National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-03-15


series Of sermons on "The Marriage Ring"
the subject being "The Sisters Influence
Upon Her Brothers" The pastor first read
and expounded chapter in Exodus on the
crossing Of the Red sea, and spoke OF the
water on either side of the Israelites rs
"crystal palisades" The hymn sung was
Come thou fount OF every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace.
The text was Exodus II: 4-"And his
sister stood afar off to witness what would
be done to him." DR.. Talmage said;
Princess Thermutis, daughter of Pharaoh,
looking out through the lattice OF her
bathing house, on the banks Of the Nile,
saw curious boat on the river. 1t had
neither oar nor helm, and they would have
been useless anyhow. There was only one
passenger and that baby boy. But the
Mayfower that brought the Pilgrim fathers
to America carried not so precious load.
The boat vas made of the broad leaves of
papyrus, frightened together by bitumen.
Boats were sometimes made OF that ma
teIial, as we learn from Pllny and Horodo-
tus and Theophrastus. "kill all the Hebrew
children born,n had been Pharaoh's order
To save her boy Jochebed, the mother of
little Moses, had put him in that queer
boat and launched him. Ills sister Miriam
stood on the bank watching that precious
craft. She was far enough off not to draw
attention to the boat, but near enough to
offer protection. There she stands on the
bank, Miriam the poetess, Miriam the
quick-wtted, Miriam the faithful, though
very human, for in after time she became
so mad with that very brother for marrying
woman she did not like, that she made
great family row and was struck with
1eprosy.
Miriam was splendid sister, but had her
faults like all the rest of us. How carefully
she watched the boat containing her
brother, A strong wind might upset 1t.
The bufraloes often found there might, in
sudden plunge of thirst, sink it. Some
ravenous water fowl might swoop and pick
his eyes out with iron beak. Some croco-
die or hippopotamus crawling through the
ri shes might cranch the babe Miriam
watched and watched until Princess Their
NUTS, maiden ON each side OF her holding
palm leaves over her head to shelter her
from the sun, came down and entered her
bathing house. When from the lattice she
saw that boat she ordered It brought, and
when the leaves were pulled back from the
face Of the child and the boy looked up he
cried aloud, for he was hungry and
frightened, and would not even let the
princess take him. The infant would rather
stay hungry than to acknowledge any one
OF the court as mother. Now, Miriam, the
sister, incognito, no one suspecting her re-
lation to the child, leaps from the bank and
rushes down and offers to get anurse to
pacify the child. Consent is given, she
brings Jochebed, the baby's mother, incog
nito, not sure Of the court knowing that
she was the mother, and when Jochebed
arrived the child stopped crying, for its
fright was Gained and its hunger appeased.
You may admire Jochebed, the mother. and
all the ages may admire Moses, but | clap
my hands In applause at the behavior Of
Miriam, the faithful, brilliant, and strategic
sister.
"Go home" some one might have said to
Miriam. "Why risk yourself out there alone
on the banks of the Nile, breathing the
miasma and in danger of being attacked by
wild beast or ruflian; go home" No;
Miriam, the sister, most lovingly watched
and bravely defended Moses, the brother.
Is he worthy her care and courage? Oh,
yes; the sixty centuries Of the worlds his
Tory have never had so much involved In
the arrival Of any ship at any port as in the
landing Of that papyrus boat calked with
bitumen. Its one passenger was to be a
monarch In history. Lawyer, statesman,
politician, legislator, organizer, conqueror,
deliverer. He had such remarkable beauty
in childhood that Josephus says when he
was carried along the road people stopped
to gaze at him, and workmen would leave
their work to admire him. When the king
playfully put his crown upon this boy he
threw it OIL Indignantly and put his foot on
1t. The king, fearing that this might be a
sign that the child might yet take down
his crown, applied another test. According
TO the Jewish legend the king ordered two
bowls to be put before the child, one con-
tanning rubes and the other burning Goals.
And II he took the Goals he was to live and
II he took the rubies he was to die. For
some reason the child took one of the Goals
and put 1t In his mouth, so that his life was
spared, although 1t burned the tongue till
he was indstinct of utterance ever after.
Having come to manhood he spread open
the palms Of his hands In prayer, and the
Red sea parted to let two million five hun
bred thousand people escape. And he put
the palms of his hands together in prayer,
and the Red sea closed on a strangulated
host.
His life was unutterably grand; his burial
must be ON the same scale. God would lei
neither man nor saint nor archangel have
anything to do with weaving for him O
shroud or digging for him a grave. The
omnipotent God left His throne in heaven
one day, and II the question was asked
"Whither is the King of the Universe go
ingH" the answer was, ~ am going down &c
bury Moses" And the Lord took this
mightlest Of men to the top Of hill, and
the day was clear, and Moses ran his eye
over the magnificent range OF country
Here,the valley of Esdraelon, where the flna
battle of all nations is to be fought, ano
yonder the mountain Hermon and Lebanon
anu anu VI UuNGuJ uuIl wv
village of Bethlehem there, and the city Of
Jericho yonder, and the vast stretch o.
landscape that almost took the old law
giver's breath away as he looked at it. Ant
then, without pang, as learned from thu
statement that the eye OF Moses was un
dimmed and his natural force undated
God touched the great lawgiver's eyes, ant
they closed; and his lungs, and they ceased
and his heart, and 1t stopped; and com
manded, saying, 'To the skies, thou fun
mortal spiritv' And then one Divine hant
was put against the back Of Moses and thu
other hand against the pulseless breast ant
God laid him softly down on Mount Nebo
and then the lawgiver, lifted in the AL
mighty's arms, was carried to the opening
Of a cave and placed in crypt, and ont
stroke OF thed Divine hand smoothed th,
features into an everlasting calm. and
rock was rolled TO the door, and the ONLY
obsequies at which God did all the ofiicei
OF priest and undertaken and grave digger
and mourner were ended.
Oh, was not Miriam, the sister of Moses
doing good thing, an important thing,
glorious thing, when she watched the boa
woven Of river plants and made water
tight with asphaltum, carrying its on,
passenger Did she not put all the ages o
time and of n coming eternity under obli
cation when she defended her helpless
brother from the pers aquatic, reptilian
and rayenOusg She II was that brough
that wonderful babe and his mother to
gCtheT, so that he was reared to be the de
liyerer Of his nation, when otherwise, 1
saved at all from the rushes of the Nile, III
would have been only one more OF the God
defying Pharaohs, for Princess Thermutis o
the bathing house, would have inherited
the crown OF Egypt, and MS she had N,
child OF her own this adopted child woult
have come to coronation. Had there bee
10 Miriam there would have been no Moses
What garland for faithful sisterhood
For how many a lawgiver and how many
hero and how many dellverer aud hoy
many q saint are the world and the churcl
inlnLtnl To N u.nInLfIll lnIrinr. E..LLl.E..l