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fourscore years; and are again corrupted by ease and prosperity. Their national character and conduct, are a striking representation of those of many individuals, whom we are daily meeting with in the world; who are capable of bearing neither prosperity nor adversity; whom it is impossible to serve or to save; who, by their perverseness or folly, are perpetually undoing the kindest designs, and counteracting the most vigorous efforts of their friends in their behalf, and whom, at length, friends are constrained to abandon in despair. Well has Nehemiah, their countryman, described this character, and displayed the patience and long-suffering of God, in that recapitulation of their history, addressed solemnly to Heaven, in the ninth chapter of his book: "And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit-trees in abundance. So they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. Nevertheless, they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardst them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou heardst them from heaven, and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies; and testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law; yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them; and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened the neck, and would not hear. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by the Spirit in thy prophets: yet, would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless, for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."*

If we are to judge of the atrocity of the offence committed on the occasion before us, from the severity of the punishment, the length of its duration, and the violence of their oppressor, we must conclude it to have been uncommonly grievous; for the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Ca

*Neh. ix. 25-31.

naan, part of whose formidable host consisted of nine hundred chariots of iron; and who for "twenty years together mightily oppressed the children of Israel." Calamity is peculiarly oppressive, when it is embittered with the reflection, that it might have been prevented; that it is the native fruit of our own doings: and with finding the wretched associates of our guilt the wretched partakers of our wo.

Hope seems quite extinguished in Israel. Not one man of common spirit, in the course of twenty years' oppression, appears awakened to a sense of his country's wrongs, and generously prompted to hazard his life in removing, or avenging them. But the cause of the church of God is never to be despaired of. Its emblem is, "the bush burning, but not consumed." Its motto, "cast down, but not destroyed." And whither are our eyes, at this time, directed to behold the saviour of a sinking country? Behold the residue of the Spirit is upon the head of a woman; the sacred flame of public spirit, smothered and dead in each manly breast, yet glows in a female bosom; and the tribunal of judgment, deserted by masculine virtue and ability, is honourably and usefully filled by feminine sensibility, discernment, honesty, and zeal. "And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time."* She was a wife and a mother in Israel, and such a wife is a crown to her husband, such a mother, the glory and pride of her children; but her great. her capacious soul, embraced more than her own family, aimed at the happiness of thousands, sweetly blended public with private virtue. Is it unreasonable to suppose, that the discreet and wise management of her own household, first procured her the public notice and esteem: and that the prudent deportment of the matron, passed by a natural and easy transition into the sanctity of the prophetess, and the gravity and authority of the judge? Certain it is, that the reputation which is not established on the basis of personal goodness, like a house built upon the sand, must speedily sink, and fall to pieces.

Hitherto, we have seen only "holy men of God speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." But the great Jehovah is no respecter of persons or sexes: "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he sheweth unto them his holy covenant." The simple dignity of her unadorned, unassuming state, is beautifully represented: "She dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el, in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment."+ Behold a female mind exalted above the pageantry and pride of external appearance; not deriving consequence from the splendour of her attire, the Judges iv. 5.

* Judges iv. 4.

fate, not to serve their bleeding country; it was to rouse their haughty oppressors into more violent rage and cruelty, not to attack them with a probability of success. The force called for by the prophetess, by divine ap

all, in the issue, might be ascribed solely to God: and it was thus great, to teach mankind, that, as they hope to prosper, their own exertions must co-operate with the influence of overruling Providence.

charms of her person, or the number of her retinue, but from the affability of her manners, the purity of her character, the sacredness of her office, the impartiality of her conduct, the importance of her public services; not wandering from place to place, hunt-pointment, was thus small, that the glory of ing after a little empty applause, but sought unto of all Israel for the eminency, and extensive utility of her talents and her virtues. Her canopy of state was the shade of the palm-tree, her rule of judgment the law and the testimony of the living God; her motive, the inspiration of the Almighty; her aim and end, the glory of God, and the good of her people; her reward, the testimony of a good conscience, the respect of a grateful nation, the admiration of future generations, the smiles of approving Heaven. What are, compared to these, the ermined robe, the ivory sceptre, the chair of state, the glittering diadem!

Such was either the general despondency that prevailed in Israel, at that dark period, or such the general confidence reposed in Deborah, that Barak accepts the commission given him, and consents to head the forces of his country into the field, under the express condition that their prophetess and judge would be his companion and directress in the warfare. To this she yields a cordial assent, and cheerfully engages to take part in But alas! what availeth the most upright all that regarded the public service, whether and impartial administration of justice, among counsel or resolution were needful to carry it a people enslaved in the extreme, groaning on. She would not, could it with propriety under a foreign yoke, holding liberty, pro- be avoided, become a leader in arms, but feels perty, and life, by the wretched tenure of a no reluctance, is conscious of no fear, when tyrant's caprice? The ardent soul of Debo-attending the captain of the Lord's host into rah aspires at nothing short of a total eman- "the valley of decision." It is pleasant to cipation of her bleeding country from these observe how the manly virtues, properly modiinglorious chains. And like a true prophet-fied and corrected, may be adopted into the ess of the living and true God, she engages in this noble and generous enterprise, not with the zeal of an enthusiast, not in an idle, inactive reliance on supernatural assistance; but in the honest confidence of a good cause, the diligent use of the most promising means, the ultimate dependence on the blessing of Him "who worketh all things after the counsel of his will."

The character of this illustrious heroine, grows upon us as we proceed; and exhibits a picture of female excellence, to which her own sex may look with emulation and honest pride, and ours, with admiration and esteem, unmixed with envy. An ordinary woman, in her place, and possessed of her advantages, would probably have aimed at the sole reputation of having delivered her country. But when a military operation is to be set on foot, for the attainment of this end, with the modest reserve becoming her sex, she satisfies herself with advising only. When the sword of Israel is to be drawn, let it be wielded by manly hands; let Barak come in for a share of the danger, the labour, and the praise. She is to be the directing head, and he the active hand. But what was the broken strength of two of the least of the tribes of Israel? What were ten thousand men, to carry on offensive war, against a power which could employ nine hundred chariots of iron as part of his force? What must have been the number of infantry that corresponded to this formidable armament? For such a handful of men to appear in arms, was to provoke their own

female character, not only without giving of fence, but so as to communicate the highest satisfaction and win approbation; and how, on the other hand, the softest of the female graces, may, without sinking the manly character, without exciting contempt, become a shade to the boldest, hardiest, masculine qualities. Courage has been reckoned an attribute peculiar to men; but it is easy to conceive it so raised, and so expressed, and so exerted, as to be not only pardonable in, but highly ornamental to, woman. “A ben gathering her chickens under her wings," is a picture not only of maternal tenderness, but of the most undaunted intrepidity. "A bear bereaved of her whelps," is not more fierce and more fearless. A mother defying the danger of the pestilential air which she inhales from her smitten child; a mother flying as a lioness on the brutal wretch who dared to crush her little darling; how dignified, what a noble creature she is! A tender virgin stirred up into holy indignation at hearing her absent friend traduced by the tongue of malevolence, forgetting herself for a moment, to repel the barbarous insult. O it is a disorder so lovely, that it almost deserves to be stamped with the name of virtue. To see Deborah quitting her seat under the palmtree, to attend Barak to the top of mount Tabor, when the enemies of her God and of her country are to be engaged and subdued; what heart does not catch fire from her heroic ardour! what tongue can withhold its tribute of praise!

While Deborah, without hesitation, agrees to accompany Barak to the high places of the field, by virtue of the spirit of prophecy which was found upon her, she informs him that the glory he should obtain, was to suffer considerable diminution, not only by her participation of it, but also by the communication of it to another woman, for whom Providence had reserved the honour of putting the last hand to this arduous undertaking. Indeed this seems to be a crisis, in the history of human nature, at which Providence intended to exhibit the powers of the female mind in all their force and all their extent; intended to represent the sex in every situation that can create esteem, inspire love, command respect, or awaken terror. The united spirits and achievements of Deborah, and Jael the wife of Heber, seem to comprehend the whole compass of the feminine character in its more extraordinary feelings and exertions; and in the displaying the conduct of these two individuals, rouse our attention to the whole sex as the most warm, steady, and affectionate of friends, or the most formidable, dangerous, and determined of enemies.

But we must not bring forward both at once. We conclude with a reflection or two, on what has been suggested from the history of Deborah.

But, II. However weak and contemptible the instrument were in itself, from the hand that wields it, it becomes mighty and respectable: and the history before us becomes, and that not darkly, a typical representation of the gospel of Christ, which was "to the Jews a stumblingblock, and to the Greeks foolishness." Pride and self-sufficiency smile at the idea of a female prophet, a female judge, a female poet, a female politician, a female warrior; and yet, in truth women have filled all these offices, with credit to themselves, and with satisfaction to the public. And "who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind?" In the honoured list of those who "through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were make strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens," female names too stand recorded with commendation and renown. And "what hast thou, O man, but what thou hast first received?"—"God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.”

III. As the great Ruler of the world never can want an instrument to save, so he is always provided with instruments to punish. "He is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered?" The haughtiest of monarchs is at length constrained to "praise, and extol, and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." "By a strong hand and stretchedout arm," Pharaoh is at length compelled to "let Israel go." "Humble" then "thyself," O man, "under his mighty hand." "Be wise now, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."

I. It exposes the folly of despising or undervaluing any description of our fellow-creatures in the lump. All national reflections are founded in ignorance and folly; and the despisers have often paid dear for their insolence and presumption. The illiberal abuse so indiscriminately poured upon the gentler sex, is of the same nature. It generally comes from men something worse than the worst part of womankind. The truly sensible, and the truly brave, entertain far better and far more just sentiments of female utility and importance in the scale of being; and are ever disposed to ascribe to female capacity and worth, more than female modesty and wisdom are disposed to assume, or even to receive. No good man ever wished to see the female character undervalued or degraded; and perhaps very few good women have ever violently coveted stations and employments which belong peculiarly to men. The next Lecture will carry on the histoBut as nature delights in producing variety, ry of Deborah, in connexion with that of Jael. as well as uniformity, it is not to be wonder- I conclude the present, with calling on the ed at, if we sometimes meet with men more female part of my audience to bless God, that silly, timid, and frivolous, than the most insig- while he has carried some of their sex, nificant of the other sex; and on the other through the most arduous employments, most hand, women as daring, as enlightened, as eminent stations, and most hazardous entermagnanimous, as public spirited as the first prizes, not only with safety, but with applause, among mankind. The rivalship, however, he is pleased, in general, to put their talents and competition of the sexes, is altogether and their virtues to a trial less severe; and ridiculous and absurd. Each has its dis- let them remember, that after all which has tinct, and both have their conjoined dig-been, or may be said, in praise of the few nity and usefulness-and mutual concession is the truest wisdom in the one and in the other.

who have acted wisely and well upon the public theatre, to the generality, "the post of honour is a private station."

HISTORY OF DEBORAH.

LECTURE LXXXVIII.

Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: (for he was fast asleep, and weary) so he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. So God subdued on that day, Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.-JUDGES iv. 21-23.

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WHEN We consider how frequent, how violent, and how sudden are the transitions from condition to condition in human life, pride appears to be a mystery of folly, below contempt. To behold a rational being as suming consequence on an empty, unmeaning title; or from the possession of a little wealth, that bird of passage, eternally on the wing; or from beauty and strength, which accident or disease may blast in a moment, and which the lapse of a very few years certainly will impair; to behold a man putting confidence in princes, or feeding on the applause of a multitude; to hear him saying to himself, "Soul, take thy rest; thou hast much goods laid up for many years." My mountain standeth strong; I shall never be moved." All this is calculated to excite derision, not resentment; and when reason and experience ponder what the end may be, anger sinks into pity. Not only is frail man every moment at the mercy of a Being, almighty to save and to destroy; but the proudest and mightiest is every moment in the power of the weakest and meanest of his fellow-creatures. The tongue of the wretch whom thou despisest, may ruin thy reputation for ever. The crawling insect in thy path is armed with deadly poison against thy life. That nodding wall threatens to crush thee to pieces. Arm thee at all points, as well as thou canst, malice or hatred, envy or revenge will still find some part unguarded; and bleeding to death, thou shalt find thou were not invulnerable.

Those who are distinguished by their rank, their abilities, or their virtues, attract the notice of many observers, and create to themselves many open and many more secret enemies. The history of Sisera, the captain of the host of Jabin, king of Canaan, is a striking illustration of most of these remarks. In him, we see a man rendered insolent by success, intoxicated with prosperity, betrayed into disgrace through confidence of victory, the dupe of confidence in his own strength, and then the victim of confidence, equally unwise, in the fidelity and attachment of a stranger. We behold him in the morning, advancing to the unequal conflict at the head of a mighty, and hitherto invincible host; in

the evening, a bleeding corpse, fallen inglo riously by the hand of a woman.

Deborah, the prophetess of Israel, having transfused the patriotic ardour of her soul into Barak, not only directs him what he should do, but offers herself as the companion of the expedition which she had planned. With ten thousand men of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under his command, Barak takes possession of mount Tabor, meaning to act only on the defensive, till Providence should point out an occasion of acting to advantage. The rashness and inpetuosity of Sisera soon presented him with such an opportunity. Enraged to think that an enemy so often discomfited, so long oppressed, so broken by calamity, should presume to make head against their lordly masters, he collects the whole of his vast strength, and invests the mountain, determined to crush the puny insurrection at one blow.

The sagacious judge, and divinely inspired prophetess of Israel, observes the season to be favourable, observes that the unwieldy army of the Canaanites was ready to fall in pieces by its own weight, that their vain confidence was destroying them, and that, above all, Heaven was propitious. She gives the signal of attack, and lo, "one chases a thousand, and ten put ten thousand to flight.” The cause was of God, and it prospers: and the mighty hand and outstretched arm of Jehovah, once more asserts Israel into liberty.

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Whatever praise is to be ascribed to the conduct of Barak on this occasion, and to the intrepidity of his little army, it is evident, from some expressions in the song of praise, composed in celebration of the victory, that the defeat of the Canaanites was in part, at least, miraculous. "They fought from heaven.' "The stars in their courses," it is said, "fought against Sisera." By "the stars" some interpreters understand "the angels of God," who are sometimes designed by that name. Josephus takes the words in a different sense, and affirms, that an extraordinary storm of rain, mixed with hail, blinded the eyes of the Canaanites, and drove back the darts upon their own heads. The

his family, and descendants, should share in the fruits of victory, and obtain a portion in the land promised to the children of Abraham. This accounts for our finding them established, at such a distance of time, in the border of Kedesh Naphtali. On the invasion of the country, however, by Jabin, king of Canaan, we find them observing a strict neutrality. "There was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite."* In the confidence of this, Sisera betakes him

Rabbins, with still less appearance of proba- | that, on their settlement in Canaan, he, and bility, allege, that certain constellations of a pestilential influence, consumed the army of Sisera, burnt them up with thirst, and drove them for refreshment to the brook Kishon, where they were met in a languid, enfeebled state, by the troops of Deborah and Barak, and put to the sword. The expedition from first to last, was without controversy conducted and crowned by the hand of Providence. But the narration of the event, on the sacred page, is too general and concise, to enable us to pronounce with con-self to the Kenite for protection; and is refidence, where the province of human sagacity and valour ended; and where the interposition of Heaven began.

However it were, the victory was complete; the enemy was totally routed and put to the edge of the sword; the commander in chief alone escapes the universal carnage of the field; and he, who a little before had nine hundred chariots of iron at his disposal, sees himself stripped of all, and is constrained to consult his safety by flight. A prince without subjects, and a general without an army, shrink into poor, wretched, solitary individuals, the more to be pitied, from the giddy height whence they have fallen.

The history drops the myriads which composed the army of Sisera, into a silent grave; and pursues the sad tale of the unhappy man himself up to his tragical death. Seeing his army slaughtered and put to flight, and himself in danger of falling into the hands of triumphant Israel, he alights from his chariot, and flees away on foot. "How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" What a sad reverse, within the compass of one short day! And to such reverses, human life is eternally liable. The greatest of uninspired bards has put this passionate exclamation in the mouth of a dethroned monarch of our own country, addressing himself to his few wretched attendants, the poor remains of his departed state:

Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood
With solemn reverence; throw away respect,
Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty,
For you have but mistook me all this while :
I live on bread like you, feel want, taste grief,
Need friends:-Subjected thus,
How can you say to me-I am a king?

SHAKSPEARE. King Richard II.

Behold the mighty Sisera weary and faint with thirst, without one, of so many thousands, to assist or comfort his flight, seeking refuge from his pursuers in the tents of an allied power, Heber the Kenite.

By looking back to the book of Numbers, chap. x, we find that Hobab, the son of Raguel or Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, had left his native residence, to attend the camp of Israel as their guide through the wilderness, and had been persuaded by Moses, his brother-in-law, to cast in his lot among that people, upon a solemn assurance,

ceived by Jael, the wife of Heber, with every mark of humanity and respect, due to a great man, and a friend, in distress. She brings him milk to quench his thirst, covers him carefully up in her own tent to repose himself from the vexation and fatigue of that disastrous day, and to conceal him from the pursuit of Barak. She promises inviolably to keep secret the place of his concealment; and relying on that promise, weary and worn out, he falls into a profound sleep. Jael avails herself of his defenceless situation, and seizing such arms as were at hand, a hammer and one of the pins or nails used in stretching out the tent, she transfixes the head of the unhappy sleeper as he lay along, and with redoubled blows fastens the bleeding temples to the ground.

Such was the inglorious end of a man, on whom that morning's sun had risen with a smiling aspect; who awoke from sleep in the possession of all that royal favour could bestow, all that sovereign power could compel, all that flattering hope could promise. Of the motives which could impel Jael to such a deed of horror, we have no information. Her conduct, we know, is celebrated in the song of Deborah in terms of the strongest approbation; which obliges us to conclude, that there are circumstances in the story, which the Spirit of God has not thought proper to disclose. The great Jehovah needs not a vindication of his conduct, from the labour and ingenuity of a wretched, ignorant mortal. He has but to discover a few little particulars, which are as yet hid from our eyes; and then, what now confounds and overwhelms our understanding, becomes clear and intelligible to the meanest capacity. Instead, therefore, of vainly and presumptuously attempting to reconcile this action of Jael with the laws of morality, which, by the glimmering light we have, is impossible, we shall make a few observations on the history, of a general and practical nature. And

I. We repeat, what has been already suggested, "that human reason is a very incompetent judge of divine proceeding." We know so little, so very little of the system of nature; our own constitution is such an inexplicable mystery to ourselves; we meet

*Judges iv. 17.

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