Ebook Isaac, Jacob and Joseph

The act Of expulsion was itself unaccountably harsh. There was nothing to prevent Abraham sending his son and his mother under an escort to some safe place; nothing to prevent him from giving the lad some Share of his possessions suf ficient to provide for him. Nothing Of this kind was done. The woman and the boy were simply put to the door; and this, although Ishmael had for years been counted Abraham's heir, and though he was a member of the covenant made with Abraham. There may have been some law giving Sarah absolute power over her maid; but if any law gave her power to do what was now done, it was a thoroughly barbarous one, and she was a barbarous woman who used it.