far away to "the utmost sea." Afterwards the great Moses died, and his funeral was singular and awful God buried him;-and his tomb issomewhere! Thus, within one brief year, died those illustrious three. So passes the glory of the world. And in such a year! Those tedious wanderings, and wearisome sojournings, that consumed so many of their precious days, were almost finished. Mysterious and awful providences had walked, like the footsteps of God, amid their latter years. Might not the clouds at last retire-and the thunderings die away-and, reposing their weary forms upon some green spot over amid those promised fields, might they not be permitted to see their sun sink cloudlessly to its settingand with their trembling feet to tread, if but once, the land promised to the ancient three, and where they lay buried? Hush, every murmur! He doeth all things well. Weep not for the hour when the aged righteous pass away to heaven. "Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Where lights and shades alternate dwell; Zipporah. We would fain give a passing tribute to her who was wife of the great Moses. But few words are said of her in the sacred record; and the holy man, who was commissioned to write of others, seems to have been directed to pen but a line or two of the companion of his life, and the mother of his children. The history of Moses' marriage bears a striking resemblance to that of his great ancestor, Jacob. As at forty years of age the latter was compelled to flee for his life from his native country, so Moses also, at the same age, and for the same object. As the one, in his pilgrimage, found, after long wanderings, a shepherdess, and helped to water her flock, and received the hospitalities of her father's house--so did the other. As, in the one instance, the fair shepherdess became the wife of the stranger, so in the other. And as, in the case of the more ancient pair, the good providence of God may have seemed to design the meeting and the alliance, may we not suppose that the same wise direction was concerned in the union of Moses and the Ethiopian maid? This great man, possessed of extensive learning and rare capacities-and a prince in the matter of his education and accomplishments, was not the one to contract a hasty and injudicious alliance; and it may be safely inferred, that the woman of his choice was more than ordinary in respect to her character and abilities. It will not be forgotten that she was the daughter of no ordinary manone who was capable, by his great wisdom, of advising and instructing his son-in-law concerning the government of the Israelites, and whose instructions were respected and followed, to the great relief and benefit, both of Moses and the numerous people under his charge. Nor will it be forgotten that this same man, so much respected by Moses, was a man of God. Being a descendant of Abraham by Keturah, he retained the knowledge of the true God, so specially and abundantly given to his illustrious ancestor; and knew how, at once, on hearing of the Divine goodness to his son-in-law and the Israelites, to bless the Lord who had delivered them from the Egyptians--while, in his character of priest, he offered up burnt-offerings and sacrifices in praise of Him whom he knew to be greater than all gods. Regarding, therefore, on the one hand, the character and capacity of her venerable father, and those, on the other hand, of the man who selected her as his companion and wife—we may, amid the silence of inspiration on the subject, infer for Zipporah an elevated place among women. And if but little is said or hinted of her excellences on the holy page, who shall say but the very fact of her relation to him who, by the Holy Ghost, was moved to write that page, may, in part, if not in whole, explain the omission? We have seen her in her youth a shepherdess, with her sisters, superintending their father's flock. On the arrival of Moses from Egypt, she, with the approbation of her father, became the wife of the exile, and the mother of two sons. When her husband received the Divine commission to return to Egypt, she, together with her children, accompanied him. The extraordinary incident related of their journey has been thought to reflect, more or less, upon the character of Zipporah. Yet our judgment should be kind touching a matter that is confessedly mysterious. Moses, a circumcised Israelite, would naturally desire to distinguish, by the rite of his nation, his own sons. His wife was of another family and nation, where the same rite was probably not observed. Under these circumstances, there might easily arise a strong objection to the bloody ceremony, as performed upon her children. To her influence the meek and gentle Moses may be supposed to have yielded, until God met him, and convinced him that further delay would be fatal. And when, under these stringent circumstances, she at last yielded, it may have been—it seems to have been-with an accompanying reproach against her husband, while an unbecoming gesture attended an unbecoming reflection upon his character as a husband and a man of goodness. Whether it was from the above-named incident, or in view of the solemn mission which, in connection with his brother, he was about to fulfill in Egypt; or whether it was from some other cause, that Moses directed Zipporah's temporary return, with their sons, to Midian, seems not to be well understood. She returned to her father, and remained with him during the dreadful judgments upon Pharaoh and his people—and until the arrival of her husband and the Israelites in the vicinity of Mount Sinai. Her father then accompanied her and her sons, as she came to join her husband in the wilderness, and to identify herself and her children with the fortunes of Moses and the nation of Israel. The meeting of Moses and Jethro, and the mutual greetings, communications, and rejoicings that followed, amply testify the pleasure of both parties on the occasion, and speak much for the mutual esteem and affection between the man of God and his beloved family. And if such was the state of affairs, then should all parties have been satisfied; and he who was laden down with the multiplied cares of his most arduous station, ought to have been left unmolested to partake of the consolations thus provi dentially proffered him, in the return and presence of his domestic circle. Not so thought Miriam and Aaron. They had previously only heard of their brother's wife; but now, upon her arrival in the camp—a stranger from another country than theirs-they complain of Moses because of "the |