she had yielded to what might be justly termed, an incestuous commerce : and now she lives to see the humiliation and defilement of her only daughter.]
But, whatever degree of blame attached either to Dinah or her mother, the provocation given by She- chem was doubtless exceeding great —
[To take advantage of a thoughtless unprotected female was exceedingly base : and the distress brought by it upon her whole family was most deplorable. Ah ! little do the gay and dissipated think, what sacrifices they require for the grati- fication of their lusts. Here was the happiness, not of an individual only, but of a whole family, destroyed. That her seducer endeavoured afterwards to repair the injury, is true: and in this he differed from the generality, who, as soon as they have accomplished their vile purposes, have their love turned into indifference or aversion : but the injury was absolutely irreparable ; and therefore we do not wonder that it excited a deep resentment in the breasts of her dishonoured relatives.]
But though her brothers were justly indignant at the treatment she had received, they were by no means justified in,
II. The manner in which they resented it —
Shechem, though a prince among the Hivites, in- stantly made application to Dinah's father to give her to him in marriage. Though he had humbled her, he did not wish to perpetuate her disgrace, but sought, as much as possible, to obliterate it for ever. The terms he proposed were dictated not only by a sense of honour, but by the most tender affection. Happy would it have been if Jacob's sons had been actuated by principles equally honourable and praiseworthy! But they, alas! intent only on revenge, contrived a plot as wicked and diabolical as ever entered into the heart of man. They formed a design to murder, not only the person who had given them the offence, but all the men of his city together with him. In the execution of their purpose they employed,
1. Hypocrisy —
[They pretended to have scruples of conscience about con- necting themselves with persons who were uncircumcised. We may admit for a moment, that this did really operate on their minds as an objection to the projected union ; and that this vol. i. s