therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.'

It seems, therefore, that we must adopt the meaning which many translators and commentators tell us the words here rendered iniquity and perverseness frequently bear in Scripture, namely, idolatry. The Israelites had been entirely free from this sin since the trespass of the golden calf; and for that reason God would not give them up to destruction for their transgressions, which were not like the sins of the neighbouring nations, who were now about to be destroyed for them.

"He hath not beheld

may be rendered, in the present tense, He doth not behold, and " neither hath He seen," neither doth He see. The word which we render iniquity is observed to signify an idol in other places, as in

* Amos III. 1, 2.

Samuel's remonstrance with Saul, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.'

Have I made this clear to you, my dear little boy?

CHARLES.

dear Mamma.

Quite so, I thank you,

MAMMA. Then now proceed.

CHARLES. "The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."

MAMMA. The meaning of this verse is, Since they do not worship idols, but cleave to the Lord their God, and serve Him alone, He is present with them, not only to preserve them from their enemies, but, as a king, to crown them with glorious victories; and allusion is made to the shouts when a king or a great captain returns vic

* 1 Samuel xv. 23.

torious with the spoils of his van

quished enemies.

CHARLES.

of Egypt ;".

“ God brought them out

MAMMA. This circumstance is mentioned as an instance of God's wonderful power, and the favour He had shown to His people Israel, which should have convinced their enemies how vain it must be to strive against

them.

CHARLES. "He hath as it were the strength of an unicorn."

What is an unicorn, Mamma? I have seen it opposite to the lion in the royal arms, but I never saw one in any of the pictures you have given me to look at.

MAMMA. Commentators are very much divided as to what animal is meant by the unicorn mentioned here, and in some other places in the Bible.

The greater part think it is the rhinoceros, which has sometimes only one horn, sometimes two.

CHARLES. O yes. I remember seeing one at the Zoological Garden. It is a very ugly animal, and is said to be very strong, and its hide so tough that it is hardly possible to pierce through it.

MAMMA. Some, however, are of opinion that it is a kind of wild bull, with one horn growing out of the forehead between the eyes. Whatever it may be, it appears to be an animal of great strength by the comparisons made to it.

Bochart, a very learned Frenchman of the seventeenth century, thought it might be a kind of goat, called the gazelle or antelope, which is a tall animal, sometimes as high as a stag, with long and sharp horns, so that

Balaam might by that figure foretell that the Israelites would be as eminent among other people as this creature was among other kinds of goats. This animal's property of carrying its head very high, and erecting its ears, may be considered as an excellent emblem of the Israelites released from oppression, and raised by God to a great height of glory.

CHARLES. 66 Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel."

MAMMA. It seems that Balaam expresses to Balak the uselessness and folly of taking him from place to place, and trying by incantations to procure some mischief to Israel, for strong as they were in the protection of God, no enchantment could prevail against them.

CHARLES.

"Behold, the people