COUNSELLORS OF THE EARTH, which build DESOLATE PLACES for themselves; i.e. magnificentbuildings, in desolate places, meaning plainly the PYRAMIDS raised in the midst of barren sands, for the burying places of the kings of Egypt- Kings and counsellors of the earth-was, by way of eminence, the designation of the Egyptian Governors. So Isaiah -the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings †. But it may be observed in general, that though the Scene confined the Author to scattered Tribes in the midst of Deserts, yet his images and his ideas are, by an insensible allure, taken throughout, from crowded Cities and a civil policied People. Thus he speaks of the Children of the wicked being crushed in the gate‡, alluding to a City taken by storm, and to the destruc-tion of the flying inhabitants pressing one another to death in the narrow passage of the City-gates.-Again, of the good man it is said, that he shall be hid from the Scourge of tongues §; that pestilent mischief which rages chiefly in rich and licentious Communities. But there would be no end of giving instances of this kind, where they are so numerous. Hitherto the Author seems unwarily to have be-. trayed his Times and Country. But we shall now see that he has made numerous allusions to the miraculous History of his Ancestors with serious purpose. and design. For this poem being written, as will appear, for the comfort and solace of his Countrymen, he reasonably supposed it would advance his principal + Isaiah xix. 11. Chap. v. ver. 4. The Septuagint renders it very expressively πολαβεισθείησαν ἐπὶ θύραις ἡσσόνων. * Chap. iii. ver. 12, 13, 14. § See note [O] at the end of this volume. end, end, to refresh their memories with some of the more signal deliverances of their Forefathers. In the mean time, decorum, of which we find him a careful observer, required him to preserve the image of very different and distant times. This was a difficulty: and would have been so to the ablest Writer. Both these were matters of importance; and neither one nor the other could be omitted, without neglecting his Purpose, or deforming his Composition. How then can we conceive a skilful Artist would act, if not in this manner; he would touch those stories, but with so slight an outline and such airy colouring, as to make them pass unheeded by a careless observer; yet be visible enough to those who studied the Work with care and attention. Now this artful temper our divine Writer, we say, hath observed. The conduct was fine and noble: and the cloud in which he was forced to wrap his studied allusions, will be so far from bringing them into question, that it will confirm their meaning; as it now appears, that if an able Writer would, in such a work, make allusions to his own Times, Religion, and People, it must be done in this covert manner. Job, speaking of the Omnipotence of GOD,-which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars*, plainly enough alludes to the miraculous history of the people of God, in the Egyptian Darkness, and the stopping of the Sun's course by Joshua. This appeared so evident to a very learned Commentator, though in the other opinion of the book's being of Job's own writing, that he was forced to suppose that his Author spoke proleptically, as knowing by the gift of Prophesy, what GOD in a future age would do †. Thus So * Chap. ix. ver. 7. Hoc videtur respicere historiam Josuæ vel Ezechiæ, quanquam ante illa Job extiterit. Sed hæc potuerunt per anticipationem So where Job says, God divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud*, he evidently refers to the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red-sea. Again, in the following words, He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way †, whỏ can doubt but that they allude to the wandering of the Israelites forty years in the wilderness, as a punishment for their cowardice, and diffidence in God's promises; Eliphaz, speaking of the wonderful works of Gob, declares how he came to the knowledge of them, I will shew thee; hear me; and what I have seen I will declare; which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: the very way in which Moses directs the Israelites to preserve the memory of the miraculous works of GOD. And who are these wise men? They are so particularly marked out as not to be mistaken: Unto whom alone the earth was given, and NO STRANGER PASSED AMONGST THEM §. A circumstance agreeing to no People whatsoever but to the Israelites settled in Canaan. The same Eliphaz, telling Job to his face, that his misfortunes came in punishment for his Crimes, says; Thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, and stripped the naked of his cloathing || And Job, speaking of the most profligate of men, describes them, amongst other marks of their iniquity, by this, that they caused the naked to lodge without cloathing, that they have no covering in the cold; that they take a pledge of the poor, and cause him to go naked without cloathing. dici, quod Jobum non lateret penes Deum esse id efficere quando cunque luberet. Codurcus in locum. * Chap. xxvi. ver. 12. Chap. xv. ver. 17, 18. Chap. xxii. ver. 6. + Chap. xii. ver. 24. Ver. 19. Chap. xxiv. ver. 7. cloathing*. Who that sees this ranked amongst the greatest enormities, but will reflect that it must have been written by one well studied in the LAW OF MOSES, which says, If thou at all take thy neighour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down; for that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: Wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. Which Law, as the learned Spencer observes, was peculiar to this institution †. Elihu, speaking of God's dealing with his servants, says, "That he may withdraw man from "his purpose, and hide pride from man; he keepeth "back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing “by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon "his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong "pain. His soul draweth nigh unto the grave, and "his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger "with him, an interpreter, one amongst a thousand "to shew unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down "to the pit, I have found a ransom. His flesh shall "be fresher than a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he will "be favourable unto him, and he shall see his face "with joy; for he will render unto man his righteous99 ness This is the most circumstantial account of GOD's dealing with HEZEKIAH, as it is told in the books of Chronicles and Kings. GOD had delivered him from perishing by the sword of Sennacherib: Ver. 9, 10. Exod. xxii. 26, 27. See also Deut. xxiv. 12, & 17. -Leges illæ in Dei tantum Pandectis inveniendæ sunt, nempe, de vestibus pignori datis, quibus de pecunia concredita cavebant debitores, ante solis occasum, restituendis.-De Leg. Hebr. Rit. vol. i. p. 263. Chap. xxxiii. ver. 17, & seq. "In those days Hezekiah was sick to death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, "and he gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered "not again, according to the benefit done unto him, "for his heart was lifted up*." But the story is told more at large in the book of Kings:-" In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death: and the Prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order, "for thou shalt die and not live. Then he turned "his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord.— "And it came to pass afore Isaiah was gone out into "the middle court, that the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, "Thus saith the LORD, I have heard thy prayer, "I have seen thy tears: Behold I will heal thee; on "the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the "Lord. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs; and "they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered†.” The following words as plainly refer to the destruction of the first-born in Egypt, and Sennacherib's army ravaging Judea: In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight and pass away, and the mighty shall be taken away without hand. These likewise clearly allude to the Egyptian Darkness,—from the wicked their light is withholden §. No one, I think, can doubt but that the following description of God's dealing with Monarchs and Rulers of the world, is a transcript of, or allusion to, a passage in the second book of Chronicles. Elihu (who is made to pass judgment on the dispute) says, He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: * 2 Chron. xxxii. 24, 25. + 2 Kings xx. 1, & seq. § Chap. xxxviii. ver. 15. but, |