Israel," was probably the counsellor of the mothers and the instructress
of the daughters of her people; while between the sister and the
brothers there ever seems to have subsisted the most tender,
confidential friendship.

But, alas for imperfect woman! There was a time in which the dark
passions and malignant tempers of our evil nature so triumphed in the
hearts of Miriam and Aaron, that they arrayed themselves against Moses.
The dissension which troubled the camps of their leaders threatened to
spread and involve the multitude of Israel in all the evils of rebellion
and civil war.

During his exile, Moses had married the daughter of the priest of
Midian. The descendant of Abraham, Jethro was a worshipper of the God of
his fathers, and we have recorded proofs of his piety and wisdom. Yet
the marriage of Moses was not apparently in accordance with the views
either of his brother or sister. There is a selfish tenderness sometimes
exhibited, which leads the dependent mother or single sister to regard
with jealousy one who claims a closer tie, and Miriam may not have been
free from the infirmities of weaker natures. Yet the notices, slight as
they are, of the "Ethiopian" woman, perhaps impress few minds
favourably; and we cannot but feel that in herself she may not have been
all that the friends of the lawgiver of Israel could have wished in a
wife. Bred in the seclusion of the wilderness, she was probably
deficient both in the intelligence and the accomplishments which
distinguished Miriam. And Miriam and Aaron seem at last to have
cherished feelings of bitterness toward their sister-in-law, which were
fast extending to the brother himself.

They evidently disliked the foreigner. They may have compared the
toil-worn daughter of Midian with the high-bred maidens of Egypt, who in
former days would have welcomed the addresses of one numbered with the
princes of Egypt, or with the daughters of his own people, as offering
an alliance more worthy the ruler of Israel; and Miriam, elevated by the
distinction conferred upon her as the prophetess of Israel, conscious of
superiority in all feminine accomplishments, seems to have forgotten the
love of a sister and to have lost the humility befitting a woman.
Domestic bitterness was fast preparing the way for political
disaffection, and the dark clouds which had gathered around the tents of
the leaders threatened to burst upon the whole camp of Israel.

Then Jehovah himself inte