foe fell prostrate to the earth. David then ran, stood on the body, and drawing the Philistine's sword, cut off his head, and held it up in the view of the terrorstricken heathens; who immediately fled in wild disorder, and were pursued and slaughtered in great numbers by the exulting Hebrews, even to the gates of Gath and Ekron.

Although the sling is now unknown as a weapon of war, it was formerly very extensively used, and was a very formidable offensive instrument. The men of Benjamin, in the early part of Hebrew history, were so very expert in this mode of casting destructive missiles, that they could "sling stones at an hair, and not miss.” (Judges xx. 16.) Several allusions to the sling are found in the subsequent wars of the Hebrews; it was also extensively employed among various Gentile nations,* as numerous classic authors testify.

* The people of the Balearic Islands threw stones with their slings, with as much violence as if they were shot out of an engine; with these they brake in pieces their enemies' shields, helmets, and all other defensive armour. 66 'They are such exact marksmen, that they never miss their aim. This skill they attain by their habitual practice from their childhood."-DIODORUS SICULUS, lib. v., cap. 1.

Virgil thus records the exploit of Mezentius:

"Him when he spied from far, the Tuscan king
Laid by the lance, and took him to the string;
Thrice whirl'd the thong about his head, and threw

The heated lead, half melted as it flew.

It pierced his hollow temples and his brain,

The youth came tumbling down, and spurn'd the plain."

Eneid, lib. ix., v. 709.

Strabo gives a parallel account of the conflict between Pyræchmas, the Etolian, and Degmenus, the Epeian. The former having armed himself with a sling, while his enemy had a bow and arrows,—the sling carrying its missile further than the bow,-Degmenus was slain before his weapons were available.-STRABO, Geog., lib. viii., cap. iii., sect. 33.

As David went forth against Goliath, Saul inquired of Abner whose son he was, but the chief was unable to give the required information; the king, however, anxious to know, charged the general to ascertain. In this conversation, Saul calls David a youth, a stripling, -words which clearly indicate that he had scarcely attained manhood; and this, taken in connexion with the entire ignorance of Saul and Abner of the person and family of David, must be taken as a decisive proof that he had not, prior to this, resided with Saul as a minstrel, nor been employed in his service as armour-bearer; and, consequently, that the passage before spoken of, (1 Sam. xvi. 14–23,) is inserted at too early a period in the narrative.

While the king and all his court honoured and applauded the young man who had wrought out such deliverance for Israel, there was one whose attachment to him, at the same time immediate and intense, produced one of the most sincere and disinterested friendships recorded in history, and formed the subject of one of the most beautiful episodes to be found in any language. When David was brought to the house of Saul, Jonathan, the king's eldest son, a noble and valiant young man, who had seen and greatly admired the bearing and valour of David, now being brought into close contact with him, loved him as his own soul; and the young men from that hour became sincere and devoted friends. As tokens of this strong attachment, Jonathan divested himself of his robe and armour, and gave to David his garments, his sword, his bow, and his girdle. (1 Sam. xviii. 1–3.)

David could not have passed through this day without great excitement, and mental as well as bodily exercise. All his physical, intellectual, and religious powers, had been tested to the utmost. It was a day

in which were concentrated almost the labours and successes of a life; and when it is considered that this was David's first appearance in public, his first warlike action, his earliest opportunity of realizing triumph and winning applause, it is not without reason that some curiosity is felt as to the state of his mind, his feelings and emotions, when retiring to rest after such a day. Happily, it is believed that we have the means of reading, even now, the inmost thoughts of the son of Jesse, on this most interesting occasion. Retiring into privacy, he poured forth the feelings of his grateful heart to God in the language of the ninth Psalm :

"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth Thy marvellous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in Thee :

I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou Most High.

Mine enemies are turned back,

They shall fall and perish at Thy presence.

For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause; Thou satest in the throne judging right.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen,

Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end:

And thou hast destroyed cities;

Their memorial is perished with them.

But the Lord shall endure for ever:

He hath prepared His throne for judgment.

And He shall judge the world in righteousness,

He shall minister judgment to the people in upright

ness.

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.

THE HERO'S PIETY AND PRAISE.

41

And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee:

For Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee." *

With such feelings of devout thanksgiving and holy confidence in God, did David review the events of this momentous day. His faith had been justified by the Divine blessing; and hence he exultingly declares, They that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee." As soon as opportunity offered, David dedicated to God the sword of Goliath, which he had taken from the fallen giant, and placed it in the tabernacle.+ It had been proclaimed, previous to the appearance of David on the scene, that the man who vanquished Goliath should have the daughter of Saul to wife; but we hear of no allusion to this after the conflict. Probably the very youthful appearance of David was the reason that no further mention of this promise was made at that time.

This was a glorious day for Israel; a day of great deliverance and triumph; a day crowned with victory and great success, and thus far unalloyed with calamity, or cause for regret. But this was not to

* This appropriation of the ninth Psalm is made on the authority of Lightfoot, which is adopted by Townsend in his Chronological Arrangement. Much difficulty has arisen as to the appropriation of the Psalms of David, which were composed in the early part of his life, in consequence of the alterations afterwards made in them, to adapt them to the services of the sanctuary on Mount Zion. In the case before us, it is not probable that the eleventh or fourteenth verses stood originally as we now find them. When David slew Goliath, Zion was not a sacred place. The introduction of this name took place afterwards.

† This is asserted by Josephus, and confirmed by the testimony of Scripture; the sword having been found in the tabernacle when David fled from Saul to Nob, when, at.his request, the high priest gave it to him.

continue. The influence and power of females in recognising and honouring the noble actions of the good and the brave, have always been felt in every state of society, and have always produced important results. It was so in Israel on this occasion. The portentous invasion which had been defeated, mainly by the heroism of David, had of necessity excited the greatest apprehension in the minds of the population generally, and especially among the Hebrew women. They were sure to have been the greatest sufferers if this invasion had been successful and permanent. On hearing therefore of the great victory obtained over the Philistine army, and the splendid triumph of Ephes-dammim, their gratitude and jubilant feelings knew no bounds.

The excess of their joy did not however prevent their discriminating between the relative claims of those who had been the instruments of working out this great deliverance for Israel, and in their judgment and feeling awarding to each the gratitude and praise which they seemed respectively to merit. Saul had long been recognised as an able king and a brave warrior. He had in his army many men of military experience and great power. That all these should for forty days have cowered before the profane boastings of a heathen, and have shrunk from a contest in which a stripling boy of twenty years won an easy victory, made a profound impression on the public mind.

So, when Saul and his troops returned from the scene of conflict and slaughter to the centre of the kingdom, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing with instruments of music, to meet them; but joyful as were the strains they poured forth, and loud as were their praises, there was one utterance of most painful import to the sensitive