I looked, and lo! a whirlwind from the north
Came sweeping onward, a vast cloud, that rolled
Its volumes, charged with gleaming fire, along,
And cast its dazzling splendours all around.

Now from within shone forth, what seemed the glow
Of gold and silver, molten in the flame!

And in the midst thereof the form expressed,

As of a four-fold living thing-a shape
That yet contained the semblance of a man.
With four-fold visage each, and each four wings,
On upright limbs and cloven feet they stood,
And shone with splendour as of burnished brass.
Withdrawn beneath their wings, on every side,
Were human hands, for each four-sided seemed,
And four-fold had their faces and their wings.
Then, wing to wing, and each to each close joined,
They turned not in their going, but went forth,
Advancing each with look and course unchanged.
In all the four-fold visaged four was seen
The face of man; the right a lion, and an ox
The left distinguished, and to all the four,
Belonged an eagle's visage. By itself

Distinct, their faces and their wings they each
Extended upward, joining thus, it seemed,
Two wings for flight, while two their bodies veiled.
With course direct and forward each advanced :
Whither the spirit moved they went, nor ever turned.
The several living forms, like glowing coals
Appeared. What seemed the flame of torches played
Between them, and the dazzling light of fire.
From out the fire went gleaming lightnings forth;
And quick as lightning's flash, the living forms
Were here and there, went forth and back returned.
Above their heads, high over-arching, seemed
An azure firmament outspread, like clear
Transparent crystal, that inspired with awe.
Approaching near the firmament, their wings,
Extending wing to wing, were upward spread.
With two they bore themselves aloft, with two
They veiled their bodies round; and, as they went,

I heard the rushing sound of wings, like rush

Of mighty waters, or the distant sound

Of thunder, the dread voice of Shaddai :

They went with sound of tumult, like an host,

And when they stopped they closed again their wings;

For when, from the o'er-arching firmament

Above, a voice was uttered forth, they stood

With wings depending, and close veiled around.

And high upraised above the firmament

There seemed the sapphire splendour of a throne,
And on the throne there sat, what seemed the form
Of man. It shone with amber glow, of gold
And silver intermixed, as burning fire.
Both inward and without, and from the loins,
Above and underneath, it seemed like fire,
And shone with radiant lustre all around.
As shines the rainbow in the day of rain,
So seemed the lustre of that radiant form.
The aspect of JEHOVAH'S majesty
I saw in this, and fell upon my face,
And heard the voice of one that spake.

This author traces the poetical structure in several parts of the Pentateuch, which, as in the following example, rise out of the sober dignity of prose. "Let us consider," he says, "the history of Abel. It stands like a mournful flower marked with blood, and in its simplicity just as poetical as it should be, for a proof of the punitive justice and the providence of God.

Where is Abel thy brother?
What deed hast thou done?

The voice of thy brother's blood

Cries to me from the earth.

And now cursed art thou, an exile on the earth,

Which hath opened her mouth,

The stream of thy brother's blood

To drink from thy hand.

When thou shalt till the ground,

It shall not yield thee its strength;

A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

"Observe how naturally and how forcibly every thing is set forth here-the blood crying for vengeance (and for a long time the living soul was supposed to be in the blood;) the ground pro

* Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, vol. i. verse 193.

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claiming the deed; the maternal earth, which received the blood of her son from the hand of his brother, drank it, as it were, with horror, and afterwards refused to the murderer the free enjoyment of her fruitful energies. Observe with what strict justice God inflicts punishment, for the curse which he pronounces only unfolds the consequences of sin. The murderer could no longer remain in the house of his father, for there he would be the occasion of misery to himself and to all. He could not stay in the region where the crime was committed, for the blood raised its voice, the echoing earth cried out, and he himself said, every one that finds me will slay me; I must be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.' The merciful judge, therefore, did what the perplexed criminal knew not how to do. He removed him from his family, and from the circumstances which awakened his recollection and horror of the deed. He He gave him another, perhaps unfruitful and mountainous, but to him secure region, and even became himself surety for the preservation of his life. Thus the blood of his brother was atoned for without a bloody revenge. The living is spared and preserved. Is not this, then, a model of paternal justice, and is not the whole history, in its several traits, fitted to alarm, to warn, to soothe, and to benefit?"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The character of Josephus as a writer. Held in great estimation by Titus. Proud of the talents of his countrymen. His opinion of the metrical structure of Hebrew poetry. The opinions of Origin, Jerome, and Eusebius, concurrent with those of Josephus. Jerome discovers in the poetical scriptures of the Bible various forms of verse common to the Greek poets. Corresponding testimony of different authors.

ALTHOUGH I have, in the early part of the present volume, said so much of Hebrew poetry generally, I trust a few further observations will not be deemed out of place here upon this interesting and important subject. It was the opinion of Josephus, a learned Jew, of high character among his countrymen for profound erudition and critical sagacity, that the thanksgiving ode of Moses and other fragments of poetry in the Pentateuch, were composed in Hebrew verse. Josephus, being a person of acknowledged learning, well read in Grecian literature, and displaying considerable eloquence as a writer, which he sufficiently showed in his account of the Jewish wars, written by him in Syriac, and afterward translated by himself into Greek, was every way qualified to detect any similarity that

might exist betwixt the literary productions of Greece and those of a remoter age, especially of his own countrymen. His style was so animated, and his eloquence so persuasive, that he has been called the Livy of the Greeks. So high an opinion had the Emperor Titus of the merits of his "Jewish wars," that he gave this work the especial sanction of his name. He added his signature to it, and having bestowed upon it this royal mark of authenticity, ordered it to be placed in one of the public libraries. The authority of such a man as Josephus assuredly claims to be of some weight in every thing connected with Hebrew literature; and though his conjectures will not settle any disputed question upon this subject, it must necessarily add to the preponderance of presumptive testimony in favour of that side of the question in which his talents are arrayed, and he decidedly favours the assumption that the Hebrew poetry was metrical. He seems to have considered the subject carefully, and upon his views the learned fathers Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, evidently grounded theirs.

Josephus, naturally proud of the talents displayed by the inspired authors of the sacred volume, fancied that he could discover in the poetry of the ancient writers among his own nation, those very elements which had rendered the Greeks so eminent throughout the world; thus transferring to the Hebrews the primary claim of being the fountain from which the most illustrious people of their age, until the decline of their political, in which to a certain extent was involved their intellectual domination, drew