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652 The wanton Courfer thus, with reins unbound,
Breaks from his ftall, and beats the trembling ground;
Pamper'd and proud, he feeks the wonted tides,
And laves, in height of blood, his fhining fides;
His head now freed, he toffes to the skies;
His mane difhevell'd o'er his shoulder flies;
He fnuffs the females in the diftant plain,
And springs exulting, to his fields again.

POPE'S HOMER, Iliad VI. Line 506.

743 Freed from his keepers, thus, with broken reins,
The wanton courfer prances o'er the plains;
Or in the pride of youth o'erlays the mounds,
And fnuffs the females in forbidden grounds:
Or feeks his wat'ring in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirft, and cool his fiery blood:
He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,
And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane;
He neighs, he fnorts, he bears his head on high;
Before his ample cheft the frothy waters fly.

DRYDEN'S Virgil, Æneid, Lib. XI. ver. 492.

The foregoing, properly fpeaking, is no more than a fimile; whereas that in the Georgic is much fuller, and may be justly termed a description that bears fome faint resemblance to that in holy writ, especially as tranflated by Mr. Dryden.

130 The fiery courfer, when he hears from far
The sprightly trumpets, and the fhouts of war;
Pricks up his ears, and trembling with delight,
Shifts
pace and
paws; and hopes the promis'd fight:
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclin'd,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.
His horny hoofs are jetty, black, and round;
His chine is double; starting, with a bound
He turns the turf, and shakes the folid ground.
Fire from his eyes, clouds from his noftrils flow:
He bears his rider headlong on the foe.

VIRGIL, Georg. Lib. III. 83.

But, lo from forth a copfe that neighbours by,
A breeding Jennet, lufty, young and proud,

Adonis

Adonis trampling courfer doth espy,
And forth fhe rushes, fnorts, and neighs aloud :

The ftrong-neck'd fteed, being ty'd unto a tree,
Breaketh his rein, and to her ftrait goes he.

Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds,
And now his woven girts he breaks asunder;
The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds,
Whofe hollow womb refounds like heavens thunder:
The iron bit he crushes 'tween his teeth,
Controling what he was controlled with.

His ears.up-prick'd, his braided hanging mane
Upon his compafs'd creft now ftands an end:
His noftrils drink the air, and forth again,
As from a furnace, vapours does he lend:

His eye, which scornfully glitters like fire,
Shews his hot courage, and his high defire.

Sometimes he trots, as if he told the steps,
With gentle majesty, and modeft pride;
Anon he rears upright, curvets and leaps,
As who fhou'd fay, lo! thus my ftrength is try'd:
And thus I do to captivate the eye

Of the fair breeder that is standing by.

What recketh he his rider's angry stir,

His flatt'ring holla, or his ftand, I say,
What cares he now for curb, or pricking fpur?
For rich caparisons, or trappings gay ?

He fees his love, and nothing else he sees;
For nothing else with his proud fight agrees.
SHAKESPEAR'S VENUS and ADONIS.

The difference between thefe defcriptions and the inspired penman's being fo evident, it would be taking up the reader's time unneceffarily to attempt to display it further; I fhall conclude thefe remarks therefore with Dr. YOUNG's paraphrafe on the text.

Survey the warlike HORSE! Didft thou inveft

With thunder his robuft, diftended cheft?
No fenfe of fear his dauntless foul allays;
'Tis dreadful to behold his noftrils blaze;

L112

T.

To paw the vale he proudly takes delight,
And triumphs in the fulness of his might;
High-rais'd, he fnuffs the battle from afar,
And burns to plunge amid the raging war;
And mocks at death, and throws his foam around,
And in a storm of fury shakes the ground;
How does his firm, his rifing heart advance
Full on the brandifh'd fword, and fhaken lance,
While his fix'd eye-balls meet the dazling shield,
Gaze, and return the lightning of the field!
He finks the fense of pain in generous pride,

Nor feels the fhaft that trembles in his fide;

But neighs to the fhrill trumpets dreadful blaft

Till death; and when he groans, he groans his laft.

VERSE XXIV.

DOTH THE HAWK FLY BY THY WISDOM, AND STRETCH HER
WINGS TOWARDS THE SOUTH?

WHO taught the HAWK to find, in feafons wife,
Perpetual summer, and a change of skies?

When clouds deform the year, fhe mounts the wind,
Shoots to the fouth, nor fears the ftorm behind:

The fun returning, fhe returns again,

Lives in his beams, and leaves ill days to men.

VER. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX.

DR. YOUNG.

DOTH THE EAGLE MOUNT UP AT THY COMMAND, AND MAKE
HER NEST ON HIGH? SHE DWELLETH, AND ABIDETH ON THE
ROCK, UPON THE CRAG OF THE ROCK, AND THE STRONG
PLACE. FROM THENCE SHE SEEKETH THE PREY, AND HER
EYES BEHOLD AFAR OFF. HER YOUNG ONES ALSO SUCK UP
BLOOD, AND WHERE THE SLAIN ARE, THERE IS SHE.

Tho' ftrong the Hawk, tho' practis'd well to fly,

An EAGLE drops her in a lower sky;

An Eagle, when deferting human light,
She feeks the fun in her unwearied flight:
Did thy command her yellow pinion lift ·
So high in air, and feat her on the clift,

Where

Where far above thy world fhe dwells alone,

And proudly makes the ftrength of rocks her own?
Thence wide o'er nature takes her dread furvey,
And with a glance predeftinates her prey;
She feasts her young with blood, and hov'ring o'er
Th' unflaughter'd hoft, enjoys the promis'd gore.

CHA P. XL.

DR. YOUNG.

NOTWITHSTANDING GOD, IN THE TWO PRECEDING CHAPTERS, INVITED JOB TO SPEAK IN HIS OWN BEHALF, IF HE HAD ANY PLEA TO OFFER, YET HE MODESTLY OBSERVES THE STRICTEST SILENCE; AND IS THE MORE HUMBLED, AND SENSIBLE OF HIS OWN WEAKNESS, AS GOD WAS PLEASED TO DECLARE, THAT ELIHU HAD JUST GROUNDS TO REPROVE HIM FOR HIS MURMURS AND COMPLAINTS, AND FOR MAINTAINING WITH SO MUCH WARMTH HIS OWN UPRIGHTNESS AND INTEGRITY, IN THE LONG CONTROVERSY WITH HIS FRIENDS. TO THIS HE ADDS, BY WAY OF FARTHER REPROOF, THAT HE WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY SENSIBLE OF THE INFINITE DISTANCE AND INEQUALITY WHICH THERE WAS BETWEEN HIM AND' THE JUDGE TO WHOM HE APPEALED; AND TELLS HIM WITHAL, THAT A MORE HUMBLE ACQUIESCENCE IN THE DISPENSATIONS OF PROVIDENCE, WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE DECENT AND RESPECTFUL TO THE DIVINE MAJESTY. THIS INFINITE DISPROPORTION IS MOST BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED, BY AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE STRENGTH OF THE BEHEMOTH, A SEA MONSTER OF THE NILE.

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OD Almighty, after a short paufe, to give Job an opportu→nity of making a reply, if he thought proper, thus continued i his difcourfe.

Why art thou filent? Hath not the Lord brought arguments "fufficient to convince thee of thy ignorance and weaknefs? Let the man, however, who is difpofed to contend with his Maker, in regard to his providential care over all his creatures, firft give a fatisfactory

66

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fatisfactory anfwer to the queries, which I have before propofed."

Then JOB, who had obferved a profound filence for a long time, with the utmoft humility, returned the following answer.

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Behold! By thy heavenly light, I am convinced, that I am a miferable, wretched creature; that I am altogether unworthy of being admitted into thy awful prefence. I am fo confounded and “amazed, that I know not how to withstand the force of thy re"fiftlefs arguments, or to answer one fingle queftion which thou

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haft propofed and for that reafon, I am determined from hence"forth to hold my peace. I am confcious to myself, that the "words, which I have uttered already, though but few, are too many, and too evidently fhew, that I have been guilty of the highest presumption: I will therefore proftrate myself before thee, "and revere thy goodness, but never murmur or complain, as I "have done, any more."

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Then the divine majefty, from the cloud which concealed his glory, fpake again to his fervant Job in the following terms.

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"What!-haft thou, who waft fo very defirous to plead the juftice of thy cause with me ;-hast thou, who didst boast so much of thy uprightness and integrity; haft thou, loft at once all thy "confidence and courage? Gird up thy loins, man; recover thy fpirits; and prepare thyself to refolve the questions which I shall "now propose to thee.

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my providential of my creatures,

"Forafmuch as I have ever vouchfafed to extend "care to the very loweft, and most despicable part "canft thou with any reafon fufpect my concern and regard for "mankind, who are the more noble part of my creation? What! "canft thou not, Job, juftify thy own innocence, without arraigning thy Maker? Muft I be reproached, in order to clear thy re

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putation? And muft I be cenfured, to prove thee guiltless? Is "there any proportion between thy power and mine? Canft thou fpeak

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