old affection was still lingering in the hero's heart, and eager to avenge his wife's cruel and untimely death, he attacked the Philistines single-handed, and caused a great slaughter among them. Then he hurried back into the territory of Judah, and there concealed himself in one of the caves of the rocks of Etam. The incensed Philistines pursued him, and demanded that the daring offender should be delivered into their hands. The men of Judah, fearing their masters, and anxious to propitiate them, surrounded the cave where Samson lay hidden, remonstrated with him sharply for what they considered reckless imprudence, bound him with two new cords, and brought him a prisoner to the Philistine camp at Lechi. A shout of joy arose from the heathen hosts; but the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson, and the cords upon his arms became as flax burnt with fire, and his bands fell loose from his hands.' Then taking for his weapon the jaw-bone of an ass which he found near, he slew with it a thousand men, in commemoration of which exploit the place where it was achieved was called Ramath Lechi (the height of the jaw-bone). Wandering alone amidst the rocks, weary and exhausted, far from brook or spring, the hero prayed earnestly to God for help; the ground clove at his feet, and a stream of refreshing water rushed up before him: the spring remained, and was long famous under the name of Enhakkore (spring of the praying).

Samson was now the recognised chief and Judge of Israel.

His strength and the terror of his name were sufficient to maintain peace for twenty years.

One night, when he had roamed into Gaza, one of the chief cities of the Philistines, his enemies, ever lying in wait for him, surrounded the walls and barred the gates, with a view of attacking and killing him in the morning. But Samson, guessing their evil designs, arose at midnight,

and unhinging the two huge gates, placed them on his shoulders, bar and all, and carried them as far as the top of a hill before Hebron.

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In the valley of Sorek, in the territory of Judah, there dwelt a woman, Delilah, deceitful and avaricious, whom Samson loved. The wily Philistines determined to make her the instrument of his ruin. She was to entice from him the secret of his strength. It is a strange incident in his life, showing us how weak was the moral nature of that giant in outward strength. At first, he tried to baffle the insidious enquiries of the traitress, and his answers evinced his usual humour: If they bind me with seven fresh withs that were never dried, then shall I be as weak as any other man.' When he had fallen asleep, Delilah, hiding a number of Philistines in the room, tied his arms with green withs, and suddenly arousing him, she exclaimed, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson!' He sprang up and broke the withs, as a thread of tow crumbles away when touched by fire. The secret of his strength was still his own. Again the false temptress urged him to tell her how he could effectually be pinioned. Samson, enjoying the jest, replied, "If they bind me fast with new ropes, which have never been used, then shall I be weak, and be as any other man.' Delilah fastened him with new ropes, and once more gave the signal for the Philistines' attack. But Samson tore the cords from his arms like threads. When Delilah still continued to weary him with her entreaties, he said he would lose his strength if she entwined the seven locks of his head with linen threads. In his sleep she did so, and fixed his locks to the wall with a strong nail, but at the words, The Philistines are upon thee!' he started up from his sleep, carrying away with him the nail, and facing his enemies in unimpaired vigour. Delilah now lavished the hero her fondest caresses: How canst upon

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thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lies.' The rich reward which the princes of the nation had promised for her treachery incited her to repeat the request again and again; she allowed Samson no peace and no rest, until his soul was vexed to death.' Too self-confident to flee from this evil woman, and too weak to resist her, he at last poured out his whole heart; he told her that the mystery of his power lay in his hair, which no razor had touched from the day of his birth, and that as long as he was truly and faithfully a Nazarite to the Lord, he would remain invincible. Delilah felt that this time he had spoken the truth; she called the Philistine chiefs, and informed them that at last she had Samson indeed in her hands. With well-feigned affection, she watched beside her unfortunate victim till he slept, and then she softly bid a man cut the long and carefully preserved locks from his head. When the fatal work was finished, she cried out, The Philistines are upon thee!' Samson awoke, unconcerned as before, trusting that he would rid himself of his enemies as he had done so often-but his strength was gone. The Philistines fell upon him, made him their prisoner, cruelly put out his eyes, and brought him to Gaza, where they loaded him with iron chains, and made him grind wheat in the prison-house.

The Philistine people rejoiced over the fall of the mighty Hebrew champion; they held public festivals and revelries, and offered sacrifices and thanksgivings to their god Dagon. It was during one of these feasts of wild merry-making that they brought out their captive, cruelly to make sport of him in his misery and blindness. The temple of the god Dagon was filled with vast numbers of people; three thousand were on the roof alone, whilst the inner part of the building was thronged to excess. Samson

was led out of his prison, and his inhuman masters bid him sing and dance before them. A boy was leading him by the hand, and placed him between two of the pillars that supported the colossal building. In the midst of his toil and degradation, his hair had begun to grow, and his strength had imperceptibly returned. He felt it; a great resolve flashed upon his mind, and at once matured into deed. He said to the lad, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereon the house stands, that I may lean upon them.' Then he poured out a fervent prayer from the depth of his soul: O Lord God, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may take one revenge upon the Philistines for my two eyes.' And now, grasping both pillars, one with each hand, he exclaimed, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' As he bent down the pillars with all his might, 'the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein; and the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.'

The consternation which this fearful event caused among the Philistines, enabled Samson's brothers and relations to rescue the body of their great kinsman from the land of the heathen, and to bury it in the territory of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the grave of his father Manoah.

75. THE STORY OF RUTH.

[BOOK OF RUTH.]

The stormy period, the events of which we have just related, is relieved by a glimpse of bright sunshine, all the more cheering for the surrounding darkness. It is a beautiful episode in the lives of two women, a Hebrew and a Moabitess; and it is told so sweetly and so charmingly, that the story of Ruth and Naomi may well be called

the great Idyl of the Bible. It is a refreshing interlude between the history of the Judges and the labours of Samuel, between the old times of lawlessness and the age of the new kingdom.

There are but few women whose destinies and deeds are narrated in the Bible with some fulness, and those few are principally conspicuous for energy and courage, like Deborah, Jael, and Esther. But the memory of Ruth is rich with affection and gentleness, devotion and filial attachment, unselfish and pure-minded simplicity. The very sound of her name conjures up before our eyes busy harvest scenes in the land of Palestine, the young men reaping, the maidens gleaning, and the stately yet kindly figure of Boaz moving among his sheaves. It is the one peaceful page snatched from the turbulent lives of the Hebrews of that time; not fanciful, like the feats of Samson, not fierce and inspiring like the work of Deborah, but homely and winning in its details, simple yet picturesque.

We can do no better than give the story as much as possible in the very words of the Bible, inimitable in their beauty and childlike plainness.

It happened in the days when the Judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. And they came into the country of Moab, and stayed there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. And they took to themselves wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelt there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them, and thus Naomi alone was