this Subject, determines, that a Man may praise himself, when it is necessary for his own defence, and when he may benefit others by it. Neftor speaks of himself with as great commendation, as he could have spoken of any other Man; but when the Authority and Reverence due to his Age warranted that Freedom, and the necessity of Affairs required it of him, it was not only allowable, but very proper and requisite. Tully observes, that he might claim this privilege from his Old Age. * Brutus speaks of himself in very high terms, and justifies his doing so. And Socrates himself, at his Tryal, speaks very freely in his own commendation, which has never been mentioned to his dispraise, but as an argument of his Courage and In nocence. Z Virgil makes Æneas and Turnus speak of themselves in fuch a manner, as is hardly reconcileable to the Rules of Decency of our Times. Mr. Dryden, in his Tranflation, faw it necessary to foften his Exprefsions, that they might be more fuitable to our Customs and Manners. But certainly, if this were not agreeable to his own Age, it was at least to that Notion which Virgil had of the Age in which Aneas y Hom. 11. x. * Nihil neceffe eft mihi de meipso dicere, quanquam est id quidem senile, ætatique noftræ conceditur. Videtisne ut apud Homerum sepiffime Neftor de virtutibus fuis prædicet? Tertiam enim jam ætatem hominum vixerat, nec erat ei verendum, ne vera de se prædicans nimis videretur aut insolens aut loquax. Cic. de Senect. * Juvat enim magnificè loqui, & certè decet adverfus ignorantes, quid pro quoque timendum, aut à quoque petendum fit. Brur. ad Cic. Epift. Sum Pius Aneas - Fama super æthera notus. -An. 1. The Good Æneas I am call'd, a Name, While Fortune favour'd, not unknown to Fame. I Turnus, not the least of all my Name, F2 Æn. 11. lived, lived, or else so great a Master of Decorum would never have put fuch words into the mouth of his Hero. Yet these very words he had from Homer, who makes them to be spoken by Ulysses. Servius says, Heroes were wont thus to speak. d Poets likewise assumed a liberty of speaking bold Expressions concerning themselves, upon pretence that they were acted by some Divine Power, and therefore were called Prophets; which is an argument that in the common Opinion of Men, inspired Writers might use such Forms of Speech as would not be proper nor decent for others to use. And this Liberty was taken by Orators as well as Poets, when the occasion seemed to require it, as may be observed in *Ifocrates. For the ancient Orators too, by Longinus's Observation, pretended to something more than humane, and would be thought to speak by some kind of impulse; upon which account, this Liberty might be allowed them. The Rant of & Arrian can hardly be excused: for he speaks of himself more like a Stoick, than like an Historian, or like a modest Man. But it may well be thought needless for me to have used so many words on this Subject, when there is so little occafion for any Objection of this nature in the Holy Scriptures, and where-ever there can be any pretence for it, it has been considered in its proper place: but I thought it might not be labour ill bestowed, to shew here besides, how bad Criticks they • Καὶ μα κλέθ ἐρανὸν ἵκε. Odyff. ix. Jamque opus exegi, quod nec Jovis ira nec ignis Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetuftas.-Ovid.Metam.1.15. Exegi monumentum ære perennius. -Horat. carm. lib. 3. Od. 30. e Panegr. & Panathen. * ̓Αλλ ̓ ἐκεῖνο ἀναζράφω, ὅτι ἐμοὶ πάτεις τὲ, κὶ λ ἀρχαὶ, οἶδε οἱ λόζοι εἰσί τε, κὶ ὑπὸ νες ἔτι ἐλθύνοντο· κὶ ἐπὶ πὸ ἢ ἐκ ἀπαξιῶ, ἐμουλὸν ἢ πρώτων ἐν τῇ φωνῇ τῇ Ἑλλάδι, ἀπὸ ἓν κὶ ̓Αλέξανδρο ἢ ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις. Arr. de Expedit. Alexandr. 1. 1. are that can object at this rate. I will say farther, that the Passage, Tob. v. 16. concerning the Dog which follow'd Tobias (which has given occasion to unwary and unskilful Men to infult with so much Scorn over a Book that is very useful, tho' not of Divine Inspiration) is not only innocent, but agreeable to the best Patterns of Antiquity, & Homer and Virgil; who thought it a very proper and natural Ornament of their Poems to describe Dogs following their Masters; Homer speaking of Telemachus, and Virgil of Evander. And * Servius produceth an Example of the fame thing out of the Roman History. IV. As to the Method used in the Holy Scriptures, there is no reason to expect that Prophecies should be written according to the Order of time in which they were deliver'd, or that Histories should be digested into Diaries or Annals, since there may be Reafons, whether known or unknown to us, why they should be otherwise plac'd: And thus the Lyrick Poets, who pretended to Enthusiasm, and an Imitation, as it were, of Prophecy, do not confine themselves to observe any Order of Time. Some things last foretold might be first to be fulfill'd; or some things were more or less remarkable, or concern'd the Jews more or less than others; but generally in the Prophetical Books of Scripture, what concerns the fame Subject is put together, though foretold, or falling out, at different times, that the clearer and more distinct view may be had of it. This, as St. Jerom observes, is the Cause of divers Transpositions in point of Time, 8 "Αμα τῷ γε δύω κύες ἀρδοὶ ἕπονο. Odyff ii. v. 11. Nec non & gemini custodes limine ab alto Æneid. viii. * Hoc & in Homero lectum est - & in Hiftoria Romana, quæ ait: Syphax inter duas canes stans Scipionem appellavit. Serv. h Vid. Hieron. ad Hieremiæ cap. 21, 25. Hieron. ad Ezech. cap. 29, 30. in the Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel; and * he takes notice, that Daniel having set down the Prophecies, which had relation to the several Reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, or Cyrus, according to the Order of Time, afterwards declares the Revelations that were made to him, that had no Dependence upon the times in which they were made, but were written for the benefit of Posterity. But the several Transpositions in the Scripture are sufficiently accounted for by Commentators. And it must be observ'd, that the Sacred Writers mention no more of Civil Affairs, than was necessary to their purpose; and therefore in many things they refer to the Histories then extant, for a fuller account of them: their Design was not to write a complete History of all Events, but they confine themselves to such as were most fit for them to take notice of, and keep within the compass of their proper business. It was expedient that the same Doctrines should be repeated in divers places of Scripture, and interspersed with other things, according to no certain Art or Method, because this prevents their being corrupted or falfify'd, as they might have been, if they had been all reduced to several distinct Heads, and plac'd according to the Rules of Art. If one Prophet repeats what another Prophet had said, this is to give it a new Confirmation, to revive the Remembrance, and shew the Certainty and Importance of it. It is ordinary in the best Authors not only to find the same things repeated in divers places of their Works, but to meet with them repeated in the very fame Words: thus Ifocrates, Xenophon and Demofthenes transcribe in one part of their Works what they have written in another; but none, I think, so frequently as Demofthenes: though Vipian has observ'd, that this was an 2 * Hieron. ad Dan. c. 7. • Σιωηθές 28 τότο ποιεῖν τοῖς παλαι οῖς. Wp. Enarr. Orat. Demofthen. contr. Midiam. 2 ; usual usual thing with the Ancient Writers. Dionyfius Halicarnafsaus, who was a skilful Critick, as well as an excellent Historian, begins several Books of his Roman Antiquities, in the fame Words, with which he concluded the foregoing. It was customary likewife with the Philosophers, παρωδῶν, or to allude to the Verses of Homer, and to apply them with little variation upon all occasions, as may be seen frequently in Diogenes Laertius. All the Cavils therefore that are made against the Style of Scripture proceed from Ignorance of Antiquity, and from Rashness in judging of Ancient times and Foreign Countries by our own. Whoever would either delight or profit, must speak and act in fome measure according to the Genius of the People with whom he converses: and if we will but read the Scriptures, with the same Candor and Respect with which we read the Writings of Humane Authors, and confider the Times, and Persons, and the Occasions upon which they were written, there is nothing that can feem harsh or improper either in the Words or Actions of the Persons inspired (for it was the manner of those Countries to speak by their Actions almost as much as in Words.) If we will but observe the Circumstances in which the several parts of the Scriptures were written, we shall find cause to admire the Simplicity, and Plainness and Modesty of the Style of the Scriptures. In many Books of the Scriptures, the Style is fublime and elegant, beyond any thing to be found in other Writings, and yet as natural as if it could not have been otherwise express'd; and this is the true Excellency of Style, that it be plain and natural, and yet eloquent. Longinus gives a high Character of Mofes's Style in a Book, the Design whereof is to represent the most perfect Idea of Eloquence: Indeed, such is the Fitness both in Verse and Prose of the Words and Style of Mofes, so admirably suited to the Subject upon F4 |