SERMON XII.

ON THE DUTY OF AFFORDING RELIGIOUS EDUCATION TO THE POOR.

EXODUS ii. 9, 10.

And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son.

AMONG the various transactions and events recorded in the Old Testament there is none more interesting or more important than this of which the text relates a part, respecting the birth and preservation of Moses. The infant here spoken of is no less a personage than the future leader and lawgiver of the Jews; the dispenser and founder, under God, of their religion and

civil polity; the author, through the same supreme and unerring influence, of the most authentic and ancient history in the world— that from which this account of his own birth is taken. The story is in some degree paralleled in its incidents, but greatly exceeded in consequence, by the account which is given in the New Testament of the birth and preservation of the Saviour of mankind. A dread of the increasing numbers of the children of Israel suggested to Pharaoh the barbarous policy of destroying all the males of that people as soon as they were born. It was an apprehension somewhat similar, of a power that should overthrow his own, that impelled Herod the king of Judea to seek, first the death of the child Jesus singly, and, failing in that attempt, then to command the destruction of the whole infant race under two years old, in the hope that the object of his jealousy would be comprehended in so wide a carnage. The warning voice of heaven directed Joseph to arise and take the young child Jesus, and flee with him into Egypt, and so rescue him from the danger which threatened

his life; and it was the voice of nature, which is alike the voice of God, speaking in a mother's bosom, that prescribed to her the course by which the infant Moses was likewise to be preserved. In both cases does a jealous tyrant seek the perpetuity of his own power by the destruction of an infant race, and in both cases is the specific object of the sanguinary measure eluded by parental zeal and solicitude: the two babes are alike reserved by Providence for the most high and important purposes; the one to lead forth God's chosen people from Egyptian bondage into a land of plenty and freedom; the other to draw the whole human race from the slavery of sin to the liberty of righteousness; each to become in his turn the propounder and minister of one or other of the great revelations of God to manthat of the law or of grace.

With such perils, then, were the birth and the infancy of these two children environed. The story of the miraculous preservation of Moses, which immediately precedes the text, is so interesting that I am inclined to repeat it here: His mother

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"conceived, and bare a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child "therein; and she laid it in the flags by "the river's brink. And his sister stood "afar off, to wit what would be done to "him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came "down to wash herself at the river; and "her maidens walked along by the river's

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side; and when she saw the ark among "the flags she sent her maid to fetch it. "And when she had opened it she saw the

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child, and, behold, the babe wept: and "she had compassion on him, and said, This "is one of the Hebrews' children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the "Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter "said to her, Go: and the maid went

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and called the child's mother." Then

follow the words of my text: "And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this

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7

"child away, and nurse it for me, and I will

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give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it "."

The mode in which I propose to treat this affecting little narrative is :

I. To draw from it a series of reflections on the nature of that singular provision which is made for the preservation of the human race, during its infancy, in the natural affection of parents: and—

II. I shall endeavour to show that, where the natural protectors of children are deficient in the means of properly bringing them up, and instructing them, the duty of supplying their places falls upon the other more affluent members of society.

1. The first thing that occurs to us in speaking of the natural affection of parents towards their children is the universality of the passion. Of this universality we have not far to look for the proofs: we are all of us ourselves the fruits of it. But let us cast our eyes and thoughts still further around us: let us embrace, if possible, in our con