The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-11


Friday or Saturday. We are endeavoring to |
have him then deliver lecture on social re-
form and temperance, which may be on satur-
Dr. Hall then came forward and offered a fer
vent prayer, in which he invoked the blessings
of divine grace upon this nation and It's rulers,
Snd upon It's people, nSs Se maj Se and
good will and brotherhood amongst all nations
might be the prevailing spirit Of the time; that
the happiness OF mankind might Oe promoteo,
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
The speaker then announced as his text the
passage, from Exodus xiv, 10, reading as iol-
lows -
"speak unto me children Of LSraeI that they 90 for.
WUrd,n
The speaker commenced his discourse by mar
rating the incidents connected WIN tne depar-
ture Of the Israelites from the land OF bondage.
Pharaoh had hardened his heart, and retuseS W
let the people go, and the angel OF destruCtlon
smote the frst-born of all the land. Then tue
great men of Egypt were imperliled, ana they
were more eager now TO send away the captive
race than they had been to detain them. Pha-
raob sent to hurry forward the preparations Tor
departure, and the children of Israel in haste
gathered up what they possessed, and the Egyp.
taps freigbted them with their jewels to go for
ward with rapidity, and they hurried forward,
away from the land of bondage towards the
wilderness. They had now reached place Sa,
yond which they could not go without great
difficulty; IN fact 1t became q upr.stion for
their decision IN which direcb-n they should
60. Should, they turn in one direction, there
| were walled cltles' .nd these escaped slaves
would be quite r.nable to cope with the warlllSe
lnhapltanI'. of the land, who would certainly
resist puch aninvasion. Should they turn IN ano-
| tpcr direction, tnat would lead them into the
! wilderness, and Moses well knew how utterly
| impossible it would be to maintain such a host
! as that in such a wilderness. But in this din
Guilty the Lord was their guide. There was
marvellous manifestation, great pillar Of cloud
| by day and of fire by night preceded them IN
their march, and indicated to them where tney
should encamp, and when and whittier they
should march. But IN what direction did this
cloud guide them? Here were the mountains
impracticabe for the people to cross, and II they
had crossed those mountains 1t would only nave
brought them back to Egypt, and here was the
Red sea before them, which they could not
pass; and here was a narrow strip OF country
behind them where they might at once be
blocked up IN the rear. II seemed that a
trap had been laid for them, and that into
that trap they we're going. Pharaoh had
again hardened his heart; as soon as
they had gone he wanted them back again.
Tdings were brought to him that they had got
to the edge of the wilderness, and were pressing
on, and he eXulted that they had been brought
into the snare which he had prrposely lad ioT
them He gets ready his six hundred royal
chariots aud presses on after them; he closes IN
upon their rear, aud pushes them on towards
the sea; now he will bide his time, and either
destroy them at once take them captive or
starYe them into submission what were they
to do? There were the mountains which they
could not possibly climb; there was the sea
before them, barrier between them and safety.
They murmur: they go 10 Moses and complain,
Because there we're plaques IN Egypt hast thou
brought us here TO die In the wildernessW and
Moses said, "Fear not, stand still and see the
salvation of Cod" Moses, in this difficulty
sought divine direction; he asked the Lord to
guide and help them, and the direction of God
to Moses was this, "Speak unto the children of
Israel, that they so forward"
This is an extraordinary precept-go forward.
Certainly there were the mountains which they
could not Cross, and certainly. there, was Pha-
raoh in the rear; but-"Go forward !" How
: could they do that Before Moses had smote
the waters, before pathway had been made
2 through the sea, while these waters stu were
{ rolling in front of them the children of
Israel were commanded to go forward. How
could they go forward? Could they wade
those waters They were too deep. Gould
, they swim that sea 1t was too wide. Could
they sail over it? They had no ships. And
yet they were commanded to go forward. And
as they prepared to obey in spite Of an apparent
impossibility God, who issued that command
ment, interposed 10 help those who were willing
10 render Him obedience; the waters stood up
iU heaps on the right hand and on the LETT,
and disclosed the highway made right
through the sea, the waters being wall on
the right hand and on the left What an i'm
pressiye spectacle that must have beeu-the
mysterious glory OF the pillar OF hre upon those
waves riding beneath the hurricane which was
lashing them to fury and lifting their angry
crests upon the parapet of the watery wall as
if impatient OF control, aud eager to have that
again to their accustomed place IL would
have been no wonder il, under such circum-
stances, the Israeites might have hesitated to 20
forward. Was it not against all experience
Had any one before ever gone through such a
path? Could any philosopher or historian ever
say that such thing could be done? Was IT
not against all science? Was 1T not known that
water always seeks its own level? Was it not
going into the very face OF sure and certain de-
struclion? At any moment might not these
waters reunite Was it not madness to try 20
treacherous O channel? But the command $50
forward" still echoed in their ears. God had
spoken, it was theirs to obey; God had pro-
missed, it was theirs to rely. The way was un-
tried, but God had opened it; the pathway was
most perilous, but the commandment was most
clear, Speak unto the children OF Israel, that
they go foIWard.n
After noticing the miraculous character ol
this narrative and the various ways in which
skeptics had endeavored to interpret it and eX-
plain away its miraculous character, the speaker
continued
illustration. l shall first illustrate what should
be done by young men in cases OF skepticI5n NJ
There are many OF you who are prone to bC
sk optical. Some people have no skepticism
nor perhaps brains enough TO doubt about any
thing, but take everything for granted; bal
people who have brains, whenever anything
important is presented 10 them, look at al
things around about, and they see the Other
|, side of the question. Ii there is anything that
is calculated greatly TO excite their hopes they
see the possibility of falluse and are disposed tC
fear as well as to hope Is IT any wonder, there
fore, when so important matter as the saliva
| tiOn OF a soul is at stake, that people should
, | inquire and look all around them, that they
should have moments of skeptical doubts aud
, difficulty? Some Of those who have become
-. a NaNl - N1.lu A.