encamped Hebrews through the valley of Bedea, in the plain at the mouth of which they were encamped. As he was so glad to find how they had "entangled themselves in the land," he was not likely to take a course which would deprive him of all the advantages derivable from their apparent oversight. This he would do by coming upon them through the valley of Bedea; for this would have left open to them the alternative of escaping from their position by the way they entered: whereas, by coming the same way they had come, he shut up that door of escape, and, if they fled before him, left them no other visible resource but to march up the valley of Bedea, back to Egypt, before the Egyptian troops. That this was really the advantage to himself which the king saw in their position, and that it was his object to drive them before him back to Egypt through this valley, or to destroy them if they offered to resist, we have not the least doubt; and it is unlikely that he would take any road but that which would enable him to secure these benefits.

The Egyptians, being satisfied that they had secured their prey, and that it was impossible for their fugitive bondsmen to escape but by returning to Egypt, were in no haste to assail them. They were also, themselves, probably wearied by their rapid march. They therefore encamped for the night-for it was toward evening when they arrived-intending, probably, to give effect to their intentions in the morning.

As for the Israelites, the sight of their old oppressors struck them with terror. There was no faith or spirit in them. They knew not how to value their newlyfound liberty. They deplored the rash adventure in which they had engaged; and their servile minds looked back with regret and envy upon the enslaved condition which they had so lately deplored. Moses knew them well enough not to be surprised that they assailed him as the author of all the calamities to which they were now exposed. "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt," said they, "that thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." This is one specimen of a mode of feeling and character among this spiritless and perverse people of which Moses had seen something already, and of which he had soon occasion to see much more. One might be disposed to judge of their feelings the more leniently, attributing them to the essential operation of personal slavery in enslaving the mind, by debasing its higher tones of feeling and character, did we not know that the same characteristics of mind and temper constantly broke out among this remarkable people very long after the generation which knew the slavery of Egypt had passed away.

Moses did not deign to remonstrate with them or to vindicate himself. It seems that the Divine intention had been previously intimated to him; for he answered, with that usual emphasis of expression which makes it a pleasure to transcribe his words: "Fear ye not: stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you this day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day ye shall see no more again for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." They were pacified by this for the present; but there is good reason to suspect, that if measures of relief had long been delayed, they would have given up Moses and Aaron to the Egyptians, and have placed themselves at their disposal. But measures of relief were not long delayed. When the night was fully come, the Lord directed Moses to order the people to march forward to the sea; on their arriving at which, the prophet lifted up his rod upon the waters, over which instantly blew a powerful east wind, by which they were divided from shore to shore, so that the firm bottom of hard sand appeared; offering a dry road in the midst of the sea, by which they might pass to the eastern shore. At that instant, also, the pillar of fire which had gone before the Hebrews to guide them on their way was removed to their rear, and, being thus between them and the Egyptians, it gave light to the former in their passage, while it concealed their proceedings and persons from the latter.* ·

It thus happened that some time passed before the Egyptians discovered that the Israelites were in motion. When they made this discovery, the king determined to

* According to a well-known optical effect, by which we can see by night all that stands between us and the light, but nothing that lies beyond the light. No doubt the pillar gave good light to the Egyptians themselves, but did not enable them to see the Israelites. In like manner the Israelites, doubtless, could not see the Egyptians. A little attention to a matter so perfectly obvious would have spared us some specula tions, such as that which gives the pillar a cloudy side and a flaming side, &c.

follow. It is by no means clear that they knew or thought that they were following them into the bed of the sea. Considering the darkness of the night, except from the light of the pillar, with the confusion of ideas and indistinct perceptions of a people who had not been on the spot long enough to make particular observations, and most of them probably roused from sleep to join in the pursuit, it seems likely that they felt uncertain about the direction, and supposed that they were following some accustomed route by which the Israelites were either endeavoring to escape or to return to Egypt. They may even have thought they were going up the valley of Bedea, although that actually lay in an opposite direction. Anything, however improbable, seems more likely to have occurred to them than that they were passing through the divided sea.

By the time the day broke and the Egyptians became aware of their condition, all the Hebrews had safely reached the other side, and all or nearly all the Egyptians were in the bed of the gulf; the van approaching the eastern shore, and the rear having left the western. The moment of vengeance was come. They found themselves in the midst of the sea, with the waters on their right hand and on their left, and only restrained from overwhelming them by some power they knew not, but which they must have suspected to have been that of the God of the Hebrews. The marine road, ploughed by the multitudes which went before them, became distressing to them; their chariot-wheels dragged heavily along, and very many of them came off from the cars which they supported. The Lord also began to trouble them with a furious warfare of the elements. The Psalmist more than once alludes to this. He exclaims: "The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, and were afraid:" and then speaks as if every element had spent its fury upon the devoted heads of the Egyptians. The earth shook; the thunders rolled; and most appalling lightnings-the arrows of God-shot along the firmament; while the clouds poured down heavy rains, "hailstones, and coals of fire."* It deserves to be mentioned that this strife is also recorded by the Egyptian chronologer, who reports, "It is said that fire flashed against them in front."

By this time the pursuers were thorougly alarmed. "Let us flee," said they, from the face of Israel, for JEHOVAH fighteth for them against the Egyptians." But at that instant the Lord gave the word, Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the restrained waters returned and ingulfed them all.

This stupendous event made a profound impression upon the Hebrew mind at large. From that day to the end of the Hebrew polity, it supplied a subject to which the sacred poets and prophets make constant allusions in language the most sublime. Its effect upon the generation more immediately concerned was very strong, and, although they were but too prone to forget it, was more abiding and operative than any which had yet been made upon them. When they witnessed all these things, and soon after saw the carcases of those who had so lately been the objects of such intense dread to them, lying by thousands on the beach, "they feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses."

In the sublime song which Moses composed and sang with the sons of Israel in commemoration of this great event-their marvellous deliverance and the overthrow of their enemies-he, with his usual wisdom, looks forward to important ulterior effects, to secure to the Hebrews the benefit of which may not improbably have formed one of the principal reasons for this remarkable exhibition of the power of Jehovah, and his determination to protect the chosen race. These anticipations, which were abundantly fulfilled, are contained in the following verses:

"The nations shall hear this and tremble;

Anguish shall seize the inhabitants of Palestine.

Then shall the princes of Edom be amazed:

And dismay shall possess the mighty ones of Moab.

All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away;

Fear and terror shall fall upon them:

Through the greatness of thine arm

They shall become still as a stone,

Until thy people pass over [Jordan], O JEHOVAH,

Until thy people pass over whom thou hast redeemed."

On this occasion the first instance is offered of a custom, learned most probably in Egypt, and ever retained by the Hebrew women, of celebrating with dances and

Psalm xviii. 13-15; lxxvii. 16, 17.

timbrels every remarkable event of joy or triumph. They were now led by Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron; and they seem to have taken part as a chorus in the song of the men, by answering :—

"Let us sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously,

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."

As the timbrels of the women were doubtless Egyptian, and the dresses of those of superior rank were probably Egyptian also, we have considered that a similar dance of females, from Egyptian sources, would form a satisfactory illustration.

It will appear, from the opinion we have been induced to entertain respecting the place in which the Israelites encamped, and from which they departed, on the western shore of the gulf, that we concur with those who regard Ain Mousa* as the place, on the eastern shore, where they came up from the bed of the sea, and where they witnessed the overthrow of their oppressors. That the site is thus distinguished in the local traditions of the inhabitants of Sinai, the name alone suffices to indicate; and, although undue weight should not be attached to such traditions, it would be wrong entirely to disregard them when they support or illustrate conclusions otherwise probable. We shall, however, content ourselves with adding, descriptively, that a number of green shrubs, springing from numerous hillocks, mark the landward approach to this place. Here are also a number of neglected palm-trees grown thick and bushy for want of pruning. The springs which here rise out of the ground in various places, and give name to the spot, are soon lost in the sands. The water is of a brackish quality, in consequence, probably, of the springs being so near the sea; but it is, nevertheless, cool and refreshing, and in these waterless deserts affords a desirable resting-place. The view from this place, looking westward, is very beautiful, and most interesting from its association with the wonderful events which it has been our duty to relate. The mountain chains of Attaka, each running into a long promontory, stretch along the shore of Africa; and nearly opposite our station we view the opening-the Pi-ha-biroth-the "mouth of the ridge," formed by the valley in the mouth of which the Hebrews were encamped before they crossed the sea. On the side where we stand, the access to the shore from the bed of the gulf would have been easy. And it deserves to be mentioned, that not only do the springs bear the name of Moses, but the projecting head-land below them, toward the sea, bears the name of Ras Mousa. Thus do the Cape of Moses and the Cape of Deliverance look toward each other from the opposite shores of the Arabian gulf, and unite their abiding and unshaken testimony to the judgments and wonders of that day in which the right hand of Jehovah was so abundantly "glorified in might."t

The Fountains of Moses.

+ As Egypt has been the grand scene of the very important transactions related in this chapter, it may not be improper to close it with a few observations on its learning, language, religion, idolatry, &c. Egypt (that binds or troubles), an ancient country of Africa, peopled by Mizraim, a son of Ham, the son of Noah, from whom it received its name; and the Arabs still call it Mesr. Egypt is about six hundred miles long, and from one hundred to three hundred broad: it lies at the northeast corner of Africa, bounded on the north by the Mediterranean sea, on the east by the isthmus of Suez and the Red sea, which divide it from Asia, on the south by Abyssinia, and on the west by Libya. Egypt was divided into two districts, Upper Egypt, or Thebias, and Lower Egypt, or the Delta. The river Nile, running through the whole length of the land, from north to south, abounds with fish, crocodiles, and hippopotami; and, by its annual overflowing, the country became one of the most fruitful in the world, so that its majestic waters formed the glory of the king of Egypt, Ezek. xxx. 3-5. Egypt was, at an early period, famous above every other country, for its progress in the arts and sciences, Acts vii. 22; 1 Kings iv. 29, 30, attracting thither the most celebrated philosophers and historians of Greece, to complete their studes. Pythagoras, Herodotus, Plato, and many others, sought instruction in Egypt, among its celebrated sages; yet idolatry was carried to such a height, by the wisest instructers of that country, that the Egyptians made gods for their religious worship, not only of the sun and moon, but of their various beasts, oxen, sheep, goats, and cats, and even of leeks, onions, and diseases, and of monsters having no existence, except in their own disordered imaginations. Divine prophecy has been strikingly illustrated in the history of Egypt, Ezek. xxix. 8-15, xxx. 10-13. Nebuchadnezzar conquered it, as foretold by the prophet; then it became subject to Persia; and in succession to the Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Mamaluke-slaves, and Turks. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it in 1798, in the hope of acquiring India; but the French were expelled by the British, who delivered it up to the Turks, against whom it is now in a state of rebellion. It has, therefore, had no prince of its own; and it has been the basest of kingdoms:" the decrees of Heaven have been accomplished, and they will yet be 'ulfilled, in the triumphs of Christianity, Isa. xi. 9-16. Egypt still abounds with vast monuments of its former grandeur: the ruins of it ancient cities and temples attest its magnificence, riches, and populousness. The tombs of its kings, the stupendous pyramids alone, evince these things: the largest of three of them, situated a few leagues from Cairo, the site of the celebrated Memphis, according to the recent measurement of a French engineer, forms a square, each side of whose base is seven hundred and forty-six feet, covering more than thirteen acres of land: the perpendicular height of it is five hundred and forty-six feet; and it contains 6,000,000 of tons of stone, sufficient to build a wall ten feet high, and one foot thick, eighteen hundred miles in length! These prodigious monuments of the ancient glory of Egypt, at once confirm and illustrate the truth and divinity of the Holy Scriptures.