receiving commands and punctually obeying them; to find it like a managed horfe, raging, toffing, and foaming, but by the rule and direction of its master. This paffage yields in fublimity to that of LET THERE BE LIGHT, &c. fo much only, as the absolute government of nature yields to the creation of it. The like spirit in these two paffages is no bad concurrent argument, that MOSES is the Author of the book of JOB.

Who, ftretching forth his fceptre o'er the deep,
Can that wide world in due fubjection keep?
I broke the globe, I fcoop'd its hollow fide,
And did a bafon for the floods provide:

I chain'd them with my word; the boiling fea,
Work'd up in tempefts, hears my great decree;
Thus far, thy floating tide shall be convey'd

And here, O main, be thy proud billows ftay'd.

VER. XXXIX. XL.

WILT THOU HUNT THE PREY FOR THE LION? OR FILL THE APPETITE OF THE YOUNG LIONS, WHEN THEY COUCH IN THEIR DENS, AND ABIDE IN THE COVERT TO LIE IN WAIT?·

But fiercer ftill the lordly LION ftalks,

Grimly majestic in his lonely walks ;

When round he glares, all living creatures fly;
He clears the defart with his rolling eye.
Say mortal, does he roufe at thy command,
And roar to thee, and live upon thy hand?
Doft thou for him in forefts bend thy bow,
And to his gloomy den the morfel throw,
Where bent on death lie hid his tawny brood,
And couch'd in dreadful ambufh, pant for blood;
Or ftretch'd on broken limbs, confume the day,
In darkness wrapt, and flumber o'er their prey?
By the pale moon they take their deftin'd round,
And lafh their fides, and furious tear the ground:
Now fhrieks and dying groans the defart fill;
They rage, they rend; their rav'nous jaws diftil
With crimson foam; and when the banquets o'er,

They ftride away, and paint their steps with gore;
In flight alone the fhepherd puts his truft,

And fhudders at the talon in the dust,

The

The Almighty's fpeech, in this and the following chapters, is by much the fineft part, fays Dr. Young, of this, the nobleft, and moft antient poem in the world. Bishop Patrick fays, its grandeur is as much above all other poetry, as thunder is louder than a whifper.-Here, more than in any paffage of facred fcripture, we may perceive how vaftly ufeful the rhetorical figure of interrogation is, in giving us a lofty idea of the Deity, whilft every question awes us into filence, and infpires us with an humble fenfe of our own weakness and infufficiency.-That the fenfe receives ftrength as well as beauty from the ufe of interrogations, is no where fo vifible as in the poetical and prophetical parts of Scripture. Numberlefs inftances might be easily produced, and we are puzzled how to pitch on any in particular amidst fo fine a variety, left the choice might give room to call our judgment in queftion, for taking no notice of others that are perhaps more remarkable. I fhall produce a paffage or two which is pointed out to me by Mr. Smith, in his notes on Longinus, from whom I took this hint, Deborah's words, in the perfon of Sifera's mother, are a noble inftance of the use of interrogations." The mother of Sifera looked out at a window, and cried through the "lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his cha"riots? Her wife ladies answered her; yea, fhe returned answer to herself; Have they not fped? Have they not divided the prey, to every man a damfel or two? To "Sifera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needle-work, of divers "colours of needle-work on both fides, meet for the necks of them that take the "fpoil?"-How artfully does St. Paul, Acts xxvi. transfer his difcourfe from Feftus to Agrippa? In ver. 26. he speaks of him in the third perfon." The king, fays he, "knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely."-Then in the following verfe he turns fhort upon him: "King Agrippa, believeft thou the Prophets?" and immediately answers his own question, "I know that thou believest." The smoothest eloquence, the most infinuating complaifance, could never have made fuch an imprefsion on Agrippa as this unexpected and pathetic address.

IN THIS CHAPTER, THE DISCOURSE ON GOD'S PROVIDENTIAL CARE OF THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD, AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR, JUST MENTIONED IN THE CLOSE OF THE LAST, IS HERE CONTINUED. TO THE TWO INSTANCES THERE GIVEN OF THE LIONS AND THE RAVENS, SEVERAL OTHERS ARE NOW SUPERADDED, AS FURTHER DEMONSTRATIONS OF GOD'S CREATING POWER.

"PR

Refumptuous man! Thou, who art too curious, and wouldst pry into my fecret counfels! Canft thou tell me, when the "WILD-GOATS bring forth their young ones on the high and VOL. III.

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<< craggy rocks? Waft thou ever present, when any pregnant HIND "was calving? Or, didst thou ever lend her the leaft affiftance in "her ftruggles to discharge her burden? Knoweft thou the months "that compleat her first conception? Or, canft thou keep an ac"count for her of the precife time that fhe fhall be delivered ?

Say, haft thou ever feen her bow herfelf? Waft thou ever "witness of the agonizing pains, the undergoes in the exclufion of her births? And notwithstanding all the difficulties that "thus attend her, the young ones grow ftrong without their nurfe; for they range immediately through the open fields for "their fubfiftence, and return no more to the mother-hind.

"Tell me, Job, who imparted the noble sense of liberty to the "WILD-ASS, that bravely difdains a mafter, and will not be con"trouled by rein or bit, as other creatures are? Who made that "wide difference between him and them? As I thought proper "to lay no ignominious burdens on his back; so I affigned him the fpacious defart for his habitation, where he looks down with dif "dain on those who frequent populous cities, and never feels, nor "hears the driver's whip. He fcorns to be confined within the "meadows, but flies to the mountains where he ranges lord of "himself, and uncontrouled; where he finds pafturage sufficient "for his daily fubfiftence.

Thou, who wouldest willingly have all creatures fubfervient to thy will, go to the UNICORN, and try if thou canst prevail on him tamely to fubmit to thy directions. Will he not refuse thy crib, "and proffered corn? Will he yield his neck ignobly to thy yoke? "Canft thou make him, like thy oxen, go to the plough, or draw thy "harrow over the valleys? Wilt thou, because his ftrength is great, depend on his doing the remainder of thy business in the "field? Or wilt thou fuffer him to bring thy harvest home, when "it is gathered, and lay it in thy barns?

"Who

"Who was it dyed the PEACOCK with such variegated colours? "To whom is he indebted for his long, gawdy train?

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"Tell me, Job, who it is that affumes the honour to himself of forming the beauteous plumes of the OSTRICH? Or to whom is "she indebted for her strong and fpacious wings? Her inward qualities, however, are no ways anfwerable to her external beau<< ty. For fhe has forecast or contrivance in her. She never repairs to any folitary receffes, in order to conceal her eggs, but drops them any where, regardless of the place, and leaves them "without the leaft thought or concern, expofed on the warm fands "to be corrupted by the fun; or trodden under foot, by man or "beast. The careless, improvident bird has no natural tenderness or paternal regard for her offspring, but is hardned against them, "as if they were none of hers; fhe is under no apprehenfions of the danger to which they are exposed: but the true reason of this "negligence, and careless deportment is this, I the Almighty have "not though fit to give her that prudence and difcretion, which I "have conferred on other creatures: however, though I have imparted to her but a small share of understanding, I have yet given "her so much as is requifite for her preservation; for when she 'exalts her neck, and tries the strength of her wings, fhe is fo

swift, that she dreads not her enemy, the fcorneth the horse and 'his rider, fince they can never overtake her in her flight.

"Who was it Job, that endowed the HORSE with that ftrength "and courage, fo confpicuous in him above his fellow-brutes? Haft "thou given him his confidence and his fpirits? Is it thy thunder "that cloaths his fately neck: Or didst thou give him that majes"tic main, whofe flowing hairs like forked lightning waves in the "wind, and dazzles the beholders eyes? Canft thou damp his hot

blood, or make him spring away with fear as a grafhopper?— "When in the heat of battle he fnorts, the fire and smoke that "from his noftrils roll, is terrible.-Proud and pampered, he

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"the ground, tears up the graffy turf, and spurns the fand around "him. He glories in his ftrength, and when he hears the alarm "of those who come to oppofe him, he leaps, he bounds, he for"ward fprings to meet the foe, regardless of their inftruments of "war. At fear he mocketh; he runneth on the very points of "naked swords; he maketh his paffage through ranks of armed 66 men; and neither the noise of arrows that come unheeded by his "ears, nor the glittering fpear, nor fhield difmay him. He "feems to fly, and his swift motion fhakes the folid earth; and "when he hears the fhrill mufick's found, for joy he fcarce be"lieves it is the trumpet's voice.—But as the noise approaches, he "neighs, he prances with delight, he fnuffs the air-and hopes the promised battle-ha, ha, cries he, I hear the thunder of the cap"tains, and the shouting.

"Obferve the HAWK how the mounts upward and purfues her "prey, fwift as a ray of light.-Didst thou stretch out her wings? "Or didst thou inftruct her at the approach of winter, to repair to "the fouthern parts of the earth for the enjoyment of a warmer "climate?

"Which of all the feathered train, like the EAGLE, can approach "the fun? Is it to thee fhe is indebted for her ftrength or swift"nefs? Was it through thy wisdom or direction that she builds her "neft where no mortals can reach it? She fettles her abode on the "summit of the highest rocks. Her fortress is kept in the midst of "fuch craggy cliffs, as are infuperably fteep. There the towers, " and looks down with a becoming pride on all the birds below. "Such is the sharpness of her fight, that the furveys the distant "valleys at a glance, and darts down, like a thunder-bolt, through "the yielding air to trufs her prey; which, when she has seized "and torn in pieces, the carries in her pounces to her young ones, "who fuck with greediness the blood; and after a battle, where"ever the dead carcafes lie, THERE IS SHE."

MISCEL