October 25

Deuteronomy xi.—8. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it;

9. And that ye may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give unto them, and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10. For the land whither thou goest in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; 11. But the land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven; 12. A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 14. That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain,

that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17. And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. 18. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20. And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house, and upon thy gates; 21. That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Egypt consists of a long, narrow valley, between two ridges of naked rock, which divide this valley from the desert, and of a delta or a fan-like deposit of alluvium, which widens out from Cairo to the shore of the Mediterranean. The Nile flows through the middle of the valley, and, below Cairo, divides into branches that spread over the delta. In Lower Egypt it seldom rains; in Upper Egypt, almost never. The yearly inundation from the rising of the Nile, when the tropical rains have swollen its sources, gives the first start to vegetation; but the water of the overflow is husbanded in canals and reservoirs, and from these is pumped up for irrigation by rude machines worked by the hand or the foot. Palestine, on the contrary, is a hilly country, with springs and streams that depend upon the stated rains, which fall chiefly from the beginning of November till towards April. Formerly the

land was much more fertile than it now is: the cutting-away of the forests and the neglect of tillage have given it a general aspect of barrenness; but enough of its natural fertility remains to justify the description of "a land that floweth with milk and honey."

Moses provided for a system of national education through the family: every child was to be taught to read and write; to be made acquainted with the history of his own country and of surrounding nations, and with the great national and religious law-book of the country. Parents were to be so imbued with the word of God, that this should give time to their daily conversation, and impress itself upon the very house. Only by such home-training can a nation be kept true to God.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 14, 29, 197.

Almighty God, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord! have mercy upon us miserable offenders, and, for Christ's sake, grant us grace to shun every evil way, and to live in all things unto the glory of thy holy name.

What shall we render unto thee, O thou Preserver of men! for thy goodness to this family; for the comforts of our home; for our means of education and enjoyment; for health and prosperity, and all the favors wherewith thou dost enrich our lives?

Oh, may we ever make to thee the glad return of grateful and loving hearts, and, as stewards of thy bounty, distribute freely to others the good we have freely received! We beseech thee, O Lord! have mercy upon our land: preserve us from faction, violence, and misrule; from luxury and impiety; from neglect of thy Word and thy day. Give peace, O Lord! in our time; keep our rulers in thy fear, and save the nation from its sins. We commend unto thy mercy all who are in poverty or distress, in sickness or trouble; we pray for all who are in ignorance, error, or sin, that thou wouldst graciously enlighten and save them. Purify and exalt thy Church, and make all thy people perfect to do thy will. Perfect thy will in us, O Lord! and sanctify and save us for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.