We should have thought that this confession of the magicians, and the striking displeasure of the Almighty, manifested in the new calamity which was inflicted upon Pharaoh and his people, would have made the haughty monarch at least begin to waver in his resolution. But no; we still read the affecting record of his perverseness and guilt. Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said."

How often do sinners, when suffering under some chastisement of God, cry unto him themselves, or beseech others, (as Pharaoh did Moses and Aaron,) to entreat him, in their behalf, that the calamity may be removed. And how often, under such circumstances, do they solemnly promise that, if re lief can be obtained, they will forsake their sins, and immediately set about the performance of duty.

Such relief is afforded, either partial or entire. God is merciful, and tries them once more, to see if they will listen to his warnings. But alas! as soon as they find themselves regaining their usual health, or comfort, or prosperity, all their good resolutions and promises are forgotten, and they go on sinning against God as wickedly and fearlessly as ever! How guilty and alarming is such a state!

Has this ever, my young friend, been your state? Have you kept the resolutions, and fulfilled the promises, which, in some season of difficulty or of danger, you have solemnly made to God, if he

you

would send you deliverance? Or, alas! have broken them all, and rushed on, in hardness of heart, as Pharaoh did, despising the forbearance, and resisting the authority of God!

Think of these broken resolutions and promises. Recall the affecting circumstances under which they were made, and the divine goodness and long suffering towards you. Repent of your deep in gratitude, and confess it to your Heavenly Father. Seek his forgiveness through Christ, and escape from the greatest of all evils, the being left of God to wilful and obstinute perseverance in sin.

CHAPTER XVI.

The plague of flies, of murrain, and of boils and blains.

As Pharaoh went down, early in the morning, to the Nile, to bathe in its waters, or, it may have been, to offer his customary devotions to the god of the river, he was met by Moses. Let my people go, that they may serve me," was the message from Jehovah. which, once more, sounded in his ears. It was a fearful demand. It had already

been portentous of tremendous evil, both to him self and his people. He shuddered to hear it, and to learn the new, and still more afflictive judgments that would attend his refusal to comply with it.

"If thou wilt not let my people go," said Moses, speaking in the name of the Almighty, "behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they

are."

These swarms (as the original denotes,) were to be immense numbers of various kinds of vexatious and stinging insects, such as wasps and hornets, and probably, among the rest, the dog-fly, which fastens its teeth so deep in the flesh, and sticks so very close, that it not unfrequently causes cattle to run mad.

At the same time, Pharaoh was told that the Israelites, in the adjoining land of Goshen, should be entirely free from this calamity; to show him, by this striking interposition of divine power in their behalf, that their God was Jehovah in the midst of the earth. They may have suffered, at least in some degree, from the former plagues. At any rate, the distinction between them and the Egyptians, if it had heretofore existed, had not been so decidedly noticed as it would now be. For, that these winged insects, which could move so readily from place

to place, and pass so rapidly over immense distances, should not one of them wing their flight within the bounds of the land of Goshen, nor afflict any of its inhabitants, would indeed be a most illustrious display of the power of God, and of the peculiar favor with which he regarded that oppressed people.

Pharaoh persisted in his obstinacy, and the judgment came, exactly and instantly as had been threatened. His palace swarmed with the tormenting instruments of divine vengeance. All the houses of his people were filled with them; and great numbers of the inhabitants perished, being poisoned by these venomous insects.

Overwhelmed with dismay, but still unwilling to comply with the divine injunction, Pharaoh hoped to appease the displeasure of the Almighty, and yet retain his grasp of his Israelitish bond-men. He proposed a half-way measure. He sent for Moses and Aaron, and told them that he would grant permission for them and their countrymen to sacrifice to their God, but without going into the wilderness. It must be done in the land where they then were, and in the presence of the Egyptians.

The reply of Moses was prompt and decided. He knew his duty too well thus to depart, in the least degree, from the strict import of the instructions which he had received from God. Implicit obedience was his only rule of conduct.

"It is not

meet so to do," said he, " for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us," with regard to the manner of there worshipping before him.

Moses was well acquainted with the superstitious views and observances of the Egyptians. To adopt their idolatrous modes of worship, and offer up the sacrifices which they burned on the altars of their false deities, would be an abominable and highly provoking sin, and draw down upon himself and his countrymen the just indignation of Jehovah.

On the other hand, should the Israelites sacrifice, before the eyes of the Egyptians, (as they would doubtless be required to do,) some of the very animals which that people held sacred, and never suffered to be injured or slain, it would be regarded by them as an abominable outrage, and excite them to put to death those who could be guilty of it. No; there was no alternative. "We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us."

"I will let you go," said the false-hearted monarch, "only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me."