of thick trees; there, in the centre, their images were placed, and there, before those contemptible deities, the Israelite and the Canaanite bowed down together. The sin of the chosen people called loudly for punishment.. The Lord was greatly displeased, and He permitted a foreign prince to bring them under his yoke. They were first subjected by Chushan-rishathaim, the king of that part of Syria which lies between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. From its situation it derives its name, Mesopotamia, which means in the midst of rivers. The territory of Chushan-rishathaim lies distant from the borders of Canaan, so that doubtless the Israelites saw no reason for dreading an attack from him; yet he was the instrument appointed to bring them to a sense of their duty. After paying tribute for eight years to the King of Mesopotamia, the people were humbled, and cried to the Lord. When they were prosperous it was to Baal that they prayed. When they were in trouble they sought deliverance from God. We learn from this, and many instances like this, that adversity is often a greater blessing than prosperity.

George. Was it long after the Israelites took possession of Canaan that they were subdued by the King of Mesopotamia?

Grandfather. It was thirty-eight years after they entered Canaan. Two thousand five hundred and ninetyone years after the creation of the world, one thousand four hundred and thirteen before the Christian era, Chushan-rishathaim brought the Israelites into subjec

tion. For eight years they were his tributaries. Then, in answer to their cry of distress, the Lord raised up a deliverer, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, and nephew of Caleb. You will remember that I mentioned him to you before; he was a brave man in his youth, and he retained the same fearless spirit when advanced in years.

George. He would march at once against Chushanrishathaim, and drive him away to his own country again?

Grandfather. Something was to be done before he marched against the Mesopotamians. Othniel first judged Israel, that is, he reproved them for their sins, and reformed them; he subdued the sins of the people, and then went out to war. This teaches us, that the way to attain success in our undertakings is to begin by bringing our own spirits into subjection. Othniel was victorious. The Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim into his hand, so by his instrumentality the people were delivered. While he lived he kept the people to their duty, so that the land had rest. When Othniel died the wayward people again bowed their knees before the images in the groves. Another enemy was raised up to oppress them. Eglon, king of Moab, was strengthened against the Israelites by the Lord, because they had done wickedly. The country of the Moabites lay nearer to them than that of the Mesopotamians, therefore we may suppose that subjection to them would be more keenly felt than to their former oppressors, They had more than one enemy to triumph over them at this time, for

the Ammonites and Amalekites joined with the Moabites, and took possession of a stronghold in the land of Canaan, supposed to be near the site of Jericho, for it is called the City of Palm Trees, which had been the name of Jericho itself. Double guilt calls for double punishment. The Israelites served the king of Mesopotamia eight years only; they served the king of Moab eighteen. Yet when in their distress they cried to the Lord, He was merciful to them, and raised up a second deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, a left-handed man, of the tribe of Benjamin.

George. There were surely a great many people in that tribe who were left-handed.

Grandfather. It seems not to have been a very uncommon thing among the Benjamites. It is curious that the meaning of Benjamin is the son of the right hand. The people of Israel sent a present to Eglon, in addition to the ordinary tribute which he exacted from them. It was Ehud the Benjamite who was appointed to deliver the offering of the people to the oppressor, whom they did not love; but as they feared him, they were willing to do anything that would propitiate him. Now Ehud, to free the Israelites from the yoke of Moab, resolved to assassinate the tyrant who oppressed them. For this purpose he got a short dagger made, half a yard long, which he concealed under his clothes. When the present had been offered, and accepted, he and the people who were with him retired. They all proceeded on their journey together, till they came to Gilgal, where

He was

the stones had been erected in memory of the miraculous passage of the Jordan. It is thought that images were put there by the Moabites, either placed upon, or made of those very stones, and that the sight of the images fired with new energy the pious zeal of Ehud. He told his fellow travellers to proceed on their journey, while he himself returned to the palace of Eglon. There he announced that he had a secret errand to the king. ushered into the king's private apartment, a cool pleasant room, called a summer parlour. All the attendants retired, and the Moabite and Benjamite were alone. The son of Israel announced a message from God. The heathen monarch rose to receive it. For one instant Ehud's dagger gleamed in his hand, the next instant the oppressor of the Israelites had received his death wound. Silently Eglon fell, and swiftly Ehud withdrew. The doors of the summer parlour he locked behind him, and if he required to pass through any guards on his way, he feared nothing, and they suspected nothing. The servants of Eglon seeing the doors of the parlour locked, supposed that the king wished to rest, so they did not open the door for some time. When they did, and saw what had been done, Ehud was too far off for them to expect to overtake him. Meantime the bold Benjamite sounded a trumpet, to rally round him the oppressed Israelites. They secured the fords of the Jordan, so that none of the Moabites could escape. They all fell by the swords of the children of Israel. The Moabites had left their own country and crossed the Jordan to

bring the Israelites into bondage; justly therefore did they find themselves imprisoned by the Jordan, and prevented from returning to their country and their freedom. George. Ehud was a brave man.

Marianne. But was he a good man, grandfather? Was it right to pretend he had a message from God and then to kill Eglon?

Grandfather. He did not pretend that he had a message from God, for he really had one. He was commissioned by the Lord to execute his will upon the oppressor of his people. Ehud was the messenger sent by the King of Kings, and the message sent was, that the king of Moab must die. Considered as the bearer of a message from God, Ehud appears to us the honoured instrument of his country's freedom; but if we consider him as having no divine commission, he appears only a base assassin.

George. I do not see that, grandfather; I think it was a very brave act, to kill the tyrant in his own palace, amongst his own people, and march out untouched by any of them. I cannot see anything wrong in it.

Grandfather. The boldness of an action does not prove it to be right, George. If any one now-a-days were to imitate Ehud, even though he were in the same circumstances, and had the same success, he would be an assassin and nothing more, because we live under a different dispensation, under the pure light of the gospel, which speaks good will to men.

Marianne. But a bad man might have done what