ninhabited country, which lay between Egypt
and the land of Canaan. Pharaoh knew this, and to get revenge for the
way the Lord had compelled him to let them go he gathered a very large
army and pursued after them. Just at the time Pharaoh thought he had
them in his power, and when the whole camp of Israel trembled with
fear of being suddenly destroyed by the hosts of the Egyptians, the
Lord opened a passage for the children of Israel through the

RED SEA.

The Red Sea, at this place, had a very smooth bottom of sand, as has
been discovered since, although it is very deep, and perhaps twenty
miles across. The water stood like a wall on both sides of this
passage. Some of you may think this could not be. I will here relate
the substance of a conversation, which is said to have really taken
place between the first English minister to Siam, and the king of that
country. Siam is a very hot country in the south part of Asia. There
is never any winter, or even cool weather, in that country. So the
people there know nothing of ice, and even the king himself had never
heard of any such thing. The English minister told him many things
about England and other countries, and among other things referred to
the effect of cold upon water, that it makes it hard.

"You do not say," said the king, "that water gets _hard_ in your
country!" "Indeed I do," said the minister. "It sometimes gets so hard
all over the surface of broad rivers and lakes that men, and even
heavy beasts, may walk upon it with dry feet; and if your heavy
elephants were there, even _they_ could walk upon the hard water too."
"I have, thus far," replied the king, "been willing to listen to you,
and believe what you say; but now I _know you lie_."

So it may be with some who read or hear the story of the children of
Israel. They may think it all reasonable and fair enough, until they
come to the passage through the Red Sea: there faith stumbles and
falls. But we must never forget that all things, not self-contradictory,
are possible with God. It is just as possible and easy for him to
crystallize the billows of an ocean as to freeze a drop of dew on a
blade of grass. At the command of Moses they enter this avenue through
the deep, walled by the waves, and roofed by the sky. Surely no eyes
but theirs ever witnessed so sublime a sight.

"Water to right of them;
Water to left of them;
Water in front of them;"

while over their heads passed the cloud of Jeh