two sons were slaughtered, and the Ark of God was taken. At these tidings the old priest fell down and died; and the wife of one of his sons gave premature birth to a boy, whom, with her dying breath, she named Ichabod, which signifies departed glory. "The glory is departed from Israel," said she; "for the Ark of God is taken."

It was the universal opinion of ancient nations that tempests, famine, pestilence, and all other remarkable afflictions, were owing to the anger of some deity, on account of his neglected worship. The Ark of the Hebrews remained seven months with the Philistines, and they kept it in a temple which they had built to a god called Dagon. In the course of these seven months, their land was unusually infested by mice, and a troublesome disease, called the emerods, prevailed extensively. It was suggested among them that the God of the Hebrews sent these plagues, because the Ark, in which he dwelt, had been taken away from the people whom he protected, and he was thus deprived of his accustomed worship. Their priests and divines, being consulted, advised them to put the Ark of the Hebrews into a new cart, drawn by two young cows, which had never worn a yoke; and to make five golden images of mice, and five golden images of the emerods, one for each of their five cities, and put them in a box beside the Ark, as a trespass-offering to the god of the Hebrews, whom they had probably offended. They were further instructed to send the cows away without a guide; and if they of their own accord took the road to Beth-Shemish, then they should know for a certainty that the pestilence had been sent upon them by the Hebrew god. When the cows were fastened to the cart, they went straight to Beth-Shemish, whose name signified the House of the Sun, probably on account of some temple to the Sun erected there. It was one of the cities apportioned to priests of the tribe of Judah, after the conquest of Canaan. The men of Beth-Shemish were reaping wheat when the cart containing the Ark stopped in a field near them, and stood by a great stone. They were rejoiced at the sight, and Levites

went and took the Ark, and the box containing the golden images, and laid them on the great stone. And the men of Beth-Shemish cut up the wood of the cart, and with it burnt the two young cows, as an offering to the Lord. Some of the men of the place had the curiosity to peep into the Ark. It is not stated whether they were Israelites who did this; but the record declares that the Lord punished their curiosity by the death of more than fifty thousand men. When the people saw that the Lord had smitten them with such great slaughter, they became afraid of the Ark, and sent to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, begging them to come and take it away. So it was carried thither, "to the house of Abinadab in the hill; and it is said, "the men of Kirjath-jearim sanctified Eleazar, son of Abinadab, to keep the ark." For twenty years it remained thus obscurely in the hands of a private family.

The more pious among the Israelites felt deeply humiliated under the conviction that the presence of Jehova was withdrawn from them on account of their sins. They sought counsel from Samuel, in whom they found a second Moses. The office of Judge was conferred upon him, and he ruled Israel for twelve years. He earnestly repeated, what had so often been impressed upon the Hebrew mind, that Jehovah was a jealous God, and if they would propitiate him, they must put all other gods entirely away. Under the influence of Samuel, the children of Israel again resolved "to put away Baal and Ashtaroth, and serve the Lord only." They gathered together unto Samuel, and poured out a libation of water before the Lord, and Samuel prayed for them. It is supposed that he first established seminaries, called Schools of the Prophets, where young men of all the tribes were instructed in the Law of Moses, in the history of their own nation, in medicine, music, and sacred poetry. The course of teaching did not embrace general information, but was entirely confined to subjects connected with the Hebrew religion.

In Samuel's old age, the people became discontented, on account of the corruption of his sons. They demanded to

have a king, and he anointed Saul to rule over them. More than four hundred years before that time, the tribe of Amalek had laid wait for the children of Israel as they came up out of Egypt, and fought with them. Samuel said to Saul: "The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his people Israel. Now, therefore, hearken unto the voice of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, when he came

up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." Saul accordingly went up against the Amalekites and destroyed them; but he was induced to save Agag their king, and the best of the sheep and oxen. Samuel was exceedingly offended that his orders had not been literally obeyed. When Saul humbly acknowledged his error, and pleaded in excuse that the people wished to spare the fattest of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord their God, he sternly answered: "To obey is better than sacrifice." Then he ordered Agag to be brought, "and he hewed him in pieces before the Lord." Samuel afterward consented to appear at a public sacrifice with Saul; but thenceforth there was coolness between the powerful prophet and the king whom he had anointed. It is recorded that "the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king." Soon after the Lord told him to fill a horn with oil, and go to Bethlehem, and secretly anoint David the son of Jesse to be king. David had his own armed band of followers, and became an object of great jealousy to Saul. Nob was then the chief town of the priests, where religious ceremonies were daily performed by descendants. of Eli, though the Ark still remained at Kirjath-jearim. David and some of his followers came to Nob, and being hungry, asked the priests for bread. They replied that they had none, except the sacred show-bread, which was dedicated to the Lord. But when David represented that his necessities were very pressing, they gave him five loaves VOL. I.-36*

of the holy bread, and armed him with the sword of Goliah, which had probably been kept in some sacred place as a trophy. When Saul heard of this, he sent soldiers to Nob, who slew eighty-five priests, and all the men, women, children, oxen, and sheep.

In the second year after David became king, he went with thirty thousand chosen men to bring the Ark of the Covenant from Kirjath-jearm, and place it in a new Tabernacle on Mount Zion. The Laws of Moses expressly required that the Ark should always be carried on staves, slipped through rings, and borne on the shoulders of Levites. But on this occasion, it was placed in a new cart drawn by oxen, after the fashion of surrounding nations, who were accustomed thus to carry images of their gods, and other sacred symbols. David and all the people went in procession before the Ark, dancing and playing on a variety of musical instruments. When they came near Mount Zion, the oxen jostled the Ark, and Uzzah, a Levite, put forth his hand to steady it. Now, by the Laws of Moses, a Levite was not allowed to see the Ark unveiled, much less to touch it. "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error; and he died there by the Ark of God." This sudden disaster excited such consternation, that David did not dare to have the Ark brought into Jerusalem. It was accordingly "carried aside into the house of ObedEdom the Gittite." When it had remained there three months, it was told king David that the Lord had blessed the house of Obed-Edom, because of the Ark. These tidings removed his fears, and again he went forth with a great multitude, and brought it to Mount Zion with songs and dances, and the sound of trumpets. The king himself danced before it, having taken off his royal robes, and girded himself with the linen ephod of a priest.

With David's reign commenced a new and important era in the history of the Hebrews. In the time of Abraham, there was a city called Salem, said to have been governed by a king named Melchisedec. David found it in the posses

sion of the Jebusites. Perceiving that its situation was well adapted for a central point of union to all the tribes of Israel, he conquered it and fortified it, and named it Jeru-Salem, from Hebrew words signifying He shall see Peace. When the new city was well established, he opened commerce with his neighbours the Tyrians, a much more wealthy and cultivated people than the Hebrews. The character of the laws given by Moses, and the subsequent wandering and predatory habits of the tribes, had been extremely unfavourable to the cultivation of the sciences, or the arts. Architecture was in the rudest state among Hebrews, but the Tyrians were skilful workmen. Therefore, when David "grew great," and wished to build himself a palace, he was obliged to send to the king of Tyre for cedar-trees, carpenters, and masons.

While the Israelites themselves dwelt in tents, they had made a tent-temple for the Ark of God. But now, when the king had built a royal house for himself, it seemed to him that the Deity he worshipped ought not to dwell less honourably. He said to Nathan the Prophet: "See now I dwell in an house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth within curtains." Nathan at first encouraged his idea of building a temple, but in the night the Lord revealed to the prophet that it was his will to have the temple built by a son of David, whose posterity he promised should be forever established on the throne. In one place, Hebrew records declare that David could not find time to build a temple, on account of "the wars that beset him on every side;" in another place, it is said the Lord forbade him to do it, "because he had shed so much blood upon the earth." He was successful above all the leaders of his nation. He took rich spoils in war, and kings who sought his alliance rewarded his powerful assistance with treasures more splendid than had ever been seen in Israel. He consecrated a large portion of these to religious uses, as thankofferings to Jehovah for his great prosperity. So that at his death there was a large supply of gold and silver, marble and cedar, in readiness for the temple. In the