let it be even given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee forgive the trespass of thy handmaid; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul; but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that He hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself; but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid."

The novelty of the situation into which circumstances had suddenly driven her, may partly account for the eloquence of Abigail upon this remarkable occasion. She was forced, by the exigencies of the case, to assume the character of protector to her husband and his household; for we have no reason to suppose that her general conduct and disposition were unfeminine or bold. There was a mixture of simplicity and tact in her address which is very observable. She brought forward in her defence, nothing more than a few plain truths, and yet they were so aptly expressed, and with so much earnest entreaty, that no composition however studied could have been better calculated to effect the object she had in view. In this extremity she shewed herself a friend to her husband, for even the evil of his character, which she could not conceal, she admitted in such a way as to disarm David of his anger, and

lead him to treat Nabal's unwarrantable conduct with contempt, rather than inflict on him the chastisement he so richly deserved. This done, she avoided any further notice of him, and adroitly hastened to declare her ignorance of the arrival of David's messengers; then, as if laying the blame on herself, she thus excused her household, and desired that she alone might bear the weight of his just displeasure. At the same time proffering the required food which she had willingly brought for his acceptance. She also had recourse to an argument which was sure to tell upon a gracious heart. She reminded David of his standing before God, and urged the desirableness of his refraining from shedding blood which might well be spared; as in time to come he would never regret having stayed his hand from unnecessary slaughter, or not having revenged himself on an unworthy enemy. With prophetic voice