are inflicted by Providence as the punishment of his sins. Job, in reply, justifies his complaint against Providence, and asserts the integrity of his past life. He is answered by another of his friends in the same strain with the former. Job replies as before; and thus the dialogue proceeds, till each of the old men has spoken twice, and two of them have spoken three times, Job always replying to each of them. They continue to assert, that the evils of life are inflicted as the punishment of guilt; and therefore conclude that Job must have been a great sinner. Job, on the contrary, persists in defending the uprightness of his own character, and in alleging that he suffers unjustly. His last speech is a long one; and notwithstanding the lapse of ages, and the difference of our manners from those to which he alludes, his description of his former prosperity, of the integrity of his conduct, and of the reverse of fortune which he had experienced, is truly interesting. "When "I went out to the gate, through the city, when "I prepared my seat in the street, the young "men saw me, and hid themselves; and the

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aged arose, and stood up. The princes re"frained talking, and laid their hand on "their mouth. The nobles held their peace, "and their tongue cleaved to the roof of "their mouth. When the ear heard me, "then it blessed me; and when the eye saw

me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered "the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and

him that had none to help him. The blessing "of him that was ready to perish came upon "me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing "for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed "me: my judgment was as a robe and a dia"dem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I "to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and "the cause which I knew not, I searched out. I

brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked "the spoil out of his teeth. Then I said, I shall "die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as "the sand. My root was spread out by the "waters, and the dew lay all night upon my "branch. My glory was fresh in me, and my "bow was renewed in my hand. Unto me

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men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again."" But now they that are younger than I, have me in derision, whose fathers I "would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." Towards the end of this speech, Job challenges heaven itself to accuse him: "Othat one would hear me! that the Almighty would answer me!"

Job's three aged friends at length relinquish the vain attempt to convince him that he suffers for his sins, and hold their peace. Upon this his young friend Elihu, who had hitherto pre

served a respectful silence, takes up the subject upon a different ground. He does not allege that the evils of life are inflicted as punishments, nor does he at all pretend to explain the cause of them; but he asserts that we are not entitled to accuse Providence of injustice on their account, seeing we know so little of its ways, and are altogether ignorant of the nature and character of the maker of the world. After Elihu has proceeded to a considerable length in his discourse, and has demonstrated our ignorance of the intentions of Providence, and the impropriety of attempting to censure an administration which we do not understand, God himself speaks from a whirlwind. He adopts the argument of Elihu; and in a style of rapid interrogation, which is highly poetical, enumerates a great variety of the wonders that exist in nature, and demands of Job whether he understands, or can explain them?

The result of the whole is, that Job acknowledges his error in having censured that Providence whose mode of government he does not comprehend. God is angry with Job's three friends for having found no better solution of his difficulties, and commands them to offer sacrifice, and solicit the prayers of Job in their favour; but Elihu is not censured, because his argument was correct. Job's fortunes are all repaired, and he ends his days in great prosperity..

It is to be observed, that at the beginning of the book, a story in prose, of a very mythological and suspicious aspect, is introduced, which is altogether inconsistent with the general purpose of the poem. The poem endeavours to prove, that the sufferings of a just man like Job are altogether inexplicable, in consequence of our ignorance of the designs of Providence; but that this ignorance ought to prevent our accusing the Author of the world of injustice; whereas the two prose chapters explain the cause of Job's sufferings very clearly, by representing them as having arisen from a dispute between God and the Devil, in which God defied the Devil to tempt Job to sin. The Devil accepted the challenge, on condition of being allowed to torment Job as much as he pleased. The Devil was unsuccessful; for although Job doubted the justice and the wisdom of divine Providence (which he had some reason for doing, if this story was true), yet he still retained his piety and resignation. From the inconsistency between this introductory piece of history and the sublime sentiments contained in the rest of the work, we may well doubt the authenticity, of a part at least, of the two first chapters of the Book of Job, and suspect that the Christian clergy have acted very rashly in receiving them into the canon of the sacred scriptures.

CHAP. II.

OF THE QUALITIES WHICH CONSTITUTE MORAL
PERFECTION.

HAVING said so much about the improvement and the perfection of our intellectual nature, I think it necessary to state particularly what I regard as the qualities which constitute this perfection.

The energies which exist and act in the human form are of two kinds; voluntary and involuntary. Our involuntary powers or energies are those employed in conveying the blood round our bodies, in digesting and circulating the aliment, in performing the various secretions and excretions required by our constitution, in enlarging or diminishing the cavity of the chest for the purpose of breathing, and in other efforts necessary to life and health, which proceed without any choice on our part.

Our voluntary powers, on the contrary, are those which are exerted in consequence of an act of will: As when we exert ourselves in judging, in contriving, in resisting pain or pleasure, or in moving our bodies.