R E C 0 M M E N D A T I 0 N S. To the E o 1 T o a. SIR, MR. BENJAMII< KEACH's Volumes upon the Metaphors, &c. in the holy Scrip– tures, is a Work of fo long ftanding and fo generally known and approved in the Church of God, that it needs no formal Recommendation to the Public. It is a Performance, which is greatly adapted to yield no fmall Affiftance and Delight to both Minifters and private Chriftians, who are defirous of peruring the holy Oracles with fpecial enlarged Views of the Riches and Fulnefs of Divine Wifdom and Grace that they contain. And as I fincerely wi!h, fo I make no doubt that a new Edition of fo ufeful a Work (carefully and duly executed) will be a Means of its yet greater and more ex– tenfive Service in rhe religious World, and will meet with Favor and Encouragemem from the Friends of real and vital Religion and Godlinefs of all Denominations. Hackney, Du. 15, 1777· S I R, JOHN CONDER. JT gives me a fenfible Pleafure that y~u dericrn a Republication of Mr. Benja– tnin Ke~ch's large Trearife on Scripture Me– taphors, as the former Edition is become fo exceedingly fcarce. I know not of any Work in the Englifh Language, and I have made Rhetoric, my particular Study, that has treated the Subject in fuch an ample Ex– tent. Mr. Keach's Examination of the me– taphorical Charatters afcribed to the Father, our Lord Jefus Chrift, and the Holy Spirit, in the facred Writings, and his Eduction of the blelfed Truths, 1might fay Promifes contained in them, may be:: compared w the ripe Clufters of the Vine pregnant with the richeft and moft reviving Cordials, or the Honey diftilling from the Comb in its moft pleafant and falutary Juices. The Book I am perfuaded may be very infl:ruc– tive and ufeful to Chriftians in general, and more efpecially to Miniilers and Candidates for that facred Office; and may they con– fult it with the divineft Benefit and Deligbt. If my Opinion concerning Mr. Keach's valuable Performance !hould be thought of any Service in promoting the Di.ffu(ion of the Work, you are at Liberty to commu– nicate it to the Public. I am, Your fincere Friend, HoxU·n·Square. Du. 12, 1777· THO. GIBBONS. To the Editor of Mr. KEACH's Metaphors: SI R, AFTER an Acquaintance with this excellent Work for more than thirty Years; I will take the Freedom to recommend it to ferious young Chriftians, to Mafters of Families, to Students of Divinity and younger Minifters of the Gofpel._c_As Mr. Keach (in Conjunction with his learned Friend, the famous Thomas De Laune) has given us a Syftem of Scriptural RhetOric, or a Scheme of ,all the Tropes and Figures ufed in the Bi ble; on hearing that a new Edi– tion of this Work was going to be publi!h. ed, it naturally led my Thoughts to confi– der a little the true Nature of divine Elo– quence: And as I prefume not to addrefs myfelf tO fenior Divines, or Profelfors of Oratory, but to my Chriftian Friends men– tioned above, I will, in order tO make this Book more rdi!hed and better underftood, endeavnur to give them my Idea of true Eloquence. ELOQ.YENCE confifts in goodSenfe found– ed on Truth and Reafon, delivered in fuch a Style or Manner of expreffing the Con– ceptions and Paffions of the Heart; as !hall inlhuEt: the Undcrftanding, determine the Wlll, and raife the A!TeClions to fly from Evil and purfue Good. The amiable F£NELON, in his excellent Dialogues on Eloquence, obferves, that an ORATOR has three Things to perform: To painr, prove, and move: to paint Truth in the moft lovely Colours to the Imagination; -To prove the Truth to our Reafon and Judgment by the moft clear and convincing Arguments, and w move the Patiions in the moft vivid and forcible Manner by the Speaker's expreffing the Affeftions of his own Heart: and thus bringing the Hearers to think as he thinks; to feel what he feels, and purfue Happinefs with the fame Ardor and avoid Mifery with the fame Dread, as the Speaker himfelf. If we apply the above Remarks to the facred Writers of the Old and New Tefta– menr. we' !hall find that no Speakers or vV6ters in the \:Vorld ever had fo great a Claim to fou nd Eloquence. The facred Scriptures are adorned with all the brightefl: lmagesof divine and invifibleObjeCl:s, drawn from every Part of the vifible World: and we dare ro affirm that there is not aflrikina Figure in Eloquence but may be found i~ its higheft PerfeClion in the holy Scriptures. Every Form and Manner of Speaking wh1ch contam a Beauty, or exprefs a Patiion or Movement of the Soul, may be ften in a rich Variety all through the Book of God. I ap-
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