18 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



the west side of Jordan was Jericho and Ai. Gibeon falling away 

 from the Amorite confederacy greatly weakened the forces, and the 

 five kings, of whom Adoni-zedek was the leader, were totally routed 

 by Joshua, who came unexpectedly by a famous night march. 

 Nevertheless the Hittites declared war under Jabin, the king of 

 Hazor. " Hazor beforetime was the head of those kingdoms" 

 (Josh, xi., 10). The stand against the intrusion of Israel was not 

 confined to the Hittites, but all the tribes of Canaan were called 

 upon to help. Many a time the Hittites had assembled to protect 

 their homes against the Egyptians, Amorites, and hostile tribes of 

 their own race, and had successfully rolled back the tide of war ; 

 but they had never yet encountered an army strong in the faith of 

 an over-ruling Providence, and imbued with religious enthusiasm, 

 such as that which they then experienced. Canaan was then a 

 polluted land, every corner of which had echoed with the cries of 

 the victims whom on its thousands altars were slain and offered 

 with revolting cruelty to the spirits of those who had once been 

 the vilest of men. Those who accuse Israel of murder are 

 ignorant of the records of the times immediately preceding 

 Joshua's march from Beersheba to Dan. Jabin was overthrown, 

 and the confederate kings slain. The Hittite host fled into the 

 north country ; and were pursued by Israel and overwhelmed 

 beyond Sidon. Henceforth the Hittites as a people have no 

 Palestinian record. The Amorites had doubtless filled up the 

 measure of their iniquity long before, and now it was the Hittites' 

 turn. From the time of Jabin's defeat the Hittites commenced a 

 new life in Syria, and made Hamath their religious centre instead 

 of Hazor. 



A century after Jabin's defeat by Joshua, a second Jabin reigned 

 in the new Hazor, and was, like his. predecessor, the head of the 

 Hittite confederacy of the day. Jabin's force was formidable -on 

 account of his nine hundred iron-chariots, but Jabin was out- 

 manoeuvred by Barak, and drawn into the valley between Taanach 

 and Megiddo, and on Barak's onslaught the chariots became en- 

 tangled, resulting in the destruction of the Hittite army. This was 



