Snaring the Shy Birds. against them; their destruction seemed certain; but they cried and God helped. So when in the depths should we ever cry to God. It was when the lost son was famishing he yielded to a father's love; Peter, when sinking, cried, Lord, All Sunday-school work, but especially the mission part of it, requires tact and ingenuity. This experience from a young missionary of the American Sunday-school Union may be help-save; all other means had failed the ful to all winners of souls: "You would laugh to see me snare some of these shy ones,-those who mistrust I have an idea I am trying to convert the heathen (what heathen are, they don't know). In one place I turned a corn-sheller for a man over two hours. He was trying to feed and turn it alone. At another place I changed works with a woman who was trying to hold a six month old babe and churn at the same time. First I held the child awhile, and then she held him, and I churned. Again, I came at night to a farm-house, whose owner was cross and surly, just as he was going out to milk. I took a pail and milked one cow more than he did, paid him fifty cents for my supper, lodging and breakfast, and he came to Sunday-school the following Sabbath with a whole load." Learn. 1. That we should humbly confess our sins unto the Lord. If we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive. When Israel turned to the Lord He graciously helped them. So did the Ninevites We should forsake the sins we confess; we should rend our hearts and not our garments only. 2. That the prayers of the righteous prevail. Samuel prayed and the Lord heard. James 5: 16. The Bible is full of evidence that prayer is answeredAbram, for Ishmael and for Sodom; Lot, in reference to Zoar; Jacob, at the ford of Jabbok; Moses, for God's presence and against Amalek; Elijah, for drought, for fire, for rain; Hezekiah, for prolonged life; Jabez, for temporal and spiritual blessings; Daniel, confessing sin and praying; the blind man by the wayside; the thief on the cross; Peter in prison; and Paul and Silas in the jail at Philippi 3. That God in the darkest hour is often near at hand. The Philistines had long oppressed the children of Israel and had now come out in full force infirm woman who touched the hem of Jesus' robe. It is said the darkest hour is just before the dawn. 4. That we have all reason to erect an Ebenezer. For past mercies and manifold deliverances which have crowned our past lives, our health restored or the lives of dear friends spared. But especially can we all say, because He has saved me! Are we daily conscious of the help of God? IN an article in the New York Ledger the Rev. Dr. John Hall comes to this conclusion concerning mothers as the great educators. "Mothers are the great primary educators; and they have all too often no training for their work. Who can help them? where is the preventive force to be applied against these evils? We do not see how the public or the private schools can thoroughly reach the difficulty. But the mothers who are now bringing up their daughters can do something. Remember that accomplishments, graces, even money-making pursuits will be less important in the future happiness of their lives than simple, plain, prosaic capability as wives, mothers, house-keepers. Train them on this principle." A PATENT SERMON REGULATOR.A candidate for a vacant vicarage in England announces an invention of his own which may prove to be useful. It is a peculiar arrangement of the pulpit, with a clock to give warning. When at the end of a half hour the clock sounds an alarum, if the preacher does not conclude within three minutes, down comes the pulpit, with the parson and the rest of the appendages. DR. ARNOLD hit it when he made his remark about boys that professed their sentimental admiration of virtue: “I have seen enough of boys that loved God. Commend me now to boys that not only love God, but hate the devil." The Guardian. VOL. XXVII. NOVEMBER, 1875. Miriam, the Sister of Moses. BY THE EDITOR. In Old Testament history woman holds an inferior position. As sister and servant, wife and mother, she is spoken of, but seldom in more prominent relations. A few, like Jezebel, lord it with a tyrant's power over their husbands and their people. Others, like Esther, become the benefactors of millions. Three are honored with the prophetic office-Miriam, Deborah and Hulda. Then as now, the providence of God assigned to woman her appropriate sphere, for which nature and grace gave her special aptitudes; and no other. Only for a short time did Deborah judge God's people. (Judges iv. 5.) And when King Josiah discovered the books of the law, after they had been lost, he sent some of his chief servants to Hulda the prophetess, at Jerusalem, to learn the will and word of God concerning it. In one sense these three women are a type of a certain class, whose intelligence, piety and Christian activity, give them a beneficent influence and illustrious name. Amelia S. Sieveking, Elizabeth Fry, Florence Nightingale, and others, although the meekest of their sex, have swayed the sceptre of a self-denying, sympathizing charity, which has given them a praiseworthy reputation throughoat the civilized world. NO. 11. of three children, such as Aaron, Mo- Job, 1. The girlhood, of Miriam. In a retired village, on the banks of the Nile, was their humble home, if the abode of poor Hebrew slaves could be called such. Doubtless the father toiled at making brick and building pyramids, as did his brethren, and endured the cruel lash of his taskmasters with suppressed sighs. Miriam, a name of the same meaning as Mary in the New Testament, was the oldest of the three children. She must have been from ten to twelve years old, and Aaron about three, when Moses was born. To a pious Hebrew family the birth of a male child has ever been an occasion of great rejoicing. Before the birth of our Saviour this was even more the Miriam was born in the darkest pe- case than since. Yet the birth of Moses riod of Egyptian bondage. Her parents, brought great sorrow into the Hebrew Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of home. For every new-born male child Levi, were a godly couple. In the was marked and doomed to death. face of peril and death they clave to Female children were allowed to live. the God of their fathers. The parents | With the grief and anxiety of the pa rents, Miriam and Aaron sympathized. How could they bear to see their baby brother murdered! In the sacred privacy of their home, the three-year old Aaron with childish eagerness and curiosity listened to the fearful whispering consultations of the parents. And Miriam, verging towards womanhood, with pious zeal, stood ready to do her parents' bidding. Both doubtless had many anxious questions to ask; both prayed as pious Hebrew children were wont to pray when in trouble, and told God the grief that burdened their tender child-hearts. At length they decided as David did at a later day: "Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man." (2 Samuel xxiv. 14.) Thus too this godly couple, without knowing whither, or into whose hands their babe might drift, committed it to God with a child-like faith, that He would mercifully find a way for its deliverance. Only not let it fall into the hands of cruel men. The slayers of children were on the cruel hunt through the village and neighborhood. They could conceal the child no longer. They had vainly tried to do it for three months. The little ark is built, and most likely Miriam helped her father to gather the bulrushes: she too must have helped to weave and daub the little ship. And many a prayer and sigh must parents and children have woven into the network of the bark. And the kind Father in heaven heard and saw it all. Along the low flat banks of the Nile, where the land and the shallow water contend for the mastery, the shore is lined with tall flags or water plants. With gentle hands and prayerful hearts they put the little floating basket with its precious contents upon the water. Perhaps gently push it out of the flags into the current, and let a merciful Providence steer the bark down the stream, they knew not whither. A touching instance this is of child-like trust in our heavenly Father. How with bated breath their anxious hearts and tearful eyes must have followed the little boat as it floated down on the bosom of the river. The air is soft, balmy, and still. Naught but the slight waving of the flags and the rippling of the water against its frail side are heard, gently rocking the cradled child. These the only lullabies to quiet the babe: "The whispering reeds are all he hears, Sings him to sleep." 2. Strong though their faith be, the parents must through Miriam keep a watchful eye on the frail vessel as long as they can. She can loiter along the river's margin, and see whither the lazy current bears her brother. Perhaps, in some way the Lord may have need of her to save the child's life. A right helpful, heroic, obedient daughter we have here, for this is a dangerous mission for a girl of ten years; dangerous indeed for any one. Egypt is unsettled. The Hebrew children are hunted and slaughtered like wild beasts. No child of Abraham is safe. Yet this timid girl ventures on a lonely foot journey of five or ten miles, if possible to help to save her little brother. Her face is flushed with excitement, around which the long tresses of her black hair wave in unrestrained confusion. Now and then she pauses in her sad journey, as she listens whether the babe is crying; she hears her heart beat. The least sound makes her start. For it may be the signal of the child's death. The upsetting of the bark, a passing crocodile or blood-thirsty Egyptian child-murderer, would soon put an end to this frail life. Meanwhile Amram and Jochebed are at home, praying for both their children. Hour after hour the patient Miriam kept painful pace with the little voyager on the Nile. At length she approached the palace and the charming gardens of Pharaoh on the river bank. With trembling heart she nears the lovely spot. What if the cruel guards will discover the fugitive babe! Surely they would kill it. The murmur of soft voices, the sound of coming footsteps, startle her. A lady, dressed in richest robes, followed by her maidens, steps down to the river's brink. Who can it be? What if she should see the ark? and find the child? God can control the hearts of kings, and of their daughters. For this is the daughter of Egypt's cruel king. Inhuman as the father is, his daughter has a woman's tender heart. Surely an infant's smile or an infant's tear can touch the heart even of proud Pharaoh's daughter. She sees the tiny ark among the flags, and sends "her maids to fetch it." "And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children." What shall be done with it? She will not allow it to be slain. Among the curious group which the finding of the child gathered around her stood a bright-looking girl. No one suspected her of being the foundling's sister. Promptly she offers her services. As promptly they are accepted. The child must have a nurse. Miriam speedily brings her mother. The anxious mother not only gets her child back, but is well paid for nursing it. How can she suppresss her emotion, her tender grateful maternity, as she presses the rescued. babe afresh to her warm heart! The usefulness of a pious girl, affectionate and obedient to her parents, is here strikingly shown. But for her, Moses would in all probability have been nursed into a great heathen ruler mighty in deeds of evil. Had she not followed the ark, brought a nurse, and her and the child's mother at that, what then? No girl Miriam, no Moses to deliver the Hebrews, to write the Law, to give direction and shape to the moral code of the human race for four thousand years past, more than any mere man that has ever lived. Thus, through the agency of Miriam the current and course of history has received direction and character, the life of the first Law giver was saved and fitted for his high mission, the Church of God upheld and moulded through the mighty mind of this intellectual and moral chief, and the eternal welfare of hundreds of millions secured Thus a godly little girl may become a great apostle for good in her home and her Church. Little may she dream what a moral giant she is nursing as she dandles her baby brother on her knees, and teaches him to stammer hymn or a prayer. The sister of Neander was an humble, plain, retired woman, who in any other relation but a that of a sister to such a brother, might have been of little use in the world. Yet by her daily tender care for her brother, she became his co-worker-the guardian angel of the "father of modern Church History." To her the Church. is largely indebted for the unfading fruits of Neander's labors. A good girl in the Sunday-school may become the agent of great good. Her work may seem to be of trifling importance, whereas it is but the infancy of a great and far-reaching good. God can use even a child to tell a princess where to find a nurse for Moses-to find a minister in a Saviour. And a bad girl or boy may in like manner, become the occasion and cause of evil which may curse and blight millions yet unborn. “A pebble in a streamlet scant, Has turned the course of many a river, woman. Of eighty years of her life the Bible is silent. Moses was eighty years of age when he led the Hebrews out of Egypt-Miriam ninety. At such an age people now are frail and tottering, and neither disposed nor fitted for arduous work or perilous enterprizes. Moses, Aaron and Miriam seem to have been in the prime of life at what we would consider a very host crouch in timid fright along the old age. The Hebrew shore of the Red Sea. Before them are the deep waters, behind them Pharaoh's army. The people murmur. faith fails them. What can they do? 66 Stand still and see the salvation of the Their Lord." With a wave of his rod Moses opens a dry path through the sea. He and his host safely cross. From the opposite bank they see how Pharaoh's Horses and their proud riders, weapons pursuing army is engulfed by the sea. of war shivered, chariots with wheels fallen off, waving banners, prince and tumble pell-mell together in a common peasant, soldiers great and small, all wreck into a watery grave. Not by the Lord was the victory won. might nor by power, but by the arm of of Israel a song unto the Lord." "Then sang Moses and the children "And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her, with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." She and all the women singers sang the chorus; always at the end of the men's part would their's come in with melodious refrain. They danced, too. And that in the presence of all the people, and in connection with a religious service. Not a modern jig, polka or waltz, nor in the least degree looking in that way. To this day the women of Egypt have a religious dance, accompanied with singing, when the Nile begins to rise. For its rising promises to bring them a good harvest. It is a pagan counterfeit of a pious custom among the ancients. Strange singing and dancing mast you expect from an old lady of ninety years of age! This family were planted in the house of the Lord. Their's was a green old age. They were a hale, vigorous family, leading a pious, temperate life. Most likely Miriam's voice was then as clear and her step as nimble as those of many a lady of twenty. Think of this grand song of the grateful millions, in few and simple words, Moses leading the men, Miriam leading the women! This anthem, its poetry and music, was composed six hundred years before the blind Grecian bard swept his wondrous harp. Yet Homer sings to his contending profligate, fabulous deities, whilst the music of Moses, like a melodious trumpet blast, towers to the throne of God. The music and praise of the sanctuary needs the voices of both sexes. The stronger voice of man must blend with the softer voice of woman. Singing is as really a part of worship as praying. All should have their hymn-books, and take a part in it. Too often the men leave this part of worship to the ladies, and in some churches comparatively few of these sing. Good congregational singing cheers the pastor and the people, helps to render the religious services no less pleasant than profitable. 3. Miriam's Fall.-About fifty miles north of Mount Sinai is a narrow valley called Hazeroth. From the south you approach it through winding sand-valleys-sand-stone mountains at the side, and their bottom covered with vast heaps of shifting sand, like banks of granular snow. Here the Hebrews were encamped. Up to her old age Miriam had tenderly loved and faithfully obeyed her great brother. To lighten his burdens, at Jethro's suggestion, a number of captains or subordinate officers were appointed, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, of tens, who were to judge the people of their respective divisions. Possibly this arrangement may have weakened her authority somewhat, whatever that may have been. Aaron, although the older of the two, was inferior to his brother in mental and moral power, and had far less influence and prominence than Moses. Had he not been the brother of Moses, he scarcely would have become the first High Priest, and the father of a priestly family. Not long previous his two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, perished before his eyes, as a divine punishment for their seditious conduct. Strange that so soon after this severe lesson, Aaron should conspire with his sister against Moses. It was just before Moses had sent the spies to explore Canaan. The Hebrews were on tiptoe of expectation; for it was taken for granted that a few short months would bring them into full possession of the land flowing with milk and honey. What a mighty nation would they at once become! Who would be the great leaders in it? Now Moses is the great chief under God, exercising almost absolute power. The people all look to him. Although Aaron is the High Priest, he is a small man aside of his brother. Tradition says Miriam was married to Hur. Family pride and jealousy increased their sinful aspirings. Would not Moses and his family far out-top them and their's in the honors of place? And why should they? "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it." (Numbers xii. 1-2.) Both had taken prominent parts on different occasions. (Exodus v. 1, 7; x. 15-20.) So that their claim is not wholly without truth. |