to punish, was so frequently and conspicuously displayed before them. It seems hardly possible to believe that any tribe, however rude, would commit so flagrant an act of folly, as that recorded against them in the matter of the golden calf, or plunge again and again into idolatry and vice, in spite of the numerous punishments to which, in consequence, they became subject.

There is, no doubt, a good deal here to excite our surprise ; but before we pronounce the facts either impossible, or hard to be received, let us look to occurrences, precisely similar in their nature, which are daily and hourly taking place among ourselves. The drunkard is repeatedly warned, not by his medical attendant only, but by personal experience, that if he persist in the pernicious habit to which he is addicted, his health and eventually his life must fall a sacrifice. He sees his affairs thrown into confusion, his family in poverty and distress, and he is himself, from time to time, the victim of violent remorse; yet this man, in the enlightened nineteenth century, possessed of an excellent understanding and a liberal education, runs headlong, against every imaginable inducement of conscience and feeling, into ruin. With such a fact staring us in the face, why should we hesitate to believe that a nation of illiterate barbarians, just emerged from the most degrading slavery, and vitiated in their moral not less than in their intellectual being, should, in despite of all the displays of God's power, to which they were witnesses, fall away, as often as a strong temptation occurred, from their allegiance to Jehovah. If it be urged, that such spectacles as those described by Moses, must have acted more powerfully than any restraints of conscience and reason, we answer, that taking into consideration the relative conditions of society, we entertain a directly opposite opinion. We are strongly disposed to believe, that the enlight ened and well-educated man who cannot be restrained from the commission of crime by the reproaches of his own heart, and the spectacle of his children's ruin, would not, even now, be cured of his folly, by a repetition of such a scene as occurred on Mount Sinai; and we entertain no doubt at all, that the scene in question produced upon the grovelling barbarians who witnessed it, a far less enduring, if not a less vivid effect, than one night of bitter self-upbraiding produces now upon the drunkard, to whom we have compared them.

One point only remains to be noticed, ere we bring this chapter to a close; we allude to the story of Baalam and his

speaking ass, with the consequences attendant on his visit to Balak's encampment.

Of the miracle of the speaking ass, we have no more to say than that it rests its title to credibility on precisely the same authority with the plagues of Egypt and the passage of the Red Sea. In our extreme self-complacence we are indeed disposed to think that the poor ass was but an unworthy instrument, in the hands of the Most High; whilst the faculty of speech seems so perfectly incompatible with the organic arrangement of the creature's parts, that our scepticism is almost involuntarily excited. But the latter disposition will cease to operate at once, if it be remembered that the ass here, like the pillar of cloud in the camp, was the mere shell, if we may so speak; and that the words, though issuing from the creature's mouth, were the offspring of Almighty volitions. The power which is able to create, may surely be admitted to be competent to the accomplishment of any minor operation; nor is it one whit more surprising that the ass should have conversed with Balaam, than that the serpent conversed with Eve in Paradise. Besides, it is not difficult to discover a motive for the display of this exercise of power under the peculiar circumstances of the case before us. Balaam was on his way for the avowed purpose of cursing those whom God had blessed, and God, by opening the mouth of an animal naturally dumb, and causing it to rebuke its master, taught the sorcerer that whatever his will might be, his power extended no further than Jehovah should sanction.

Of Balaam himself different opinions are held by different commentators; some supposing him to have belonged to the number of true prophets, such as Melchizedek, Job, &c., whom we find apart from the twelve tribes; others contending that he was a mere pretender to supernatural gifts, like the magicians or sorcerers in Egypt. We confess ourselves inlined decidedly to favour the latter opinion. His entire behaviour, indeed, as well in his own house as in the high place beside Balak, indicates, that though he was not ignorant of the existence of the God of Israel, nor indisposed to acknowledge his power, he was by no means an exclusive worshipper of him, as the Creator and Governor of the universe. His sacrifices were all offered upon altars sacred to Baal; they were arranged in the order to which Baal's devotees attended; and without a doubt he went apart with the expectation of receiving no divine communication, but merely in continuation of that system of deceit which he was accustomed to practise.

His blessings and prophecies were accordingly poured forth under the very same influence which granted speech to the ass; in other words, though sublime and of fixed accomplishment, they were purely involuntary. They relate, as the most competent judges have clearly shown, to the events to which we have referred them; and they have all, as far as time has permitted, been strictly fulfilled.

Note.-It will be seen that no notice has been taken, in the preceding pages, either of the personal history, or of the book received into our Canon, as proceeding from the pen of the patriarch Job. Two motives have directed us in the adoption of this course, either of which will, we presume, operate as a justification in the eyes of our readers. In the first place, the events recorded in that sublime poem, being in no degree connected with the history of the Bible, it would have been totally inconsistent with the plan which we had chalked out for ourselves, to have given of them, even a brief account. In the next place, the opinions which have been held respecting the nature of the book itself, as well as the era of the patriarch's trial, are so varied and so contradictory, that we feel by no means disposed to attempt the arduous task of determining among them. It is enough for us to know that Job was a real and not a fictitious person; that he was severely tried and found worthy; and that the book, which bears his name, as it is full of beauty and lessons of piety, has been admitted as canonical in all ages of the church; but whether it be an exact history, penned by himself, or a dramatic poem composed by somebody else, the learned are by no means agreed. Nor is the question one of any importance whatever.

CHAPTER XII.

Joshua assumes the guidance of the congregation.-Invades Canaan. His wars and general government.-Objections stated, and answered.

A. M. 3803 to 3829.-B. C. 1608 to 1582.

On the death of Moses, Joshua, by divine command, as sumed the chief direction of the affairs of Israel; and cheered by a promise of the same miraculous assistance which

had been afforded to his predecessor, made immediate dispositions to carry his arms into Canaan.

As a preparatory step towards the accomplishment of that great object, spies were sent out from the camp at Shittim, who, crossing the Jordan, bent their steps towards Jericho, a fortified town situated about ten miles from the western bank of the river. They reached the place in safety, and taking up their abode with a female publican, called Rahab, obtained from her much information relative to the temper and preparations of her countrymen. But whilst thus employed, intelligence was conveyed to them that their steps had been traced by the rulers of the city, and that armed men were approaching the house, for the purpose of apprehending them.

Had their hostess proved treacherous under such circumstances, their destruction would have been inevitable, because every avenue of escape was blocked up, and resistance wholly out of the question; but Rahab, either instigated by a divine impulse, or obeying the dictates of a disposition naturally humane, placed her own life in jeopardy, in order to preserve theirs. She concealed them under some flax, which was laid out to dry on the roof of her house, deceived their pursuers by a story of their pretended departure, and letting them down by a rope from her window after nightfall, placed them in safety beyond the city-wall. In return for so much kindness, the spies readily gave their pledge, that in the event of Jericho falling into the hands of the Israelites, Rahab, with her kindred, should be respected; and it was agreed between them that the same cord which had furnished them with the means of escape, should be hung out as a mark by which to distinguish Rahab's dwelling from others.

In the meanwhile Joshua had not been backward in removing every obstacle which seemed capable of standing in the way of a speedy commencement of hostilities. Calling together the heads of those tribes which had received their portion on the east of Jordan, he reminded them of their promise to assist their brethren in the subjugation of Canaan, and he was gratified by receiving a prompt assurance that they would by no means violate the engagement. This was scarcely done, when the spies, after lurking for three days among the mountains, came in with the joyful news that their enemies were already more than half defeated by their own terror: orders were accordingly issued that the army should be in readiness to move at a moment's warning, and

by dawn, on the following morning, the tents were struck, and the whole congregation was in march.

It was now the season of barley-harvest, which in Palestine and the countries adjacent, occurs early in spring, when the rivers, swollen by the melting of the snow in Libanus, and the falling of frequent showers, usually overflow their banks. The Jordan, not less than other streams, is subject to periodical floods, and the Israelites, on approaching it, found that it had not only spread its tide over a large portion of the lowlands, but that its current, at all times rapid, was increased into a torrent. As there was no ford here, nor any means at hand for the construction of temporary bridges, the obstacle thus presented to a further progress appeared to the people at large to be insurmountable, and they were the more confirmed in that idea in consequence of the directions which Joshua gave that the camp should be again pitched. But Joshua acted on this, as on other occasions, under the immediate guidance of Jehovah. It pleased God once more to exert his power visibly in favour of his people, and to lay before them one other remarkable proof that their successes arose not from their own valour or conduct, but entirely from his care and protection.

The halt which took place in the vicinity of the Jordan, lasted during three days; at the end of which time, the Israelites having solemnly sanctified themselves, were again put into motion. At the head of the column moved the priests, bearing the ark, whose feet no sooner touched the river, than its stream became divided, and they advanced in security to the very centre of the channel, where they halted. As long as the ark stood here, the waters from above rushed backwards, and rose up into heaps, as far as the town of Adam, whilst below, a space of sixteen or eighteen miles in extent, was left clear between this extraordinary wall, and the Dead Sea. Over that space the army of Israel marched; men, women, and children, sheep, cattle, and baggage, all passed in safety; but the passage was no sooner made good, and the last of the stragglers closed up, than the ark removed from the channel, and the river returned to its strength. The latter events, however, did not take place till after certain monuments had been erected, both in the river itself, and on the spot where the ark landed. Twelve stones were, by Joshua's directions, taken from the centre of the channel, and planted upon the Canaanitish side in the plain of Gilgal,