A whole host of foes, a world in arms, combined to work the downfall of a finful, devoted country. Internal difcord, the extinction of public virtue, the dominion of bare-faced iniquity-but, the arm of the Lord is revealed, and falvation is wrought.

The picture which the poetefs draws of the defperate state of Ifraelitish affairs is truly affecting; and is a happy preparation for a difplay of that unexpected and aftonishing relief, which had juft turned their forrow into gladness. Judah lulled afleep in liftlefs inaction, without exertion, without existence; a fourth part of the national force, on the other fide Jordan, careless, tending their flocks; another fourth devoted to their private traffic; the fword of judgment in the feeble hand of a female; confederated kings threatening their utter extirpation; enemies numerous, "Itrong and lively, and hating them with a cruel hatred;" what power can diffipate the gathered ftorm? That power which fays to the roaring ocean, "Hitherto fhalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." "They fought from heaven the stars in their courfes fought against Sifera."* Behold, all nature engaged in the cause of Ifrael's God. The heavenly hoft first take up the quarrel; angels, legions of "angels that excel in ftrength:"the leaft of whom could wield thefe elements.' The most powerful and fplendid parts of inanimate nature feel the alarm, and join their influence ; "the stars in their courfes." The earth quickly hears the heaven; the waters fwell and rage; Kishon increased, moft probably, by the recent dreadful tempeft which had fallen from the air, rifes fuddenly upon them, and, like the Red Sea of old, fwallows up, as in a moment, the enemy and the avenger.

There is a fingular force and beauty in the repetition of the name of the river, with the addition of the epithet "ancient." It is natural for men to value themselves on the antiquity of their country, and its VOL. VI. cities.

* Verse 20.

F

cities. It is the fond term which, in the honest pride and exultation of our hearts, we affix to our own land ; it feems to confer additional dignity and importance; we affociate in the idea, the valour and fuccefs of former times; we feel our hearts attracted as to a common parent; filial affection and brotherly love revive at the found. In the enthusiasm of pious and poetical inspiration, fhe bestows animation and paffion on the flood; fhe represents it as rifing in pride and joy, and overflowing its banks, to ferve the cause of ancient friends, lying under the rod of infolence and oppresfion. And the period pathetically clofes, with the prophetefs, in a fingle word, apostrophizing herself as the honoured, happy inftrument of co-operating with intelligent and animated nature in trampling pride and cruelty into the duft. "O my foul, thou haft trodden down ftrength.".

I have already anticipated much of what I had to fay, on the fubject of the glowing eulogium which Deborah pronounces on the conduct of "Jael, the wife of Heber." Permit me only to repeat, that in order to our fully adopting the fentiments of the Ifraelitish poetess, we must be acquainted with many circumstances of the cafe, which the concifenefs of the facred history enables us not to discover; that there is a fingularity in the whole conduct and occafion of the bufinefs, which forbids it to be drawn into a precedent, and pleaded in ordinary cafes as an example or an excufe; that we are to diftinguifh carefully betwixt the poetic ardour and enthufiafm of a female bard and patriot, and the calm, unimpaffioned praife and cenfure of found reason, or the deliberate approbation of the God of truth, mercy and juftice. We know certainly that God cannot love nor commend perfidy, cruelty or revenge.. But he juftly may, and often does employ the outrageous paffions of one great offender to punish thofe of another. And that through ignorance, prejudice, or wilful mifconception, the wifeft of men are

very incompetent judges of the ways and works of the Almighty.

The winding up of this facred poem, fuggests the moft fatisfactory apology for the conduct of Jael, and accounts at the fame time for the warmth of the strains in which Deborah celebrates that conduct. It is the horrid use which conquerors ufually made of victory, to which I allude. The wretched females of the vanquifhed people fell a prey to the brutal luft of the victors. This was a cafe fo common that "the mother of Sifera and her wife ladies" are reprefented as fo loft to feminine delicacy and compaffion as remorfelessly to exult in the thought of portioning out the virgins of Ifrael to Sifera and his foldiers, as the mere inftruments of a brutal pleasure; as an article of horrid booty for the lawless plunderer. "The mother of Sifera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot fo long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Her wife ladies anfwered her, yea, fhe returned answer to herself, Have they not fped? have they not divided the prey, to every man a damfel or two? to Sifera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needle-work, of divers colours of needle-work on both fides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?"* Now, may we not fuppofe both Jael and Deborah animated with a holy indignation against the intended violators of their fex's modefty and honour, and with a holy joy, on the defeat of their ungracious purpofe? May we not innocently fuppofe a mixture of virtuous female fpirit infpiring what the one acted and the other fung? Our pity for the fallen warrior, and his untimely, inglorious fate, muft of course abate, when we confider that a righteous and merciful Providence, by whatever means, fhortened a life, and stopped a career, which threatened the life, the virtue, the happiness of thoufands.

F 2

* Ver. 28, 29, 30.

In

In perfonifying the character of Sifera's mother and her attendants, Deborah presents us with a happy imitation of a paffage in the fong of Mofes on the triumphant paffage of the Red Sea; where the poet infinuates himself, by a bold figure of eloquence, into the councils of Pharaoh, overhears their formidable refolutions, and in the clofe of the fcene, rejoices in feeing their counfels, once fo much dreaded, turned into foolifhnefs, by the grace and power of Heaven. "The enemy faid, I will purfue, I will overtake, I will divide the fpoil; my luft fhall be fatisfied upon them; I will draw my fword, my hand fhall deftroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the fea covered them; they fank as lead in the mighty waters. So here, Deborah brings in the matrons of Canaan as anticipating the fruits of victory, prematurely enjoying the triumph of the fubjection of the Ifraelitifh damfels to their own pride, and the pleasure of their warriors; and fhe infpirits the gratitude and joy of her fair countrywomen, by gently hinting at the dreadful hazard which they had run. This too, of courfe, diminishes our concern for the cruel disappointment which the mother of Sifera endured, looking and looking, from her window, but still looking in vain for him who was never more to return; expecting and expecting that lingering chariot, which the ancient river Kifhon had long ere now fwept down its ftream: flufhed with hope, only to make calamity more bitter. And let that hope be forever blafted, which could be accomplifhed only by what humanity fhudders to think of.

Having thus enjoyed felf-gratulation, and called forth the grateful congratulations of her delivered country, and with heroic ardour trampled on difappointed luft, infolence and ambition, fhe now aims a nobler flight. The world and its tranfitory interefts and employments difappear. The throne of God meets her enraptured eye. Private, perfonal, national animofity are no more: all, all is loft in the higher, unlimited,

*Exod. xv. 9, 10.

unlimited, unchanging interefts of the divine glory. "So let all thine enemies perifh, O Lord." This is but a prophetic enunciation of what needs must be. After one revolution has obliterated another, one mortal interest swallowed another up-after the dif tinctions of Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian, bond and free are loft and forgotten, the honours of the divine justice and mercy fhall flourish and prevail. They that are afar from him, of whatever other name or description, fhall perish; and the workers of iniquity fhall be destroyed.

But the pious leader of the heavenly theme, as if unwilling to fhut up her fong with an idea fo gloomy as the awful difpleasure of the great God againft his adverfaries, relieves herself and us, by taking up the more encouraging view of the favour of Jehovah to his friends, and thus fhe fervently breathes out her foul; "But let them that love him, be as the fun when he goeth forth in his might."

Next to the great Lord of nature himself, who is,

to us invifible, Or dimly seen, in these his lowest works;

MILTON.

that glorious creature of his power, the fun, is the moft ftriking and impreffive of all objects. And poets of every defcription have enriched and ennobled their compofitions by allufions to the glorious orb of day, "of this great world the eye and foul," as the brightest inanimate image of Deity here below, the fountain of light, the difpenfer of vital warmth, the parent of joy. The infpired facred writers have likewife happily employed it to represent the most glorious animated image of God in our world, a wife and good man " go. ing from ftrength to ftrength;" fhining as a light in a dark place; filently, without expectation of return, without upbraiding, in an unceafing revolution of diffufing happiness; aiming at resemblance to his Crea

tor