CHAPTER IV.

Men grow strong in action, but in solitude Their thoughts are ripened. Like one who cuts away The bridge on which he has walked in safety To the other side, so Moses cut off all retreat To Pharaoh’s throne, and did choose the calling Most hateful to an Egyptian; he became A shepherd, and led his flocks and herds amid The solitudes and wilds of Midian, where he Nursed in silent loneliness his earnest faith In God and a constant love for kindred, tribe And race. Years stole o’er him, but they took No atom from his strength, nor laid one heavy weight Upon his shoulders. The down upon his face Had ripened to a heavy beard; the fire That glowed within his youthful eye had deepened To a calm and steady light, and yet his heart Was just as faithful to his race as when he had Stood in Pharaoh’s courts and bade farewell Unto his daughter. There was a look of patient waiting on his face, A calm, grand patience, like one who had lifted Up his eyes to God and seen, with meekened face, The wings of some great destiny o’ershadowing All his life with strange and solemn glory. But the hour came when he must pass from thought To action,—when the hope of many years Must reach its grand fruition, and Israel’s Great deliverance dawn. It happened thus: One day, as Moses led his flocks, he saw A fertile spot skirted by desert sands,— A pleasant place for flocks and herds to nip The tender grass and rest within its shady nooks; And as he paused and turned, he saw a bush with fire Aglow; from root to stem a lambent flame Sent up its jets and sprays of purest light, And yet the bush, with leaves uncrisped, uncurled, Was just as green and fresh as if the breath Of early spring were kissing every leaf. Then Moses said I’ll turn aside to see This sight, and as he turned he heard a voice Bidding him lay his sandals by, for Lo! he Stood on holy ground. Then Moses bowed his head Upon his staff and spread his mantle o’er His face, lest he should see the dreadful majesty Of God; and there, upon that lonely spot, By Horeb’s mount, his shrinking hands received The burden of his God, which bade him go To Egypt’s guilty king, and bid him let The oppressed go free. Commissioned thus He gathered up his flocks and herds and sought The tents of Jethro, and said “I pray thee Let me go and see if yet my kindred live;” And Jethro bade him go in peace, nor sought To throw himself across the purpose of his soul. Yet there was a tender parting in that home; There were moistened eyes, and quivering lips, And lingering claspings of the parting hand, as Jethro And his daughters stood within the light of that Clear morn, and gave to Moses and his wife And sons their holy wishes and their sad farewells. For he had been a son and brother in that home Since first with manly courtesy he had filled The empty pails of Reuel’s daughters, and found A shelter ’neath his tent when flying from The wrath of Pharaoh. They journeyed on, Moses, Zipporah and sons, she looking back With tender love upon the home she had left, With all its precious memories crowding round Her heart, and he with eager eyes tracking His path across the desert, longing once more To see the long-lost faces of his distant home, The loving eyes so wont to sun him with their Welcome, and the aged hands that laid upon His youthful head their parting blessing. They Journeyed on till morning’s flush and noonday Splendor glided into the softened, mellowed Light of eve, and the purple mists were deep’ning On the cliffs and hills, when Horeb, dual Crowned, arose before him; and there he met His brother Aaron, sent by God to be His spokesman and to bear him company To Pharaoh. Tender and joyous was their greeting They talked of home and friends until the lighter Ripple of their thoughts in deeper channels flowed; And then they talked of Israel’s bondage, And the great deliverance about to dawn Upon the fortunes of their race; and Moses Told him of the burning bush, and how the message Of his God was trembling on his lips. And thus They talked until the risen moon had veiled The mount in soft and silvery light; and then They rested until morn, and rising up, refreshed From sleep, pursued their way until they reached The land of Goshen, and gathered up the elders Of their race, and told them of the message Of their Father’s God. Then eager lips caught up The words of hope and passed the joyful “news Around, and all the people bowed their heads And lifted up their hearts in thankfulness To God.” That same day Moses sought an audience with the king. He found Him on his throne surrounded by the princes Of his court, who bowed in lowly homage At his feet. And Pharaoh heard with curving lip And flushing cheek the message of the Hebrew’s God, Then asked in cold and scornful tones, “Has Israel a God, and if so where has he dwelt For ages? As the highest priest of Egypt I have prayed to Isis, and the Nile has Overflowed her banks and filled the land With plenty, but these poor slaves have cried unto Their God, then crept in want and sorrow To their graves. Surely Mizraim’s God is strong And Israel’s is weak; then wherefore should I heed his voice, or at his bidding break A single yoke?” Thus reasoned that proud king, And turned a deafened ear unto the words Of Moses and his brother, and yet he felt Strangely awed before their presence, because They stood as men who felt the grandeur Of their mission, and thought not of themselves, But of their message.