been commanded. It is said that, towards the close of his days," the Lord gave rest unta Israel from all their enemies round about them." When he felt his end approaching, he enume rated, the particulars of God's miraculous con duct towards the people; exhorted them in the most affectionate manner to pay a strict obedience to the divine laws; promised all the bles sings which Moses had formerly pronounced; and warned them of the dreadful consequences which would issue from rebellion. Perceiving that the propensity to worship the gods of the nations which they had subdued, began already to operate, he earnestly expostulates with them, on the folly of their conduct; and he strongly recommends resolution and consistency in the service of the true God, "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served, on the other side of the flood and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord; and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord; choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served, on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The people, under a momentary impulse of pious gratitude," answered and said, "God forbid

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that we should forsake the Lord; to serve other gods; for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people among whom we passed."* Joshua repeated his apprehensions of their future apostasy, and they reiterated their promises of fidelity.

At this happy period they seemed to have ac quired a consistency of character, and to have been deeply impressed with the importance of true religion. They were obedient and prosperous during the administration of Joshua, and his immediate successors. "The people served

the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the Elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel." But "when all the generation were gathered unto their fathers, and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel, the Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim; and they forsook the Lord God of their

*Joshua ch. xxiv. v. 14.

fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods; of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

Under the subsequent direction of their Judges they became extremely profligate. After some few efforts on the part of their leaders, some severe chastisements, transient penitence, and partial reformations, they sunk into the depth of human depravity. Forsaking the God of their fathers, and forsaken by him, they became, to a very great extent, pagans in their religious principles, and consequently in their morals. Their form of government from being a complete theocracy, sunk into a disorderly republic. As a republic cannot subsist in a flourishing state, without the most determined virtue, without a strong perception of duties as well as of rights, nothing but disorder and confusion could be expected from a populace, too ignorant to discern what is right, and abounding with strong passions and propensities impelling them to follow every thing that was wrong. In vindication of this statement, we shall simply refer our readers to the narrative respecting the Levite,

Judg. ch. ii. v. 7. passim.

whose concubine was given up to be abused by the Benjamites in Gibeoth, in order to prevent a more flagitious crime; the destructive wars which ensued, and the illicit measures adopted by the Benjamites to replenish population. These were transactions which incontestably indicate both the depth and extent of depravity, by the perpetration of crimes which could only have been expected from the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. But "in those days every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Although the extent of their degeneracy, was not so great as to subvert the counsels of Jehovah, yet he withdrew from them the patronage they would have continued to enjoy, had they proved themselves deserving of it. We are told, in the book of Samuel, that "the word of the Lord was precious in those days;" yet in the history of this eminent man of God, we perceive that another, and final effort was made to reclaim them, before the dissolution of the theocratic form of government. The prophet Eli, who had directed the people for the space of forty years, was destitute of that energy of character which his important office demanded, His paternal indulgences confirmed the profli

* See Judges, ch. xxx. v. 20.

gacy of his sons. They prostituted the sacred office of a priest to the most iniquitous and lascivious purposes, without due reprehension; and they rendered themselves unworthy and unfit to become his successors. The pious Samuel was appointed to the priesthood in their stead; and he became, for a short period, an instrument of great efficacy. He was able to check, to a considerable degree, the iniquities he could not entirely eradicate.

The sons of Samuel did not imitate their father's excellencies. They were vicious and depraved, and thus had they rendered themselves disqualified for the high office of being Judges in Israel; "for they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes and perverted judgment." As Samuel was advanced in years, the people manifested a strong desire to change their form of government. They were induced by the gloomy prospect of their being improperly governed by unworthy successors, and also by an increasing propensity to imitate the example of the nations surrounding them. "The elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways, now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." "The thing displeased Samuel." He might pos