is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, since thou art laid down, no feller hath come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations......23. I will also make Babylon a possession for the bittern and pools of water....and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts."

This passage is remarkable for sublimity. The doom of the subject of the prophecy, the king of Babylon, is described in every circumstance of

grandeur and terror. There never was a stronger and more awful personification than that which is contained in the ninth verse. Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee at thy coming, c. And the whole passage bears a correspondent elevation. In the 23d. verse the desolate waste is brought before our view....swept by the besom of destruction....polluted with pools, where " the hol"low-sounding bittern guards its nest."

Dr.

Young had the spirit of this verse in view, when speaking of the end of the world, he says; « Ruin fiercely drives her ploughshare over creation."

Job, xxxix, 27, 28, 29, 30. 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.

No description could be more concise, more characteristic and striking. The whole of the wonderful chapter from which it is extracted, besides

its poetical excellence, contains accurate instructions in natural history.

JOB, XXVIII. 20, 22, 23. Whence then cometh wisdom, and where is the place of understanding? 22. Destruction and Death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 23. God understandeth the way thereof, for he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven." ....The greatness of the expression in the 22nd verse will escape no accurate observer.

JOB, IV. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. «Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof, in thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men. Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my head stood up: It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: An image was before mine eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?"....Perhaps an instance of more simple, concise, and forcible description than this rela

tion of Eliphaz of his terrible vision, is not to be found.

PSALM, LXVIII. 7, 8, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.

God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.... Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto God ye kingdoms of the Earth; O sing praises unto the Lord: To him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens which were of old; lo he doth send out his voice and that a mighty voice. Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. O God thou art terrible out of thy holy places: The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God."

The Psalmist, after meditating upon the power and goodness of God, breaks forth into this apostrophe, O God when thou wentest forth, &c. The preceding solemnity and grandeur of his description

L

are here carried into a warmer elevation. Unable to restrain the fervour of inspiration he rises above the world and speaks unto God himself. After considering the majesty of his creator, this inspir

ed writer with an abrupt brevity declares the irresistible success of his word. The image is grand of a whole nation stretching out her arms unto God: and who does not bow with adoration before that infinite being who rideth upon the heavens of heavens? Who does not hear his voice, his mighty voice? Who does not ascribe strength unto him whose excellency is over Israel and whose strength is in the clouds? There is no instance of any writers except the sacred penmen who have risen to the dignity of the divine attributes. The fabled Jupiter of Heathens at whose nod Olympus shook to its centre, is but a feeble being in comparison with that God who is discribed by the Prophets.....What an infamous assemblage are Homer's deities! How poor were the conceptions of the wisest ancient philosophers of the source of all being! Compared with the scriptures their language is the babling of children.