And is he then so near! so kind !

How little then, and great,
That riddle, man? O let me gaze

At wonders in his fate;
His fate who yesterday did crawl

A worm from darkness deep,
And shall, with brother-worms, beneath

A turf, to-morrow fleep.
How mean !- and yet if well obey'd

His mighty Master's call,
The whole creation for mean man

Is deem'd a boon too fmalli:
Too small the whole creation deem'd

For emmets in the dust :
Account amazing! yet most true;

My song is bold, yet just.
Man born for infinite, in whom

No period can destroy
The pow'r in exquisite extremes

To suffer, or enjoy.
Give him earth's empire (if no more)

He's beggar'd, and undone !
Imprison'd in unbounded space,

Benighted by the fun t.

That man fhould be imprisoned - in unbounded Space, or that he should be benighted by the sun, the undecaying fountain of light, feems a palpable contradiction ; but yet it is certain the soul of man cannot enjoy itself, but would be held, as in the miserable captivity of a prisoner, and would be involved in the horrors of a spiritual

night, + Young's Works, vol. i. p. 144. Ottavo edition.

night, if it was destitute of an interest in the favour of its Father and its God, though it had the illimitable space for its range, and the fun to spread around it its unclouded and perpetual lustre :

nay, it might be said to be benighted by the sun, as the sun might only serve to put the soul in mind of what a greater glory it was deprived, by the loss of the beatific sight and fruition of Him who is to the foul, what the fun is to the body, the fource of light and joy; or, as the Psalmist juftly expresses himself,

ss whofe * loving-kindness is better than life," Psalm

lxiii. 3.

To these instances of the Oxymoron, we may add that expression of Horace, where he stiles the Epicurean philofophy mad wisdom :

I, who forsook the Gods, to stray
Where a mad wisdom led the

way,
Am forc'd to quit the dang’rous main,
And measure back my course again *.

$ 4. Instances of this Figure may be met with in the facred Writings. Prov. xi. 24. " There is ss that scattereth, and yet

increaseth; and there ss is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it s tendeth to poverty." So AEts v. 41.

So AEts v. 41. ^ And * they," that is, the Apostles, " departed from

R 3

ss For ye

* the presence of the council, rejoicing that they .SS. were counted worthy to suffer shame for the s name of CHRIST." Glory and fhame seem to be contradictions, but it is the highest honour to be used with indignity for the cause of CHRIST and his testimony. In like manner, Gal. ii. 20. $ I am crucified with CHRIST, says the Apostle, $s nevertheless I live.s And Col. iii. 3:

are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in s God:And, to mention no more passages to our present purpose, 1 Tim. v. 6. it is said, that $ The that lives in pleasure, is dead while she lives.“ Life and death are opposed to one another; but life is used in this place concerning temporal life, or the life of the body; and death intends a spiritual death, or the death of the soul in trespasses and sins,

§ 5. This Figure, well conducted, may shew a bold and superior genius, that can make its way through the midst of dangers, and pass on secure, in its own strength, on the very edge of a precipice. This Figure may fill the minds of an audience with pleasing surprise, charm them with novelty, and raise a great idea of the talents of the orator ; while they find upon reflexion, that what at first appeared contradictory is sterling sense, and see it breaking out in its force and beauty, even from an expression or sentence, which they for a moment were ready to condemn as foolish and absurd.

But let me caution persons that would make use of it, not

to

to be too free with this Figure, lest they should feem too much to delight in conceits and riddles, and disgust by an affectation of wit. Perhaps no Figure should be more fparingly employed, and no Figure may require more skill for a right construction. And let me also add, that when we intend an Oxymoron, we should take. heed that we do not fall into a downright, palpable contradiction: there is but a very small remove between the finest and the most exquisite, beauty, and the rankest and most insufferable nonsense. Without a due care concerning our Oxymorons, we may expect to hear of liquid rocks, solid fountains, cold conflagrations, and the like heterogeneous mixtures, to the no small aftonishment and detestation of every man of understanding

CHAPTER XVII.

The ENANTIOSIS considered.

$ 1. The Enantiosis defined. 2. Instances from

VIRGIL, PRIOR, POPE, SHERLOCK, and STRADA, $ 3.. Examples of this Figure from Scripture. $ 4. Observations concerning it.

{1: ENantiofis * is a Figure, by which things

very different or contrary are compared or placed together, and by which they mutually, set off and enhance each other,

$ 2. What a charming instance have we of this kind in the following passage of Virgil, in which we have the different scenes of a Court and Country Life, admirably drawn and contrasted with each other?

1

Happy, too happy for the world below,
The countryman, did he his bliss but know:
Who far from war his easy food obtains
From the tillid earth, that well rewards his pains,
What tho'no lofty house its torrent pours
- Of morning-fatt'rers from his ample doors;

No costly shells his swelling columns hide
With wreathing pomp, and variegated pride:
What tho'no robe enrich'd with gold he wears,
Nor brazen bust within his walls appears;
What tho' his wool imbibes no pois’nous juice,
Nor drugs infect his oils defign'd for use;
Yet unmolested peace broods o'er his feat,
Pure runs his life, untinctur'd with deceit.
One universal reft his farm enjoys ;
Cool grots, resounding with no frightful noise,
Fresh bubbling springs, and valleys thick with shade,
Oxen rebellowing thro’the greensword glade,
And sleep beneath the waving foliage bless
His happy hours, and footh his still recefs +.

From Evcivlowers, an opposition, or contrariety.
+ O fortunatos nimium sua fi bona norint
Agricolas ! quibus ipfa, procul discordibus annis,