And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

"And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord tighteth for them against the Egyptians.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians; and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses."

TITUS BEFORE JERUSALEM.

Christ, when he was upon earth, admonished his countrymen to submit to the political circumstances in which they were placed. "Render," said he, "to Cæsar, the things that are Cæsar's." The Roman Emperor's title was Cæsar. Our Saviour's exhortation amounted to this :—Pay the taxes imposed upon you, and conform patiently to oppressions which you cannot remove. But he knew that to them his preaching was vain. They knew not what belonged to their peace, and Jesus foresaw that they would at last provoke the severest punishment which the Roman power could inflict. He wept over Jerusalem, and as he fixed his eyes upon the great temple of the Jews, declared that of it not one stone should remain upon another.

During forty years which succeeded this prophecy, the Roman Emperor and the provincials of Judea kept up mutual ill-will, and frequent hostility, till the Emperor Vespasian sent a powerful army under his son Titus against this devoted city. Titus lamented the necessity he was under to destroy Jerusalem, for he acted under the Emperor's orders; which were, if the Jews would not peaceably submit to the Roman arms, to take possession of their city at any price of severity and destruction.

Mr. Milman fancies Titus, while his forces were in a state of preparation for the attack of Jerusalem, to survey the city, and to express at once his admiration of her beauty and splendour, and his deep regret that his painful duty was to destroy all the art and majesty of so fair a scene.

66

It must be !
And yet it moves me, Romans! it confounds
The counsel of my firm philosophy,

That ruin's merciless ploughshare must pass o'er,
And barren salt be sowed on yon proud city.
As on our olive-crowned hill we stand,
Where Kedron at our feet its scanty waters
Distils from stone to stone with gentle motion.
As through a valley sacred to sweet peace,
How boldly doth it front us! how majestically!
Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill side

Is hung with marble fabrics, line o'er line,
Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer
To the blue heavens.

Here bright and sumptuous palaces,

With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;
Here towers of war, that frown in massy strength;
While over all hangs the rich purple eve,

As conscious of its being her last farewell
Of light and glory to that faded city.

And, as our clouds of battle dust, and smoke
Are melted into air, behold the temple,
In undisturbed and lone serenity,

Finding itself a solemn sanctuary

In the profound of heaven!

It stands before us

A mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles !
The very sun as though he worshipped there,
Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs :

And down the long and branching porticoes,

On every flower sculptured capital,
Glitters the homage of his parting beams.
By Hercules! the sight might almost win
The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."

Jerusalem was built upon two hills opposite to each other, and divided by a valley; the valley terminated at the fountain of Siloam. This fountain was celebrated for the sweetness and abundance of its waters, which flowed near the temple—Hence, Milton says,

Siloa's brook which flowed

Fast by the oracle of God.

The brook Kedron, or Cedron, separated Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, on which was Gethsemane, and the garden where Jesus prayed and suffered so bitterly.

JAVAN'S LAMENTATION.

Javan, a Christian soldier, after the siege of Jerusalem, thus deplores its destruction:

Oh! fair and favoured city, where of old
The balmy airs were rich with melody,
That led her pomp beneath the cloudless sky
In vestments flaming with the orient gold;
Her gold is dim, and mute her music's voice,
The Heathen o'er her perished pomp rejoice.

How stately then was every palm-decked street,
Down which the maidens danced with tinkling feet!
How proud the elders in the lofty gate!

How crowded all her nation's solemn feasts!
With white-robed Levites and high-mitred Priests;
How gorgeous all her Temple's sacred state!

Her street's are razed, her maidens sold for slaves,
Her gates thrown down, her elders in their graves;
Her feasts are holden 'mid the Gentile's scorn;
By stealth her Priesthood's holy garments worn;
And where her Temple crowned the glittering rock,
The wandering shepherd folds his evening flock.

ODE TO THE SAVIOUR.

-For thou wert born of woman! thou didst come,
Oh Holiest to this world of sin and gloom,
Not in thy dread omnipotent array,

And not by thunders strewed
Was thy tempestuous road;

Nor indignation burnt before thee on thy way.
But thee, a soft and naked child,
Thy mother undefined

In the rude manger laid to rest
From off her virgin breast.

The heavens were not commanded to prepare
A gorgeous canopy of golden air;

Nor stooped their lamps the enthroned fires on high :
A single silent star

Came wandering from afar,

Gliding unchecked and calm along the liquid sky;
The Eastern sages leading on

As at a kingly throne,

To lay their gold and odours sweet
Before thy infant feet.

The Earth and Ocean were not hushed to hear
Bright harmony from every starry sphere;
Nor at thy presence broke the voice of song
From all the cherub choirs,

And seraph's burning lyres,

Poured thro' the host of heaven the charmed clouds along-
One angel-troop the strain began,

Of all the race of man
By simple shepherds heard alone,

That soft Hosanna's tone.

And when thou didst depart, no car of flame

To bear thee hence in lambent radiance came;

Nor visible angels mourned with drooping plumes :

Nor didst thou mount on high

From fatal Calvary

With all thy own redeemed out bursting from their tombs. For thou didst bear a way from earth

But one of human birth,

The dying felon by thy side, to be

In Paradise with thee.

Nor o'er thy cross the clouds of vengeance brake ;
A little while the conscious earth did shake

At that foul deed by her fierce children done;
A few dim hours of day

The world in darkness lay;

Then basked in bright repose beneath the cloudless sun.
While thou didst sleep within the tomb,
Consenting to thy doom;

Ere yet the white-robed angel shone
Upon the sealed stone.

And when thou didst arise, thou didst not stand
With Devastation in thy red right hand,
Plaguing the guilty city's murderous crew;
But thou didst haste to meet

Thy mother's coming feet,

And bear the words of peace unto the faithful few.
Then calmly, slowly didst thou rise

Into thy native skies,
Thy human form dissolved on high
In its own radiance.

SAMUEL.

The first chapter of the first book of Samuel relates the domestic history of that venerable man's childhood. It describes his father's and mother's mutual affection, and the piety of Hannah. —Hannah prayed to God for this son, and promised that from his birth he should be set apart for the services of religion; and when God had answered her prayer, and given her the child, as soon as the young Samuel was old enough for the temple service, his mother accompanied him to the Lord's house, and presented him to Eli the high priest, saying, as she offered him," Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him; therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there." Mrs. Hemans has made an interesting picture of this affecting transaction.