Chapter III (2)

The description of the _Fourth_ or _Heroic age_, which Dr. Hales remarks is included by Ovid in the Brazen age, extends from v. 157 to v. 174, and refers to the time when the men “spread over the boundless earth, were more upright and more just than those of the former age, and received the name of _Demigods_; these also, calamitous war and tremendous battle destroyed; some before the seven-gated Thebes, in the territories of Cadmus, fighting for the wealth of Œdipus: but others before the walls of Troy, having been transported across the broad sea in ships, on account of the fair-haired Helen: to the former, death brought final destruction; to the latter, father Jupiter, the son of Saturn, having granted life and a settlement apart from mankind, he planted them at the ends of the earth, far from the immortal gods, where Saturn reigns their king; and these happy heroes, having minds free from cares, dwell in the Islands of the Blessed, near the deep deep Ocean; to them, the fertile soil produces ripe fruit, as sweet as honey, three seasons of the year.” In this description there seems to be a very considerable want of incident, when we compare it with the history of Greece during the _Heroic age_. For, it was in this age, that the Kingdom of Athens was founded; that the flood of Deucalion took place; and that the chief founders of the Greek nation made their descent into the country itself, namely, Danaus, Pelasgus, Cadmus and Pelops. It was in this age also, that the events most celebrated in history and poetry took place; such as, the birth and the labours of Hercules; the expedition of the Argonauts; the wars at Thebes and the fall of Troy, which the poet has particularly noticed; the Return of the Heraclidæ; and the Æolic and Ionic Migrations. The meagreness of detail in this portion of the poem, therefore, would lead us to adopt the opinion of many critics, that it has not reached us in a perfect but in a fragmentary state; enough of it, however, remains to enable us to determine the limits of the poetical ages. We have seen that the flood of Ogyges was the event which, according to the testimony of the ancients, terminated the _Brazen age_, and of course, formed the commencement of the _Heroic age_; now, according to the testimony of Julius Africanus and others, this event was _coeval_ with the Exodus from Egypt; and, according to the testimony of Eratosthenes and others, as expiscated by Mr. Clinton, the Ionic migration was a few years earlier than the foundation of Solomon’s temple, and may, therefore, be considered as the event which terminated the _Heroic age_, and not the fall of Troy, as stated by Dr. Hales, which, according to the best authorities, occurred about a _century and a-half_ before the Scriptural era in question. No shorter period than this at least would be sufficient to settle all the mighty events which resulted from the ἰλιὰς κακῶν, or multitude of evils springing from the Trojan war, and the final catastrophe of the ancient city of Priam; and in no less a time, would the heroes who survived this great event, and who went in quest of new settlements and peace, far from the scenes of strife, be able, in the name and power of their posterity, to build cities and plant vineyards, and to form new states and create dynasties in foreign lands.

“Tantæ molis erat Romanam condere gentem.”

The description of the men of this age as “divine,” and the idea of giving to heroes the name of _Demigods_, thus commingling earth and heaven, seems to have originated in the Sacred history of the wars of the Israelites in Canaan, at the beginning and during the progress of the _Critarchal age_. The remarkable interpositions of Providence which accompanied this people, under the guidance of Moses in the wilderness, under the command of Joshua in the promised land, and under the government of the Judges when settled there, would lead all the Heathen nations around them to ascribe to their leaders _more than mortal power_; hence would naturally arise the title of _demigod_. Moreover, the history of the transactions recorded in “the book of the wars of Jehovah” (Numbers xxi. 14), of which no doubt our poet had “heard by the hearing of the ear,” would inspire him with feelings and language similar to that which the Philistines uttered when they heard that the Israelites had brought the ark of God into their camp: “Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues of the wilderness;” (1 Sam. iv. 8). The extraordinary exertions of the Judges to deliver their countrymen from a foreign yoke, roused and assisted as they always were by the hand of God, might well strike terror into the hearts of their enemies, and give rise to the name and the notion of their being of supernatural origin. For instance, the remarkable atmospheric and celestial phenomena which occurred under the leadership of Joshua, when “the Lord cast great stones from heaven” upon the enemy, and when, at the voice of a man, the _Sun and Moon_ “stood still” in the heavens for “a whole day,” would not be soon forgotten among the Heathen; because “there was no day _like that_ before it or after it, for the Lord fought for Israel;” (Josh. x. 13, 14). Again, we are told in the song of Deborah and Barak, that “the stars fought from heaven; the stars in their courses, fought against Sisera;” and when we consider that the Heathen worshipped the heavenly bodies, including the stars, as divinities, we see how the idea of gods and demigods fighting the battles of men, would naturally arise in their minds from the recital of such a song as this; and we can thus trace the origin of the mythological machinery which is so finely wrought and so eloquently described in the pages of Heathen poesy.

In like manner, we find that the description of the settlement of the “Happy Heroes in the Islands of the Blest,” at the close of this age, savours strongly of the lofty ideas and the poetic language to be found in the prophecies concerning the future happiness of God’s chosen people. The establishment of the Israelites in the promised land, so long the subject of prophecy, was no doubt the great prototype, which the Poet had in his “mind’s eye” in this description; and the fame of God’s gracious dealings with them having spread abroad throughout the whole world, was no doubt the inciting cause which led mankind in general to think of improving their condition, and to make those frequent descents and migrations into other countries, which were so common in this and the preceding age. Our Poet had no doubt heard of the blessing of Jacob, which predicted the coming of Shiloh and the happiness of the tribe of Judah, who, as its representative, should “wash his robe in wine, and his cloak in the blood of grapes;” and whose “eyes should sparkle with wine, and whose teeth should be whiter than milk;” also, the felicity of the tribe of Joseph, who, in like manner, should be blessed “with blessings of heaven above, and blessings of the earth beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the matrix, and blessings of his progenitors, which should prevail beyond the everlasting hills.”[63] But the Song and the Blessing of Moses, which belonged to a later age, and which heightened the expectations of the twelve tribes by a clearer revelation, were still more likely to have reached the poet’s ears through the traditions of those early times. From the former, he would learn that the “Lord’s portion is his people;” and “Jacob the lot of his inheritance;” that “the Lord alone did lead them,” and “there was no strange god with them;” that “he made Israel ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and he drank the pure blood of the grape;” Deut. xxxii. 12–14. By the latter, he would be informed that Jehovah “was King in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people, the tribes of Israel were gathered together;” that “the land” of Joseph was Blessed of the Lord, “for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath; and for the precious fruits of the changes of the _Sun_, and for the precious things produced by the _month_, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the Bush;” that “there is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, he who rideth upon the heaven thy helper, even the most glorious of the sky;” and that “_Israel should dwell alone_: the fountain of Jacob should be in a land of corn and wine; and his heaven should drop down dew.” In the contemplation of such a glorious prospect, he might be led to say with the great lawgiver himself: “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Jehovah, who is the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy excellency!” Deut. xxxiii. 5, 13, 26. Truly as the poet said “the Eternal (Κρονος, _Time without end_) now reigns their King.”

The sudden transition of the Poet from the description of the _Fourth age_, to that of the _Fifth_, with his rapid glance at the _Sixth_, which extends from v. 174 to v. 201, shows that his mind must have been wrought up to a great pitch of feeling and sublimity, in reflecting on the glorious deeds of the past age, and the splendid anticipations of the future. With the description of the _Fifth_ or _Iron age_ in which he himself lived, we cannot but deeply sympathise, feeling as we do that it has returned in our own days, and that its features are precisely the same as those which now characterize this _age of Bronze_.[64] “Oh! how I wish,” says he, “that I had not lived in the _Fifth age_ (πέμπτοισι ἀνδράσιν), but had either died before it, or lived after it; for, now indeed is the _Iron age_; and they will rest neither day nor night from labour and misery, corrupting each other; but the gods shall give them unutterable sorrows; still even to these shall good and evil be intermingled; but Jupiter shall destroy the men of this age, for they shall become grey-headed soon after their birth; because the father will not live in unity with his children, nor the children with the father; the guest with his host, nor the friend with his companion; and the brother will be no longer affectionate, as in former ages; and soon shall they dishonour their parents growing old; then also shall the wicked attack them, speaking cruel words, and not fearing the wrath of the gods; nor shall the lawless then yield to their aged parents the rewards of their education; but one shall destroy the city of another; and no favour shall be shown to the pious, or the just, or the good; but they will rather honour the evildoer, and encourage injustice; nor shall there be any justice or modesty in their hands; and the wicked man shall injure the good, addressing him with hard speeches, and even be guilty of perjury; and croaking envy of hateful countenance, rejoicing in evil, shall pursue the whole race of miserable mortals; and then shall blushing Modesty and indignant Virtue, clothed in their white robes, having forsaken mankind, pass from the spacious earth to Olympus, to mingle with the immortal gods; then shall they leave direful woes to mortal men; and there shall be no help for the evil.” In this description, the Poet, who, according to the best authorities, lived about the end of the first century of the _Iron age_, seems to have partly borrowed his description from the sacred poetry of the Jews, and having himself experienced the evils of injustice at the hands of his own kindred, to have partly anticipated the wickedness of the age, in a fine prophetic vein. Solomon, with whose glorious reign the _Monarchal or Iron age_ began, uttered sentiments concerning the wicked, to which the ideas of our poet have a striking similarity: “For they,” said he, “sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence;” Prov. iv. 16, 17. The following passages in the book of Proverbs, to which we shall only refer, with others which might be cited, would almost lead us to imagine that Hesiod had been familiar with the writings of Solomon: Prov. i. 11–19; v. 3–14; vi. 16–19; ix. 13–18; xxiii. 27–35; xxiv. 1, 2, 15–22; and xxx. 11–23; but in the psalms of David, we find a more vivid and sustained description of the wickedness of the wicked, and one to which that of the Poet bears a more marked similarity than any of the passages yet cited: thus, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They have corrupted themselves, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good, there is not even one. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, or seek after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become useless, there is none that doeth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.” Psalm xiv., according to the Septuagint. When we consider that even on the lowest computation, the poet Hesiod must have preceded the prophet Micah, by at least 100 years, we cannot but be struck also with the similarity of their descriptions of this age in which they both lived, and we cannot but admit that the description of the former written as it is in the future tense, partakes strongly of the character of inspiration. “The good man,” says the latter, “is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is a brier, the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house;” Micah. vii. 2–6.[65] This passage, which was frequently appropriated by our Saviour when on earth, as describing the effects of his Mission upon the wicked, to whom the Gospel is the savour of death unto death, (Matt. x. 21, 35, 36; Luke xii. 53 and xxi. 16,) was eminently descriptive of the _Iron or Monarchal age_, from its beginning to its end, Hesiod, Micah and Ezekiel, as well as all the prophets, being Judges; (Ezek. xxii. 6–13; and 29–31). The Poet’s description of envy is strikingly just, and is manifested in a powerful degree in every unregenerate human heart; and to their shame be it said, it is not completely rooted out of the hearts even of Christians, till death has done its part: see the confession and exclamation of Paul, and the pointed description of James, to which the heart of every one must fully respond: Rom. 18–25; James iv. 1–5. The idea of the flight of Modesty and Virtue to heaven, leaving nothing but sorrows behind them, is also conceived in the finest vein of true poetry, which is always correct in its descriptions; nor is there any remedy for the evil until (as the Poet perhaps said, had we his works entire,) the return of the _Golden age_, when earth shall be as heaven.

With regard to the _Sixth age_, it is true, as Dr. Hales remarks, that Hesiod does not expressly announce that it shall succeed the _Iron age_, nor that it should be a state of _regeneration_ or a revival of the _Golden age_; but his language strongly implies that it would be superior to the _Fifth age_, inasmuch as he earnestly expresses his wish that it had been his lot to have lived after the latter, in the words ἤ ἔπειτα γενέσθαι. Moreover, in his address to his brother Persa, we find a description of the happy effects which would result from doing justice, extending from v. 225 to v. 237; and this description corresponds exactly to the language used by the poets of the succeeding age, in describing the return of the _Golden age_ at the close of the _Sixth_: thus, “But they who grant strict justice to strangers and citizens, and depart not in the least from equity, shall have a flourishing city, and flourishing people within its walls; and peace, the nurse of the young, shall dwell in the land; and Jupiter who sees afar, shall never bring upon them the horrors of war; neither shall famine or destruction annoy men strictly just; to them also the earth shall bring forth plenteous subsistence; and on the mountains, the pines shall produce apples at the top, and honey at the middle; and the fleece-bearing sheep shall be laden with wool; and wives shall give birth to children like their parents; and they shall flourish among the good with perpetual bloom; and there shall be no need of navigation; for the fertile ground shall produce all manner of fruit.”

It is to the poets and other writers of the _Sixth age_ itself, however, that we are to look for the prophetic anticipations of the glorious event which was to illuminate its close. At the beginning of this age, flourished the _Seven Wise Men_ of Greece, whose laconic, but excellent aphorisms, indicated the approach of better times. To them we owe, according to Plato, the celebrated maxim Γνῶθι σεαυτόν,—_Know thyself_; but even to know himself was more than man could attain, without a revelation from heaven;—how much more necessary was it, therefore, that the knowledge of the everlasting God should emanate from the same source! Accordingly, we find in the Scriptures, the following maxim perpetually inculcated, which is as much above that of the Seven Sages, as the Heavens are above the earth. “The fear of the Lord is the _highest_ wisdom;”[66] to which we may add, with Solomon, David, and Job, who all uttered the same aphorism—“And to depart from evil is understanding;” (Prov. i. 7; Psalm cxi. 10; and Job xxviii. 28.) and it is easy to give it the laconic form, if this be any recommendation to the admirers of the wisdom of the Heathen, who prefer to drink at their muddy streams, and neglect the fountain of truth; for we have only to say Γνῶθι θεὸν,—_Know God_; and we concentrate in these two words, all that is necessary for man’s happiness, both in this world, and that which is to come: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent;” John xviii. 3. He indeed, who knows God, knows himself also; for he knows that in the sight of God, he is “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;” and that he must buy of God, through Jesus Christ, “gold tried in the fire,” that he may be rich; and “white raiment,” that he may be clothed, and that the shame of his nakedness may not appear; and “eye-salve” to anoint his eyes, that he may see; Rev. iii. 17, 18.

When a century and a-half of the _Sixth age_ had passed away, arose Socrates, the wisest of all the Greeks, who, as Cicero remarks, brought philosophy down from heaven to earth, and taught all that man could know about Divine things, which, according to his own confession, was positively nothing, with the exception of some obscure ideas which he had learned from primitive tradition. He indeed appears to have had just views of man’s ignorance, and according to Plato, his illustrious disciple, who survived his master half a century, he considered that there was no real way of finding out the truth concerning God, but by a revelation from Heaven, by the hand of a Divine Messenger. This appears evident, both from some passages in Plato’s Dialogue, entitled the “Phædo,” and from the following remarkable passage in that entitled the “_Second Alcibiades; or, of Prayer_,” which we copy from the 2nd vol. of Dr. Hales’s “Analysis,” p. 1231.

“SOCRATES.—We must needs wait then, _Alcibiades_, until we can learn how we ought to behave toward God and men. ALCIBIADES.—When shall this time come, _Socrates_? and who shall be the _instructor_? for I long to see _this man_ (τουτον τον ἀνθρωπον) whosoever he is. SOCRATES.—He it is who _careth for thee_ (ᾡ μελει περι σου); and I think, that as _Minerva_ in Homer (Iliad 5, 127) removed the _mist_ from the _eyes_ of _Diomedes_, that he might _well know_ both _gods_ and _men_; so it is necessary in the first place, that He should remove _the mist_ from _your soul_ that is now attached thereto; and next that He should apply _the means_ by which you shall know both _good_ and _evil_ in future; for now indeed you seem not to be able. ALCIBIADES.—Let him remove the mist, or whatever else it is, since I am prepared to decline none of his directions, _whosoever this man is_, (ὁστις ποτ’ έστιν ὁ ἀνθρωπος), provided I may be able to _become better_. SOCRATES.—Truly _that same person_ (κακεινος) _hath a wonderful regard for thee_. ALCIBIADES.—I think then, the best way will be to _postpone sacrificing_ until that time. SOCRATES.—You think right, for it is safer than to run so great a risk [of sacrificing improperly.] ALCIBIADES.—Then indeed, shall we give to THE GODS _crowns_ and other _legitimate offerings_, when I see that day coming, and _it will come in no long time_, THE GODS _willing_.” From the same work, to which we have been so much indebted, we cannot avoid extracting the following lines to the same purport, taken from the Hymn of Eupolis, another disciple of Socrates, as translated by _Wesley_, not the founder of Methodism, but his father, Dr. Hales remarks:—

“And yet, a greater _Hero_ far
(Unless great _Socrates_ could err)
Shall _rise_ to _bless_, some _future day_,
And _teach_ to _live_, and teach to _pray_.”

Dr. Hales has also given, at p. 1378, the following striking description from Plato, of the sufferings of the JUST ONE, and of the reception he should meet with from a heedless and ungrateful world. “He shall be stripped of every possession, except his _virtue_; stigmatized as _wicked_, at a time when he exhibits the strongest proofs of _goodness_; endowed with _patience_ to resist every _temptation_, and _reverse of fortune_, but inflexibly maintaining _his integrity_; not _ostentatious_ of his good qualities, but desiring to be _good_ rather than to _seem so_. In fine the recompense which the JUST ONE so disposed (οὑτω διακειμενος ὁ δικαιος), as I said, shall receive from the world is this; he shall be _scourged, tortured, bound, deprived of his eyes_, (μαστιγωσεται, στρεβλωσεται, δεδησεται, εκκαυθησεται τω οφθαλμω), and at length, having suffered all sorts of evils, _he shall be crucified_ (ανασχιν δυλευθησεται); [Works] vol. ii. p. 361, 362, Edit. _Serrani_.” He adds, “Plato who travelled into _Egypt_, unquestionably collected this singular _character_ and _sufferings_, of the JUST ONE, from the Hebrew Scriptures, of the _Psalms_, _Isaiah_, _Daniel_, and _Zechariah_, with the last of whom, he was nearly contemporary.”

As the time, the long-expected, and eagerly-wished for time, drew nigh, when the Messiah was to appear, and as (the συντελεία τῶν αἰώνων) the _consummation of the ages_ hastened on, we find that the expectations of the Heathen for this Divine Instructor, this mighty King and Saviour, increased in magnitude and intensity,—a certain proof that the arrival of the _Seventh_, or the return of the _Golden age_, was the subject of their calculation, as well as the theme of their song. On this subject we need only refer to the works of Virgil, who flourished B.C. 40, in the reign of Augustus Cæsar, and particularly to the celebrated _Eclogue_ entitled “_Pollio_,” in which he gives a condensed summary of the prophetic anticipations of all preceding poets and philosophers from the days of Hesiod to his own. To those who may not have viewed the _fourth_ Eclogue in this light, the following extract of a poem so well known, may not be unacceptable:—

“Now the last age of Cumic song has come:
A cycle vast of ages new appears;
Virtue returns, and Saturn’s former reign:
Now a new race descends from lofty heaven.
O chaste Lucina, hail the coming prince,
Who shall the death of _Iron rule_[67] behold,
And resurrection of the _Golden age_:
For in this age, the Great Apollo reigns.
This glorious year, O Pollio, is thine;
And now the vast lunations are begun.
This year, if any trace of crime remain,
With its destruction, fear for ever flies.
That prince, on earth, the life of gods shall lead,
Heroes with gods in council he shall see,
And they with wonder shall behold his deeds:
While with paternal sway, the world he rules.
O, prince! to thee spontaneous earth shall bring
Her early fruits, and sweetest smelling shrubs,
On velvet flowers thy infant feet shall tread;
Before thy face, the serpent shall succumb,
And poisoned herbs their baneful power shall lose:
The Rose of Sharon everywhere shall spring.
In early youth thou shalt delight to read
The praise of heroes, and thy father’s deeds,
And all that tends to form the virtuous mind;
Soon shall the fields be to the harvest white,
And prickly thorns be changed to blushing vines,
While honey sweet the knotty oak shall yield.
Yet traces of man’s early sin shall rise,
And lead him to renew his toils at sea,
To wall his towns, and cultivate the ground.
Again, the Argonauts shall skim the main;
Again, the Theban war shall be begun;
Again, to Troy, shall Peleus’ son descend.”

This description has a manifest reference to Hesiod’s account of the different ages of the world, and forms a complete supplement to that interesting relic of antiquity. Here we trace the _last_, or _Sybilline age_, in which Hesiod wished he had lived, the commencement of a great succession of ages, the return of the virgin _Nemesis_ or _Astræa_, the Goddess of Justice, whom we have denominated _Virtue_, and who fled at the close of the _Iron age_; the return of _Saturn’s_ reign, which was to begin with the _Seventh_, or _Golden age revived_; and the reign of _Apollo_, who was the representative of the _Solar deity_, and the reviver of all things. The humanity and the divinity of the expected prince, is strangely shadowed forth by the poet, in his allusion to his intercourse with _gods_, _demigods_ and _heroes_, according to the Greek mythology. The misapplication, however, of the Cumæan or Sybilline prophecies, which were evidently borrowed or stolen from the Hebrew Scriptures, to the expected son, of _Pollio_ according to some, or of _Augustus_ according to others, is a proof that the time of our Saviour’s advent at the close of the _Sixth age_ was known to be near; and that while there were some who, like aged Simeon, waited for the consolation of Israel; or, like Anna, the prophetess, departed not from the temple at Jerusalem, in earnest expectation of Him who suddenly came to it, and gladdened their eyes; so there were some even among the Heathen who, like Virgil, had heard of the expected Saviour, and who gladly hailed his approach, although they were mistaken as to the signs of his coming, and were ignorant of the distinguishing characteristics by which he was to be known. It can scarcely be doubted indeed, that in this Eclogue, Virgil had the prophecy of Isaiah in his mind, in which the Messiah is described as a “rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch out of his roots,” and which he might have even read in the Greek version of the _Seventy_. The following are some of its more striking points of similarity: “With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and convince the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. The wolf also shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the young calf, and the bull, and the lion shall feed together; and a little child shall lead them. And the ox and the bear shall feed together; and their young ones shall be together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And an infant shall put his hand on the holes of asps, and on the nest of young asps. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;” Isaiah xi. 1–9; taken partly from the Septuagint. In a similar passage of the same prophet, which is perhaps still more to be admired on account of the richness of its promises to the people of God, and its striking resemblance to some passages in the book of Revelation, we find a very singular remark which seems, to our dark and finite understandings, to mar the beauty of the description; we refer to Isaiah lxv. 17–25. At v. 20, the prophet says, “but the sinner, being a hundred years old shall be accursed;” but for this sentence, we should have taken the whole passage for a figurative description of the happiness of the heavenly state allotted for the righteous after death. In imitation, perhaps of this singular passage, our poet introduces into his description of the renewal of the _Golden age_, the acute remarks with which the preceding extract terminates, and in which it seems as if he had anticipated the wars which have since desolated Christendom.[68]