looking down upon her, and that, beneath the care of God, the bulrush cradle was as safe a resting-place for the babe as his own mother's bosom.

But she never could have guessed or dreamed the wonderful things that were to come to pass. The ark of bulrushes was set down. Jochebed had gone slowly, sorrowfully home to her husband and little Aaron. Miriam, who was twelve years old, she had left behind to watch. But it was not long before the little maid came running in. Let us fancy we hear her telling her story, as soon as she had breath enough to speak.

"Mother! mother! the baby is safe!" "Thank God! But how? Where is he? Tell me all about it."

"No, I cannot stay; but you are to come with me directly, and I will tell you as we go along."

So mother and daughter set off together; and as they hasten on, Miriam's account is something like this :

"I stood where you told me, mother, and hid myself as well as I could, but kept my eye on the ark, till I heard, a little way off, a talking and laughing, as of ladies' voices. So I looked up, and sure enough there was a company of ladies, so grandly dressed, walking down to the river towards the very place where baby lay. You may guess that my heart beat very fast. Then I saw, from their dresses, that they belonged to the king's palace, and no one can

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tell how frightened I was, and I said a prayer to God that they might pass by without seeing the ark. But they stopped at the very spot. saw one, who seemed the mistress, stand and look, and point. Then another went forward, stooped down, picked it up, and brought it to her. No, mother-don't look so pale-I assure you it's all right. I will tell you all as fast as I can, if you will let me. Well, I saw the cradle opened. I thought, far off as I was, that I heard baby cry; and then I could bear it no longer, but ran up to where the ladies were standing. What do you think? I saw that the mistress was the princess herself-Pharaoh's daughter. Then I was frightened; I felt as if I must run away. But I looked up; she seemed to be smiling kindly on my little brother. I was quite sure she would not let him be thrown into the river. I heard her say, 'This must be one of the Hebrews' children.' She seemed sorry, as if she was thinking of what her father the king had done. Then I don't know how it was-I could not help it; but all at once I stepped boldly up, and said, 'Shall I go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?' Oh, she looked so pleased! and said, 'Go.' So off I ran. You may be sure I knew whom to fetch. But I would not tell the lady one word about your being the baby's mother. Is it not beautiful? But, see, there they are waiting for us. Look

how the ladies are tossing him from one to the other, and how he is laughing at them all!"

We do not know, dear children, what name Amram had thought to give to his little son; but the princess, I think, had found a very good one. In her language there were two wordsone meaning to draw, and the other, water. So she put them together, and made up the word WATER-DRAWN, or, in her speech, MOSHEH, or Moses, which would remind him, to the very end of his life, how God had watched over him in his infancy, and fitted him for the work he was to do.

His work was to set free this nation of slaves, to lead them out of Egypt, to give them God's laws, and to guide them towards the promised land. Now let us see how he was made ready for this great work.

First, he must be a very clever man to be the leader of so great a people. But if he had been brought up in his parents' cottage he could hardly have become so. There were no schools in Egypt for the slaves' children, and most likely he would have had to work hard for his living. But his being laid by the river side, and found by Pharaoh's daughter, led to his receiving the very best instruction that could be got in all Egypt, and becoming one of the wisest and most learned men in the world,

But, secondly, he must love and fear God. The Egyptians were idolaters. If the princess had

taken little Moses quite away to her own home, he would have had a heathen nurse, and would never have heard of the great God who made heaven and earth. Then, when he went to school, he would have learned only of the false gods of Egypt, and, no doubt, would have become an idol-worshipper too. Thus, he would have cared nothing about the Israelites, but would have remained in Pharaoh's palace, a rich and noble prince, and perhaps, after a while, the king of the land; but he never could have done the work for which God intended him; and his poor mother would often have said, "Better that my son should have been drowned, or swallowed by a fierce crocodile, than that he should have grown up like this."

What hindered it from being so? His mother was his nurse. Before he went to those · grand Egyptian heathen schools, he had learned at her knee the name of the great God who created all things; who had made him, who had taken care of him in that bulrush ark, and whom he must always love and serve. He had heard the stories of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Abel, of Abraham and Isaac, of Esau the hunter, of Jacob who gained the blessing, of Joseph and his brothers. Most of all did he hear of Canaan, bright Canaan—the land which his mother had never seen, but which was to be the Israelites' home. These lessons he loved. When he went from his own dear mother-nurse

to the palace of the princess, he still remembered God. The schools of Egypt could not teach him idolatry; and when he had grown up, he "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward."

Shall you understand me if I say, Egypt trained his MIND, and Israel trained his HEART? The former was the care of the princess, the latter the care of his mother. Both together made Moses what he was, and in the good purpose of God fitted him, when the time had come, to be the leader of Israel.

One thing more-it shall be the last today. A great captain, as Moses was to be, should be patient and gentle, not hasty or passionate. Now I do not think Moses had naturally a very good temper. When he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand, he was very angry, and did not quite think what he was doing. Once or twice afterwards, too, an angry disposition broke out. This temper, then, was an enemy, that he must conquer before he could be the leader of Israel. And how and when did he conquer it? Most likely in that quiet time he spent in the land of Midian, by thought * Heb. xi. 24-26. +See Numb. xx. 10.