at that place it is about two-thirds of the
width of the Jordan at the usual visiting-place for travellers.

Some of the party went bathing. We all had our several luncheons, some
smoked, all got into shady nooks by the water-side; and I, with my heart
full, lay meditating on the journey we had hitherto made.

At length I had been permitted by God's good providence to traverse the
territory of Moses and the chosen people antecedent to the writing of the
Pentateuch, when they were warring upon Ammon and Moab. How solemn are
the sensations derived from pondering upon periods of such very hoar
antiquity--a time when the deliverance at the Red Sea, the thunders of
Sinai, the rebellion of Korah and Dathan, the erection of the tabernacle,
and the death of Aaron, were still fresh in the memories of living
witnesses; and the manna was still their food from heaven,
notwithstanding the supplies from the cultivated country they were
passing through, (Josh. v. 12.) Elisha did well in after times on the
banks of Jordan, when he cried out, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?"
And we may exclaim, in contemplation of these marvellous events of the
still more remote ages, "Where is the Lord God of Moses, who with a
mighty hand and stretched-out arm"--"redeemed His people from their
enemies; for His mercy endureth for ever!" Nations and generations may
rise and pass away; phases of dominion and civilisation may vary under
Assyrian, Egyptian, Hellenic, and Roman forms, or under our modern
modifications; yet all this is transitory. The God of creation,
providence, and grace, He lives and abides for ever. His power is still
great as in the days of old, His wisdom unsearchable, and His goodness
infinite. Ay, and this dispenser of kingdoms is also the guide of the
humble in heart, and He cares for the smallest concerns of individual
persons who rest upon Him.

Strengthened by these and similar reflections, with ardent aspirations
for the future, I rose up and pursued my journey, as Bunyan's pilgrim
might have done, under the heartfelt assurance that "happy is he that
hath the God of _Jacob_ for his help."

We were now leaving behind us much of the Old Testament country--not
exclusively that of the Mosaic era, but the land which had been trodden
by the patriarchs Abraham and Israel on their several removals from
Padan-aram to Canaan. But, while looking back upon the grand landscape
outline with an intense degree of interest, it may be