The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1913-07-26
Moses Request Refused
The Story.

Sweet are the uses of adversely,
Which, like the toad, ugly and
venomous,
Wears yet a preciosu jewel N his
head"
Shakespeare: AS You Like It..
A noble Roman stood wrapped in
his toga. gazing at his lovely mar
BILE villa as it disappeared in de-
vouring flames. A friend ventur-
ed to approach and proffer SYM
pathy The sententious reply was:
IF it had not persisted, | would
have persisted So we may say,
but for the misfortune of the Egyp-
tian bondage, Israel would have
persisted. The ugly and veno-
nous" experience of the brickyard
held a jewel, after all. The stream
of their national life was forced in
to a neew and uncongenial chan
mel. By choice and hereditary in
stinct they were used to the free
and tranquil manner of the nomad.
1t was a bitter transition from the
'1and of verdure" to the brickyard;
from driving their cattle to being
driven like cattle; from the easiest
of all vocations to the most labori-
Gus of all. No paraphrase can pos
sibly intensity the forceful phrase
ology of the original narrative. Pha-
raoh's object was defamation. Bal
lifts with hard hearts and bludge-
ons were at a premium. They af-
flicted with their burdens. There wa
ferocity (rigor) in their exactions.
They intended nothing else than to
break in pieces and crush the cap
tive race. They embittered their
lives. The tally of bricks required
was always waxing, though the ma
terial to make them steadily waned.
Affliction, sorrow, oppression, sigh
ing, grooming are oft recurring
words in this dismal chronicle of
slavery. This most prolonged and
irritating bondage was, however,
like the ak the very blow of which
sets free the pent-up fragrance of
the sandalwood. 1t was like the
rude trampling after which the
camomiIe emits its richest odor.
The first sweet use of Israel's ad-
versity in Egypt was to loosen the
hold which that country had obtain
ed upon the emigrant nation, and
to make them homesick for Canaan.
1t is probable that nothing short of
this terrible ordeal would have
been sufficient to uproot them from
Ia land neoyidence never intended
They shoald abide in permanently
Tie weird country exercised its
mystic spell even after they had
left it far behind them, and they
sighed for the onions and fleshpots
OF the Nile-land. Egypt, too, was
the fiery furnace where loose pop
ulation was fused into a compact
nationality. Nothing surpasses COM
mon suffering in accomplishing this
end. Their like pains and indigni-
ties made'th feel alike-hope and
aspire alike. And as SHARP frosts
nourish corn, so did the sharp afflic-
tons" of Israel in Egypt nourish
their graces. They were shut up
to- faith in Cod No eye pitied
them, no arm could deliver them
but~his. They were led to admit
the justice of Gods anger at their
manifold sins, and to repent of
them Their aspiration for their
divitely-promised rest in Canaan was
quickened thereby. When the great
assay was finished, God quenched
the furnace fires with the waters of
the Reds The new born nation,
christenef in cloud and sea, came
up out -of the depths singing an
tiphonally such a paean as earth
never heard before. To the praise
full acclaim of the male chorus, Il
will sing sunto the Lord, for He
hath triumphed -gloriously," the
female responded, "Sing We to the
Lord, for He hath triumphed glo-
riously."
The Teachers Lantern.
AS if to lend emphasis to the
prodigious multiplication of Israel
in Egypt, the. small beginning is care
fully4set fourth The census shows
seventy souls. But these fairly
"vegetate" and Spawn" until, in
the. fewest possible generations,
three millions of them fill the land.
Genesis and Exodus is the transit
ton from biography to history
from the quiet annals of patriarchal
life to the stirring chronicles of ma
tional crises. The silent years be-
tween Joseph and Moses resemble
those between Malachi and Jesus.
In this epoch Israel was busy learn
ing law, government, and mechanic
arts. They saw the incalculable ad-
vantages of organized society, and
readily adopted it when Providence
them form. They learn
ed the craft of the carpenter smith,
engraver, weaver, potter, dyer So
that IN the wilderness they were
able to create the famed tabernacle,
in the construction of which all
these arts were employed. The
Fund proves it's utility
by the discovery, the indubitable
of the treasure city
of Pithom, which M. Naville minute
~ describes. A bas-relief at The
hes most graphically represents the
whole process of brickmaking-the
bringing water from tank, digging
and mixing clay, molding bricks,c car
rying the same, and the taskmas-
tiers with feruie in hand. Explora-