You will readily judge whether this passage can admit of any other explication, than that of Moses supposing himself present at the time when the Almighty selected the people of Israel for himself; and thence, as from an eminence, contemplating the consequences of that dispensation. The case will be found similar in many other passages; as, in particular, more than once in that historical Psalm which is inscribed with the name of Asaph. After the prophet has exposed the perfidy of the people, their refractory conduct almost in the very crisis of their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, he in a manner anticipates in his mind the clemency of God and the repeated transgressions of the Israelites, and speaks of them as future events:

"But he, moved with compassion, will pardon their iniquity, and will not destroy them;

And frequently will turn away his wrath,
Nor will stir up all his indignation.-

How often will they rebel against him in the desert,
And will grieve him in the wilderness!"*

The general disposition and arrangement of the hundred and fourth Psalm affords a most elegant exemplification of this construction. For the prophet, instancing the greatness and wisdom of God in the constitution and preservation of the natural world, speaks of the actions and decrees of the Almighty in the present tense, as if he himself had been a witness when they were brought to light; and displays their consequences and uses, and what are called the final causes, in the future tense, as if looking forward from the beginning through all future time.

But although these and some other passages will admit of this explanation, there are many to which it will not apply. In these, the situation and state of the authors are not so much to be considered, as the peculiar nature or idiom of the language. For the Hebrews frequently make use of the future tense in such a manner, that it appears not to have relation to the present speaker, but to the person or thing which was last spoken of. Thus, when any action is connected with another action, or consequent to it; or when

"That is, He will comfort him in the Land of the Desert, and in rejoicings he will plentifully sustain him: this reading is mentioned only that it may be compared and examined with the Hebrew."-H. See Houbigant in loc.Author's Note.

the same action is repeated or continued-when a person perseveres in the same action, or performs it with great earnestness or assiduity-this is all expressed as if it were future.* This form is therefore distinguished by the grammarians by the appellation Gnatid, which is equivalent to prompt, expedite, or impending. Examples enough to this purpose might be produced from the passages which have been referred to on former occasions: for instance, from that most elegant prosopopoeia of the mother of Sisera; from the allegory of the vine which was brought out of Egypt;§ from the comparison founded on the maternal piety and solicitude of the eagle:|| the form and manner of all which may be easily perceived by an attentive reader, but cannot be well explained by the most industrious commentator.¶

Now if, as I have stated, this unusual form of construction be the effect either of some sudden emotion in the speaker, of some new and extraordinary state of mind; or if on any other account, from the relation of the subject or the genius of the language, it be possessed of some peculiar force or energy; it will obviously follow, that it must more frequently occur in poetry than in prose, since it is particularly adapted to the nature, the versatility, and variety of the former, and to the expression of any violent passion; and since it has but little affinity to that mildness and temperance of

See 2 Sam. xii. 3.

Psal. lxxx. 9. 12. 14.

‡ Judges v. 29.
Deut. xxxii. 11.

Iso widely differ from our Author, that I have very little doubt of making this matter, as far as is necessary to understand his meaning, perfectly intelligible to the English reader, by merely exhibiting the passages in question, and comparing the literal with our common translation. In Judges v. 29. our version reads, " Her wise ladies answer her; yea, she returned answer to herself:" In the original it is, "Her wise ladies will answer her; yea, she will return answer to herself." In Psal. lxxx. 8. our translation is, "Thou broughtest a vine," &c. In the original, "Thou wilt bring a vine," &c. "Thou wilt cast out," &c. In Deut. xxxii. 11. our Bible reads, "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth her wings," &c. : In the original it is, "As the eagle will stir up, will flutter, will spread her wings," &c. It is not uncommon in vulgar language, even in this country, and particularly the northern parts of it, when an action is described in the general, as in the above allusion of the eagle, to use the future tense; and if that very passage had been literally translated, the comparison would have been equally intelligible to our common people. But I must confess there is, after all, a most licentious use of the different tenses prevalent in the Hebrew language, which to us, who are unacquainted with the principles of it, creates strange confusion, and obliges us commonly to have recourse to the context, and the apparent design of the passage. Nor do all these very ingenious hypotheses of our Author entirely remove the difficulty, or explain the principles of this form of construction to my satisfaction.-T.

language which proceeds in one uniform and even tenour. Thus, if we attend diligently to the poetry of the Hebrews, and carefully remark its peculiar characteristics, we shall hardly find any circumstance, the regular and artificial conformation of the sentences excepted, which more evidently distinguishes it from the style of prose composition, than the singularity which is now under consideration. For though it be allowed, that this idiom is not so entirely inconsistent with prose but that a few examples of it might be produced, on the whole I am convinced, that the free and frequent use of it may be accounted as the certain characteristic of poetry.

That the full force of these and other peculiarities, which serve to distinguish the poetical diction of the Hebrews, and to preserve that sublimity and splendour for which it is so remarkable, should be fully apparent from a few examples, is hardly to be expected; nor did I flatter myself with any such expectation, when I entered upon this part of my subject. My intention was only to produce an instance or two, which were most likely to occur to those who enter upon this course of reading, and which appeared to demand particular attention. The perfect character and genius, the whole form, principles, and nature of the poetical diction and ornaments, can neither be comprehended in any minute or artificial precepts whatever, nor perhaps be reduced altogether to rule and method: the complete knowledge and perception of these are only to be attained by reading and investigation, united with acuteness of judgment and delicacy of taste.

• Hitherto I have only met with the following: Judges ii. 1. (see, however, Houbigant in loc.) and xxi. 25.; 1 Sam. xxvii. 9. 11.; 2 Sam. xii. 31.; 1 Kings xxi. 6.; 1 Chron. xi. 8. See also Peters on Job, p. 202.-Author's

Note.

LECTURE XVI.

OF SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT.

Sublimity of Sentiment arises, either from elevation of mind, or from some vehement passion: in each, it is either natural, or the effect of divine inspiration-Elevation of mind is displayed in the greatness of the subject, the adjuncts, and the imagery-Examples from the descriptions of the Divine Majesty; of the works and attributes of the Deity; also from the display of the Divine Power in the form of Interrogation and Irony- The Hebrew poets attribute the human passions to the Deity without departing from sublimity; and that frequently when the imagery appears least consistent with the Divine Majesty: the reason of this.

If we consider the very intimate connexion which on all occasions subsists between sentiment and language, it will perhaps appear, that the peculiar quality of which we have just been treating, under the title of Sublimity of Expression, might ultimately be referred to that of Sentiment. In the strictest sense, however, sublimity of sentiment may be accounted a distinct quality, and may be said to proceed, either from a certain elevation of mind, and a happy boldness of conception, or from a strong impulse of the soul, when agitated by the more violent affections. The one is called by Longinus Grandeur of Conception, the other Vehemence or Enthusiasm of Passion. To each of these we must have recourse in the present disquisition, and, in applying them to the sacred poets, I shall endeavour to detract nothing from the dignity of that inspiration which proceeds from higher causes, while I allow to the genius of each writer his own peculiar excellence and accomplishments. I am indeed of opinion, that the Divine Spirit by no means takes such an entire possession of the mind of the prophet, as to subdue or extinguish the character and genius of the man: the natural powers of the mind are in general elevated and refined, they are neither eradicated nor totally obscured; and though the writings of Moses, of David, and of Isaiah, always bear the marks of a divine and celestial impulse, we

may nevertheless plainly discover in them the particular characters of their respective authors.

That species of the sublime which proceeds from a boldness of spirit and an elevation of the soul, whether inherent in the author or derived from a divine impulse and inspiration, is displayed, first, in the greatness and sublimity of the subject itself; secondly, in the choice of the adjuncts or circumstances, (by the importance and magnitude of which a degree of force and elevation is added to the description); and lastly, in the splendour and magnificence of the imagery by which the whole is illustrated. In all these the Hebrew writers have obtained an unrivalled pre-eminence. As far as respects the dignity and importance of the subject, they not only surpass all other writers, but even exceed the confines of human genius and intellect. The greatness, the power, the justice, the immensity of God; the infinite wisdom of his works and of his dispensations-are the subjects in which the Hebrew poetry is always conversant, and always excels. If we only consider with a common degree of candour how greatly inferior the poetry of all other nations appears, whenever it presumes to treat of these subjects; and how unequal to the dignity of the matter the highest conceptions of the human genius are found to be ; we shall, I think, not only acknowledge the sublimity, but the divinity, of that of the Hebrews. Nor does this greatness and elevation consist altogether in the subjects and sentiments, which, however expressed, would yet retain some part at least of their native force and dignity; but the manner in which these lofty ideas are arranged, and the embellishments of description with which they abound, claim our warmest admiration: and this, whether we regard the adjuncts or circumstances, which are selected with so much judgment as uniformly to contribute to the sublimity of the principal subject; or the amplitude of that imagery, which represents objects the most remote from human apprehension in such enchanting colours, that, although debased by human painting, they still retain their genuine sanctity and excellence. Since, therefore, the sublimity of the sacred poets has been already exemplified in a variety of instances, it will probably be sufficient, in addition to these, to produce a few examples as illustrations of these remarks, chiefly taken from those parts of Scripture in which a delineation of the Divine Majesty is attempted.