|leys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;

2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua, and with Israel, with one accord.

31 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,

33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Le-P vites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal: das Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that i were conversant among them.

11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitJordan, in the hills, and in the val-ants of our country spake to us, saying, Take

victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with

us.

12 This our bread we took hot for our provision, out of our houses, on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:

13 And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments, and our shoes, are become old by reason of the very long journey.

14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. 15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

Heb. in your hand-y Or, they received the men by reason of their victuals. Nucib. 27. 21. Isai. 30. 1, 2. See Julg. 1. 1. 1 Sam. 22 10. & 23. 10, 11. & 30. &

what is that to us? Does the word of God commend them for it? It does not. Are they held up to us as examples? surely no. They did what any other nation would have done in their circumstances; and we have nothing to do with their example. Had they come to the Israelites, and simply submitted themselves without opposition, and without fraud, they had certainly fared much better. Lying and hypocrisy, always defeat their own purpose; and at best can succeed only for a short season. Truth and honesty never wear out.

Old sacks-and wine-bottles, old, &c.] They pretended to have come from a very distant country, and that their sacks, and the goat-skins that served them for carrying their wine and water, were worn out by the length of the journey.

Verse 5. Old shoes, and clouted] Their sandals, they pretended, had been worn out by long and difficult travelling, and they had been obliged to have them frequently patched during the way; their garments also being worn thin, and what remained of their bread, mouldy, and spotted with age: or, as our old version has it, bored, pierced with many holes by the vermin which had bred in it, through the length of the time it had been in their sacks: and this is the most literal meaning of the original nikkudim, which means spotted, or pierced with many holes.

The old and clouted shoes, has been a subject of some controversy; the Hebrew word 2 baloth, signifies worn out, from balah, to wear away, and no metullaoth, from tula, to spot or patch, i. e. spotted with patches. Our word clouted, in the Anglo-saxon geclutod, signifies seamed up, patched, from clut, a clout, rag, or small piece of cloth, used for piecing or patching. But some suppose, the word here comes from clouet, the diminutive of clou, a small nail, with which the Gibeonites had fortified the soles of their shoes, to prevent them from wearing out in so long a journey; but this seems very unlikely and our old English term clouted, seamed, or patched, expresses the spirit of the Hebrew word.

Verse 6. Make ye a league with us.] 5 19 caritu lanu berith, cut, or divide the covenant sacrifice with us. From this it appears, that heathenism, at this time, had its sacrifices; and covenants were ratified by sacrificing to, and invoking the objects of their adoration. Verse 7. Peradventure ye dwell among us] It is strange, they should have had such a suspicion, as the Gibeonites had acted so artfully: and it is as strange, that having such a suspicion, they acted with so little caution. Verse 8. We are thy servants.] This appears to have been the only answer they gave to the question of the Israelitish elders, and this they gave to Joshua, not to them, as they saw that Joshua was commander in chief of the host.

Who are ye? and from whence come ye?] To these questions, from such an authority, they felt themselves obliged to give an explicit answer; and they do it very artfully, by a mixture of truth, falsehood, and hypocrisy. Verse 9. Because of the name of the Lord thy God] They pretend that they had undertaken this journey on a religious account; and seem to intimate, that they had the highest respect for Jehovah, the object of the Israelites' worship; this was hypocrisy.

We have heard the fame of him] This was true: the wonders which God did in Egypt, and the discomfiture of Sihon and Og, had reached the whole land of Canaan; and it was on this account, that the inhabitants of it were panic-struck. The Gibeonites knowing that they could not stand where such mighty forces had fallen, wished to

16 And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours; and that they dwelt among them.

17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim.

b

18 And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes.

19 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.

20 This we will do to them; we will even let

2 Sam. 2. 1. & 5. 19.-a Chap. 11. 19. 2 Sam. 21. 2-b Ch. 18. 25, 25, 28. Ezra 2.25. c Eccles. 5. 2. Pa. 15. 4.

make the Israelites their friends. This part of their relation was strictly true.

Verse 11. Wherefore our elders, &c.] All this, and what follows to the end of ver. 13. was false, contrived merely for the purpose of deceiving the Israelites; and this they did to save their own lives; as they expected all the inhabitants of Canaan to be put to the sword.

Verse 14. The men took of their victuals] This was done, in all probability, in the way of friendship: for, from time immemorial to the present day, eating together, in the Asiatic countries, is considered a token of unalterable friendship; and those who eat even salt together, feel themselves bound thereby in a perpetual covenant. But the marginal reading of this clause should not be hastily rejected.

And asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord] They made the covenant with the Gibeonites, without consult ing God by Urim and Thummim, which was highly reprehensible in them, as it was a state transaction, in which the interests and honour of God their King were intimately concerned.

Verse 15. Joshua made peace with them] Joshua agreed to receive them into a friendly connection with the Israelites; and to respect their lives and properties; and the elders of Israel bound themselves to the observance of it, and confirmed it with an oath. As the same words are used here as in ver. 6. we may suppose that the covenant was made in the ordinary way, a sacrifice being offered on the occasion, and its blood poured out before the Lord. See on Gen. xv. 10, &c.

Verse 16. At the end of three days] Gibeon is reputed to be only about eight leagues distant from Gilgal, and on this account the fraud might be easily discovered in the time mentioned above.

Verse 17. The children of Israel-came unto their cities] Probably when the fraud was discovered, Joshua sent out a detachment to examine their country, and to see what use could be made of it in the prosecution of their war with the Canaanites. Some of the cities mentioned here, were afterward in great repute among the Israelites; and God chose to make one of them, Kirjath-jearim, the residence of the ark of the covenant for twenty years, in the reigns of Saul and David. There is no evidence that the preservation of the Gibeonites was displeasing to Jehovah.

Verse 18. All the congregation murmured] Merely because they were deprived of the spoils of the Gibeonites. They had now got under the full influence of a predatory spirit; God saw their proneness to this, and therefore, at particular times, totally interdicted the spoils of conquered cities, as in the case of Jericho.

Verse 19. We have sworn unto them] Although the Israelites were deceived in this business, and the covenant was made on a certain supposition, which was afterward proved to have had no foundation in truth, and consequently the whole engagement on the part of the deceived was hereby vitiated, and rendered null and void; yet, because the elders had eaten with them, offered a covenant sacrifice, and sworn by Jehovah, they did not consider themselves at liberty to break the terms of the agreement, as far as the lives of the Gibeonites were concerned. That their conduct in this respect was highly pleasing to God, is evident from this, that Joshua is nowhere reprehended for making this covenant, and sparing the Gibeonites; and that Saul, who four hundred years after this, thought himself and the Israelites loosed from this obligation, and, in consequence, oppressed and destroyed the Gibeonites, was punished for the breach of this treaty, being considered as

27 And Joshua P made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.

23 Now therefore ye are i cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and thewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.

24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.

26 And so he did unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.

d See 2 Sam. 21. 1, 2, 6. Ezek. 17. 13, 15, 18, 19. Zech. 5. 3, 4 Mal. 3. 5-e Dent. 29. IL-Verse 15-g Verse 6, 9.-h Verse 16.-i Genesis 9, 25.-k Hebrew, not be cut off from you.

the violator of a most solemn oath, and covenant engagement. See 2 Sam. xxi. 2-9. and see Ezek. xvii. 18, 19. All these circumstances laid together, prove that the command to destroy the Canaanites was not so absolute as is generally supposed: and should be understood as rather referring to the destruction of the political existence of the Canaanitish nations, than to the destruction of their

lives. See the notes on Deut. xx. 10. and 17.

Verse 21. Hewers of wood and drawers of water] Perhaps this is a sort of proverbial expression, signifying the lowest state of servitude, though it may also be understood literally. See below.

Verse 23. Now therefore ye are cursed] Does not this refer to what was pronounced by Noah, Gen. ix. 25. against Ham and his posterity? Did not the curse of Ham imply slavery, and nothing else? Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be-and does it not sufficiently appear that nothing else than perpetual slavery is implied in the curse of the Gibeonites? They were brought, no doubt, under tribute; performed the meanest offices for the Israelites, being in the same circumstances with the servile class of Hindoos, called the Chetrees; had their national importance annihilated, and yet were never permitted to incorporate themselves with the Israelites. And we may reasonably suppose, that this was the purpose of God relative to all the Canaanitish nations: those who would not renounce their idolatry, &c. were to be extirpated, those who did, were to be preserved alive, on condition of becoming tributary, and serving as slaves. See the note on Deut. xx. 17.

Hewers of wood and drawers of water] The disgrace of this state lay not in the laboriousness of it, but in its being the common employment of the females; if the ancient customs among the same people were such as prevail now: the most intelligent travellers in those countries, represent collecting wood for fuel, and carrying water, as the peculiar employment of the females. The Arab women of Barbary do so, according to Dr. Shaw. The daughters of the Turcomans, in Palestine, are employed, according to D' Arvieux, in fetching wood and water for the accommodation of their respective families. From these circumstances Mr. Harmer reasons thus: "The bitterness of the doom of the Gibeonites, does not seem to have consisted in the laboriousness of the service enjoined them, for it was usual for women and children to perform what was required of them; but its degrading them from the characteristic employment of men, that of bearing arms; and condemning them and their posterity for ever to the employment of females. The not receiving them as allies was bitter; the disarming them who had been warriors, and condemning them to the employment of females, was worse; but the extending this degradation to their posterity, was bitterest of all. It is no wonder, that in these circumstances, they are said to have been cursed." Obs. vol. iv. p. 297.

Verse 24. We were sore afraid of our lives] Selfpreservation, which is the most powerful law of nature,

TOW it came to pass, when AdoniNov 41. zedek, king of Jerusalem, had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had 1. Olymp. 674done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;

1 Ver. 21, 27.-m Exod. 23. 32. Deut. 7. 1,2-n Exod. 15. 14.-o Gen. 16 6-p Heb. gave, or, delivered to be. 1 Chron. 9. 9, 2. Ezra 8.20.-q Ver. 21, 23-r Deut. 12 5. Ch. 6. 24.-t Ch. 8. 22, 26, 28-u Ch. 9. 15.

dictated to them those measures which they adopted; and
Verse 25. We are in thine hand] Entirely in thy
they plead this as the motive of their conduct.
power.

As it seemeth good and right unto thee-do] Whatever justice and mercy dictate to thee to do to us, that perform. They expect justice, because they deceived the Israelites; but they expect mercy also, because they were driven to use this expedient for fear of losing their lives. The appeal to Joshua is full of delicacy and cogent argument.

Verse 26. And so did he unto them] That is, he acted according to justice and mercy; he delivered them out of the hands of the people, so that they slew them not; here was mercy: and he made them hewers of wood and drawers of water to the congregation, and to the altar of God; here was justice. Thus Joshua did nothing but what was good and right, not only in his own eyes, but also in the eyes of the Lord.

How long the Gibeonites were preserved as a distinct people after this, we know not. That they existed in the time of David, is evident from the circumstance mentioned on ver. 19. They are not mentioned after the captivity; and it is probable that they were nearly annihilated by the persecution raised up against them by Saul. Some suppose that the Gibeonites existed under the appellation of Nethinim; but of this there is no decisive proof; the ON what we meet with in this chapter, we may make Nethinim were probably slaves of a different race. the following observations.

1. The Gibeonites told lies, in order to save their lives. No expediency can justify this, nor are we called to attempt it. The Gibeonites were heathens, and we can expect nothing better from them.-See note at the end of chap. ii.

2. They did not profit by their falsity: had they come in fairly, sought peace, and renounced their idolatry, they would have had life on honourable terms. As it was, they barely escaped with their lives, and were utterly deprived of their political liberty. Even the good that is sought by unlawful means, has God's curse on it.

3. We need not be solicitous for the character of the Gibeonites here; they are neither our models, nor believers in the true God: and therefore pure religion is not concerned in their prevarication and falsity.

4. We see here of what solemn importance an oath was considered among the people of God; they swore to their own hurt, and changed not. When once they had bound themselves to their Maker, they did not believe that any changing circumstances could justify a departure from so awful an obligation. Thus, reader, shouldst thou fear a lie, and tremble at an oath.

NOTES ON CHAPTER X.

Verse 1: Adoni-zedek] This name signifies the lord of justice or righteousness: and it has been conjectured that the Canaanitish kings assumed this name in imitation of that of the ancient patriarchal king of this city, Mel565 chizedek, whose name signifies king of righteousness, or

2 That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the w royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.

3 Wherefore Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: * for it hath made peace with Joshua, and with the children of Israel.

X

5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their host, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

6 And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.

Exod. 15. 14, 15, 16. Deat. 11. 25-w Heb. cities of the kingdom-x Ver. 1. Ch. 9. 15-y Ch. 9. 2.-z Ch. 5. 10. & 9. 6.-a Ch. 8. 1.-b Ch. 11. 6. Judg. 4. 14.

my righteous king: a supposition that is not improbable,
when the celebrity of Melchizedek is considered."
Jerusalem]
Yerushalam, this word has been
variously explained-if it be compounded of v shalam,
peace, perfection, &c. and raah, he saw, it may signi-
fy the vision of peace-or, he shall see peace or perfection.
Verse 2. As one of the royal cities] Not a regal city,
but great, well inhabited, and well fortified, as those cities
which served for the royal residence, generally were. It
does not appear that the Gibeonites had any king-they
seem to have been a small, but powerful republic, all the
men thereof were mighty, merely governed by their elders;
for, in their address to Joshua, chap. ix. 11. they mention
no king, but simply state that they were sent by their el-
ders and the inhabitants of their country-nor do we any
where read of their king, and therefore, we may naturally
suppose that they had none.

Verse 3. Hoham king of Hebron] This city was situated in the mountains, southward of Jerusalem, from which it was about thirty miles distant. It fell to the tribe of Judah.

Piram king of Jarmuth] There were two cities of this name; one belonged to the tribe of Issachar, see chap. xxi. 29. that mentioned here, fell to the tribe of Judah, see chap. xv. 34. It is supposed to have been about eighteen miles distant from Jerusalem.

|

7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.

8 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.

с

9 Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.

11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones, than they whom the children of Israel slew with a sword.

12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites

e Ch. 1. 5.--d Judg. 4. 15. 1 Sam. 7. 10, 12. Psa. 18. 14. Isa. 25. 2.- Ch. 16,3,5 f Ch. 15. 35-g Psa. 18. 13, 14. & 77. 17. Isai. 30. 30. Ecclus 46. 6. Rev. 16. 2

ven upon them] Some have contended that stones, in the common acceptation of the word, are intended here: and that the term hailstones is only used to point out the celerity of their fall, and their quantity. That stones have fallen from the clouds, if not from a greater height, is a most incontestable fact. That these have fallen in different parts of the world is also true-the East Indies, America, France, Germany, England, &c. have all witnessed this phenomenon: of such stones I have seen several fragments; some considerable pieces may be seen in the British Museum. That God might have cast down such stones as these on the Canaanites, there can be no doubt, because his power is unlimited; and the whole account proves that here there was a miraculous interference. But it is more likely that hailstones, in the proper sense of the word, are meant, as well as expressed, in the text. That God on other occasions, has made use of hailstones, to destroy both men and cattle, we have ample proof in the plague of hail that fell on the Egyptians.-See the note on Exod. ix. 18. There is now before me a square of glass, taken out of a south window in the house of Mr. Ball, of Crockerton, in the parish of Longbridge Deverell, county of Wilts, through which a hailstone passed in a shower that fell there June 1, 1780, at two o'clock, P. M. The hole is an obtuse ellipsis, or oval, and is cut as true as if it had been done with a diamond: it is three inches and a half in diameter: a proof that the stone that pierced it, (which was about eleven inches in circumference) came with inconceivable velocity, else the glass must have been shivered to pieces. I have known a cannon-ball go through a square of glass in the cabin window of a ship, and make precisely the same kind of hole, without either shattering or even starting the glass. It is needless to add, that this hail shower did great damage, breaking even trees in pieces, and destroying the vegetation through the whole of its extent. But allowing that extraordinary showers of hail have fallen in England or France, is it likely that such showers ever fell in the Promised Land? They eartainly have. Albertus Aquensis, one of the writers in the collection, Gesta Dei per Francos, in describing the expedition of Baldwin I. in the Holy Land, observes, that when he and his army were in the Arabian mountains, in the vicinity of the Dead sea, they suffered incredibly from horrible hail, terrible frost, and indescribable rain and snow, so that thirty of his men perished by them. His words are, "Sexta verò die montanis permensis, in exVerse 7. Joshua-came unto them suddenly] This he tremo illorum cacumine marima pertulerunt pericula, did by a forced march during the night: for he went up in GRANDINE horribili, in GLACIE terribili, in pluvia et from Gilgal all night; from Gilgal to Gibeon was about nive INAUDITA, quorum immanitate, et horrore ingruente, eighteen or twenty miles; and having fallen so unexpect- ad triginta homines pedites, præ frigore, mortua sunt.' edly on these confederate kings, they were immediately-Hist. Hieros. p. 307. I conclude therefore, that a show

Japhia king of Lachish] This city is celebrated in Scripture: in that city Amaziah was slain by conspirators, 2 Kings, xiv. 19. It was besieged by Sennacherib, 2 Kings, xviii. 14, 17. and without effect by the king of Assyria, as we learn from Isa. xxxvii. 8. it was also besieged by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, See Jer. xxxiv. 7. it also fell to the lot of Judah, Josh. xv. 39.

Debir king of Eglon] Where this city was situated, is very uncertain; but we learn from chap. xv. 39. that it fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah.

Verse 5. The five kings of the Amorites] This a general name for the inhabitants of Canaan, otherwise called Canaanites-and it is very likely they had this appellation, because the Amorites were the most powerful tribe or nation in that country. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were Jebusites, xv. 63. those of Hebron were Hittites, Genesis xxiii. 2, 3. xxv. 9, 10. and the Gibeonites were Hivites, Joshua ix. 7. and yet all these are called Amorites occasionally, probably for the reason already mentioned, viz. because that tribe was numerous and powerful.

thrown into confusion.

Verse 10. Slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon] Multitudes of them fell in the onset; after which they fled, and the Israelites pursued them by the way of Bethhoron. There were two cities of this name, the upper and lower, both in the tribe of Ephraim, and builded by Sherah, the daughter of Ephraim, 1 Chron. vii. 24. The situation of these two cities is not exactly known.

To Azekah and unto Makkedah] These two cities were in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 35-41. Verse 11. The Lord cast down great stones from hea

er of hailstones may be meant; and that this shower, though natural in itself, was supernaturally employed on this occasion, and miraculously directed to fall where it did, and do the execution described.

But I am ready to grant notwithstanding, that as a most stupendous miracle was in this instance wrought, in causing the sun and moon to stand still; there can be no doubt that the shower of stones, which was also miraculous, might have been of real stones, as well as hailstones. Of late, this subject of the fall of real stones from the clouds, has been very closely investigated, and not only the possi

A. M. 2554. B. C. 1450.

CHAP. X.

before the children of Israel, and he said in the | Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of * Ajasight of Israel, Sun, i stand thou still upon lon.

h Isai. 23. 2. Hab. 3. 11. Ecclus. 46. 4.

bility of the fall of such stones from the clouds, or from much higher regions, but the certainty of the case has been fully demonstrated. These substances are now, in philosophical language, denominated Eroliths, or airstones; and the following table, constructed by M. Izarn, a foreign chymist, exhibits a variety of facts of this kind, shows the places and times in which these substances fell;

Substances.

Places where they fell.

Extensive shower of stones

About 12 stones

A large stone of 56 lbs.

A stone of 10 lbs. .

A stone of about 120 lbs.
Shower of stones.

Shower of stones

Mass of iron, 70 cubic feet.
Mass of ditto, 40 quintals
Shower of stones.
Large stone, 260 lbs.

Two stones, 200 and 300 lbs.
A stone of 20 lbs.

Near the river Negos, Thrace
In Thrace.

Near Larissa, Macedonia

Near Padua, in Italy.

On mount Vasier, Provence
Liponas, in Bresse

Niort, Normandy

At Luce, in Le Maine
At Aire, in Artois

In Le Cotentin

Environs of Agen.

Sienna, Tuscany
Wold Cottage, Yorkshire
In Portugal.

Salé, department of the Rhone
Benares, East Indies

At Plann, near Tabor,
Bohemia.

America

Abakauk, Siberia

i Heb. be silent.-k Judg. 12. 12.

and the testimony by which these facts are supported. As
of stones on these idolaters, even from the moon, as to ar-
it is as possible that God might have projected a shower
rest that planet in her course, I give the table, and leave
the Reader to decide in the present case, for Eroliths or
hailstones, as may seem to him most congruous to the fact
here related.

September 13, 1768
In 1768.
In 1768.
July 24, 1790.
July, 1794
December 13, 1795
February 19, 1796
March 17, 1798
December 19, 1798

July 3, 1753.

Barboutan, near Roquefort
Ensisheim, Upper Rhine
Near Verona.

Salés, near Ville Franche Several ditto, from 10 to 17 lbs. Near L'Aigle, Normandy

The stones generally appear luminous in their descent, moving in oblique directions, with great velocities, and commonly with a hissing noise. They are frequently heard to explode, or burst, and seem to fly in pieces, the larger parts falling first. They often strike the earth with such force, as to sink several inches below the surface. They are always different from the surrounding bodies, but in every case are similar to one another, being semimetallic, coated with a thin black encrustation. They bear strong marks of recent fusion. Chymists have found, on examining these stones, that they very nearly agree in their nature and composition, and in the proportions of their component parts. The stone which fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace, in 1492, and those which fell at L'Aigle, in France, in 1903, yielded by the analysis of Fourcroy and Vauquelin, as in this table:

July, 1789

November 7, 1492

In 1762.

March 12, 1798

April 26, 1803

Livy.

Testimony.

J. Obsequens.

Pliny.

Ch. of Count Marcellin.
Paul Lucas.

Carden, Varcit.

Gassendi.

De La Lande.

De La Lande.
Bacheley.

Gurson de Boyaval.
Morand.

St. Amand, Baudin, &c.
Earl of Bristol.
Captain Topham.
Southey.

Le Lievre and De Drée.
J. Lloyd Williams, Esq.
B. De Born.

Philosophical Magazine.
Pallas, Chladni, &c.
Darcet, jun. Lomet, &c.
Butenschoen.

Acad. de Bourd.
De Drée.
Fourcroy.

tion of the earth and moon, it will, on the known principle
of gravitation, fall to the earth. 4. That a body may be
projected from the lunar volcanoes beyond the moon's in-
fluence, is not only possible, but very probable; for on cal
culation it is found, that four times the force usually given
to a twelve pounder, will be quite sufficient for this pur
pose: it is to be observed, that the point of equilibrium is
much nearer. the moon; and that a projectile from the
moon will not be so much retarded as one from the earth,
both on account of the moon's rarer atmosphere, and its less
attractive force. On this subject, see Mr. Haward's val-
uable paper in the Philosophical Transactions for 1802,
and Dr. Hutton's Dissertation in the new abridgment, part
xxi. It is highly probable, that the ancile, or sacred shield
The description of its fall, as given
that fell from heaven in the reign of Numa Pompilius, was
by Ovid, Fast. lib. iii. bears a striking resemblance to re-
cent accounts of stones falling from the atmosphere, partic-
ularly in the luminous appearance and hissing noise with
which it was accompanied,

a stone of this sort.

Dum loquitur totum jam sol emoverat orbem,
Et gravis æthereo venit ab axe fragor.
Ter tout sine nube, tria fulgura misit:
Credite dicenti; mira, ed acta loquor.
Et media cœlum regione dehiscere cæpit:
Summisere oculos cum duce turba suos.
Ecce levi scntum versatum leniter aura
Decilit, a populo clamor ad antra venit
Tollit humo nunus-

Idque ancile vocat, quod ab omni parte recisum est.

It is very possible that the Palladium of Troy, and the Image of the Ephesian Diana, were stones which really fell from the atmosphere: bearing some rude resemblance to the human form. See the IMPERIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, article Erolith.

I believe it is generally agreed among philosophers, 1. That all these aerial stones, chymically analyzed, show the same properties: 2. That no stone found on our earth, possesses exactly the same properties, nor in the same proportions. This is an extraordinary circumstance and deserves particular notice.

105 3 Their specific gravities are generally about three or four times that of water, being heavier than common stones. From the above account, it is reasonable to conclude, that they have all the same origin. To account for this phenomenon, various hypotheses have appeared; we shall mention three: 1. That they are little planets, which circulating in space, fall into the atmosphere, which by its friction diminishes the velocity, so that they fall by their weight. 2. That they are concretions formed in the atmosphere. 3. That they are projected from lunar volThese are the most probable conjectures we can Verse 12. Then spake Joshua to the Lord] Though meet with, and of these the two former possess a very small degree of probability; but there are very strong reasons in Joshua saw that the enemies of his people were put to favour of the last. Among the reasons we may notice the flight, yet he well knew that all which escaped would rally following: 1. Volcanoes in the moon have been observed again; and that he should be obliged to meet them once more in the field of battle if permitted now to escape; findby means of the telescope. 2. The lunar volcanoes are very high, and the surface of that globe suffers frequent ing that the day was drawing toward a close, he feared changes, as appears by the late observations of Schroëter. that he should not have time sufficient to complete the de3. If a body be projected from the moon to a distance great-struction of the confederate armies: in this moment, being 567 er than that of the point of equilibrium, between the attrac- suddenly inspired with divine confidence, he requested the

canoes.