developed and colonized the territory east of the Nile delta
including the Biblical land of Goshen. A contemporary inscription
also states that he founded near Pithum the house of Ramses, a city
with a royal residence and temples. Thus the inferences in the
first chapter of Exodus regarding the historical background are in
perfect accord with the facts now known from other sources
regarding the reign of Ramses II. In transforming the land of
Goshen into a cultivated, agricultural region the nomadic Hebrews
were naturally put to task work by the strong-handed ruler of
Egypt. That the Hebrews were restive under this tyranny was
natural, inevitable. Apparently their rebellious attitude also
increased the burden which was placed upon them. The memory of the
crushing Hyksos invasion, which meant the rule of Egypt by nomadic
invaders from Asia, was still fresh in the minds of the Egyptians.
They both looked down upon and feared the nomad immigrants on their
eastern border. In the light of these facts it is possible to
understand the motives which influenced Ramses II cruelly to
oppress the Hebrews. He endeavored, by forced labor and rigorous
peonage, not only to avail himself of their needed services, but
also to crush their spirit and by force to hold in subjection the
alarmingly large serf class which was found at this time in the
land of Egypt. Was any other procedure to be expected from a
despotic ruler of that land and day?

II.

THE MAKING OF A LOYAL PATRIOT.

The story of Moses' birth and early childhood is one of the most
interesting chapters in Biblical history. It is full of human and
dramatic interest. The great crisis in Moses' early manhood came
when he woke to a realization of his kinship with the despised and
oppressed serfs and an appreciation of the cruel injustice of which
they were the helpless victims. Was Moses justified in resisting
the Egyptian taskmaster? Are numbers essential to the rightness of
a cause? What right had Ramses II to demand forced labor from the
immigrants within his border? Was he justified in his method of
exacting tribute? Is peonage always disastrous not only to its
victims but also to the government imposing it?

Did Moses show himself a coward in fleeing from the land of Egypt?
Naturally he went to the land of Midian. The wilderness to the
east of Egypt had for centuries been the place of refuge for
Egyptian fugitives. From about 2000 B.C. there comes th