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discovered who these people really were; men of Canaan, whom he ought to have utterly exterminated as idolaters, according to his covenant with God. The Israelites were very angry when they found that they had been thus outwitted; but, because of their oath, they spared the lives of the Gibeonites, who were compelled to give up their cities to Israel, and to become hewers of wood, and drawers of water to the whole congregation.

When the kings of the Amorites, who dwelt in the south of Canaan, heard what Gibeon had done, they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, one of the royal cities. So the king of Jerusalem called upon the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, saying, "Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel." With their united forces, they encamped before Gibeon, whose inhabitants implored help from the Israelites. Joshua went to their assistance, marching all night from Gilgal, and utterly routed those five kings and all their armies; upon whom, as they fled, "the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword." To give time to the Israelites to follow up their victory, at the prayer of Joshua, the moon was arrested in her course, and the sun stayed, "and hasted not to go down about a whole day."

The five kings hid themselves during the rout, in a cave at Makkedah, but Joshua had the mouth of the cave guarded until the pursuit was over, and then took them out, and put them to death. Beside these, he slew many other kings,

who came up against him from the south, and routed their armies, and took their cities and territories. "He smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded." He was master of all the south of Canaan.

And now the kings of the north leagued themselves together against him. They came with their chariots and their horsemen, and pitched themselves by "the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel." There Joshua fell upon them also, and utterly destroyed them, maiming their horses and burning their chariots. "So Joshua

took all that land" from Mount Seir unto Lebanon, that is to say, the north of Canaan; all their kings he took, and smote them and slew them. "There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel, that he might destroy them utterly, as the Lord commanded Moses." So Joshua and his people were at length masters and possessors of the promised land, "on the other side of Jordan, toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto Mount Hermon." Not that the Canaanites were wholly extirpated. Far from it: many tribes of them yet remained unvan❤ quished; it being so ordained by God in order that the Israelites might not grow sluggish and lose the discipline of war; and also that their faith in Jehovah might be proved. For he had commanded them to mix not at all with

idolatrous nations; but, as we shall read by and by, they were soon tempted to do so, and they suffered very severely for it, at the hands of those very Canaanites whom they ought to have wholly extirpated at first.

Two great objects remained yet to be accomplished; * first, the reading of the law in Mount Ebal, and secondly, the division of the land amongst the tribes. Opposite to Mount Ebal arose another craggy height,† Gerizim; between them lay a green and fertile valley, clothed with woods, and refreshed with streams of running water. Upon these two hills all the multitudes of Israel were gathered; six tribes standing upon one mountain and six upon the other, while Joshua, with the elders of the people, and the priests, stood around the ark in the valley between. An altar was built in Mount Ebal, as Moses had commanded; and, thus surrounded by the people, Joshua read to them all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses, which were responded to by turns from the different heights. The tribes stationed upon Mount Ebal answering Amen to the curses pronounced upon the breakers of the law; and those upon Mount Gerizim answering Amen to the blessings promised to the obedient. Nothing was left undone that Moses had enjoined. This was a public acknowledgment of their allegiance to the Almighty God, who had so marvellously guided them through the Desert, and put them in possession of the land promised to their fathers.

* Townsend and Horsley place the reading of the law here, after the close of chapter the eleventh. + Gerizim, see " Mr. Jowett."

INTERESTING FACTS IN INDIA.

IN lands far distant from each other, varied in climate, in language, and many other respects, there has been of late years manifested a remarkable agreement in one thing-namely, an earnest desire for the spiritual good of the Jews. It would be easy to illustrate this, by pointing to the contributions which have been sent for this object from New Zealand, Sierra Leone, &c. At pre

sent we confine our illustration to India.

In May, 1842, the Rev. G. H. Evans, British Chaplain at Secunderabad, in the Madras Presidency, wrote thus:

"I have great pleasure in sending you a small contribution from India, in furtherance of the blessed work of the Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews. I cannot deny myself mentioning the circumstance which gave rise to the collection, because I think it adds much to the interest of it, and it may stir up others 'to go and do likewise.' At the administration of the Lord's Supper at the church at this station a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find among the alms-money an offering of fifty rupees (about five pounds), with a line from the anonymous donor-For the Church of England Mission at Jerusalem;' and I was not a little gratified when I afterwards discovered that it came from a poor man, a private in the 1st Madras European Regiment, who was on the eve of retiring from the service, and returning to his native land. I never saw him since, as he left this for Madras about two days after. The rest of the money (altogether about 500 rupees) has been contributed by some Christian friends at this station, who feel a lively interest in the prosperity of

Zion, and who have been cheered with the recent tidings from England of a Christian Bishop going out from the Church of the Gentiles, to preach the pure Gospel of Christ once more in the land of Judah.

"May the Great Head of the Church soon make it manifest that the time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, is come; when also Jew and Gentile shall be one in Christ, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd!''

In 1843 the late lamented Bishop Alexander wrote from Jerusalem that he had received letters and contributions from India, and sent copies of two letters which had been written to him by Native Christians in India. Thus they who had been in early days idolaters, were taught, by that love which pitied them, to pity others. In one letter, the Native Catechist says:

"There is an interest felt by our Native Christian community at Madras, in what relates to the Jews and Jerusalem. We had an opportunity of speaking in our chapel at Black Town, on Wednesday, the 16th November, upon the prophecies relating to the restoration of the Jews; we are happy to say that the people seemed all completely roused to a sense of duty towards Israel and Jerusalem. Our countrymen (though exceedingly poor) and children, cheerfully came forward to contribute what they could afford for the use of the spiritual wants of the children of Israel, the proceeds of which (sixty-six rupees) we have the pleasure to forward to you through the Rev. J. Tucker, by the present overland mail.

"We beg you to remember us and our native congregation in your prayers."

The same post conveyed to the good Bishop a

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