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wonder, then, that such multiplied temptations were often too powerful.

Yet you are not to suppose that they ever entirely forsook their own Omnipotent Sovereign: their error consisted in giving to the gods of the gentiles, together with Jehovah, that homage which was due to him alone. Hence, they were ever ready to profess their allegiance, and promise amendment. When, therefore, their departing General reminded them of the obligation they were under, yet added, in order to place their sinful weakness in a forcible light-"if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve-but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,"-they cried out with one accord-" God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. He it is, that brought us up, and our fathers out of the house of bondage; and which did these great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way which he went-therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God." But this was a most interesting moment-Joshua was about to leave them to themselves : and in this last public interview with his charge, he was particularly desirous to make a lasting impression. He would not, therefore, easily accept of their proffered devotion. "Ye cannot (said he) serve the Lord-for he is an holy God-he is a jealous God: he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you after that he hath done you good." Still, however, full of ardour, they continued to declare-" Nay, but we will serve the Lord." Thus was the covenant to serve the Lord again ratified by the whole people of Israel. A record of the transaction was made by Joshua, and a

great stone set up for a memorial, under an oak near the sanctuary at Shiloh.

and was buried in his own Eleazer the Priest, the son time; and at the same pe

Soon after this Joshua died, territory, on Mount Ephraim. of Aaron, died also about this riod we are told the remains of Joseph were entombed in a piece of ground which Jacob his father had purchased from the natives when he returned from his long exile in Mesopotamia, and which had now fallen to the lot of Ephraim. (B. C. 1443.)

CHARLES. The title of this book I suppose implies its having been written by Joshua ?

MRS. M. It is so understood by some learned commentators, who have moreover endeavoured to establish their opinion by internal evidence---excepting, however, some passages which were evidently inserted by some other hand, in a subsequent period of time, particularly that which relates the death of Joshua. Other names of equal weight contend, that this portion of history was called the book of Joshua, because it narrates the exploits of that chief: and they also appeal to internal evidence that he was not the author-but conjecture rather-for none undertake to decide-that it was written by Eleazer, by Phinehas his son, or by the prophet Samuel, and some reduce its date still lower. But whoever was the author, it is agreed on all hands, that if not written chiefly by the great captain of the Israelites, it was compiled from authentic documents, left by Joshua himself, or the cotemporary priests, whose business it was to preserve the records of the nation.

JUDGES.

Mas. M. The Israelites, by the death of Joshua, being left without a visible leader to the conquest of Canaan, now repaired to the Tabernacle with the question,-“ Who shall go up first to fight with the Canaanites." They were answered, "Judah shall go up first." Judah was the fourth son of Jacob, and to him the natural preroga tives of Reuben the elder, seem to have been transferred. He was distinguished by his father's prophetic blessing, and from him were to come the Star and the Sceptre foretold by Balaam. The tribe of Judah was the most populous of the twelve, when the people were all numbered in the wilderness of Sinai by Moses and Aaron; and the district of Canaan, which fell to their lot, was amongst the most delightful of the land of promise.

It was beautifully variegated with fountains, hills, and plains, and fertile in corn, and wine, and pastures. Here Abraham and Isaac had sojourned, and here were the places most famous in sacred history, Jerusalem, Emmaus, Bethlehem, and others. In the territory of Judah the splendid temple of Solomon arose, and it was his privilege to preserve the pure religion of his fathers, when in after ages it was corrupted by many of the tribes: and, indeed, such was the ascendancy of this tribe, that we frequently

find the appellation of Judah, applied to the nation, in common with that of Israel.

The lot of Simeon lying next, and within that of Judah, the two portions occupying the whole south of Canaan, between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, they agreed to combine their forces, until both should be in possession of the territory assigned to them.

Canaan was at this time powerful in population and arms. It was governed by a great number of chiefs, with the pompous title of kings; although their respective dominions seem often to have been limited to a single city and its suburbs. One of these petty kings was found on the first expedition of Judah, in a place called Bezek; his troops were beaten, and himself taken, and sent to end his days in Jerusalem, a few miles distant from Bezek, after his thumbs and great toes had been cut off.

CHARLES. That was a singular infliction! how came the Israelites to perpetrate so useless a cruelty?

MRS. M. The confession of Adoni-bezek will at once answer your question and let you a little into the character of the Canaanites, and you will thereby be induced to acquiesce in the retributive justice which exterminated such monsters. Threescore and ten kings (said this tyrant) having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table; as I have done, so God hath requited me!" The Israelites had heard of these enormities, and therefore inflicted the same punishment on him.

In the vallies of Simeon and Judah were found a powerful people armed with chariots of iron, whom they could not at that time expel. In the portion of Caleb, who belonged to the favoured tribe, were the giants or men of extraor

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dinary strength and stature. To encourage his brethren to the formidable encounter, he proclaimed his intention of bestowing Acsah his daughter, on him who should succeed in taking one of their strong holds, called Kirjathsepher. Othniel, who afterwards became still more conspicuous for his valour and wisdom, obtained the prize.

Thus the Israelites by degrees, took possession of their inheritance. But indolence, the spontaneous fruit of prosperity-or compassion, in this instance not allowed, sometimes prevailed over duty. They spared many of the natives, whose abominable examples corrupted their manners, and enfeebled their hands. Conflicts with the neighbouring princes ensued, and war, with all its train of evils-desolation, famine, and captivity, was the conse

quence.

These unhappy circumstances, however, did not take place until long after the death of Joshua. The generation which his mighty prowess had led into Canaan, remembered his dying injunctions, and kept the statutes of Moses. But their children "forsook the Lord God of their fathers"—they intermarried with the inhabitants of the land, and erected altars to their fabled deities. Their morals and religion equally degenerating, the consciousness of virtue no longer inspired them with courage to resist the encroachments of the heathens, who still considering them as lawless invaders, were ever ready to seize an occasion of distressing them, so that in the emphatic language of the historian, "Whithersoever they went the hand of the Lord was against them for evil!” Yet the everlasting friend of Abraham and Isaac would not wholly abandon his people, notwithstanding their repeated provocations, but chastised them by the hands of their enemies,

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