I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?" Not even Jehovah's promise," I will be with thee," could overcome his reluctance then, and he prayed to be released. But he was the man appointed for the task; for this he had been born; for this preserved; for this trained; and there was no escape for him.

He went on the Divine errand, became associated with his elder brother Aaron, opened his commission to the Egyptian king, and wrought several striking miracles to prove the truth of his mission.

The king refusing to let the people go, God afflicted him and the land with ten grievous plagues; but when the climax of suffering was reached, and the Destroying Angel swept by, the alarmed monarch bade them depart, and with Moses for their leader, the liberated multitude departed joyfully from their oppressors.

In their march God directed them toward the Red Sea, and when they came in sight of that waste of waters, to human appearance their course was stayed.

But God would magnify himself and his messenger before all Israel, and at his command, Moses lifted up his rod upon the waters, and forthwith a pathway through the deep was opened for them.

They passed safely the marvelous channel, which the Egyptians essaying to do, were drowned; thus was consummated by one fearful stroke, the deliverance of Israel, and the overthrow of the Egyptians.

Having led the Israelites into the deserts of Arabia, commonly called the wilderness, God gave them the most signal manifestations of his power and goodness in a series of miracles, and delivered to Moses, their leader, that information and those laws which are contained in the Pentateuch.

How solemn his position on the sacred mount, in intimate converse with God, and express contemplation of his majesty. No wonder, that with this holy state of mind, he should come down to an idolatrous people, with words of severe rebuke for their strange departure.

His intercessions to the God of Heaven for them insured the Divine forgiveness, and he led them on to the verge of

the promised land, though, alas! it was not for him to enter. Once, even he had wandered from the prescribed path of duty, by reason of which he had been excluded from the fair borders of Canaan.

As they drew near their inheritance, it became manifest the great work of Moses was accomplished, and it only remained for him to render up his life. The people for whom he had so long cared, and whom he had so anxiously led, were about to cease their wanderings, and enter upon the full possession of the blessings of freedom in a peaceful land.

Yet it was fit that before this venerable servant of God laid down his charge, he should see that part of it which could be transmitted, deposited in proper hands, that he might die in the comfortable assurance that the great work he had undertaken might be vigorously prosecuted after his decease.

Ever since the fatal day of Meribah, the prophet knew that he was doomed to die without setting the sole of his foot upon the land which was to form the heritage of his people. But now he receives a distinct intimation, as his brother had before, that the appointed time was come, and like him, he is directed to ascend the neighboring mountain, there to render up his life.

Observe well how he receives this intimation.

What is the foremost thought in his mind?

Nothing that concerns himself,-no regret of his own; all his thought is for the welfare of the people. "Let Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd." Here is the same loftiness of spirit, rising above every thought of self,-the same zeal for the honor of God,-the same devoted concern for the welfare of the people, which had hitherto marked his whole "We may wade through folios of history and biography, narrating the mighty deeds of warriors, statesmen,

career.

and professed patriots, before we find another case equal to this in interest.'

The suit of Moses was heard, and Joshua was solemnly inaugurated as the future leader of the Hebrew host. Nothing then remained for the prophet to do, but to pour out his heart before the people in lofty odes and eloquent blessings. Then he retired to the appointed mountain, that he might before his death survey the goodly land in which the people were to establish that noble commonwealth which he had so laboriously organized.

Who can tell the eagerness of that glance which he threw over the magnificent country that opened upon his view?

Upon this scene his eye closed, and in the recesses of the mountain, out of the sight of the host, in a hollow of the hilly region, where he died, his corpse was deposited. Had the spot been known, it would, without question, have become first the goal of pious pilgrimages, and then perhaps, by the apotheosis of one so venerated, a scene of idolatrous worship. It is in harmony with the self-renouncing spirit which his whole life displayed, that means were taken to prevent the place of his last rest from being visited by the coming generations, which would have such good cause to revere and bless his name.

Thus he died in the one hundred and twentieth year of

his age.

Care, labor, and years had made no inroads upon his constitution, for it is particularly marked that "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated," that he preserved all the vivacity of youth and the vigor of manhood to a period in which, even at that time, old age made its greatest depredations upon those who had no other support than what the common course of nature afforded.

The eulogium or character given of him by the Spirit of God, though very concise, is yet very full and satisfactory: "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel, like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face; in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his

land; and in all that mighty hand and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel."

He is called the servant of God; and he has farther this high character, that as a servant, he was faithful to God in all his house.

He faithfully discharged the trust reposed in him; and totally forgetting himself, and his own secular interest, with that also of his family, he labored incessantly to promote God's honor and the people's welfare, which on many occasions he showed were dearer to him than his own life.

Moses was in every respect a great man; for every virtue that constitutes genuine nobility was concentrated in his mind, and fully displayed in his conduct.

He ever conducted himself as a man conscious of his own integrity, and of the guidance and protection of God, under whose orders he constantly acted. He therefore betrays no confusion in his views, nor indecision in his measures; he was ever without corroding anxiety, because he was conscious of the rectitude of his motives, and that the cause which he espoused was the cause of God, and that his power and faithfulness were pledged for his support.

His courage and fortitude were unshaken and unconquerable, because his reliance was unremittingly fixed on the unchangeableness of Jehovah.

He left Egypt having an eye to the recompense of reward in another world, and never lost sight of this grand object; he was therefore neither discouraged by difficulties, nor elated by prosperity. He who in Egypt refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, thereby renouncing the claim he might have had on the Egyptian throne, was never likely to be influenced by secular views in the government of the miserable multitudes which he led out of that country. His renunciation of the Court of Pharaoh, and its advantages, was the amplest proof that he neither sought nor expected honor or emolument in the wilderness, among a people who had scarcely any thing but what they received by immediate

miracle from the hand of God.

His disinterestedness is particularly observable; his moral character almost immaculate.

As the mind tries, however, to rest as it were unconsciously upon the prominent points of the character which his career evinces, and which we discover in most other men, we find ourselves unexpectedly baffled. All the great men of sacred as well as of profane history, possessed some prominent virtue or quality, which stood out in bolder relief than their other perfections. We think of the faith of Abraham, of the conscientiousness of Joseph, of the contrition of David, of the generosity of Jonathan, of the zeal of Elijah,—but what do we regard as the dominant quality of Moses? It is not to be found. The mind is perplexed in the attempt to fix on any. It is not firmness, it is not perseverance, it is not disinterestedness, it is not patriotism, it is not confidence in God, it is not meekness, it is not humility, it is not forgetfulness of self. It is not any one of these.

It is all of them. His virtues, his graces, were all equal to each other; and it was their beautifully harmonious operation and development which constituted his noble and all but perfect character.

This was the greatness of Moses,—this was the glory of his character. It is a kind of character rare in any man-and in no man, historically known, has it been so completely manifested.

The exigences of even those great affairs which engaged his thoughts, did not, and could not, call forth on any one occasion, all the high qualities with which he was gifted. It is rarely possible to see more than one high endowment in action at the same time. But we find Moses equal to every occasion, he is never lacking in the virtue which the occasion requires him to exercise; and by this we know that he possessed them all.

When we reflect that Moses possessed all the learning of his age, and that he wanted none of the talents which constitute human greatness,-while we know that such endowments are not invariably accompanied by high character and noble sentiments, we honor his humility more than his glory, and above all, venerate that Divine wisdom which raised up this extraordinary man, and called him forth at the moment when the world had need of him.