The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

92 SERMONS.fear where no fear is,and runs when there is no manto ^urfue him. This is a circumftance in the naturalhiftory of man, which, for aught I know, cannotbe rationally accounted for. It is not always to beaccounted for from fome alteration in the body, withrefpe6t to fleep, to labour or reft, to food or drink,or diforder in the mind, occafioned by good or badnews concerning our outward- circumllances, or ourfriends ; nor yet from a fenfe of fliame, or rebukes ofconfcience, for ar.y bad or fhameful a6i:ions we mayhave done : VicifTitudes of weaknefs, of imprudence,of timidity, come upon us we cannot tell whence norhow.What I here fay relates to men in the ordinarycourfe of life ; but in the cafe before us there is animmediate interpofal of God himfelf .; he gives thefoldiers a trembling of heart ; they flee and are chafedby thofe whom a little before they had defpifed jthey are in a panic, like thofe of the army of the Philiftinesat Gibeah, when there was none but Jonathanand his armour-bearer to frighten them : "There wasa trembling in the hoft in the field, and among allthe people •, the garrifon and the fpoilers they alfotrembled, and the earth quaked *, fo it was a verygreat trembling." Indeed, if the Ifraelltes who wentup the hill to fight again fl Ai, began to fufpe£l thatthey had embarked in an unrighteous war, were goingto raze a city, and maifacre its inhabitants, man,woman, and child, though thefe inliabitantshad neverdone them any haim ; haunted by fuch a fufpicion,they might, though brave and well difciplined, fleebefore the timid and undifciplined men of Ai. Itis impoifible to conceive what a few brave foldierswill do, when they are thoroughly convhiced of therighteoufnefs of the caufe they are fighting for. Itis equally impcflfible to fay how great a number ofbrave and well difciplined foldiers, if they entertainfufpicions of the righteoufnefs of the war, will, like theIfraeiites at Ai, turn their backs, and fuffer tjiemfdves