"through immenfe tracts of land, and in the "harveft overfpread the earth with a dreadful «cloud, burning up almost every thing only by "their touch, biting and eating through every "thing, even the doors of houfes *."

In the Chronicon of HERMANUS CONTRACTUS, under the year 873, we are told, "that fo great "a multitude of Locufts of an unheard-of size "coming from the eaft in fwarms, after the "manner of an army, pafsed through these

countries (Germany) that for two whole months "they often in their flight obfcured the rays of "the fun for the space of a mile, and in one ❝ hour destroyed all kinds of verdure upon an

hundred or more acres, which being after*wards driven into the fea by the wind, and "thrown up again by the waves, fo corrupted "the

1

Vernis aquis intereunt ova. Sicco vere major proventus. Gregatim fublatæ vento in maria aut ftagna decidunt. Forte hoc cafuque evenit, non, ut prifci exiftimavere, madefactis nocturno humore alis. Iidem quippe nec volare eas noctibus propter frigora tradiderunt, ignari etiam longinqua maria ab jis tranfiri, continuata plurium dierum (quod maxime miremur) fame quoque, quam propter externa pabula petere fciunt. Deorum iræ peftis, ea intelligitur. Namque & grandiores, cernuntur, & tanto volant pennarum ftridore, ut aliæ alites cre dantur. Solemque obumbrant, folicitè fufpectantibus populis, ne fuas operiant terras, fufficiunt quippe vires, & tanquam parum fit maria tranfiffe, immenfos tractus permeant, diraque meffibus contegunt nube, multa contadu adurentes: omnia vero morfu erodentes, & fores quoque tectorum. PLIN. Nat. Hift. lib. xi. cap. 29.

<< the air with their tench, that they caufed no * small peftilence +." :

Such is the description of the plague of Locufts by the Prophet JOEL, and with fuch truth and precision is this moft formidable judgment of the Almighty reprefented. That we may have a view of this Hypotypofis in its full ftrength and beauty, it may not be amifs to collect together all the verses upon which we have descanted. For a nation is come upon my land, ftrong and without number, whofe teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and "barked my fig-tree (or laid it to a fcum): he Shath made it clean bare, and caft it away; ss the branches thereof are made white. The

land is as the garden of Eden before them, " and behind them a defolate wilderness; yea, is and nothing fhall efcape them. The appear sance of them is as horses, and as horsemen, so fhall they run. Like the noife of chariots on "the tops of mountains fhall they leap; like the noife of a flame of fire that devours the

" stubble;

+ Tanta multitudo inaudita magnitudinis locuftarum ab oriente gregatim, more exercituum, veniens has pertranfit regiones; ut per duos continuos menfes fæpe radios folis per unius fpatium milliarii volitantes obnubilarent; & in unaTM hora, quicquid in centum vel amplius jugeribus viride invenerunt, depafcerentur; & poftea in mare vento actæ, & fluct tu rejectæ, fœtore corrupto aere, non modicam gignerent pef, tilentiam. CANISII Thefauri Monument. Ecclefiaft, edit, Antuerp. 1725. vol. iii.

* stubble; as a strong people set in battle-array:

They fhall run like mighty men; they shall "climb the wall like men of war; and they - fhall march every one on his ways, and they "fhall not break their ranks. Neither fhall one "thruft another; they fhall walk every one in " his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they fhall not be wounded. They fhall run to " and fro in the city: they fhall run upon the " wall; they shall climb up upon the houses:

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they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. "The earth fhall quake before them, the heavens fhall tremble; the fun and moon fhall "be dark, and the ftars fhall withdraw their "fhining."

I fhall conclude the inftances of the Hypotypofis from the facred Writings, after I have mentioned that very fine character of the good wife, fo admirably delineated in Proverbs xxxi. from the 10th verfe.

Among the female world we rarely find
Th' harmonious beauties of a virtuous mind.
But fuch a mind, whenever it appears,
A richer radiance than the ruby wears.
Her husband on her care fecure relies,
Nor wants the wealth the fpoil of war fupplies.
Thro' all the long fucceffion of her days
She proves his constant blessing and his praise.
The choicest flax and choiceft wool she buys,
And with delighted hands her spinning plies.
Like merchant-fhips that traverse ocean o'er,
T'import the products of a foreign fhere,

She

She her fupplies from diftant countries gains,
And noble plenty thro' her houfhold reigns.
Before the night refigns its gloomy (way
To the first glimpses of returning day,

She rifes, for the swains the meal prepares,
Whofe toils abroad demand their early cares,
Then to her maidens gives the needful dole,
And bids the stagnant wheels of labour roll.
A spot of earth contiguous fhe furveys,
Its produce and its value wifely weighs,
And with her ample treasures buys the field,
Or with the profits her employments yield
She on fome funny mountain plants her vines,
To flourish there, and blush themselves to wines.
Strength, like a girdle, binds her loins around,
Her hands by action with fresh strength are crown'd:
She finds the gains of traffic; hence by night
She feeds her lamp with unconfuming light:
Her diftaff with the fnowy fleece is full,
And from her diftaff runs the willing wool.
She opens wide her hofpitable door,
And deals her daily bounties to the poor.
When winter in relentless rigour reigns,

Freezes the floods, and heaps with fnow the plains,
Her houfhold's cloth'd against the driving ftorm,
And scarlet is their noble uniform.

Her rooms and couches glow with tap'stry gay,

And filk and purple are her rich array.
Her honour'd husband fills the judgment-feat,
And shines diftinguish'd where the elders meet.
Fine linen, produce of her curious pains,
She barters, and proportion'd profits gains.
Girdles, thick-woven with refulgent gold,
Her coftly work, are to the merchants fold.

Her

Her robes are strength and honour. Future days
Shall roll in bleffings, and extend her praise.
Her op'ning lips divineft wisdom fills,

And kindness thence, like ev'ning-dews, diftils;
Her houfe with wife economy the guides,

rays,

And eats the bread which her own toil provides,
Her children, form'd to virtue by her care,
Bless her inftructions, and her worth declare:
Her hufband too her high deferts will tell,
And on the pleafing fubject loves to dwell.
How many daughters, deck'd with virtue's
Have fhone their fex's dignity and praise ?
But thou art Virtue's self; their feebler light
Transcending, as the moon the train of night.
Favour how false, and fickle is its breath!
And beauty foon must be destroy'd by death;
But the, who fears the LORD, and treads his ways,
Inherits an eternity of praise.

The honours the deferves let all proclaim,

In life and death let bleffings crown her name,
Sacred to virtue, and to endless fame,

}

$5. The use of the Hypotypofis is very evident, since it enables us rather to see a perfon or thing, than only to hear a report about them; and a lively and perfect picture of a perfon or fact is admirably adapted to engage and impress the minds of our hearers, and feize and command their passions.

"Our pity, fays QUINTILIAN, for cities taken by the enemy is increased by defcription. Un"doubtedly the perfon who acquaints us that a city is facked, comprehends all the variety of

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"fortune