not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

We have here the history of the kingdom under fifteen judges, from the death of Joshua to the time of Saul. In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is said, "The time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions."

Gideon was a mighty man of valour, and he ruled over the northern and eastern tribes for fifty years. The victories of Barak were sung in the song of Deborah; and Jephthah, on the eve of a great battle, made a vow that if he conquered he would devote to God whatever should come forth from his house to meet him on his return home. This turned out to be his only child—a daughter, who came to welcome him with music and dancing.

SAMSON.

THE judge of whom we hear most is Samson. He was a Nazarite from his birth. The word Nazarite means "one who is separated," or set apart. A Nazarite made a vow to take no wine or strong drink, to let his hair grow, and to observe some other forms. From his birth Samson had been distinguished for his immense strength. When he met a lion in the vineyards of Timnath, he rent it as if it had been a kid

or a young goat. When he was caught and bound by the Philistines, the cords on his arms became as flax that had been burnt with fire, and he loosed himself. He took up the doors of the city of Gaza, and carried them to the top of a hill.

But strong as he was in body, he was weak in mind. He was persuaded by Delilah, a very bad woman, to tell her the secret of his strength, which lay in his hair. She betrayed him to the Philistines, and she and they cut off his hair when he was asleep, and then they put out his eyes and cast him into prison. While there we must hope that he turned to the God whom he knew, but had not obeyed.

The Philistines gathered themselves together to offer a sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, "for," said they, “our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand." Dagon was the name of a celebrated idol of the Philistines. He was represented with the head, hands, and face of a man, but the body of a fish. "And when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport."

Cruel and cowardly as they were, the man who had so often terrified them with his strength, was now brought out in his blindness and weakness, for the idolaters to laugh at him and mock him. Nothing can be more heartless than to ridicule those who are old, or weak, or ill. You may be sure that the time will come, when those who do so will have reason to be sorry for it.

The sport of the Philistines did not last long.

They placed Samson between two pillars-the house was full, and there were on the roof three thousand men and women that looked on, while the blind man was turned out for their amusement. But he prayed to God to restore his strength that once. "He bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein, so the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life."

RUTH:

THE book of Judges is followed by that of Ruth. In four chapters it tells the history of a widow named Naomi, living in Moab till her two sons died, each leaving a widow, whose names were Ruth and Orpah. Naomi resolved to return to Judea, her own country, saying to her daughtersin-law, "The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead and with me.” "And they lifted up their voice and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her.” Orpah went to her own country, but Ruth would not leave Naomi.

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'Behold," said Naomi, "thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods, return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge, thy people

shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." And so they two went to Bethlehem, and "all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi ? And she said, Call me not Naomi" (which means pleasant), "call me Mara" (which means bitter). "I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. So Naomi returned, and Ruth her daughter-in-law with her, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest."

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The loss of her husband and sons had probably made Naomi very poor, and to help her, Ruth went out to glean corn in the fields belonging to Boaz. He asked the servant who was set over the reapers, who she was. The man replied, "It is the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi, and she said, pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, but abide here fast by my maidens. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thy eyes that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered, It hath been fully shewed me all that thou hast done unto thy mother-in-law, since the death of thine husband, and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art

come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust."

"Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord, for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thy handmaid; though I be not like one of thine own handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers; and he reached her parched corn and she did eat. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not. And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them."

So she remained till she had gleaned an ephah, that is, about a bushel of corn. And she took it to her mother-in-law, and she told her the name of the man in whose field she had been was Boaz, who proved to be a relation of Naomi's. And Naomi said, "Blessed be he of the Lord who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." So Ruth "kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest, and of wheat harvest, and dwelt with her mother-in-law." Eventually she became the wife of Boaz, and had a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David, and in St. Luke we are told that the "Virgin Mary was espoused to a man named Joseph of the house of David." So,