and having produced a manifold and magnificent civilization, some of the best parts of which was inherited by Greece. When Crete was crushed, and its population dispersed, some of its tribes sought to establish themselves in Egypt. They encountered a powerful Pharaoh, however, and were repulsed. They then withdrew to the coast of the Mediterranean, and from that point of vantage they male repeated attempts to conquer Canaan. In this effort they were met by the Hebrews, who about the same time had reached Canaan from the other side, across Jordan. One of these Cretan tribes, whose names appear on Egyptian monuments, were the Purasati, or the Philistines. It was the contest with the Philistines that served to test the mettle of the Hebrews. It made for greater union among their several tribes, it centralized their forces, and finally caused the institution of kingship. It was the presence of the Philistines that led to the choice of Saul, who for one vindicates Carlyle's ingenious though erro neous etymology of the word king, as designating the man who can. Saul is made king because the people think he can overcome their chief rival. Samuel had helped them in their campaign against the Philistines by leadership and prayer. "And the children. of Israel said to Samuel: "Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He save us out of the hand of the Philistines!" When Samuel has grown old, they demand a king. "The people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles!" Both the triumph and the defeat of Saul were connected with the Philistine peril, and it was David who finally won decisive victories over them and subdued them completely. David also succeeded in taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and he extended his domain in other directions. He became the ideal king in Israel's annals. No sooner, however, had the Hebrews established themselves, than they had to begin to fight for defense. The years of peace were few and far between. After the division of the Kingdom, the need for defensive warfare became particularly clear. The difficulty of Palestine was in its position. It lay between Egypt and Mesopotamia. According as either or both of these empires grew in power or ambition, Palestine was imperilled. This is the reason why the Hebrew kings very soon realized the necessity of alliances. Even Solomon felt the pressure of Egypt. Therefore, he married an Egyptian princess, which, we may be sure, was not merely a love affair but also the symbol of a political covenant. Ahab's marriage with a Phoenician princess also had a political motive. Similarly, the relations between the Hebrews and the Syrians of Damascus were influenced by political conditions. The Syrians were either allied with the Hebrews or fought against them, according to the behavior of Assyria toward them selves. When in the ninth century B. C., Assyria assumed the proportions and the policy of a great military empire, there began for Israel a long series of defensive wars. In the course of them, the Hebrews showed courage, strategy, and endurance. But finally they succumbed, Israel falling in the year 722, and Judea in 586 B. C. What did these wars accomplish? First, they gave Israel his place in history. Secondly, they showed the ultimate superiority of moral strength to material. And, thirdly, they helped to purify the Jew's own conception of Religion, as well as to prepare him for the tests of the future. They also formed the beginning of that long process of the moral education of humanity which is not yet ended. HEROES OF WAR IN THE BIBLE Now and then we are told that the present War is an impersonal affair. The gigantic struggle is carried on by a complex system of invisible administration, on fronts covering hundreds of miles, and the individual is of little consequence. Still, it is quite certain that this is not the whole truth. However impersonal the war may seem, we cannot leave personality out of account, nor that sublimest manifestation of personality, heroism. All along the line of combat, and in every branch of service, this war has produced its heroes. Many heroic deeds have been done on land, on sea, and in the air. Some of the most perilous undertakings of the war have been carried out by heroes by men offering themselves willingly and acting in a spirit of heroism. "I have a rendezvous with Death At some designated barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade I have a rendezvous with Death When Spring brings back blue days and fair. "God knows 't were better to be deep 47 Where Love throbs out in blissful sleep This is the spirit that has quickened many a noble youth and prompted them to lay down their good lives. Indeed, no matter how much we may oppose and lament war as such, we cannot ignore its part in evoking and kindling the heroic strain in men. In early times this was even more true, for the reason that war was much more personal than it is now. Its nature was such as to bring to the fore the men of heroic stamp. There were not as many varieties of armament as there are now, mechanical contrivances were not as numerous nor as deadly the conduct of war depended on personal qualities, and those who possessed such qualities in the highest degree became leaders of their own people, as well as victors over their foe. In the records of the early wars, therefore, individuals occupy the most important places. It is not a question of the submarine, or the aëroplane, of railways and conservation, but one of personal heroism. For instance, when the Ammonites gathered at Gilead ready to attack the Israelites, the latter held a council at |