He and his
three hundred slaves, born in his house, were not afraid to set out
against the four Arab kings who had just conquered the five kings of
the vale of Jordan, and plundered the whole land. Abraham and his
little party of faithful slaves follow them for miles, and fall on
them and defeat them utterly, setting the captives free, and
bringing back all the plunder; and then, in return for all that he
has done, Abraham will take nothing--not even, he says, 'a thread or
a shoe-latchet--lest men should say, We have made Abraham rich.'
And why?
Because his faith in God made him high-minded, generous, and
courteous; as when he bids Lot go whither he will with his flocks
and herds. 'Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and
me. If thou wilt take the left hand, I will go to the right.' He
is then, as again with the king of Sodom, and with the three
strangers at the tent door, and with the children of Heth, when he
is buying the cave of Machpelah for a burying-place for Sarah--
always and everywhere the same courteous, self-restrained, high-
bred, high-minded man.
It has been said that true religion will make a man a more thorough
gentleman than all the courts in Europe.
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