Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

CHAPTER XXXIX.

VERSE 2. And I will lead Thee forth.]The Hebrew word in the existing Mss. and in the printed Bible, is now; in some copies, according to Kennicott, are found

This .שישאתי and,,שאשיתי, שאשאתי שאשתי

verb is no where else to be met with in the Hebrew language, (for the LXX, and the sense, show that it erroneously assumed in Ezekiel, xlv. 13); and it is evident, that both the Greek Interpreters, and St. Jerom who translated from the Hebrew in the fourth century, read here simply nsw, or naw, from sw, deportare*; the former rendering the passage by naražw, and the latter by educam, I will lead thee forth. The Rabbins, (to whom the science of sound criticism is unknown,) according to their customary reverence of the written letter

* See Judges, xvi. 31. 1 Sam. iv. 4.

of their Scriptures in prejudice of the spirit and meaning, appear to have regarded this word, which at length appeared with a double, as a word of intricate signification; and because they could receive no sense from it, thought it advisable to impose a sense upon it, rather than, by a judicious investigation, detect its origin in an ancient inadvertency of transcription. They could only draw a sense from the root ww, six, from which they imagined a verb, nww, to have been formed, signifying "to six." But here they were not much advanced; and it was necessary to enrich the meaning of this barren word, which of itself conveyed no idea. Some therefore explained it to signify, "I will leave but "a sixth part of thee;" and others, "I will "strike thee with six plagues." I have followed the earlier interpretation, which the context appears to my best judgment to support. See v. 3 and 4 of the former chapter,

,ששח

V, 3. I will smite THY bow out of THY left hand and cause THINE arrows to fall out

of THY right hand.] This figure is drawn, from the arms in use in the time of the Prophet; and forcibly describes, the violent and total disarming of the Invader.

"At the moment in which THE ENEMY "entered Moscow, he beheld the destruc"tion of those preposterous hopes by which "he had been flattered :-After sustaining "incalculable losses, he recognised, at last, "the phrensy of his expectations, that the "foundations of the Empire would be "shaken by his occupation of Moscow.

[ocr errors]

Nothing remained for him but a precipi"tate flight: the resolution was no sooner "taken than it was executed, and he fled, "abandoning nearly the whole of his sick "to the mercy of an enraged people; and, "leaving Moscow, completely evacuated "it.- Let us then hasten to pursue this impious INVADER!-Already do we be “hold him in full flight, abandoning his "baggage, burning his war-carriages, and "reluctantly separating himself from those "treasures, which his profane hands had "torn from the very altars of GOD. Already

"desertion and famine spread confusion "before NAPOLEON; and behind him, arise "the murmurs of his troops, like the roar "of threatening waves.

[ocr errors]

"That awful ARM, which sustains the just and strikes the unjust, is now mani"festly stretched forth in wrath over the "heads of our enemies! and while they are

falling by thousands in one extremity of "Europe (Spain); at the other their graves "aredigging in the soil of that Empire, which "they vainly menaced with annihilation." Testimony of Prince Koutousoff, Oct. 4 and 19, 1812.

"The retreat of THE FRENCH is a flight "without example, abandoning every thing "that demands carriage, even to their sick "and wounded. The traces of this fearful "career are marked with every species of "horror. At every step is seen the dying " and the dead; not merely the fallen in "battle, but the victims of famine and

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

fatigue. In two days, even in sight of

my division, their despair has blown up

"one hundred ammunition waggons, while

[ocr errors]

“the sudden movement of my troops has "caused them to leave untouched an almost "equal number. We destroy these fugi"tives wherever we meet them; and when they attempt to make the least stand, the "brave Sons of the Don, assisted by their "artillery and the chasseurs, soon re"lieve the Empire of hundreds of its in"vaders." Testimony of Count Platoff,

Nov.

1812.

"RUSSIA now exhibits an exalted aspect "to the whole world. On the one side we

66

see a valiant army, whose. regiments are "unbroken, and whose warriors are ani"mated with an elevated feeling of ven"geance for their homes, for the plundering "of their towns and villages; vengeance "for humanity. On the other side ap

[ocr errors]

pear the ruins of an immense army, in "which numerous foreign nations were united "together, to destroy a powerful nation in "the bosom of its native country. They

were encouraged by a hope of the result, "but that result was deceptive. One single "calamitous blow threw this immense host

« НазадПродовжити »