that she took her to be her own maid, to attend chiefly on her person as a maid of honour.

Shepherd. Prosperity is sure to try the inte tegrity of persons, and to discover the principles which actuate them. If a wise child, like the little Hebrew that was sold by his brethren, prosper in Egypt, his gratitude to his Benefactor is excited; he is laid under such filial ties of obligation, that he would endure false imprisonment rather than injure him. But, if fools prosper, their prosperity terminates in their ruin: "The prosperity of fools shall destroy them."

Steward. The proverb is verified by the matter now in hand. Hagar having been in the family upwards of twelve years, been exalted to the high station of a maid of honour, and being in great favour with the princess, she became almost her equal. It appears that the dominions of this royal pair were very large by divine donation, and they both knew that their names and family were never to be extinct: and the princess herself being barren, an heir-apparent being greatly wanted, and she despairing of issue, quits the dry bed, in hopes of making it green by her maid of honour; and persuades her prince to compliance, as it was done in hopes of an heir, which she was determined to adopt, Gen. xvi. 2.

Shepherd. This was going a singular length, indeed! surpassing the bounds of women; and must try the loyalty of the maid of honour with a witness!

Steward.

It did, for she conceived; and, when she perceived she had, she despised her benefactress, and even tried to supplant her in her own pavilion. This treatment reaching the ears of the prince, he disdains to appear in the chair; but orders his princess to mount it herself, and to proceed against her maid by the statutes and laws of her own house; which she immediately consented to; and proceeds against her without either clerk of the peace, witness, jury, bailiff, crier, or executioner. The princess was both the plaintiff and defendant; she bore the witness, brought in her own verdict, passed her own sentence, and executed it; but whether it terminated in caning, or cudgeling with the crutch, we cannot ascertain: however, hard measures, rough dealings, and banishment, are left upon record.

Shepherd. I thought how it would end; for, as wisdom says, " For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: for a servant when he reigneth, and a fool when he is filled with meat; for an odious woman when she is married, and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress;" Prov. xxx. 21-23. Pray, where was she banished to? where was her place of exile fixed by the despotic sentence of the princess?

Steward. As the princess was the only executioner, she drove her from the pavilion into the wilderness; and sent her prohibitions, and a

and raillery fell on the Higher Powers, who had few thundering sentences after her; but could not follow her far, through infirmity and age.

Shepherd. And did she ever presume to return from transportation?

Steward. No: she never forgot the fiery trial; for it is granted that she had been proceeded against to the utmost rigour of female severity. In such hands the culprit, especially in such cases where a right to the chair is disputed by a rival to the bed; in such hands, and in such cases, I say, it is impossible that any lenity can be shewn, mediation or mitigation be expected.

Shepherd. And so she never returned again?

Steward. Not of her own accord; but the Higher Powers interfered, and called her by the appellation of Sarah's maid, in order to debase her; and, to cut off all hopes of her offspring being heir to the kingdom, told her that she should bear a son who should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and then bade her go home, and submit herself to her mistress.

Shepherd. This must try the princess to the quick; for it is, in effect, revoking the despotic

sentence.

Steward. The counsel of the Higher Powers must stand. This was done to humble the princess for her incredulity, that she might meet with perplexity from her own inventions: and to shew her that the Higher Powers should have been consult

ed before the culprit had been proceeded against, and their approbation or disapprobation called for before the sentence had been so rigorously executed. And, furthermore, to mortify her for undervaluing her dignity conferred from above, by raising her slave to an equal footing with herself in the commanding chair; and more still, by giving up her right to the bed and embraces of the prince.

Shepherd. And, pray, how long did she continue in the royal pavilion after her return from banishment?

Steward. Upwards of fourteen years, but in the capacity of a servant of all work. But the son coming forth, attracted the affections of the prince, which was an additional mortification to the princess: but, after the term of two apprenticeships, the princess brought forth a son herself.

Shepherd. The wonderful works of the Higher Powers who make the barren woman to keep house, and be a joyful mother of children!.

Steward. She was; for, at her delivery, she said, the Most High hath made me so to laugh, that all who hear will laugh with me. But, as soon as the servant saw the heir apparent, and the affections of the prince go daily over to the heir of promise, at the great feast, on the day of weaning, before all the company; gossips, midwife, friends, and neighbours; she burst forth with open contempt: and her son drew out the wide mouth, and mocked at the heir apparent. This contempt

given the princess supernatural strength, and by virtue of whose promise and promised power the heir was brought forth: and they who thus mock are sure to have their bands made strong, Isa. xxviii. 22.

Shepherd. And was she continued in the royal pavilion after this? I should have thought, that at this great feast, when all the matrons who attended the groaning were present, that they would have empannelled and appointed both a female council and jury, and have insisted on a repetition and re-execution of the sentence of banishment.

Steward. Whether the princess received counsel from any of the ladies at court, on the weaning day, or not, is not certain: however, the sentence was repeated and ratified by the Higher Powers; and both the mother and the son were banished the royal pavilion for ever. Since that time she has borne no other name than the bondwoman; a bondslave, who had been used as a concubine, and was banished for her insolence: and the child is called a child of the flesh, a son of the bondwoman; a servant, because his mother was not free; and an illegitimate child, or a bastard.

Shepherd. And has neither Hagar, nor any of her posterity, ever been allowed by the Higher Powers to enter the royal pavilion since?

Steward. No: the sentence has never been revoked; but has been explained and re-enforced since; by which they are prohibited, not only