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Creatures. Again, thofe Paffions or Poftures ftrike us more or lefs, in proportion to the Eafe or Violence of ⚫ their Motions. An Horfe grazing moves us less than ⚫ one stretching in a Race, and a Racer less than one in the Fury of a Battel. It is very difficult, I believe, to express violent Motions, which are fleeting and tranfitory, either in Colours or Words. In Poetry it requires great Spirit in Thought, and Energy in Stile; which we find more of in the Eastern Poetry, than either the • Greek or Roman. The Great Creator, who accommo• dated himself to those he vouchfafed to speak to, hath · put into the Mouths of his Prophets fuch fublime Sen⚫timents and exalted Language, as muft abash the Pride ⚫ and Wit of Man. In the Book of Job, the most Ancient Poem in the World, we have fuch Paintings and Descriptions, as I have spoken of, in great variety. I fhall at prefent make fome Remarks on the celebrated Description of the Horfe in that Holy Book, and compare it with thofe drawn by Homer and Virgil.

HOMER hath the following Similitude of an Horfe ⚫ twice over in the Iliad, which Virgil hath copied from him; at least he hath deviated lefs from Homer, than Mr. Dryden hath from him.

Freed from his Keepers, thus with broken Reins,
The wanton Courfer prances o'er the Plains ;
Or in the Pride of Youth o'erleaps the Mounds,
And fnuffs the Females in forbidden Grounds:
Or feeks his Wat'ring in the well-known Flood,
To quench his Thirst, and cool his fiery Blood:
He fwims luxuriant in the liquid Plain,
And o'er his Shoulders flows his waving Mane:
He neighs, he fnorts, he bears his Head on high,
Before his ample Cheft the frothy Waters fly.

Virgil's Defcription is much fuller than the foregoing, ⚫ which, as I faid, is only a Simile; whereas Virgil pro⚫feffes to treat of the Nature of the Horfe. It is thus admirably tranflated.

The fiery Courfer, when he hears from far

The fprightly Trumpets, and the Shouts of War,

Pricks up his Ears; and trembling with Delight
Shifts Pace, and paws; and hopes the promis'd Fight.
On his Right Shoulder his thick Mane reclin'd,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the Wind.
His horny Hoofs are jetty black, and round;
His Chine is double; ftarting, with a bound
He turns the Turf, and shakes the folid Ground.
Fire from his Eyes, Clouds from his Noftrils flow;
He bears his Rider headlong on the For.

'NOW follows that in the Book of Job; which un2 der all the Difadvantages of having been written in a Language little understood; of being expreft in Phrafes peculiar to a Part of the World, whofe manner of Thinking and Speaking feems to Us very uncooth; and above all, of appearing in a Profe Translation; is nevertheless fo tranfcendently above the Heathen Descriptions, that hereby we may percieve, how faint and languid the Images are which are formed by mortal Authors when compared with that, which is figured, as 'twere, juft as it appears in the Eye of the Creator. God fpeaking to Job, asks him,

HASTthou given the Horfe ftrength? haft thou clothed his • neck with thunder? Canft thou make him afraid as a gra• Shopper? the glory of his noftrils is terrible. He paweth in the vally, and rejoyceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affraid; • neither turneth he back from the fword. The quiver ratleth against him, the glittering fpear and the fhield. He fwalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the found of the trumpet. He faith among st the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he fmelleth the battel afar off; the thundring of the Captains, and the fhouting.

་

HERE are all the great and fprightly Images, that Thought can form, of this generous Beaft; expreft in fuch Force and Vigour of Style, as would have given 'the great Wits of Antiquity new Laws for the Sublime, had they been acquainted with thefe Writings. I cannot but particularly obferve, that whereas the Claffical • Poets chiefly endeavour to paint the outward Figure, Lineaments, and Motions; the Sacred Poet makes all the

⚫ Beauties

• Beauties to flow from an inward Principle in the Crea⚫ture he defcribes; and thereby gives great Spirit and Vivacity to his Defeription. The following Phrases and • Circumstances seem fingularly remarkable.

• HAST thou clothed his neck with thunder? Homer and Virgil mention nothing about the Neck of the Horfe, but his Mane: The Sacred Author, by the bold Figure • of Thunder, not only expreffes the fhaking of that remarkable Beauty in the Horfe, and the Flakes of Hair which naturally fuggeft the Idea of Lightning; but likewise the violent Agitation and Force of the Neck, ' which in the Oriental Tongues had been flatly exprest by a Metaphor less than this.

CANST thou make him afraid as a grafhopper? There is a two-fold Beauty in this Expreffion, which not only marks the Courage of this Beaft, by asking if he can be feared? but likewife raises a noble Image of his Swiftaefs, by infinuating, that if he could be fright⚫ned he would bound away with the nimblenefs of a ! Grafhopper.

THE glory of his noftrils is terrible. This is more ftrong and concife than that of Virgil, which yet is the ⚫ nobleft Line that was ever written without Inipi⚫ration.

Collectumque premens volvit fub naribus ignem.

HE rejoyceth in his ftrength-He mocketh at fear neither believeth he that it is the found of the trumpet-• He faith among the trumpets Ha, ha;- are Signs of Courage, as I faid before, flowing from an inward Principle. There is a particular Beauty in his not believing it is the Sound of the Trumpet: That is, he cannot believe it for Joy; but when he is fure of it, and is amongst the Trumpets, he faith. Ha, ha; he neighs, he rejoices. His Docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling Quiver, the glittring Spear and the Shield; ⚫ and is well imitated by Oppian (who undoubtedly read Fob as well as Virgil) in his Poem upon Hunting." How firm the Manag'd War Horfe keeps his Ground, Nor breaks his Order, though the Trumpets found!

With fearless Eye the glitt'ring Hoft furveys,
And glares directly at the Helmet's Blaze:
The Mafter's Word, the Laws of War he knows;
And when to fop; and when to charge the Foes.

HE Swalloweth the Ground is an Expreffion for prodigious Swiftnefs, in Ufe amongst the Arabians, Job's Country-men, at this Day. The Latins have fomething like it.

Latumque fugâ confumere campum.

Nemefian.

Cum rapuere, pedum veftigia quaras.

Sil. Ital.

'It is indeed the boldest and nobleft of Images for Swift

nefs; nor have I met with any thing that comes fo near it, as Mr. Pope's in Windfor Foreft.

Th' impatient Courfer pants in ev'ry Vein,
And pawing, feems to beat the diftant Plain;
Hills, Vales and Floods appear already croft,
And e're he Starts, a thousand Steps are loft.

He fmelleth the Battle afar off, and what follows about the fhouting, is a Circumftance expreffed with great Spirit by Lucan.

So when the Ring with joyful Shouts rebounds,

With Rage and Pride th' imprison'd Courfer bounds:
He frets, he foams, he rends his idle Rein;

Springs o'er the Fence, and headlong feeks the Plain.

1 am, SIR,

Your ever obliged Servant,

John Lizard,

Saturday,

N® 87. Saturday, June 20.

-Conftiterant hinc Thisbe, Pyramus illinc, Inque vicem fuerat jactatus anhelitus oris.

M

Ovid.

Y Precautions are made up of all that I can hear and fee, tranflate, borrow, paraphrafe or contract, from the Perfons with whom I mingle and converfe, and the Authors whom I read. But the grave Difcourfes which I fometimes give the Town, do not win fo much Attention as lighter Matters. For this Reafon it is, that I am obliged to confider Vice as it is ridiculous, and accompanied with Gallantry, elfe I find in a very fhort time I fhall lie like wafte Paper on the Tables of Coffeehouses: Where I have taken most Pains I often find my felf leaft read. There is a Spirit of Intrigue got into all, even the meaneft of the People, and the very Servants are bent upon Delights, and commence Oglers and Languishers. I happened the other Day to pafs by a Gentleman's Houfe, and faw the most flippant Scene of low Love that I have ever obferved. The Maid was rubbing the Windows within fide of the House, and her humble Servant the Footman was fo happy a Man as to be employed in cleaning the fame Glafs on the fide toward the Street. The Wench began with the greatest Severity of Afpect imaginable, and breathing on the Glafs, followed it with a dry Cloth: her Oppofite obferved her, and fetching a deep Sigh, as if it were his last, with a very difconfolate Air did the fame on his fide of the Window. He ftill worked on and languished, till at laft his Fair one fmiled, but covered her felf, and fpreading the Napkin in her Hand, concealed her felf from her Admirer, while he took Pains, as it were, to work through all that intercepted their Meeting. This pretty Conteft held for four or five large Panes of Glass, till at laft the Waggery was turned to an humorous way of Breathing in each others Faces, and catching the Impreffion. The gay

Creatures