Olympas. THIS is the oldest battle on record; and were it not that it embraced some part of the history of Abraham and Lot, it never would have been preserved till now. Who were the belligerents, William?

William. They were Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal, on the one part; and the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar, on the other-five kings against four.

Olympas. What was the cause of this ancient battle?

William. Tyranny on the one part, and rebellion on the other.These five kings had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and had rebelled in the thirteenth; and in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies attempted to reduce the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar, to submission.

Olympas. How did they succeed, Reuben?

Reuben. In the first place Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Rephaims, the Zuzims, the Emims, the Horites, the Amalekites, and the Amorites-men, as you have taught us, of gigantic stature. After these conquests the five kings went out to meet the conqueror. But they fared no better at his hand.

Olympas. Where was this battle fought?

Reuben. In the vale of Siddim, now a part of the Salt Sea.
Olympas. With what success?

Reuben. The vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. Then Chedorlaomer and his allied sovereigns pil

laged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and carried off all their goods and provisions; and amongst the sufferers was Lot the nephew of Abraham, whom they despoiled of his property and carried captive. Olympas. It seems, then, that plunder and booty were quite as ancient as war; and that killing, captivating, and plundering were amongst the principal items of vengeance as understood and practised by rival kings in their conflicts with one another ever since war began. We also learn from the fortunes of Lot, that it is dangerous to pursue wealth in immoral and licentious locations. Abraham dwells safely in the plain of Mamre, and his servants, flocks, and herds are round about in health, peace, and prosperity; while Lot, for the sake of richer pastures and more profitable grazing in the vale of Siddim, is not only vexed with their licentiousness, but is despoiled of the labors of years and carried captive into the bargain. Did Abraham, Eliza, hear any thing of the disaster to his kinsman?

Eliza. Yes, he heard by one of the friends of Lot, who had escaped the general destruction, and fled to the tents of Mamre the Amorite. Now this Mamre was the brother of Eshcol and Aner, and these three were confederate with Abraham.

Olympas. How confederate?

Eliza. As shepherds, I suppose; for they lived together in the same plain, and pursued the same business; for as yet they had been engaged

in no wars.

Olympas. A confederacy, then, for mutual protection; and such were all the ancient confederacies among the shepherd kings of the first ages. But in this instance it seems to have been as much a league of friendship and good neighborhood as any thing else. Even Abraham required some society besides his wife and family; and, therefore, consorted with these three-Mamre. Eshcol, and Aner. But what, William, did Abraham do when he heard of the capture of Lot?

William. He armed his servants and went to the rescue.

Olympas. Amid his servants! He had a magazine, then! and brought out his arms and munitions of war. But what servants were

these, James?

James. They were born in his house, and consequently his own

servants.

Olympas. How many were there of this class?

James. Three hundred and eighteen.

Olympas. These servants must have been very well used, James, else Abraham dared not to have armed them. We, in Virginia, do not like to arm our servants when an enemy approaches. Did you ever read of the Americans arming their servants when the British, or Indians, or any one else, made war upon us, Thomas?

Thomas. No, sir; we have not quite so much confidence in our servants as Abraham had in his.

Olympas. Perhaps there is some difference between the system of servitude then and now.

Thomas. Servants then were either bought with money, or were born in the house of their master; and it seems from the history of Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael, that the conditions of servitude were very much the same with them as with us.

Olympas. How then came it to pass that Abraham could arm his servants, and trust his life and that of his family and all his property into their hands, and we dare not do so now?

Thomas. Abraham was a saint, and we are professors of Christianity. And saints, I suppose, had an art of attaching the hearts of their servants to themselves, which we Christians, in America, can never learn. But this is a mystery which I cannot develope. At all events, Abraham's servants acted valiantly and faithfully, and won the day.

Olympas. Give us the details of this battle, William.

William. Abraham commanded the battle in person. He divided his troops, and surrounded them in their encampment by night, and smote them with a great slaughter. He killed their king Chedorlaomer and his allied sovereigns, and pursued the retreating army as far as Hobab, on the left of the ancient city of Damascus.

Olympas. And what, Susan, came of Lot and his goods?

Susan. Abraham recovered his brother Lot and all his goods, and the women also, and all the captured Sodomites that were in Lot's company, on account of which the king of Sodom went out to meet and congratulate old General Abraham.

Olympas. Did any other notable person meet Abraham, and congratulate him on this splendid victory, James.

James. The king of Salem met him.

Olympas. His name, James, and the meaning of it.

James. Melchisedeck, King of Salem, and Priest of the Most High God.

Olympas. What is the import of the term "Melchisedeck," Eliza? Eliza. Melchos or Mulak means king; and tsadik means righteousness or justice.

Olympus. Well, that is nearly the etymology of the word; and it is enough for you to know that the compound term Melchi-sedeck means King of Righteousness, and Salem means Peace. You will observe that this is an official or an appellative name, rather than the name of a person. Who was the person, think you, William, that had this honorable standing in the days of Abraham?

William. You gave us your reasons for Shem, as being the person who at this time was King of Righteousness and Peace, and the High Priest of all the people of God then living. To which I know no objection, save that I have read of Melchisedeck in the 110th Psalm, and also in the Hebrews, and it looks as if it was sometimes the name

of a person.

Olympas. It was, indeed, the name of a person, as much as Israel was the name of a person-of the person called Jacob; but as the name Israel was given to Jacob, or as Peter to Simon, and Boaner ges to James and John; so was Melchisedeck, in my opinion, given to Shem. You know the difference I make between faith and opinion. While I cannot, then, affirm it as a fact, I intimate it as an opinion, and you must judge of it as such. What occurred, James, at this interview between Abraham and Melchisedeck?

James. He met Abraham with "bread and wine,” faint and fatigued as he was with the toils of the war.

Olympas. And what else, Susan?

Susan. He blessed him in these words:-"Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand." Olympas. And what did Abraham give him, Susan? Susan. He gave him tithes of all.

Olympas.. That is the tenth of all the goods he gained in the war; for the King of Salem was Priest of the Most High God; and, as such, entitled to an offering from the conqueror Abraham. Do you remember, Thomas, what Paul says on this transaction?

Thomas. He descants upon the official pedigree and standing of this High Priest as far superior to the Aaronic priesthood, and represents Levi as paying tithes rather than as receiving them in the person of his progenitor Abraham. He represents him as one who had neither predecessor nor successor, nor any term of service; but as being the beginning and the ending of his peculiar office, underived from, and incommunicable to, any other person; essentially inalienable from his person and inseparable from his life. He was superior to all other priests: he blessed Abraham, who is thereby proclaimed his inferior, received tithes from him, and presented to him bread and wine.

Olympas. Who was the antitype of Melchisedeck, Eliza? Eliza. I am not sure that I understand the word "antitype." Olympas. "Type" is a figure, and the "antitype" is the reality, or hing figured out in the type.

Eliza. Then Jesus is our High Priest, the antitype of Melchisedeck. He has neither beginning nor ending of days; he had no pre

decessor nor successor in office; and imparts blessings without receiving any thing in return but the offering of a grateful heart.

Olympas. What sort of a king at this time reigned over Sodom? Eliza. He appears to have been a reasonable and grateful prince; for he offered Abraham all the spoils of the war, if he would return him the persons he had recaptured from the great Chedorlaomer.

Olympus. Would Abraham accept this offer, Susan?

Susan. No, indeed! He said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to the Lord the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou should say I have made Abraham rich-save only the portion which the young men, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, my allies, have eaten."

Olympas. How noble this conduct of Abraham! He went to war not for booty nor for fame. He interposed for a friend and a brother; and having rescued him and avenged his wrongs, he asked no more. He returned to his tent and reposed in peace. He had solemnly covenanted with God for victory, and he obtained it. He forgat not his covenant; but having performed his vows, returned with his faithful and triumphant servants to the tranquil and peaceful scenes of the A. C. pastoral life-where we shall leave them for the present.

Steam-boat Pike, near Louisville, Ky. }

February 12, 1841.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS,

Delivered by JAMES SHANNON, before the Trustees of Bacon College, at his installation as President of that Institution, on Friday, the 13th day of November, 1840, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky-published by order of the Board.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 132.

STILL, however, when we have carried education, with reference to intellect, to the farthest verge of perfection, if we stop here, we have neglected that, which is most important, and without which nothing has been done to any valuable purpose. Did man possess no higher faculties, than those of intellect, he would be at best but a reasoning How brute; and the education of his intellectual powers would only capacitate him to be more extensively mischievous to the human race. appalling the spectacle to all benevolent minds, to behold lions and tigers endowed with the godlike intellect of educated man! How fearAnd yet, it is most ful the ravages that would naturally ensue. obvious, that those ravages would not be worse, nor the desolations more fearful, in the grovelling attitude of the brute, than if that attitude

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