were fully prepared to meet all the consequences which might ensue from their determination to defend their fellow citizens, and that they wanted neither the courage, the skill, nor the numbers, to do so.

When the messengers returned with this answer, the tribes which had sent them were so enraged, that they not only resolved to march immediately against Gibeah, but made a vow, also, that none of their tribes should thenceforth intermarry with the tribe of Benjamin. Preparatory to the execution of their resolution, they consulted the Divine oracle; not, however, to ascertain whether they should undertake the war, but simply to know which of the tribes should lead the van. The tribe of Judah being designated for this position, the combined forces immediately took the field, with an army of four hundred thousand men; while that of the Benjamites consisted of only twenty-six thousand regular troops, besides seven hundred slingers who were particularly distinguished for their skill as marksmen. The two armies met on a plain near Gibeah, and, in the battle which ensued, twenty-two thousand of the combined troops fell, while the loss of the Benjamites was comparatively trifling. Night intervening, the action was not, however, decisive; and the combined army, accordingly, drew up their forces on the following morning, and again offered the Benjamites battle. Elated with the success of the previous day, the latter now marched to the conflict with such intrepidity, and commenced the action so boldly, that the former were immediately thrown into confusion, and before they could rally their forces, eighteen thousand more of them were slain.

These two successive defeats spread such consternation through the whole of the combined army, that they immediately disbanded, repaired to Shiloh, and passed a whole

day in weeping and fasting, and in presenting burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord. Having thus properly humbled themselves before the Almighty, they again asked of God whether they should renew the attack, and were answered by the mouth of Phineas, the high-priest, that they should; and they were farther informed that they should now be successful. Animated by this encouragement, they at once sent against Gibeah an army of ten thousand choice troops; and, with an ambuscade, similar to that which Joshua used in the destruction of Ai, so thoroughly overthrew the Benjamites, that, of their whole tribe, only six hundred men escaped the general carnage. These fled to a remote part of the wilderness, and there sought security in the rock or fortress of Rim

mon.

When the combined tribes came to reflect upon the severity with which they had treated the Benjamites, and to recollect the rash vow they had made respecting intermarriages with them, they were so greatly distressed that they immediately repaired to Shiloh, and, prostrating themselves before the Ark of the Covenant, exclaimed, "O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?” On the following morning, they came at an unusually early hour, built an altar, and offered on it sacrifices to the Lord. Having done this, and having also resolved to recruit the fallen tribe, the next question was, to determine in what manner this should be done. Their vow was inviolate, and registered on high; and, therefore, recourse must be had to some other means than the giving to the fugitives their own daughters in marriage.

After much anxiety and deep reflection, the remembrance of a determination which they had formed at the commencement of the war, came to their minds; which

was, to put all to the sword who would not join the general league against the Benjamites. An investigation was, therefore, instituted, in order to ascertain whether any such could be found; when it appeared that the people of Jabesh-Gilead had not complied with the general requisition. Thither, accordingly, twelve thousand men were dispatched, with strict orders to put every man, woman, and child they should find in the city, to the sword, with the exception of such virgins as were then marriageable. These orders were but too faithfully executed; and, of marriagable virgins, four hundred were brought away from the city, and bestowed upon the Benjamites. Two hun dred of the small fragment of the tribe of Benjamin, which now caused so much solicitude, were still, however, unprovided for; and, that they also might be furnished with wives, an equal number of the young women who came up annually to dance at Shiloh, were seized and presented to them; and thus the Benjamites, though very few in number, were restored to their original position among their brethren of the other tribes. They now resumed the possession of their own country, and eventually so far increased, as to be little inferior, either in numhers or in wealth, to their former position.

SECTION III.

Israel oppressed by the King of Mesopotamia-OTHNIEL their Deliverer-His Administration-Israel Oppressed by the Moabites-Delivered by EHUD-The Rebellious Spirit of the People-SHAMGAR judges Israel-The Enterprise of DEBORAH and BARAK-The Successfu Administration of Deborah-A Dreadful Famine visits the LandThe Story of Naomi and Ruth-Boaz and Ruth the Grand-parents of David.

THE civil and intestine quarrels among the Israelites, to which we have just alluded. kept them, for a time, con

scious of their dependance upon their Maker; but these had no sooner been brought to a close, than the people again relapsed into their idolatrous and other vicious practices. This proneness to vice, evinced by them on all occasions, now so aggravated the Almighty, that he withdrew his Divine protection from them, and allowed them, as a just punishment for their sins, to fall under the oppressive yoke of their foreign enemies.

The first of these enemies that oppressed the Israelites, after they had lost the favor and protection of God, was Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. This monarch, having invaded their territories, made an easy conquest of the whole country, and imposed a burthensome tribute upon them, under the weight of which they groaned for eight tedious years. This state of servitude becoming continually more and more irksome to them, at length brought the Israelites to a proper sense and acknowledgment of their transgressions; and they, therefore, earnestly implored the Almighty to relieve them from the yoke of their oppres sors. To their earnest prayer, God was graciously pleased to listen; for their penitence awakened his compassion towards them, and "it repented the Lord because of their groanings, by reason of them that oppressed them, and vexed them."

The deliverer whom God, at this time, raised up for the Israelites, was OTHNIEL, the nephew and son-in-law of Caleb, the early companion of Joshua. This young hero had remarkably distinguished himself in the war which Caleb waged against the Canaanites to secure the possession of his inheritance; and now, under Divine direction, he summoned the people to arms, boldly marched against the king of Mesopotamia and dispatched him; and, having thus released the Israelites from their servitude, settled them in a state of independence, peace, and tranquillity.

During the forty years of prosperity which followed this great deliverance, Othniel governed the people, and was the first whom the Scriptures designate as the "Judges of Israel."

The mild and equitable administration of Othniel had no sooner been brought to a close by his death, than the Israelites began to neglect their duty to their God, and to disregard his laws and ordinances, as established by Moses. The profligacy amongst them which followed, being soon noticed by their enemies, Eglon, king of the Moabites, marched an army into their country, and, in a short time, reduced most of the tribes to a state of absolute vassalage. To secure his conquest, he soon after built a palace at Jericho, and, for eighteen years, caused the Israelites to groan under the severity of his exactions. At length, however, they became thoroughly sensible of their miserable condition; and, earnestly desirous of being released from it, they addressed themselves, in the most solemn manner, to the Almighty, beseeching him to deliver them from the state of bondage and oppression, which they had been compelled, so long, to endure. To this pathetic appeal, God was pleased favorably to listen; and he, accordingly, raised them up a deliverer, in the person of EHUD, of the tribe of Benjamin.

It had no sooner been intimated to Ehud that he was to become the leader of the Israelites, than he resolved to devise some plan to relieve his countrymen from Moabitish oppression. With this view, having first secured the appointment of messenger to carry to Eglon the annual tribute exacted from his nation, in the form of a present, he prepared a dagger, and concealed it under his outer garment, that, when brought into the presence of the king, he might assassinate him; for he well knew that his brethren would be better able to contend with the Moabites, if the latter were destitute of a leader, than if their