h the pillar of smoke; but
perceptibly it increases, and even while the eye is fixed it waxes
stronger and brighter, and quickly though gradually the smoke has
melted away, and a tall vivid flame of fire is in its place. Higher
and taller it aspires: its spiral flame waxes broader and broader,
ascends higher and higher, gleams brighter and brighter, till it
mingles in the very vault of heaven, with the beams of the setting sun
which bathe in crimson fire the summits of Sinai.

In the eastern sky the stars gleam brightly in the pure transparent
atmosphere; and ere long the moon casts pale radiant beams adown the
dark ravines, and utters her wondrous lore to the silent hills and the
gloomy waste. The sounds of toil are hushed; the weary labourer seeks
repose; the toil-worn wanderer is at rest: the murmuring sounds of
domestic life sink lower and lower; the breath of prayer becomes
fainter and fainter; the voice of praise, the evensong of Israel,
comes stealing through the calm of evening, and now dies softly away.
Nought is heard but the password of the sentinels; the far-off shriek
of the bat as it flaps its wings beneath the shadow of some fearful
precipice; or the scream of the eagle, which, wheeling round the lofty
summits of the mountain, closes in less and lesser circles, till, as
the last faint gleam of evening is lost in the dark horizon, it drops
into its eyrie.

The moon and the stars keep their eternal watch; the beacon-light of
God's immediate presence flames unchanged by time or chance. It may be
that the appointed earthly shepherd of that chosen flock passes the
still hours of night and solitude in communion with his God; but
silence is over the wilderness, and the children of Israel are at
rest.

CHAPTER IV.

NEEDLEWORK OF THE EGYPTIANS.

"How is thy glory, Egypt, pass'd away!
Weep, child of ruin, o'er thy humbled name!
The wreck alone that marks thy deep decay
Now tells the story of thy former fame!"

There can be little doubt that the Jewish maidens were beholden to
their residence in Egypt for that perfectness of finish in embroidery
which was displayed so worthily in the service of the Tabernacle.
Egypt was at this time the seat of science, of art, and learning; for
it was thought the highest summary which could be given of Moses'
acquirements to say that he was skilled in all the learning of the
Egyptians. By the researches of the curious, new proofs are still
bein