had visited the children of Ifrael, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads, and worshipped." The tremendous name JEHOVAH affixed as a fignet to the record, and vouching its authority by fign upon fign, quickly produces belief; and infpires gratitude and joy, corrected by reverence and godly fear. So far, then, the way is cleared, and Mofes is no longer rejected as an upstart and intruder, as prefuming to take upon himself the office of prince and judge over his breth ren. 1 But this is the smallest difficulty in the way. Whe does not eagerly cleave to the prospect of returning liberty? Men believe things incredible, attempt things impoffible, endure things intolerable, when freedom, precious freedom is the object. No wonder then that oppreffed, groaning Ifrael fhould greedily liften to the voice of this heavenly charmer. But the grand difficulties are yet bebind. Their fetters will not fall off by a wifh. Their fond defires dictate not the edicts of Pharaoh. The fmarting of the ftrokes of their tafk-mafters' whips are not to be conjured away by a found. The queftion is not, will Ifrael believe; but, will the king of Egypt comply? Every step Mofes advances, he finds a new and growing proof of the truth and faithfulness of God. For the fame mouth which declared concerning the children of Ifrael," they fhall hearken unto thy voice," declared concerning Pharaoh, "I am fure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no not by a mighty hand." The faith and obedience of the one, therefore, and the infolence and pride of the other, equally and conjointly demonftrated to Mofes, that the Lord had fpoken unto him. .. Armed, therefore, with a command from on high, confident of the goodness of their caufe, and exalted above the fear of man, Mofes and his brother advance boldly into the prefence of the king, and make their requifition in these lofty and majeftic words; "Thus faith faith the LORD GoD of Ifrael, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wildernefs," In fome ancient Jewifh fragments, we have an account of four miracles, by which Mofes fignalized his entrance into Egypt. First, he made fire to iffue out of the earth, in the eyes of all Ifrael, and thereby produced confidence in him as their deliverer. Secondly, being fhut up in prifon by order of Pharaoh, he broke the bars, burft open the gates, ftruck the guards with death, and released himself. Thirdly, he pronounced in the ears of the king, the name of JEHOVAH at the found of which that prince became deaf, and after a certain interval recovered his hearing, through the interpofition of him who had taken it away. Fourthly, by the use of the fame awful name, he deprived all the Egyptian priests of fense and motion. To this the Rabbins add, that on entering the palace of the tyrant, he was fuddenly clothed with a dreadful form, and a countenance bright and majestic, like that of an angel. But we have no need to refort to fancy for a defcription of the magnificence of the scene, neither is there reafon to fuppofe that any part of the glory of Mofes confifted in perfonal luftre. His Employer and his errand lend him fufficient dignity and importance, without the glare which dazzles the eye. Whatever were the outward appearance of Mofes, his meffage, we know, was treated by Pharaoh with infolence and contempt, in these words; "Who is the Lord, that I fhould obey his voice, to let Ifrael go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Ifrael go." We are not to conclude that Pharaoh was an atheist, from his ufing this impious language. No: Egypt was a country wholly given to fuperftition; a land which had multiplied deities to itself. It was JEHOVAH whom he fcorned to acknowledge. It was the God of Ifrael whom he defpifed. He judged of the power of their Patron and Protector from their own present forlorn condition, The The methods which Mofes and Aaron employed to obtain the end of their miffion, is a beautiful, an inftructive, and an alarming reprefentation of the conduct of Providence, toward finners in general. They begin with delivering a plain meffage, in the name of their mafter. Being repulfed, they proceed to argue and expoftulate. A deaf ear being turned to the voice of reafon and humanity, they have recourse to more extraordinary proofs of the weight and authority of their commiffion; proofs which, indeed, mark an Almighty arm; but an arm ftretched out to convince, not to crush. A bold defiance being given to Omnipotence, what other method of working conviction and of procuring refpect is left, but to let it fall with all its dreadful weight on the head of the defier? It happened to Ifrael, as it often does to men struggling to get free from the preffure of calamity, their efforts only ferve to plunge them deeper in the mire; and it happened to Mofes and Aaron, as it sometimes befals men actuated by a fimilar good intention, but with less title and encouragement, their interference hurts those whom it was meant to ferve; and they have the mortification of feeing the miseries of their poor brethren cruelly increased, through what might be deemed their own zeal and officiousness. The inflexible tyrant avenges himself, for the freedom taken with the king of Egypt, by perfons fo low and contemptible, upon the bleeding fhoulders of thousands of wretches, who could not redress themselves, and who durft not complain. Miferable condition indeed! where the caprice of one man determines the fate of millions! Happy the nation where not men but laws govern! Providence, in this inftance, feems refolved to try how far favage cruelty and patient fuffering can go; but ready to interfere in both, when they have come to the extreme. Ifrael is not prepared for falvation, till the cup of woe is full, and deliverance is defpaired of from every quarter fave Heaven and Pharaoh feels feels not the rod of God's anger, till having filled up the measure of his iniquity, hardened his heart against GOD and against man, poured contempt upon mercy, and braved infinite juftice, he exalts himself into an awful monument to every impenitent finner, of the defperate madness of fighting with his Maker. Mofes is ready to fink afrefh, under this cruei difappointment. The reproaches of the unhappy fufferers, called, forced, lashed into labour, beyond what their ftrength could bear, cut him to the heart, and again he fhrinks from the task which was imposed on him and in thefe defponding words, he ventures to pour out the anguifh of his foul before the Lord; Wherefore haft thou fo evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou haft fent me? For fince I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name he hath done evil to this people, neither haft thou delivered thy people at all." Thus far has flowed the angry tide of proud imperial passion; and thus low has ebbed the trembling, retreating stream of baffled expectation. And now, "It is time, Lord, that thou work!" To the one he faith, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther, and here fhall thy proud waves be stayed." To the other, "Return, and fill all thy channels, and overflow all thy banks." The Angel of the Lord begins with re-affuring Mofes himself, by a recapitulation of the tenour of the covenant made with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, under the fanction of his name as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. In all thefe wanderings, weakneffes and diftreffes, they had been encouraged to truft in a Being, omnipotent to protect them, all-fufficient to fupply their wants. But their pofterity were henceforth to know him by another name, and under a new defcription, even the incommunicable, unutterable name which denotes eternal, unchangeable felf-exiftence; deriving nothing from any, but conferring upon all, life, and breath, and all things; who is above all, through all, all, and in all; "the fame yesterday, to-day, and forever :" and, of confequence, true to his word, faithful in keeping covenant, unalterable in his decrees!! Under the feal of that moft tremendous, most animating and inspiring name, Mofes is again dispatched to the people, with the affurance of a speedy, an inftantaneous appearance in their behalf. But alas! their fpirit is broken, by the long continuance and accumulated weight of their calamities. They have been disappointed fo often, that they can believe, can hope no longer; and the meffage delivered by Mofes is like a charming fong upon the ear of a deaf or a dead man. He is fent from the people to Pharaoh, with a repetition of the demand of Heaven upon him. But alas! the messenger himself has caught the defponding spirit of the unhappy men whom he had been laft vifiting; and the heart of Pharaoh has not in the leaft relented. Heaven seems to have interpofed fomewhat too late; the cause appears loft. Let us judge nothing rafhly; let us not judge before the time. Let us humbly and patiently wait the iffue, and then condemn if we dare, if we can. -Mofes at the bufh faw GOD, under the appearance of a flame of fire; but no man can see GoD and live. "No man hath feen GoD at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bofom of the Father, he hath declared him." The deliverer of Ifrael needed himself to be nurtured and prepared for the difcharge of his high office; but the Saviour of a lost world entered upon the execution of his infinitely more arduous task, every way qualified to bring it to a happy conclufion. The Jewish lawgiver ftood himfelf condemned by the law, and was a partaker with others in guilt and tranfgreffion; the Chriftian Leader was "holy, harmlefs and undefiled." Mofes undertook the work affigned to him, flowly and reluctantly; but, O with what readiness did the friend of mankind prefs forward to the perfecting of his kind defign; "Lo I come: in the volume of the book it is |