is most respectable; but from its antiquity and the very nature of poetical composition, it must of neceffity be, in fome refpects, involved in difficulty and obfcurity. This we pretend not wholly to clear up or to remove. Instead then of making an attempt in which we should probably, perhaps certainly fail, we fhall fatisfy ourselves with pointing out a few of the more obvious and striking beauties of a piece, which all will allow to contain many and fhining excellencies.

The infcription of this hymn of praise, first challenges our notice. "Then fang Deborah, and Barak the fon of Abinoam, on that day, faying."* In exhibiting the character and conduct of this truly eftimable woman, the feminine delicacy and referve are never dropped. As a ruler and a prophetefs fhe is introduced, under her relative character of the wife of Lapidoth. As the leader of armies to battle, and leader in the mufical choir which celebrated the victories of her country, fhe is reprefented as the companion and coadjutrix of Barak, the fon of Abinoam. She was undoubtedly the first woman of her own, perhaps of any age; but her confequence, in place of being diminished, is increafed and fupported by the blending of private, perfonal worth and ability, with the relations of facial life, thofe of wife, mother and friend.

Adam might exift a little while in paradife, before Eve was formed, but nature and reafon and religion, all feem to declare, that woman can neither comfortably nor reputably fubfift, feparated from that fide whence fhe was originally taken. Who will deny, that the fuperiority in point of difcretion and underftanding is frequently on the fide of the female? But a woman forfeits all pretenfion to that very fuperiority, the moment fhe affumes or boafts of it. Whether, therefore, it were Deborah's own good fenfe, and female modefty, which preferred appearing in a connected,

* Verse 1.

nected, to appearing in a folitary state, though more flattering to vanity; or whether the Spirit of God, in reprefenting the moft elevated of female geniufes in the most elevated of fituations, thought proper to point her out as connected and dependent; the fame leffon of moderation, diffidence, delicacy and condefcenfion is powerfully inculcated: and her fex is inftructed where their true dignity, fafety, honour and comfort lie.

The time is marked, when this triumphant anthem was firft compofed and fung. "On that day." It had been a day of danger, anxiety and fatigue: a day of vengeance upon the infulting foe, a day of mutual congratulation and rejoicing; but ill had Ifrael deserved fuch a victory, and fhamefully had Deborah improved it, if either the emotions of joy or of revenge had excluded thofe of gratitude and love. The tongue of Deborah, like the pen of a ready writer, dictates "acceptable words" to the thousands of her people; the cannot think of repofe, till the evening facrifice of praise be offered up, and from the abundance of the heart, the mouth fpeaketh. The day which the arm of Omnipotence had diftinguifhed by wonders of mercy, muft not be concluded without fongs of deliverance. From "the confufed noise of the warrior, and garments rolled in blood," the foul turns with holy joy, to the acknowledgment of that

right hand and holy arm which had gotten them the victory:" and in one folemn " praise ye the Lord" burfting at once from every tongue, every redeemed Ifraelite calls upon himfelf and upon his fellow to give unto JEHOVAH the glory due unto his name.

Here the fong naturally begins, by this it must be fupported, and in this it muft terminate. All creatures, all events point out "Him firft, Him laft, Him midft, and without end." "Praise ye the Lord." But, religion is "a reafonable fervice." The divine effence we do not, we cannot know; "the invifible things of God," even "his eternal power and deity,"

deity," are to be discovered only "by the things which he has made," and the things which he doth. Here then the spirit of praise immediately fixes, and the recent interpofition of a gracious Providence rifes inftantly into view: his "avenging of Ifrael," in which Jehovah is acknowledged as at once juft and merciful: juft, in recompenfing tribulation to them that troubled his covenanted church and people; merciful in giving his troubled people rest.

own.

Vengeance; the vengeance of God! Fearful thought! but oh, it is fweetly relieved, by the reflection, that the right of executing vengeance, is claimed by the God of mercy, with awful propriety, as his This dreadful thunder no arm but his own must presume to wield; "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, faith the Lord." If I must be punished, "let me fall now into the hand of the LORD, for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man." The only vengeance permitted to man is a vengeance of kindness and forgivenefs; the only coals which he must scatter, are the coals of the fire of love. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink :-" Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." "Love your enemies, blefs them that curfe you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which defpitefully ufe you and perfecute you that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his fun to rife on the evil and on the good, and fendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”*

The voluntary actions of the people in "offering themfelves" to fight their own battles, are with fingular beauty afcribed to the wifdom and goodness of God who has the "hearts of all in his hand," and can "turn them which way foever he will." He who could have faved by miracles, will fave by means. If there be a fpirit of concord to refift the common enemy, it is of the LORD. If internal diffenfion aid the

Matt. v. 44, 45.

enemy

enemy without, we behold a righteous God infatuating those whom he means to deftroy.

Having thus fimply propofed the glorious fubject of her praife," the fweet enthufiaft" prepares to unfold and amplify it. She throws her eyes over the

face of the whole earth: views all nations and their potentates, as interested in the glowing theme; and fummons an admiring world to liften to her fong. "Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I will fing unto the Lord; I will fing praife to the Lord God of Ifrael." What fo delightful to a grateful and affectionate heart, as the enumeration of benefits received! What benefactor once to be compared with the Giver of all good, "the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good gift, and every perfect!"

Having propofed her theme and fummoned her august audience, the divine poetefs feems to paufe for a moment, as if awed by the presence of fuch a fplendid audience, and overwhelmed with the magnitude of the task she has undertaken, and with renovated strength, aims her flight, like the eagle, up to her native fkies. The deliverance of that day, brings former wonders of mercy to mind; and "God, the fame yesterday, today and forever," is feen and adored in all. Instead of expatiating on the goodness of the Moft High in strains addreffed to the "kings and princes" whom the had called to attend, fhe rifes at once to JEHOVAH'S awful throne," lofes all fenfe of created majesty, and lofes herself in the contemplation of infinite perfection. "Lord, when thou wenteft out of Seir, when thou marchedft out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds alfo dropped water. The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Ifrael."+

66

The former part of this animated addrefs probably refers to that paffage in the hiftory of Ifrael which we

have

1

have in the book of Numbers, chap. xx. relating to the paffage of Ifrael through the land of Idumea, which was humbly and peaceably folicited, and unkindly refused. Of this, fome particulars might have been preferved by tradition to the times of Deborah, though not admitted into the facred canon, and fuggefted to her the lofty expreffions which the here employs in celebrating the praifes of Ifrael's God. Though he would not permit them to force a paffage by the fword, through the country given to the pofterity of Efau their brother, yet in guiding them round the confines, of Idumea, in the majestic symbol of his prefence, the pillar of cloud and fire, the great God might, by fome fenfible tokens, make Edom to know, it was not from want of power, but of inclination, that he led his people in a circuitous courfe. The language of the prophetess, divested of its bold figurative drefs, is fimply this, "The wonders of this day, O Lord, recall and equal the greatest wonders of ages paft. We have feen the stars in their courfes fighting against our enemies, as our fathers of old faw mountain and plain, heaven and earth, giving teftimony to the prefence and favour of the God of Ifrael. The field of Edom and the vale of Kishon are equally filled with the glory of the Lord. We recognize in the hand which has difcomfited the hoft of Sifera, the fame almighty power which reftrained the Idumean, and conducted our ancestors, if not the neareft, certainly the beft road to Canaan."

The latter part of the addrefs evidently refers to the awful folemnity with which the law was given from Mount Sinai; in which all nature, without a figure, bare witnefs to the prefence and power of nature's God. "The earth trembled, the hills melted like wax," the face of heaven was covered with blacknefs of darkness, lightning flashed, the hoarfe thunder roared, the louder and more dreadful voice of the Eternal drowned its tremendous found, men's hearts fail them for fear, Mofes quakes.

What

!