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Gilead from far, beheld the hostile scene,
While Jordan's peaceful current roll❜d between.

Thy patriot warriors, Zebulon, were they,
Who dared the battle that disastrous day!
Thy chiefs, too, Naphtali, were they who fought,
On Tabor's heights, they set their lives at nought.
Canaan's impious princes came from far,
Megiddo's waters saw the unrighteous war.
Vainly they strove the coursing stars can tell ;
They fought for Israel, when bold Sisera fell!
Kishon, that ancient stream, avenging roars,
And sweeps the invaders from his blood-stained shores.
Awake, my soul! thy mighty deeds rehearse,
But curse ye Meroz-said the angel—curse !
They came not to the battle of the Lord,
Nor in Jehovah's honour drew a sword.
Blessed beyond the lot of woman's fame
Be Heber's wife-illustrious her name!
The deadly implements her hands impel
And at her feet proud Sisera bowed-he fell!
Ah, hapless mother, thou enquirest in vain,
What direful cause his chariot-wheels detain ?
Her ladies answer-she herself replies,
While fearful visions in her bosom rise,
"Comes not my son in gorgeous robes array'd,
The victor's spoil, of curious texture made?
Do captive maids the conqu'rors' triumph grace,
The blooming daughters of that hated race ?”
As Sisera, be thine enemies, O Lord!
While those who love and trust thy holy word,
Shine like the sun, progressive in his strength,
And reach thy glorious mount of peace at length.

FANNY. Difficult as it is to reconcile our present notions with the conduct of Jael-or indeed to the partici

pation of women in warlike exploits at all, I must plume myself on Deborah. The appointment of a womau to the dignity of a ruler and a prophet, by unerring wisdom, is in favour of my opinion, that the mental powers of the sexes are naturally equal.

MRS. M. That is a question, my dear, which we can never determine until their natural powers are alike cultivated by education. So long as one and twenty years are unremittingly given to the improvement of the one, and not more than half that time to the other, and that besides in a desultory manner, it will be altogether unfair to estimate the minds of men and women by their subsequent conduct.

That the creator has separated their respective spheres of action by a line almost impassable, there ought to be no question, and perhaps the entire devotion of females to study for so many years, might be somewhat incompatible with their peculiar destination: still we may be allowed to contend, that a large portion of knowledge, the early and careful improvement of every talent, is necessary to qualify women for the useful discharge of those duties-as well as to sustain them, under the sufferings to which they are peculiarly liable. Neglected as they are, and unfurnished with adequate armour, they often meet the ills of life with surprising fortitude, and have even governed empires with ability. I cannot however gratify you with the elevation of another female besides Deborah in this period of sacred history. A female sovereign arose some centuries after in Israel, but we derive no honour from her character.

A peace of forty years succeeding to the victory of Barak, great prosperity blessed the land. Their granaries were filled with corn, and wine, and oil, and their pastures

offered a rich repast to the lawless tribes on their borders. The Midianites poured in upon them with immense herds of cattle and laid waste the whole south of Canaan. Their grain was cut up as soon as it appeared, or if perchance, a small portion was suffered to ripen, the harassed owners were obliged to conceal it in caves which they dug out of the mountains, and at length to fortify themselves with their scanty provisions in these wretched dens.

CHARLES. Why did the Israelites, who were always able to cope successfully with their enemies, submit to such cruelties ?

: MRS. M. The Israelites in this interval had returned to idolatry, to which they were ever prone in a season of repose. Vicious practices debase the whole soul, and render it unable to make any noble effort. When the Israelites fell into idolatry, they were always punished by an abject disposition to submit to their oppressors. And hus they did in this instance, until seven years of severe suffering had brought them to a sense of their criminality. “The angel of the Lord" then appeared to Gideon, a man of the house of Manasseh, whilst he threshed a little wheat in a secluded place that he might hide it from the Midianites. “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour,” was the reviving salutation of the bright messenger. But Gideon was not revived-the excessive sufferings of his people had impressed his mind with the sad persuasion that the posterity of Jacob was entirely forsaken by the power that had wrought such miracles for their fathers! Surely I will be with thee, continued the heavenly herald and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man." Still suspicious that the flattering vision might be but a delusive effort of his own misery to procure relief-he ventured

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to ask a sign that he was not imposed upon by his rising hope, but was really encouraged by a supernatural voice. The sign was granted, and the grateful Gideon immediately erected an altar on the spot, which the historian assures us, was yet to be seen at the time of his writing. CHARLES. Why do you use a term so specific when you say, "the angel of the Lord." Are we not told that the Lord employs angels innumerable as the ministers of his will?

MRS. M. When the article the is emphatically used, as it is in this place and many others, it is not to be ap plied to one of those ministering spirits, but to that august Personage, of whom it is said-" Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." By a comparison of various scriptures, it appears that the angel of the Lord, who, often spoke to the patriarchs, to Moses, and to Joshua, was the same uncreated being who led his church through the wilderness. Sometimes he is called the angel, or the messenger of the covenant, because he was the Mediator of the covenant between God and man. And this was He who now demonstrated his authority by a miracle, and inspired Gideon with courage to liberate his country. Entirely assured of divine aid in his patriotic undertaking, he took his servants the same night and demolished an altar of Baal, which his own father had erected, and cut down the grove that surrounded it. This resolute com→ mencement of his mission incensed the inhabitantsGideon was charged with the demolition of their idolatrous temple, and fiercely demanded of his father that he might be put to death! But Gideon had gone forth to arouse his countrymen-the war-trump had sounded, and the people were flocking by thousands to the standard of

Gideon! A second miracle being vouchsafed to confirm the confidence of the chosen leader, he went on to organize his army, and found himself at the head of two and thirty thousand men, whilst the Midianites, and their allies the Amalekites, stretched along the valley of Jezreel “like grasshoppers in multitude," and their camels so numerous, that they are compared to "the sands on the sea shore." The Israelites, above all people, were required to remember that they were under the immediate government of Jehovah, That they might not therefore attribute their success to their own prowess, Gideon was commanded to retain but three hundred of his adherents, and dismiss the rest to their homes. This little company he divided into three bands, and equipped every man with a trumpet in one hand, and a lamp concealed in a pitcher, in the other. Directing them to observe him carefully, and follow his example, he then descended into the valley, and stationed them on three sides of the hostile camp. It was night, and the Midianites had set their watch and gone to sleep. Suddenly, a loud blast from the trumpets of Gideon awakened them; and whilst they wondered whence the sound might proceed, the pitchers were all broken in an instant, and a blaze of light flashed upon their half-opened eyes. Terror succeeded to surprise, and the tremendous shout of," the sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” completed their consternation! Believing themselves attacked by a numerous army, and wildered in the darkness of midnight, they fled in confusion, slaying one another as they went. Careless of all but their lives, they left their camp full of gold and jewels-the gorgeous ornaments of their own persons and of their camels-to enrich the conquerors. Messengers were quickly dispatched to raise the surround

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