ss LORD. " which your fathers ferved on the other side of "the flood, and in Egypt; and ferve ye the And if it feem evil unto you to ferve s the LORD, choose you this day whom you will " ferve; whether the Gods which your fathers ferved, that were on the other side of the flood, "or the Gods of the Amorites, in whofe land you dwell." "To give the greater weight and force," fays Archbishop TILLOTSON, "to the "exhortation that they fhould ferve the LORD, • 61 he does by a very eloquent kind of insinua❝tion, as it were, once more fet the Ifraelites at "liberty, and leave them to their own election: "it being the nature of man to stick more ftedfaftly to that which is not violently impofed, but is our own free and deliberate choice *.* Allow me to obferve, that there may be another beauty in the pafsage, which might not occur to that ingenious Writer. After JOSHUA had been recording the wonderful appearances of God for Ifrael, of which we have an account in the former part of the chapter, it was enoughto kindle the people with a kind of holy indignation to hear their hoary victorious Leader and Deliverer faying, "If it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD; and confequently, by this manner of speaking, he may be considered as engaging them to fall in the more eagerly and readily with the duty he is recommending, that of their ferving their LORD. The ideas of its feeming evil to Serve 445 bo ed dodTILLOTSON's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 365. Octavo edition. ferve the Lord, at the close of the recapitulation of fuch signal and astonishing mercies as God had wrought for Ifrael, appear by the virtue of contraft to be a moft odious and intolerable ingratitude and what foul is there but what must abhor and execrate the thought of its being evil to serve the LORD, that but just before has hearda diftinct and full recital of the wonders of power and goodness on its behalf? May not fuch a kind of addrefs be justly ftiled, " Drawing us "with the cords of a man, and with the bands ss of love? Hofea xi. 4. + CHAPTER XII. The EPANAPHORA Confidered. § 1. The definition of an Epanaphora. § 2. Inftances from PRIOR, VIRGIL, and CICERO. §3. Examples from Scripture. § 4. The Epanaphora adapted to exprefs lively and violent paffions, with inftances. § 5. This Figure of fervice in infifting upon any topic. § 6. Caution in the use of the Epanaphora. ? ¿ * Panaphora is a Figure, in which the fame word is gracefully and emphati cally * From strava Pagw, I repeat. E cally repeated; or in which diftinct fentences, or the feveral members of the fame fentence, are begun with the fame word. 2. We have a beautiful inftance of this Figure in the following lines of Mr PRIOR'S Poem, intitled, Henry and Emma. Are there not poisons, racks, and flames, and swords, Yet what could fwords, or poifon, racks, or flames,- VIRGIL furnishes us with an example of this Figure, when he fays, Here are cool fountains, here are velvet meads; My life, delighted to its latest hour t! CC We have an Epanaphora in the following pasfage from CICERO: What is fo popular as peace? in which not only beings endowed "with fenfe, but even our dwellings and fields "feem to rejoice. What is fo popular as li"berty? It is not only the desire of men, but " even of brutes; and is preferred by them to "all things beside. What is fo popular as ease " and leifure? for the fake of whofe enjoyment, both + Hic gelidi fontes, hic mollia prata, Lycori; "both you and your ancestors, and indeed every "brave man have judged, and still judge, that "the greatest labours are to be endured *” $$ § 3. We may produce instances of this Figure $ from the facred Writings. Deut. viii. 3. " Bless"ed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed fhalt thou be in the field: blessed fhall be the fruit " of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and ss the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, ss and the flocks of thy fheep: blessed fhall be SS thy basket, and thy ftore: blessed fhalt thou " be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou " be when thou goeft out." In like manner,. Pfalm xxix. 4. SS The voice of the LORD is powerss ful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty : ss the voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; yea, ss the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. The 55 voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire: the voice of the LORD fhakes the wilderness; ss the LORD fhakes the wilderness of Kadesh. ss The voice of the LORD makes the hinds to SS Ss calve, and difcovers the forefts." But * Quid enim eft tam populare, quàm pax? qua non modo ii, quibus natura fenfum dedit, fed etiam tecta, atque agri mihi lætari videntur. Quid tam populare, quàm libertas? quam non folùm ab hominibus, verum etiam à bestiis expeti, atque omnibus rebus anteponi videtur. Quid tam populare, quàm otium? quod ita jucundum eft, ut & vos, & majores veftri, & fortiffimus quifque vir, maximos labores fufcipiendos putet, ut aliquando in otio poffit effe. CICER, contra RULL. Orat. ii. n 4. P 2 cally repeated; or in which diftinct fentences, or the several members of the fame sentence, are begun with the fame word. HAM § 2. We have a beautiful inftance of this Figure in the following lines of Mr PRIOR'S Poem, intitled, Henry and Emma. Are there not poisons, racks, and flames, and swords, : That EMMA thus muft die by HENRY's words? Yet what could fwords, or poifon, racks, or flames, But mangle and disjoint this brittle frame? More fatal HENRY's words, they murder EMMA's fame. VIRGIL furnishes us with an example of this Figure, when he fays, Here are cool fountains, here are velvet meads; We have an Epanaphora in the following pasfage from CICERO: What is so popular as "peace? in which not only beings endowed "with fenfe, but even our dwellings and fields "feem to rejoice. What is fo popular as li"berty? It is not only the desire of men, but " even of brutes; and is preferred by them to "all things beside. What is fo popular as ease "and leifure? for the fake of whofe enjoyment, "both + Hic gelidi fontes, hic mollia prata, Lycori; |