into account. These were, probably, foreign captives, who, labouring in Egypt as fellowbondmen with the Hebrews, took the opportunity, for the sake of their liberty, of leaving the country with them; there seem also to have been many native Egyptians of the poorer sort, who thought they saw in this movement an opportunity of bettering their condition. From the trouble this "mixed multitude" afterwards gave to Moses, it is doubtful that it was actuated by any higher objects than we have assigned; and there is good reason to suppose, that he would very willingly have dispensed with its presence.

Ver. 40-51. This departure is described as having taken place after a sojourn in Egypt of 430 years. It had, however, only been 215 years since Jacob went down into Egypt, just half the period that seems to be here assigned. It is, therefore, usually understood, that the date originates in the declaration made to Abraham, (Genesis xv. 13,) that his posterity should be afflicted four hundred years "in a land that was not theirs ;" and includes, therefore, both their sojourn in Canaan and in Egypt, as strangers in countries not their own.

"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;"- a Lamb without blemish, and without spot." In this last circumstance, and in the facts that the blood of the paschal lamb was to be sprinkled on every door as a sign and pledge of safety; that not a bone of its body was to be broken; and in various other details which have passed under our notice, the intelligent reader of the Gospel history will readily recognise manifest proofs of the wonderful correspondence between the type and the antitype, and will behold in the lamb of the passover a most distinct foreshadowing of Christ as the Redeemer of the world.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST A
MOTIVE TO DILIGENCE AND PER-
SEVERANCE.

THE resurrection of Christ is fitted to present powerful motives to diligence and perseverance in duty, amid all discouragements. It keeps before the mind the great fact, that Jesus is our Lord-the Lord of all. Of this the resurrection is the great evidence. Our Lord "both died and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living." "God hath given assurance unto all men," by the resurrection of Jesus, that he is the man by whom, during that day which reaches from the resurrection to the end of time, "He is to judge," or rule "the world." It is the Divine voice"Hear him-worship him-honour him as you honour me." It naturally calls up the thought of the Christian's fellowship with Christ in his resurrection, which the Apostle Paul employs as the grand motive to holy obedience. Planted in the likeness of his resurrection—walking in the newness of life

The remainder of the chapter looks back to the regulations regarding the passover, and directs that no unconverted foreigner should be admitted to partake of it; but that it was to be open to those foreigners who became proselytes to the faith of Abraham, although they could claim no descent from him. In the 46th verse we have the intimation, that not a bone of the paschal lamb was to be broken: showing, in another way, the fact already considered, that it was to be roasted whole. The distinctness of typical meaning involved in this and other details of this prominent and impressive ceremonial, may, on another occasion, be considered. It suffices now to indicate that the passover had a manifest typical intention, which was completely fulfilled when our Lord, at the very time of its celebration, suffered death upon the cross. It is this correspondence which, to the Christian, sheds the utmost lustre upon this ancient institution, and imparts the utmost interest in the contemplation of its incidents. The apostle, when he declares that "Christ our passover was sacrificed for us," has this clearly in view; and it is with reference to this that we are to interpret the frequent mention of Christ under the emblem of a And it animates by the thought, that, by LAMB. The paschal lamb represented his a constant continuance in well-doing,—by person; and it is thus that he is called "the"forgetting the things that are behind, reachLamb of God;"—"the Lamb that was slain ;" ing forth to those things which are before,”

they learn to "reckon themselves alive unto God, through Jesus Christ their Lord;" and, therefore, "suffer not sin to reign in their mortal bodies," but "yield themselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead." Being risen with Christ, they feel themselves both bound and inclined to "seek the things which are above, where Christ sitteth at God's right hand;" to set their affections on things that are above, and not on things that are on the earth; to "mortify their members that are on the earth," and to "crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts."

beamed on mortal eyes set amid the gloom and darkness of a tempest! The marriage party approach the dwelling. The hour of midnight has arrived, confusion prevails in the house, and the voice of wailing and sorrow mingles with the joyous notes of the bridesmaids. The bridegroom is dead! He was one of the first-born. Slain by an invisible hand, he has perished amid his joy! Let us leave the widowed bride in her tears. Near to the banks of the river stands a mansion of some note. It is the dwelling of an opulent Egyptian. In one of the windows, cast open to admit the cool and fragrant breeze of night, is seated a noble lady. A solitary lamp, whose rays sparkle in the waters below, hangs near her, and its light reveals that noble outline of features peculiar to a daughter of Thebes. Her dark eyes are suffused with tears; but they are tears of gladness; for she is a mother, and she is gazing with the ineffable love of a mother on her first-born. Radiant with health, a beautiful boy lies before her, wrapt in the soft sleep of infancy. It is not only her first-born, but her only son; and maternal love, more potent than Egyptian magicians, is presenting to her rapt

Wherefore this festivity? It is the natal day of the owner of the mansion, one of the princes of the land, upon whose hand the Pharaoh leans. A goodly company are met to usher in the propitious hour that beheld his birth. Reclining around the festal board, even the wise and the wary among them are labouring to forget the calamities, which, according to the word of the Lord God, uttered by Moses, had recently fallen upon their land. There were a few, indeed, from whose mind the present gladness could not remove the deep impression which the exertion of Divine power in the recent judgment had made. And amid the general hilarity might be seen faces expressing deep care, perplexity, and ill-foreboding; for it was not forgotten that another infliction, more tremendous than any that had yet fallen upon them, had been threatened by that same terrible word, whose predictions, however much derided when they were uttered, had never been uttered in vain. And now it is the midnight hour,-"the night of the Lord." Suddenly there is a cry of horror and dismay. The lordly owner of the mansion, the eldestborn of his family, has fallen back in his seat! Perhaps it is a feint. He is, it may be, over-imagination those gladdening scenes which a come by an excess of joy. No! look at his countenance. It is thy hand, O Azrael! angel of death! beneath whose pressure the noble Egyptian has fallen; for thy hand alone can thus overspread the features with the pallor of the tomb! And now another and another of the company, each the eldest in his father's house, is prostrated beneath the same invisible touch. Fatal hour! How is the gladness become mourning, and the shouts of merriment changed into the wailing of anguish! Let us leave them in their despair, and turn to another scene.

mother's heart deeply feels, and tenderly loves. As she looks forth upon the river, it would almost seem as if

"The water's calmness in her breast,

And smoothness on her brow, did rest." But the hour of midnight is drawing nigh, and an expression of anxiety gathers upon her countenance. She is not ignorant that a terrible threat has been uttered, and it occurs to her that the moment of its execution may be near. "I would," she murmurs to herself, "those children of Joseph were departed as they desire! My soul misgives me ! The Although the midnight hour is so near, words of that terrible man have never yet strains of joyful music are re-echoing through fallen to the ground! My child! my child! the almost deserted streets. It is a proces- if Osiris cannot, let the God of Moses save sion. A band of white-robed damsels are thee!" Hark! there is a cry of anguish ! passing cheerfully on. Each carries a lamp; She snatches up her son; but the angel of and their many lights, broken into a thou- death has swept over her dwelling, and the sand rays, are reflected from the silent spirit of her child is fled. The threat is acwaters. It is a marriage party. A company complished, her first-born is slain ! The of maidens are conducting the happy bride whole city, the whole land, is now aroused. from her father's dwelling to her future Every house is a scene of woe, anguish, and home. The bridegroom, who is waiting their dismay. The practitioners of the healing art approach, has already prepared the wedding find their skill utterly vain, and consternation feast, and lovely visions of future bliss pass is universal. Death has visited every family. in review before his delighted fancy, tingeing The destroyer has trodden alike the floor of the whole tenor of his future history with the cottage and the marble halls of the palace. the roseate hues of youth and hope. Alas! The prince has found no safety in his power; how often does the brightest sun that ever the peasant no protection in his obscurity. The

of their joy and homage. He then reiterated the message the angel had given, and pursued his way.

Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene had found Peter and John; and, excited by the report she brought, they both hurried off to the sepulchre. They ran; and John outstripping Peter, arrived soonest at the spot, and, stooping down, looked into the tomb, which he found to be indeed empty, but took notice of the grave-clothes lying apart and folded up. He did not enter: but when Peter came up, he, with his characteristic ardour, at once went in. John also then entered, and took particular notice of the circumstances; and, reflecting that any person stealing the body would scarcely have divested it of the graveclothes, or have disposed of them in the orderly manner he witnessed, or indeed have left them at all behind, he began to have some faint notion that Jesus might have risen from the dead. He says himself that he

what he could then believe, on the evidence before him, but this.

and at the sight of him the guards were struck with terror, and sunk like men dead to the ground. What took place in the sepulchre we know not; but, when soon after examined, there were no marks of confusion or haste; but, on the contrary, everything testified of deliberation and composure. The grave-cloth was folded up and laid apart; the head-napkin was also folded, and deposited in another place. The women who had come from Galilee had never lost sight of their Lord, from the time he was brought forth to be crucified until they noted the tomb in which he was laid. Their names were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome the mother of Zebedee's sons. Knowing the haste in which the body had been deposited, it was their intention to come early in the morning after the Sabbath, and dispose the body in a more orderly manner for its final rest. After the Sabbath had ended, at sunset, they employed the evening in the requisite preparations, including the purchase of spices and perfumes,-"believed;" and it is difficult to understand perhaps not being aware of the abundant provision made by Nicodemus in that respect. It was early dawn on Sunday morning when they set out; and as they went, it occurred to them that they would find an insuperable difficulty in the removal of the great stone that closed the sepulchre. But when they came to the spot, they observed with amazement that the stone had been already removed, and that the mouth of the sepulchre stood open. On perceiving this, Mary Magdalene, without further examination, concluded that the Lord's body had been stolen away; and ran with all haste back to the city, to inform Peter and John, leaving the other two at the sepulchre, into which they entered. They saw at once that the body of Jesus had disappeared; but they perceived also the angel, as a young man clothed in a long white garment, sitting on the right hand of the spot where the body had lain. They were naturally terrified; but the angel spoke to them gentle words, and told them of the object of their search, that "He is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him." The good angel knew that even this would be a satisfaction to those faithful women. He also gave them a message to the apostles-that Jesus would meet them when they returned to Galilee.

Peter and John then returned thoughtful to the city, wondering greatly at what they had witnessed; but Mary Magdalene, who had followed them back to the garden, remained there alone after they had departed, weeping before the sepulchre. In the midst of her tears, she stooped down, as John had done, and for the first time looked in; and then, to her amazement, she beheld two angels robed in white, sitting, one at the head and the other at the foot, where the body of Jesus had lain. To their question, why she wept, she answered, because her Lord's body had been removed, she knew not whither. After this, she turned slightly round, and perceived that there was a person standing alone behind her, whom, from his being there, she supposed to be the keeper of the garden. He also asked her why she wept; and she gave the same answer she had just given to the angels, except that she supposed he may have been engaged in the removal of the body she desired to recover. The Stranger then simply uttered, in well-known tones, her name, "Mary!" and the whole truth at once flashed upon her soul. She exclaims, "Rabboni!" as much as to say, My dearest Master! and, like the other women, fell at his feet, as if to embrace them As these two women were hastening back and render him her homage. But this he with gladdened hearts, Jesus himself met them, forbade, for some reason not very clear to us; saying, “All hail!" With gentle words, he for he had allowed it not long before to quieted their first alarm, and allowed them Mary and Salome. After this interview, to approach and embrace his feet, in testimony | Mary Magdalene hastened back to the city,