there is usually at least 
 one vacant chair. But, thank God! there is a 
 Home where the blanks are filling up, and the 
 broken ties made fast. 
 
 "In the vale of youth and flowers 
 
 We shall meet each dear-loved face, 
 And all partings shall be ended 
 In a long and true embrace. " 
 
 A. C. Fbyos. 
 
XLII 
 A HAPPY ENDING 
 
 THE time drew near when Jacob must die. 
 So lie called his son Joseph, and made him 
 swear an oath thatch s would bury him beside his 
 fathers in the cave of Machpelah. And Joseph 
 swore the oath. Soon afterwards Jacob fell very- 
 sick, and Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and 
 Ephraim, and went to see him. "When Jacob heard 
 that Joseph had come, he pulled himself together, 
 sat upon his bed, and talked to him of past bless- 
 ings and sorrows, especially of the grief that 
 Eachel's death had caused him. Then he lifted 
 up his eyes., now dim with age, and faintly per- 
 ceived the two figures by Joseph's side. He 
 asked who these were. And Joseph answered 
 him, "They are my sons, whom God hath given 
 me here." Then Jacob said, " Bring them to me, 
 I pray thee, that I may bless them ! ' ' And Joseph 
 brought them near to him. And Jacob said to 
 Joseph, "I had not hoped to see thy face: and 
 behold! God hath let me see thy seed also." 
 
 Now Joseph had placed Manasseh, the elder 
 son, on his left hand toward Jacob's right, and 
 Ephraim, the younger, on his right hand toward 
 Jacob's left. But the dying man crossed his 
 hands, and laid the right one on Ephraim 's head, 
 and the left on Manasseh 's. And he blessed them, 
 
 156 
 
A HAPPY ENDING 157 
 
 and said, "The God before whom my fathers 
 Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God that hath 
 shepherded me all my life long unto this day, the 
 Angel that hath redeemed me from all evil, bless 
 the lads ! And let them inherit my name, and the 
 name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac! And 
 let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the 
 earth ! ' ' 
 
 Joseph was displeased that his father had laid 
 his right hand on Ephraim ; and he held it up, to 
 lay it on Manasseh, saying, "Not so, my father! 
 for this is the first born ; put thy right hand on his 
 head!" But his father refused, saying, "I know, 
 my son, I know! He also shall become a people, 
 he also shall be great; howbeit his younger 
 brother shall be greater than he, and his seed 
 shall become a multitude of nations." And he 
 blessed them further, saying, "By your names 
 shall the people of Israel bless one another, say- 
 ing, i God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh ! ' " 
 
 Then Jacob called his other sons together, and 
 blessed them, and charged them to join with 
 Joseph in burying him beside his fathers. "And 
 when Jacob had made an end of charging his 
 sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and died. ' ' 
 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept 
 over him, and kissed him. Then he gave orders 
 to the embalmers to embalm him. And he and the 
 Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. 
 
 When the time of mourning was over, he asked 
 permission of Pharaoh to go up to Palestine and 
 bury his father there. And Pharaoh granted him 
 permission. So he went up to Palestine, he and 
 his brothers, with the servants in Pharaoh's house 
 
158 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN 
 
 and all the chief men of Egypt, "a very great 
 company/ ' attended by chariots and horsemen. 
 And they mourned for Jacob seven days on the 
 threshing-floor of Atad, just over the border of 
 Palestine. And they buried him in the cave of 
 Machpelah, and returned to Egypt. 
 
 Now that Jacob was dead, the ten brothers 
 feared lest Joseph might pay them back for the 
 evil they had done him. So they sent a message 
 to him, saying, "Thy father commanded us be- 
 fore he died, saying, ■ Thus shall ye say to Joseph : 
 I pray thee, forgive the great wrong, and the sin, 
 which thy brothers did to thee'; so now, we pray 
 thee forgive the wrong-doing of the servants of 
 thy father's God." They went in person also, 
 and fell down before his face, and said, "Behold! 
 we are thy servants." Joseph was grieved that 
 they doubted his good will. So he wept, and said 
 to them, "Fear not! for am I in the place of 
 God? As for you, no doubt ye meant evil against 
 me ; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass 
 what ye see this day, the saving of the lives of 
 much people. Now, therefore, fear not ! for I will 
 nourish both yourselves and your little ones." 
 And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them. 
 
 Joseph and his brothers lived many more years 
 in Egypt, and saw children and grandchildren to 
 the third generation. At last, when Joseph was 
 an hundred and ten years old, the time came for 
 him also to die. So he called together his 
 brothers, and said to them, "I am now about to 
 die ; but God will surely visit you, and bring you 
 up out of this land unto the land which He sware 
 to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." And he 
 
A HAPPY ENDING 159 
 
 made them take an oath that, when God did bring 
 them to Palestine, they would carry his bones 
 with them, and lay them to rest on holy ground. 
 Then he passed away, like the summer sun, in 
 beauty and peace. 
 
 " Sunset and evening star, 
 
 And one clear call for me ! 
 And may there be no moaning of the bar, 
 
 When I put out to sea; 
 But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 
 
 Too full for sound and foam, 
 When that which drew from out the boundless deep 
 
 Turns again home. 
 
 Twilight and evening bell, 
 
 And after that the dark! 
 And may there be no sadness of farewell, 
 
 When I embark; 
 For tho' from out the bourne of Time and Place 
 
 The flood may bear me far, 
 I hope to see my Pilot face to face, 
 
 When I have crost the bar." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: May 2005 
 
 PreservationTechnologies