P. But there came something more strange yet. Aaron and Moses looked on, and the king looked on, and the sorcerers looked on; and lo, again! the serpent of Aaron's rod pursued the other serpents, and devoured them, so that only Aaron's serpent was left: "Now!" thought Moses, "will you believe? Do you not see that God is mightier than all magicians?". But no! Pharaoh only believed that Aaron was a better magician than those of Egypt-his heart was hardened; he would not let the children of Israel go.

Once more, then, Moses returned from Pharaoh, and went to God for guidance. God said that he would show Pharaoh more of His power, also that He would make him feel His wrath; and accordingly God gave Moses power to perform new miracles. Thus armed, Moses and Aaron again stood before Pharaoh. They met him one morning, as he was going with all his servants to the banks of the great river Nile, and delivered to him their message, "Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me!" And when Pharaoh refused, Moses would, perhaps, say to him, "See the punishment which the mighty God sends! See what God will do to your great river, the Nile!"

Now, the Nile is a broad and beautiful river, and the Egyptians depend on it for their yearly harvest. I think I told you that if it did not overflow, and flood the land, the Egyptian harvests would fail.

W. They had failed, papa, for seven years in Joseph's time. You said that "the seven years of famine" were because the Nile did not overflow.

P. True, and you can imagine how those idolatrous people would reverence that river when they owed so much to it. Indeed, their reverence was so strong that they worshipped it. The Nile was one of the chief gods of the Egyptians, and they honoured it with feasts and sacrifices, and other acts of worship. So when Pharaoh heard what Moses said, I dare say he trembled a little; perhaps he would whisper to himself, "I hope that God will not hurt our river." The servants, too, who stood round Pharaoh, would stare at Moses; they would think, "What God do you come from? What God will dare to touch our most sacred Nile?"

Ion. I could have told them,-"The God that made the Nile."

P. But they did not know of God; and as they stood looking, Moses gave Aaron the command. Then Aaron slowly lifted up his wonderful rod, and smote the river; when, oh, how astonished were they! its

most holy water was changed into blood. They looked on the sight with horror! How could they drink such water! "But," they thought to themselves, "we will drink the water we have at home." Here, too, they were mistaken; they found that all the water, all in "their vessels of wood and vessels of stone," had become blood.

In the river Nile there were many beautiful fish, some of them were worshipped as gods; but these, and all other fish in the Nile died; so that the water stank.

You would think that now Pharaoh would submit to God; but no! it is said that he turned and went into his house, but he would not hearken to Moses, "neither did he set his heart to this also."

W. Did he send for the magicians again?

P. Yes; and the Egyptians procured other water by digging wells; then the magicians took some of this water, and caused it to look red. So Pharaoh again refused to obey God, and the water continued red for seven days.

Ion. I wonder that God did not kill Pharaoh.

P. God intended rather to show Pharaoh, and the children of Israel, and the people of Egypt, his great power. Moses was therefore told to go again to the king, and he did so.

Again Pharaoh listened to the message, and again he refused to obey God. Then, at the bidding of Moses, Aaron once more lifted his hand, and smote the river, and quickly there came up an abundance of frogs.

The frog was another of the Egyptian "gods," but, like their god the Nile, it now became a trouble to the people. Quickly the animals spread from the river, and from the other streams and canals, all over the land. There was no place without frogs. In every house, in the peasant's hut, in the king's palace, there were frogs. In every street; in the little lanes, and the great high roads, the ground was covered with frogs. There were all-sized frogs-some very small, which filled up the small places, and hid themselves in dark corners; while others perhaps were full-grown. How strangely they came on at the bidding of Moses!-in every street and house, in every room!

Ada. Were there any on the stairs?

P. Yes; the Egyptians could not walk up the steps of their houses without treading on a frog, for

Ada. How cold they must have felt to their feet!

P. Yes; but I was going to say, that in all places-in the dining

rooms; in the bed-chambers, and even in the beds; in the kitchens; in the kneading-troughs, where the dough was made; and in the ovens, where the bread was baked-in all these places there were so many frogs that the poor Egyptians did not know what to do.

Ion. I should have known what to do. I should have taken a broom, and have swept them all in a heap.

P. It would have been useless to try and get rid of the frogs, unless God wished it. I dare say the Egyptians had to learn this. I dare say they swept them into heaps, but the frogs would not remain so. It was of no use to kill them; other frogs came instead. All over the land the Egyptians were very tired of their god, the frog.

L. What did Pharaoh do then?

P. He was a stubborn king; he sent for the magicians again; and they imitated the miracle of God on a small scale. But there was one thing they could not do; they could do nothing to remove the animals. So Pharaoh began to feel troubled; he called for Moses and Aaron, and begged them to send the frogs away. He said this time, that if they would do so, he would allow the children of Israel to go and sacrifice.

Moses asked the king when he should pray to God to remove them, and Pharaoh said, "To-morrow." Accordingly Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and cried unto the Lord, and the Lord did according to the words of Moses.

On the morrow "the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields;" and the people "gathered them together upon heaps, and the land stank."

W. And then, I suppose, the children of Israel were allowed to leave Egypt.

P. I am sorry to tell you that they were not, and that Pharaoh acted a wicked part. He did not keep his promise; but as soon as the evil was gone, and he felt himself at ease, he "hardened his heart," and refused to let them depart.

Oh, it is a foolish thing always to break one's promise. It is not only very wicked, but, like all other wickedness, it leads to trouble.

Pharaoh did not know yet how great is the God he was trying to disobey. He did not know that he must obey at last, and by not keeping his word he only brought himself into greater trouble than before. You shall hear next week of the troubles that followed.

"WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?"

THY neighbour? It is he whom thou
Hast power to aid and bless,
Whose aching heart or burning brow
Thy soothing hand may press.

Thy neighbour? 'Tis the fainting poor,
Whose eye with want is dim,
Whom hunger sends from door to door-
Go thou and succour him.

Thy neighbour? 'Tis that weary man,
Whose years are at their brim.

Bent low with sickness, cares, and pain-
Go thou and comfort him.

Thy neighbour? 'Tis the heart bereft
Of every earthly gem;
Widow and orphan helpless left-

Go thou and shelter them.

Thy neighbour? Yonder toiling slave,
Fettered in thought and limb,
Whose hopes are all beyond the grave-
Go thou and ransom him.

Whene'er thou meet'st a human form
Less favoured than thine own,
Remember 'tis thy neighbour worm,
Thy brother, or thy son.

Oh, pass not, pass not heedless by ;
Perhaps thou canst redeem

The breaking heart from misery-
Go, share thy lot with him.

Luke x. 29.

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.

W. You told us last Sunday, papa, of two plagues which were sent to the Egyptians, because they would not let the children of Israel go into the wilderness. Why would not the Egyptians let them go? It was no business of theirs!

P. Ah, but those were different days from these. In our country, every man is free, and may go wherever he may choose; but it was not so with the Israelites; they were bondmen, or slaves; the Egyptians made great profit by their services, and they said to themselves, "If we let them go, they will never come back, and we shall have to pay other servants for their work."

You heard that Pharaoh refused to keep his promise after the plague. God therefore sent another punishment by Moses. Aaron stood up once more, with his wonderful rod.

This time he went forth not to smite the water, but the land. He lifted up his rod, and as it came down upon the earth there instantly arose great swarms of insects. These insects are said to have been lice; but the word which in the English bible is translated lice, is said by others to mean gnats or mosquitoes,* which is a much more likely meaning.

These gnats and mosquitoes were very common in Egypt, especially in the warm weather. But when Aaron lifted up his rod it was three months before the time when they generally came. The Egyptians had been accustomed to rest from the annoyance during the spring, and the sight of these insects at so early a period must have been very distressing to them. But when they observed the numbers of insects which came this time, their distress was increased. It is said that they were found in man and beast, and that all the dust of the land was changed into insects.

Pharaoh looked, and wondered, and was troubled, no doubt. But he did not believe that God had caused this miracle. "No," he thought, "my magicians can do the same thing; let them be brought." The magicians came, but this time they failed. They tried all kinds of enchantments and strange tricks, which no one but themselves under

* Kitto.