their enemies, and gathered together the armour of those that were fled, and gave rewards to such as had signalized themselves in the action; and highly commended Joshua, their general, who was attested to by all the army, on account of the great actions he had done. Nor was any one of the Hebrews slain; but the slain of the enemies army were too many to be enumerated. So Moses offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, and built an altar, which he named, the Lord the conqueror. He also foretold, that the Amalekites should utterly be destroyed; and that hereafter none of them should remain, because they fought against the Hebrews, and this when they were in the wilderness, and in their distress also. Moreover, he refreshed the army with feasting. And thus did they fight this first battle with those that ventured to oppose them, after they were gone out of Egypt. But, when Moses had celebrated this festival for the victory, he permitted the Hebrews to rest for a few days, and then he brought them out after the fight in order of battle for they had now many soldiers in light armour. And going gradually on, he came to Mount Sinai in three months time after they were removed out of Egypt; at which mountain, as we have before related, the vision of the bush, and the other wonderful appearances had happened.

:

CHAP. III.

That Moses kindly received his father-in-law Jethro, when he came to him to Mount Sinai.

Now when Raguel, Moses's father-in-law, understood in what a prosperous condition his affairs were, he willingly came to meet him: and Moses took Zipporah his wife, and his children, and pleased himself with his coming. And when he had offered sacrifice, he made a feast for the multitude, near the bush he had formerly seen; which multitude, every one, according to their families, partook of the feast. But Aaron and himself took Raguel, and sung hymns to God, as to him who had been the author and procurer of their deliverance and their freedom. They also praised their conductor, as him by whose virtue it was that all things had succeeded so well with them. Raguel also, in his eucharistical oration to Moses, made great encomiums upon the whole multitude: and he could not but admire Moses

for his fortitude, and that humanity he had showed in the delivery of his friends.

CHAP. IV.

How Raguel suggested to Moses to set his people in order, under their rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, who lived without order before and how Moses complied in all things with his father-in-law's admonition.

1. THE next day, as Raguel saw Moses in the midst of a crowd of business, (for he determined the differences of those that referred them to him, every one still going to him, and supposing that they should then only obtain justice, if he were the arbitrator; and those that lost their causes thought it no great harm, while they thought they lost them justly, and not by partiality.) Raguel, however, said nothing to him at that time, as not desirous to be any hindrance to such as had a mind to make use of the virtue of their conductor. But afterward he took him to himself, and when he had him alone, he instructed him in what he ought to do; and advised him to leave the trouble of lesser causes to others, but himself to take care of the greater, and of the people's safety, for that certain others of the Hebrews might be found that were fit to determine causes, but that nobody but a Moses could take care of the safety of so many ten thousands. Be not, therefore, says he, in-` sensible of thine own virtue, and what thou hast done by ministering under God to the people's preservation. Permit, therefore, the determination of common causes to be done by others, but do thou reserve thyself to the attendance on God only, and look out for methods of preserving the multitude from their present distress. Make use of the method I suggest to you, as to human affairs; and take a review of the army, and appoint chosen rulers over tens of thousands, and then over thousands: then divide them into five L..ndreds; and again into hundreds, and into fifties; and set rulers over each of them, who may distinguish them into thirties, and keep them in order; and at last number them by twenties and by tens: and let there be one commander over each number, to be denominated from the number of those over whom they are rulers, but such as the whole mul

titude have tried, and do * approve of, as being good and righteous men; and let these rulers decide the controversies they have one with another. But if any great cause arise, let them bring the cognizance of it before the rulers of an higher dignity; but if any great difficulty arise that is too hard for even their determination, let them send it to thee. By these means two advantages will be gained; that the Hebrews will have justice done them; and thou wilt be able to attend constantly on God, and procure him to be more favourable to the people.

2. This was the admonition of Raguel; and Moses received his advice very kindly, and acted according to his suggestion. Nor did he conceal the invention of this method, nor pretend to it himself, but informed the multitude who it was that invented it: nay, he has named Raguel in the books he wrote, as the person who invented this ordering of the people, as thinking it right to give a true testimony to worthy persons, although he might have gotten reputation by ascribing to himself the inventions of other men. Whence we may learn the virtuous disposition of Moses: but of such his disposition, we shall have proper occasion to speak in other places of these books.

CHAP. V.

How Moses ascended up to Mount Sinai, and received laws from God, and delivered them to the Hebrews.

1. Now Moses called the multitude together, and told them, that he was going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from him, and to bring back with him a certain oracle: but he enjoined them to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he ascended up to mount Sinai, which is the

* This manner of electing the judges and officers of the Israelites by the testimonies and suffrages of the people, before they were ordained by God, or Moses, deserves to be carefully noted, because it was the pattern of the like manner of the choice and ordination of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, in the Christian church.

+ Since this mountain Sinai is here said to be the highest of all the mountains that are in that country, it must be that now called St. Katharine's, which is one third higher than that within a mile of it now called Sinai, as Mons. Thevenot informs us. Travels, part

highest of all the mountains that are in that country, and is not only very difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account of the rumour that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews removed their tents, as Moses had bidden them, and took possession of the lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good things he had proposed to them: so they feasted, and waited for their conductor; and kept themselves pure, as in other respects, and not accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered them to do. And they prayed to God, that he would favourably receive Moses in his conversing with him; and bestow some such gift upon them by which they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet; and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing than they usually wore.

2. So they passed two days in this way of feasting; but on the third day, before the sun was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole camp of the Hebrews, such an one as none had before seen, and encompassed the place where they had pitched their tents; and while all the rest of the air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised up large showers of rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such lightning, as was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its thunder-bolts were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a gracious way to such as Moses desired he should be gracious. Now as to these matters, every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under a necessity of relating this history as it is described in the sacred books. This sight, and the amazing sound that came to their ears, disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious dech. xxviii. p. 168. The other name of it, Horeb, is never used by Josephus; and perhaps was its name among the Egyptians only, whence the Israelites were lately come, as Sinai was its name among the Arabians, Canaanites, and other nations. Accordingly, when (1 Kings ix. 8.) the scripture says, that Elijah came to Horeb, the mount of God, Josephus justly says, Antiq. B. viii. ch. xiii. § 7. that he came to the mountain called Sinai, and Jerom, here cited by Dr. Hudson, says, that he took this mountain to have two names, Sinai and Choreb. See Nomin. Heb. p. 427.

gree, for they were not such as they were accustomed to ; and then the rumours that was spread abroad, how God frequented that mountain, greatly astonished their minds, se they sorrowfully contained themselves within their tents, as both supposing Moses to be destroyed by the divine wrath, and expecting the like destruction for themselves.

3. When they were under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful and greatly exalted. When they saw him, they were freed from their fear, and admitted of more comfortable hopes as to what was to come. The air also was become clear, and pure of its former disorders, upon the appearance of Moses. Whereupon he called together the people to a congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to them: and when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence, whence they might all hear him, and said, "God has received me graciously, O Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested an happy method of living for you, and an order of political government, and is now present in the camp: I, therefore, charge you for his sake, and the sake of his works, and that we have done by by his means, that you do not put a low value on what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by me that now deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man that delivers them to you; but if you have a due regard to the great importance of the things themselves, you will understand the greatness of him whose institutions they are, and who has not disdained to communicate them to me for our common advantage; for it is not to be supposed, that the author of these institutions is barely Moses, the son of Amram and Jochebed, but he who obliged the Nile to run bloody for your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by various sorts of judgments: he who provided a way through the sea for us: he who contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were distressed for want of it: he who made the waters to issue out of a rock, when we had very little of it before he by whose means Adam was made to partake of the fruits both of the land and of the sea: he by whose means Noah escaped the deluge he by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a wandering pilgrim, was made the heir of the land of Canaan : he by whose means Isaac was born of parents who were very old he by whose means Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons: he by whose means Joseph became a potent