beneath their power. The prophecy of their aggrandizement and settlement in Canaan could not be unknown to the Moabites and Edomites, for the latter were the immediate descendants of Esau, and the former of Lot. All things, then, conspired to render these powers as well as their neighbours, jealous of a people whom the force of haughty Egypt could not subdue.

After the defeat of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Basan, the Israelites marched to the borders of Moab, which greatly alarmed Balak, who reigned over that country. Here they pitched their camp, and neither showed nor intended any act of hostility, because they regarded the Moabites as their brethren. Had Balak possessed any prudent and generous qualities, he would have courted the alliance of this extraordinary people. Or, if he had been truly courageous, he would have marched out boldly against them, and have endeavoured to drive the formidable intruders from his dominions.

But Balak was mean, suspicious, and cowardly. He was also, as men of his character frequently are, extremely superstitious. Not daring to trust to the number or valour of his troops, he had recourse to magical arts against his enemies; a practice common in that age, and not in that only, but in those of a latter date, and among nations of greater wisdom and renown.

Balak, who had the most terrifying apprehensions of the potency of Israel's God, would not trust to the skill and wisdom of his own enchanters; but hearing of the fame of Balaam, the son of Beor, who dwelt at Pethor, in Mesopotamia, he resolved upon sending an embassy to invite him to his court. The message which he sent sufficiently expresses the fears by which Balak was actuated, and the miserable superstition which darkened his mind: "Behold," says he," there is a people come out from Egypt: they cover the face of the earth; and they abide over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee,

curse me this people, for they are too mighty for me; peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. Numbers xxii. 5, 6.

Most of the commentators represent Balaam as an idolater; but certainly not upon satisfactory grounds. He appears rather to have been a prophet and a priest, for he makes use of the tremendous name of God; he consults him as one who had frequently received Divine communications, and in his interview with Balak, he offers sacrifices to Jehovah in a sacerdotal manner. But Balaam was covetous, and, living among nations who placed an implicit confidence in the power of enchantments, he blended that profession with the worship of the true God. Nor does it derogate from the majesty, wisdom, and goodness of Jehovah, that he should condescend to make use of such an instrument.

We find Caiaphas, the bigotted and cruel high priest, at the examination of our Saviour, uttering a prophecy, of the exact import of which he was himself unconscious. There was also a covetous traitor among the apostles, who had doubtless preached the gospel of his master, and possessed the power of working miracles in common with his brethren.

That is a powerful testimony in behalf of truth and innocence which comes from the mouth of an enemy, and in this view the prophecies of Balaam are of the greatest importance.

The messengers of Balak came to the house of the prophet, bearing "the rewards of Divination" in their hands. The vanity of Balaam was elated by this application, and the prospect of honours and riches which it held out to him was not to be despised. He had some fear of Jehovah, but yet he wished to go with the messengers; for he desired them to tarry with him that night, that he

might inquire of the Lord, whether he should comply with the desire of Balak or not.

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In the night, Balaam received a strict and peremptory command from the Lord, not to go with the messengers, for that the people whom Balak wanted him curse were blessed." When morning came, he reluctantly dismissed the men, with an answer which sufficiently showed that he had the inclination, though not the power, to accompany them. Instead of a free and honest declaration of what he received from God, he said, "The Lord refuseth to let me go with you.' Had he told them that Israel was blessed, and that he could on no account execrate the favoured of heaven, the king of Moab would not perhaps have sent to him a second time: but Balaam was not willing to offend Balak by informing him of the truth; and the complaisant ambassadors, equally willing to please their master, altered even the prophet's concise answer, saying, "Balaam refuseth to come with us." It was natural, then, for Balak to suppose that Balaam was displeased at not having had a more splendid embassy, or that he stood out for higher terms than what had been offered him. Possessed of this idea, and being more eager to obtain his object, he dispatched instantly a more honourable and numerous deputation than the former, consisting of the first princes of his court, and proffering to the covetous prophet great riches and high distinctions. The answer of Balaam to these messengers would have been admirable, had his actions been consistent. "If Balak," says he, "would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more." Now if he had possessed any real piety, or had been more zealous for the honour of GOD than eager for his own ends, he would have dismissed the ambassadors at once upon the strength of the declaration which he had already received. But Balaam was willing to try whether the Almighty could not be prevailed upon to give him leave to visit

the king of Moab, and therefore he desired the messengers to tarry also with him that night.

The Lord who saw into the desire which lurked in his heart, gave him permission to follow his inclination, or rather left him to pursue it; only laying a restriction upon him to speak as he should be directed. Overjoyed at having obtained his object, Balaam rose up betimes in the morning, eager to earn and to receive the "wages of unrighteousness."

Behold Balaam posting on in his sinful journey, counting perhaps his gains, meditating upon the honours he should receive, and never once reflecting on the injustice of the business in which he was engaged.

As he was on his journey, the Almighty gave him another and more remarkable sign that his conduct was displeasing in his sight. The angel of Jehovah appeared in the way with a drawn sword in his hand; but the faculties of Balaam were intent upon worldly objects, and he beheld not the apparition.

The ass on which he rode alone saw the tremendous vision, and, to avoid it, turned aside into a field; which so provoked the prophet, that he smote her with his staff. The angel next appeared, to oppose the progress of Balaam, in a narrow way, which led through some vineyards, having a wall on each hand: here the ass again attempted to save her master by turning aside, and thereby crushed his foot against the wall. This roused his fury against the poor animal into greater violence, and he smote her with extreme severity. On coming to a pass still narrower than the former, the angel made a full stand; and the ass fell down beneath Balaam, who laid on his plows with redoubled violence.

The Almighty then opened the mouth of the injured animal, and gave her power to remonstrate witn the infatuated prophet on the cruelty of his conduct. But Balaam, instead of perceiving the finger of GoD in this mysterious transaction, and calling his sin to remembrance, was proof even against miracles, and

expressed a wish that he had a sword in his hand, to slay the faithful beast that had saved his life.

The messenger of Jehovah now made himself visible, and the terrified prophet immediately fell on his face to the earth. Before the angel proceeded to declare the purport of his mission, he reproved Balaam for his barbarity to the poor and defenceless animal on which he rode: "Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times ?" Does the Almighty then take up the cause of the despised and oppressed part of the brute creation, and will he bring into judgment the cruelty which insolent man commits upon the dumb and defenceless, however contemptible and insignificant they may be in our estimation? Let this incident in the story of Balaam convince us, that he does take cognizance of such actions, and that he will one day make an enquiry concerning them. "A righteous man regardeth the life of," or is tender to, "his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Proverbs xii. 10.

Balaam was now convinced that his eagerness to undertake this journey was offensive to the Almighty, and being filled with terror by the vision before him, he offered to return; but it was in terms which plainly showed, that he wished rather to proceed. "Now, therefore," says he, "if it displease thee, I will get me back again." The angel perceiving the sinfulness of his heart, left him to his own inclination, but laid a powerful command upon him to speak only as he should be directed from above.

This circumstance has occasioned considerable speculation, and no little degree of ridicule, according to the principles of different writers. Some have turned the whole into an allegory, parable, or vision; and they might, if they had pleased, with equal propriety, have made a fable or a dream of the whole history.

Moses relates the story with as much plainness, perspicuity, and soberness, as he does any other in the sacred books; on what account, therefore, have