. The pictorial history of Palestine and the Holy land including a complete history of the Jews. 1 Sam. xi. 7- VOL. I. 3 B 370 HISTORY OF PALESTINE. [Book III. tribe of Benjamin, explaining the occasion of their assembling, and demanding that theoffenders should be delivered up to justice. This the Benjamites were so far from grantingthat the whole tribe made common cause with the people of Gibeah, and all its force wascalled out to repel any attempt which the other tribes might make against them. Consider-ing that the force of the eleven tribes amounted to 400,000 able men, whereas the Benjam
. The pictorial history of Palestine and the Holy land including a complete history of the Jews. 1 Sam. xi. 7- VOL. I. 3 B 370 HISTORY OF PALESTINE. [Book III. tribe of Benjamin, explaining the occasion of their assembling, and demanding that theoffenders should be delivered up to justice. This the Benjamites were so far from grantingthat the whole tribe made common cause with the people of Gibeah, and all its force wascalled out to repel any attempt which the other tribes might make against them. Consider-ing that the force of the eleven tribes amounted to 400,000 able men, whereas the Benjamitescould bring together no more than 26,000, the hardihood of this resistance is well wortliyofremark, if it does not make out the claim of the Benjamites to that character for indomitablecourage which they appear to have acquired. Probably the influence of that acknowledgedcharacter upon their opponents, together with their own peculiar skill in the use of the sling,formed their main reliance. Among them there were 100 left-handed men who could slingstones to a iuiirs breadth and not [Egyptian Sliiigeis.] The Israelites committed one fatal oversight in this undertaking. Although the affair was ofsuch grave importance, they neglected to consult their divine king, without whose permission they ought not to have supposed themselves authorisedto act as they did. They first decided on war, andthen only consulted him as to the manner it should beconducted. The consequence was, that they weretwice defeated by the Benjamites, who sallied fromthe town of Gibeah against them. Corrected by thisexperience, they applied in a proper manner to learnthe will of their king ; and then the victory was pro-mised to them. In their next attempt, the Israelites resorted to thesame familiar stratagem of ambuscade and of pre-tended flight, when the besieged sallied forth againstthem, as that whereby the town of Ai had been takenby Joshua, and with precisely the same result. Eighteenthousand Be
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