And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
Ver. 13. Thou shalt smite every male thereof.] Let them pay for their pervicacy. So Caesar answered the Adviatici, that he would have spared their city if they had yielded before he had assaulted. a And so the Duke of Alva much blamed Prosper Columnus, for receiving a castle upon condition after he had beaten it with the cannon. b Howbeit in the Lord Protector's expedition into Scotland in the reign of Edward VI, one castle, when they understood they were not able to hold out, and that their obstinacy had excluded all hope of pardon, they made petition that they might not presently be slain, but have some time to recommend their souls to God, and afterwards be hanged. This respite being first obtained, their pardon did the more easily ensue. c
a Si priusquam aries murum attegisset se dedissent. - Coes. II. Gallic.
b Connestab VI.
c Life of Edward VI., by Sir John Heywood.