new-born sons of the Hebrews, and to let only the daughters live. But this inhuman decree was not carried out; no murderous hand was uplifted against the infants of the Israelites: the midwives feared God and would not obey Pharaoh. Then the king laid his command upon the whole people, making every citizen responsible for its execution: Every son that is born you shall cast into the Nile, but every daughter you shall save alive.'

30. BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.

[EXOD. II.]

Such was the sad condition of the Hebrews when a child was born among them, who was destined to be the instrument of their deliverance. His parents were Amram and Jochebed, both descendants of Levi. They had two elder children, Miriam and Aaron; the former was already a young maiden, the latter three years old, when this third child, another son, was added to their family. The unfortunate mother was too well aware of Pharaoh's decree, but anxiously devised plans which left her some faint hope of saving her last-born. She hid him carefully for three months; but when she found it impossible to conceal him any longer, she exposed him among the flags at the banks of the Nile, in a chest of bulrushes, which she daubed with bitumen and pitch; the bulrushes were as close and hard as wood, the bitumen from within was a protection from the spikes of the rushes, and the pitch from without was to seal the ark from the entrance of the water. When Jochebed had deposited the chest in the river, she bid her daughter Miriam remain at some distance, to watch over its fate.

It happened that, on that day, Pharaoh's daughter, accompanied by her maidens, walked down to the river's

side to bathe. Perceiving the ark among the flags, she sent one of her attendants to fetch it. As it was opened, she was startled by the cries of a weeping boy. The forlorn helplessness of the poor infant touched the heart of the princess; she knew the cruel mandates of her father, and obviously disapproved of them. This is one of the Hebrew children,' she exclaimed. Her voice must have been soft with pity, for the watchful sister of the child advanced and asked anxiously, 'Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?' When Pharaoh's daughter consented, Miriam sped home to fetch her mother, who, soon arriving, was addressed by the princess with the welcome words: Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.' Jochebed took the boy home again and nursed him. But when he grew and was weaned, the mother gave him back to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son, and called his name Moses, saying, Because I drew him out of the water.'

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So Moses was reared in the palace of the king of Egypt, in the midst of all that was learned and wise in that land of scholars. But he was not forgetful of his poor toiling brethren; he had a warm and loving heart, unspoiled by the luxuries and honours with which he was surrounded from his childhood. He did not keep aloof from his countrymen, but went out into the fields, and there witnessed their oppressive, and exhausting labour. He once beheld an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew; it was more than his indignant spirit could bear; and with an impatient outburst of anger, he determined to punish the offender. They were alone and unwatched; and Moses slew the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand. On the following day, he returned again to the fields, and this time he found two Hebrews quarrelling. Moses had a strong sense of justice; he said to the man he saw to be

in the wrong, 'Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow-man?' The Hebrew replied spitefully and angrily, Who made thee a superior and judge over us? Dost thou intend to kill me, as thou hast killed the Egyptian?' Moses trembled at these words, which proved that his violent deed of the preceding day had become known. It had in fact even reached the ears of Pharaoh, who was determined to avenge it by death. Moses saw that his only safety was in flight.

He at once carried out his purpose, and escaped to the land of Midian. This district is situated in Arabia, between Mount Sinai, Edom, and Canaan. The people were a nomadic and pastoral tribe, whose manners and customs carry us back to the early scenes in the lives of the patriarchs. As in the history of Isaac and Jacob, the well surrounded by shepherds and their flocks plays an important part in the present narrative. Moses sat down to rest at the principal well before a town, knowing that he would soon be joined by shepherds. He had not been waiting long, when he perceived seven maidens advancing with their flocks. They proved to be the daughters of the chief priest and magistrate of the Midianites. They came up to the well and began drawing water to fill the gutter; but other shepherds soon arrived and drove them away. Again Moses interceded for the weak and the wronged; he arose and helped the maidens and watered their flocks for them, so that when they returned to Reuel (or Jethro), their father, he said, 'How is it that you came so soon today?' And they told him of the courtesy shown to them by the Egyptian whom they had met at the well. Full of gratitude and hospitable feelings, the Bedouin priest said, 'Where then is he? why is it that you have left the man? call him that he may eat bread.' And in this way, Moses, the adopted child of Pharaoh's daughter, came to live in the tents of Reuel, the chief of a free and hardy

people; and there he married Zipporah, the daughter of his host. Yet his heart had not ceased to feel for his brethren in the land of their oppression; and, though himself safe and happy, he grieved for their misery, and longed to return to them to share or to relieve it; and when a son was born to him, he called him Gershom, for he said, 'I am a stranger in a strange land.'

31. THE MISSION OF MOSES TO PHARAOH.

[EXOD. III. 1-VII. 14.]

Meanwhile the cruel king of Egypt had died, but he was followed by another Pharaoh not more compassionate towards the Israelites, who were still compelled to toil in hard bondage. They cried to God, and God heard their piteous supplication, and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

As the instrument of His deliverance, He selected Moses, whose youth had been spent in the palace of an Egyptian despot, and whose manhood had been passed in the free and pure simplicity of Arab life. He imparted His designs to him by direct communications, and thus raised him at once to a singular spiritual distinction.

Whilst Moses was tending the flocks of his father-inlaw, he perceived a flame of fire bursting out of a thornbush. The angel of the Lord was in the flame; for although the bush was burning, it was not consumed. Filled with astonishment and awe, Moses was hastening towards the spot, when he was arrested by a voice calling, Moses, Moses !' It was the voice of the Lord. He answered, 'Here am I.' And God spoke to him again and said, 'Approach not hither, put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' Then the Lord revealed Himself as the God of his ancestors

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon the Divine glory. And the Lord said: 'I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry about their task-masters; indeed I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of that land into a good and large land, into a land flowing with milk and honey. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee to Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt.' This last charge, so suddenly and unexpectedly given to Moses, the diffident and humble-minded, filled him with uneasiness and fear: how could he, now a lowly shepherd, dare to approach the proud king, and demand the release of the enslaved people, who were so useful to the tyrant's ambitious plans? The Israelites themselves would mistrust his words, and Pharaoh would expel him from his presence with disgrace. Then the Lord assured Moses again of His powerful protection, and promised, besides, to arm him with signs and wonders which would leave no doubt that he had come with Divine authority, and which would convince the Hebrew disbelievers, and confound the Egyptian sages. Moses himself should be the human deliverer of his people from their thraldom. But still the modest man shrank from the overwhelming task entrusted to him. He possessed the love of justice and truth, that great incentive to noble deeds, but he lacked the self-confidence necessary to their accomplishment. He asked despondingly: When I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and if they say to me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?' And God, revealing to His messenger His mysterious attributes of eternity and unchangeableness,

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