MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES: A SACRED DRAMA. Let me assert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to man. Paradise Lost. PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. HEBREW WOMEN. JOCHEBED, Mother of Moses. MIRIAM, his sister, a Prophetess. EGYPTIANS. The PRINCESS, king Pharaoh's daughter MELITA; and other attendants. Scene. On the banks of the Nile. The subject is taken from the second chapter of the Book of Exodus. MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES. PART I. JOCHEBED, MIRIAM. Joch. WHY was my prayer accepted? why did In anger hear me, when I ask'd a son? Of thy sad daughters! -Why did God's own hand Thou great mysterious Power, who hast involv'd Teach me to trace this maze of Providence: Joch. My son! my son! I cannot speak the rest. Can only know my pangs! none else can guess them. A mother's sorrows cannot be conceiv'd But by a mother.-Would I were not one! Mir. With earnest prayers thou didst request this son, And Heaven has granted him. Joch. Too well thou knowst, my child, the stern decree Of Egypt's cruel king, hard-hearted Pharaoh ; 66 That every male, of Hebrew mother born, "Must die.' Oh! do I live to tell it thee? Must die a bloody death! My child, my son, My youngest born, my darling must be slain ! Mir. The helpless innocent! and must he die? Joch. No: if a mother's tears, a mother's prayers, A mother's fond precautions, can prevail, He shall not die. I have a thought, my Miriam, And sure the God of mercies who inspir'd, Will bless the secret purpose of my soul, To save his precious life. Mir. Hopest thou that PharaohJoch. I have no hope in Pharaoh, much in God; Much in the Rock of ages. Mir. Think, O think, What perils thou already hast incurr'd, And shun the greater which may yet remain. Three months, three dangerous months thou hast preserv❜d Thy infant's life, and in thy house conceal'd him! Should Pharaoh know! Joch. Oh! let the tyrant know, Yes, I will laud thy grace, and bless thy goodness Mir. And yet who knows, but the fell tyrant's rage May reach his precious life. Joch. I fear for him, In many lives; through many a nerve she feels; Nor does division weaken, nor the force Parental love. All other passions change Unfed by hope. A mother's fondness reigns Mir. But say what Heaven inspires to save thy son? Joch. Since the dear fatal morn which gave him birth, I have revolv'd in my distracted mind Each means to save his life: and many a thought |