That, drinking of thy choicest dew,
On Zion's hill, in beauty grew.
No! by the marvels of thine hand,
Thou wilt save thy chosen land!
By all thine ancient mercies shown,
By all our fathers' foes o'erthrown;
By the Egyptian's car-borne host,
Scattered on the Red Sea coast;
By that wide and bloodless slaughter
Underneath the drowning water.
Like us in utter helplessness,
In their last and worst distress-
On the sand and sea-weed lying,
Israel poured her doleful sighing;
While before the deep sea flow'd,
And behind fierce Egypt rode-
To their fathers' God they pray'd,
To the Lord of Hosts for aid.

On the margin of the flood
With lifted rod the Prophet stood;
And the summon'd east wind blew,
And aside it sternly threw

The gather'd waves, that took their stand
Like crystal rocks, on either hand,

Or walls of sea-green marble piled
Round some irregular city wild.
Then the light of morning lay
On the wonder-paved way,
Where the treasures of the deep
In their caves of coral sleep.
The profound abysses, where
Was never sound from upper air,
Rang with Israel's chanted words,
King of Kings! and Lord of Lords!
Then with bow and banner glancing,
On exulting Egypt came,

With her chosen horsemen prancing,
And her cars on wheels of flame,

In a rich and boastful ring,
All around her furious king.

But the Lord from out his cloud,

The Lord look'd down upon the proud ;
And the host drave heavily

Down the deep bosom of the sea.

With a quick and sudden swell
Prone the liquid ramparts fell;
Over horse, and over car,
Over every man of war,
Over Pharaoh's crown of gold
The loud thundering billows roll'd.
As the level waters spread

Down they sank, they sank like lead,
Down sank without a cry or groan.
And the morning sun, that shone
On myriads of bright-armed men,
Its meridian radiance then

Cast on a wide sea, heaving as of yore,
Against a silent, solitary shore.

This is a song of some Jews, who deplore the captivity of their nation, which they represent under the scripture figure which describes the Hebrew people as a vine, trodden down by the devastation of their enemies. The remembrance of God's mercies and promises always animated this unfortunate people; and in their deepest affliction they celebrate their deliverance from their Egyptian bondage.

"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

"And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled : and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this,

that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him; and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.

"And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

:

"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to-day for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward but lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them : And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses

stretched out his hand over the sea: and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 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 fighteth 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 then 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. Mr. Milman, the author of the Fall of Jerusalem, represents, according to history, that 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 the 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.

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