having devolved upon Joshua, the most distinguished soldier in their camp, and whom, therefore, his predecessor, the great Hebrew lawgiver, named as his successor to the government, the son of Nun immediately entered upon the functions of his most responsible office. Although six hundred thousand fighting men were placed at his disposal, yet, as his enemies were far more numerous, besides being of acknowledged valour and conduct in the sanguinary art of war, the new commander deemed it expedient to send two trusty persons as spies into the capital of the neighbouring territory, Jericho, a strongly fortified city upon the western bank of the river Jordan, about two miles from Shittim, where the Israelites were encamped. This turned out in the issue to be a wise precaution. Reaching the place of their destination with the utmost secresy, the spies "came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there." Whilst in the dwelling of this woman, who appears to have furnished them with the general information they required, relative to the reputed resources of the government, the probable strength of the town, the statistical condition of the country, and the warlike preparations of the sovereign, they were unexpectedly apprised that the royal orders had been issued for their apprehension. This was a serious dilemma. The gates of the city having been closed by royal proclamation, to prevent the escape of the strangers, the messengers dispatched in search of them, proceeded at once to

Rahab's abode, having received information that there they had taken up their temporary residence.

Meanwhile the hostess, anxious for the safety of her guests, for the reason which I shall have ultimately to notice, besides that common one, the sacred obligation of hospitality in eastern countries, concealed them, for the moment, under some flax upon the roof, which was flat, according to the invariable mode of house architecture in the east, and which obtains even at this day. Having, by a specious story of their departure, hushed the suspicions of those active emissaries of the government under which she lived, they, fully crediting her report, quitted the city in search of the two Israelites, to whom their townswoman had afforded an asylum at the hazard of her life. In the evening she released the strangers from their concealment, enabling them, by means of a cord, to effect their escape from a window that overlooked the country, her house adjoining the rampart and probably forming part of the wall. Before she did this, however, she took the precaution, thus showing her prudence as well as foresight throughout the whole transaction, to demand from the spies a pledge of future security for herself and family. Having hospitably entertained them and released them from a very pressing danger, at her own imminent peril, with a persuasiveness as eloquent as it was fervid, she implored them that at the sack of the city, which she declared her belief

was about to fall into the hands of their countrymen, then on the borders of the land, they would spare her and her kindred amid the general slaughter of the Canaanites.

The promise thus solemnly exacted was given and confirmed by an oath. It was a pledge of security to her and her immediate relatives, who, when Jericho fell into the hands of the Israelites, were accordingly spared. Rahab eventually married a prince of the house of Judah, by which alliance she became a distinguished member of that community, being numbered among those celebrated names enumerated in the genealogy of our blessed Lord. This is an extraordinary event in the life of that remarkable woman, and sufficiently justifies a review of her brief but singular history.

Now, it is worthy of notice in this history that Rahab is expressly called "a harlot;" nevertheless, on account of the protection she afforded to the two spies sent from the camp of Israel, notwithstanding that their safety was secured by means of a lie, and as it would seem, of direct treachery towards her own nation, she is not only commended both by St. Paul and St. James, but classed, by the former, among the most eminent of the Hebrew worthies. Of this I shall have to speak, ultimately, more at large, when I hope to be able to show how far her character and conduct, in spite of great moral obstacles, will justify such high, yet acknowledged claims. For the present, I shall confine myself to that portion

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of the narrative which expresses her mode of life.

There has been a great difference of opinion among commentators, though I must say, I think upon very insufficient grounds, whether the Hebrew word "harlot" in our version, should not have been rendered hostess or tavern-keeper, since it equally denotes the one and the other; no doubt for this simple reason, that then, in the east generally, the latter was commonly, not to say invariably, both. Although, however, this did happen to be the case commonly, it certainly does not, therefore, follow, as a matter of absolute necessity, that a woman keeping an inn should have led an unchaste life. Rahab consequently might, without doubt, have been a hostess without being a harlot, however strong the probability against such a fact.

Many learned men, sanctioned by the authority of St. Chrysostom, who styles her "hostess," consider that the character of Rahab, as given by the two apostles before named, and the subsequent events of her life, especially her marriage with a prince of the tribe of Judah, are utterly irreconcilable with those impure habits which the term used by the sacred historian, in the sense employed by our translators, fixes upon her. They therefore adopt the view of her being simply an innkeeper, appropriating her house, for a suitable pecuniary remuneration, to the reception either of travellers, or of such persons as had no private residence of their own. If this

fact could be proved, I do not see that it would remove the embarrassment arising from the imputed character of Rahab in the text, as we are accustomed to read it; since it is certain that the business of an innkeeper was, even at this early period, as it still is, held in great disrepute, not only universally among the Jews, but generally among the heathens. The keepers of such houses being usually persons of lax morals, and, consequently, of equivocal reputation, no person, following an employment so stigmatized, was admitted into respectable society; all, whether innocent or guilty, labouring under the same odious imputation. The universal custom in eastern countries, of women withdrawing themselves as much as possible from the gaze of men, is strong evidence against the respectability of a profession utterly at variance with those habits of seclusion, supposed essential to the purity of the female character.

It is hardly then to be imagined, that a person of unimpeachable moral conduct would select an occupation to which so much degradation was attached, as to carry with it the universal odium of licentious living. There must have been some reason for so strange a choice, but there certainly could have been none which would have warranted such a selection, by a woman who had never violated the acknowledged rules of decorum. We are thus forced to the conclusion, how much soever this may shock our feelings upon a hasty and superficial view of the matter,