THE WILDERNESS. 21

when the Lord had promised that they would be able
to subdue the land, it was doubting the truth of His
word to fancy that they could not do it.

Marianne. What did they m¢an, grandfather, when
they said that the land ate up its inhabitants 7

Grandfather. They might mean that the inhabitants
by their wars destroyed one another, or, it is more pro-
bable that a pestilence was raging at the time, and
instead of regarding it as providential, to lessen the
number of their enemies, they murmured at it as if it
were alwaysthere. And all the people wept that night,
and said, they wished they had stayed in Egypt or in
the wilderness; and they said to one another, “ Let us
make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”

Johnnie. What could they have done in Egypt, grand-
father ?

Grandfather. They did not know that themselves, I
daresay ; it was madness to think of going there; they
could not hope for mercy from the Egyptians, and
they could not expect the blessing of God upon an act
of disobedience. When Moses and Aaron heard this,
they fell on their faces before the assembled people, for
they were unable to speak, and might not have been
listened to even if they had spoken. Then Caleb and
Joshua, the two good spies, rent their clothes, and spoke
to the assembled people in these words :—“ The land
which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding
good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring
us into this land, and give it us—a land which floweth