Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 18, RHI-SCR

Scripture.
| Chap,
xxxi. 2—4,
13—iS*
34
Characters
of his three
friends.
} Chap,
iv. 2.
-§ Chap,
viii. 2.
* Chap,
xi. 2, 3.
35
Of Elihu.
SCR [79°
Or my maid, when they had a controverfy with me,
What then fhould I do when God arifeth,
And when he vifiteth, what anfvver could I make him?
Did not he who formed me in the belly form him,
And did not one falhion us in the womb f !
The three friends are exa£tly fuch characters as the
nature of the poem required. They are fevere, irritable,
malignant cenfors, readily and with apparent fatisfaftion
deviating from the purpofe of confolation into reproof
and contumely. Even from the very firft they manifeft
this evil propenfity, and indicate what is to be expefted
from them. The firft of them, indeed, in the opening
of his harangue, aflumes an air of candour :
Wouldft thou take it unkindly that one fhould eflay to
fpeak to thee J ?
Indignation is, however, inftantly predominant:
But a few words who can forbear ?
The fecond flames forth at once :
] SCR
contention. It is adapted in every refpeCl to the in- Scripture..
citement of terror j and, as the fpecimens already quot- * l J
ed will fufficiently prove, is univerfally animated with Sentiments
the true fpirit of fublimity. It is, however, not want-0f the
ing in the gentler paflions. The following complaints,poem of
for in fiance, are replete with an affe&ing fpirit of me-Job.
lancholy :
Man, the offspring of a woman,
Is of few days, and full of inquietude ;
He fpringeth up, and is cut off like a flower ;
He flee-eth like a fliadow, and doth not abide :
On fuch a creature doft thou open thine eyes ?
And wilt thou bring me even into judgment with thee ?
Turn thy look from him, that he may have feme re-
fpite,
Till he (hall, like a hireling, have completed his day f. | chap>
xiv. 1, 2,
The whole paffage abounds with the tnoft beautiful 6.
imagery, and is a moft perfefl fpecimen of the Elegiac.
His grief afterwards becomes more fervent j but is at
the fame time foft and querimonious.
How long wilt thou trifle in this manner ?
How long fliall the words of thy mouth be as a mighty
wind § ?
But remark the third :
Shall not the matter of words be anfvvered ?
Or fliall a man be acquitted for his fine fpeeches ?
Shall thy prevarications make men filent ?
Shall thou even feoff, and there be no one to make thee
aftiamed * ?
The lenity and moderation of Elihu ferves as a beau¬
tiful contraft to the intemperance and afperity of the
ether three. He is pious, mild, and equitable j equal¬
ly free from adulation and feverity ; and endued with
Angular wifdom, which he attributes entirely to the in-
fpiration of God: and his modefty, moderation, and
wifdom, are the more entitled to commendation when
we confider his unripe youth. As the charafters of his
detraftors were in all refpe&s calculated to inflame the
mind of Job, that of this arbitrator is admirably adapted
to foothe and compofe it: to this point the whole drift of
the argument tends, and on this the very purport of it
ieems to depend.
Another circumftance deferving particular attention
in a poem of this kind, is the fentiment •, which muft be
agreeable to the fubjeft, and embelliftied with proper
expreflionsk It is by Ariftotle enumerated among the
eflentials of a dramatic poem ; not indeed as peculiar to
that fpecies of poetry alone, but as common, and of the
greateft importance, to all. Manners or-charafter are
effential only to that poetry in Avhich living perfons are
introduced 5 and all fuch poems muft afford an exafl re-
prefentation of human manners : but fentiment is effen¬
tial to every poem, indeed to every compofition what¬
ever. It refpefts both perfons and things. As far as it
regards perfons, it is particularly concerned in the deli¬
neation of the manners and paflions : and thofe inftances
to which we have juft been adverting are fentiments
exprefiive of manners. Thofe which relate to the deli¬
neation of the paflions, and to the defcription of other
fubie&s, yet remain unnoticed.
The poem of Job abounds chiefly in the more vehe-
imnt paflions, grief and anger, indignation and violent
How long will ye Vex my foul,
And tire me with vain harangues ?
Thefe ten times have ye loaded me with reproaches,
Are ye not alhamed that ye are fo obftinate againft me !
Pity me, O pity me, ye are my friends,
For the hand of God hath fmitten me.
Why will ye be my perfecutors as well as God,
And therefore will ye not be fatisfied with my flefli % ? $ Chap,
The ardour and alacrity of the war-horfe, and his ^
eavernefs for battle, are painted with a mafterly hand : 37
6 its fubir-
For eagernefs and fury he devoureth the very ground : mity.
He believeth it not when he heareth the trumpet.
When the trumpet foundeth, he faith, ahah ?
Yea he feenteth the battle from afar,
The thunder of the chieftains and their fhouts *. * chap.
The following fublime defcription of the creation is^lx‘ 24,
admirable :
Where waft thou when I laid the foundations of the
earth ?
If thou knoweft, declare.
Say, who fixed the proportions of it, for furely thou
knoweft ?
Or who ftretched out the line upon it ?
On what were its foundations fixed ?
Or who laid the corner-ftone thereof ?
When the morning-ftars fang together.
And all the fons of God fhouted for joy ;
When the fea was ftmt up with doors j
When it burft forth as an infant that cometh out of the
womb j
“When I placed the cloud for its robe,
And thick darknefs for its fwadling-band j
When I fixed my boundary againft it,
When I placed a bar and gates*,
When I faid, Thus far thalt thou come, and not ad¬
vance,
And here ftiall a flop be put to the pride ofthy w’aves f. f Job,
. Xxxvui.
Let it fuffice to fay, that the dignity ef the ftyle is,^—u.
anfwerable to that of the fubjeft; its force and energy,
to the greatnefs of thofe paflions which it deferibes:
and as this produ&ion excels all the other remains of
the