the new orders which had lately been issued, and that the task-masters had become more severe in their demands than even Pharaoh himself intended. Alas! they soon found that this was far from being the case. The stern reply of the tyrant quite undeceived them, "Ye are idle, ye are idle : therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks."

They saw they had nothing to expect from their oppressor but the unqualified enforcement of his rigid demands. Their case seemed to be hopeless. Sad and desponding, as they came out from the presence of the king, they met Moses and Aaron, and, giving vent to their feelings, they unkindly accused these servants of God of being the cause of their more aggravated sufferings by the steps which they had taken. Ye have put a sword, said they, in the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians to slay us. The Lord look upon you, and judge.

This was a harsh and unmerited rebuke. Moses felt it deeply. He sympathized with his afflicted countrymen. In endeavoring to release them from bondage by appearing before Pharaoh, he had but acted in obedience to the divine command. He could not reproach himself for what he had done, nor feel that he at all deserved reproof from others Still the way of deliverance seemed completely hedged up. What was to become of himself and his people? Thus to witness their sufferings, and, at the same time, bear their reproaches, was enough to sink him down, together with them, into a hopeless despondency. In the anguish of his spirit, he poured out his complaints before the Lord in a way which showed that his former fearfulness could too easily again take possession of his breast; and that his faith in the divine power and promises needed additional confirmation. This is the more to be wondered at, as God had already made it known to him, that Pharaoh would not at first yield to the demand to let the Israelites go. "Wherefore," said Moses, "hast thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all."

As before, God still bears with the distrustful spirit of his servant, and condescends to afford a new assurance to his faith. "Now shalt thou see," said he, "what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand," (in the sudden exercise of his kingly power, and with great urgency,) "shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land."

To show the sure foundation on which the fulfilment of this promise rested, the divine communication to Moses was continued in the following solemn and impressive language: "I am Jehovah : I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them." They did not understand the full import and affecting significancy of this appellation. Denoting, as it does, the eternal existence of God, in connection with his unchangeable truth and omnipotence, it leads the mind to consider his ability and faithfulness in giving being to his promises by their actual and complete fulfilment. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had received these promises, and believed in them, but had not witnessed their accomplishment. Now, the time had come, when God was to be more fully known, and his character more strikingly developed, by the august name JEHOVAH, in the carrying into effect, in the giving existence to, what he had before engaged to perform.

"I am Jehovah : I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to ine for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am Jehovah."

This solemn pledge on the part of the Almighty to deliver the Israelites from their cruel bondage, inspired Moses with new hopes and resolution of soul. He hastened to his countrymen, that he might infuse into their drooping spirits the reviving confidence which had raised his own. He made known to them the divine message. "But they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage." To the degradation and ignorance into which they had been reduced, and the sad despondency of their souls under the accumulated oppression of Pharaoh and his people, was added a criminal want of faith in the character and promises of God. After all that had been done both for them and their ancestors, and the late attestations which Moses had afforded, by the miracles which he wrought, of the intended and speedy interposition of the Almighty in their behalf, it was inexcusable in them thus to disregard and distrust his repeated and highly encouraging message.

In conferring the great favors which he did upon such a people, and in selecting them from all the rest of mankind, as a peculiar nation, to be under his special care; to preserve the only true religion and worship; and to prepare the way for the coming of the Saviour from among them; God had several important ends in view. He would show, in doing this, the faithfulness with which he kept the promises that he had made to their pious ancestors. He would make illustrious the wonderful interpositions of his providence in their behalf, which were the more remarkable and striking when compared with the ignorance, degradation, and desponding helplessness that rendered them so incapable of effecting their own deliverance. He would manifest the sovereignty of his grace in thus saving a stupid, refractory, and unbelieving people; display his abundant mercy; and show that he can rescue those who have no claim upon his favor or forbearance.

Ah! who is there that has any claim upon his favor or forbearance? Who is there that has not treated his message with disregard and unbelief? Who is there that does not need to be the object of his mere sovereign grace, as much as did the Israelites of old ?

How is it with you, my young friend, in this respect? God has given a message to you. It is the