'The priest insisted that God had, until then, governed the nation by his special servants, such as Moses, Aaron, Gideon, Jephtha, etc.; and that the people, now rebellious, wished to govern themselves by men of their own choice. But as this new system took away the supreme and arbitrary power from the priests of whom Samuel was the head, we see whence came the deep hatred which he entertained for it; and his sacerdotal arrogance in setting himself up as the chief interpreter and representative on earth of the Divinity. Here the writer (a priest also) has joined a remarkable circumstance: "You see," says Samuel to the people, "that we are in the time of harvest [the end of June, or beginning of July.] Well, I will invoke God, and he will answer me in a voice of thunder and rain, and you shall know your sin of disobedience." So there came thunder and rain, and the people were seized with fear; they knew their sin and demanded pardon of Samuel, who (generously) answered that he would not cease always to pray for them. 'This recital is very well, but we have a right to ask for the {138} evidence of its truth? Who has seen the occurrence? Who has told it to us? A narrator at second hand. Was he a witness of it? He is the only one; he is partial. Besides, a crowd of facts and similar accounts are found among the Greeks, the Romans, and all the ancient barbarians. Are we to believe that their seers, that their divines had also the gift of miracles? But admitting the recital and the fact, we have yet the right to say that Samuel, more knowing than a multitude of superstitious, ignorant peasants, had perceived the sign, or forerunner of a storm, which is not rare at that time of the year. I myself, while travelling, have seen it in the last days of December, when the case is still more singular. The result was, the people placed greater confidence in Samuel; and that was what this ecclesiastical king wanted, in order not to lose the tutelage of his royal lieutenant.' ( _Vide_ Volney.) *Chapter xii., v. 11. 'Bedan.' "It is remarkable," says Bishop Patrick, "that there is no such name as Bedan mentioned in the Book of Judges." 'Dr. Hales, with a singular boldness of criticism, observes on the same passage:-- '"Perhaps Barak may be meant." 'This supposition might pass if it were certain that the Book of Judges contained a full history of all that period of the Jewish national existence; but as it certainly is a very brief history, and occasionally changes with great abruptness from one subject to another, it is most probable that other writings once existed which perished before the present Book of Judges was compiled.' (_Vide_ 'Hebrew Records.') *Chapter xiii., v. 1. The Douay translates this--'Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign.'