"hoppers: All nations before him are as the drop "of a bucket, and as the small duft of the balance : "He takes up the ifles as a very little thing; Lebanon, "with all her beasts, is not sufficient for a facrifice to “this God, nor are all her trees sufficient for the burn"ing. This God, before whom the whole creation is as nothing, yea, less than nothing, and vanity. Το “which of all the heathen Gods then will ye compare “me, faith the Lord, and what fhall I be likened to ?" And to which of all the heathen Poets fhall we liken or compare this glorious orator, the facred defcriber of the godhead? The orators of all nations are as nothing before him, and their words are vanity and emptinefs. Let us turn our eyes now to fome of the holy writings, where God is creating the world: How meanly do the beft of the Gentiles talk and trifle upon this fubject, when brought into comparison with Moses, whom Longinus himself, a Gentile critic, cites as a master of the fublime style, when he chose to ufe it; "And the "Lord faid, Let there be light, and there was light; "Let there be clouds and feas, fun and ftars, plants "and animals, and behold they are :" He commanded, and they appear and obey: "By the word of the "Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of "them by the breath of his mouth :" This is working like a God, with infinite eafe and omnipotence. His wonders of providence for the terror and ruin of his adversaries, and for the fuccour of his faints, is fet before our eyes in the fcripture with equal magnificence, and as becomes divinity. When "he arifes out of his

"place, the earth trembles, the foundations of the hills "are fhaken because he is wroth: There goes a smoke "up out of his noftrils, and fire out of his mouth devour"eth, coals are kindled by it. He bows the heavens, "and comes down, and darkness is under his feet. "The mountains melt like wax, and flow down at his "prefence." If Virgil, Homer, or Pindar, were to prepare an equipage for a defcending God, they might ufe thunder and lightnings too, and clouds and fire, to form a chariot and horfes for the battle, or the triumph; but there is none of them provides him a flight of Cherubs inftead of hotfes, or feats him in "chariots of fal"vation." David beholds him riding .. upon the hea"ven of heavens, by his name JAH: He was mounted

upon a cherub, and did fly; he flew on the wings of "the wind;" and Habbakuk fends "the peftilence before

him." Homer keeps a mighty ftir with his Neceλnysρελα Ζεύς, and Hefiod with his Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης. Jupiter, that raises up the clouds, and that makes a noise, or thunders on high. But a divine Poet makes the “clouds but the duft of his feet ;" and when the Higheft gives his voice in the heavens, "Hail-ftones and "coals of fire follow." A divine Poet difcovers the channels of the waters, and lays open the foundations. of nature; at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of "the breath of thy noftrils." When the Holy Onealighted upon Mount Sinai," his glory covered the

heavens: He ftood and measured the earth: He be"held and drove afunder the nations, and the everlast❝ing mountains were scattered: The perpetual hills "did.

"did bow; his ways are everlafting." Then the prophet "faw the tents of Cushan in affliction, and the "curtains of the land of Midian did tremble." Hab. iii. Nor did the bleffed fpirit which animated thefe writers forbid them the ufe of vifions, dreams, the opening of fcenes dreadful and delightful, and the introduction of machines upon great occafions: the divine licence in this refpe& is admirable and furprizing, and the images are often too bold and dangerous for an uninspired writer to imitate. Mr. Dennis has made a noble effay to discover how much fuperior is inspired poefy to the brightest and beft defcriptions of a mortal pen. Perhaps, if his propofal of Criticism had been encouraged and pursued, the nation might have learnt more value for the word of God, and the wits of the age might have been fecured from the danger of Deism; while they must have been forced to confefs at least the divinity of all the poetical books of Scripture, when they fee a genius running through them more than hu

man.

Who is there now will dare to affert, that the doctrines of our holy faith will not indulge or endure a delightful drefs? Shall the French poet* affright us, by faying,

"De la foy d'un Chrêtien les myfteres terribles,
"D'Ornemens egayez ne font point susceptibles ?"

But the French critic†, in his reflections upon Eloquence, tells us, "That the majesty of our religion,.

*Boileau.

† Rapin. C 4

"the

"the holiness of its laws, the purity of its morals, the

heighth of its mysteries, and the importance of every "fubject that belongs to it, requires a grandeur, a no

bleness, a majesty, and elevation of Ayle, fuited to the "theme: sparkling images and magnificent expreffions "must be used, and are best borrowed from Scripture

let the preacher, that aims at eloquence, read the Pro"phets inceffantly, for their writings are an abundant "fource of all the riches and ornaments of fpeech." And, in my opinion, this is far better counsel than Horace gives us, when he says,

Vos exemplaria Græca

"Nocturnâ verfate manu, verfate diurnâ."

As, in the conduct of my ftudies with regard to divinity, I have reafon to repent of nothing more than that I have not perused the Bible with more frequency; so if I were to fet up for a poet, with a design to exceed all: the modern writers, I would follow the advice of Rapin, and read the Prophets night and day. I am fure, the compofures of the following book would have been filled with much greater sense, and appeared with much more agreeable ornaments, had I derived a larger portion from the Holy Scriptures.

Befides, we may fetch a further anfwer to Monfieur Boileau's objection, from other poets of his own country. What a noble ufe have Racine and Corneille made of Christian subjects, in some of their best tragedies! What a variety of divine scenes are displayed, and pious paffions awakened, in thofe poems! The martyrdom of Polyeucte, bow doth it reign over our love and pity, and

a

at the fame time animate our zeal and devotion! May I here be permitted the liberty to return my thanks to that fair and ingenious hand * that directed me to fuch entertainments in a foreign language, which I had long wished for, and fought in vain in our own. Yet I must confefs, that the Davideis, and the two Arthurs, have fo far anfwered Boileau's objection, in English, as that the obstacles of attempting Chriftian poesy are bro_ken down, and the vain pretence of its being impracticable, is experimentally confuted t.

It is true, indeed, the Chriftian mysteries have not fuch need of gay trappings as beautified, or rather composed, the Heathen fuperftition. But this still makes for the greater ease and furer fuccefs of the poet. The wonders of our religion, in a plain narration and a fimple dress, have a native grandeur, a dignity, and a beauty in them, though they do not utterly difdain all methods of ornament. The book of the Revelations feems to be a prophecy in the form of an opera, or a dramatic poem, where divine art illuftrates the subjec with many charming glories; but still it must be acknowledged, that the naked themes of Christianity have fomething brighter and bolder in them, fomething more

* Philomela.

+ Sir Richard Blackmore, in his admirable preface to his last poem, entitled Alfred, has more copiously refuted all Boileau's arguments on this fubject, and that with. great juftice and elegance. 1723.-1 am perfuaded that many perfons who defpife the poem would acknowledge the just fentiments of that preface.

fure