was no one, either akin or adopted, that had any oracle of his fide, for pretending to the crown of Egypt, and likely to be of greater advantage to them, they abstained from killing him.

CHA P. X.

How Mofes made War with the Ethiopians.

OSES therefore, when he was born, and brought up in the foregoing manner, and came to the age of maturity, made his virtue manifeft to the Egyptians; and fhewed, that he was born for the bringing of them down, and raifing the Ifraelites. And the occafion he laid hold of was this: The Ethiopians, who are next neighbours to the Egyptians, made an inroad into their country, which they feized upon, and carried off the effects of the Egyptians, who, in their rage, fought against them, and revenged the affronts they had received from them; but being overcome in battle, fome of them were flain, and the reft ran away in a fhameful manner, and by that mean faved themselves, whereupon the Ethiopians followed after them in the purfuit, and thinking that it would be a mark of cowardice if they did not fubdue all Egypt, they went on to fubdue the reft with greater vehemence; and when they had tafted the fweets of the country, they never left off the profecution of the war And as the nearest parts had not courage enough at firft to fight with them, they proceeded as far as Memphis, and the sea itself, while not one of the cities were able to oppofe them. The Egyptians, under this fad oppreflion, betook themfelves to their oracles and prophecies; and when God had given them this counfel, to make ufe of Mofes the Hebrew, and take his affiftance, the King commanded his daughter to produce him, that he might be the general of their army.

16-Q

Upon

*This hiftory of Mofes, as general of the Egyptians against the Ethiopians, is wholly omitted in our Bibles, but is thus cited by Irenæus, from Jofephus, and that foon after his own age; 66 Jofephus fays, that when Mofes was nourished in the King's palace he was appointed general of the army against the Ethiopians, and conquered them, when he married that King's daughter, becaufe, out of her affection for him, the delivered the city up to him," See the Fragments of

Irenæus,

Upon which, when she had made him fwear he would do him no harm, fhe delivered him to the King, and fuppofed his affiftance would be of great advantage to them. She withal reproached the prieft, who, when they had before admonished the Egyptians to kill him, was not ashamed now to own their want of his help.

2. So Mofes, at the perfuafion both of Thermuthis and the King himfelf, cheerfully undertook the bufinefs: And the facred fcribes of both nations were glad; thofe of the Egyptians, that they fhould at once overcome their enemies by his valour, and that by the fame piece of management Mofes would be flain; but thofe of the Hebrews, that they should escape from the Egyptians, because Mofes was to be their general. But Mofes prevented the enemies, and took and led his ar my before thofe enemies were apprifed of his attacking them; for he did not march by the river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful demonftration of his fagacity: For when the ground was difficult to be paffed over, becaufe of the multitude of ferpents which it produces in vaft numbers, and indeed is fingular in fome of thofe productions, which other countries do not breed, and yet fuch as are worfe than others in power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of fight, fome of which afcend out of the ground unfeen, and alfo fly in the air, and fo come upon men at unawares, and do them a mifchief, Mofes invented a wonderful fratagem to preserve the army fafe, and without hurt; for he made baskets, like unto arks of fedge, and filled them with Ibes, and carried them along with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to ferpents imaginable, for they fly from them when they come them, and as they fly they are caught and devoured by them, as if it were done by the harts; but the Ibes are tame creatures, and only enemies to the ferpentine kind. But about thefe Ibes I fay no more at present,

*

near

fince

Irenæus, ap. edit. Grab. p. 472. Nor perhaps did St. Stephen refer to any thing elfe, when he faid of Mofes, before he was fent by God to the Ifraelites, that he was not only learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp tians, but was alfo mighty in words and in deeds, A&ts vii. 22.

Pliny fpeaks of thefe birds called Ibes, and fays, "The Egyptians invoked them against the ferpents," Hi. Nat. B. X. ch. 28. Strabo fpeaks of this island Meroe, and thefe rivers Aftapus and Aftaboras, Book XVI. p. 774. 786. and B, XVII. p. 821.

fince the Greeks are not themselves unacquainted with this fort of bird. As foon therefore as Mofes was come to the land which was the breeder of thefe ferpents, he let loose the Ibes, and by their means repelled the ferpentine kind, and ufed them for his afliftants before the army came upon that ground. When he had therefore proceeded thus on his journey, he came upon the Ethiopians before they expected him; and joining battle with them, he beat them, and deprived them of the hopes they had of fuccefs against the Egyptians, and went on in overthrowing their cities, and indeed made a great flaughter of thefe Ethiopians. Now when the Egyptian army had once tafted of this profperous fuccefs, by the means of Mofes, they did not flacken their diligence, infomuch, that the Ethio pians were in danger of being reduced to flavery, and all forts of deftruction. And at length they retired to Saba, which was a royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyfes afterward named Meroe after the name of his own fifter. The place was to be befieged with very great difficulty, fince it was incompaffed by the Nile quite round, and the other rivers Aftapus and Aftaboras made it a very difficult thing for fuch as attempted to pafs over them; for the city was fituate in a retired place, and was inhabited after the manner of an island, being encompaffed with a strong wall, and having the rivers to guard them from their enemies, and having great ramparts between the wall and the rivers, infomuch, that when the waters come with the greatest violence it can never be drowned; which ramparts make it next to impoffible for, even fuch as are gotten over the rivers, to take the city. However, while Mofes was uneafy at the army's lying idle, (for the enemies durft not come to a battle) this accident happened: Tharbis was the daughter of the King of the Ethiopians; fhe happened to fee Mofes, as he led the army near to the walls, and fought with great courage, and admiring the fubtilty of his undertakings, and believing him to be the author of the Egyptians' fuccefs, when they had before defpaired of recovering their liberty, and to be the occafion of the great danger the Ethiopians were in, when they had before boafted of their great atchievements, fhe fell deeply in love with

him; and upon the prevalency of that paffion, fent to him the most faithful of all her fervants to difcourfe with him about their marriage. He thereupon accepted the offer, on condition fhe would procure the delivering up of the city; and gave her the affurance of an oath to take her to his wife, and that when he had once taken poffeffion of the city he would not break his oath to her. No fooner was the agreement made, but it took effect immediately; and when Mofes had cut off the Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God, and confummated his marriage, and led the Egyptians back to their own land.

CHA P. XI.

How Mofes Fled out of Egypt unto Midian.

Now

TOW the Egyptians, after they had been preferved by Mofes, entertained a hatred to him, and were very eager in compaffing their defign against him, as fufpecting that he would take occafion, from his good fuccefs, to raise a fedition and bring innovations into Egypt; and told the King, he ought to be flain. The King had also fome intentions of himfelf to the fame purpose, and this as well out of envy at his glorious expedition at the head of his army, as out of fear of being brought low by him; and being inftigated by the facred fcribes, he was ready to undertake to kill Mofes. But when he had learned beforehand what plots there were against him, he went away privately; and because the publick roads were watched, he took his flight through the deferts, and where his enemies could not fufpect he would travel; and though he was deftitute of food, he went on, and defpifed that difficulty courageoufly. And when he came to the city Midian, which lay upon the Red Sea, and was fo denominated from one of Abraham's fons by Keturah, he fat upon a certain well and refted himself there after his laborious journey, and the affliction he had been in. It was not far from the city; and the time of the day was noon, where he had an occafion offered him, by the cuftom of the country, of doing what recommended his virtue, and afforded him an opportunity of bettering his circumftances.

2. For that country having but little water, the fhepherds used to feize on the wells before others came, left their flocks fhould want water; and left it should be spent by others before they came. There were now come therefore to this well feven fifters, that were virgins, the daughters of Raguel a priest, and one thought worthy by the people of the country of great honour : Thefe virgins, who took care of their father's flocks, which fort of work it was cuftomary, and very familiar for women to do in the country of the Troglodytes, they came first of all, and drew water out of the well in a quantity fufficient for their flocks, into troughs, which were made for the reception of that water. But when the fhepherds came upon the maidens, and drove them away, that they might have the command of the waters themselves, Mofes, thinking it would be a terrible reproach upon him if he overlooked the young women under unjuft oppreffion, and fhould fuffer the violence of the men to prevail over the right of the maidens, he drove away the men, who had a mind to more than their fhare, and afforded a proper affiftance to the women; who, when they had received fuch a benefit from him, came to their father, and told him, how they had been affronted by the fhepherds, and affifted by a ftranger, and entreated that he would not let this generous action be done in vain, nor go without a reward. Now the father took it well from his daugh ters that they were fo defirous to reward their benefactor, and bid them bring Mofes into his prefence, that he might be rewarded as he deferved. And when Mofes came, he told him what teftimony his daughters bare to him, that he had affifted them; and that, as he admired him for his virtue, he faid, that Mofes had beftowed fuch his affiftance on perfons not infenfible of benefits, but where they were both able and willing to return the kindness, and even to exceed the measure of his generofity. So he made him his fon, and gave him one of his daughters in marriage, and appointed him to be the guardian and fuperintendant over his cattle, for of old all the wealth of the Barbarians was in those cattle.