HERE we fee, they whispered, and pronounced the fentence of death upon him ; imagining, that he neither observed nor heard them; though in reality he did both. But the fame thing is yet more clearly and incontestably set forth in Pfalm xxxviii.

ver. 12.

They alfo that fought after my life, laid Snares for me and they that went about to do me evil, talked of wickedness, and imagined deceit, all the day long.

13. As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard not; and as one that is dumb, who doth not open his mouth.

14. I became even as a man that heareth not, and in whofe mouth are no reproofs.

FROM all these symptoms and circumftances now recounted, all which unite and combine in the small-pox, and in no other diftemper, that we know of, I think we may fairly conclude, that this was the evil diftemper under which David laboured, when a dangerous domeftic confpiracy was formed against him. What that confpiracy was, (for

* I am well aware of a ftrong objection, that lies against this account; viz. That the small-pox was not known in the world till about eleven hundred years ago.

(for we hear only of one) and how it was carried on, will be seen in the next chapter.

WHEN

I answer, That neither was the other infection, charged upon him, known in the world till much later; and therefore, if this objection be ftrong against the smallpox, it is much stronger against the other.

I fhall only add, That the hiftory of this diftemper, in the accounts left us of Job and David, might have been a very proper trial of faith, in thofe ages, where no fuch diftemper was known; as it is now a juft confirmation of our faith, and a rational ground for believing the truth of these hiftories, which relate events, now ordinary and indisputable; which yet, for many ages, were credible only to that faith, which is the evidence of things not feen, because altogether extraordinary and inexplicable. But it is objected, that David's diftemper is characterized by many fymptoms and circumftances, which cannot be referred to the small-pox; particularly, pains in the bones, and ulcers in the loins. I answer, That diftempers are often complicated, perhaps beyond any thing that can well be computed, either from the principles of phyfic, or the observations of physicians. David had undergone great hardships in his youth; had lain long and often in camps and caves; and it is no uncommon thing, with men of that character, to feel pains and aches in their bones, in their advanced years; and it is poffible, that these pains and aches might have been attended with ulcers in his kidneys. The fame effects might poffibly arife from many other caufes, which I cannot pretend to determine or pronounce upon.

But it is objected, That David fpeaks of his fickness in the present tenfe, as if he wrote his Pfalms when he was actually under it; which was impoffible to be done in the small-pox.

WHEN I had proceeded thus far, I judged it proper to fubmit this differtation to the perufal of a very learned and judicious phyfician; whose candour I relied upon, to be informed, whether any objection lay against this account of Job's and David's diftemper, befides thofe mentioned in the laft notes. His answer was, That he apprehended, if Job's diftemper was not altogether supernatural, that it might be the elephantiafis ; and referred me, for further information, to Areteus's account of that distemper; which accordingly I have confidered with all the care I could; and find, there are many symptoms in which these diseases agree; and yet they are, upon the whole, very different.

THE elephantiafis, and fmall-pox, arẹ both infectious diftempers; and men often fly from their nearest friends, when infected

I anfwer, That no licence is more familiar to poets, than speaking of things paft, in the present tense; efpecially when the description is enlivened, as it very often is, by fo doing. And I think, there is a particular beauty in defcribing diftempers in that manner; because it makes the diftrefs prefent to the reader ---- Befides that feveral paffages in the thirty-eighth Pfalm plainly refer to a time paft; particularly the 11th, 12th, and 13th verfes.

by

:

by them the body is fwelled, and the skin is broken, in both, and the breath tainted; and both are attended, at certain periods, with intense itchings; and both are vexed with disturbed and frightful dreams (as all feverish disorders are) and the small-pox is fometimes attended with a difficulty of breathing, as the elephantiafis always is with a kind of ftrangling: fo far they agree. But here they differ the elephantiafis never breaks out thro' all the skin at once, as the small-pox does; it begins with a burning in the bowels, and next appears in the face, which it fwells, burnishes, and brightens; and from the moment it appears there, it is abfolutely mortal; nor did any human creature ever furvive it. In the elephantiafis, the eyes are cloudy, and become of a braffy colour; and the brows fwelled, and let down over the eyes, like those of an angry lion. In the Small-pox, the eye-lids are closed and conglutinated, and the eyes not clouded, but abfolutely darkened, as Job's were,

IN the elephantiafis, the foles of the feet are cracked, but no boils, either there or on the crown of the head, as Job had, and as is common in the fmall-pox. In the elephantiafis,

phantiafis, the patients are flothful and fleepy, from the beginning to the end: Job's diftemper was fleepless and restless, as the fmall-pox often is.

JOB's diftemper was attended with vomiting, with pains in his back, with loathing of food, and lofs of fkin: all these are attendants upon the Small-pox, but unknown to the elephantiafis.

JOB indeed complains of wrinkles, and it is certain, that the elephantiafis wrinkles the fkin; but he complains, in the fame breath, of being lean and withered * ; whereas, in the elephantiafis, there is an universal swelling and therefore it is reasonable to conclude, that this leanness, and these wrinkles of Job's were the effects of his forrows, antecedent to that fickness, with which Satan fmote him.

Ir were easy to add more proofs to the fame purpose; but, I hope, those I have already urged, will be thought fufficient to evince, that Job's distemper was not the elephantiafis.

* Job xvi. 8.

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