At length--at one hundred and twenty years of age, with undimmed eye and unabated strength, after having done more for his nation and for posterity than any ruler or king in the world's history, and won a fame which shall last through all the generations of men, growing brighter and brighter as his vast labors and genius are appreciated--the time comes to lay down his burdens. So he assembles together the princes and elders of Israel, recapitulates his laws, enumerates the mercies of the God to whom he has ever been loyal, and gives his final instructions. He appoints Joshua as his successor, adds words of encouragement to the people, whom he so fervently loves, sings his final song, and ascends the mountain above the plains of Moab, from which he is permitted to see, but not to enter, the promised land; not pensive and sad like Godfrey, because he cannot enter Jerusalem, but full of joyous visions of the future glories of his nation, and breaking out in the language of exultation, "Who is like unto thee, O people saved by Jehovah, the shield of thy help and the sword of thy excellency!" So Moses, the like of whom no prophet has since arisen (except that later One whom he himself foretold), the greatest man in Jewish annals, passes away from mortal sight, and Jehovah buries him in a valley of the land of Moab, and no man knoweth his sepulchre until this day. "That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth; But no one heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth,-- Perchance the bald old eagle On gray Bethpeor's height, Out of his lonely eyrie Looked on the wondrous sight." * * * * * "And had he not high honor-- The hillside for a pall-- To lie in state, while angels wait With stars for tapers tall; And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to wave, And God's own hand, in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave?" * * * * * "O lonely grave in Moab's land! O dark Bethpeor's hill! Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still! God hath his mysteries of grace, Ways that we cannot tell; He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep Of him he loved so well." SAMUEL. 1100 B.C. THE HEBREW THEOCRACY, UNDER JUDGES.