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 CHARLES D1T]N^STI:R,M.A. 
 
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 Here xioliiy [>euLive, Millou i'at k thoii)i-]it. 
 
 1. O N U O A^ 
 
 Tri/iMf hy (rc^o^hlrf>'niCnmc■Um■tZ■7a■/^t/ttt:cmd^'lM/rJ(M&■tm^.^<l//Ml//.T^^
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 POEM, 
 
 I N 
 
 FOUR BOOKS, 
 
 JOHN MILTON. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 WITH NOTIS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS, 
 
 By CHARLES DUNSTER, M.A. 
 
 — xxi ftoi ^oxofiri Seiix fioi^a tifiiy irafa Tm 9i«» TAYTA oi «ya9oi ■TroinTai Jfnfttiusi^. — PlATO. 
 
 JLontion : 
 
 fRlNTED FOR T. CADELL, JUN. AND W, DAVIES, (SUCCESSORS TO MR. CADELL,) 
 
 JN THE STRAND. 
 
 1795-
 
 
 TO 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 GEORGE, EARL OF EGREiMONT, 
 
 THIS EDITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 IS. 
 
 WITH SINCERE RESPECT, REGARD, AND GRATITUDE 
 
 INSCRIBED 
 BY 
 
 HIS MUCH OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 CHARLES DUNSTER. 
 
 <.f^ijkyi)
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A HE present publication originates in an opinion, (which 
 perhaps begins to prevail,) that the Paradise Regained of 
 our great English poet has never had justice done it either 
 by critics or commentators. As it has been generally and 
 unjustly under-rated, so it has been negligently and scantily 
 illustrated. Bp. Newton, though an excellent scholar, was 
 not, it has been said *, in every resped: quahfied for an Editor 
 of Milton. His edition of the Paradise Lost is however 
 an able work ; and has been most acceptable to the public. 
 But his edition of our Author's other poems bears evident 
 marks of haste : that of the Paradise Regained in par- 
 ticular is extremely imperfed. Much here remained to be 
 done. Hopes were entertained that the late Mr. Warton, 
 whose eminence in every branch of criticism so peculiarly 
 qualified him for the office, would have undertaken both the 
 Paradise Regained and the Samson Agonistes. But that 
 hope, (it is much to be regretted,) is no more : and, by an 
 
 * Preface to Warton's edition of the Juvenile Poems of Milton. 
 
 unfortunate
 
 11 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 unfortunate accident *, the Editor is precluded from the 
 possibility of benefiting by the collections which Mr. Warton 
 had made for that purpose. 
 
 To rescue in some degree from neglect and oblivion, (by 
 more ample illustration than it has hitherto received,) a poem, 
 of which the great Author himself thought so highly, is the 
 obje6t of the present attempt ; which, it is hoped, may not 
 be unacceptable, at least to the admirers of Milton. At all 
 events the pains of the Editor have not been without their 
 recompence, in the very great pleasure which he has found 
 from a closer examination of a poem replete with that species 
 of intrinsic beauty, which, though it may not allure and 
 fascinate at the first glance, is certain, when attentively con- 
 sidered, to engage and rivet the admiration. 
 
 Of the notes given in Bp. Newton's edition, the greater 
 part are here retained ; some are omitted, and some are 
 
 * On being informed of this work, Dr. Joseph Warton, with that liberality 
 which generally attends superior attainments in literature, was perfe£tly disposed 
 to have honoured me with the communication of his own and his late brother's 
 remarks on the Paradise Regained. But the interleaved Milton, in which they were 
 contained, on the removal of his books and papers from Winchester, was unfor- 
 tunately lost or mislaid ; so that, after the trouble of much search for it, he was 
 prevented from accomplishing his benevolent intentions towards me. — Interleaved 
 Miltons, in proportion to their value, seem doomed to unfortunate accidents. That 
 of Mr. Thyer, (the very respetlable auxiliary of Bp. Newton in his Paradise Lost,) 
 was dropped upon the road by the carrier : and the very able notes, supplied by 
 that gentleman, were furnished only from his recollection of what he had long 
 before written. 
 
 considerably
 
 PREFACE. iii 
 
 considerably cnrtailed ; the name of the author is ahva^/s 
 subjoined. Where any thing has been gleaned from the 
 excellent edition of the Juvenile Poems, or from any other 
 printed work, it is generally attributed to the writer from 
 Vv'hom the remark is taken : when this is on^itted, it is 
 entirely accidental. — The Editor is accountable to but few 
 persons for the favour of assistance. To one gentleman his 
 obligations are indeed so considerable, that it might be dif- 
 ficult for him to state the extent of them with any degree 
 of accuracy; but this is so far from being necessary, that he 
 is not at liberty to mention the name of the friend to whom 
 he is so materially indebted. 
 
 The Reader, when he first casts his eye over the following 
 work, may perhaps incline to think that the citations from 
 Milton's other poems are too abundant ; and that many pas- 
 sages, not absolutely material, particularly from the Paradise 
 Lost, have been transfused into the notes, so as to swell them 
 unnecessarily. It is however hoped that none are given but 
 what have some sort of tendency to illustrate the poem ; and 
 that, however they may be numerous, they will, on consider- 
 ation, be found to have their use. In the excellent Obser- 
 vations ON THE Faery Queen it is justly said, that " to 
 " produce an Author's imitations of himself" is parti- 
 cularly useful in the three following respeds : it discovers 
 
 HIS FAVOURITE IMAGES ; it tCachcS US how VARIOUSLY he 
 
 expresses
 
 IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 expresses the same thought; and it often explains difficult 
 passages and words. 
 
 It may also be observed respe6ling this poem, that where 
 we find the poet palpably referring to his greater work, it 
 is either to some passage so eminently beautiful, as well to 
 deserve being pointed out, or to some part, which seemed 
 to look forward to future elucidation. Indeed the Paradise 
 Regained is so necessary a sequel to the Paradise Lost, 
 that we cannot but imagine that Milton, when he wrote the 
 one, was not without an intention, (though not perhaps of 
 writing the other exa£lly in the form, in which we now see 
 it,) of producing something of the kind for the purpose of 
 completing his subjed. Accordingly the two poems mutually 
 coincide with, and admirably illustrate, each other ; while 
 they comprehend the whole of an argument the most in- 
 teresting that can be to human beings, — to fallen and 
 redeemed creatures. 
 
 THE
 
 TO THE 
 
 EARL OF EGREMONT. 
 
 The theme divine, in Chalfont's fhelterlng bower 
 Which the immortal Bard eflay'd to fmg, 
 Striking with mafler-hand his deep-toned firing, 
 
 Wliat time the wrath of Heaven's almighty power 
 
 It's vengeful fliafts of peftilence bad (hower 
 On the proud city, — unto thee I bring. 
 Patron and Friend f from whom the blefsings fpring 
 
 Of " letter'd eafe,'' that wing my heavier hour .' 
 
 Then, while thefe calm fequefter'd fliades among 
 I meditate on Milton's hallow'd page. 
 In reverence rapt of his high poefy. 
 
 And to each charm of his fublimer fong 
 
 Would roufe the attention of a liftlefs age. 
 The bold attempt I dedicate to thee. 
 
 CHARLES DUNSTER, 
 
 New-Grove, 
 Septemler 20, i799- 
 
 PrinteJ by John Nicbois, 
 Red Lion Paffage, Fleet Street,
 
 ■ — r J i l t ! ■&« ■ ■^ i)('^»e>-» 
 
 The reception, which this edition of Milton's Paradise Regained has found from many 
 perfons ol' dirtinguilLed tafte and literature, far exceeded my moft fanguin'e expe£tations ; and, I 
 muft acknowledge, has been highly gratifying to me. — It has alfo procured me fome valuable and 
 
 very obliging communications tending to illuftrate the poem. Ou the firft appearance of 
 
 tills work, rather more than four years ago, a much-refpe6led friend fent me a valuable /iroo^ print 
 of the Temptation, by Salvator Rofa; which furniihed the frontifpiece now prefixed. — In the 
 Gourfe of laft fummer a gentleman, of much tafte in the idles kttres and elegant arts, fug- 
 gefted to me, as an ornament highly appropriate to this edition a 'view of the houje, at Chalfont St, 
 Giles in Buckinghamjhiie, where Milton refided in the year i66^, while tlie plague was in London ; 
 and where he conceived and compofed this poem. An old friend in that neighbourhood procured 
 me two accurate (ketches of the premifes, and lent me in the kindeft manner an exa6t account of 
 their prefent ftate. Mr. De Corte had alfo the goodnefs to oblige me with the ufe of two admirable 
 drawings, from his peculiarly neat and accurate pencil, made by him on the fpot : from one of 
 which the Iketch in the title-page is taken. 
 
 The plates are from the hand of a young and rifing artift, whofe friendfliip I am particularly- 
 bound to acknowledge ; as it has led him, upon this occafion, to deviate from the immediate line of 
 that profeffion, in which he promifes eminently to diftinguifli himfelf. 
 
 THE frontifpiece may ferve to illuftrate a remark, in p; 55, that " Milton's defcription of the 
 Defert is worthy the pencil of Salvator." It may, indeed, corroborate the obfervations of iVIr. 
 Hayley and Mr. Walker *, that " the effufions of tlie pencil, which Milton furveyed in his travels, 
 had a confiderable influence on his imagination, and ferved to enrich his fancy." Salvator was a 
 Neapolitan, and was born between five and fix years after Milton. At the time when the latter 
 was at Naples, the former was in his 25th or 26th year ; and had then probably acquired his laft 
 inftruftions in painting, in tlie fchool of Spagnoletto, in that city. But he had before given many 
 proofs of his eminent talents in defign ; fome of which were on fcriptural fubjefts. Ey a moft 
 fpirited drawing, and an hiftoricaJ painting of Hagar and Ilhmael, which accidentally fell into the 
 hands of Lanfranc, he recommended himfelf to the favour and protedion of that fcientific artift, 
 by whofe liberal alfiftanee he was enabled to become a ftudent under pagnoletto, and to receive 
 inftruftions from Daniel Falcone, a diftinguiihed Neapolitan battle-paimer ; at a time when, by the 
 death of his father, he was reduced to niuch diftrefs, and was obligird to fupport himfelf by felling, 
 at a very low price, the numerous hafty produftions of his pencil. If we refer to Milton's de- 
 fcription of the tempter's firft interview with our bleifed Lord, and accurately compare the vianner 
 in which the poet and painter have treated the fame fubjeft, we cannot but conjefture that the 
 Temptation of the latter muft have been known to tlie Poet of Paradise Regained. If this was 
 not tlie cafe, it is an uncommon inftance of the coincidence of Genius in the Sifter Arts. Salva- 
 tor, Cmilarly with the poet, has drawn the Son of God in 
 
 A pathlefs defert dulk with horriJ (hades, B. i. ver. 196. 
 
 and 
 
 with dark, (hades and rocks encompafs'd round. Ibid. ver. 185. 
 
 * i« Hayley's Life of Milton, and Walker's Historicai Memoir on Italian Txacibt. 
 
 Hi2
 
 ( iv ) 
 
 His tempter is Mo 
 
 — — — — nn aged man \i\ rural weds,—— S^cr. jtj 
 
 one of tilde 
 
 Who dwell the wild, conltra'm'd by want—— Ver. 331. 
 
 and .heileemaalmoft ready to ".drop" 
 
 His carcafe pined with hunger and with drought,—— Ver. 326. 
 
 Tlic fupcrior nature of the fallen fpiril nt the fame time, in a certain degree, breaks through his 
 allumed difguife; and his penetrating examination of Chrift is exa£Uy what tlic poet attributes t« 
 A'j Arch-Fieud, 
 
 ■ who firft WITH CURIOUS lYE 
 
 Perused him, Ver. 320. 
 
 Our blefTed Lord is plainly in the a& of detefting the irapoftor ; and feems either to fay, 
 
 .For I difcern theft other than thou fecm'ft,—— V<r. 349. 
 
 or 
 
 /Knowing who I am, as I know who THiro art. Ver. 357. 
 
 The defign is certainly mafterly. The ftor)' is told with as much accuracy and expreflion, as the feenc 
 Is drawn with boldnefs and effe£t. The Temptation of Salvator might well attraCt the attention 
 and admiration of Milton in fo high a degree, as from that time to combine in his recolleftion with 
 the fubje6t it reprefented. Indeed, I think it appears palpably that, in tlie firll Icene of tlie Temp- 
 tation, tlie poet has praftically availed himfelf of it. 
 
 Mr. Warton, in a note in his feeond edition of Milton's Jux'enilia, (p. xxxii.) fpeaksof the 
 houfe at Ch:'l!oiit as the place where " Milton planned or began his Paradise Regained;" fup- 
 pofing it to have been compofed or completed after his return to Juondon. But it appears to me, 
 from Elvvoods account, and other circumliances which may be adduced, that he not only con- 
 ceived and planned the poem at Chalfont, but that he abfolutely compofed and completed it 
 there. 
 
 It may be fuppofed that Milton quitted London in the month of July ; at which time the plague 
 began to rage in the moft alarming manner, and the city was deferted by all thofe who had where- 
 elfe to retreat. He had been fome little time in the country before Elwood was enabled to vifit him. 
 (See ElivooJ's Memoirs, and Haytev's Life of M lion.) The lirft time Elwood called upon him at 
 Chalfont, iVIilton (hewed him h s Paradise Lost, then completed ; defiring him to take it home 
 with him, and to perufe it at his eifure, and to return it to him with his judgement thereupon. 
 At his next vifit the converfation enfued which laid thi» foi'ndation of Parmjise Regained, by the 
 young Quaker laying to his friend, " Thou haft faid much here of Pnradi/e Loj! ; but what haft dioa 
 to i'-Ay oi Paiad'./f Found?" To this, lays Klwood, " he made me no anfwer, but sat some time iw 
 amuse: then brake off the difcourfe, and fell on another tuhjei'-t." Here we are fomjiletely 
 enabled to afcertain the poet's primary and fervid conception of the fubjeft ; and we may well imfi'ge 
 to ourfclves his mental eye in a fine phrenzy rolling, and taking in .U once the great outline of hi» 
 embryo idea, during the " fome-time mufe,' defcribed witJi fo much naiveu by Elwood— We may fup- 
 pofe that Milton remained at Chalfont till towards the Ipring of 1666 ; as it is laid lie did not return 
 ■■ . !•
 
 ( V ) 
 
 to London until " the ficknefs was o\'er, and the city was well cleanfed, and beconie fafely habit- 
 able." — Elwood proceeds to inform us, that " when he waited on him afterwards in London, which 
 " he feldom failed to do when his occafions led him tliither," Milton fliewed him his fecond 
 poem ; and " in a pleafant tone," (which to me indicates his own full approbation of his work,) faid 
 to him, " This is owing to you, for you put it in my head by tlie queltion you put to me at Chal- 
 font; which before I had not thought of." It feems therefore nearly certain, that the whole of 
 the poem was compofed at Chalfont. As it was conceived with fervor, it was, I doubt not, pro- 
 ceeded in " with eager thought." This was tlie charafteriftic of Milton in compofition, as may 
 be coUefted from his letter to his friend Deodate, (September 3, 1637,) where he defcribes his own 
 temper to be marked with an eagernefs to finifli whatever he had begun ; — " meum fic eft ingenium, 
 nulla ut mora, nulla quies, nulla ferme illius rei cura, aut cogitatio diftineat, quoad pervadam quo 
 feror, et grandem aliquam ftudiorum meorum quafi periodura conficiani." Epist. Familiar, vi. 
 
 There is alfo fuch a high degree of unity, connexion, and integral perfedion in the whole of 
 
 this fecond poem, as indicates it to have been the uninterrupted work oi one feafon ; and, as I vi-ould 
 fuppofe, the exclufive occupation of his divine genius during his refidence in Buckinghamdiire. To 
 have compofed the whole of .the poem in that time, would require him to produce only about ten 
 lines a day ; and many parts are given fo perfeftly con amore, that I am confident, upon thofe occa- 
 fions, he \irocce.AtA at a very different rale. That the Paradise Regained was not publifhed 
 
 till five years after the time when I fuppofe it to have been completed, might be the ground on 
 which Mr. Warton confidered it as not being then finillied : and yet many other reafons might be 
 affigned for its not being printed fooner. Paradise Lost, we know, was finiflied at leaft two 
 years before it was printed ; and it was not till a year after Milton's return to London from Chal- 
 font, that the contract with Samuel Simons for the copy of it was figned, and the firft purchafe 
 money of five pounds was paid for it. Milton, we find, received the fecond five pounds two years 
 after J the ftipulated number of copies, to entitle him thereto, being then fold. The author prolia- 
 bly did not think of going again to the prefs with \\is fecond poem, till he faw the requifite fale of the 
 firjl accompliflied. Paradise Regained might alfo wait for the completion of its companion, tiie 
 Samson ; — a work, which furniflies fome internal proofs of its having been compofed at different 
 periods. In July, 1670, the two poems were licenfed, and were printed the 3'ear following. In 
 1670 was printed his Hiftory of England : fo that Milton was not without his occupations between 
 tlie time of his return to London, in the fpring 1666, and his procuring the licence for printing his 
 Paradife Regained and Samfon Agoniftes in July 1670. — That he might revife and correft his brief 
 epic previous to this, is very poffible : but that it was compofed in its firft form at Chalfont, I think 
 cannot be doubted. Accordingly I regard the little manfion there with no fmall degree of \-enera- 
 tion, as being exclufively the incunabula of Milton's Paradise Regained. I fliould approach it as 
 a Tibur or a Tufculum ; and lliould feel myfelf on claflic ground. 
 
 Mr. 'Warton has obferved (fee note in his Milton, p. xxxii.) tliat " the houfe at Chalfont is fiill 
 ftanding; fmall, but pleafantly fituated :" which latter circumftance is however not fo. The ad- 
 jacent country is indeed extremely pleafant ; but the immediate fpot is as little pifturefque or pleafing 
 as can be well imagined. Immediately in front of the houfe, a-grafs field rifes io abruptly as com- 
 pletely to exclude all profpcft : and the common road of the village pafles by the gable end, adjoining 
 to which is the end of a fmall dwelling, which runs behind that inhabited by Milton. The manfion, 
 dignified witli having been his temporary refidence, is thirty-five feet long in front. It confifts at 
 prefent of a kitchen and parlour ; befides a little porch, once the entrance, but the door of w liicli 
 is now made up. The parlour, which is on the right hand as yon enter, is nearly fourteen feet 
 fquare, and only between fix and feven feet in height ; and over it is a bed-chamber, in which tlie 
 
 poet
 
 ( vl ) 
 
 poet is fuppofed to have flept. Over the little porch is a fmall, rather projeAing, clofet, which the pre- 
 fent inh.ibituit of the houfe fliews.ns having been the ftudy of a gi"eat man, — one Mister Milton. 
 The whole of this part of the building, from the ground to the tiling, is barely fouiteen feet high. 
 The houfe fronts nearly fouth-weft. All the premifes, including garden and potatoe-ground, do not 
 exceed three roods of land. — Verj' litUc alteration appears to have been made in the houfe fince 
 Milton's time ; oiily it feems as if it tlien confifted of two parlours, and that what is now a fmall 
 feparate tenement, was then a kitchen adjoining. The cddeft inhabitant of the parifti, a very intel- 
 ligent man now in his eightieth year, does not remember, nor has ever heard of, any alteration being 
 made in the houfe ; which is the property of Mr. John Anthony, a fubftantial yeoman of that countr)-, 
 
 •who purchafed the premifes fome years ago. Under the window over the porch, are the arms of 
 
 Fhctwoaii. A branch of the baronet's family of that name was feated at the Vache, in the parifli of 
 Chalfont St. Giles, in (he middle of the fixteenth centurj". In the 6th of Elizabeth, Thomas 
 Fleetwood, Efq. of tlie Vache, wasflieriffof Bedfordftiire and Buckinghamfhire ; and, in the 32d 
 of the fame reign, George Fleetwood, Efq. of the Vache, was fheriff of Buckinghamfhire : which 
 George Fleetwood, who was afterwards kniglvted, had a numerous ilTue, and hls/cventA fon, James, 
 was made Bifliop of Worcefter after the Reftoration. It feems therefore probable, that the houfe, 
 which Milton inhabited, was built by one of this family, towards the middle of the feventeenth centur)'. 
 — Sir William Fleetwood, who fettled at MifTenden Abbey in the fame county, eight miles from Chal- 
 font, towards the latter end of the fixteenth century, defcended from a younger branch of the fame 
 
 family. Milton's biographers mention, that at tlie latter part of his life, " in warm funny 
 
 weather, he was habituated to fit at the door of his houfe ; and there, as well as in his room, re- 
 ceived the vifits of perfons of diftinguiflied parts as well as quality." They tell us alfo, that at times 
 ♦• he was led out into the fields, for the benefit af frefii air." Subjeft, as he was, to head-ach, frefh 
 air was perhaps frequently neceflary to him : and it may be obferved, that the fummer of 1665 is 
 recorded by Dr. Baynard, a phyfician who wrote on the plague, to have been diftinguifhed by " fuch 
 a general calm and ferenity of weather, as if both wind and rain had been expelled the kingdom ; 
 fo that for many weeks together he could not difcover a breath of wind." (See Maitland's His- 
 1VRV OP London, p. 288.) —So that, if we confider Milton's own habits, the feafon of the 
 year when he went to Chalfont, and the peculiar clofenefs of the atmofphere at that time, together 
 with the lownefs of his rooms, we may fancy him fitting much, (like Adam at the door of liis 
 bower;) in the old porch or entrance j and we may fuppofe tliat this particular fpot was probably the 
 immediate fcene of his converfation with Elwood, and the place where he not unfrcquently medi- 
 tated his fecond divine poem.— In contemplating therefore the little manfion at Chalfont St. Giles, 
 I cannot but view its old porch with a certain degree of that enthufiaftic reverence, with which 
 Cicero (De Fin. L. v. C. i.) makes Atticus defcribe himfdf as having vifited the houfe where Py- 
 thagoras died at Metapontum, and the feat in which he was there accuftomed to fit. For the mi- 
 nute tedioufnefs of this note fome excufe fliould be made;— let the Roman Orator be my advocate, 
 and the fentiments, attributed by him to his accompliflicd friend, my apology ! — " Movemur nefcio 
 quo pafto locis ipfis, in quibus corum, quos diligimus aut adniiramur, adfunt vefligia. Me quidem 
 ilia; ipfs noftrae Athenae non tam operibus magnificis exquifitifque antiquorum artibus deleftant, 
 
 quam rccordatione fummorum virorura, ubi quifque habitare, ubi sedere fit fohtus ; Db 
 
 Legibus. L. ii. C. 2. 
 
 C. D. 
 
 jipril 12, 1800. 
 
 Pr'inieil hy Joiix Nichols, 
 Red l.ion Paflhje, F'ee( .Street, Loiiiloo.
 
 THE 
 
 FIRST BOOK 
 
 O T 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED.
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK I. 
 
 The Subjeft proposed. Invocation of the Ho^y Spirit. — The Poem opens with Jokn bap^ 
 tizing at the river Jordan. Jesus coming there is baptized ; and is attested, by the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, and by a voice from Heaven, to be the Son of God. Satan, 
 who is present, upon this immediately flies up into the regions of the air : zvhere, 
 stmmoning his Infernal Council, he acquaints them with his apprehensions that Jesus is 
 that seed of the woman, destined to destroy all their pezver, and points out to them the 
 immediate necessity of bringing the matter to proof, and of attempting, by snares and fraud, 
 to counteraEl and defeat the person, from whom they have so much to dread. This office 
 he offers himself to undertake ; and, his offer being accepted, sets out on his enterprize. — ■ 
 In the mean time God, in the assembly of holy Angel:, declares that he has given up his 
 Son to be tempted by Satan ; but forelegs that the Tempter shall be co-mpletely defeated 
 by him : — upon which the Angels sing a hymn of triumph. Jesus is led up by the Spirit 
 into the wilderness, while he is meditating on the commencement of his great office of 
 Saviour of Mankind. Pursuing his meditations he narrates, in a soliloquy, what divine 
 and philanthropic impulses he had felt from his early youth, and hoiv his mother Mary, 
 on perceiving these dispositions in him, had acquainted him with the circumstances of his 
 birth, and informed him that he zvas no less a person than the Son of God; to which 
 he adds what bis own enquiries and reflexions had supplied in coiflrmation of this great 
 truth, and particidarly dzceJls on the recent attestation of it at the river Jordan. Our 
 Lord passes forty days, fasting, in the wilderness ; zvhere the wild beasts become mild 
 and harmless in his presence. Satan now appears under the form of an old peasant ; 
 and enters into discourse with cur Lord, zvondering zvhat could have brought him alone 
 into so dangerous a place, and at the same time professing to recognize him for the person 
 lately achiozvledged by John, at the river Jordan, to be the Son of God. Jesus briefly 
 replies. . Satan rejoins with a description of the difficulty of supporting life, in the zvil- 
 derness ; and entreats Jesus, if he be really the Son of God, to manifest his divine, 
 pozver, by changing some of the stones into bread. Jesus reproves him, and at the same 
 time tells him that he knozvs who he is. Satan instantly avows himself, and offers an 
 artfid apology for himself and his conduct. Our blessed Lord severely reprimands him^ 
 and refutes every part of his justification. Satan, zvith much semblance of humility, still 
 endeavors to justify himself; and, professing his admiration of Jesus and his regard for 
 virtue, requests to be permitted at a future time to hear more of his conversation ; but is 
 answered, that this must be as he shall find permission from above. Satan then disappears, 
 and the Book closes with a short description of night coming on in th& desert.
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 1, who ere while the happy garden sung 
 By one man's disobedience lost, now sing 
 Recover'd Paradise to all mankind, 
 By one man's firm obedience fully try'd 
 
 Paradise Regained.] 
 
 " Of Paradise Regained^' says Johnson in his 
 Life of Milton, " the general judgment seems now 
 " to be right ; that it is in many parts elegant, and 
 " every where instruftive." But surely this Poem 
 has merits far superior to " occasional elegance," 
 and " general instruftion ;" and that this is really 
 the case is sufficiently implied in the immediately 
 succeeding sentence, where it is justly observed, 
 that " it was not to be supposed, that the author 
 " of Paradise Lost could ever write without great 
 " effusions of fancy, and exalted precepts of 
 " wisdom." 
 
 " The basis of Paradise Regained" says the 
 same eminent biographer of our English poets, 
 " is narrow ; a dialogue without aiftion can never 
 " please like an union of the narrative and dra- 
 
 " matic powers." Bentley also, in a note on 
 
 Paradise Lost, B. x. 1 82. observes, that " Milton, 
 " when he wrote that passage, thought Paradise 
 " was chiefly regained at our Saviour's resurreftion. 
 " This," continues he, "would have been a copious 
 " and sublime suhjeft for a second poem. The 
 " wonders then to be described would have erefled 
 
 " even an ordinary poet's genius ; and in episodei 
 " he might have introduced his conception, birth, 
 " miracles, and all the history of his administra- 
 " tion while on earth. And I much grieve, that 
 " instead of this, he should choose for the argu- 
 " ment of his Paradise Regained the fourth chap- 
 " ter of Luke, the temptation in the lUilderness ; 
 " a dry, barren, and narrow ground to build an 
 " epic poem on. In that work he has amplified 
 " his scanty materials to a surprizing dignity ; 
 " but yet, being cramped down by a wrong choice, 
 " without the expefted applause." 
 
 Bp. Newton, in his Life of Milton, speaking of 
 this Poem, says, " Certainly it is very worthy of 
 " the author, and, contrary to what Mr. Toland 
 " relates, Milton may be seen in Paradise Re- 
 " gained as well as in Paradise Lost ; if it is in- 
 " ferior in poetry, 1 know not whether it is not 
 " superior in sentiment ; if it is less descriptive, it 
 " is more argumentative; if it doth not sometimes 
 " rise so high, neither doth it ever sink so low ; 
 " and it has not met with the approbation it de- 
 " serves, only because it has not been more read 
 I " and considered. His subjeft indeed is confined, 
 B " and
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Through all temptation, and the tempter foil'd 
 In all his wiles, defeated and repuls'd, 
 And Eden rais'd in the waste wilderness. 
 
 " and lie has a narrow foundation to build upon ; 
 " but he has raised as noble a superstrufture, as 
 " such little room and such scanty materials would 
 " allow." 
 
 Mr. Thyer, in the concluding part of a note on 
 the opening of the second book of this poem, like- 
 wise remarks the barrenness of the subjeft. " If," 
 jays he, " the Paradise Regained is inferior, as 
 " indeed I think it must be allowed to be, to the 
 " Paradise Lost, it cannot be justly imputed, as 
 " some would have it, to any decay of Milton's 
 " genius, but to his being cramped down by a 
 " barren and contrafled subjeft." — Bishop War- 
 " burton also pronounces the />/«« to be " a very 
 
 " unhappy and defeftive one." But none of 
 
 these learned critics seem to have considered what 
 we may coUefl from our author himselt; that he 
 designed this poem for, what he terms, tie brief 
 efk, which he particularly distinguishes from the 
 great and diffuse epic, of which kind are the great 
 poems of Homer and Virgil, and his own Paradise 
 Lost, In the introduftion to the second book of 
 his Reason of Chiirch-Go'vernmeHt, he says, " Time 
 " serves not now, and perhaps I might seem too 
 " profuse, to give any certain account of what the 
 " mind at home, in the spacious circuits of her 
 " musing, hath liberty to propose to herself, 
 " though of highest hope and hardest attempting ; 
 " whether that epic form, whereof the two poems 
 " of Homer, and those other two of Virgil and 
 " Tasso, are a diffuse, and the book of Job a 
 " BRIEF model : or whether the rules of Aristotle 
 ■' herein are striftly to be kept, or nature to be 
 " followed, which, in them that know art, and use 
 " judgment, is no transgression, but an enriching 
 
 *• of art." His model then we may suppose to 
 
 have been in a great measure the book of Job; and 
 however the subjeifl which he seleded may have 
 been considered as narrow ground, and one that 
 cramped his genius, there is no reason to imagine 
 
 that it was chosen hastily or inconsiderately. It 
 was particularly adapted to the species of poem he 
 meant to produce, namely, the brief or didaflic, 
 epic. The basis he thought perfcftly adequate to 
 the superstruflure which he meant to raise ; to the 
 merit of which the lapse of time bears the material 
 testimony of a gradually increasing admiration. 
 
 Since the above was written, I am happy to 
 add the opinion of a gentleman, whose judgment 
 must have the greatest weight, if to have excelled 
 eminently in poetry is, (as it should be supposed 
 to be,) a title to judge of it in others. " Milton," 
 sa)s Mr. Hayley, " had already executed one ex- 
 " tensive divine poem, peculiarly distinguished by 
 " richness and sublimity of description: in framing 
 " a second he naturally wished to vary its cffeft ; 
 " to make it rich in moral sentiment, and sublime 
 " in its mode of unfolding the highest wisdom that 
 " man can learn ; for this purpose it was necessary 
 " to keep all the ornamental parts of the poem in due 
 " subordination to the precept. This delicate and 
 " difficult point is accomplished with such ftlicity; 
 " they are blended together with such exquisite 
 " harmony and mutual aid, that, instead of arraign- 
 " ing the plan, we might rather doubt if any pos- 
 " sible change could improve it. Assuredly there 
 " is no poem of an epic form, where the sublimest 
 " moral is so forcibly and so abundantly united to- 
 " poetical delight : the splendor of the poet does 
 " not blaze indeed so intensely as in his larger pro- 
 " dudion; here he resembles the Apollo of Ovid, 
 " so'tening his glory in speaking to his son, and 
 " avoiding to dazzle the fancy that he may descend 
 " into the heart." Ha) ley's Life of Milton, 
 prefixed to the new folio edition of Milton's 
 Poetical Works, by Boydell and Nicoll, p. 126. 
 
 The same biographer, in another place, having 
 spoken of the " uncommon energy of thought and 
 " felicity of composition apparent in Milton's two 
 " poems, however different in design, dimension, 
 
 « and
 
 lOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Thou Spirit, who ledst this glorious eremite 
 Into the desert, his victorious field. 
 
 " and effeft," adds, " To censure the Paradise 
 " Regained, because it does not more resemble 
 " the Paradise Lost, is hardly less absurd, than 
 " it would be to condemn the Moon for not being 
 " a Sun, instead of admiring the two different 
 " luminaries, and feeling that both the greater and 
 " the less a.re equally the work of the same divine 
 " and inimitable power." p. 104. 
 
 1. /, luho ere tvltiU the happy garden suJig 
 By one man's disobedience lost, now sing 
 Recovered Paradise to all mankind,'^ 
 
 This is plainly an allusion to the Ille eco qui 
 QUONDAM, &c. attributed to Virgil. 
 
 Thus also Spenser : 
 
 Xo, I the man, whose Muse whilom did mask, 
 " As time her taught, in lowly shepherd's weeds, 
 Am now cnforcM a far unficter task. 
 For trumpets stern to change mine oaten reeds, &c. 
 
 Netolon. 
 
 2. By one man's disobedience, &c, — ] 
 
 The opposition of one man's disobedience in this 
 Terse to one man's obedience in verse 4. is somewhat 
 in the stile and manner of St. Paul, Rom. v. 19. 
 Fir as ij oui man's disobedience manj -were 
 made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous. Neivton, 
 
 The argument of Paradise Lost was 
 
 man's BrSt DISOBEDI IMCK- 
 
 3. Recovered Paradise-^'] 
 
 It may seem a little odd, that Milton should 
 impute the recovery of Paradise to this short 
 scene of our Saviour's life upon earth, and not 
 rather extend it to his agony, crucifixion, &c. But 
 the reason no doubt was, that Paradise, regained 
 by our Saviour's resisting the temptations of Satan, 
 might be a better contrast to Paradise, lost by our 
 first parents too easily yielding to the same seducing 
 spirit. Besides he might, very probably, and in- 
 deed very reasonably, be apprehensive, that a sub- 
 jeft, so extensive as well as sublime, might be too 
 great a burden for his declining constitution, and 
 
 a task too long for the short term of years he could 
 then hope for. Even in his Paradise Lost he ex- 
 presses his fears, lest he had begun too late, and lest 
 an age loo late, or cold climate, or years, should have 
 damp' d his intended lUing ; and surely he had much 
 greater cause to dread the same now, and to be 
 very cautious of launching out too far. 1 hyer. 
 
 7. And Eden rais'd in the waste wilderness.'^ 
 
 There is, I think, a particular beauty in this 
 line, when one considers the fine allusion in it to 
 the curse brought upon the Paradisiacal earth by 
 the fall of Adam, — Cursed is the ground for thy 
 sake — Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to 
 thee. Thyer. 
 
 Thus in the fourth Book of this poem, Ver. 
 
 And follow'd thee still on to this waste wild. 
 Waste is an epithet which our author had an- 
 nexed to luildcrness at an early period of his life. 
 In his translation of the cxxxvith Psalm, written 
 when he was only fifteen, he has 
 
 His chosen people he did bless 
 In the WASTiruL wilderness. 
 
 In that instance, perhaps, he borrowed the whole 
 
 phrase from his favorite Spenser : 
 
 Far hence (quoth he) in wasteful wilderness 
 
 His dwelling is— — 
 
 Fairy Queen, B. i. c. 1. 31. 
 
 But the expression and the application of it, in 
 this place, were evidently taken from a passage in 
 Isaiah, C. li. 3. 
 
 «' The Lord shall comfort Zion, he will com- 
 «' fort all her waste places, and he will make 
 " her WILDERNESS LIKE Eden, and her desert 
 " like the garden of the Lord." 
 
 From whence Pope also, in his Eloisa to 
 Abelard, 
 
 You rais'd these hallow'd walls, the desert smil'd. 
 And Paradise was oun'd in the wild. 
 
 Be (. Thnt
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Against the spiritual foe, and broiight'st him thence 
 By proof the undoubted Son of God, inspire, 
 As thou art wont, my prompted song, else mute, 
 
 ID 
 
 8. Thou Spirit, who Udst t/iis glorious eremite 
 Into the desert, his vioioiious field, £^c.] 
 
 This invocation is so supremely beautiful, that 
 it is hardly possible to give the preference even to 
 that in the opening of the Paradise Lost. This has 
 the merit of mere conciseness. Difiuseness may 
 be considered as lessening the dignity of invoca- 
 tions on such subjefts. 
 
 icho ledst this glorious eremite 
 
 Into the desert, — ] 
 
 It is said, Mat. iv. i. Then luas fesss led up of 
 the spirit into the iviUerness, to be tempted of the 
 deinl. And from the Greek, original tfii^M,©- the 
 desert, and ifnii,iTr,(: an inhabitant of the desert, is 
 rightly formed the word eremite ; which was used 
 before by Milton iu his Paradise Lost, iii, 474. 
 
 And by Fairfax, in his translation of Tasso, 
 Cant. II. St. 4. 
 
 And in Italian, as well as in Latin, there is 
 eremita, which the French, and we after them, 
 •ontraft into hermite, hermit. Ne'wton. 
 
 inspire, 
 
 As thou art wont, my prompted song, else mute,"^ 
 In the very fine opening of the ninth Book of 
 the Paradise Lost, Milton thus speaks of the 
 inspiration of the Muse : 
 
 If answerable still I can obtain 
 
 Of my celestial patroness, who deigns 
 
 Her nightly visitation, unimplor'd, 
 
 And DICTATES TO ME SLUMBERING, OR INSPIRIS 
 
 East my UNPREMEniT ated versk. 
 So also in his invocation of Urania, at the begin- 
 ning of the SEVENTH Book. 
 
 More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchang'd 
 
 To hoarse or mute, though fall'n on evil days, 
 
 On evil days though fall'n, and evil tongues; 
 
 In darkness, and with dangers compass'd round, 
 
 And solitude; yet not alone, while thou 
 
 Visit 'sT my slumbers nightly, or when morn 
 
 Purples the east ; still govern thou my song, 
 
 Ur a n I *,— — — 
 
 And in the introduflion to the second book of 
 The Reason of Church-Go'vernment urged against 
 Prelacy, where he promises to undertake some- 
 thing j he yet knows not what, that may be of use 
 and honour to his country, he adds, " This is not 
 " to be obtained but by devout prayer to that 
 " Eternal Spirit, who can enrich with all utter. 
 " ance and knowledge, and sends out his Seraphim, 
 " with the hallowed fire of his altar, to touch and 
 " purify whom he pleases." — Here then we see, 
 that Milton's invocations of the Divine Spirit were 
 not merely exordia pro forma, — Indeed his piose 
 works are not without their invocations. 
 
 my prompted song, else mute,'] 
 
 Milton's third wife, who survived him many 
 years, related of him, that he used to compose his 
 poetry chiefly in winter ; and on his waking in 
 a morning would riiake her write down sometime* 
 twenty or thirty verses. Being asked, whether he 
 did not often read Homer and Virgil, she under- 
 stood it as an imputation upon him for stealing 
 from those authors, and answered with eagerness, 
 " he stole from nobody but the Muse who inspired 
 " him ;" and, being asked by a lady present who 
 the Muse was, replied, " it was God's grace and 
 " the Holy Spirit that visited him nightly." 
 
 Ne'wton' s Life cf Milton. 
 
 Mr. Richardson also says, that " Milton would 
 " sometimes lie awake whole nights, but not a 
 " verse could he make ; and on a sudden his 
 " poetical fancy would rush upon him with an 
 " impetus or ctstrum," Johnson's Life of Milton, 
 
 Else mnte might have been suggested by a pas- 
 sage of Horace's most beautiful ode to the Muse ; 
 
 O testudinis aureee 
 
 Dulcem <ju«e strepitum, Fieri, temperas .' 
 O MUTis quoque piscibus 
 
 Donatura CVSM, ti libcat, sonum! 
 
 L. iv. Ode 3. 
 
 Or
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 And bear, through heighth or depth of nature's bounds, 
 With prosperous wing full summ'd, to tell of deeds 
 Above heroic, though in secret done, i 
 
 And unrecorded left through many an age ; 
 Worthy to have not remain'd so long unsung. 
 
 Or from Quinftilian ;- 
 
 " ipsam 
 
 " igitur orandi majestatem, qua nihil dii immor- 
 " tales melius homini ded;runt, et qua remota 
 " MUTA SUNT OMNIA, et luce prssctiti et me- 
 " moria posteritatis carent, toto anirao petamus." 
 L. xii. 1 1. 
 
 13. Ard hear, through heighth or depth nj nature's bounds,'] 
 
 Possibly in allusion to the expression of St. Paul, 
 ** That ye may be able to comprehend nvith nil 
 " saints, ixihat is the breadth, and length, and 
 " DEPTH, and HEIGHTH." Ephes. iii. 8. 
 
 We may compare tli • following passage of Spen- 
 ser ; which is much in Milton's own style. 
 
 Who now shall give unto me words and sound 
 
 £qual unto this haughty cnlerpriC ? 
 
 Or who shall lend me wings, with which from 
 
 GROO ND 
 
 My lowly verse may loftily arise, 
 
 And lift itsilf unto the highest skies? 
 
 More ample spirit, than hitherto was wont, 
 
 Here needs me. • 
 
 Faery Qijeen, B. ii. C, x. 1, 
 
 14. With prosperous wing full ium'n'd, — ] 
 
 We have the like expression in Paradise Lost, 
 vii. 421. 
 
 They summ'd their pens 
 
 and it was noted there that it is a term in falconry. 
 A hawk is said to be _/»// summ'd, when all his 
 feathers are grown, when he wants nothing of the 
 juia of his feathers, cui nihil de summa pennarum 
 deest, as Skinner says. 'Netxiton. 
 
 The prosperous luing full summ'd, on which the 
 poet is borne through " heighth and depth of na- 
 " ture's bounds," resembles Horace's 
 
 Non usitata, nec tenui ferar 
 Penna, biformis per liijuidum sthcia 
 
 Vates; NEguE in terris morabor 
 
 LONGIUS. — — — 
 
 L. ii. Ode so. 
 
 of deeds 
 
 Above heroic^ — j 
 
 Alluding, perhaps, in the turn of expression, to 
 
 the first verse of Lucan, 
 
 Bella per Emathio* plusquam civiiia campoi, 
 Jusque datum sceleri canimus. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 Milton, in the opening of his ninth Book of 
 the Paradise Lost, notices warlike atchievements 
 as at that time the only subjefts of heroic song; 
 
 Wars, hitherto the only argument 
 Heroic deem'd — — — — — 
 — — — — the better foititudt 
 Of patience and heroic martyrdom 
 Unsung, 
 
 ifl. And unrecorded left through many an age; 
 ii'oTthy to have not remain'd so Ijng unsungS^ 
 
 Milton, in one of his early poems, particularly 
 notices Vida's Christiad, and specifies the temp- 
 tations of Christ as making a material part of the 
 subjeft. — Vida was a native of Cremona; of which 
 place he was also elefted bishop. 
 
 These latent scenes confine my roving verse. 
 
 To this horizon is my Phoebus bound ; 
 
 His god-like afts, and his temptations fierce. 
 
 And former sufferings other where arc found ; 
 
 Loud o'er the rest Cr emon a's trump doth sound ; 
 
 Me softer airs befit. — ^— ^— 
 
 Ode on the Passion. St. 4. 
 
 It is true temptations here seem only to 
 mean trials ; but of these the temptation in the nuiU 
 derness certainly made a part. Vida's descrip- 
 tion of the Tempiatim is very short. 
 
 Now
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 No\t had the great Proclamer, with a voice 
 More awful than the sound of trumpet, cry'd 
 Repentance, and Heaven's kingdom nigh at hand 
 To all baptiz'd : to his great baptism flock'd 
 With awe the regions round, and with them came 
 From Nazareth the son of Joseph deem'd_ 
 To the flood Jordan ; came, as then obscure, 
 Unmark'd, unknown ; but him the Baptist soon 
 Descry'd, divinely warn'd, and witness bore 
 As to his worthier, and would have resign'd 
 To him his heavenly office, nor was long 
 His witness unconfirm'd : on him baptiz'd 
 
 20 
 
 iS. 
 
 with et voice 
 
 More awful than the sound of trumpet^ — ] 
 
 Lift up -WW VOICE LIKE A T%v MtZT, and shetu 
 my people thfir transgressions. Isaiah, Iviii. i. 
 
 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be 
 touched, and that burned ivith fire, nor unto black- 
 ness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of 
 A TRUMPET, and the VOICE OF WORDS; •which 
 •voice they that heard intreated that the nvord should 
 not be spoken unto them any more. Hebrews, xii. 1 8, 1 9. 
 
 10. Repentance^ and Heavfn's kingdom n*gh at hand'\ 
 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in 
 the luilderness of Judea, and saying, repent YE; 
 rOR THE KINGDOM OF HeAVEN IS AT HAND. 
 
 Mat. iii. i. 2. 
 
 to his great baptism flock'd 
 
 With awe the regiom rounds — ] 
 Then luent out to him ferusalem, and all Judtta, 
 and all the RtGlON round about Jordan. 
 Mat. iii. j. 
 
 «5- 
 
 but him the Baptist soon 
 
 Descry'd, divinely uarn'd, — ] 
 
 John the Baptist had notice given hira before, 
 
 that he might certainly know the Messiah by the 
 Holy Ghost descending and abiding upon him. 
 ^nd I knetxi him not, hut he that sent me to baptize 
 ivith luater, the same said unto me. Upon ivhom thou 
 shah see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, 
 the same is he luhich baptizeth ivith the Holy Ghost. 
 John, i. 33. But it appears from St. Matthew, 
 that the Baptist.knew him, and acknowledged him 
 before he was baptized, and before the Holy 
 Ghost descended upon him. Mat. iii. 14. / haiie 
 need to be baptized of thee, aid comtst thou to me ? 
 To account for which we must admit with Milton, 
 that another divine revelation was made to him 
 at this very time, signifying that this was the per- 
 son, of whom we had such notice before. Newton. 
 26. dii ine'v warn'd, — J 
 
 To comprehend the propriety of this word di- 
 iiinely, the reader must have his eye upon the Latin 
 divi nitus, y>-o« Heatet, since the word dininely 
 in our language scarce ever comes up to this mean- 
 ing. Milton uses it in much the same sense in 
 Paradise Lost, vii. joo. 
 
 ^hc heard mc ihut, and though d i v i n i l y brought. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 Heaven
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Heaven open'd, and in likeness of a dove 
 The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice 
 From Heaven pronounc'd him his beloved Son._i 
 ] That heard the Adversary, who, roving still 
 About the world, at that assembly fam'd 
 Would not be last, and, with the voice divine 
 Nigh thunder-struck, the exalted man, to whom 
 Such high attest was given, a while survey 'd 
 With wonder, then, with envy fraught and rage, 
 Flies to his place, nor rests, but in mid air 
 To council summons all his mighty peers. 
 Within thick clouds and dark ten-fold involv'd, 
 A gloomy consistory ; and them amidst, 
 With looks aghast and sad, he thus bespake. 
 
 7 
 3° 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 33- 
 
 the Adversary f — ] 
 
 Satan is frequently thus styled in the Paradise 
 Lost. See, iii. i j6. — vi. 281. — and, ix. 947. — 
 Satan, in Hebrew, signifies /it Ad-veisary. Hence 
 Paradise Lost, i. 81. ; 
 
 To whom the Arch-enemy, 
 
 And THENCE in Heaven call'd Satan, ■ 
 
 33- 
 
 who, roving still 
 
 About the ivorld, — ] 
 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence contest 
 thou ? Then Satan ansiuend the Lord, and said. 
 From going to and fro in the earth, and 
 
 FROM walking UP AND DOWN IN IT. Job. i. 7, 
 
 Your adversary the Devil, as a roaring 
 
 lion, WALKETH about, seeking ivhom he may 
 devour, i. Peter, v. 8. 
 
 41. Within thick clouds and darh ten-fold involv'd,'] 
 Milton, in making Satan's residence to be in 
 mid air, 'within thick cloud and dark, seems to have 
 St. Austin in his eye, who, speaking of the re- 
 
 gion of clouds, storms, thunder, &c. says — " ad 
 " ista caliginosa, id est, ad hunc aerem, tanquam 
 " ad carcerem, damnatus est diabolus, &c." Enarr. 
 in Ps. 1 48. S. 9. Tom. 5. p. 1677. Edit. Bened. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 But Milton, in his Paradise Lost, places the 
 Deity also " amidst thick clouds and dark," 
 taking his idea from the sublime descriptions ia 
 the Psalms; 
 
 " He made DARKNESS his secret place; his panj!- 
 " lion round about him luere dark waters, atid 
 " THICK cLoUDS of the skies." Psalm xviii. 11. 
 
 " Clouds and darkness are round about 
 " him." Psalm xcviii, 2. 
 
 How oft amidst 
 
 Thick clouds and dark does Heaven's all-ruling Sire 
 Choose 10 reside, his glory unobsciu'd, 
 And with the majesty of darkness round 
 Covers his throne ! 
 
 Paradisi Lost, ii. 263. 
 
 4 J. A gloomy consistory ;^^ 
 
 ThU
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 O ancient Powers of air, and this wide world, 
 (For much more wiUingly I mention air, 
 
 45 
 
 This is in imitation of Virgil, ^n. iii. 677. ; 
 
 Cerniraus astantes nequisquam lumine torvo 
 ^tncos fralres, ctrlo capita alia fcrertcs, 
 Concilium horrenddm. 
 By the word consistory, I suppose Milton intends 
 to glance at the meeting of the Pope and Cardinals 
 so named, or perhaps at the episcopal tribunal, to 
 all which sorts of courts or assemblies he was an 
 avowed enemy. The phrase concilnim horrendum 
 Vida makes use of upon a like occasion of assem- 
 bling the infernal powers. Christ. Lib. i.; 
 
 Protinus acciri diros ad regia fratre* 
 Limina concilium horrendum. 
 
 And Tasso also, in the very same manner ; 
 Cant. iv. St. 2. 
 
 Che sia commanda il popol suo raccBlto 
 (CoNCi L 10 HORRBNDol cniro la regia soglia. 
 
 Tkjer. 
 
 Gloomy consistory is similar to the description of 
 the same infernal council in the Paradise Lost, 
 where Milton terms them a dark divan ; 
 
 Forth rush'd in haste the great consulting pe.ers, 
 
 Rais'd from their dark divan, 
 
 " 457- 
 44, ancient Powers 0/ air, and this wide u.orld,'] 
 So the devil is called in scripture the prince of the 
 foiuercf ihf air, Eph.ii. 2. ande.il spirits are termed 
 the rulen of the darkness of this tuorld. Eph. vi. 12. 
 Satan here summons a council, and opjns it as he 
 did in the Paradise Los r : but here is not that 
 copiousness and variety which is in the other ; here 
 are not different speeches and sentiments adapted 
 to the dilft-rent characters; it is a council without 
 a debate ; Satan is the only speaker. And the 
 author, as if conscious of this defect, has artfully 
 endeavoured to obviate the objeflion, by saying 
 that their danger 
 
 ■ admin no long debate, 
 
 But must with tomething sudden be oppos'd. 
 
 And afterwards. 
 
 no time was then 
 
 lor long indulgeuce to their fcati or grief. 
 
 The true reason is, he found it impossible to exceed 
 or equal the speeches in his former council, and 
 therefore has assigned the best reason he could for 
 not making any in this. Newton. 
 
 The objeft of this council, it should be recollefled, 
 is not to debate, but merely for Satan to commu- 
 nicate to his compeers his apprehensions of their 
 approaching danger, and to receive from them a 
 sort of commission to act, in prevention of if, as 
 circumstances might require, and as he should judge 
 best. This gives the poet an opportunity of laying 
 open the motives and general designs of the great 
 antagonist of his hero. A council, with a debate 
 of equal length to that in the second Book of the 
 Paradise Lost, would have been totally dispropor- 
 tionate to this brief epic ; which, from the nature 
 of its subjcft, already perhaps abounds too much 
 in speeches. — In the second book of this poem, 
 where this infernal council is again assembled, a 
 debate is introduced, which, though short, is very 
 beautiful. 
 
 44. ancient Powers of air, and this wide world, 
 (For much more willingly I mention air. 
 This our old conquest, than remember Hell, 
 Our hated habitation,) well ye knsw ^c.^ 
 
 " Every parenthesis" says Lord Monboddo, 
 " should contain matter of weight; and if it throw* 
 " in some passion or feeling, it is so much the better, 
 " because it furnishes the speaker with a proper oc- 
 " casion to vary the tones of his voice, which ought 
 " always to be done in speaking a parenthesis, but is 
 " never more properly done than when some passion 
 " is to be expressed." Origin and Progress of 
 Language, Part II. B. iv. 6. This precept is 
 carried too far, when applied to every parenthesis; 
 as it excludes entirely the parenthesis of mere ex- 
 planation, which is often a ver)' necessary figure. 
 But it must be allowed that where a parenthesis, 
 containing " matter of weight and pathos," is 
 introduced in a speech, it has certainly a fine 
 effcft ; of which this passage of the Paradise 
 Regained is an eminently striking instance. — 
 
 " 1 h«
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 This our old conquest, than remember Hell, 
 Our hated habitation,) v/ell ye know 
 How many ages, as the years of men. 
 This universe we have possess'd, and rul'd, 
 In manner at our will, the affairs of earth. 
 Since Adam and his facil consort Eve 
 Lost Paradise, deceiv'd by me ; though since 
 Vv^ith dread attending when that fatal wound 
 
 50 
 
 " Ancients," the same writer had just before ob- 
 served, " were fond of the parenthesis ; and parti- 
 cularly Demosthenes. " Milton," he adds, " in 
 this as in other things followed their taste and 
 judgment, thinking he could not vary his compo- 
 sition sufficiently, nor sometimes convey the sense, 
 so forcibly as he could wish, without the use of this 
 
 figure." 1 cannot but express my surprise 
 
 that this writer, to whom we are indebted for so 
 many judicious criticisms on Milton's style of com- 
 position, should never, (in any one instance, I 
 believe,) have cited a single passage from the 
 Paradise Regained. Possibly, like many other 
 learned persons, he is but little acquainted with 
 this poem ; which, I conceive, would have furnished 
 him with examples as striking, and as closely 
 applying to many of his remarks on the writings 
 of our author, as any that he has himself selefted 
 from the Paradise Lust. Indeed I cannot help 
 fancying that the general tenour of his observations 
 applies more direflly to this second poem than 
 even to the Paradise Lost; particularly where, 
 having noticed the great skill of the Ancients in 
 composition, he points out Milton as singularly 
 forming his style on their chaste model, and abound- 
 ing in passages which are " beautiful and sublime, 
 withoi:t metaphor or figure, or any thing of what is 
 Tiovr C3X\e.& fne language !" (See Dissertation 
 On the Composition of the Ancients, at the end of the 
 SECOND Volume of the Origin and Progress 
 OF Language.)— —If I am right in this suppo- 
 
 sition ; if it should happen to be the fact that the 
 learned critic has, from the consideration of the 
 Paradise Lost alone, deduced a variety of obser- 
 vations on the excellence of our author's style and 
 composition, which in a particular manner apply 
 to the Paradise Regained ; — it seems necessarily 
 to follow that Milton, instead of sinking beneath 
 the allowed perfeftion of his preceding poem, has 
 in this last work not only continued to write in his 
 ustial dignified and classical manner, but has even 
 carried his mode of writing to a higher degree of 
 eminence, so as more strikingly to exemplify the 
 species of excellence attributed to him by the author 
 of the Origin and Progress of Language, 
 
 4J- 
 
 This our old conquest ^ — ] 
 
 through the air, 
 
 The REALM ITSELt OP SaTAN LONG USI'Rp'd; 
 
 Paradise Lost, x. 188. 
 
 his faeil consort Eve'] 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, ix. 1158. 
 
 Too FACIL then thou didst not much gainsay, 
 Nay didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss. 
 
 And again, B. iv. 967. 
 
 The TAciL gales of Hell too sh'ghtly bart'd — 
 
 53. attending—'] 
 
 ■i. e. •waiting, ex felling; from the French attendri. 
 
 Oi" in their pearly shells at case attend 
 
 Moist nutiimcnt- 
 C 
 
 Paradise Lost, vii. 407.
 
 lO 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK T. 
 
 Shall be infliaed by the seed of Eve 
 
 Upon my head. Long the decrees of Heaven ^^ 
 
 Delay, for longest time to him is short ; 
 
 And nowj too soon for us, the circling hours 
 
 This dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we 
 
 Must bide the stroke of that long-threaten'd wound, 
 
 (At least if so we can, and by the head 60 
 
 Broken be not intended all our power 
 
 To be infring'd, our freedom and our being, 
 
 My dissolution- 
 
 and patiently attind 
 
 Ibid. xi. 551. 
 
 Milton frequently makes use of Gallicisms. 
 Thus he has defend, in this poem, in the sense of 
 forbid, from the French defendre ; 
 
 no intcrdiG 
 
 Detends the touching of these viands pure.— 
 
 ii. 370. 
 
 And in Paradise Lost, xi. S6. he terras the 
 forbidden fruit, " that defended fruit." 
 
 53- 
 
 uhcn that Jatil wound 
 
 Shall be injlidcd by the seed of Eve 
 Upon my Am^/.— ] 
 Between thee and the woman I will put 
 Enmity, and between her and thy seed ; 
 Her sEEa shall bkuis£ thy head, thou bruise 
 his heel. 
 
 Paradise Lost, x. 179. 
 
 55- -^^— — ^— Long the decrees of Heaven 
 Delay, for longest time to him is short /] 
 
 " This observation, that " the decrees of Heaven 
 " are long delayed," must be understood as being 
 rimitcd to this particular instance ; or to its being 
 sometimes, nor always so. Why any interval should 
 ever occur between the decrees of the Almighty 
 and his execution of them, a reason is immediately 
 lubjoined, which forms a peculiarly fine transition 
 to the succeeding sentence. Time is as nothing to 
 the Deity; long and short having in fact no exist- 
 ence to a Being with whom ail duration is present. 
 
 Time to human beings has its stated measurement,, 
 and by this Satan had just before estimated it; 
 
 How many ages, as the years of men, 
 This universe we have possess'd,- 
 
 Time to guilty beings, human or spiritual, passes 
 so quick, that the hour of punishment, however 
 protrafled, always comes too soon ; 
 
 And now, too soon for us, the circling hours 
 
 Tliis dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we 
 
 Must bide the stroke of that long-tureaten'd wound. 
 
 bl- 
 
 the circling hours~\ 
 
 Milton seems fond of this expression to mark the 
 recurrence of times and seasons. In the opening 
 of the SIXTH Book of the Paradise Lost, he 
 describes the morn 
 
 Walt'd by the circling hours- 
 
 And in the seventh Book, Ver. 342, bespeak* 
 
 of the 
 
 -^— — — CIRCLING years. 
 
 Thus Virgil, Georgic. ii. 402^ 
 
 — ^-^— — ledit labor aftus in orbem, 
 Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus.' 
 
 Kt;xXsiu to circle, as used by the Greek poets, some- 
 times signifies to lead the choral dance. — The circling 
 hours, then, are the same " with the hours in dance." 
 
 universal Pan, 
 
 Knit with the Graces and the hours in danci, 
 
 Led on the eternal spring 
 
 Fasaoise Lost, iv, 266. 
 
 In
 
 SOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 n 
 
 In this fair empire won of earth and air,) 
 
 For this ill news I bring, the woman's seed, 
 
 Destin'd to this, is late of woman born. 6^ 
 
 His birth to our just fear gave no small cause ; 
 
 But his growth now to youth's full flower, displaying 
 
 All virtue, grace, and wisdom to achieve 
 
 Things highest, greatest, multiplies my fear. 
 
 Before him a great prophet, to proclaim 70 
 
 His coming, is sent harbinger, who all 
 
 Invites, and in the consecrated stream 
 
 Pretends to wash off sin, and fit them, so 
 
 Purified, to receive him pure, or rather 
 
 To do him honor as their king : all come, 75 
 
 And he himself among them was baptiz'd, 
 
 Not thence to be more pure, but to receive 
 
 The testimony of Heaven, that who he is 
 
 Thenceforth the nations may not doubt ; I saw 
 
 The prophet do him reverence ; on him, rising 80 
 
 Out of the water, Heaven above the clouds 
 
 74. Purified^ to receive him pure, — ] 
 
 Alluding to the Scripture expression, i John, 
 ill. 3. j4/!d e'very man that hath this hope in him, 
 fURIFIETH HIMSELF EVEN AS HE IS PURE. 
 
 Newton, 
 
 81. .— — ^-^— ^— Heaven above tlie clouds 
 Vnjold her crystal doors ; — ] 
 
 Thus Milton, in his Latin poem on the death of 
 Felton, Bp. of Ely, written at the age of seventeen; 
 
 Erraticorum sidenim per ordines, 
 •Per lafteas vehor plagas, 
 
 Velocitatem sxpe miratus novani ; 
 
 Donee kitentes ad FOREi 
 Ventum est Olvmpi, et keciam crystaili. 
 
 NAM, et 
 
 Stratum smaragdis atrium. 
 
 St. Matthew (iii. i6.) says, the Heavens iwere 
 
 OPENED ; St. Mark (i. lO.) that they were cloueK 
 
 or rent, a;^i^oft!vct<.:. Thus also, Psalm Ixxviii. 230 
 
 So he commanded the clouds abo'vc, and opened 
 
 THE DOORS OF HeAVEN. 
 
 The Latin and Greek poets describe the Heavens 
 absolutely optnedt or hurst asunder, 
 
 C 2 Thu»
 
 ti 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 »00K I. 
 
 Unfold her crystal doors ; thence on his head 
 A perfect dove descend, (whate'er it meant,) 
 
 Thus Virgil, --i^N. ix. zo. 
 
 . video MEDIUM 1>ISCEDERE CCELUM, 
 
 where some copies read discitidere ; and Homer, 
 II. viii. J54. 
 
 ifaioS^K o" af 'YEPPArH aorelo; aiSiif. 
 
 II. viii. 558. 
 
 Wetstein, en the passage in St. Mark above 
 referred to, cites from Phlegon the phrase EiXISGH 
 "O OYPANor. — Livy, relating the prodigies which 
 preceded Hannibal's entrance into Italy in tlie second 
 Punic war, mentions a great light that was said 
 to have shone at Falerii from the Heavens, iiihich 
 appeared to be rent -with a great chasn,. — " Faleriis 
 
 «' CCELUM FINDI visUm VEL.UT MAGNO HIATU ; 
 
 " quaqucpatuerit, ingens lumen effulsisse." L. xxii. 
 C. I. — Pliny speaks of " cceli ipsius hiatus, 
 «' quod vocant chasma." L. ii. C. 26. — And 
 Seneca says, " Sunt chasmata, cum aliquando 
 " CCELI spATiUM DiscEDiT, ct flammam de- 
 " HiscENS velut inabditoostentat." Nat. Qu.tsx. 
 L. i. C. 14. — See Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon ; 
 Vox, Sx'^'^' 
 
 83. A perJtB dove dcscind, — ] 
 
 He had expressed it before, Ver. 30. in lihncss 
 »f a d(yve, agreeably to St. Matthew, the Spirit of 
 Cod descending like a dofe, iii. 1 6. and to St. Mark, 
 the Spirit like a do've descending upon him, i. 10. 
 But as Luke says, that the Holy Ghost descended in 
 a bodily shape, iii. 22. the poet supposes with Tcr- 
 tullian, Austin, and others of the fathers, that it 
 was a real dove, as the painters always leprcsent it. 
 
 Netcton, 
 
 Ihe ancient fathers were in general of this 
 opinion ; but some of the later commentators con- 
 sider the w^n w£firi;a» to relate only to the manner 
 of a dove's descending upon any tiling, and suppose 
 that the luminous appearance, which issued from 
 the skies, came down upon Christ, and hung hover- 
 ing over his head, after the manner and motion of 
 a dove. It is difficult however to reconcile this 
 
 with what is said (Luke, iii. 22.) that " the Holy 
 " Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a 
 " DOVE." Bp. Pearce indeed understands the words 
 era/Aotixi; EiJii not to mean bodily shnpe, but rather 
 bodily appearance ; for " Luke," says he, " means 
 " by tijo; what Joha eiJs sa-M, namely, the Holy 
 <■ Ghost manifesting himself in a bright light or 
 " g'oO'' called by the Jews the Shechinak, which 
 " light had a bodily appearance, and descended 
 " upon Jesus after the same manner as a dove de- 
 
 " scends to the earth." But nothing can be 
 
 plainer or more determinate than the expression of 
 St. Luke ; and it matters little whether we render 
 <7-a'f,aTix.rj £1^(1 bodily shape, or bodily appearance. 
 The question is not whether the Holy Spirit de- 
 scended in the real corporeal form of a dove; but 
 whether it descended apparently in the shape of a 
 dove, or resembled a dove only in its manner of 
 descending, and not in its bodily shape or appearance. 
 It is not easy to understand what Bp. Pearce means 
 by the Shechinah, or Divine Light, having a bodily 
 appearance; a term which surely cannot be applied 
 to light. A bodily appearance must imply somewhat 
 that has, or appears to have, dimensions, and that 
 is, or seems to be, tangible; and the word o-w/iarixw 
 seems purposely used in contradistinftion to a spi- 
 ritual appearance, such as the light on Mount Sinai 
 and the Shechinah. Fire and light, considered as 
 abstrafted. from burning bodies, have no bodily 
 appearance ; and to ascribe any such to them is 
 to pervert both faift and language. 
 
 Milton, where he says, from scriptural authority, 
 that " God is Light," (Paradise Lost, iii. 3.) 
 describes light, not as having the semblance of a 
 body, but as 
 
 Bright effluence of bright essence increate. 
 
 Vida, like Milton, describes the Holy Ghost 
 descending as a " perfeA dove ;" 
 
 Proiinus aur'fluo Jordanes gurgite fulsit, 
 Et jupcrum vasto intonuit domus alta fragore : 
 Insupcr ct coeli claro delapsa columba est 
 Vcrlicc per puium, caodcnti argentca pluma 
 
 Terga,
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 13 
 
 And out of Heaven the sovran voice I heard, 
 " This is my Son belov'd, in him am pleas'd." 
 His mother then is mortal, but his sire 
 He who obtains the monarchy of Heaven : 
 And what will he not do to advance his Son ? 
 His first-begot we kno\'^^ and sore have felt, 
 When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep 
 Who this is we must learn, for man he seems 
 In all his lineaments, though in his face 
 
 85 
 
 Tcrga, sed auratis circum et tuti'lantibus alis : 
 Jamque viam late signans super astitit ambos, 
 Cociestique aura pendens aHlavic utrumque. 
 Vox siniul ct magni rubra genitoris at* £et!:ra 
 Audua est, nad dulccm testautis amorem. 
 
 Christiad, iv. at4. 
 
 S5. His mother then is mortal, but his sire 
 Be who obtains the monarchy of Heaven .■] 
 
 A virgin is his mother, Btn his sire 
 The power oc" the most high, ■ 
 
 Paradise I,ost, xli. 368. 
 
 87. He toho obtains the monarchy of Heaven ;] 
 Obtains is in the sense of obiiiita in Latin ; to 
 hold, retain, or govern. 
 
 89. —— and sore have felt f 
 
 When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep ;J 
 
 In reference to the sublime description, in the 
 Paradise Lost, of the Messiah driving the rebel 
 Angels out of Heaven; 
 
 Full soon 
 
 Among them he arriv'd, in his .iicHT HAND 
 
 Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent 
 
 Before him, such as in their souls infix'd 
 
 Plagues ; they astonish'd all resistance lo-t, 
 
 All courage ; down their idle weapons dropp'd ; 
 
 O'er shifTds and helms and helmed heads he rode 
 
 Ot' Thrones and mighty Seraphims prosiiatc, 
 
 ♦ **■»**«*»«»♦ 
 
 Yet half his urcngth he put not forth, but chcck'd 
 His thunder in mid voliey ; for he meant 
 Not to destroy, but root them out of Heaven : 
 
 The overthrown he rais'd, and, as a herd 
 Of goats or timorous flock together throng'd, 
 Drove them b; fore him thu nder-st.il'CK, pur- 
 sued 
 With terrors and with furies, to the bounds 
 And crystal wall of Heaven, which opening wide 
 Roll'd inward, and a spacious gap disclos'd 
 Into the wasteful deep; the monstrous sight 
 Struck them with horror backward, but far worse 
 Urg'd ihcm behind ; headlong themselves they threw 
 Down from the verge of Feavcn; eternal wratm 
 Burnt after them to the bottomless pit. 
 
 Ti. 834. 
 gl. Who this is zve must /earn, — ] 
 
 Our author favors the opinion of those writers, 
 Ignatius and others among the ancients, and Beza 
 and others among the moderns, who believed that 
 the Devil, though he might know Jesus to be some 
 extraordinary person, yet knew him not to be the 
 Messiah, the Son of God. Xe'zuton. 
 
 It was requisite for the poet to assume this 
 opinion, as it is a necessary hinge on which part 
 of the poem turns, 
 
 92. In ali his lineaments, — J 
 
 Milton, in the fifth Book of his ParadIsi 
 Lost, describing Raphael, when on his arrival at 
 Paradise, he resumes his own proper shape of " a 
 " seraph wing'd," says 
 
 —— six wings he wore to shade 
 
 His LINEAUENTt UIVIKK- 
 
 The
 
 H 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 The glimpses of his father's glory shine. 
 
 Ye see our danger on the utmost edge 
 
 Of hazard, which admits no long debate, 
 
 But must with something sudden be oppos'd, 
 
 (Not force, but wcU-couch'd fraud, well-woven snares,) 
 
 95 
 
 93' ^^' glimpsis of his Fathcfs glory Mnc.'\ 
 
 Milton, in almost every place of the Paradise 
 
 Lost, where the Son of God is mentioned, speaks 
 
 of him in terms somewhat similar. 
 
 on his right 
 
 The radiant i.vage of his glory sat, 
 His only Son — — 
 
 iii. 62 
 
 Beyond compare the Son of God was seen 
 
 Most glorious, in him all his jather shone 
 
 Substantially express'd 
 
 Thee next they sang, of all creation first. 
 
 Begotten Son, divine similitude. 
 
 In whose coMsricuous countenance without 
 
 CLOUD 
 
 Made visible the al.migutv father shines, 
 \Vhom else no creature can behold ; on thee 
 
 ImPRESS'd the EFFULCENCEOr HIS CLORY ABIDES, 
 
 Transfus'd on thee his ample spirit rests. 
 
 Son, thou in whom my glory i behold 
 
 In full nsplcndence . 
 
 V. 719. 
 Effulgence of my glory, Son belov'd, 
 
 Son, IN whose face invisible is BEHELD 
 VlSISLV, what by DEITY I AM .— ^ 
 
 SSj- 
 
 vi. 680. 
 
 94- 
 
 on the utmost edge 
 
 Of hazard^ — J 
 
 Bp. Newton says this is borrowed from Shake- 
 speare's All's well that ends well. Ad III. 
 Scene 3. 
 
 We'll strive to bear it, for your worthy sake, 
 To the extreme edge of hazard ; 
 
 It is certainly a strong coincidence of expression. 
 But Milton may be supposed to have had in his 
 mind a passage in Homer : from whom Shake- 
 speare might also have borrowed a metaphor so 
 perfeftly Grecian, by the means of his friend 
 Chapman's version. 
 
 Ny» yaf ir, iramiriri) Em HTPOY I2TATAI 
 
 AKMH2 
 H fjt.ci}iX T^Ej-j/po; c>.59po? Ap^aisK, >)£ ^lutxi, 
 
 II. X. 17J. 
 
 Each single Greek, in this conclusive strife, 
 Stands on the sharpest edge of death, or life. 
 
 Pofie. 
 
 For the very frequent use of Eiri |ufa aK/*);?, 
 among the Greek writers, see a note of Valckenaer 
 
 on Herodotus, L. vi. C. 1 1 . And Warton on 
 
 Tkeacritrts, Idyll, xxii. 6. 
 
 Milton has twice used nearly the same expression 
 in his Paradise Lost ; 
 
 — — ^^— on the perilous edci 
 
 Of battle, when it rag'd, — — 
 
 i. 276. 
 
 On the rough edge of battle, ere it join'd, 
 
 vi. 108. 
 
 where I am not a little surprised to find Bp. Newton 
 and Dr. Jortin both endeavouring to trace out the 
 phrase, without being at all aware that it was so 
 common an expression among the Greeks, as to be 
 quite proverbial. See Lucian, Jupit. Tagced. 
 Tom. ii. p. 605. Ed. Reitz. 
 
 97, — i^^.— zt)elI-eouch*d J'rau<i,-^2 
 
 Satan, in the begfinning of the fourth Book of 
 Paradise Lost, having, while addressing his fine 
 speech to the Sun, manifested by his furious ges- 
 tures the violent passions that agitated him, is de- 
 scribed as presently assuming a more tranquil ap- 
 pearance, for fear of observation or discovery. The 
 description of this is consistent with the charafter of 
 fraud and artifice, which this part of his speech 
 here displays; and has some resemblance to it in 
 the expressions. It is said that he 
 
 Each perturbation smooth 'd with outward calm, 
 Artificer of fraud j and was the first 
 
 That
 
 'BOOK t. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 15 
 
 Ere in the head of nations he appear, 
 
 Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth. 
 
 I, when no other durst, sole undertook 
 
 The dismal expedition to find out 
 
 And ruin Adam ; and the exploit perform'd 
 
 Successfully : a calmer voyage now 
 
 Will waft me ; and the way, found prosperous once, 
 
 Induces best to hope of like success. 
 
 He ended, and his words impression left 
 Of much amazement to the infernal crew. 
 
 100 
 
 '05 
 
 That praftis'd falsehood under saintly show, 
 Deep malice to conceal, couch'd with revenge — 
 97. -^^-^^ .^^—— lucll woven jnarcj,] 
 
 Thus Virgil, JEs. vi. 57c. ; 
 
 fraus inexa clienti ; 
 
 And Silius Italiciis, iii. 233.; 
 
 — — docilis fallendi, ct nectere tictos 
 Arte dolos; i 
 
 100, /, zvken no other durst, sole undertook 
 The dismal expedition &c. — ] 
 
 The fear and unwillingness of the other fallen 
 Angels to undertake this dismal expedition, is thus 
 described in the Paradise Lost ; 
 ^— ^^^— AU sat mute, 
 Pondering the danger with deep thoughts; and each 
 In others countenance read his own dismay 
 Astonish'd : none, among the choice and prime 
 Of those heaven-warring champions, could be found 
 so hardy as to proffer or accept 
 Alone the dreadful voyage 
 
 ii 4x0. 
 
 The speech of Satan, which follows, is supremely 
 excellent. I cannot but figure to myself the poet, 
 conscious of its sublime merit, referring in this 
 place with secret satisfaftion to the highly- finished 
 conclusion of it. 
 
 But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, 
 
 And this imperial sovereignty, adorn'd 
 
 With splendor, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd. 
 
 And judg'd of public moment, in the shape 
 
 Of difficulty or danger could deter 
 
 Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume 
 
 These royalties, and not refuse to reign, 
 
 Refu'.ing to accept as great a share 
 
 Of hazard as of honor, due alike 
 
 To him who reigns, and so much to him due 
 
 Of hazard more as he above the rest 
 
 High-honor'd sits ? Go therefore, mighty Poweri, 
 
 Terror of Heaven, though fallen ; intend at liome. 
 
 While here shall be our home, what best may ease 
 
 The present misery, and render Hell 
 
 More tolerable, if there be cure or charm 
 
 To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain 
 
 Of this ill mansion : intermit no watch 
 
 Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad, 
 
 Through all the coasts of dark dcstruftion, seek 
 
 DeRverance for us all ; this enterprise 
 
 None shall partake with me. 
 
 44f- 
 
 103. 
 
 a calmer voyage now 
 
 Will waft me ;] 
 
 Thus, in Paradise Lost, ii. i04r, where 
 Satan begins to emerge out of chaos, i: is said 
 the remainder of the journey became so much 
 easier. 
 
 That Satan with less toil, and now with ease, 
 Waits on the calmer wave 
 
 Distra<5led
 
 i6 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Distraclcd and surpris'd with deep dismay 
 At these sad tidings ; but no time was then 
 For long indulgence to their fears or grief : 
 Unanimous they all commit the care 
 And management of this main enterprize 
 To him, their great dictator, whose attempt 
 At first against mankind so well had thriv'd 
 In Adam's overthrow, and led their march 
 From Hell's deep vaulted den to dwell in light. 
 Regents, and potentates, and kings, yea Gods, 
 Of many a pleasant realm and province wide. 
 So to the coast of Jordan he direcls 
 His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles. 
 
 no 
 
 115 
 
 120 
 
 116. 
 
 lull's deep vaulted den — ] 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, there are some similar 
 descriptions of Hell. It is termed 
 
 • the FIERV CONCAVE— 
 
 ii, 6^^. 
 And the Devils are described. 
 
 Hovering on wing under the cope of hell. 
 
 '• 345- 
 And speaking of Satan, when he has raised him- 
 self from the barning lake, and moves on the dry 
 land of the infernal regions, it is said, 
 
 the torrid clime 
 
 Smolc on him sore besides, vaulted with firs. 
 
 i. 297. 
 "7- R'gents, and potentates, and kings, yea Gods, 
 
 Of many a pleasant realm and province zvide.'j 
 
 ' god-like shapes, and forms 
 
 Excelling human, princely dignities, 
 And powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones. 
 
 Paradise Lost, i. 358. 
 
 119. to the coast 0/ Jordan— 1 
 
 The wilderness, "where our Saviour underwent 
 liis forty days temptation, was on the same bank of 
 
 Jordan where the baptism of John was ; St. Luke 
 witnessing it, that Jesus being now baptized, L':rir- 
 (f^yfj UTTO Ta Iofsa>t, returned from Jordan. 
 
 Netjuton. 
 120. His easy steps, — ] 
 
 In reference, (as Bp. Newton has observed,) (o 
 the calmness or easiness of his present expedition, 
 compared with the danger and difficulty of his 
 former one to ruin mankind. Accordingly Satan 
 in the conclusion of his speech had said, 
 
 a calmer voyage now 
 
 Shall waft me; 
 
 But easj steps seem here also to include an intended 
 contrast with a passage in the first Book of the 
 Paradise Lost, where, speaking of Satan, it is 
 said. 
 
 His spear, to equal which the tallest pine, 
 Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast 
 Of some great ammiral, were but a wand. 
 He walk'd with, to support uneasy step* 
 Over the burning marlc. 
 
 120. — __ girded uith snaty^uiles,'] 
 
 ag*. 
 Girded
 
 BOOK r. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 17 
 
 Where he might Ukeliest find this new-declar'd, 
 This man of men, attested Son of God, 
 Temptation and all guile on him to try ; 
 So to subvert whom he suspedled rais'd 
 To end his reign on earth, so long enjoy'd : 
 But, contrary, unweeting he fulfiU'd 
 The purposed counsel, prc-ordain'd and fix'd. 
 Of the most High; who, in full frequence bright 
 Of Angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake. 
 
 125 
 
 Girded •with snaky •wiles alludes to the habits of 
 sorcerers and necromancers, who are represented in 
 some prints as girded about the middle with the 
 skins of snakes and serpents. AVtv/o;/. 
 
 But girded here seems used only in a metaphorical 
 sense; as in Scripture the Christian, properly armed, 
 is described having his lr,ins girt about luiih truth. 
 (Ephes. vi. 14.) " Girded •with snaky 'wiles" is 
 equivalent to the " dolis insirudus" of Virgil, 
 !£.'{. ii. I 52. — Thus also, in the beginning of the 
 THIRD Book of this poem, Satan is described. 
 
 At length cor, lkcting all hisserpint wilki, 
 
 is8. ———^— m full frequence — ] 
 
 Thus, in the Paradise Lost, i. 794.; 
 
 The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim 
 In cloie recess and secret conclave sat, 
 A thoiiiand demi-gods on golden seals, 
 
 fREQUENT AND FULL. 
 
 And he has the same expression oi full frequence, 
 in the second Book of this poem, Ver. 130, 
 
 119. 
 
 thus to Gabriel smiling spalte."] 
 
 This speech is properly addressed to Gabriel, 
 among the Angels, as he seems to have been 
 the Angel particularly employed In the em- 
 bassies and transa<flions relating to t!ie Gospel. 
 Gabriel was sent to inform Daniel of the famous 
 prophecy of the seventy weeks ; Gabriel notified 
 the coarepti^ . of John the Baptist to his father 
 
 Zacharias, and of our blessed Saviour to his Virgin 
 Mother. The Jewish Rabbis say that Michael was 
 the minister of severity, but Gabriel of mercy: 
 accordingly our poet makes Gabriel the guardian 
 angel of Paradise, and employs Michael to expel 
 our first parents out of Paradise : and for the same 
 reason this speech is direfted to Gabriel in par- 
 ticular. Ke'wtan. 
 Tasso speaking of Gabriel, who is the Mes- 
 senger of the Deity to Godfrey, in the opening of 
 the Gerusalemme Liberatn, says 
 
 E tra Dio qucsU e 1' animc migliori 
 Inurprelc fcdel, nuncio giocondo : 
 Giii i dccrcti del ciel porta, ed al cielo 
 Riporta dimortali i preghi, e '1 zelo. 
 
 'Twixt God and touts of men that righteous been 
 Ambassador ii he for ever blest ; 
 The ju»t commands of Heaven's eternal King, 
 'Twixt skies and earth, he up and down doth bring. 
 
 Fairfax. 
 J2Q, .— .—- — ^-^— — smiling spake.'[ 
 
 Smiling is here no casual expletive. It is a word 
 of infinitely fine efFeft, and is particularly meant 
 to contrast the description of Satan, in the pre- 
 ceding part of the Book, where his " gloomy 
 " consistory" uf infernal Peers, it is said. 
 
 With looks aghast and sad he thus bespake. 
 
 The bene'volent smile of the Deity is finely do. 
 BCiibed by Virgil, iEN. i. 254. 
 
 D Oili
 
 i3 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, 130 
 
 Thou and all Angels conversant on earth 
 With man or men's affairs, how I begin 
 To verify that solemn message, late 
 On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure 
 In Galilee, that she should bear a son, 1^55 
 
 Great in renown, and cali'd the Son of God ; 
 Then told'st her, doubting how these things could be 
 To her a virgin, that on her should come 
 The Holy Ghost, and the power of the Highest 
 O'ershadov/ her. This man, born and nov/ up-grown, 140 
 
 OlU svBKiDENs hominum sator atque Deorum, 
 
 VuLTU, aUO caLUM TXMPESTATESGUE SEKZNAT. 
 
 130. 
 
 hy prooJ~^'\ 
 
 This is an allusion to the old trial by combat. 
 The duel, or trial by combat, is defined by Fleta, 
 " singularis pugna inter duos AD probandam 
 " VERITATEM LITIS, et qui 'vicit PROBASSE />/- 
 " telligitur." 
 
 Thus in the opening of this poem ; 
 
 and brought*5t him tlience 
 
 By PROOF the undoubted Son of God 
 
 331. Thou and all Angels conversant on earih 
 With nun or mtn^s a^airs-,—;~\ 
 
 This seems lo be taken from the verses attributed 
 to Orpheus ; 
 
 Ay/iXi,!, oiiTi (*jfi)]\! |9foTo>{ tJf itana, TfAsiTai. 
 
 i^fwtot!. 
 13'/. Then lold'sl he>, — ] 
 
 Milton sometimes, from a wish to compress, 
 latinises, so as to obscure and confuse his language 
 considerably. — The sense, which he intends here, 
 is plainly Thou told'st her &c. ; so that told'it is 
 used here as equivalent to the Latin dixisti, with 
 its pronominal nominative understood ; but which 
 
 our language positively requires to be expressed, 
 unless where the verb is connefted by a conjunc- 
 tion with some other verb dependent on the same 
 pronoun. He has adopted the same mode of writing 
 in other places; particularly Ver. z2i, of this Book, 
 
 Yet held it more humane, &c. 
 
 where the passage is perfeftly confused for want of 
 
 the pronoun I. See also Ver. 85 of this^ 
 
 Book. 
 
 We may in this respecl apply to our author what 
 Cicero has said of the ancient orators ; " Grandes 
 " erant verbis, crebri sententiis, compressione 
 
 " RERUM BREVES, ET OB EAM IPSAM CAUSAM 
 
 " iNTERDUM suBOBSCURi."—— Brutus, 29. 
 Ed. Proust. 
 
 137. Then told'st her, doubting how these things could it 
 To her a virgin, that on her should come 
 The Holy Ghost, and the power of the Highest 
 Overshadow he? . — ] 
 
 7'hen said Mary unto the Angel, HcM shall this 
 be, seeing I knotu not a man ? — ylnd the Angel 
 ans-wered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall 
 come upon thee, and the potver of the Highest shall 
 overshaJotii thee, Luke, i. 341 3 J. 
 
 To
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ^9 
 
 To show him worthy of his birth divine 
 
 And high prediction, henceforth I expose 
 
 To Satan ; let him tempt, and now assay 
 
 His utmost subtlety, because he boasts 
 
 And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 
 
 Of his apostasy : he might have learnt 
 
 Less overweening, since he fail'd in Job, 
 
 Whose constant perseverance overcame 
 
 Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. 
 
 He now shall know I can produce a man, 
 
 Of female seed, far abler to resist 
 
 All his solicitations, and at length 
 
 AH his vast force, and drive him back to Hell ; 
 
 Winning, by conquest, what the first man lost, 
 
 By fallacy surpris'd. But first I mean 
 
 To exercise him in the wilderness ; 
 
 There he shall first lay down the rudiments 
 
 Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth 
 
 To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes. 
 
 H5 
 
 150 
 
 :)j 
 
 144. 
 
 buauii he halts 
 
 And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 
 Of his apostasy ;— ] 
 
 This alludes, says Mr. Thyer, to what Satan 
 said to his companions, Ver. 100. ; 
 
 I, when no other durst, sole undertook tec. 
 
 i^j. the throng 
 
 Of his apostasy : — ] 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, ix. 142.; 
 
 and thinner left thk thboso 
 
 Or HIS ADORERS' ' 
 
 146. Of his apostasy i—l 
 
 i. e. of his apostates. In the twelfth Book 
 of the Paradise Lost, there is the same figure of 
 speech, where the Angel describes Abraham passing 
 over the Euphrates, followed by 
 
 ._——.—' a cumbrous train 
 Of flocks and herds, and numerout sXRViTuor. 
 
 «3>; 
 
 By
 
 so 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 By humiliation and strong sufferance : 
 His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength, 
 And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh. 
 That all the Angels and ethereal Powers, 
 They now, and men hereafter, may discern. 
 From what consummate virtue I have chose 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 1 60 
 
 '65 
 
 the rudiinaits 
 
 OJ his great tiarfart,—'] 
 
 Primilix juvcnis miserx, BELL19UE propinqui 
 
 DuKA HUBlMt NTA— — — 
 
 Virg X.ti. xi. 156. 
 
 Quod y\ MiLiTi.t jam tf, pucr inclyte, prim.« 
 
 Clara rudiminta, ct csilrorum dulce vocaret 
 
 Auspicium 
 
 S'.at. 5 Sv LV. ii. 3. 
 
 j^Q, _^.^-.-. Sin arid Death, the tu.'0 grand J'oei,'] 
 
 Among the various events described in the 
 TENTH Book of the Paradisi Lost, as conse- 
 quent to the Fall of Man, a material one is the 
 entrance of Sin and Death into this world; the 
 circumstances of which are finely painted. 
 
 160. By humiiiation — ] 
 
 The Almighty, in the third Book of the 
 Paradise Lost, says to his Son, 
 
 Thercfnrc thy humiliation shall txalt 
 With thee thy mjnhood also to his throne. 
 
 313- 
 
 161. His weakness shall o*ercome Satanic strength^ 
 
 Thus in theyfrj/ Epistle to the Corinthians, C. i. 
 V, zy. And God halb chosen the ixtal things of the 
 •world to confound the things ivhich are mighty. 
 
 But the proper reference here is more probably 
 to the second vcrse of the eighth Psalm. Out of the 
 mouth of babel and sucklings hast thou ordained 
 ttrength, because of thine enemies ; and that thou 
 mightest still the enemy and the avenger. This 
 Psalm is considered by commentators as a 4"»^f*°5 
 urinitio,- : Bp. Patrick supposes it to have been 
 composed by David after bis victory over Goliah, 
 
 " which," he adds, " was a lively emblem of 
 " Christ's conquest over our great enemy." Thi* 
 latter is clearly the prophetic sense of the verse 
 just cited ; which is accordingly referred to as such 
 by our Lord himself, Mat. xxi. 16. 
 
 We may compare Paradise Lost, xii. 567. 
 
 1 6a. And all the world y — ] 
 
 / have OVERCOME the world. John, xvi. 33^ 
 
 163. That all the Angels and ethereal Powers, 
 They now, and men hereafter, may discern. 
 From what consummate virtue J have chose 
 This perfeU man, by merit call'd my Son, 
 To earn salvation Jor the sons of /nrn.j 
 
 Not a word is said here of the Son of God, but 
 what a Socinian would allow. His divine nature 
 is artfully concealed under a partial and ambiguous 
 representation; and the Angels are first to learn the 
 mystery of the incarnation from that important 
 conflift, which is the subjeft of this poem. They 
 are seemingly invited to behold the triumphs of the 
 ndk Christ Jesus over the enemy of mankind; and 
 these surprise them with the glorious discovery of 
 the God, 
 
 m^—^— in^lirin'd 
 
 In tl- shly tabernacle and human form. 
 
 The Father, speaking to his eternal Word, 
 Paradise Lost, iii. 308, on his generous under- 
 takings for mankind, saith. 
 
 and hast been found 
 
 By merit more than biilhrighl Son of God. 
 
 Caltoil, 
 
 This
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 21 
 
 This perfedt man, by merit call'd my Son, 
 To earn salvation for the sons of men. 
 
 So spake the eternal Father, and all Heaven 
 Admiring stood a space, then into hymns 
 Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd, 
 Circling the throne and singing, while the hand 
 Sung with the voice, and this the argument. 
 
 170 
 
 j68 Ho spiiie the ttrrnal Father, and all HcdVi» 
 Admiring steoJ a spare, — ] 
 
 We rannot but take notice of the great art of 
 the poet in setting forih the dignity and importance 
 of his subjeft. He represents all beings as in- 
 terested one way or other in the event. A council 
 of Devils is summoned; an assembly of Angels is 
 held. Satan is the speaker in the one; the Al- 
 mighty in the other. Satan expresses his diiEdence, 
 but still resolves to make trial of this Son of God; 
 the Father declares his purpose of proving and 
 illustr.iting his Son. The infernal crew are dij- 
 tradted and surprized with deep dismay ; all Heaven 
 stands a while in admiration. The fiends are silent 
 through fear and grief; the Angels burst forth into 
 iinging with joy and the assured hopes of success. 
 And their attention is thus engaged, the better to 
 engage the attention of the reader. Neiutor:. 
 
 >6g. 
 
 then into h\mns 
 
 Eant Jorth-, and in celestial measures mov*di ^ 
 Ciiihtt^ the throne and sinking,— '"] •' 
 
 Milton, we may suppose,, had here in his mind 
 the ancient chorus. In his original plan of the 
 Paradise Lost, under a dramatic form, he pro- 
 posed to introduce a chorus of Angels. The drama 
 seems to have been his favorite species of poetry, 
 and that which particularly caught and occupied his 
 imagination : so at least we may judge from the 
 numerous plans of tragedies which he left behind 
 him. Indeed he has frequent allusions to dramatic 
 compositions in all bis works. In the second Book 
 of his Reason of Churth-Gox'trnmeut a^^ai'st Pre- 
 lacy, he terms tht Song of Solomon " a divine Pas- 
 
 " total drama, consisting of two persons and a 
 " double chorus :" and he speaks of the Apocaljpse 
 of St. John, as " the majestic image of a high and 
 " stately tragedy, shutting up and intermingling 
 " her solemn scenes and afls with a sevenfold 
 " chorus of hallelu'ahs and harping symphonies." 
 
 17<. Circling the throne and singing,— 1 
 
 Speak ye who beat can tell, ye sons of light, 
 Ancei.!, for ye behold hitn, ami with soNCi 
 And choral symphonies, day without night, 
 CiKCLS HIS THRONE rejoicing 
 
 Paradise Lost, v. iSo. 
 
 That day, as other solemn diys, they spent 
 In ionc and dance about the sacred hii.l.^ 
 
 Ibid. V 61 ft. 
 
 Then shall thy saints unm'x'd, and fiom the impuie 
 Far separate, ci RC LINO THY holy mount, 
 UNrEicNED Halleluiahs to thxe simc,. 
 Hymns of high praise, and 1 among the chief. 
 
 Ibid. iv. 748. 
 
 171. Circling the thrtne and singing, tuhile the hand 
 Sung with the voue, — J 
 
 If we would see how wonderfully Milton could 
 dilate, or compress, the same thought, we may 
 compare, with this short but masterly passage, the 
 following exquisite lines of his Paradise Lost, 
 
 Then crown'd again their golden harps they took, 
 Harps ever tuned, that glittering by their side 
 l,ikc quivers hung, and with preamble swcec 
 Of charming symphony they introduce 
 Their sacred song, a-'d waken rap'urcs high; 
 No voice exempt, no voice but w^ II could join 
 Melodious part, such concord is in Htavcn. 
 
 iii 384. 
 
 171. — ^— — iv.'iiJs
 
 22 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Victory and triumph to the Son of God, 
 Now entering his great duel, not of arms. 
 But to vanquish by wisdom hclHsh wiles ! 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 IS 
 
 171. 
 
 whiU the /iiind 
 
 Sung with the voice,—] 
 
 We have nearly the same phrase in Tibullus, iii. 
 iv. 41.; 
 
 Scd postquam fu'erant dioiti cum voce locl-ti, 
 Eilidit ha:c dulci tristia verba modo. 
 
 The word hai'^ is used again in this pcem, B. iv. 
 V. 2 54. to distinguish instrumental harmony from 
 vocal ; 
 
 There thou shalt hear and learn the secret power 
 
 or harmony, in tones and numbers hit 
 
 Bv VOICE OR HAND. 
 
 Also in the Arcades, V. 77.; 
 
 If my inferior hand or voice could hit 
 Inimitable sounds. 
 
 Ca//o». 
 
 To the passage above cited by Mr. Calton, from 
 Tibullus, may be added one from Lucretius ; 
 
 Chordarumque sonos fieii, dulcesque querelas, 
 Tibia quas fundit dicitis pulsata canintum : 
 
 iv. 588. 
 
 Ce7no signifies not only to sing, but also to per- 
 form on any instrument. Thus Asconius Psdianus, 
 IN VERREM ; "Cum CANUNT citharistx, utriusque 
 " manus funguntur officio: dextra plcftro utitur, 
 " et hoc est foris canere ; sinistra digitis 
 " chordas carpit, et hoc est intus canere." 
 
 174. Soio entering hii great duel, — J 
 
 If it be not a contradiflion, it is at least in- 
 accurate in Milton, to make an Angel say in one 
 place 
 
 ^^^— — Dream not of their fight 
 
 As of a duel- 
 
 Paxadisi Lost, xii. 385. 
 
 and afterwards to make the Angels express it here 
 in the metaphor of a duel. Keivton. 
 
 There is, I think, a meanness in the customary 
 sense of the word duel, that makes it unworthy of 
 these speakers, and of this occasion. The Italian 
 
 duello, if I am not mistaken, bears a stronger 
 sense, and this I suppose Milton had in view. 
 
 T/ner. 
 
 Milton might rather be supposed to look to the 
 Latin ; where duellum is equivalent to bellum. 
 
 Fabula, qua Paridis propter narratur amorcm 
 
 Grscia Barbaria: lento collisa ouello. 
 
 Hor. 1 Epist. ii. 6. 
 
 vacuum dusllis 
 
 Jaoum Quirini clausit,- 
 
 IsiD, 4, Ode xiv. t8. 
 
 Quae domi DUKLLiftUE fccisti,— 
 
 Plaut. AsiNAR. Aft III. Sc. ii. 13' 
 
 But duel here is used by our author in its most 
 common acceptation of single combat ; and noiu 
 entering his great duel means " now entering the lists 
 " to prove, in personal combat with his avowed 
 " antagonist and appellant, the reality of his own 
 " divinity." See note on Ver. 130, of this Book. 
 
 In the opening of this poem we may notice allu- 
 sions to the duel or trial by combat ; 
 
 the tempter roi l'o, 
 
 In all his wiles defeated and repuls*d. 
 And in the Invocation, 
 
 Thou Spirit, who leu:t this glorious eremite 
 Into the desert, his victorious field, 
 .^gainst the spiritual foe, and brought'sl him thence 
 By f ROOF th* undoubted Son of God 
 
 Indeed the Paradise Regaintd absolutely ex- 
 hibits the temptation of our blessed Saviour in the 
 light of a duel, or personal contest, between him and 
 the Arch-enemy of mankind; in which our Lord, 
 by his divine patience, fortitude, and resignation 
 to the will of his heavenly Father, vanquishes the 
 wiles of the Devi!. He thereby attests his own 
 superiority over his antagonist, and his ability to 
 restore the lost happiness of mankind, by regaining 
 Paradise for them, and by rescuing and redeeming 
 them from that power, which had led them cap- 
 tive. 
 
 175. But to vanquish — ^ 
 
 Miltoi
 
 BOOK I. PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 The Father knows the Son ; therefore secure 
 Ventures his fiUal virtue, though untry'd, 
 Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce. 
 Allure, or terrify, or undermine. 
 Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell, 
 And, devilish machinations, come to naught ! 
 
 So they in Heaven their odes and vigils tun'd : 
 Mean while the Son of God, who yet some days 
 Lodg'd in Bethabara, where John baptiz'd. 
 Musing and much revolving in his breast, 
 How best the mighty work he might begin 
 
 23 
 
 180 
 
 185 
 
 Milton lays the accent on the last syllable in fan- 
 qit'iih, as elsewhere in tna/nph; and in many places 
 he imitates the Latin and Greek prosody, and 
 makes a vowel long before two consonants. 
 
 yortin. 
 
 »75- 
 
 by vjisdom — ] 
 
 This is wisdom in its frequent scriptural sense 
 of true piety. 
 
 182. So they in Heaven their odes and vigils turCd; 
 Mean while the Son of God, — ] 
 
 How nearly does the poet here adhere to the 
 same way of speaking which he had used in 
 Paradise Lost on the same occasion, iii. 416.! 
 
 Thus thev in Heaven, above the starry sphere, 
 Tl eir happy houis in joy and hymning spent. 
 Meanwhile upon the firm opacous globe 
 Of this round world, &c. 
 
 T/yer. 
 
 184. ^"— .— -.^— — ^ I vigils /«nV:] 
 
 This is a very uncommon expression, and not 
 easy to be understood, unless we suppose, that by 
 vigils, the poet means those songs which they sung 
 while they kept their watches. Singing of hymns 
 is their manner of keeping their wakes in Heaven. 
 And I see no reason why their evening service may I 
 
 not be called •vigils, as their morning service is called 
 matins. Neivton. 
 
 The evening service in the Roman Catholic 
 churches is called 'vespers. There was formerly 
 a nodiurnal service called 'vigils, or -noflurns, which 
 was cha ned and accompanied with music, 
 
 Ducange explains -vigiliie " ipsum officium noc 
 " turnum quod in vigiliis nocturnis glim 
 " DECANTABATUR."— The old writcts often 
 speak of the 'vigiliarum cantica. 
 
 .8j. 
 
 who yet some days 
 
 Lodg*d in Bethabara, zvhere jfotin baptiz^d,"^ 
 
 The poet, I presume, said this upon the autho- 
 rity of the first chapter of St. John's gospel, where 
 certain particulars, which happened several days 
 together, are related concerning the Son of God, 
 and it is said, Ver. 28. Th^se things luere done in 
 Bethabara biyond Jordan, tuhere John ivas bap' 
 tizing. t^etuton. 
 
 J 85. — ^— — much revolving in his bTCisl,'\ 
 
 MULTA MOVKNS AMMO 
 
 Virg. ^N. X. 890, 
 
 At piui ^neM per ooAcm hvkima volvens, 
 
 Ak. 1. 309. 
 
 Of
 
 «4 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK r. 
 
 Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first 
 
 Publish his God-hke office now mature, 
 
 One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading 
 
 And his deep thoughts, the better to converse 
 
 With solitude, till, far from track of men. 
 
 Thought following thought, and step by step led on, 
 
 He enter'd now the bordering desert wild. 
 
 190 
 
 189. One day walk* d /«rth atoncy tite Spirit hading 
 And his deep thou^/its,^-'] 
 
 In what a fine light does Milton here place that 
 text of Scripture, where it is said that jft-sus ivas 
 led vp of the Spiiil into the iJuilder/tess ! He adheres 
 striftly to the inspired historian, and at the same 
 time gives it a turn which is extremely poetical. 
 
 Thjer. 
 
 190. 
 
 the letter to converse 
 
 II': th solitude, — ] 
 
 wisdom's sc!f 
 
 Oft seeks to sweet rctit'd sohlude. 
 
 CoMus. 375. 
 
 193 He tnler'd now the bordering desert wild, 
 
 Andf with dark shades and rocks environed round,^ 
 
 The wilderness, in which lohn preached the gospel, 
 and where '.erusalem, and all Judea, and all the 
 regicin round about "ordan ivent out to him and ivere 
 baptized in Jordan, we are expressly told bv St. 
 Matthew, iii. i. was the ivilderness of Judea ; 
 which extended from the river Jordan all alon<T 
 the western side of the Asphaltic Lake, or Dead 
 Sea. The different parts of this wilderness had 
 different names, from the neighbouring cities or 
 mounttins; thus 1 Sam. xxiii. 14. it is called 
 the -wilderness of Z:ph, and, xxiv. i . the tuilder- 
 ncis of Engaddi. The word IJJia in scriptuie, 
 which in our version is rendered wilderness or 
 desert, docs not mean a country absolutely barren 
 or uninhabited, but only uncultivated. Indeed in 
 the 1 jth chapter of Joshua, where the cities of 
 
 Judah are enumerated, we read of six cities fn the 
 •wilderness. Of these Engaddi stood nearest to the 
 river Jordan, and the northern end of the Dead Sea. 
 The desert, where ;Milton,''fellowing what could be 
 collefled from scripture, now places our Lord, we 
 may suppose then to be that part of the wilderness 
 
 of Judea, in the neighbourhood of Engaddi. • 
 
 The wildernesses, or uncultivated parts of Judea, 
 appear chiefly to have been forests and woods, loca 
 saltuosa et sylvosa. (Sec Reland's Paltestina, L. i. 
 C. j6. de locis incultis et sylvis Pe:liestina:,] About 
 Engaddi also there were many mountains and rocks. 
 David is described (t Sam. xxiii. 29.) dwelling 
 in strong holds at Engaddi ; and of Saul, when in 
 pursuit of him, (xxiv. 2.) it is said that he luent 
 to seek Da'uid and his men upon the rocks of the tuild 
 goals. 
 
 The " bordering desert" then is t'.e rocky un- 
 cultivated forest country nearest to that part of 
 Jordan where John had been baptizing, and our 
 blessed Lord is accordinglv, with the greatest ac- 
 curacy of description, there represented, as en- 
 tering 
 
 now the bordcrin<; desert wild. 
 
 And with dark shades and rocks environ'd round. 
 
 It should be observed, that D'Anville, in the 
 map of Palestine irj his Geographie Ancienne, 
 has laid down Rethabara wrong. He places it 
 towards the northern end of that part of Jordan, 
 which flows from the lake of Genezaret into the 
 Dead Sea; and on the eastern bank of the river; 
 almost opposite Enon. But it is nearly certain, 
 that it really stood, as Bp. Pearce supposes, (see his 
 
 note
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 2i 
 
 And, with dark shades and rocks environ'd round, 
 His holy meditations thus pursu'd. 
 
 O what a multitude of thoughts at once 
 Awaken'd in me swarm, while I consider 
 What from within I feel myself, and hear 
 What from without comes often to my ears, 
 111 sorting with my present state compar'd ! 
 When I was yet a child, no childish play 
 To me was pleasing ; all my mind was set 
 
 195 
 
 2»0 
 
 note on "Joht, i. 28.) at the southern end of the 
 river Jordan, on the western bank ; and within a 
 little distance of the wilderness, being only a very 
 few miles from the Dead Sea. — An opportunity of 
 considering this more fully will occur, towards the 
 beginning of the second book of this Poem. 
 
 201. When I was yet a child, no childiih play 
 To me was pleasing; — J 
 
 How finely and consistently does Milton here 
 imagine the youthful meditations of our Saviour! 
 How ditferent from, and superior to, that superstitious 
 trumpery, which one meets with in the E-vajigeliiim 
 Infantile, and Other such apocryphal trafli ! Vid. 
 
 Fabricii Cod. Apoc. N. Teft. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 He seems to allude to Callimachus, who says 
 elegantly of young Jupiter, Hymn, in Jov. ^6. 
 
 AXX* £Ti watJvO' £(wv i^^aairao wavia tcXuo, 
 
 Swift was thy growth, and early was ihy bloom, 
 fiilt earbcr wisdom crown'd ihy infant days. 
 
 yortiii, 
 
 Hemry Stephens's translation of the latter verse 
 is very much to our purpose, 
 
 Verum actate puer, dlgna es medlta(us adulta : 
 
 or rather his more paraphrastical translation, 
 
 Verum aj'ate puer, puerili baud mere solebas 
 Ludere; sed jam tum tibi seria cun^a placebant, 
 Digna state animus jam turn volvebat aduha. 
 
 And Pindar in like manner praises Demophilus. 
 
 Pyth, Od. iv. CO I. xew©- yaf a 'aa.iai n<S>-, £» 05 
 
 (3a^aK 'nsfiaQv!. Our author might allude to these 
 passages, but he certainly did allude to the words of 
 the Apostle, i Cor. xiii. 11. only inverting the 
 thought, IVheti I ivas a child, I sjiake as a child, 
 
 y^, Nenutin. 
 
 He seems purposely, in this description, to have 
 elevated the charafter of the Di'vine Person above 
 that of the inspired one, of our blessed Lord above 
 that of his Apostle, whose account of his own 
 infantine disposition he certainly had here in his 
 mind. 
 
 The following passage, from Plutarch's life of 
 Cato, is perhaps more apposite than either of the 
 above from Callimachus and Pindar. 
 
 AtytTai ^£ Yiarm, it/9f; ix TratJia, t») te pai»ii Xj T» 
 ■n^iaaiTU, », Tai; wspi ra; TraiJia; Jiarpi^aK, l9ot 
 uwoipaivei* aTf£7r1o», ic, aitoAic, jt, 0tl3xtov is vcKjit, 
 
 Plutarch. Vit. Caton. 
 
 •' It is related of Cato, that, from his childhood, 
 " by his countenance, his manner of speaking, 
 " and even his boyish amusements, he displayed a 
 " disposition uniformly steady, firm, and reso- 
 " lute." 
 
 E Serious
 
 26 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK t. 
 
 Serious to learn and know, and thence to do 
 "What might be pubUc good ; myself I thought 
 Born to that end, born to promote all truth, 
 All righteous things : therefore, above my years. 
 The law of God I read, and found it sweet, 
 Made it my whole delight, and in it grew 
 To such perfedion, that, ere yet my age 
 
 205 
 
 204. 
 
 myself I thought 
 
 Scrn In that end, born to promote all trut/i,2 
 
 Alluding to our Saviour's words, John xviii. 3 7. 
 To t/?is end was I BORN, and for this cause came I 
 into the ivorld, that I should BEAR WITNESS unto 
 THE TRUTH. NetUtlOt. 
 
 2c6. 
 
 tkirefore, above my years. 
 
 The law oj God 1 retd, &c. — ] 
 
 This has a resemblance of Virgil's 
 
 Ante annos animumque gercns curamquc virilem. 
 
 jEn. ix. 311. 
 
 And thus Spencer, 
 
 Nc in her speech, ne in her haviour 
 
 Was lightness seen, or looser vanity. 
 
 But gracious womanhood, and gravijT f 
 
 Above the reason of her youthly yeaks. 
 
 Faery Queen, B. ii. C. ii. 15. 
 
 207. The /aw c/ God I read, and/cund it sweet, 
 Made it my vchoU delight — j 
 
 " Hotu SWEET ARE THY WORDS iDito my taste ! 
 " yea, sixieeter than honey to my mouth !" 
 
 Psalm cx'x, 103. 
 
 " And .■a\% DELIGHT IS IN THE LAW OF THE 
 
 " Lord ; and in his laiu doth he meditate day and 
 •■' night." Psalm i. 2. 
 
 2c8. ^^— — ^— .^__ and in itgreu 
 To such perfeflion — ] 
 
 In the second Chapter of St. Luke, after the 
 return of Jesus to Nazareth from Jerusalem, where 
 he had been found in the Temple, 
 
 Among the gravest Rabbis disputant, 
 
 Co p&inis and questions fitting Mofe*' chair, 
 
 it is said of him that he increased in •vuisdont ani 
 stature. 
 
 209. 
 
 ere yet my age 
 
 Had measured tzi-ice six years —J 
 
 The following verses of Statins bear a resem- 
 blance not only to this immediate passage, but 
 also to some of the preceding lines. 
 
 OcTONos BIS jam tibi circuit anwos 
 
 Vita ; sed ancustis animus robustior annis, 
 Succumbitque oneri, ct mektem sua non capit .«ta8. 
 
 5 Sylv. ii. 12. 
 209. ^^^—^—— thst ere yet my age 
 
 Had measur'd twice six years, at our great /east 
 
 I went into the temple, there to hear 
 
 The teachers oJ our law, and to propose 
 
 What might improve my knowledge or their own i] 
 
 Though Milton, in one of his early poems, has 
 paid a tribute of respeft to the " trump of Cre- 
 " mona," it is but seldom that we can trace him 
 to any part of the Christiad. There is however 
 some resemblance here to the description, in that 
 poem, of Jesus at this early age, when at Jerusalem* 
 at the Feast of the Passover, going into the Temple, 
 and sitting in the midst of the dolors, both hearing 
 them and asking them questions. Joseph, who is. 
 made by Vida to narrate the early part of our 
 Saviour's life, describes himself and Mary, after 
 having missed Jesus on their road, returning to 
 Jerusalem, and finaing him in the temple, as he is 
 here described, 
 
 Ecoe sacerdotum in medio conspeximus ilium, 
 (Prima rudimenta, ct virtutis signa futurx,) 
 Alta rccensentem vatum monumenta, patrumque 
 
 Prinacrcs ultro scitantcm obscura, doccmcmque. 
 
 Illuni.
 
 BOOK 1. PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Had measur'd twice six years, at our great feast 
 
 I went into the temple, there to hear 
 
 The teachers of our law, and to propose 
 
 What might improve my knowledge or their own ; 
 
 And was admir'd by all : yet this not all 
 
 To which my spirit aspir'd; victorious deeds 
 
 Flam'd in my heart, heroic ads, one while 
 
 To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke, 
 
 Then to subdue and quell, o'er all the earth, 
 
 Brute violence and proud tyrannic power. 
 
 Till truth were freed, and equity restor'd : 
 
 Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first 
 
 By winning words to conquer willing hearts, 
 
 ^7 
 2 lO 
 
 215 
 
 220 
 
 Ilium omnes admirari haud vulgata cancntem 
 Supra aciem,captumque hominis, raentcmque vigentem, 
 Humana non vi edo£lum, non arte magistra, 
 Maturumque animi nimium puerilibus annis, 
 
 Christiad, iii. 947> 
 
 114. And was admired by all — ] 
 
 And all that heard him luere astonished at his 
 understanding and axsivers. Luke ii. 47, 
 
 Nenvfoa, 
 
 218. Then to iubdae and ^uell, oVr all the earthy 
 Brute violence and proud tyrannic powcr^'\ 
 
 Milton here carries his republican principles to 
 th« greatest height, in supposing the overthrow of 
 all monarchy to have been one of the objefts of our 
 Lord's early contemplations. 
 
 He sings in nearly the same strain in his Samson 
 Agonistes ; where Mr, Warton (Note oti Sonnet 
 xvi.) considers him as intending a panegyric to 
 the memory of Cromwell and his deliverance. 
 
 O ! how comely it is, and how reviving 
 To the spirits of just men long oppress'd, 
 
 When God Into the hands of their DtLivtRtu 
 Puts INVINCIBLE might 
 
 To quell the mighty of the earth, the ofprissor, 
 The brute and boisterous force of violent men 
 
 Hardy and industrious to support 
 Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue 
 
 The RIGHTEOUS and all such as honor truth ; 
 
 He all their ammunition 
 
 And feats of war defeats, 
 
 With PLAIN HEROIC MAGNITUDE Or MIND 
 
 And celestial vigour arm'd. 
 
 1268. 
 
 221. Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first £^c.] 
 
 The true spirit of toleration breathes in these 
 lines, and the sentiment is very fitly put into the 
 mouth of him, who came not to destroy metis lives, 
 but to saw them. Ne-wton. 
 
 222. By winning luords to cortjuer Killing kearls,"] 
 Virgil GioRG. iv. 561. 
 
 . vittorque volcnte* 
 
 Per populos dat jura- 
 E z 
 
 wliicli
 
 28 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 And make persuasion do the work of fear ; 
 
 At least to try, and teach the erring soul, 
 
 Not wilfully misdoing, but unware 225 
 
 Misled ; the stubborn only to subdue. 
 
 These growing thoughts my mother soon perceiving, 
 
 By words at times cast forth, inly rejoic'd. 
 
 And said to me apart, " High are thy thoughts, 
 
 O Son, but nourish them, and let them soar 230 
 
 To what heighth sacred virtue and true worth 
 
 Can raise them, though above example high ; 
 
 By matchless deeds express thy matchless Sire, 
 
 For know, thou art no son of mortal man ; 
 
 Though men esteem thee low of parentage, 235 
 
 which expression of Virgil seems to be taken 
 from Xenophon, Oeconoraic. xxi. 12. On yxf ■aatv 
 fioi ooX£i oAw TBI* TO xyxSot a»9fwOT»M iirai, aMa Sfioy, 
 TO tQeXo^uv uf^iiv, Jortin^ 
 the stulbcrn only to subdue.~\ 
 
 126. 
 
 This is Virgil's 
 
 — ^— dcbcUarc superbos 
 
 -En. v>. 854. 
 
 *»?• ■ — my mother loon perceiving 
 
 inty rejoic'd,^ 
 
 Virgil, JEtt. i. 502. 
 
 Latons tacitum pcrtcntant gaudia pcftuJ. 
 
 yor/in, 
 The reader should recoiled, that the occasion 
 of the above verse, which is finely descriptive of 
 maternal delight, was the distinguishing personal 
 grace and divine appearance of Diana on the 
 banks of Eurotas, surrounded by her nymphs; 
 among whom 
 
 — ~ 'lla pharclram 
 
 r<rt humero, gradiensquc Deas supereminet omncs, 
 
 agi. ■ — - true i^-trlh] 
 
 Nee VI R A VIRTUS, cum semcl excidit, 
 
 Curat rcponi dcterioribus 
 
 HoR. L. 3. Ode 5, 
 
 233. By malchkis deeds express thy malchtess Sir*,} 
 
 Milton, in one place of his Paradise Lost,. 
 uses the verb to express, in the same sense as he has 
 done here. It is one of the speeches of the Deity 
 to Adam after his creation. 
 
 Thus far to try thee, Adam, I was plcas'd, 
 
 And find thee knowing, not in beasts alone. 
 
 Which thou hast rightly nam'd, but of thyself, 
 
 Expressing well the spirit within thee free. 
 
 My image, not imparted to the brute, 
 
 viii. 37-4, 
 
 Matchless Sire may remind us of a line in the 
 
 same poem, of which this line has also a consider. 
 
 able resemblance, both in the tythm and in the 
 
 repetition. 
 
 Warring in Heaven against Heaven's matchless king. 
 
 iv. 41. 
 
 235. Though men esteem thee lozu of parentage^ 
 
 " Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not his 
 
 " mother called Mary ? and his brethren James, and 
 
 " Josa, and Simon, and Judas ?" 
 
 " Jad
 
 COOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Z9 
 
 Thy father is the eternal King who rules 
 
 All Heaven and earth, Angels and sons of men ; 
 
 A messenger from God foretold thy birth 
 
 Conceiv'd in me a virgin ; he foretold, 
 
 Thou should'st be great, and sit on David's throne^ 240 
 
 And of thy kingdom there should be no end» 
 
 At thy nativity, a glorious quire 
 
 Of Angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, sung 
 
 To shepherds, watching at their folds by night. 
 
 And told them the Messiah now was born, 245 
 
 Where they might see him, and to thee they came. 
 
 Directed to the manger v/here thou lay's t. 
 
 For in the inn was left no better room i 
 
 A star, not seen before, in Heaven appearing 
 
 Guided the wise men thither from the east, 250 
 
 To honor thee with incense, myrrh, and gold; 
 
 By whose bright course led on they found the place, 
 
 " JriJ his sisters, are they not all ivith us ? 
 Whence then hath this man all these things ?" 
 
 " And they lAiere offended in him," 
 
 Mat. xiii. 55, 56, 57. and Mark vi. 3. 
 
 »39- 
 
 he foretold 
 
 Thou shoutdst be great, and tit on David* s throne, 
 And ij thy kingdom there should tie no end.'\ 
 
 " He shall be great, and shall he called the Son 
 « of the Highest : aW the Lord God shall give 
 
 •< UNTO TliE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DaVID :" 
 " And he shall reign onjer the house of jfacob for 
 tver ; and of his kingdom there shall be no 
 " END." Luke i. 3z, 33. 
 
 1^1, Al thy njtivity, a ghriius quirt 
 
 Cf Angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, sung 
 
 To shepherds, watching at their folds by night, &c.'\ 
 
 His place of birth a solemn Angel tells 
 
 To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night; 
 
 They gladly thither haste, and bv a cuire 
 
 Or SaUADRON'D ANCELS HEAR HIS CAROL SUNG, 
 
 Paradise Lost, xii. 364. 
 
 249, A star, not seen before, in Heaven afpearing 
 Guided the uiise men thither ft om the east. 
 To honour thee with incense, myrrh, and gold:'] 
 
 yet at his birth a star, 
 
 Unseen before in Heaven, proclaims him come. 
 
 And coiDES the Eastern sages, who inquire 
 
 His place, to ofiei jwcense, myerh, and cold — 
 
 xii. 360.. 
 
 Affirming
 
 3° 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Affirming it thy star, new-graven in Heaven, 
 
 By which they knew the king of Israel born. 
 
 Just Simeon and prophetic Anna, warn'd 
 
 By vision, found thee in the temple, and spake. 
 
 Before the altar and the vested priest. 
 
 Like things of thee to all that present stood." 
 
 This having heard, strait I again revolv'd 
 
 The law and prophets, searching what was writ 
 
 Concerning the Messiah, to our scribes 
 
 Known partly, and soon found, of whom they spake 
 
 I am ; this chiefly, that my way must lie 
 
 Through many a hard assay, even to the death. 
 
 255 
 
 260 
 
 255. yust Simcsn and prophetic Anna, — ] 
 
 It may not be improper to remark how striifily 
 our author adheres to the Scripture history, not 
 only in the particulars which "he relates, but also in 
 the very epithets which he affixes to the persons ; 
 as here Just Simeon, because it is said, Luke ii. 2 5. 
 and the same man luas just : and prophe'ic Anna, 
 because it is said, Luke ii. 36. atid the. • luas one 
 Anna a prophetess. The like accuracy may be ob- 
 served in all the rest of this speech. 
 
 l^^^wton. 
 
 a6i 
 
 to our stribts 
 
 Known partiy, — J 
 When the Magi arrived at Jerusalem enquiring 
 where they might find the Messiah, whom they 
 were come to worship, Herod called upon the Chief 
 Priests and Scribes for information where Christ 
 should be born. They truly answered him, from 
 the Prophet Micah, in Bethlehem of Judea. Mat. 
 ii. 4, 5. Thus did these Jfiarncd Jews, these of- 
 ficial expounders of their sacred writings, peirtly 
 knoiv, or 30 far clearly understand, the prophecies 
 concerning xhe Messiah. 
 
 262. 
 
 and soon found opKhom they spake 
 
 I am — ] 
 
 The Jews thought that the Messiah, when he 
 came, would be without all power and distinftion, 
 and intknoimi even to himself, till Elias had anointed 
 and decl.Tred him. Xfir©- Js " *=" yiyvir\a.i, xai tr» 
 ■K>i, ecyvur©' iri, XXI ah atiTof -au lauTot £?riraTat, B« 
 ip^ti ^ta.ij.tv Tiva, f*!Xf'5 «' '^^"' H^la; XP"'V <*<"■"', 
 Kxt (panfoi «iao-i CTomri). Just. Mart. Dial, cum 
 Tryph. p. 266. Ed. Col. Caltau. 
 
 264. Ttirougli mtny a hard assay, even to the death,'] 
 
 Thus in the Comus, 972. 
 
 And sent them here, throuch hard assays. 
 
 And Spenser, Faery Queen, B. vi. C. vi. St. 3. 
 
 And pass'd through many perilous assays — 
 Unto the death is an expression used in our trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures. St. Paul, speaking of 
 
 his mode of life and conduft previous to his con- 
 version, says, I persecuted this ivay unto the death. 
 Afts, xxii. 4. See al«o Judges, v. 18. Revel, 
 xii. 1 1. 
 
 Ere
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Ere I the promis'd kingdom can attain. 
 
 Or work redemption for mankind, whose sins' 
 
 Full weight must be transferr'd upon my head. 
 
 Yet, neither thus dishearten'd or dismay'd,. 
 
 The time prefix'd I waited ; when behold 
 
 The Baptist, (of whose birth I oft had heard,. 
 
 Not knew by sight,) now come, who was to come 
 
 Before Messiah, and his v/ay prepare ! 
 
 I, as all others, to his baptism came,. 
 
 Which I belie v'd was from above ; but he 
 
 Strait knew me, and with loudest voice proclaim'd 
 
 Me him, (for it was shown him so from Heaven,) 
 
 Me him, whose harbinger he was ; and first 
 
 Refus'd on me his baptism to confer,. 
 
 As much his greater, and was hardly won r 
 
 31 
 265 
 
 270 
 
 ^1S 
 
 s€6. 
 
 lokoie sins' 
 
 Full weight must be transferred upon my head-^'] 
 
 Isaiah, liii. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the 
 
 itiijuity of us alU. Ne'T.utcn. 
 
 S71. Not knew by sight- — ] 
 
 Though Jesus and John the Baptist were related, 
 yet they were brought up in different countries, and 
 had no manner of intimacy or acquaintance with 
 each other. John the Baptist says expressly, 
 John i. .31, 33, And I kneniu him not. He did 
 not so much as know him by sight, till our Saviour 
 came to his baptism ; and'afterwards it doth not 
 appear that they ever conversed together. 
 
 Neivtcn. 
 
 a76. Me him^ (for it was shewn him so from HeaunJ 
 Me himy whose harbinger he was — ] 
 
 Milton has given repetitions of this kind, with 
 much effeft, in his Parapise Lost, 
 
 Behold Ml then; Mt for him, life for life 
 1 offer; on me let thine anger fall ! 
 
 iii. jjG, 
 
 th:>t all 
 
 Tiie sentence, from thy head lemov'd, may light 
 On ME, sole cause to thee of all this woe, 
 Me, me only, just objeft of his ire. 
 
 X- 933- 
 
 279. As much his greater^-^ ■ 
 
 Here Milton uses the word greater in the same 
 manner as he had done before, Paradise Lost, 
 V. I7Z. 
 
 Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul, 
 Acknowledge hin» thy gkeater. 
 
 And this, I think, is a proof that the present read- 
 ing there is right, and that both Dr. Bentley's 
 emendation and mine ought absolutely to be re- 
 jefted. Thjer. 
 
 Dr, Bentley had proposed to read 
 
 Acknowledge.
 
 3a PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 But, as I rose out of the laving stream, 
 
 Heaven opened her eternal doors, from whence 
 
 The Spirit descended on me hke a dove ; 
 
 And last, the sum of all, my Father's voice. 
 
 Audibly heard from Heaven, pronounc'd me his, 
 
 Me his beloved Son, in whom alone 
 
 He was well pleas'd ; by which I knew the time 
 
 Now full, that I no more should live obscure. 
 
 But openly begin, as best becomes. 
 
 The authority which I deriv'd from Heaven. 
 
 And now by some strong motion I am led 
 
 Into this wilderness, to what intent 
 
 I learn not yet ; perhaps I need not know. 
 
 For what concerns my knowledge God reveals. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 280 
 
 285 
 
 290 
 
 Acknowledge him Creator- 
 
 And Mr. Thyer 
 
 Acknowledge thy Creator 
 
 ' out of the laving stream^ 
 
 Alluding to the phrase laver of regeneration so 
 frequently applied to baptism. It may be observed 
 in general of this soliloquy of our Saviour, that it 
 is not only excellently well adapted to the present 
 condition of the divine speaker, but also very 
 artfully introduced by the poet, to give us a history 
 of his hero from his birth to the very scene with 
 which the poem is opened. Thyer. 
 
 281. eternal doors — ] 
 
 So in Psal. xxiv. 7. 9. cverlaUing daori. And, 
 Paradise Lost, vii. 20^. 
 
 -^— — Heaven open'd wide 
 Her EVLR-DtRiNc gites 
 
 a84. • me his, 
 
 Me his beloved Sen — ] 
 
 .Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convcnite ferrum, 
 O Rutuli ! 
 
 ' • Virg. J£.K. ix. 247. 
 
 286. 
 
 the time 
 
 Kowfull — ] 
 Alluding to the Scripture phrase, the fulness of 
 time. When the fulness of time ivas come, &c. 
 Gal. iv. 4. Ne'Wton. 
 
 203. For what concerns my knowledge God reveals,'] 
 This whole soliloquy is formed upon an opinion, 
 which hath authorities enough to give it credit, 
 that Christ ivas not, by •virtue of the personal union 
 of the tiuo natures, and from the first moment of that 
 union, possessed of all the kno'-juledge ef the AOrOZ, 
 as far as the capacity of a human mind luould admit, 
 [See Le Blanc's Elucidatio Status Controversiarum, 
 &C. Cap. 3.] In his early years he increased in 
 ivisdom, and in stature. St. Luke ii. 52. And 
 Beza observes upon this place, that ■ ipsa 
 
 0ioT,iT!^ plenitudo sese, prout & qnatenus ipsi 
 libuit, humanitati assumta? insinuavit : quicquid 
 garriant mataeologi, & novi Ubiquitarii Eutychiani. 
 Grotius employs the same principle, to explain 
 
 Mark,
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 
 So spake our Morning Star, then in his rise, 
 And, looking round, on every side beheld 295 
 
 A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades ; 
 The way he came not having mark'd, return 
 Was difficult, by human steps untrod ; 
 And he still on was led, but with such thoughts 
 Accompanied of things past and to come 300 
 
 Lodg'd in his breast, as well might recommend 
 Such solitude before choicest society. 
 
 St. Mark, xlii. 32. — A''idetur mibi, ni meliora 
 docear, hie locus iion impie posse exponi hunc in 
 modum, ut dicamus di'vitiam sapientiam menti 
 hnmanje Christi efFedus sues impressisse pro tempo- 
 rum ratione. Nam quid aliud est, si verba nan 
 torquemus, TyfoExoTrlE o-oipia, Luc. II. 52 ? And 
 our Tillotson approved the opinion.—" It is 
 *' not unreasonable to suppose, that the Di'uini: 
 " Wisdom, which dwelt in our Saviour, did com- 
 *' raunicate itself to his human soul according to 
 " his pleasure, and so his human Nature might at 
 ■" some times not know some things. And if this 
 " he not admitted, how can we understand that 
 *' passage concerning our Saviour, Luke, ii. 52. 
 
 •■• that yesus greiu in luisdom and stature ?" 
 
 Calton, 
 804. So spake our Morning Star — ] 
 
 So our Saviour is called in the Pvevelation, xxii. 
 16. the bright and morning star, Nenxiton, 
 
 And thus Spenser, in his Hymn of Heavenly 
 Love. 
 
 O blessed well of love ! O flowre of grace ! 
 O glorious MORNING ST AR ! O lamp of light ! 
 Most lively image of thy Father's face. 
 Eternal King of glory, Lord of might, 
 >Ieek Lamb of God before all worlds behight, 
 
 How can we thee requite for all this good ? 
 
 Or what can prize that tJiy most precious blood ? 
 
 =96- 
 
 on every 
 
 side hchdd 
 
 A pathless desert, dusk uiith horrid shades ,■] 
 
 Thus Virgil describes the wood in which Eh- 
 ryalus is taken, in his ninth jEneid. 
 
 Sylva fuit, late dumis atcjue ilice nigra. 
 Ho It RID A, quam densi complcrant undique sentes : 
 Kara ?kr oectJLTOs lucebat semita calles. 
 
 381. 
 
 But dusk nuith horrid shades is more immediately 
 from 
 
 HoRRENTieUE ATRUM HCmUS imminCt UMBRA. 
 
 An. i. 164. 
 
 ly human steps untrod;'] 
 
 298. 
 
 Silius Italicus describes the Alps 
 
 — ^— — Negataj 
 
 Gressibus humanis A-pes 
 
 xvii. jO*. 
 
 jgg. And he still on was led, but with such thoughts 
 Accompanied of things past and to come 
 Lodg'd in his breast, as well might recommend 
 Such solitude before choices! society.} 
 
 The Poet here resumes and continues the descrip- 
 tion he had given of our blessed Lord, previous to 
 his Soliloquy, on his first entering the desert, 
 V. 189. 
 
 302. Such solitude before choicest society,'] 
 
 This verse is of the same measure as one in the 
 Paradise Lost, ix. 249. and is to be icanned in the 
 same manner. 
 
 For SoU|tude some|times is; best solciety. 
 Such soliltude belfore choiUctt tolcicty. 
 
 F 
 
 Or
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Full forty days he pass'd, whether on hill 
 Sometimes, anon on shady vale, each night 
 Under the covert of some ancient oak 
 Or cedar to defend him from the dewj 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 ^05 
 
 Or we must allow that an Alexandnnc verse (as it 
 is called,) may be admitted into blank, verse as well 
 as into rh)-me, Ne'wtoii. 
 
 1 agree with Bp. Newton that this verse is to be 
 scanned in the same manner as the one he has cited 
 from the Paradise Lost; but I do not accede to his 
 manner of scanning them. Their only irregularity, 
 (if we read choicest accented on the last syllable, as 
 we must rjanquish, v. 175. of this Book, where 
 see Jortin's note,) is their having two nypercataleftic 
 syllables, which Shakespear and the Dramatic Poets 
 frequently use. Thus in Macbeth, 
 
 Come take my milk for gall, ye m.urd'ring miniaters! — 
 Bp. Newton, although perfeftly well-read in 
 the Latin Poets, appears to have paid but 
 little attention to the very wide difference which 
 there is between the qitantity of Latin verse, and 
 the accent, or ictus, on which the rythm of English 
 verse entirely depends. In consequence of this, in 
 his first note on the Paradise Lost, speaking of the 
 measure, he has some observations that seem highly 
 erroneous. — He there cites the following verse, as 
 an instance of Milton's sometimes using the T-.vchee, 
 or foot of one long and one short syllable, | - "^ |, 
 instead of the Iambic, which consists of one short 
 and one long, | " - | , 
 
 Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. 
 Here, reading with a classical eye, but laying aside 
 his English ear, he thus marks Omnipotent. But, 
 according to the invariable pronunciation of our 
 language, the ictus falls so strong on the second 
 syllable of Omnipotent, that the first is compa- 
 ratively short; and the verse, scanned accordingly, 
 becomes a pure English Iambic. 
 
 Who durst Idefy 1th' Omnilpotchtl to arius|. 
 Neither does he seem to have at all considered how 
 much Milton availed himself both of disions and 
 
 contra^ims. Otherwise he would scarcely have cited, 
 the three following verses, (See Keiutoii's first note 
 on the Paradise Lost J, as exhibiting the one a 
 Daftyl I - u u I, the other an Anapsst I u o - [, the 
 third a Tribrachus | o u u j ; for, in fad, the first 
 and third are pure Iambics ; and the' second has no 
 irregularity, except in the first foot, in which 
 place much IJcence Is often taken, and the Trochee, 
 particularly, is often introduced with the best 
 effeft. 
 
 Hurld hcadllbng fla'ming fro"" I 'h' cthelrcal sky|, 
 Myriads] thbugh bright; jif he] whom iiiu|tual league!, 
 To manly a row I of pipes | the soundl-board breathes] 
 Milton's praftice of frequently cutting off the- 
 letter^)" in the conclusion of a word, when it pre- 
 cedes a vowel, has been remarked by Mr. Addison 
 in his Critique on the language of the Paradise. 
 Lost. 
 
 303. Full forty days he pass'd, viltelJter on kill 
 Sometimes, anon on shady vale, iSe. — ] 
 
 Here the Poet of Paradise Lost breaks out in-, 
 his meridian splendor. There is something par- 
 ticularly pifturesque in this description. 
 
 305. Vndtr th: ccvirt of some ancient oak 
 Or cedar— 1 
 
 The Cedar and the Oak are frequently men- 
 tioned together in Scripture. Isaiah ii ij. — xliv. 
 14. Amos ii. 9. Zechariah xi. 1. 2. 
 
 306. to dcfcr.d him from the dew,'] 
 
 That the dews of that country were very con- 
 siderable may be collefted from several parts of 
 Scripture. The dews of mount Hermon are par- 
 ticularly noticed in the 133d Psalm, as producing 
 the most irriguous effefts. Maundrell, in his 
 Travels, when within little more than half a day's 
 journey of this mountain, says, •' we were suf- 
 ficiently.-
 
 BOOK I : 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Or harbour'd in one cave, is not reveal'd ; 
 Nor tasted human food, nor hunger felt 
 Till those days ended, hunger'd then at last 
 Among wild beasts : they at his sight grew mild, 
 Nor sleeping him nor waking harm'd ; his walk 
 
 310 
 
 *' ficiently instruifled by experience what the Holy 
 ♦• Psalmist means by the deiv of Herman, our tents 
 •' being as wet with it, as if it had rained all 
 «' night." 
 
 3^7. Or harhouT^d in one cave—'] 
 Dr. Jortin wishes to read some cave.— —Caves 
 are very frequently spoken of in scripture, as places 
 of retreat for proteftion or shelter. One is men- 
 tioned in the wilderness of Engaddi, which was 
 used for a sheep-cote. There it was that David 
 cut off the skirt of Saul's robe. — See i Sam. xxiv. 
 3, 4. Near to Engaddi was Gilgal, and at no 
 great distance Macedah and Adullam ; the caves 
 of which are particularly noticed in scripture. 
 
 310. Among wild bcaits : they at his sight grew mild,'\ 
 
 St. Mark's short account of the Temptation is, 
 that our blessed Lord luas in the laildemess forty 
 eLaj'S tanpted of Satan, and nxjas luith the ivild beasts, 
 and the angels ministered unto him, 
 
 Mark i. 1 3. 
 
 Abp. Seeker, in his Sermon on the Temptation, 
 ■says, " During these forty days it is observed by 
 " St. Mark, that our blessed Redeemer luas <with 
 " the luild beasts, which words must imply, else 
 " they are of no significance, that the fiercest 
 " animals were awed by his presence, and so far 
 " laid aside their savage nature for a time ; thus 
 " verifying literally, what Eliphaz in Job saith 
 " figuratively, concerning a good man; At destruc- 
 " tion and famine shall thou laugh, neither shall 
 " thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth, roR 
 *' THEY SHALL BE AT PEACE WITH THEE." 
 
 Before the Fall, Milton supposes those beasts, 
 which are now wild, to have been harmless, void 
 of ferocity to each other, and even affeftionate 
 
 towards man. Having described Adam and Eve 
 in Paradise, in their state of innocence, he says. 
 About them frisking play'd 
 
 All beasts of the earth, since wild, and of all ctiace 
 
 In wood or wilderness, forest or den; 
 
 Sporting the lion ramp'd, and in his paw 
 
 Dandled the kid; bears, tigers, ounces, pard.', 
 
 Gambol'd before them 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 340. "* 
 
 Immediately after the Fall, among other changes 
 of nature, the animals begin to grow savage. 
 
 Discord first. 
 Daughter of Sin, among the irrational 
 Death introduc'd through fierce antipathy ; 
 Beast now with beast 'gan war, and fowl with fowl, 
 And fish with fish ; to graze the herb all leaving 
 Devour'd each other, nor stood much in awe 
 Of man, but fled him, or with countenance grini 
 Glar'd on him passing 
 
 X. 707. 
 
 Here, upon the appearance of perfeifl innocence in 
 a human form amongst them, they begin to resume 
 a certain proportion of their Paradisiacal disposition. 
 In Homer's Hymn to Venus, where that 
 Goddess descends on Mount Ida, to visit Anchises 
 at his folds, her appearance is described as having 
 the same efied, in its fullest extent. 
 
 iJnv V otttVEv «roXyff[S'ax«, fjinripa flupnf' 
 ApJtToi, vraf^aXii^ t£ Qooli wpoxa^wv axopnTii 
 
 68. 
 
 To Ida, source of many a bursting fount. 
 
 Nurse of wild beasts, she came, and to the foldi 
 Travers'd direft the summit. Grisly wolves, 
 Grim-visag'd lions, bears, and swift of foot 
 Pards who the timorous deer unsatcd gorge. 
 Before her fawning crouch'd, and on her »tep» 
 Attended playful . 
 
 F z The
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 lOOK S, 
 
 The fiery serpent fled and noxious worm, 
 
 The lion and fierce tiger glar'd aloof. 
 
 But now an aged man in rural weeds, 
 
 Following, as seem'd, the quest of some stray ewe, 
 
 Or wither'd sticks to gather, which might serve 
 
 3^S 
 
 3U. T/ie_fitry scptntftil and noxious zverm,'] 
 The word rworm, though joined with the epithet 
 noxious, may give too low an idea to some readers; 
 but, as we observed upon the Paradise Lost, ix. 
 1068, where Satau is called /ii lie ix:orm, it is a 
 general name for the reptile kind; and a serpent is 
 called the mortal worm, by Shakespear, i Henry 
 SIXTH, Aft III. Ne-uotoii. 
 
 And in the Midsummer Night's Dream, 
 Aa III. 
 
 Could not a worm, an abdeji do as much ? 
 
 Shakespear also, in his Antony and Cleo- 
 patra, calls the Aspic, " the pretty worm of 
 •< Nilus;" on which Johnson observes that " worm 
 " is the Teutonic word for serpent." He adds, 
 " we have the blind-'worm and sloiu-ivorm still in 
 " our language, and the Norwegians call an enor- 
 " mous monster, seen sometimes in the northern 
 " ocean, the sea-'worm," 
 
 313. The lion and farce tigtr ghr'd *!oof.'] 
 
 ^— — about them round 
 Align now he stalks with fiery glare; 
 
 Then as A tiger—— — — 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 401. 
 
 In a passage of the Paradise Lost, cited in the 
 last note but one, it is said that, after the fall, the 
 v.'ild beasts, ceasing to graze, 
 
 Dcvour'd each other, nor stood much in awe 
 
 Of man, but fled him, or with countenance crim 
 
 Glar*d on him passing 
 
 The latter part of which description is palpably 
 taken from Shakespear. 
 
 I met a lion 
 
 Who glar'd upon ME, AND WENT SURLY BY, 
 
 Without annoying mc 
 
 JUHUS C/S5AR, Aft Ii Sc, 4. 
 
 313- 
 
 aloof.'] 
 
 But safest he who stood aloof 
 
 When insupportably his foot advanc'd^— . 
 
 Sams. Agon. 135, 
 
 314. Btit no-jj an agelman—'l 
 
 As the Scripture is entirely silent about what 
 personage the Tempter assumed, the Poet was at 
 liberty to indulge his own fancy; and nothing, I 
 think, could be better conceived for his present 
 purpose, or more likely to prevent suspicion of 
 fraad. The poet might perhaps take the hint from 
 a design of David Vinkboon, where the Devil is 
 represented addressing himself to our Saviour, under 
 the appearance of an old man. It is to be met with 
 among Vischer's cuts to the_Bible, and is engraved 
 by Landerselt.. Thyer^ 
 
 314. ^— ^— an aged man in rural lutcds,] 
 
 Thus, in the first Book of the Faery Queek, 
 Una and the Red-cross Knight are met by the 
 Enchanter Archimago, disguised under the appear^ 
 ance of an old Hermit, 
 
 At length they chanc'd to meet upon their way 
 An aged man in long black weeds yclad. 
 
 B. i. C. i. 29. 
 
 And, in Comus, v. 84. the Sjiirit says, he must 
 put off his celestial habiliments. 
 
 And take the weeds and likeness of a swain. 
 Tire rweeds of a siuain are " rural weeds;" and 
 thus Satan, under this disguise, in verse 337 of 
 this Book, is called ihe sivain, 
 
 315. Following, as seem'd, the quest of sovu stray m{,\ 
 I came not here on such a trivial toy 
 
 As A stray'd EWE- 
 
 CoMua, 501. 
 
 Against 
 
 o
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 37 
 
 Against a winter's day, when winds blow keen. 
 To warm him wet return'd from field at eve. 
 He saw approach, who first with curious eye 
 Perus'd him, then with words thus utter'd spake. 
 
 Sir, what ill chance hath brought thee to this place 
 So far from path or road of men, who pass 
 In troop or caravan ? for single none 
 Durst ever, who return'd, and dropt not here 
 His carcass, pin'd with hunger and with drought, '. 
 
 I ask the rather, and the more admire. 
 For that to me thou seem'st the man, whom late 
 Our new baptizing Prophet at the ford 
 Of Jordan honor'd so, and call'd thee Son 
 
 32( 
 
 25 
 
 417- 
 
 vj^nn winds blow keen,'] 
 
 — — while THE WINDS 
 
 Blow moist and keen- 
 
 319. 
 
 Paradise Lost, x. 1065. 
 
 mth curious eye 
 
 Per us 'd /iim—^J 
 
 Thus in Hamlet, Aft II. Scene i. Ophelia, 
 describing the behaviour of Hamlet to her, says, 
 
 He took me by the wrist, and held me hard, 
 Then goes he to the length of all his arm, 
 And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow» 
 He falls to such perusal of my face. 
 
 As he would draw it— 
 
 And, in the last Scene of Romeo and Juliet, 
 Romeo, when he has killed Paris, says 
 
 • Let me peruse this face I 
 
 Mercutio's kinsman ! noble Comte Paris ! 
 
 And in the Paradise Lost, B. viii. where 
 Adam relates to Raphael his own sensations, im- 
 mediately after his creation, having with infinite 
 beauty described the scene that surrounded him, 
 and first attradled and gratified his attention, he 
 tLus proceeds to speak of his survey of himself. 
 
 Myself I then perus'd, and limb by limb 
 Survey 'd 
 
 323- 
 
 • /or single none 
 
 Durst ever, who return'd, and dropt not here 
 His carcass, pin'd mth hunger and with drought,"] 
 
 Milton seems here to have had in his mind the 
 vast sandy deserts of Africa ; which Diodorus 
 
 Siculus describes 'n ifrifio; >^ 9>?fiwJ»j? th? Ai/3u»ic, 
 £7ri '!ro>.v ft;» 5raf£XT£i»8(ra, Sia ^s Tw ANYAPIAN KAI 
 THN SriANIN THS AH ASMS TP0<I>H2 ixotiirct. rvt 
 
 ^l6|oJo» 8 ft'jKJK fTTlTTOVOK, CtMa Kj 7ra^T£^wf tTriHiStUtOV— 
 
 " desert, full of wild beasts, of a vast extent, and 
 " from its being devoid of water, and bare of all 
 " kind of food, not only difficult, but absolutely 
 " dangerous to pass over." 
 
 325. ^——— pin'd with hunger^] 
 
 Death, in the tenth Book of the Paradise 
 Lost, thus describes himself, 
 
 — me, who with iTuiNAt famine pini, 
 
 597- 
 
 a 
 
 Of 
 
 V&^^\>.-iTOCj
 
 38 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 EOOK X. 
 
 Of God: I saw and heard, for we sometimes 330 
 
 AVho dwell this wild, constrain'd by want, come forth 
 To toM^n or village nigh, (nighest is far,) 
 Where ought w^e hear, and curious are to hear 
 What happens new ; fame also finds us out. 
 
 To whom the Son of God. Who brought me hither, ^^^ 
 Will bring me hence ; no other guide I seek. 
 
 By miracle he may, reply'd the swain; 
 What other way I see not, for we here 
 Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inur'd 
 
 i530- 
 
 I saw and hiard, for wc somtlimts 
 
 Who dwell this wildt constrained by uant^ come forth 
 To town or village nigh — ] 
 
 All this is finely in charader with the assumed 
 person of the Tempter, and tends at the same time 
 to give more effefl to the preceding descriptions. 
 It should be considered also that it was not necessary 
 to confine those descriptions merely to that part of 
 the wilderness of Judea, into which our Lord v as 
 now just entering, V. 193, or where at most he 
 had not advanced any great way, V. 299. — That 
 wilderness was of a great length, the most habitable 
 part being northward towards the river Jordan; 
 southward it extended into vast and uninhabited 
 deserts, which, in the map in Reland's Palctstina, 
 are termed iiastissimte solitjidines . To describe 
 these, in such a manner as might impress a deep 
 sense of danger in the mind of him to whom he 
 addressed himself, was perfeftly consistent with 
 the Tempter's purpose. 
 
 334- fa^t also finds us c«i'.] 
 
 The same speaker in Paradise Lost, B. iv. 
 ;vhen discovered in the Garden of Eden, being 
 brought before Gabriel and questioned by him, in 
 his account of himself and the expedition which 
 irought him there, says, 
 
 ' I alone first undertook 
 
 To wing the desolate abyts, and »py 
 
 This new-created world, whereof in Hell 
 
 fAMt IS NOr SI1.INT 
 
 935« 
 
 338- 
 
 ■ for we here 
 
 Live on tough roots and stubs — ] 
 
 This must certainly be a mistake of the printer, 
 and instead oi stubs it ought to be read shrubs. It 
 is no uncommon thing to read of hermits and ascetics 
 living in deserts upon roots and shrubs, but I never 
 heard of stubs being used for food, nor indeed is it 
 reconcileable to common sense. Some have thought 
 that the axfiJsr, which the Scripture says were the 
 meat of the Baptist, were the tops of plants or 
 shrubs, Thjer. 
 
 Yet, in the Tempest, Prospero threatens Fer- 
 dinand with nearly as hard faie. Aft I. Sc. 3. 
 
 — — — thy food shall be 
 The fresh brook mussels, witber'd roots, and husks 
 Wherkin thi acorn cradled 
 
 Stubs are in fad only broken ends of the larger 
 
 •withered roots. 
 
 339- 
 
 . —— to thirst inur'd 
 
 More than the camel—} 
 
 It is commonly said that camels will go without 
 water three or four days. Sitim Sc quatriduo tole- 
 rant. Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib. viii. Seft. 26. But 
 
 Tavernier
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 More than the camel, and to drink go far, 
 
 Men to much misery and hardship born : 
 
 But, if thou be the Son of God, command 
 
 That out of these hard stones be made thee bread,- 
 
 So shalt thou save thyself, and us relieve 
 
 With food, whereof we wretched seldom taste. 
 
 He ended, and the Son of God reply'd^ 
 Think'st thou such force in bread ? Is it not written,: 
 (For I discern thee other than thou seem'st,) 
 Man lives not by bread only, but each word 
 Proceeding from the mouth of God, who fed 
 Our fathers here with Manna ? In the mount. 
 
 39 
 
 345 
 
 35"^ 
 
 Tavernier says, that tliey will ordinarily live with- 
 out drink eight or nine days, Neiuton, 
 
 Julius Pollux, (L. i. C. 10.) speaking of camels 
 comparatively with horses, says they are iTt(yur^<n 
 iia TO kJiiJ'O!, " more capable of rendering service, 
 
 " because they are not afFefted by thirst." An 
 
 Arabian author, cited by Bochart, in his Hierozoico/i, 
 (Part i. B. 2. C. 2.) says, " the camel can not 
 " only go without water for ten days, but will eat 
 '•• such things as grow in the deserts, which no 
 •' other beasts of burthen will eat." 
 
 348. For I discern iJia other than thou seem'st,'] 
 
 In the concluding Book of this Poem, our Lord 
 says to the Tempter, 
 
 desist, THOD ART eiscekn'd 
 
 And toil'st in vain- 
 
 497- 
 349. Man lives not by bread only^ but each word 
 Proceeding from the mouth o/Gcd^ who Jed 
 Our fathers here vjith Manna ? — ] 
 
 The words of St. Matthew, C. iv. 44, are^ 
 But he ansiuered and said, It is lurittcn man 
 shall not live by bread alone, but by emery 'word 
 that proctedeth out of the mouth of God, And 
 
 this refers to the e i c h th Chapter of Deuteronomy, 
 V. 3, where the humiliation of the Israelites in 
 the wilderness, and their being there miraculously 
 fed with manna, are recited as arguments for theii 
 obedience, and he humbled thee, and suffered thee to 
 hunger, and~ fed thee tuith manna, iijhich thou 
 k/tetvest not, neither did thy fathers hionxj ; that he 
 might male thee hio'w that man doth not li-ve by 
 bread only, but by emery txiord that frccetdeth out if 
 the mouth of the Lord doth man lime. 
 
 The- Poet, who was, beyond a doubt, " mighty 
 " in the scripture," has, with mueh art, availed 
 himself of the original passage in the Old Testa- 
 ment, as it affords him such an immediate and. 
 apposite transition to the miraculous feeding the 
 Children of Israel, their great lawgiver, and after- 
 wards Elijah, in the wilderness. 
 
 nci. .^^_^_..^— ^.^— — in the mount 
 
 Moses was forty dayi, nor eat, nor drank ;] 
 
 « J/id he 'Was there,", (i. e. in the mount) 
 " 'With the Lord, forty days and forty nights; ht 
 « did neither eat bread, nor drink 'water," 
 
 Exodus, xxxiv, 28, See also Dti^'ter. ix. 9. 
 
 Moses.
 
 40 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 JSOOK I. 
 
 / 
 
 /■, 
 
 Moses was forty days, nor eat, nor drank ; 
 
 And forty days Elijah, without food, 
 
 Wander'd this barren waste ; the same I now : 
 
 Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust, ^55 
 
 Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art ? 
 
 Whom thus answer'd the Arch-Fiend, now'undisguis'd. 
 'Tis true I am that Spirit unfortunate. 
 
 J53. Ani forty days EHjt/:, without food, 
 IVandtr'd this barren waste — ] 
 
 After Elijah had been miraculously fed in the 
 wilderness, it is said of him that he iveat in the 
 strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, 
 mnto Horeh, the mount of God. 
 
 1 Kings, xlx. 8. 
 
 3 j6. Knowing who I am—"] 
 
 This is not to be understood of Christ's divine 
 nature. The Tempter knew him to be the person 
 declared the Son of God by a voice from Heaven, 
 V. 385, and that was all that he knew of him. 
 
 Gallon, 
 
 35 "• 
 
 the Arch-Firnd—] 
 
 Satan is thus called in the Paradise Lost, 
 Book i. 
 
 Whereto with spcfdy words the Arch-Fiend reply'd, 
 
 So, stretch'd out huge ia length, the Arch-Fis.nd lay. 
 
 209. 
 
 When he breaks the horrid silence in his first speech 
 to Beelzebub, he is termed the Arch-Enemv. 
 
 358. 'Tis true I am that Spirit unfortunate,'] 
 Satan's instantaneous avowal of himself here has 
 a great and fine effcft. It is consistent with a 
 certain dignity of charafter which is given him in 
 genera], through the whole of the Paradise Lost. — 
 The rest of his speech is artfully submissive. 
 
 It may not be improper in this place, to consider 
 the conduft of the Poet, and the reason of it, re- 
 spcfting the Arch-Fiend 's appearance and de- 
 
 meanour here, and, in a part of the Paradise Lost, 
 where his situation may be considered as in some 
 
 degree similar. In the fourth Book of the 
 
 Paradise Lost, Satan is represented sitting, in 
 an assumed shape, " close at the ear of Eve ;" ia 
 order to inspire such dreams and ideas as might 
 render her a more apt subjeft of temptation. Being 
 discovered in this situation, on the touch of Ithurlel's 
 spear, he resumes his own proper form ; and, on 
 being questioned by the Angels concerning the 
 purpose of his being there, he answers in scornful 
 and indignant terras. — In the instance before us, 
 Satan is also in an assumed shape, under which he 
 is immediately known to our blessed Lord ; whose 
 power to discover him, through that disguise, he 
 does not seem to have been at all aware of, until 
 his declaration, 
 
 Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art. 
 Satan, on finding himself discovered, makes here 
 no vaunt of his power or rank, as he had done in 
 the other instance; but, having acknowledged who 
 he is, returns only apologies and flattery to the 
 " stern" rebukes of our Saviour, notwithstanding 
 that he was at the same time 
 
 ^■^— inly Slung with anger and ditdain. 
 The conduft of our author, on both these occasions, 
 is highly proper and admirable. Satan, when dis- 
 covered by Ithuriel and Zephon, and by them con- 
 duced to Gabriel, finds himself in the presence of 
 those, who had formerly been his compeers or in- 
 feriors, when in liis state of happiness and splendor; 
 and, on their attempting to restrain him, breaks 
 
 forth.
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 41 
 
 Who, leagu'd with milHons more in rash revolt 
 Kept not my happy station, but was driven 
 With them from bhss to the bottomless deep, 
 Yet to that hideous place not so confin'd 
 
 360 
 
 forth, as might be expeifled from his haughty and 
 violent charafter, into sentiments of indignation 
 and rage, and prepares for the most determined 
 resistance; from which however he is deterred by 
 a sign from above, which he knew to proceed im- 
 mediately from the hand of God. On the present 
 occasion, " awe from above had quell'd his heart." 
 He was aware of the superiority of the Son of God, 
 and, as the Scripture says of him, he believes and 
 trembles ; 
 
 But thou art plac'd above me, thou art Lord, 
 From thee X can, and must submiss, endure 
 Check, or reproof ; and glad to escape so quit. 
 
 Milton's different representations of the conducl 
 of Satan, in these two different exigencies, may be 
 considered as meant to elucidate and exalt the 
 charafter of our Lord, whom the Almighty had 
 before direfted all the angels of Heaven to adore 
 and honor as himself, 
 
 All ye Gods, 
 
 Adore the Son, and honor him as me. 
 
 Paradise Lost, ili. 343. 
 
 Neither are his glory and honor confined to the 
 celestial mansions; but even the infernal spirits are 
 involuntarily led to pay him the same homage. — 
 We may observe, as a further circumstance of the 
 marked superiority of our Lord's charafter over 
 that of the blessed angels, that Ithuriel and Zephon, 
 on Satan's resuming his own proper shape, knew 
 him not, until he informed them who he was; and 
 that Gabriel himself, at Satan's first appearance 
 before him, says only that h; 
 
 by his gait. 
 
 And fierce demeanour, seems the Prince of Hell. 
 
 But our Lord here is acquainted with all the wiles 
 and intentions of his adversary, and knows him 
 under all his disguise, and at his first approach. — 
 
 The first entrance of Satan into Paradise, we may 
 also recoUeft, was under disguise ; in which he 
 deceived Uriel, who was held to be 
 
 The sharpest sighted Spirit of all in Heaven. 
 
 But, as he says, 
 
 — — ^ neither man nor angel can discern 
 Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks 
 Invisible, except only to God alone, 
 
 Paradise Lost, iii. 682. 
 
 This discovery of Satan then may be considered as 
 an intended proof of our Lord's divine charafter, 
 in his discerning what was invisible, except to God 
 alone; and the submiss and crouching behaviour of 
 the Arch-Fiend, so different from what it was upon 
 all other occasions, amounts to a further attestation 
 of it. 
 
 365. Kept not my happy statitn — ] 
 A manner of speaking borrowed from the Scrip- 
 ture, Jude vi. ^nd the angels luhicb kept not 
 
 THEIR FIRST ESTATE. NeiVtort, 
 
 360. 
 
 lut was driven 
 
 With them from hiissy to the bottomless deep,"^ 
 
 — — Him the almighty power 
 
 Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, 
 With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
 
 To BOTTOMLESS PERDITION 
 
 Paradise Lost, i. 44. 
 — -^— eternal wrath 
 
 Burnt after them to the bottomless tit. 
 
 vi. 865. 
 
 362 , — — that hideous place — ] 
 
 The Devils, immediately after their expulsion 
 from Heaven, in the first Book of Paradise 
 Lost, are described " abjeft and lost," 
 
 Under amazement of their hideous change, 
 
 3'S- 
 
 By
 
 42 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 By rigor unconniving, but that oft, 
 
 Leaving my dolorous prison, I enjoy 
 
 Large liberty to round this globe of earth, 365 
 
 Or range in the air ; nor from the Heaven of Heavens 
 
 Hath he excluded my resort sometimes. 
 
 I came among the sons of God, when he 
 
 Gave up into my hands Uzzean Job 
 
 To prove him and illustrate his high worth; 370 
 
 And, when to all his Angels he propos'd 
 
 To draw the proud king Ahab into fraud 
 
 ah- 
 
 unconniving — ] 
 
 Thus in the speech of the Deity in the Paradise 
 Lost, where he notices the entrance of Sin and 
 Death into the world, and terms them " these 
 " 'wasteful furies," they are considered as suppos- 
 ing the Almighty to conniije at their proceedings. 
 
 who impute 
 
 Folly to mf, so doth the Prince of Hell 
 And his adherents, that with so much ease 
 1 ^ulTcr them to enter and possess 
 A place so heavenly, and cosniving seem 
 To gratify my scornful enemies. 
 
 620. 
 
 164, 
 
 ^— my dolorous prison — ] 
 
 ^^— through many a dark and dreary vale 
 They pass'd, and many a region DOLORot;s, 
 O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp. 
 
 FAaADisE Lost, ii. 6i8. 
 
 365. — — to round this ghie of eitTlh,1 
 
 Milton uses the same phrase in his Paradise 
 Lost, x. 684. speaking of the sun : 
 Had ROUNDED siiU the horizon. 
 
 Tlijer. 
 
 366. — ihc Htaven of Hencns'] 
 
 Into the Heaven or Heavinj I have prejum'd. 
 An earthly [^rTI. 
 
 Paradisi I,o»t, vii. 13. 
 
 Milton frequently uses this expression of " the 
 " Heaven of Heavens." Paradise Lost, iii» 
 390. vii. 553. xii. 451. 
 
 Solomon, in his prayer at the dedication of the 
 Temple, says. But luill God indeed dtuell in the 
 earth? Behold the Heaven, and Heaven or 
 Heatens cannot contain thee; hoiu much less this 
 house that I have huilded ! 
 
 I Kings, viii. 27. 
 
 368. 1 came among the Sons of God — ] 
 No'W thei e luas a day nxihen the sons of God came 
 to present themsel'ves before the Lord, and Satan came 
 also among them. Job, i. 6» 
 
 369- 
 
 Uzzean jfoij 
 
 " There ivas a man in the land of Uz, luhose 
 " name -was Job." Job, i. i. 
 
 37s. To draw the proud king Ahab into fraud'] 
 
 This story of Ahab is related, i Kings, xxii. 
 19, &c. / saiv the Lord sitting on his throne, and 
 all the host of Heanjen standing by him, on his right 
 hand and on his left. And the Lord said. Who shall 
 persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ra- 
 moth-gilead ? And one said on this manner, and an- 
 other on that manner. And there came forth a Spirit, 
 and stood before the Lord, and said, J ivill persuade 
 
 him.
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 43 
 
 That he might fall in Ramoth, they demurring, 
 
 I undertook that office, and the tongues 
 
 Of all his flattering prophets glibb'd with lies 
 
 To his destruction, as I had in charge ; 
 
 For what he bids I do. Though I have lost 
 
 Much lustre of my native brightness, lost 
 
 To be belov'd of God, I have not lost 
 
 375 
 
 him. And the Lord said unto him, Wheretoith ? 
 And he said, I nxiill go forth, and I ixiill be a lying 
 Spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said. 
 Thou shall persuade him, and prevail also : go forth, 
 and da so. This symbolical vision of Micniah, in 
 which heavenly things are spoken of after the 
 manner of men in condescension to the weakness of 
 their capacities, our author was too good a critic to 
 understand literally, though as a poet he represents 
 it so. Ne'Wton. 
 
 372- 
 
 intofraud] 
 
 Fraud is used exaftly in the same sense, in the 
 Paradise Lost, 
 
 So glister*d the dire snake, and into fraud 
 Led Eve our credulous mother. 
 
 ix. 643. 
 
 Where Bp. Newton observes that " fraud sig- 
 •' nifies hurt and damage, as well as deceit and 
 •' delusion ; and cites the following apposite pas- 
 sage from Virg. ^En, x. -jz. 
 
 Quis Deus in irai;sem, qux dura potcntia nostra 
 Egit ? 
 
 377- 
 
 • though J have lost 
 
 Much lustre oj my native brightness — ] 
 
 It is said of Satan, in the first Book of the 
 Paradise Lost, 591, 
 
 ^^^— his form had yet not lost 
 All her original brightness.— » 
 
 And when Ithuriel and Zephon, in the end of 
 the FOURTH Book, find him in Paradise, and 
 charge him with being one of the rebel Spirits ad- 
 judg'd to Hell, Satan asks, if thej do mt kneiu him ? 
 To which Zephon replies, 
 
 Think not, revolted Spirit, thy shape the same, 
 Or undiminish'd BR i ght N f. ss to be known, 
 As when thou stood'st in Heaven upright and pure; 
 That glory then, when thou no more wast good, 
 Departed from thee ; 
 
 835- 
 
 379- 
 
 / have not lost 
 
 To lovt, at least contemplate and admire, 
 PV/iat I see excellent in got J, or fair, 
 Or virtuous — ] 
 
 After the rebuke of Zephon to Satan, part of 
 which is cited in the preceding note, it is said, 
 
 So spake the Cherub; and his grave rebuke, 
 
 Severe in youthful beauty, added grace 
 
 Invincible ; abash'd the Devil stood, 
 
 And felt HOW awful goodness is, and saw 
 
 V: RTUE in her shape how lovely ; saw, and pin'd 
 
 His loss.- 
 
 iv. 844. 
 
 Thus also, in the second Book of the Paradise 
 Lost, where the fallen Angels are described doing 
 homage to the Public Spirit of their Chief, it i« 
 said, 
 
 I for neither do the Spirits damn'd 
 
 Lose all their virtue. 
 
 483. 
 
 And, where Satan first sees Adam and Eve ia 
 Paradise, he " contemplates them with admira- 
 " tion." Speaking of them he says 
 
 ■■ whom my thoughts pursue 
 
 With wonder, and could love, so lively shines 
 In them divine resemblance, and such grace 
 The hand that form'd them on their shape hath pour'd. 
 Fakadise Lo(t, iv, 362. 
 
 G 2 
 
 To
 
 44 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 To love, at least contemplate and admire, 28a 
 
 What I see excellent in good, or fair. 
 
 Or virtuous ; I should so have lost all sense : 
 
 What can be then less in me than desire 
 
 To see thee and approach thee, whom I know 
 
 Declar'd the Son of God, to hear attent 385 
 
 Thy wisdom, and behold thy Godlike deeds ? 
 
 Men generally think me much a foe 
 
 To all mankind : why should I ? they to me 
 
 Never did wrong or violence ; by them 
 
 I lost not what I lost, rather by them 390 
 
 I gain'd what I have gain'd, and with them dwell, 
 
 Copartner in these regions of the world, 
 
 If not disposer ; lend them oft my aid, 
 
 Oft my advice by presages and signs, 
 
 And answers, oracles, portents and dreams, 395 
 
 Whereby they may dired their future life. 
 
 Envy they say excites me, thus to gain 
 
 385. ' to hear attent 
 
 Thy wisdom — J 
 
 Milton seems to have borrowed this word, and 
 thisemphatical mannerof applying it, from Spenser, 
 Faerv Queen, B. vi. Cant. g. St. 26. 
 
 Whilst thus he talk'd, the knight with greedy ear 
 Hung still upon his melting mouth attent. 
 
 Tfyer. 
 Shakespear also, Hamlet, Aft I. Scene 2. has 
 
 Season your admiration for a while 
 
 With AN ATTENT EAR. 
 
 jgg, IcnJ ilicm oft my aid. 
 
 Oft my advice by presages and signs, 
 
 And answers, oraetes, portents and dreams. 
 
 Whereby they may direH their future life."] 
 
 The following passage of Cicero reflefts so much 
 light on these lines, as would incline one to believe 
 that Milton had it in his mind. 
 
 " Mtilta cerntint hartisplccs ; multa augures pro- 
 " vident ; multa oraculis declarentur, multa 
 " vATiciN ATioNiBUs, multa soMNiu, multa 
 " poRTENTis : quibus cognitis, mult* sscpe res 
 " hominum sententia atque utilitate parts;," for, 
 atLambinus reads, ex animi sententia atque utilitate 
 partae) " multa etiam pericula depulsa sunt." — 
 De Nat. Decr. ii. 65. 
 Newton, 
 397. Envy they say excites me, thus to gain 
 Compmitns of my misery and tt'M.] 
 
 •• They
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 45 
 
 Companions of my misery and woe. 
 
 At first it may be ; but, long since with A¥oe 
 
 Nearer acquainted, now I feel, by proof, 400 
 
 That fellowship in pain divides not smart, 
 
 Nor lightens ought each man's peculiar load. 
 
 Small consolation then, were man adjoin'd: 
 
 This wounds me most, (what can it less ?) that man, 
 
 Man fallen shall be restor'd, I never more. 405 
 
 To whom our Saviour sternly thus reply'd. 
 Deservedly thou griev'st, compos'd of lies 
 From the beginning, and in lies wilt end ; 
 Who boast's t release from Hell, and leave to come 
 
 " They say" is not here merely expletory, or 
 OJlJy of general reference. It relates to what 
 Raphael ia express terms had said in the conclusion 
 of the SIXTH Book of the Par adise Lost, where 
 he warns Adam of Satan's purposes against him and 
 the motives of ihem. 
 
 — — . he who ENVIES no\A; thy state, 
 Who now is plotting how he may seduce 
 Thee also from obedience, that with him 
 Bereav*d of happiness thou mav'st partake 
 His punishment, etexnal misery; 
 Which would be all his solace and revenge, 
 As a despite done against the most High, 
 Thee once to gain compan ion of his wob. 
 
 400 
 
 noxu JJeef, by proof j 
 
 That fellowihip in pain divides not smart,'] 
 
 Our author had in his eye this line of the poet, 
 
 Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 We may compare the following passage of Cicero; 
 " Nam illud non intelligo, quamobrem, si vivere 
 «' honeste non possunt, perire turpiter velint : aut 
 
 " CUR MINORE DOLORE PERITUROS SE CUM 
 
 " MULTIS, QUAM SI SOLI PEREANT, ARBITREN- 
 
 " TUR." ii. In Catilin. io. 
 
 404. This wounds me most, (what can U less ?) that man, 
 Manjalien shall he restor'd, 1 never more.'] 
 
 The Poet very judiciously makes the Tempter 
 conclude with these lines concerning the restoration 
 of fallen man, in order to lead our Saviour to say 
 something about the manner of it, to know which 
 was one great part of his design, that he might be 
 able, if possible, to counterplot and prevent it. 
 With no less judgment is our Saviour represented 
 in the following answer, taking no other notice of 
 it than by replying. Deservedly thou grie'v'st, &c. 
 
 Thjer. 
 
 In the first speech of the Deity, in the third 
 Book of the Paradise Lost, the difference 
 between the Fall of the Angels, and the Fall of 
 Man, and the respeftive future consequences of each 
 are thus pointed out. 
 
 The first sort by their own suggestion fell. 
 Self-tempted, sclf-deprav'd ; man falls deceiv'd 
 Bv the other first ; man therefore shall find grace. 
 The other none. ■ 
 
 Into
 
 46 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK t. 
 
 Into the Heaven of Heavens : thou com'st indeed, 4 1 o 
 
 As a poor miserable captive thrall 
 
 Comes to the place where he before had sat 
 
 Among the prime in splendor, now depos'd, 
 
 Ejeded, emptied, gaz'd, unpitied, shunn'd, 
 
 A spedlacle of ruin, or of scorn, 415 
 
 To all the host of Heaven : the happy place 
 
 Imparts to thee no happiness, no joy. 
 
 Rather inflames thy torment, representing 
 
 Lost bliss, to thee no more communicable. 
 
 So never more in Hell than when in Heaven. 420 
 
 But thou art serviceable to Heaven's King. 
 
 Wilt thou impute to obedience \vhat thy fear 
 
 Extorts, or pleasure to do ill excites r 
 
 What but thy malice mov'd thee to misdeem 
 
 Of righteous Job, then cruelly to afflicl him 425 
 
 ^11. As a pcor miicrabU captive thraW^ 
 
 Thrall is an old word for slave ; frequently used 
 by Spenser. 
 
 ^^-^ ne did he cease, 
 Till thai he came where he had Cambell «een, 
 LiK£ CAFTivz THRALL, two Other knights atwecn. 
 Faery QuEiN, B. iv. Civ. 34. 
 
 Milton in the Paradise Lost, has 
 
 THRALLS 
 
 By right of war.— . 
 
 1. 149. 
 
 413. Among the prime in splendor — ] 
 
 These were th» pri.me in order and in might 
 
 Paradise Lost, i. 506, 
 ■— ^— among the choice and rRiMS 
 Qi those hcavcO'Warnng champions.— — 
 
 414. tje^ed, emptied, gaz'd, unpitied, shunn'd,'] 
 
 Milton is fond of accumulating a cluster of par- ' 
 
 ticiples. 1 
 
 Exhausted, spiritless, affliSed, fallen. ^ 
 
 Paradise Lost, vi. 8jl. / 
 
 416. 
 
 . M- happy place 
 
 Imparts to thee no happiness, no joy. 
 Rather inflames thy torment, representing 
 Lost Hiss, to thee no more communicaile,'] 
 
 We find the same sentiment also, in Pakaoise 
 Lost, ix. 467* 
 
 But the hot hell that always in him bums, 
 Though in mid Heaven, soon ended his delight; 
 And tortures him now more, the more he sees 
 Of pleasure not for him ordain'd. ' 
 
 With
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 47 
 
 With all inflidions ? but his patience won. 
 
 The other service was thy chosen task, 
 
 To be a liar in four hundred mouths ; 
 
 For lying is thy sustenance, thy food. 
 
 Yet thou pretend'st to truth ; all oracles 430 
 
 By thee are given, and what confess'd more true 
 
 Among the nations ? that hath been thy craft. 
 
 By mixing somewhat true to vent more lies. 
 
 But what have been thy answers, what but dark, 
 
 Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding, 435 
 
 426. 
 
 l>ut his patience won ] 
 
 The verb luaa I think is not often used as 
 a verb neuter, but I find it so in Spenser's Faery 
 Queen, B, i. Cant. 6. St. 39. 
 
 And he the stoutest knight that ever won. 
 
 Ne'wton, 
 
 428. 
 
 in four hundred mruthi ;'\ 
 
 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets 
 together^ about four hundred men. 
 
 1 Kings, xxii. 6. 
 
 432 
 
 thai halh been thy craft, 
 
 By mixing somewhat true to vent more lies."] 
 The following passage from St. Austin may 
 serve to illustrate what Milton here says, •' Mis- 
 " cent tamen isti (Daemones) fallacias ; et verum 
 " quod nosse potuerint, non docendi magis quam 
 " decipiendi fine, prxnuntiant." 
 
 De Div. Djemon. Seft. 12. 
 Thjer. 
 
 434. But what have ieen thy answers, what hut dark. 
 Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding,'] 
 
 The oracles were often so obscure and dubious, 
 that there was need of other oracles to explain 
 ihem. Sed jam ad te venio, 
 
 Sanfte Apollo, qui umbilicum certum terrarura obiidei, 
 Unde superstieiosa primum sstva evasit vox fera, 
 
 tuis enim oraculis Chrysippus totum volumen im- 
 plevit, partim faisis, ut ego opinor, partim casu 
 veris, ut fit in omni oratione s^pissime ; partim 
 
 FLEXILOQUIS, ET OBSCURIS, UT INTERPRES 
 EGEAT INTERPRETE, ET SORS IPSA AD SORTES 
 REFERENDA sit; PARTIM AMBIGUIS, ET-QUjE 
 AD DIALECTieUM DEFERENDA SfNT. CicCtO 
 
 De Div. ii. j6. Caltan, 
 
 Milton, in these lines about the Heathen oracles, 
 seems to have had in view what Eusebius says more 
 copiously upon this subjeft in the fifth book of his 
 Prxparatio Evangelica. That learned father rea- 
 sons in the very same way about them,, and gives 
 many instances from history of their delusive and 
 double meanings. It may not perhaps be imper- 
 tinent to mention one by way of illustration. 
 Crcesus, sending to consult the Delphic oracle 
 about the success of his intended expedition against 
 the Persian, received this answer, 
 
 Croesus Halym penetrans magnam pervertet opum vim, 
 which, by the ambiguity of one word, might either 
 signify the conquest of the Persian empire, or the 
 ruin of his own : but he, as it was natural enough 
 for an ambitious prince to do, construing it accord- 
 ing to his own flattering hopes, was overcome, and 
 lost his kingdom. Thyer. 
 
 Whick
 
 4S 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 Which they who ask'd have seldom understood, 
 
 And not well understood as good not known? 
 
 Who ever by consulting at thy shrine 
 
 Return'd the wiser, or the more instruct. 
 
 To fly or follow what concern'd him most, 440 
 
 And run not sooner to his fatal snare? 
 
 For God hath justly given the nations up 
 
 To thy delusions ; justly, since they fell 
 
 Idolatrous : but, when his purpose is 
 
 Among them to declare his providence 445 
 
 To thee not known, whence hast thou then thy truth, 
 
 But from him, or his Angels president 
 
 439- 
 
 iiislru3,1 
 
 Thus, B. ii. ver. 399, he writes suspiS for sus- 
 pelled. In the Paradise Lost he always writes the 
 participles at length ; but in this Poem he has in 
 every respe<fl condensed his style, which may be one 
 reason why it does not " p'ease the million." 
 
 447. But from him, 6r his angels president 
 In every province ? — ] 
 
 Utitur etiam els Deus (Daraonibus) ad veritatis 
 manifestationem per ipsos fiendam, dum divina 
 mysteria eis per Angelos revelantur. The words 
 are quoted from Aquinas {zda zdx Qusst, 172. 
 An. 6.) Caltoii. 
 
 This notion Milton very probably had from 
 TertuTIian and St. Austin. Tertulliun, speaking 
 of the Gods of the Heathens and their oracles, says 
 — Dispositiones etiam Dei & tunc prophetis con- 
 cionantibus excepcrunt, Sr nunc leiflionibus reso- 
 nantibus carpunt. Ita & hinc sumentes quasdam 
 temporum sortcs a:mulantur divinitatem, dum fu. 
 rantur divinationem. In oraculis autem, quo in- 
 genio ambiguilatcs temperent in eventus, scient 
 Crocsi, sciunt Pyrrhi, Apol. C. 22. St. Austin, 
 
 more appositely to our present purpose, answering 
 the Heathen boasts of their oracles, says — tamea 
 nee ista ipsa, qus ab eis vix raro & clanculo pro- 
 feruntur, movere nos debent, si cuiquam Dxmonum 
 extortum est id prodere cultoribus suis quod di- 
 dicerat ex eloquiis prophetarum, vel ex oraculis 
 Angelorum. Aug. De Div. Dsmonum. Seft. 1 2, 
 Tom, 6. Ed. Bened. And again, Cum enim vult 
 Deus etiam per infimos infernosque spiritus aliquem 
 vera cognoscere,temporalia dumtaxat atque ad istam 
 mortalitatem pertinentia, facile est, & non incon- 
 gruum, ut omnipotens & Justus ad eorum pcenam, 
 quibus ista prasdicuntur, ut malum quod eis im- 
 pendet ante quam veniat prxnoscendo patiantur, 
 occulto apparatu ministeriorum suorum etiam spi- 
 ritibus talibus aliquid divinationis impertiat, ut 
 quod audiunt ab Angelis, prasnuntient hominibus. 
 De Div. Quxst. ad Simpl. L. 2. S. 3. Tom. 6. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 Milton has here followed the Septuagint reading 
 in Deuteronomy. "Ote J»£ft!fi^i> h ti^l/is-®- 4&i)i — an'rin 
 
 War&»rto». 
 
 In
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 49 
 
 In every province, who, themselves disdaining 
 To approach thy temples, give thee in command 
 What, to the smallest tittle, thou shalt say, 
 To thy adorers ? Thou, with trembling fear. 
 Or like a fawning parasite, obey'st : 
 Then to thyself ascrib'st the truth foretold. 
 But this thy glory shall be soon retrench'd ; 
 No more shalt thou by oracling abuse 
 The Gentiles ; henceforth oracles are ceas'd. 
 And thou no more with pomp and sacrifice - 
 Shalt be inquir'd at Delphos, or elsewhere ; 
 
 450 
 
 455 
 
 ^53. Then to thysdf aicrib'st the truth foretold :^ 
 
 The Demons, Laftantius says, could certainly 
 foresee, and truly foretel many future events, from 
 the knowledge they had of the dispositions of pro- 
 vidence before their fall. And then they assumed 
 all the honor to themselves, pretending to be the 
 authors and doers of what they predicted. " Nam 
 " cum dispositiones Dei praesentiant, quippe qui 
 " ministri ejus fuerunt, interponunt se in his rebus ; 
 " ut quxcunque a Deo vel fafta sunt vel fiunt ipsi 
 " potissimum facere, aut fecisse videantur." Div. 
 Inst. ii. 1 6. Calton. 
 
 456- 
 
 henceforth oracles are ceai*dj 
 
 And thou no more wtth pomp and sacrifce 
 Shalt be inquir'd at Detphos, or elsewhere! 
 At least in vain, for they shall find thee mute."] 
 
 As Milton had before adopted the ancient opinion 
 of oracles being the operations of the fallen Angels, 
 so here again he follows the same authority, in 
 making them cease at the coming of our Saviour. 
 See this matter fully discussed in Fontenelle's His- 
 tory of OracIeS) and Father Baltus's answer to him. 
 
 Thjer, 
 
 Thus Juvenal, Sat. vi. 554; 
 
 ^— — DlLrUIS OKAQVIA CXJSANT, 
 
 And in the fifth Book of Lucan's Pharsai.ia, 
 where Appius is desirous to consult the Delphic 
 oracle, but finds it dumb, the priestess tells him ; 
 
 MUTo Parnassus hiato 
 
 CoNTicuiT, prcssitque Deum, scu spintus istas 
 Destitutt fauces, mundi(jue in devia vcrsum 
 Duxit iter — — — — — — 
 
 — — — — — seu sponte Deorum 
 
 Cyrrha silet.— — — 
 
 Thus also Milton, in his Hymn on the Na- 
 tivity ; 
 
 The ORACLES ARE DUMB, 
 
 No voice or hideous hum 
 Ruiu through the arched r©oi in words deceiving, 
 
 Apollo, from his shrine, 
 
 Can no more divine, 
 With hollow shriek the sieep of Delphos leaving. 
 
 And befora him, Giles Fletcher, in his Christ's 
 Victory in Heaven, St. 82. 
 
 The Angels carol'd loud their song of peace, 
 
 The cursed ORACLES were strucken dumb. — 
 
 458. 
 
 Delphos, — '\ 
 
 In the famous controversy about ancient and 
 
 modern learning, Mr. Wotton reproves Sir William 
 
 Temple for putting Delphos for Delphi every where 
 
 in his Essays, Mr. Boyle justifies it, and says that 
 
 H it
 
 50 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 EOOK I. 
 
 At least in vain, for they shall find thee mute. 
 
 God hath now sent his living oracle 460 
 
 Into the world to teach his final will, 
 
 And sends his Spirit of truth henceforth to dwell 
 
 In pious hearts, an inward oracle 
 
 To all truth requisite for men to know. 
 
 So spake our Saviour ; but the subtle Fiend, 465 
 
 Though inly stung with anger and disdain, 
 Dissembled, and this answer smooth return'd. 
 Sharply thou hast insisted on rebuke. 
 And urg'd me hard with doings, which not will 
 But misery hath wrested from me. Where 470 
 
 Easily canst thou find one miserable. 
 And not enforc'd oft-times to part from truth, 
 If it may stand him more in stead to lie. 
 Say and unsay, feign, flatter, or abjure ? 
 
 it is used by all the finest writers of our tongue, and 
 best judges of it, particularly Waller, Dryden, 
 Creech, &c. If these authorities may justify Sir 
 William Teropie, they may also justify Milton ; 
 but certainly the true way of writing it is not Delphos 
 in the accusative case, but Delphi in the nomi- 
 native. Nenuton. 
 
 But Delphos in English is as proper as Argos, 
 which by Livy, Virgil, and most of the Latin 
 authors it written Argi. 
 
 460. 
 
 his living orade] 
 
 Christ is stiled by the Greek Fathers avro^an, 
 fftio-a 3okX>), Xoy; (w», essential life, the li'ving conn~ 
 
 f(l, and tbt living 'word of God, And St. John 
 
 says, that in him niias life, and the life luas the 
 light of men. i. 4. Calton. 
 
 And in Afts, vii. 38. where it is said. Who re. 
 ceived the lively (or living) oracles to give unto us, 
 instead of Xooyta iuna, some copies read Xoyo» ^»»t«. 
 
 ^6g, - — ^— — ichick not will 
 
 But mis try hatli wrested from me. — ] 
 Thus, in Romeo and Juliet, the starved 
 Apothecary excuses his selling poison. 
 My poverty, but not my will, consents. 
 
 474. Say and unsay, feign, Jlatler, or abjure?'] 
 Might not Milton possibly intend here, and par- 
 ticularly by the word abjure, to lash some of his 
 complying friends, who renounced their republican 
 principles at the Restoration ? Thyer. 
 
 But
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 SI 
 
 475 
 
 But thou art plac'd above me, thou art Lord ; 
 From thee I can, and must submiss, indure. 
 Check or reproof, and glad to escape so quit. 
 Hard are the ways of truth, and rough to walk, 
 Smooth on the tongue discours'd, pleasing to the ear, 
 And tuneable as sylvan pipe or song ; 480 
 
 478. Hdrd are thi ways of truth, and rough Jo tualk,'] 
 
 Thus Silius Italicus, iv. 605;. ; 
 
 Explorant adversa viros, perque aspera duro 
 NiTiTUR ad laudem virtus interrita clivo. 
 
 And in Book the fifteenth, where Virtue is 
 the speaker; 
 
 Casta mihi domus, et celso stant colle penates ; 
 
 ArdUA 3AXOSO PERDUCIT SEMITA CLIVO; 
 
 AspER principio, (ncc enim mihi fallere mos est,) 
 Prosequitur labor, Adnitendum intrark volenti. 
 
 101. 
 
 Thus also Hesiod, Opera et Dies, 289. 
 
 «j Tprj^t;? TO wfWTOf, 
 
 By toil alone, so will the immortal Gods, 
 We rise to virtue ; the asoent is long, 
 Rugged and steep at first. 1 
 
 From whom Tasso, C. xvii. 61. 
 
 Signor non sotto 1' ombra in piaggia molle, 
 Tra fonti, e fior, tra ninfe, e tra Sirene; 
 Ma in cima, a 1' erto, e faticoso colle 
 Dc la virtii riposto e il nostro bene. 
 Chi non gela, e non suda, e non s'estoUe 
 Da le vie del piacer, la non perviene. 
 
 Not underneath sweet shades and fountains shrill, 
 
 Among the nymphs, the fairies, leaves, and flowers, 
 
 But on the steep, the rough, and craggy hill 
 
 Of virtue stands this bliss, this good of ours, 
 
 By toil and travel, not by sitting still 
 
 In pleasure's lap, we come to honour's bowersi 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 And from him Spenser, Faery Queen, B, II. 
 C. iii, 40. 41. 
 
 Abroad in arms, at home in studious kind, 
 
 Who seeks with painful toil, shall honour soonest find. 
 
 In woods, in waves, in wars, she wonts to dwell, 
 
 And will be found with peril and with pain; 
 
 Ne can the man, that moulds in idle cell, 
 
 Unto her happy mansion attain : 
 
 Before her gate high God did sweat ordain, 
 
 And wakeful watches ever to abide : 
 
 But casie is the way, and passage plain. 
 
 To pleasure's palace; it may soon be spide, 
 
 And day and night her doors to all stand open wide. 
 
 478. Hard are the mays of truths and rough to zua/ky 
 Smooth on the tongue discours'd, pleasing to the ear^ 
 And tuneable as sylvan pipe or song;"] 
 
 Thus in the Comus, V. 476. 
 
 How charming is divine philosophy ! 
 Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull fools suppose. 
 But musical, as is Apollo's lute. 
 And a perpetual feast of nedlar'd sweets 
 
 And, in a passage in his Tractate on Educa- 
 tion, cited by the late most able Editor of the 
 Juvenile Poems, and exhibited also by Dr. Blair, 
 in his Lectures on Rhetoric, as a sentence 
 eminent for the admirable harmony of its struc- 
 ture, he says; " I shall not detain you longer in 
 " the demonstration of what we should not do; 
 " but strait conduft you to a hill-side, where I 
 " will point ye out the right path of a virtuous 
 " and noble education, laborious indeed at the first 
 " ascent, but also so smooth, so green, so full of 
 *' goodly prospects and melodious sounds, that the 
 " harp of Orpheus was not more charming." 
 
 480. <-.— tuneable as sylvan pipe or song i"^ 
 
 — such prompt eloquence 
 
 Flow'd from their Jips in prose, or numerous verse, 
 
 H 4 Mori
 
 5^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 / 
 
 What wonder then if I delight to hear 
 
 Her didates from thy mouth ? Most men admire 
 
 Virtue, M'^ho follow not her lore : permit me 
 
 To hear thee when I come, (since no man comes,) 
 
 And talk at least, though I despair to attain. 
 
 Thy father, who is holy, wise, and pure. 
 
 Suffers the hypocrite or atheous priest 
 
 To tread his sacred courts, and minister 
 
 About his altar, handling holy things. 
 
 Praying or vowing ; and vouchsaf 'd his voice 
 
 To Balaam reprobate, a prophet yet 
 
 Inspir'd : disdain not such access to me. 
 
 To whom our Saviour, with unalter'd brow : 
 Thy coming hither, though I know thy scope. 
 
 485 
 
 490 
 
 More tuneablb than needed lute or harp 
 
 To ADD more sweetness. 
 
 Paradise Lost, v. 149. 
 Mom TUNE ABLE than lark to shepherd's ear; 
 
 Shakespeare, Mids. N. D. Ad 1. Sc. 14. 
 
 482. ^-^^— — ^^— — — — Most men admire 
 Virtue^ uiko fcliow not her lore: — ] 
 
 Imitated from the well-known saying of Medea. 
 Ovid Met. vii. 20. 
 
 —^ Video mcliora, proboque ; 
 Oeteriora sequor. 
 
 Newiiton. 
 
 487. 
 
 jMcouj— ] 
 
 Cicero, speaking of Diagoras, says, " qui 
 *' Atheos diftus est." 
 
 De Nat. Deor, i. 23. 
 
 488. To tread his sacred courts,—'] 
 When ye come to appear before me, ivho hath re- 
 quired tbit (ft your hand, to tread my courts? 
 
 Isaiah, i. 11, 12. 
 
 489. 
 
 ■ handling holy thingSy'^ 
 Cor. ix. 13. they ttihich minister 
 
 Thus, 
 
 ABOUT HOLY THINGS. 
 
 490. Praying or vowing ; — J 
 
 Besides sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving, the 
 Jews had vow-sacrifices, (Lev. vii. 16.) oblations 
 for vows, (xxii. 18.) and sacrifices in performing 
 their vows (Numbers, xv. 3. 8.J 
 
 4g». -^— ^ ' and vouchsaj-^d his voice 
 
 To Balaam reprobate, — ] 
 
 An argument more plausible and more fallacious 
 could not have been put into the mouth of the 
 Tempter. Perfeftly to enter into all the circum- 
 stances of this remarkable piece of Scripture his- 
 tory, and clearly to apprehend the judicious appli- 
 cation of it by the poet in this place, we may 
 refer to Bp. Butler's excellent Sermon on the Cia- 
 rafJer of Balaam, or to Shuckford's account of it 
 in the twelfth Book of his Connexion of Sacred 
 and Prophane History, 
 
 Ibid
 
 BOOK r. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 I bid not, or forbid ; do as thou lind'st 
 Permission from above ; thou canst not more. 
 
 He added not ; and Satan, bowing low 
 His gray dissimulation, disappear'd 
 Into thin air diffus'd : for now began 
 Night with her sullen wings to double-shade 
 
 53 
 495 
 
 500 
 
 498. His gray dissimuUtioTi,-—'] 
 
 Satan is still under his assumed character of an 
 old countryman. 
 
 — — ^— ail AGED man in rural weeds. 
 
 In our author's Latin poem on the Fifth of 
 No-xiembcr, where also he introduces him ui>der the 
 disguise of an old Franciscan friar, it is said, 
 
 — — AsauMPTis micuerunt tempora canis, 
 
 which is equivalent to his gray dissimulation here. 
 
 49g. Into thin air diffused: — ] 
 
 So Virgil, ^N. iv. 278. 
 
 £t procul IN T£KU£M CX OCuUs EVANUIT AURAM. 
 
 Neiuton, 
 And Shakespeare, 
 
 — ^— these our aflors. 
 As I foretold you, were all spirits, and 
 
 Are MELTED INTO AIR, into IHIN AIR. 
 
 Tempest, Afl IV. Sc. 2. 
 
 499- 
 
 • for now began 
 
 Night with Iter sullen wings to doubU'shade 
 
 The desert ; fowls in their clay nests were couch' d; 
 
 And now wild beasts came Jorth the woods to roam.'] 
 
 This brief description of night coming on in 
 the desert is singularly fine. It is a small but 
 exquisite sketch, which so immediately shews the 
 hand of the master, that his larger and more 
 finished pieces can hardly be rated higher. 
 
 The commencement of this description, both in 
 jespeft of its beginning with an hemistich, and 
 also in the sort of instantaneous coming on of night 
 which it represents, resembles much a passage in 
 Tasso, 
 
 Cosi diss' egli ; e ciA la notte oscura 
 Havea tutti del giorno i raggi >pcnti : 
 
 111. 71. 
 
 Thus he complain'd ; — but now the sable shade, 
 
 Icleped night, had thick enveloped 
 
 The sun in vail of double darkness made. 
 
 Fairfax. 
 
 500. 
 
 her sullen tilings — ] 
 
 Nox ruit, et fuscis tcllurera amplcflilur alls. 
 
 Virg. ^N. viii. 369. 
 
 Thus alfo Manilius, speaking of the constellation 
 
 Orion ; 
 
 Quo fulgente super terras coelumque trahente, 
 Emcntita diem nicras nox contrahit abs, 
 
 ASTRON. V. 59, 
 
 And Tasso describes night covering the sky with 
 her luings. 
 
 Sorgea la notte in tanto, .e sotto l' ali 
 
 Rccopriva del Cielo i campi immcnsi: 
 
 viii. 57. 
 But nov^ the night dispread her bzy virings 
 
 O'er the broad fields of Heaven's bright wilderness. 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 Spenser also, Faery Queen, B. VI. C. viii. 44. 
 
 .^— — and now the even-tide 
 His BROAD BLACK WINGS had through the Heavens 
 
 wide 
 By this dispread. — — 
 
 And Allegro, 6.; 
 
 Where brooding darkness spreads iur jealous 
 
 5C0. 
 
 /(> doulilc-shade 
 
 The desert; — ] 
 i. e. to double the natural shade and d.irkness 
 
 of the place. This is more fully expressed in 
 
 Hogxus's translation of this passage. 
 
 Nam nunc obscuras nox atra expandere pennas 
 Cicperat atquc nicras nsmorum ge;.ii«.\re T£- 
 
 N£SRAS. 
 
 Thus
 
 54 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK 1. 
 
 The desert ; fowls in their clay nests were couch'd ; 
 And now wild beasts came forth the woods to roam "-'". 
 
 Thus in Co M us, the elder brother, when separated 
 from his sister in the forest by night, addresses the 
 moon ; 
 
 ■ thou fair raoon, 
 That wom'st to love the traveller's benizon. 
 Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud. 
 And disinherit chaos, that reigns here 
 
 l.V DOUBLE NICHT Of DARKNESS AND 0» SHADES; 
 
 In a note on which last verse, in Mr. Walton's 
 edition of the Juvenile Poems, the following line 
 of Pacuvius, cited by Cicero, (De Divi nat. i. 14.) 
 is exhibited ; 
 
 Tcnebric conduplicantur, noflisque et nimborum 
 occxcat nigror. 
 
 We may also compare Ovid, Met. xi. 548. ; 
 
 tanta vertigine pontus 
 
 Fcrvct, et indu£li piceis a nubibus umbra 
 
 Orane latet ccelum, duplicataque noctis imago- 
 
 EST. 
 
 And Ibid, 521.; 
 
 Ccccaque nox prcmitur teneerisql-e hyemisqcb 
 siJt5et;E, 
 
 Joiuh in tk<iT clay vests ivcre couch'd :'\ 
 ——^— bird, and beast, 
 
 50:. 
 
 They to tiieir grassy couch, these to their nest. 
 Were slunk. 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 600. 
 
 * That the Paradise Regained has been considerably under-rated by the world, seems of late to be 
 an opinion almost generally admitted. But perhaps we shall state the faft more correftly, if we say that 
 it has been negleiled, rather than under-rated, that it has been more unhwMit, than not admired. This is so 
 much the case, that I apprehend some of the warmest panegyrics of the Parad ise Lost have never honored 
 this Poem with a perusal; or only with a casual and most unfair one, under a cloud of prejudices 
 
 against it. A critic, whose taste, judgment, and candor are unquestioned, has given it absolutely 
 
 ?;« place at all among the Works of its Author. " If I might venture to place Milton's Works according 
 " to their degrees of poetic excellence," says Dr. Joseph Warton, " it should be perhaps in the following 
 <' order, Paradise Lost, Comus, Samson Agonistes, Lycidas, L'Allegro, II Penseroso." 
 (See concluding note to the Lycidas, in Warton's Edition of Milton's 'Jwvettile Poems !J I should hope that 
 Paradise Regained slipped accidetitally out of the list: indeed what the late Mr. Warton has said 
 of the Comus, I do not hesitate to apply to the Poem before us, and to hazard freely my unqualified 
 opinion, that " the Author is here inferior only to his own Paradise Lost." 
 
 If we take this opportunity to reconsider this first Book, we shall find much to admire, and little to 
 censure. 
 
 The Proposition of the Subjeifl (Ver. i.) is clear and dignified, and is beautifully wound up in the 
 concluding line. 
 
 And Eden rais'd in the waste wilderness. 
 
 The Invocation of the Holy Spirit (Ver. 8.) is equally devout and poetical. The Baptism of John 
 (Ver. 18.) carries us with the best effeft in medias res. Satan's Infernal Council (Ver. 40.) is briefly, but 
 finely, assembled ; his Speech is admirable ; and the effcifl of it is strongly depiifled. This is strikingly 
 contrasted by the succeeding beautiful description of the Deity surrounded by his Angels; his Speech 
 
 to them ; and the triumphant Hymn of the Ccelestial Choir. Indeed the wiiole opening of this Poem is 
 
 executed in so masterly a manner, that making allowance for a certain wish to compress, which is palpably 
 visible, very few parts of the Paradise Lost can in any respefl claim a pre-eminence, — The brief descrip- 
 tion (Ver. 193.) of our Lord's entering 
 
 now
 
 BOOK I. PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 — — — now the bordering desert wild. 
 
 5i 
 
 And with dark shades and rocks cnviron'd round. 
 
 And again, (Ver, 295.) where " looking round on every side he beholds" 
 
 A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades, 
 
 are scenes worthy the pencil of Salvator. Our Lord's Soliloquy (Ver. 196.) is a material part of the Poem, 
 and briefly narrates the early part of his life. In the Paradise Lost, where the divine persons are speakers 
 Milton has so chastened his pen, that we meet with few poetical images, and chiefly scriptural sentiments 
 delivered, as near as may be, in scriptural, and almost always in unornamented, language. But the Poet seems 
 to consider this circumstance of the Temptation, (if I may venture so to express myself,) as the last, perfeft 
 completion of the Initiation of the man Jesus in the mjstcry of his own divine nature and ofiice : at least he feels 
 himself entitled to make our Saviour while on earth, and " inshrined in fleshly tabernacle," speak in a certain 
 degree, aiSwjnMr, or, after the tnanner of men. Accordingly all the speeches of our blessed Lord, in this 
 Poem, are far more elevated than any language that is put into the mouth of the divine speakers in any 
 part of the Paradise Lost. The ingrafting Mary's Speech (Ver. 230.) into that of her Son, it must be 
 allowed, is not a happy circumstance. It has an awkward effeft, loads the rest of the Speech, and might 
 have been avoided, and better managed. The description (Ver. 303.) of the probable manner of our Lord's 
 passing the forty days in the wilderness is very pifturesque; and the return of the wild beasts (Ver. 310.) 
 to their Paradisiacal mildness is finely touched. The appearance of the Tempter in his assumed charWr 
 (Ver. 314.) ; the deep art of his two first speeches, covered, but not totally concealed, by a semblance of 
 simplicity ; his bold avowal and plausible vindication of himself (Ver. 357.) ; the subsequent deteftion of 
 his fallacies (Ver. 407.), and the pointed reproofs of his impudence and hypocrisy, on the part of our blessed 
 Lord,— cannot be too much admired. Indeed, the whole conclusion of this Book abounds so much in close- 
 ness of reasoning, grandeur of sentiment, elevation of style and harmony of numbers, that it may well be 
 questioned whether poetry on such a subjedt, and especially in the form of dialogue, ever produced any 
 thing superior to it. 
 
 The singular beauty of the brief description of Night coming on in the Desert, has been particularly 
 noticed \i\iu place : it closes the Book with such admirable effeft, that it leaves us con la bocca dolce. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST BOOK.
 
 w^^^m^^^'mi^ 
 
 THE 
 
 SECOND BOOK 
 
 OF 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED.
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK II. 
 
 The Disciples of Jesus, uneasy at his hng absence, reason amongst themselves concerning 
 it. Mary also gives vent to her maternal anxiety : in the expression of which she 
 recapitulates many circumstances respeBing the birth and early life of her Son. — Satait 
 again meets his Infernal Council, reports the bad success of his first temptation of our 
 Blessed Lord, and calls upon them for counsel and assistance. Belial proposes the tempt- 
 ing of Jesus with zvomen. Satan rebukes Belial for his dissoluteness, charging on him. 
 all the profligacy of that kind ascribed by the poets to the Heathen Gods, and rejeEis his 
 proposal as in no respeSl likely to succeed. Satan then suggests other modes of temptation, 
 particularly proposing to avail himself of the circumstance of our Lord's hungering ; and, 
 taking a band of chosen spirits with him, returns to resume his enterprise. — Jesus hungers 
 in the desert. — Night comes on ; the manner in which our Saviour passes the night is 
 described. — Morning advances. — Satan again appears to Jesus, and, after expressing 
 wonder that he should be so entirely negleEled in the wilderness, where others had been 
 miraculously fed, tempts him zvith a sumptuous banquet of the most luxurious kind. This 
 he reje£ls, and the banquet vanishes. — Satan, finding our Lord not to be assailed on the 
 ground of appetite, tempts him again by offering him riches, as the means of acquiring 
 power : This Jesus also rejeSls, producing many instances of great aFlions performed by 
 persons under virtuous poverty, and specifying the danger of riches ^ and the cares and pains 
 inseparable from power and greatness. 
 
 I^
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 JVLeAN while the new-baptiz'd, who yet remahi'd 
 At Jordan with the Baptist, and had seen 
 Him whom they heard so late expresly call'd 
 Jesus Messiah, Son of God declar'd,, 
 
 1. Mean while the ntw baptiz'd, &c. — J 
 
 The greatest, and indeed justest, objeflion to this 
 Poem is the narrowness of its plan, which, being 
 confined to that single scene of our Saviour's life 
 on earth, his Temptation in the Desert, has too 
 much sameness in it, too much of the reasoning, 
 and too little of the descriptive part ; a defeft 
 most certainly in an epic poem, which ought to 
 consist of a proper and happy mixture of the in- 
 struftive and the delightful. Milton was himself, 
 no doubt, sensible of this imperfeftion, and has 
 therefore very judiciously contrived and introduced 
 all the little digressions that could with any sort 
 of propriety connefl with his subjeft, in order to 
 relieve and refresh the reader's attention. The 
 following conversation betwixt Andrew and Simon 
 upon the missing of our Saviour so long, with the 
 Virgin's refleftions on the same occasion, and the 
 council of the Devils, how best to attack, their 
 enemy, are instances of this sort, and both very 
 happily executed in their respeftive ways. The 
 language of the former is cool and unaffefted, 
 corresponding most exaftly to the humble pious 
 •hitM^ler of. the speakers : that of the latter is full 
 
 of energy and majesty, and not inferior to theit 
 most spirited speeches in the Paradise Lost. 
 
 Thjcr. 
 
 4. jfesus Messiah, Son of Cod dtdur'd,'] 
 
 Tliis is a great mistake in the Poet. All that 
 
 the people could coUeft from the declarations of 
 
 John the Baptist,, and the voice from Heaven, was 
 
 that he was a great prophet, and this was all they 
 
 did in faft colledl; they were uncertain whether h« 
 
 was their promised Messiah. 
 
 IVarhiirlo^. 
 
 But surely the decfaration, by the •voice front 
 Heaven, of Jesus being the belovcj Son of God^i.%, 
 as Milton terms it, " high authority" for believ- 
 ing that he was the Messiah. — John the Baptist 
 had also, John, i. 29, expressly called him the 
 Lamb of God ixihich taketh amiay the sin of tht 
 luorU, referring, as is generally supposed, to Itaiah, 
 liii. 7. And, the day following, John's giving him 
 the same title, " Behold the Lamb of God!" (Joh.ty 
 i. 36,^ is the groimd of Andrew's conversion, 
 who thereupon followed Jesus, and having passed 
 tome time with hin)j declared to his brother 
 
 Pet«r
 
 6£ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 And on that high authority had beUev'd, 
 
 And with him talk'd, and with him lodg'd ; I mean 
 
 Andrew and Simon, famous after known. 
 
 With others though in holy writ not nam'd ; 
 
 Now missing him, their joy so lately found, 
 
 (So lately found, and so abruptly gone,) 
 
 Began to doubt, and doubted many days. 
 
 And, as the days increas'd, increas'd their doubt. 
 
 Sometimes they thought he might be only shewn, 
 
 And for a time caught up to God, as once 
 
 Moses was in the mount and missing long. 
 
 And the great Thisbite, who on fiery wheels 
 
 10 
 
 '5 
 
 Peter, IFe havt found the Masias, ivhich is, being 
 interpreted, the Christ. John, i. 41. 
 
 6. And ivith him talii'd^ and with him lodg'd — J 
 These particulars are founded, (as Bp. Newton 
 observes,) on what is related in the first chapter of 
 St. John, respeding two of John's disciples, (one 
 of whom was Andrew, and the other probably 
 John the Evangelist h\mit\{,) fol/oiving Jesus to 
 the place 'where he dwelt, and abiding •with him 
 that day. 
 
 6. 
 
 I mean 
 
 Andrew and Simon-^^ 
 
 This sounds very prosaic ; but I find a like in- 
 stance or two in Harrington's translation of the 
 Orlando Furioso. Cant. 31. St. 46. 
 
 And calling still upon that noble name. 
 
 That oltcn had the Pagans overcome, 
 
 (I M£AN Rcnaldo's house of Monulbane.) 
 
 And again, St. 55. 
 
 How she had seen ihn bridge the Pagan made, 
 (I MEAN the cruel Pajjan Rodomont.J 
 
 Ne<wtou, 
 
 13. Somttimes they thought he might he enly sheu)n,'\ 
 Virg. ^n, VI. S70. 
 
 Ostendent terns hunc tantum fata, nee ultra 
 Esse sincnt. 
 
 NetutoK, 
 
 >4- 
 
 Moses was in the mount, and miising long;'\ 
 
 Andnxihen the people satu that Moses delayed t6 come 
 do'wn out of the mount, the people gathered themsel'vet 
 together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make 
 us gods, nvhich shall go before us ; for as for this 
 Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of 
 Egypt, nxie 'wot not -what is become of him. 
 
 Exodus, xxxii. I. 
 
 16. And the great Thisiite — ] 
 
 Or Tishbite, as he is called in Scripture, i Kings, 
 xvii I. Elijah, a native of Thisbe or Tishbe, a 
 ciiy of the countr)- of Gilcad, beyond Jordan. 
 
 Neivfon. 
 
 Milton, in one of his early Latin Poems, terms 
 Elijah, 
 
 I vales TERR* TussBrTiDis.^-^ 
 
 El. iv. 97. 
 
 16. 
 
 whi
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 63 
 
 Rode up to Heaven, yet once again to come : 
 Therefore, as those young prophets then with care 
 Sought lost Ehjah, so in each place these 
 
 16. 
 
 vho onjiery wheels 
 
 Rode up to Heaven — ] 
 " — and behold there appeared a chariot of 
 " fire and horses of fire, and parted them both 
 <• asunder, and Elijah ivent i:p by a ivhirliuind into 
 •* Heaven." 2 Kings, il. 11. 
 
 Hence Milton, in his Elegy on the death of 
 Felton, Bp, of Ely, 
 
 Ad astra sublimis feror, 
 Vates ut olim raptus ad ccelom senex 
 aurica currus icnel. 
 
 And, in his Epigram on the Gnnpoiudcr Plot : 
 
 Scilicet hos alti missurus ad atria cceli, 
 
 Sulphureo curru, fl ammi voLisauE rotis; 
 
 Qualiter ille, feris caput inviolabile Parcis, 
 Liquit Jordanios, turbine raptus, agros. 
 
 3 7. — ^— — ^^— ^— yet once again to come — J 
 It hath been the opinion of the Church, that 
 there would be an Elias before Christ's second 
 coining, as well as before his first : and this opinion 
 the learned Mr, Mede supports from the prophecy 
 of Malachi, iv. J. Behold, I luill send you Elijah 
 the prophet, before the coming of the g'-eat and 
 dreadful day of the Lord, Sec. and from what our 
 Saviour says. Mat. xvii. 11. Elias trr/ly shall first 
 come, and restore all things. These words our 
 Saviour spake when John Baptist was beheaded, 
 and yet speaks as of a thing future, airoxa.Tario'fi 
 iraiHa, and shall restore all things. But as it was 
 not Elias in person, but only in spirit, who ap- 
 peared before our Saviour's first coming, so will it 
 also be before his second. The reader may see the 
 arguments at large, in Mr.Mede's Discourse XXV. 
 which no doubt Milton had read, not only on 
 account of the fame and excellence of the writer, 
 but as he was also his fellow-collegian. 
 
 Ke--Mlon. 
 
 Though our Saviour uses the word awoxaTzs-r/o-si 
 in the future tense, something must be previously 
 
 understood to limit the sense of it to what wa» 
 then passed, to a prophecy already accomplished. 
 Bp. Pearce in his commentary on the passage has, 
 " WAS TO COME first and restore all things." 
 And Beza, in a note on the place, says, Hxc 
 autem intelligenda sunt, forma dicendi e medio 
 petita, perinde ac si diceret Christus, " Verum 
 " quidem est quod Scribos dicunt etiam videlicet 
 " antegressurum fuisse Messiam, et secuturas in- 
 " staurationi viara aperturura ; seddicovobisEliam 
 " jam venisse, &c. ' 
 
 It was however the general tradition of the elder 
 writers of the Christian Church, from those words 
 of Malachi, that Elias the Tishbite was to come in 
 person before our Lord's second advent ; which 
 opinion, the Jesuit De la Cerda, in his commentary 
 on Tertnllian De Resurrect. CarV. C. 23. 
 snys, all the antient Fathers have delivered, tradit 
 tola Palrurmantijuitas, 
 
 18. Therefore as those young prophets thn with care 
 Souj;ht lost Elijah — ] 
 
 2 Kings, it. ly. 16. 17. And ixihin the sons of 
 the prophets, 'which ivere to 'vieiv at fericho, saio 
 him, they said. The spirit of Elijah doth rest on 
 Elisha, And they came to meet him, and bowed 
 themselves to the ground before him. — And they said 
 unto him. Behold nonv, there be with thy servants 
 fifty strong men, let them go, lue pray thee, and seek 
 thy master ; lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord 
 hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, 
 or into some valley. And he said, Te shall not send. 
 —And vjhen they urged hint till he ivas ashamed, 
 he said. Send. They send therefore fifily men ; and 
 they sought three days, but found him not, 
 
 1 g. . . • so in each place these 
 
 Nigh to Bethabara — ] 
 
 These things vjere done in Bethabara beyond for" 
 
 dan, luhere Johtt ivas baptizing. 
 
 John, i. 28, 
 
 Nigh
 
 64 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 Nigh to Bethabara, in Jericho 
 
 The city of pahns, ^non, and Salem old, 
 
 JSOOK II. 
 20 
 
 •0. Kighto Bctkahara — ] 
 
 It has been observed in a preceding Note (B. i. 
 "V. 193.) that M. D'Anville, in the map of Judea 
 in his Grographie Ancienne, has laid down Bethabara 
 wrong. The same error I find in the Map annexed 
 to the small Greek Testament published by Wet- 
 stein, in I 71 1, with Mills's Prolegomena prefixed. 
 Adricho'mius, in his Th:atruyn Terrte Sanffa-, places 
 Bethabara on the eastern bank of the river Jordan, 
 tx a small distance from the Dead Sea, nearly op- 
 •poslte Jericho. Indeed if we consider it to have 
 been the place where the Israelites passed over 
 Jordan to go into the land of Canaan, on which 
 ■ever side of the river we place it, it must have 
 been nearly opposite Jericho, as it is expressly said, 
 Joshua, iii. 16. the people passed o'ver right against 
 Jericho. The Eastern Travellers also shew that 
 •the place, where the tradition of that country sup- 
 poses Jesus to have been baptized by John in Jor- 
 dan, was not more than a day's journey distant 
 from Jerusalem ; and that Jericho lay direftly in 
 the way to it. (See Pocock's Travels in the East, 
 and Maundrel's Journal.) Bp. Pearce places Betha- 
 bara on the same side of the river with Jericho, 
 that is, on the western bank. This opinion he 
 grounds on what is said. Judges^ vii. 24^ about 
 the inhabitants of Mount Ephraim taking the luaters, 
 (i. e. taking possession of all the springs,) from 
 them unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Bethabara in- 
 deed (John, i. 28,^ is described beyond Jordan, 
 x-icxv T« lof Javs ; but this Bp. Pearce reconciles by 
 shewing that v.^xv often signifies in scripture, on 
 the side of, or on this side of. For this construclion 
 of ffifa-, he cites many authorities in his note on 
 Mat. iv. I J, and likewise refers to Casaubon's 
 •note on John, i. 28. But it should be observed 
 that Beza has the same remark, and that he renders 
 wtf-aK Ta Io;Java not trans Jordanum, but secus Jor- 
 daniim, "nigh to Jordan," both in Mat. iv. i j, and 
 
 John, i. 28. .St. Jerom, De Nominibiis Hebrais, 
 
 speaks of Bethai ira as standintj partly on the western, 
 ijnd partly on tiie eastern^ bank of the river Jordan, 
 
 in Jerichf 
 
 The city of palms, jf.non, and Silem eld, 
 MacktXTus, and each town or city walt'd 
 On this side the broad lake Gcnezaret, 
 Or in Peraa — J 
 
 Jericho is called the city of palms, Deut. XXxiv. 3. 
 and Josephus, Strabo, Pliny, and all writers de- 
 scribe it as abounding with those trees. X.non is 
 mentioned, John, iii. 23, as is likewise Salim or 
 Snlem. But there appears to be no particular reason 
 for our authors calling it Salem old, unless he taket 
 it ti be the same with the Shalem mentioned, Gen. 
 xxxiii. I 8. or confounds it with the Salem where 
 Melchizedek was king. Machierus was a castle in 
 the mountainous part of Pema or the country 
 beyond Jordan, which river is well known to run 
 through the lake of Genez.areth, or the sea of Ti- 
 berias, or t'le sea of Galilee, as it is otherwise 
 called. So that they searched in each place on this 
 side Jordan, or in Periea, T£fa» lofJavy, beyond it. 
 
 By the expression on this side the broad lake Gene- 
 zareth, I would understand not on the opposite side of 
 the ri-ver to Perara, but belo-M the lake of Genezareth, 
 or to the south of it, between that and the Asphaltic 
 Lake, or the Dead Sea ; which is exaftly the situation 
 of the places here mentioned, none of which could bo 
 properly said to have stood on this side, that is on 
 the western side of the lake of Genezareth, though 
 three of them stood on the western side of the river 
 Jordan. Or in Peria, may be only understood to 
 mean and in Porxa, or e'uen in Peraa. Such is often 
 the conjuniflive sense of -vel, and sometimes of aut ia 
 
 Latin, .-ind of ij in Greek. It is probable that 
 
 Milton had the same idea of the situation of Betha- 
 bara, xvith that noticed in the preceding note, at 
 admitted by Bp. PearcCj and before suggested by 
 Beza and Casaubon. This he may be supposed to 
 have acquired from Beza, whose translation of the 
 Greek Testament with notes, we may imagine, was 
 in no small degree of repute, at the time when our 
 
 Author visited Geneva. Accordingly the first 
 
 plact
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 65 
 
 Machaerus, and each town or city wall'd 
 On this side the broad lake Genezaret, 
 Or in Persea ; but return'd in vain. 
 Then on the bank of Jordan, by a creek, 
 
 25 
 
 place where he makes the disciples seek. Jesus is 
 Jericho, on the same side of the river as Bethabara, 
 and the nearest place of any consequence to it ; then 
 JEnon and Salem, both likewise on the same side, 
 but higher up towards the lake of Genezareth ; 
 then he seems to make them cross the river and 
 seek him in all the places in the opposite country 
 of Perasa, down to the town and strong fortress of 
 Machsrus, which is mentioned by Josephus, De 
 hello JuJ. L. 7. C. 6. Milton had good authority 
 for terming Salem, Salem old. Adrichomius, speak- 
 ing of •S^/^'ot, ot Salim, says, Ex veteribus Hebra;- 
 orum Rabbinisdocet Hieronymus, non videri hanc 
 esse Hierusalem, quod nomen ipsum demonstret ex 
 graeco hebraicoque conipositum, sed oppidum juxta 
 Scythopolini, quod usque hodie appellatur Salem ; 
 ubi ostenditur palatium Melchizedec, ex magnitu- 
 dine ruinarura veteris operis ostendens magnificen- 
 tiam de quo in posteriore parte Geneseos scriptum 
 est : Venit Jacob in Soccoth, et transivit in Salem 
 civitatem regionis Sichem. See Hierotiym. Epist. ad 
 Eijag. — The Septuagint, Gen. xxxiii, 1 8. writes 
 It liq "LccT^rt^* 
 
 13. .—^———^^ the broad lake Cenczarct,'] 
 The Lake of Genezaret, or Genezareth, through 
 which the river Jordan ran, is computed by Josephus 
 to be eighteen miles long, and five broad. It is 
 described by Pliny as sixteen miles long, and six 
 broad; Pococke likewise says it is fourteen or fifteen 
 miles long. The same Author states its distance 
 from the Asphaltic Lake, or Dead Sea, to be about 
 seventy-five miles. The adjoining country was beau- 
 tiful and fertile : the waters of the lake were sweet 
 and pleasant, and it abounded with a variety of 
 fish. It was a common saying among the Jews, 
 that God loved this more than all the other seas. 
 ft^. -^-^ on the bank of Jordan^ by a creek ^ 
 
 Where winds with reeds und osiers uhisp'ring play,'\ . 
 
 Dr. Maundrell, in his Journey to "Jerusalem, We. 
 describes the river Jordan as having its banks in 
 some parts covered so thick with bushes and trees, 
 such as tamarisks, oleanders, and willows, that they 
 prevented the water from being seen till any one 
 had made his way through them. In this thicket, 
 he says, several sorts of wild beasts harbor, which 
 are frequently washed out of their covert by the 
 sudden over-flowings of the river. Hence that 
 allusion in Jeremiah, xlix. 19. "Behold, he shall 
 " come up like a lion from the swelling of Jor- 
 
 " dan." The same Author also relates that, 
 
 having gone from Jerusalem to visit that part 
 of Judea, where it is supposed our blessed Lord 
 was baptized, he proceeded towards the Asphaltic 
 Lake, or Dead Sea, in approaching to which he 
 passed through a sort of coppice of bushes and 
 reeds. And Joannes Phocas, in Description. Locor. 
 Saniior, as cited by Reland in his Palestina, speak- 
 ing of the banks of the river Jordan, says, £» 015 
 
 XroTwv ^uXa tiu&!zc7i xa.T<n)eitv, in quibus magna 
 vis arundinum nascitur. Has leonum costus in- 
 habitare solent. Reland also says, " Salices, ta- 
 " marisci, agnus castus, et canns ingentes, quae 
 *' usum hastarum praebent, crescunt ad ripam ejus, 
 " uti referunt atiroTria;. Ilia arundineta ripam 
 •' Jordanis ita obsident, ut per ea aqua fluminit 
 
 " vix conspici possit." " De la Valle" (he 
 
 adds,) " tradit se in istis arundinetis diu obcrrasse, 
 " licet equo insidentem, quum accedere vellet ad 
 " aquam Jordanis, et equitem in iis latere posse 
 
 " ne conspiciatur." Adrichomius describes a 
 
 valley of reeds, on the western bank of the river, 
 where the brook Cherith, divided into three streams, 
 flows into Jordan, nearly opposite Mount liphraim. 
 Giles Fletcher thus refers to the reedy banks of 
 the river Jordan ; 
 
 K That
 
 66 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 Where winds with reeds and osiers whispering play. 
 Plain fishermen, (no greater men them call,) 
 Close in a cottage low together got. 
 Their unexpected loss and plaints out breath'd. 
 Alas, from what high hope to what relapse 
 Unlook'd for are we fallen ! our eyes beheld 
 Messiah certainly now come, so long 
 Expected of our fathers ; we have heard 
 His words, his wisdom full of grace and truth ; 
 
 3^ 
 
 That hfavcnly voice I more delight to hear, 
 Than gentle airs to breathe, or swelling waves 
 Against the sounding rocks their bosoms tear, 
 Or WHISTLING REEDS that ruity Jordan laves, 
 
 Christ's Triumph over Death, St. 2. 
 
 »6, -^— ^^-^— .^— — — uifiiiperi'^g /'/n',] 
 
 The luhiiperiiig of the winJ is an image that 
 Milton is parlictilarly fond of, and has introduced 
 in many beautiful passages of his Paradise Lost. 
 In the opening of the fifth Book, where Adam 
 wakens Eve in a speech of tenderest affeftion, his 
 address to her is described as whispered with the 
 softness of the gentle gale. 
 
 — — then with voice 
 Mild, AS WHEN ZEPMYRt;s ON Flora breathes, 
 Her hand soft touching, whisper'd thus. 
 
 He also applies whispiering to the flowing of a 
 stream ; to the air that plays upon the wat^r, or by 
 the side of it ; and to the combined sounds of the 
 breeze and the cnrrent. 
 
 In the FOURTH Book of this Poem, he terms 
 the river Ilyssus, a 
 
 — — — WHISPERING stream. — 
 And, Paradise Lost, iv. 315, he descrilies 
 —^—— a tuft of shade, that on a green 
 
 Stood WHISPERING SOFT BY A FRESH FOUNTAIN'S 
 SIDE. 
 
 In his Lycidas, V. 136. likewise, he addresses the 
 ■ valleys low, where the mild whispers use 
 
 Of (HADES, AND WANTON WINDS, AND CUSUINC 
 (HOOKS. 
 
 " The mild nuhisper of the refreshing breeze" 
 he had before introduced in his Latin poem. In 
 Adventum Veris, V. 27. 
 
 Quaque jaces circum mulcebit lenc susurrans 
 Aura. — — — 
 
 which might have been originally suggested to him 
 by Virgil's CtJLEX, 152. 
 
 At circa passim fcssx cubuere capellae, 
 
 Excelsisque super dumis ; quos leniter adtlans 
 
 Aura susurrantis possit confundeic VSNXI. 
 
 27. Tldih jnhtrmcn, (no greater men them ca//,J'\ 
 
 Thus Spenser, in the beginning of his Shepherd'* 
 Calendar, 
 
 A shepherd's boy, (no better do him call,) 
 
 Neiuton, 
 
 -And, from him. Pope, in his second Pastoral. 
 
 A shepherd's hoy, (he seeks no better name,} 
 Led forth his flocks beside the silver Thame. 
 
 29. Their unexpeSed lots and plaints out ireath'J.^ 
 
 Thus he resolv'd, but first from inward grief 
 His bursting passion into plaints thus pour'o, 
 PARADist Lost, ix. 98. 
 
 30. ^^jj, from zvhat high hope to u)hat re/apse 
 Unlook'd for are Tiie JMen .' — ] 
 
 V2 misero mihi, quanta de spc decidt ? 
 
 Terent. Heauton. Aft II. Sc. i. 9, 
 titiutott. 
 
 34- 
 
 • full of grau and tntk i] 
 
 And
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Now, now, for sure, deliverance is at hand, 
 
 The kingdom shall to Israel be restor'd ; 
 
 Thus we rejoic'd, but soon our joy is turned 
 
 Into perplexity and new amaze : 
 
 For whither is he gone, what accident 
 
 Hath rapt him from us ? will he now retire 
 
 After appearance, and again prolong 
 
 Our expectation ? God of Israel, 
 
 Send thy Messiah forth, the time is come ; 
 
 Behold the kings of the earth, how they oppress 
 
 Thy chosen ; to what highth their power unjust 
 
 They have exalted, and behind them cast 
 
 All fear of thee ; arise and vindicate 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 An J the naord •was made flesh, and dnuelt among 
 
 «U| — — FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. 
 
 John, i, 14. 
 
 36- The iingdom shall lo Israel he reilor'd^l 
 
 They are properly made to talk in the language, 
 
 and according to the expeftations of the Jews. 
 
 Lord, tuiilt thou at this time restore agai n the 
 
 UNCDOM TO Israel ? Adls, i. 6. 
 
 NeKutOH. 
 13- -——^—^^—~— our jty isturn'd 
 
 Into perplexity — ] 
 
 When Mary Magdalene, and the other women, 
 
 went on the first day of the week to the sepulchre 
 
 with spices, but found not the body of Jesus, we 
 
 read that, they •were MUCH PERPLEXED. 
 
 Luke, xxiv. 4. 
 
 40, Hath rapt him from us ?— ] 
 
 Mr. Warton, in his Note on II Penseroso, 
 V. 40, observes that Browne, in his Pastorals, 
 often uses the verb to rape, 
 
 Milton has often the participle rapt, which he 
 might have borrowed from the Italian. Thus 
 fierai, Orl. Inam. L. i. C, 25. 42. 
 
 " Ratito in Partdiso."- 
 
 Goi of Israel, 
 
 Send thy Messiahforth, £?c.J 
 
 This sudden turn and breaking forth into prayer 
 to God is beautiful. The prayer itself is conceived 
 very much in the spirit of the Psaims, and almost 
 in the words of some of them. NeiuXon, 
 
 44. Beho!3 the kings of the earth; how they oppress 
 Thy chosen — ] 
 
 The KINGS OF THE EARTH set themsel'uet, and 
 the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, 
 and against his anointed. Psalm ii. 2, 
 
 It is possible, that some allusion might be here 
 intended to the situation of Milton's Party at the 
 Restoration. 
 
 46. 
 
 ani behind them east 
 
 All fear of thee — ] 
 Ne'vcrtheless they ixiere disobedient and rebelled 
 against thee, and CAST THY LAW BEHIND THEIR. 
 BACKS. Nehemiah, ix. 26. 
 
 K 
 
 Thy
 
 63 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Thy glory, free thy people from their yoke. 
 
 But let us wait ; thus far he hath pcrfonn'd, 
 
 Sent his Anointed, and to us reveal'd him, 50 
 
 By his great Prophet, pointed at and shown 
 
 In public, and with him we have convers'd ; 
 
 Let us be glad of this, and all our fears 
 
 Lay on his providence ; he will not fail. 
 
 Nor will withdraw him now, nor will recall, 55 
 
 Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence ; 
 
 Soon we shall see our hope, our joy return. 
 
 Thus they out of their plaints new hope resume 
 To find whom at the first they found unsought : 
 But, to his mother Mary, when she saw .60 
 
 Others return'd from baptism, not her son. 
 Nor left at Jordan, tidings of him none. 
 Within her breast though calm, her breast though pure. 
 Motherly cares and fears got head, and rais'd 
 Some troubled thoughts, which she in sighs thus clad. 6^ 
 
 ■ pjinttd at and ihoivn] 
 
 Should it not rather be poir:tr J ovt } Though 
 perhaps Milton had in his mind Persius, Sat. i. 28. 
 
 DiGlTOMONSTRARI, Ct dicicf hic CSU 
 
 65 Some (roytblid thoughts, uiiici she in sighs thus clad.'] 
 It is hardly possible not to notice the striking 
 beauty of this line. There is a passage somewhat 
 resembling it in the Paradise Lost, i. 6zo. 
 
 ■■ at last 
 
 Words interwove with sighs found out their 
 way. 
 
 ii- 
 
 in si^hs thus clad.^ 
 
 Thus Cicero ; " Sententias reconditas exquisi- 
 " tasque mollis et pellucens vestiebat oratio." 
 De Clar. Orator. 274. Ed. Proust. 
 
 And again, " Concinnitas ilia crebritasque sen- 
 " tentiarum pristina nianebat ; sed ea vestitu 
 " :llo orationis, quo consueverat, ornata non 
 " erat." Ibid. 327. 
 
 A similar figure of speech occurs in a Sonnet of 
 Drummond of Hawthornden, which is so eminently- 
 beautiful, for the age in which it was written, that 
 1 cannot forbear citing it entire. 
 
 Sweet bird, that sing'st away the early hours. 
 
 Of winters past, or coming, void of care, 
 
 WtU
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 69 
 
 O what avails me now that honor high 
 To have conceiv'd of God, or that salute, 
 *' Hail highly favor'd, among women blest ?" 
 While I to sorrows am no less advanc'd, 
 And fears as eminent, above the lot 
 Of other women, by the birth I bore ; 
 In such a season born, when scarce a shed 
 Could be obtain'd to shelter him or me 
 From the bleak air ; a stable was our warmth, 
 A manger his ; yet soon enforc'd to fly 
 Thence into Egypt, till the murderous king 
 Were dead, who sought his life, and missing fill'd 
 
 70 
 
 75 
 
 Well pleased with delights which present are, 
 Fair seasons, budding sprays, swect-smelling flow'rs, 
 To rocks, to springs, to rills, from leafy bowVs, 
 Thou thy Creator's goodness dost declare, 
 And what dear gifts on thee he did not spare j 
 A stain to human sense in sin that low'rs. 
 What soul can be so sick, which by thy songs 
 Attir'd in sweetniss sweetly is not driven 
 Quite to forget earth's turmoils, spites and wrongs, 
 And lift a reverent eye and thought to heaven ? 
 Sweet artless songster! thou my mind dost raise 
 To airs of spheres, yea and to Angels' lays, 
 
 66. what avails me now that honor high, (3c. — ] 
 
 In several parts of this speech Milton appears to 
 have had Vida in his mind. In this opening of it, 
 at verse 77, and from verse 87 to 92, we plainly 
 trace him to Mary's lamentation under the Cross. 
 
 At non certe olim prsepes demissus Olympo 
 Nuntius hxc pavids dedcrat promissa puellae. 
 
 Sic UNA ANTE ALIAS FELIX ECO, SIC ECO C (E L I 
 InCEDO RECINA? MEA EST HAC GLORIA MAGNA, 
 
 Hic MEUS ALTUS HONOs. Qiio reges munera opima 
 Obiulerunt mihi post partus? Quo carmina laeta 
 Ccelcstes cccinere chori, si mc ista manebat 
 Sors tamen, et vitam, cladem banc visura, trabebam ? 
 
 Felices ills, natos quibus impius hausit 
 
 InSONTES regis furor ipso IN LIMINE VIT-B, 
 
 Dum tibi vana timens funus molitur acerbum : 
 Ut cupercm te diluvio cecidisse sub illo ! 
 
 Hos, HOS HORRIBILl MONITO TREPIDANTIA CORDA 
 
 Terrificans senior luctus sperare jubebat, 
 
 EtCECINIT FORE, CUM PECTUS MIHI FIGERET en sis: 
 
 Nunc alte mucro, nunc alte vulnus adaftum. 
 
 Christiad. v. 870. 
 
 75- 
 
 . ytt soon enforc'd tojiy 
 
 Thence into Egypt till the murderous king 
 
 Were dead who sought his life, and missing Jill'd 
 
 With infant blood the streets of Bethlehem ;'[ 
 
 We may compare the following Stanza of Giles 
 Fletcher's Christ's Victory in Heaven. 
 
 And yet but newly he was infanted. 
 
 And yet already he was sought to die j 
 
 Yet scarcely born, already banished. 
 
 Not able yet to go, and forc'd to fly ; 
 
 But scarcely fled away, when by and by 
 
 The Tyrant's sword with blood is all defil'd, 
 
 And Rachel, for her sons with fury wild, 
 
 Cries, "O thou cruel king!" and, "O ray sweetest 
 
 child!" 
 
 With
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 With infant blood the streets of Bethlehem ; 
 From Egypt home return'd, in Nazareth 
 Hath been our dwelling many years ; his life 
 Private, unadlive, calm, contemplative, 
 Little suspicious to any king ; but now. 
 Full grown to man, acknowledg'd, as I hear. 
 By John the Baptist, and in pubhc shown, 
 Son own'd from Heaven by his Father's voice, 
 I look'd for some great change ; to honor } no, 
 But trouble, as old Simeon plain foretold, 
 That to the fall and rising he should be 
 Of many in Israel, and to a sign 
 Spoken against, that through my very soul 
 A sword shall pierce ; this is my favor'd lot. 
 
 80 
 
 85 
 
 90 
 
 79- 
 
 in KazdTcth 
 
 Hatk teen out ducllivg many years ; — ] 
 
 She mentions this as part of their distress, because 
 the country of Galilee, whereof Nazareth was a city, 
 was the most despised part of Palestine, despised 
 by the Jews themselves : and therefore Nathaniel 
 asketh Philip, John, i. 46. Can there any good 
 thing came out of Nazareth ? Nenjuton. 
 
 This passage does not strike rae exadly in the 
 same light as it does Pp. Newton. All this de- 
 scription of the early private life of our Saviour 
 seems rather designed to contrast and to give more 
 cffea to the expeftations of Mary, where she sa)s, 
 
 ' but now, 
 Full grown to man, acknowlcdg'tj, as I hear, 
 By John the Baptist, and in public shown, 
 Son own'd from Heaven by his Father's voice, 
 I look'd for some great change 
 
 So. 
 
 hi) life 
 
 Prhale, yvaHive, calm, contemplative, 
 Little suip-.cioiu to any (ii>^_] 
 
 Very possibly not without an intended reference 
 to Milton's own way of life after the Restoration. 
 
 88. T/tat to the/all and rising he should it 
 Of many in Israel, and to a sign 
 Spoken against, that through my very soul 
 A sword shall pierce— ^ 
 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Maiy hit 
 Mother^ Behold this child is set for the fall and 
 
 RISING AGAIN OF MANY IN IsRAEL; and FOR A 
 
 SIGN WHICH SHALL BE SPOKEN AGAINST : (yea 
 
 A SWORD SHALL PIERCE THROUGH THY OWN SOUL 
 
 also] that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed, 
 
 Luke, ii. 34. 3 J. 
 9«. A sword shall pierce — ] 
 
 By a like metaphor it is said in i Tim. vi. 10. 
 
 some have pierced themselves through luith many 
 
 sorrotus ; and in Homer, II. E. 399. we have the 
 
 same kind of expression. 
 
 To which may be added that of Josephus ANTiq. 
 
 VUl, 8. 3. TXtiyinTfj 'vro tuh Xoywi, cf 't/wo ctinfSf 
 
 « wounded
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 71 
 
 My exaltation to afflidlions high ; 
 
 Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest ; 
 
 I will not argue that, nor will repine. 
 
 But where delays he now ^ some great intent 95 
 
 Conceals him : when twelve years he scarce had seen, 
 
 I lost him, but so found, as well I saw 
 
 He could not lose himself, but went about 
 
 His Father's business ; what he meant I mus'd. 
 
 " wounded with the words, as with a sword." (See 
 Bp. Pearce's note on Luke, ii. 35.) 
 
 Thus also. Psalm xlii. 10. As with a sword 
 
 IN MY BONFS MINE ENEMIES REPROACH ME, 
 nvhi/e they say daily unto me, luhere it thy God? 
 qi, .— ^-^— ^— ^— . th}s is my fai'OT^d hti 
 My exalt Jiion to afflidions h>gh ;] 
 
 These are the affliflions that Mary notices ; not 
 the circumstances of dwelling in a disreputable 
 place, but her anxiety about her son, and what she 
 then suffered, and was still to suffer, upon his 
 account, 
 
 93. Affiled I may be, it stems, and blest s 
 I will not argue that, nor wiV repine. 
 hut where delays he now ? some great intent 
 Corneals hirn—^'] 
 How charmingly does Milton here verify the 
 characler he had before given of the Blessed Virgin 
 in the lines above ! 
 
 Within her breast though calm, her breast though pure, 
 Motherly cares and fears got head. 
 
 We see at one view the piety of the sai it, and the 
 tenderness of the mother; and I think nothing can 
 be conceived more beautiful and moving than the 
 sudden start of fond impatience in the third line. 
 But ivhere delays he noiv ? breaking in so abruptly 
 upon the composed resignation expressed in the two 
 preceding ones. The same beauty is continued in 
 her suddenly checking herself, and resuming her 
 calm and resigned charafter again in these words 
 -' s ome great intent conceals him, Thjer, 
 
 94. I will not argue that — ] 
 
 This is seemingly with a view to the sense of 
 argao in Latin, to blame, reprehend, accuse, 
 
 97. 1 lost him, but so found, as well I saw 
 He could not lose himsdj — ] 
 
 This is one of those sentiments so expressed, as, 
 according to Mr. Addison, to degenerate into a 
 Pun. This Poem, (even considering its propor- 
 tionate length,) is less censurable in this r^spedl 
 than the Paradise Lost. But though these blemishe* 
 are rare, they are, when they occur, extremely 
 offensive. Ubi phira nitent in carmine, great al- 
 lowance must be made for parts that are feeble and 
 less perfeft ; but, in proportion as we admire and 
 venerate the Poet, we grieve to find him, even for 
 a moment, thus losing himself. 
 
 98. — ^.^— — — — — but xtitnt about 
 His Father's business—'] 
 
 " And he said unto them, Haiu is It that ye 
 " sought me? ffist ye not that I must he ABOUT 
 " MY father's BUSINESS? Luke, ii. 49. 
 
 QQ. .^— ^_— _- ^— — what he meant I mus'd,] 
 
 The verb to muse is thus used in our translation 
 of the Scripture ; 
 
 — / luat afraid of her, and mused ivhat it 
 might be, 2 Esdras, x. 25. 
 
 —And alt men mused in their hearts of John, 
 •whether he •tutre the Christ er not ; 
 
 Luke, iii. ij 
 Thu»
 
 ^^ PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Since understand ; much more his absence now 
 
 Thus long to some great purpose he obscures. 
 
 But I to wait with patience am inur'd ; 
 
 My heart hath been a store-house long of things 
 And sayings laid up, portending strange events. 
 Thus Mary, pondering oft, and oft to mind 
 Recalling what remarkably had pass'd 
 Since first her salutation heard, with thoughts 
 Meekly compos'd awaited the fulfilling : 
 The while her Son, tracing the desert wild. 
 Sole, but with holiest meditations fed, 
 Into himself descended, and at once 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 ICO 
 
 105 
 
 1 10 
 
 Thus also Spenser, 
 
 And as she look'd about she did behold, 
 How over that same door was likewise writ, 
 Mt bold, be bold^ and every where be bold. 
 That much she mus'o, yet could not construe it 
 By any riddling skill, or common wit. 
 
 Faerv Queln, B. III. C. xi. 54. 
 And Shakespeare, 
 
 I cannot too much muse 
 
 Such shapes, such gestures, &c.- 
 
 Tempest, Aft III. Sc. 1. 
 
 his aostnce now 
 
 Thus long lo some great purpose he oiscures.] 
 
 — — ^— O might I here 
 Jn solitude live savage, in some glade 
 Obscur'd. 
 
 Faradise Lost, ix. 1084. 
 
 103. My heart halh been a storehouse lovg of things 
 And savings laid up, portending strange eventsJ^ 
 Thus Mayy pondering oft, (ic. i3c. — ] 
 
 Alluding to what is said of her, Luke, ii. 19. 
 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them 
 in her heart: and again, ver. 51. but his mother 
 kept all these sayings in her heart : so consistent is 
 
 the part that she afts here with her charafler ia 
 Scripture. Newton, 
 
 107. 
 
 i»ith thoughts 
 
 Meekly cofr.pos'd awaited the juljtlling :'\ 
 
 This is beautiluUy expressed, — There is a passage 
 somewhat similar, in Paradise Lost, xii. 596, 
 where Michael, having concluded what he had to 
 shew Adam from the mountain, and what he had 
 further to inform him of in narration there, sayt 
 they must now descend from this " top of specula- 
 " tion;" and, bidding Adam ^0 txiaken E've, addi 
 Her also I with gentle dreams have calm'd 
 Portending good, and ALt her sriKirs courot's 
 
 To MEEK SUBMISSION. 
 
 110. -^— with holieit meditations f!d,~\ 
 
 Mr. Thyer notices the similarity of this exprei- 
 sion with that in Paradise Lost, iii. 37. 
 
 Then feed on thoughts that voluntary move 
 Harmonious n-;mbcrs. 
 
 111. Into himself descended — ] 
 
 Ut nemo in sese tentat descrndere! 
 
 Pfis. Sat. iv. 13. 
 Neniuton. 
 
 til 
 
 All
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 73 
 
 All his great work to come before him set ; 
 How to begin, how to accomplish best 
 His end of being on earth, and mission high : 
 For Satan, with sly preface to return, 
 Had left him vacant, and with speed was gone 
 Up to the middle region of thick air, 
 Where all his potentates in council sat ; 
 There, without sign of boast, or sign of joy, 
 Solicitous and blank, he thus began. 
 
 Princes, Heaven's ancient Sons, ethereal Thrones ; 
 Demonian Spirits now, from the element 
 
 ^15 
 
 120 
 
 11'^. up to the middle region of thick air,] 
 Satan, in the first Book of this Poem, had as- 
 sembled his Infernal Council 
 
 ' in mid air, 
 Within TBiCR CLOUDS and darf: tenfold involv'd.— 
 
 40. 
 
 1 19. There, aitkout sign of boast, or sign ofjoy^ 
 
 In contrast to the boasting manner in which 
 Satan had related his success against Man, on his 
 return to Pandxmonium, Paradise Lost, x. 460, 
 
 120. Solicitous — ] 
 
 Solicitous seems here used under a recolleftion of 
 the definition given by Cicero of Solkitudo, which 
 fee terms Mgritudo cum cogitatione. 
 
 Tusc. QujEST. iv, S. 
 
 -I to. Solicitous and Hank, — ] 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, ix, 888. 
 
 Adam, soon as he heard 
 
 The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz'd, 
 Ajtonied, stood and blank. * 
 
 And in our Poet's early Version of the sixth 
 Psalm. 
 
 Mine enemies shall all be slani, and datb'd 
 Wi'.b mucb confusion; i 
 
 12a. Demonian Spirits now, from the element 
 Each of his reign altotud, rightlier catl'd 
 Poviers of Jire, air, water, and earth beneath,] 
 
 It was a notion among the Ancients, especially 
 among the Platonists, that there were Demons in 
 each element, some visible, others invisible, in the 
 asther, and fire, and air, and water, so that no 
 part of the world was devoid of soul : eia-i h xa» 
 
 ixxrcv Tun ^inyiiiiv, 01 fLiv opaToi, oi ^i aofaroip £» Tt 
 
 f/.tf®' ■^vym aftoipot Eivai, as Alcinous in his summary 
 of the Platonic doftrines says, cap. 5. — Michael 
 Psellus, in his dialogue concerning the operation 
 of Demons, from whence Milton borrowed some 
 of his notions of Spirits, (as we observed in a note 
 upon the Paradise Lost, i. 423,) speaks to the 
 same purpose, that there are many kinds of De. 
 mons, and of all sorts of forms and bodies, so that 
 the air above us and around us is full, the earth 
 and the sea are full, and the inmost and deepest 
 recesses : woMa ^ai(*iyu> yim, xai taxflotsarct rai; iJ.osf 
 xai Ta crwrtaxa* w; tivai oA;)fii f(.£» Toy a£fa, To» Ti 
 iiTTtf^iv ij/iuy Kou To» <at(t i5/*«s* <»X>?p)i St ycnut xai Set- 
 XaTlaj, x«i TH? jiv^oiiToeTa; xcct jSvJix; [(3uGia;J totts?, 
 
 p. 41, and he divides them into six kinds, the 
 L fiery,
 
 74 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK H, 
 
 Each of his reign allotted, rightlier call'd 
 Powers of fire, air, water, and earth beneath, 
 (So may we hold our place and these mild seats 
 Without new trouble,) such an enemy 
 Is risen to invade us, who no less 
 Threatens than our expulsion down to Hell ; 
 I, as I undertook, and with the vote 
 Consenting in full frequence was impower'd. 
 Have found him, view'd him, tasted him, but find 
 Far other labor to be undergone 
 Than when I dealt with Adam, first of Men, 
 Though Adam by his wife's allurement fell. 
 
 125 
 
 3^ 
 
 fiery, the aery, the earthy, the watery, the subter- 
 raneous, and the lucifugous : to ^lavvfov, to asfiof. 
 
 To ;i^Ooi»oi', TO vd^ccta'i te Kat tfaAicv, to v-jto^^oviov, to 
 fticopait XXI h-cata-^riTor. p. 45. Edit. Lutet. Paris. 
 161 J. But the Demons not only resided in the 
 elements, and partook of their nature, but also pre- 
 sided and ruled over them ; as Jupiter in the air, 
 Vulcan in the fire, Neptune in the water, Cybele 
 in the earth, and Pluto under the earth, 
 
 Nciv/on. 
 In the FOURTH Book of this Poem, V. 201, 
 the Demons are described 
 
 Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the 
 
 £ARTH, &C. 
 
 And in the Penseroso, V. 93. 
 
 And of those Demons tliat are found 
 
 In fire, air, flood, or unoer ground. 
 
 Whose power hath a true consent 
 
 With planet, or with elcjntnt. 
 
 Mr. Wartoii supposes that Shakespeare alludes 
 to these Demons, when, in his Hamlet, speaking 
 of the crowing of the cock, he says, 
 
 -^— ^ at his \vaTniii;Tj 
 Whether in sia, or fire, in earth, or aie, 
 
 The extravagant and erring spirit flies 
 To his c o N F I N E. 
 
 lag. 
 
 and with the vote 
 
 Consenting infullfrcquena aias impower'd,'] 
 In reference to what was said in the preceding: 
 Book, V, III. 
 
 Unanimous they all commit the care 
 And management of this main cntcrprlze 
 To him, their great diflator, — — 
 
 130. ^— — — !7i/ul//rrjuenci — ] 
 
 Milton, in his Hiftory of England, has said. 
 The assembly viz^ full and frequent : and in Paradise 
 Lost, i. 797. the council of Devils was frequent 
 and full. Here the adjedive is formed into a 
 substantive, as in B. i. 128 : and Shakespeare uses 
 it in the same manner, Timon, Aft V. Sc, 3. 
 
 Tell Athens, in the fresi-'ence of degree, 
 from high to low throughout. 
 
 NelutOTl. 
 
 »3»- 
 
 tasted him—'] 
 
 This is a Gricism. Viuoixoa signifies not only 
 gtato, but likewise ex^erhr, fericidum facto. 
 
 However
 
 BOOK II 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 However to this man inferior far ; 
 
 If he be man by mother's side, at least 
 
 With more than human gifts from Heaven adorn'd, 
 
 Perfe6lions absolute, graces divine, 
 
 And amplitude of mind to greatest deeds. 
 
 n 
 '35 
 
 135. TJowiver to this man inferior J'lr ! 
 
 If ke bi man by mother's sidfj at least 
 
 With more than human gifts from Hcavsn adorn'd, 
 
 Perfi&ions absolute, &c, &c.^] 
 
 I have ventured here to correft the punfluation. 
 The passage in the first editions, and in Bp. New- 
 ton's, stands pointed thus : 
 
 However to this man inferior far, 
 
 If he be man by mother's side at least, 
 
 With more than human gifts from Heaven adorn'd, &c. 
 
 On this Mr. Gallon observes : " The Tempter 
 " had no doubt of Christ's being a man by the 
 " mother's side ; but the want of a comma in its 
 " due place after If he be man, hath puzzled both 
 " the sense and the construiStion. He is must be 
 " understood at the end of the verse, to support 
 " the syntax ; 
 
 If he be man, by mother's sid« at least (he is J" 
 
 Bp. Newton has however preserved the pointing 
 of Milton's own edition, because some, he says, may 
 choose to join the whole together, and understand 
 it thus : " Satan had heard Jesus declared from 
 " Heaven, and knew him to be Son of God ; and 
 " now, after the trial he had made of him, he 
 " questions if he be man e'uen by the mother's 
 ♦' side," 
 
 If he be man by mother's side at least. 
 
 He further observes, that it is the purport of 
 Satan, in this speech, not to say any thing to the 
 evil spirits that may lessen, but every thing that 
 may raise, their idea of his antagonist. 
 
 It seems to me, that there can be no doubt re- 
 spefting this passage. Bp, Newton certainly sees 
 it in its true light : but I conceive his sense of it 
 is strengthened and brought forward with additional 
 
 beauty, and the whole of the sentence is rendered 
 more clear and perfeft, by the punftuation which I 
 have adopted ; and which I think most probably 
 to have been intended by Milton. 
 
 J 37. With more than human gifts from Heaven adorn'd, 
 Perfedions absolute, graces divine, 
 jind amplitude of mind to greatest deeds.'j 
 
 Many lines of the Paradise Regained have been 
 censured as harsh and inharmonious ; but even of 
 these the greater part may be vindicated, (as it has 
 been done in some instances by Mr. Thyer,) by 
 shewing that they are very far from being of that 
 kind i^uas inctiria fudit, and that many of them are 
 peculiarly expressive, and were purposely designed 
 as such by the Poet. — The three lines above cited 
 seem however secure from every possibility of dis- 
 approbation. They are indeed so eminently beau- 
 tiful, that they must strike every ear that is not 
 quite devoid of feeling and of taste. — Mr. Thyer 
 particularly notices the fine effeft of the last line, 
 and the dignity and significancy of the expression 
 amplitude of mind; which he also supposes might 
 have been suggested by the following passage in 
 Tully's Tusc. DisPUT. ii. 25. Hoc igitur tibi 
 
 propone, AMPLITUDINEM ET QUASI QUANDAM 
 EXAGGERATIONEM QUAM ALTISSIMAM ANIMI, 
 
 niiee maxime eminet contemnendis et despiciendis dolo- 
 ribiis, imam esse omnium rem pulcherrimam, 
 
 Milton, in a Chorus of the Samson Agonistes, 
 V. 1279, describes the " deliverer," who shall 
 " quell the mighty of the earth," and overthrow 
 " tyrannic power," 
 
 With plain heroic magnitude Of mind 
 And celestial vigor arm'd. 
 
 L 2 
 
 Therefore
 
 76 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Therefore I am return'd, lest confidence 140 
 
 Of my success with Eve in Paradise 
 
 Deceive ye to persuasion over-sure 
 
 Of like succeeding here ; I summon all 
 
 Rather to be in readiness, with hand 
 
 Or counsel to assist ; lest I, who erst 145 
 
 Thought none my equal, now be over-match'd. 
 
 So spake the old Serpent doubting, and from all 
 With clamor was assur'd their utmost aid 
 At his command ; when from amidst them rose 
 Belial, the dissolutest Spirit that fell, 150 
 
 The sensuallest, and, after Asmodai, 
 The fleshliest Incubus, and thus advis'd. 
 
 HO- 
 
 lest catifidtnei 
 
 0/ my success with Eve in Pamdist 
 Decehe ye to persuasion over-sure 
 0/ Me succeeding here — ] 
 In his speech to the infernal council, in the pre- 
 uding Book, Satan had augured well of his present 
 enterprise, from his former success against roan: 
 I, when no other durst, sole undertook 
 The dismal expedition lo find out 
 And ruin Adam, and the exploit perform'd 
 Successfully | a calmer voyage now 
 Will waft me; and the way, found prosperous once. 
 Induces best to hope of like success. 
 
 147- — the old serpent— 'I 
 
 that OLD SERPENT, Called the De^-il, 
 
 and Satan. Revelat. xii. g. & xx. 2. 
 
 ijO. BeliJ, the dissolutest Spirit that fell. 
 The sensuallest, and, after Asmodai, 
 The Jteshliest Imulus — ] 
 
 I have heard these three lines objefted to as harsh 
 and inharmonious, but ?n my opinion the very ob- 
 jeftion points out a remarkable beauty in them. It 
 
 is true they do not run very smoothly off the tongue,- 
 but then they are with much better judgment so 
 contrived, that the reader is obliged to l.iy a par- 
 ticular emphasis, and to dwell for some time uporr 
 that word in each verse, which most strongly 
 expresses the cha rafter describcx.!, viz. dissolutest^- 
 seiisuallest, fleshliest. This has a very good efFeft 
 by impressing the idea more strongly upon the 
 mind, and contributes even in some measure to 
 increase our aversion to the odious charafter of 
 Belial, by giving an air of detestation to the very 
 tone of voice with which these verses must neces- 
 sarily be read. Tbyer. 
 
 The charafter of Btlial is given nearly in the 
 same manner, in the Paradise Lost, i. 490. 
 
 Belial came last, than whom a spirit mors L£wa 
 
 Fell not i~rom Heaven. 
 
 15». 
 
 ajter Asmodai^ 
 
 The jleshliest Incubus — ] 
 The charafler of Belial in the Paradise Lost, 
 and the part he sustains there, sufficiently shew 
 
 how
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Set women, in his eye, and in his walk. 
 Among daughters of men the fairest found ; 
 Many are in each region passing fair 
 As the noon sky ; more Hke to Goddesses 
 Than mortal creatures, graceful and discreet. 
 Expert in amorous arts, inchanting tongues 
 Persuasive, virgin majesty with mild 
 And sweet allay 'd, yet terrible to approach, 
 Skill'd to retire, and, in retiring, draw 
 
 ^5S 
 
 f oo 
 
 how properly he is introduced upon the present 
 occasion. He is here said to be the Jieihliest In- 
 cubus after Asmodai ; or Asmadai, as it is written, 
 Paradise Lost, vi. 365; ox As modem, iv. 168, 
 the lustful Angel who loved Sarah the daughter of 
 Raguel, and deftroyed her seven husbaads, as we 
 read in the book, of Tobit. NfMiu. 
 
 153. Sit mismcn in his eye, (Sc."] 
 
 As this temptation is not mentioned in the 
 Gospels, it could not with any propriety have been 
 proposed to our Saviour; it is much more fitly made 
 the subjeft of debate among the wicked spirits 
 tliemselves. All that can be said in praise of the 
 power of beauty, and all that can be alledged to 
 depreciate it, is here summed up with grester force 
 and elegance, than I ever remember to have seen in 
 any other author. Netuton. 
 
 This speech of Belial finely exemplifies what is 
 laid of him. Paradise Lost, ii. 112. 
 -^— — his tongue 
 
 Dropp'd manna. 
 
 155. Ma-ny are in each r:gicn passing fair 
 As the noon sky, &c. &c.'] 
 
 Mr. Warton, in a note on Milton's frst Elegy, 
 (V. 53.) cites from this place to V. 168, in- 
 clusive ; and terms the lines exquisite. 
 
 Thus Romeo, in commendation of his mistress, 
 when Benvolio charges him with being in love : 
 
 Shew me a mistress that is passing tair ; 
 
 What doth her beauty serve, but as a note 
 
 Where I may read who pass'd this passi.sc fai*. 
 
 ROMtO AND JULIRT, A£l I. Sc. 2. 
 
 Ne-WiSIt,. 
 
 J eg, _. ■ more tike to GoddesS'S 
 
 Than mortal creatures, i^c] 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, xi. 614. 
 
 that fair Tcmalc troop, that secni'i 
 
 Of Goddesses so blithe, bo smooth, so gay, 
 
 Bred only and completed to the taste 
 
 Gf lui'ful appetence, to sing, to dance, 
 
 To dres: , and droll the tongue, and roll th» eye. 
 
 »59- 
 
 virgin majesty w:th mild 
 
 155. 
 
 i passing fair} 
 
 And sweet allay'd, yet terriMe to afproaih,] 
 
 Possibly suggested by Claudian's 
 
 Miscetur decori virtus, pulcherqus sevirb 
 Armatur terrore pudor.— — 
 
 Cons. Prob. et Olyr. gi. 
 
 Thus also. Paradise Lost, ix. 489. 
 
 — — divinely fair, fit love for Gods, 
 Not terrible, though terror be in love 
 And beauty, not approach'd by stronger hate.-» 
 
 161 • Skill'd to retire, and in retiring draw 
 Hearts after tkm—'] 
 
 la
 
 7' 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Hearts after them tangled in amorous nets. 
 Such obje6l hath the powder to soften and tame 
 Severest temper, smooth the rugged'st brow, 
 Enerve, and with voluptuous hope dissolve. 
 Draw out with credulous desire, and lead 
 
 iC5 
 
 In the same manner Milton, in his description 
 of Eve, Paradise Lost, viii. 504^ 
 
 Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired, 
 The MORr dksi r able. 
 
 Tfyer. 
 
 162. 
 
 iangltdin amorsus nets~[ 
 
 Milton, in his first Elegy, V. 60, speaks of the 
 
 Aurea que fall an retia tendit amor. 
 
 And, Paradise Lost, xi. 585. 
 
 The men, though grave, ey'd them, and let their eyes 
 Rove without rein, 'till in the amorous net 
 JiRST CAUGHT they lik'd ; and each his liking chose. 
 
 Thus also Spenser, Sonnet 37. 
 
 Is it that men's frail eyes, which are too bold. 
 
 She may e.vt ancle in that golden snare, 
 
 And being caught may craftily enfold 
 
 Their weaker hearts, which are not well aware ? 
 
 Take care ther..fore, mine eyes, how ye do stare 
 
 Henceforth loo rashly on that cuileful nej, 
 
 In which if ever ye entrapped are, 
 
 Out of her hands ye by no means shall get. 
 
 And Shakespeare, Henry VIIL Acl IIL Sc. 2. 
 
 I do, quoth he, perceive 
 My King is tangled in affeftions to 
 A creature of the Queen's, Lady Anne BuUea. 
 
 163. Such ohjeS hath the power to soften and tame 
 Sevcreit temper, (3c. Gc] 
 
 Probably in this place Milton had the following 
 stanza of his favorite Spenser in his mind. 
 
 Naught under Heaven 10 strongly doth allure 
 The sense of man, and all his mind possess, 
 As beauty's lovely bait, that doth procure 
 JGreat warriors oft their rigor to repress, 
 And mighty hands forget their manliness ; 
 •Drawn with the power of an heart-robbing eye. 
 And wrapt in fetters of a golden trees, 
 
 That can with melting pleasance mollify 
 Their harden'd hearts enur'd to blood and cruelty. 
 
 Faery Queen, B. v. C. 8, i. 
 
 164. 
 
 smooth the rugged'st irow, 
 
 Thus in the Penseroso, 58. 
 
 ^— Smoothing the rucced brow of night. 
 And in the opening of Shakespeare's Richard III, 
 Grim visag'd war hath smooth'd His wrinkleo 
 
 F RONT. 
 
 In some verses of Diphylus, a writer of the later 
 Greek Comedy, which are preserved in Athenasus, 
 the same effeft is ascribed to the God of wine, 
 which is here attributed to beauty ; 
 
 In the same manner, Horace in one of his Odes, 
 that exhorts to conviviality; 
 
 Dumque virent genua, 
 
 £t decet, OBDUCTA SOLVATLR hRONTX SENECTtS, 
 
 Tu Vina, Torquate, move 
 Consule pressa meo. 
 
 £poD. xiii. 6. 
 
 166. J>rtiw cut with credulous licsire-—'] 
 
 This beautiful expression was formed partly 
 upon Horace's 
 
 ..^— SpeS ANIMI CRESULA MUTUI. 
 
 L. 4. Ode i. 30. 
 
 And partly, as Mr, Thyer thinks, from a passage 
 in the Andria of Terence, Aft IV. Sc. i. 23. 
 — noD tibi satis esse hoc visum solidum est gaudium. 
 Nisi IDC laflasses amantem, et falsa spe paoouceres ? 
 
 Neiutou, 
 
 Credulous might have been suggested by an Ode 
 of Horace, which Milton himself has translated. 
 
 Qui nunc te fruitur creoulus aurea. 
 Qui scxnper vacuam, semper amabilcm 
 
 Sperai,
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 79 
 
 At will the manliest, resolutest breast. 
 
 As the magnetic hardest iron draws. 
 
 Women, when nothing else, beguil'd the heart 
 
 Speiat, nescius aurae 
 
 FallacU. 
 
 L. 1. Ode v. g. 
 
 »68. As the magnetic—'} 
 
 It should be the magnet, or magnetic stone. But 
 Milton often converts the adjeftive, and uses it 
 as the substantive. Neiuton. 
 
 168. As the magnetic hardest iron draus.] 
 
 Lucian hath this simile in hi&lM ag i n e s, Vol. II. 
 
 p. 2. Ed. Graev. Ei ^t Kaximvi •mfoaS^f^sa as. Tic 
 t^cct fA*)%a»>5 aTTo^rivxi. avrne ; scTa^si yap at avct^'v3»Ta^£^>l 
 tw9a ecv eOe^jij oinp iecci >' AtG^ >) rifcoey^ix opa rov £p»Jv;[o'.'. 
 « But if the fair one once look upon you, what is 
 " it that can get you from her ? She will draw 
 " you after her at pleasure, bound hand and foot, 
 " just as the loadstone draws iron." We may ob- 
 serve that Milton, by restraining the comparison to 
 the power of beauty over the wisest men and the 
 most stoical tempers, hath given it a propriety, 
 which is lost in a more general application. 
 
 Gallon. 
 
 Thus Claudian, in his Ibyllium on the Magnet, 
 ^— — Venerem magnetica gemma figurat. 
 
 Having very poetically described the powers of 
 the Magnet, he concludes his little Poem in a 
 manner that possibly might have suggested to 
 Milton some of the preceding lines. 
 
 — ^ Qux (luras jungit Concordia mentes ? 
 Flagrat anhela silex, et amicam saucia sentit 
 Materiem, placidosque Chalybs cognoscit amores. 
 
 SicVeNUS HORRIFICUM BELLI COMPESCERE RECEM, 
 
 Et vultu mollire solet, cum sanguine pra^ceps 
 ^stuat, et striftis mucronibus asperat iras. 
 Sola feris occurrit equis, solvitque tumorem 
 Pectoris, et blando pr.ecordia temperat icni. 
 Pax animo tranquilla datur, pugnasque calentes 
 Deserit, et rutilas declinat in oscula cristas. 
 Quae tibi, sseve puer, non est permissa potestas ? 
 Tumagnum supcras fulmen, cocloque relifto 
 FJuftibus in mcdiis cogis mugire Tonantem. 
 
 Jam gelidas rupes, vivoquc carentia Sf nsu 
 Membra feiis ; jam saxa tuis obnoxia telts, 
 Et lapides suus ardor agit, ferrumque tenetur 
 Illecebris; rigido regnant in marraore flammae. 
 
 4e. 
 
 169. IVflm^n, when nothing else^ beguil'd the heart 
 Of wisest Solomon, and made him build, 
 And made him bozo to the Gods of his toives.} 
 
 For it ca?ne to pass ivhen Solomon ijoas old, that 
 his ivi-ves turned aivny his heart after other gods : 
 and his heart luas not ferfecl luith the Lord his 
 God, as ivas the heart of Danjid his father.- — For 
 Solomon njuent after Ashtoreth the goddess of the 
 Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the- 
 Ammonites. — — — — T^hen did Solomon 
 hnild an high place for Ckemosh, the abomination 
 of Moab, in the hill that is before ferusalem ; and 
 for Molech the abomination of the children of A'mmon. 
 And likenxiise did be for all his strange iviares, ivhich 
 burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. 
 
 1 Kings, xi. 4. 5. 7. 8. 
 
 In the FIRST Book of Paradise Lost, where 
 the Poet gives a catalogue of the fallen spirits, under 
 the names of the idols worshipped in Canaan, and 
 in the countries adjoining, speaking of Astrate, 
 the goddess of the Phoenicians and the bidoniant, 
 he describes her. 
 
 In Sion also not unsung, where stood 
 
 Hei temple on the olTensive mouiiiuiii, luilt 
 
 By that uxorious king, whose heart, though Isrge,. 
 
 Beguil'd by fair idolatresses, icU 
 
 To idols foul. - 
 
 442. 
 
 Spenser, in the beginning of the eighth Canto 
 of the FIFTH Book of his Faery Queen, where 
 he speaks of the power of Beauty in seducing men 
 to any weak or improper conduft, instances the 
 examples of Samson, Hercules, and Antony. — 
 That of Solomon is here more in point, as he was 
 led by it to the worshipping of false Deities, 
 
 Of
 
 So 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Of wisest Solomon, and made him build, 1 70 
 
 And made him bow, to the Gods of his wives. 
 To whom quick answer Satan thus return'd. 
 Behal, in much uneven scale thou weigh'st 
 All others by thyself; because of old 
 
 Thou thyself doat'dst on womankind, admiring lye 
 
 Their shape, their colour, and attractive grace. 
 None are, thou think'st, but taken with such toys. 
 Before the flood thou with thy lusty crew, 
 False titled sons of God, roaming the earth 
 Cast wanton eyes on the daughters of men, 1 80 
 
 And coupled with them, and begot a race. 
 Have we not seen, or by relation heard. 
 In courts and regal chambers how thou lurk'st. 
 
 17S. Bejore th flood thou with thy lusty crew, 
 False titled sons oj Gods, roaming the earth 
 Cast atarJon eyes on the daughters of tntn. 
 And coupled with them,—~\ 
 
 It is to be lamented that our author has so often 
 adopted the vulgar notion of the Angels having 
 commerce with women, founded upon that mis- 
 taken text of Scripture, Gen. vi. 2. The sons of 
 God saiu the daughters of men, that they luere fair ; 
 and they took them tumes of all txihich they chose. 
 See Paradise Lost, iii. 463, and V. 447. But 
 though he seems to favour that opinion, as we may 
 suppose, to embellish his poetry, yet he shews else- 
 where that he understood the text rightly, of the 
 »ons of Seth, who were the worshippers of the true 
 God, intermarrying with the daughters of wicked 
 Cain, 
 
 To these thai sober race of men, whose live* 
 Religious tided ihcra the sons of God, 
 SblU yield up all ihcir virtue, all their fame 
 
 Ignobly, to the trains and to the smilel 
 Of these fair atheists. 
 
 Paradiss Lost, xi. 621. 
 
 NeiutoH, 
 1 83. Have uie not seen, or iy relation heard,'\ 
 
 This passage is censured by Bp. Warburton, ai 
 suiting only the Poet speaking in his own person ; 
 but surely there is no impropriety in the Arch- 
 Fiend's being well acquainted with the fables of 
 the Heathen Mythology, and the amours and ad- 
 ventures of their Gods, or, (according to Milton's 
 system,) his own infernal Compeers. — If we cen- 
 sure this passage, we must still more decisively con- 
 demn one in the fourth Book ; where, in answer 
 to Satan's speech, describing, while he shews it, 
 the splendor of Imperial Rome, our Lord, taking 
 up the subjeft, carries on the description to the 
 luxurious way of living among the Romans of that 
 time, with this verse in a parenthesis, 
 
 For I havcnlso heard, perhaps havi read — 
 183. In courts and regal chamtets hou thou lurk'st,'] 
 
 Thm
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 8i 
 
 In wood or grove, by mossy fountain side. 
 In valley or green meadow, to. way-lay 
 Some beauty rare, Calisto, Clymene, 
 Daphne, or Semele, Antiopa, 
 Or Amymone, Syrinx, many more 
 
 •85 
 
 Thus Milton, in his description of Belial, Pa- 
 radise Lost, i. 497; 
 
 In coutTS AND PALACES hc also reigns, 
 And in luxurious cities, 
 
 184. In wood or grovf, by mossy Jountjin sidCf 
 In valUy or green meadow^ — J 
 
 Thus, in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's 
 Dream, Aft II. Sc. i. Puck, speaking of Oberon 
 and Titania, saj'S 
 
 And now they never meet IN grove, or green, 
 By FOUNTAIN CLKAR, Or spanglcd star-light shecn,^ 
 
 Mossj fountain is from Virgil, Ecl. vii. 45. 
 
 Muscosi PONTES, et somno mollior herba,— 
 
 Whence Pope, 'vn\a% second Pastoral; 
 
 O deign to visit our forsaken seats. 
 
 The MOSSY FOUNTAINS, and the grccn rctrcats ! 
 
 And again, in his Messiah ; 
 
 The MOSSY FOUNTAINS and the sylvan shades, 
 The dreams of Pindus and tlie Aonian maids, 
 Delight no more 
 
 i85. 
 
 Calysto, ClymcnCf 
 
 i)iiphne, or Semclf, Antiopa^ 
 Or Amymone^ Syrinx^ — ] 
 
 All these mistresses of the Gods might have 
 been furnished from Ovid ; who is said to have 
 been our Author's favourite Latin Poet, Indeed 
 that he was so at an early period of life, appears 
 from Milton's frequent imitations of him, in his 
 
 juvenile Latin Poems.- For Calisto, see Ovid. 
 
 Met. ii. 409. &■■ Fast. ii. 155. — For Clymene, 
 
 the Mother of Phaeton, Met. i, ad finem. 
 
 Daphne; Met. i. 452. — Semele; Met, iii. 253. — 
 Antiopa; Met. vi. iio. — Amymone; Epist. xix. 
 131. & I. Amor. x. 5. — Syrinx; Met, i, 690. 
 
 The story of Calisto is recorded also by Milton'* 
 favourite Tragic Poet, Euripides. 
 
 n liUixap ApxaJia ttoIe wc-pQsn 
 
 -^a;, T£Tpa(3a/xo(7t yv^Oi^ 
 
 Euripid. Helen. 3J1, 
 Happy Calisto, thou Arcadian nymph. 
 That didst ascend the couch of Jove ; transform'd 
 To a four-footed savage, far more blest 
 Art thou, than she to whom I owe my birth. 
 
 fFodhnll. 
 
 And Semele is mentioned in his Hyppolitus, 
 V. 456. 
 
 'Oo'oi ftri* ovv y^cc^a^ T« ruv 7ra?\aiT.-p;Ji» 
 "E^ovcriv, fltyTot T enrn" sv ^nvo'xii ecu, 
 lo-acri y,iv, Zsi;? u; ttoT nfX7&Yi ya^ui 
 
 S£JX£^v;c. 
 
 They who with ancient writings have convers'd, 
 And ever dwell among the tuneful Nine, 
 Know how to T-heban Semelc's embrace 
 Flew amorous Jove. 
 
 Wodhull. 
 
 The story of Antiopa, or Antiope, is recorded 
 likewife by Propertius, (L. iii. El. 14.) a Poet 
 whom (as Mr. Warton observes) Milton ha;; oc- 
 casionally imitated. Antiope is also mentioned 
 in a Greek Epigram, in the Anthologia, where 
 four of Jupiter's principal amours, and the dis- 
 guises under which he accomplished them, are re- 
 cited with the usual Greek Epigrammatic brevity. 
 
 Z;y;, Ktixfo?, Taupo;, SATTPOS, XP'"'<'« Ji'tfft)T>K 
 AijJ,]!, EufDTTJi;, ANTIOnHS, Aatxri:;. 
 
 Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, having 
 
 spoken of the gross fables of heathenism, says, 
 
 " we Christians dedicate ourselves to the service 
 
 M " of
 
 8s 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Too long, then lay'st thy scapes on names ador'd, 
 Apollo, Neptune, Jupiter, or Pan, 
 
 ^90 
 
 " of the unbegotten, impassible God ; who never 
 «' had, we are sure, ANY affair with Antiope 
 
 " or such like." 
 
 Ree'ves's Translation. 
 
 many more 
 
 Too long, — ] 
 
 A concise way of speaking for many more too 
 long to mention. The author had used it before. 
 Paradise Lost, iii. 473. Indeed more would 
 have been too long, and it would have been better 
 if he had not enumerated so many of the loves 
 of the Gods. These things are known to every 
 school-boy, but add no dignity to a divine poem : 
 ■ and in my opinion are not the most pleasing sub- 
 jeds in painting any more than in poetr}'. 
 ; Netvton, 
 
 j Poetry, as stridly discriminated from Prose, 
 
 ; may be defined elevateJ and ornamented Inngunge, 
 I Among the most allowed modes of elevating and 
 .1 decorating language, independent of metrical ar- 
 / rangement, mythological references and allusions 
 and classical imitations hold a principal place. 
 A poet precluded from these would be miserably 
 circumscribed, and might with equal or better 
 effeft relate the fable which he imagines, the his- 
 toric fads which he records, or the precepts which 
 he lays down, in that species of language which 
 asks no ornaments but purity and perspicuity. A 
 di-uine poem certainly requires to be written in the 
 chastest style, and to he kept perfedly free from 
 the glare of false ornament ; but it must still be 
 considered that the great reason of exhibiting any 
 serious truths, and especially the more interesting 
 fads of religious history, through the medium of 
 poetry, is thereby more powerfully to attr.id the 
 attention. Poetry, to please, must continue to be 
 pleasing. In the beauty and propriety of his re- 
 ferences and allusions, the Poet shews the perfedion 
 of his taste and judgment, as much as in any other 
 circumstance whatever : and Milton has eminently 
 distingued himself in this rcsped. How beauti- 
 fully has he sprinkled his Par.tdise Lost Vi-ith the 
 
 flowers of Classic Poetry, and the fidions of Greek 
 and Roman Mythology I And he has done this 
 with so judicious a hand, with a spirit so reverent, 
 that the most religiously delicate ear can not but 
 
 be captivated with it. 1 confess my surprise 
 
 that Bp. Newton does not see the passage before 
 us in this light. It appears to me not only in 
 the highest degree justifiable, but absolutely as one 
 of those loci laudandi which the best critics ever 
 delight to exhibit from the works of the more 
 eminent poets. Milton here admirably avails him- 
 self of the fabulous amours of the Heathen Deities. 
 He transfers them to the fallen Angels, to Belial 
 and " his lusty crew ;" and, by the judicious appli- 
 cation of these disgraceful tales, he gives them a 
 propriety which they never before possessed. He 
 furnishes even " the school-boy" with a moral to 
 the fable which he has been reading, and recalls 
 to maturer minds the classical beauty of these 
 fabulous descriptions, which admirably relieve and 
 adorn his divine Poem. 
 
 1S9. 
 
 thy lcij>es — '\ 
 
 This is a Gallicism. Eehappce in French signifies 
 a prank ot frolic. Boyer explains it I'aBion impru- 
 
 denle d'ltn jeune homme, 
 
 190. Apollo, Ntplimi, Jupiter, or Pan,'] 
 
 Calisto, Semele, and Antiopa, were mistresses to 
 Jupiter; Clymene and Daphne to Apollo; zt\^ Syrinx 
 
 to Pan. Both here and elsewhere, Milton 
 
 considers the Gods of the Heathens as Demons or 
 Devils. Thus, in the Septuagint version of the 
 
 Psalms ; XIo.^ti^ 01 0i^i tuv tBvuv ^ai|«ona. Psalm 
 
 xcvi. 5. (and likewise in the Vulgate Latin, 
 ^oniam omiies Dii gentium damonia.) And the 
 notion of the Demons having commerce with 
 women in the shape of the Heathen Gods is very 
 ancient, and is expressly asserted by Justin Martyr 
 See Apol. i. P. 10. & 33. Edit. Thirlbii, 
 
 NevitQit, 
 
 190. 
 
 Pan, 
 
 Satyr, or faun, or Sylvan ? — ] 
 
 Unlesi
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 85 
 
 Satyr, or Faun, or Sylvan ? But these haunts 
 
 Delight not all ; among the sons of men. 
 
 How many have with a smile made small account 
 
 Of beauty and her lures, easily scorn'd 
 
 All her assaults, on worthier things intent ! 
 
 Remember that Pellean conqueror, 
 
 A youth, how all the beauties of the east 
 
 He shghtly view'd, and slightly overpass'd ; 
 
 How he sirnam'd of Africa dismiss'd. 
 
 In his prime youth, the fair Iberian maid. 
 
 195 
 
 200 
 
 Unless the Goddess that in rural shrine 
 DwtU'st here with Pan, o-r Sylvan,- 
 
 CoMDs, 267. 
 Milton notices all these rural Demi-gods and 
 their amours, in his beautiful Latin Elegy, In 
 
 ADVENTUM VERIS. 
 
 Nunc etiam Satyri, cum sera crepuscula surgunt, 
 
 Pervolitant celeri florea rura choro, 
 Sylvanusque sua cyparissi fronde revinftus, 
 
 Seraicapcrque Deus, semideusque caper, 
 QuEque sub arboribus Dryades latuere vetustis, 
 
 Per juga, per solos expatiantur agros. 
 Per sata luxuriat fiuticetaque Maenalius Ptn, 
 
 Vix Cybele mater, vix sibi tuta Ceres ; 
 Atque aliquam cupidus pradatur Oreada Faunus, 
 
 ConsuUt in trcpidos dum sibi nympha pedes; 
 Jamque latet, latitansque cupit male tcfta videri, 
 
 Et fugit, et fugicns pervelit ipsa capi. 
 
 191. 
 
 Jiut these haunts 
 
 Delight not til; — ] 
 NoN OMNES arbusta juvant.. 
 
 Virg. ECL. iv. i. 
 
 196. Remember that Pellean conqueror,'] 
 
 Alexander the Great was born at Fella in 
 Macedonia : his continence and clemency to 
 Darius's queen, and daughters, and the other Per- 
 sian ladies whom he took captive after the battle 
 of Issus, are commended by the historians. Tum 
 
 quidem ita se gessit, ut omnes ante cum reges et 
 continentia et dementia vincercntur. Virgines 
 enim regias excellentis forma; tarn sanfte habuit, 
 qiiam si eodem quo ipse parcnte geniti forent : 
 conjugem ejusdem, quam nulla xtatis sux pulchri- 
 tudine corporis vicit, adeo ipse non violavit, ut 
 summam adhibuerit curam, ne quis captivo corpori 
 illuderet. Sec. Quint. Curt. Lib. iii. Cap. 9. He 
 was then a young conqueror, of about twenty-three 
 years of age, a youth, as Milton expresses it. 
 
 Neiutiut. 
 
 106. that Pellean conqueror, 
 
 A youth, — ] 
 Unus Pell -EG juveni non sufficit orbis. 
 
 Juvenal, Sat. x. 168. 
 
 ,07. _^__ how all the beauties of the east 
 
 He slightly vieu'd, and slightly overpass'd;'] 
 Alexander, we know from history, did not 
 " slightly overpass all the beauties of the East." 
 
 199. Houi he sirnam'd of Africa dismiss'd, 
 
 In his prime youth, the fair Iberian maid.] 
 
 The continence of Scipio Africanus at the age 
 of twenty-four, and his generosity in restoring a 
 beautiful Spanish lady to her husband and friends, 
 are celebrated by Polybius, Livy, Valerius Max- 
 imus, and various other authors. Neixiton, 
 
 M 2 
 
 For
 
 S4 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 For Solomon, he liv'd at ease, and full 
 
 Of honor, wealth, high fare, ann'd not beyond 
 
 Higher design than to enjoy his state ; 
 
 Thence to the bait of women lay expos'd : 
 
 But he, whom we attempt, is wiser far 
 
 Than Solomon, of more exalted mind, 
 
 Made and set wholly on the accomplishment 
 
 Of greatest things. AVhat woman will you find. 
 
 Though of this age the wonder and the fame. 
 
 On whom his leisure will vouchsafe an eye 
 
 20SJ 
 
 2ia 
 
 404. Thence to the bait of women lay expoj'd :^ 
 
 Spenser has 
 
 ^— ^ Beauty's lovely bait. 
 
 F. Q. B. V. C. 8. 1. 
 
 The whole Stanza has already been cited. See 
 Note on V. 163, of this Book. 
 
 S05. But he tuhom we attempt is wiser far 
 Than Solomon,— ^ 
 
 Behold A GREATER THAN SoLOMOM is here.^ 
 
 Mat. xii. 42. 
 So5. — — .— ^— — ef more exalted mind. 
 
 Made and set wholly on the accomplishment 
 
 Of greatest things. — ] 
 
 Thus in our Saviour's soliloquy in the first 
 Book. 
 
 •^—^^ all my mind was set 
 
 Serious to leirn and know, and thence to do 
 What might be public j; — i^. 
 
 And again, 
 
 203. 
 
 yet this not all 
 
 To which my Spirit aspir'd ; viftorious deeds 
 Flam'd in my heart, heroic afts, one while 
 To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke. 
 Then to subdue and quell, o'er all the earth, 
 Brute violence and proud tyrannic power, 
 'Till truth were freed, and equity restor'd. 
 
 910, On whom his leisure will vouchsafe an eye 
 Of fond desire ?■—'] 
 
 214. 
 
 This eye of fond desire is very beautifully ex- 
 pressed by jEschylus, whom our author perhaps had. 
 in view. Suppl. ver. loi 1.- 
 
 Kat 'SJCCf^EVbJV ^T^iOCHtTlV £U/A0f^Oi; ETrt 
 
 ria; Ti,- ■araf AOwi' ojjcfiLcnoi Si?i«1«pio» 
 
 To|sw/*' i7riy--\'Vj, iftEfB nxajut^. 
 
 Thyer. 
 
 I subjoin the translation of the passage of K.^-. 
 chylus from Mr. Potter ; 
 
 And on the delicate lints,' that kindling glow 
 On beauty's vermeil check, each roving youth 
 With melting wishes darts the amorous glance. 
 
 The EYE OF FOND DESIRE was perhaps Suggested 
 by an old Dialogue Poem, vs'ritten by the Earl of 
 Oxford in Queen Elizabeth's time, and printed in 
 the second Volume of Bp. Percy's Reliques of 
 Ancient English Poetry, p. 1 78. It is there en- 
 titled Fancy and Desire. Fancy is the ques- 
 tioner, and Desire the respondent. 
 
 F. Come hither shepherd swayne ! 
 
 D. Sir what do you require ? 
 F. I pray thee, shew to me thy name. 
 
 D. My name is fond desire. 
 
 And, in a following Stanza ; 
 
 F. What thing doth please thee most ?' 
 D, To GAZE ON BZAVIV Still. 
 
 Of
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ss 
 
 Of fond desire ? Or should she, confident 
 As sitting queen ador'd on beauty's throne, 
 Descend with all her winning charms begirt 
 To enamour, (r.s the zone of Venus once 
 Wrought that eiie£l on Jove, so fables tell,) 
 How would one look from his majestic brow. 
 
 215 
 
 ' er should shff confident 
 ' queen adored on dejutys thronfy 
 
 As siltin 
 
 Descend with all ker wim.ing charms begirt 
 To enamour, — 2 
 This is clearly from the same palL-tte and pencil 
 as the following highly coloured passage. 
 
 With goddess-like demeanour forth she went, 
 "Not unattended, for on hkr as queen 
 
 A POMP OF WINNING GRACES WAITED STILL, 
 
 And from aboat her shot darts of desire 
 Into all eyes to wish her still in sight. 
 
 Pakadise Lost, viii. 59. 
 
 tH. 
 
 (as the zone oj Venus once 
 
 Wrought that eject on Joir, sofabl s ttllJl 
 H, XXI awo riiSia-piv t'Kveraro mTov iftajla, 
 
 Tlccfpacrii, ^ T inX'-^i vooii tavxcc tutf ®po»-t)»1i;v. 
 
 Iliad, xiv. 2x4. 
 She said. With awe divine the queen of love 
 Obcy'd the sister and the wife of Jove : 
 And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd, 
 With various skill and high embroidery grac'd. 
 In this was every art, and every charm, 
 To win the wisest, and the coldest warm : 
 Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire, 
 The kind deceit, the still-reviving fire, 
 Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs. 
 Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes 
 
 Pope. 
 
 U5- 
 
 so fables tell,'] 
 
 The words so fables tell look as if the Poet had 
 forgot himself, and spol:; in his own person rather 
 than in the charafter of Satan. Ne'wton. 
 
 Giles Fletcher, in his Christ's Triumph on 
 Earth, where he describes the Garden of Pan- 
 glorj, and represents the viiftims of her power as 
 
 held in captivity by her, and changed to beasts, 
 thus refers to the fable of Circe in HomerV 
 Odyssey ; 
 
 Once men they liv'd, but now the men were dead 
 And turn'd to beasts; so fabled Homer old 
 That Circe, with her potion charm'd in gold, 
 Us'd manly souls in beastly bodies to immould. 
 
 Stanza, 49. 
 216. ^^— ^— one look from his majestic broiu, 
 Seated as on the lop of virtue's hilt,'] 
 
 Here is the construftion that we often meet with 
 in Milton : from his majestic brow, that is, from 
 the majestic brow 0/ him seated as on the top of 
 virtue's hill : and the expression of •virtue's hill 
 was probably in allusion to the rocky eminence on 
 which the virtues are placed in the table of Cebes, 
 or the arduous ascent up the hill to which virtue is 
 represented pointing in the best designs of the 
 judgment of Hercules, Neivton. 
 
 Milton's meaning here is best illustrated by * 
 passage in Shakespeare ; which most probably he 
 had in his mind. — Hamlet, in the scene with hi» 
 mother, pointing to the piiflure of his father, says. 
 
 See what a grace was seated on that brow ! 
 
 Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself; 
 
 An eye, like Mars to threaten or command, &c. 
 
 Thus also, in Love's Labotjr Lost, 
 
 What peremptory eagle-sighted eye. 
 
 Dares look upon the heaven of her brow, 
 
 That is not bunded by her majesty ? 
 
 Adl HI. Sc. 4. 
 2,5. .——————. his majestic brow,} 
 
 " Greatness, nobleness, authority, and awe," 
 says Bcntley, '< are by all Greek and Latin poets 
 placed in t\\t forehead. So, Paradise Lost, ix. 
 537, Satan to Eve,
 
 S6 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Seated as on the top of virtue's hill, 
 
 Discountenance her despis'd, and put to rout 
 
 All her array ; her female pride dejecl, 
 
 Or turn to reverent awe ! for beauty stands 
 
 In the admiration only of weak minds 
 
 Led captive ; cease to admire, and all her plumes 
 
 Fall flat and shrink into a trivial toy, 
 
 220 
 
 nor have fear'd 
 
 Thy AWFDL BROW, more awful thus retir'd 
 
 And, vii. 509. 
 
 — ^ and upright with front sereni 
 
 Gov ERN the rest.' 
 
 And Spenser's Belphaebe, 
 
 Her ivory forehead full of bounty brave 
 Like a broad table did itself dispread, 
 AU GOOD AND HONOUR might therein be read, 
 And there their dwelling was. " 
 
 Such is Bentley's note, where he wishes to ctrrefl 
 the following generally, and justly, admired passage 
 in the Paradise Lost, viii. 557, by reading_/irf- 
 head instead of loveliest. 
 
 Greatness of mind ar.d nobleness their seat 
 Build in her loveliest 
 
 Perhaps it would have been more acceptable, had 
 it been given, only to illustrate another passage 
 scarcely less beautiful : 
 
 His fair large front and eye sublime declared 
 Absolute rule. 
 
 P.'lr.^dise Lost, iv. 300. 
 
 Jig. ^— .^— her fcmalt pride dcjt&, 
 Or turn to reverent awe ! — ] 
 
 Thus in Com us, V. 450, we have, 
 
 — ^ rigid looks of chaste austerity, 
 And noble grace, that dash'd brute violence, 
 \Vith sudden adoration and blank awe. 
 140. -^— — ^.— ^— ^^— « y^r beauty stands 
 In the admiralien only of lueak minds 
 Led captive ;.— ] 
 
 Among Milton's early Latin Elegies we find one 
 (the seventh) of the amatory kind. But when 
 he published his Latin Poems, eighteen years after- 
 
 wards, he thought it necessary to add to it ten 
 lines apologising for the puerile weakness, or rather 
 vacancy, of his mind, that could admit such an 
 impression. 
 
 221. In the admiration only of weak minds 
 Led captive ; — ] 
 
 The expression is from 2 Tim. iii. 6. 7. 
 
 of this sort are they luhich creep into houses, and 
 LEAD CAPTIVE SILLY WOMEN laden luith sins, 
 led aiiiaj ifiith divers lusts ; ever learning, and 
 never able to come to the knoiuledge of the truth, 
 
 222. — — ^ cease to admire, and all her plumes 
 
 Fall Jlal, and sink into a trivial toy, 
 
 At every sudden slighting quite abash'd.'^ 
 This is a very beautiful and apposite allusion 
 to the peacock ; speaking of which bird, Pliny 
 notices the circumstance of its spreading its tail 
 under a sense of admiration; " Gemmantes lau- 
 " DATus expandit colores, adverse maxime sole, 
 " quia sic fulgentius radiant. 
 
 Nat. Hist. L. x. C. 20. 
 
 Tasso compares Armida, in all the pride and 
 vanity of her beauty and ornaments, to a peacock 
 with its tail spread, 
 
 Ne il supcrbo pavon si vago in mostra 
 Spiega la pompa delle occhiutte piume. 
 
 C. xvi. St. 24. 
 
 The jolly peacock spreads not half so fair 
 The eyed feathers of his pompous train. 
 
 223. 
 
 ■ a trivial !oy,'\ 
 
 I came not here on such a trivial toy 
 As a stray'd ewe. 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 Couus, 502. 
 
 At
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 «7 
 
 At every sudden slighting quite abash'd. 
 
 Therefore with manher objects we must try 225 
 
 His constancy ; v/ith such as have more show 
 
 Of worth, of honor, glory, and popular praise. 
 
 Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreck'd ; 
 
 Or that which only seems to satisfy 
 
 Lawful desires of nature, not beyond ; 230 
 
 And now I know he hungers where no food 
 
 Is to be found, in the wide wilderness : 
 
 The rest commit to me, I shall let pass 
 
 No advantage, and his strength as oft assay. 
 
 He ceas'd, and heard their grant in loud acclame ; 235 
 Then forthwith to him takes a chosen band 
 Of Spirits, likest to himself in guile, 
 To be at hand, and at his beck appear. 
 If cause were to unfold some adlive scene 
 Of various persons, each to know his part ; 240 
 
 Then to the desert takes with these his flight, 
 Where, still from shade to shade, the Son of God 
 After forty days fasting had remain'd, 
 Now hungring first, and to himself thus said. 
 
 236. 
 
 to him takes a chosen band 
 
 J)J Spirits likest to himself in guile,'] 
 T^hen goeth be and taketh ixjith himself sei'en other 
 
 spirits MORE WICKED THAN HIMSELF. 
 
 Mat. xii, 45. 
 
 238. ^— ^— — — and at his heck appear,^ 
 
 Thus Hamlet, Ad III. Sc. i. 
 
 " I am vcrv proud, revengeful, ambitious; with 
 «' more ofFences at my beck, than I have thoughts 
 " to put them in." 
 
 22g. .^—^—^— to unfold some aiiive icene 
 
 Of various persons, each to knovi his part,-] 
 
 The phrases are here dramatic : persons is in the 
 
 Latin sense of FeriQtia, " scenic or assumed cha- 
 
 " rafter." 
 
 244. J\'tu
 
 ss 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Where will this end ? four times ten days I've pass'd 245 
 Wandering this woody maze, and human food 
 Nor tasted, nor had appetite ; that fast 
 To virtue I impute not, or count part 
 Of what I suffer here ; if nature need not. 
 Or God support nature without repast 250 
 
 Though needing, what praise is it to endure ? 
 But now I feel I hunger, which declares 
 
 There seems, I think, to be a little inaccuracy 
 in this place. It is plain by the Scripture account, 
 that our Saviour hungred before the Devil first 
 tempted him by propobing to him his making 
 stones into bread, and Milton's own account in 
 the first bock is consistent with this : is there not 
 therefore a seeming impropriety in saying that he 
 noiu first huKgrid, especially considering the time 
 that must have necessarily elapsed during Satan's 
 convening and sonsulting with his companions ? 
 
 Milton comprizes the principal aftion of the 
 Poem in four successive days. This is the second 
 day; in which no positive temptation occurs, fur 
 Satan had left Jesus (as was said, V. ii6 of this 
 Book) 'vacant, i. e. unassalled that day. Previous 
 to the Tempter's appearing at all, it is said (B. i. 
 303.) that our blessed Lord had " passed full forty 
 " days" in the wilderness. All that is here meant 
 is that he was not hungry till the forty days were 
 ended ; and according!) our Saviour himself pre- 
 •ently says that during tliat time he 
 
 human food 
 
 Nor tasted, nor had appetite. 
 As to the time necessary for convening the in- 
 fernal council, there is the space of twenty-four 
 hours taken for the Devil to go up to th^ region of 
 mid air, where his council was sitting, and where 
 we are told he went 'with s^ccd (V. 117, of this 
 
 Book), and for him to debate the matter with hi» 
 council, and return 'with his chosen band of spirits : 
 for it was the commencement of night, when he 
 left our Saviour at the end of the first Book, and it 
 is now " the hour of night," (V. 260) when he is 
 returned. — But it must also be considered that 
 spiritual beings are not supposed to require, for 
 their anions, the time necessary to human ones ; 
 otherwise we snight proceed to calculate the time 
 requisite for the descent of Michael, or Raphael, 
 to Paradise, and criticise the Paradise Lost 
 accordingly. — But Raphael, in the eighth Book 
 of that Poem, says to Adam, enquiring concerning 
 celestial motions, 
 
 The swiftness of those circles attribute. 
 
 Though numberless, to his omnipotence. 
 
 That to corporeal substances could add 
 
 Speed almost spiritual; me thou think'st not 
 
 £low, 
 
 Who since the morning hour set out from Heaven 
 
 Where God resides, and ere mid day arriv'd 
 
 In Eden, distance inexpressible 
 
 By numbers that have name. 
 
 107. 
 
 We are also expressly told by St. Luke, when 
 
 the Devil took our Lord up into a high mountain, 
 
 that he shelved unto him all the kingdoms of the 
 
 Itlorld IN A IvIOMENT OF TIMt. 
 
 Luke, iv. y. 
 
 2 46. •'^^— "^^ this woody maze,—] 
 
 In the blind MAZES OF this tangled wood. 
 
 COML'S, 181. 
 
 Nature
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 89 
 
 Nature hath need of what she asks ; yet God 
 
 Can satisfy that need some other way. 
 
 Though hunger still remain : so it remain 255 
 
 Without this body's wasting, I content me, 
 
 And from the sting of famine fear no harm ; 
 
 Nor mind it, fed with better thoughts, that feed 
 
 Me hungring more to do my Father's will. 
 
 It was the hour of night, when thus the Son 260 
 
 Commun'd in silent walk, then laid him down 
 Under the hospitable covert nigh 
 Of trees thick interwoven ; there he slept. 
 And dream'd, as appetite is wont to dream, 
 Of meats and drinks, nature's refreshment sweet: 265 
 
 C^S. 
 
 • Jei xuith better thoughts, that Jed 
 
 Me hungring~^~\ 
 
 Then riiD on thoughts, that voluntary move 
 Harmonious numbers ; 
 
 Paradise Lost, ili. 37. 
 
 459. Me hungring more to do my Father's aiiY/.] 
 
 In allusion to our Saviour's words, John, iv. 34. 
 ^My meat is to do the will of him that 
 SENT ME, and to finish his ixiork, Neiuton. 
 
 But with a reference also to. Blessed are they 
 mihich do hunger and thirst after righ- 
 teousness; Mat. V. 6, 
 
 a6i. Commun'd in silent uialh, then laid him down'\ 
 
 Agreeable to what we find in the Psalms, iv. 4. 
 Commune with your own heart upon your 
 
 SED, and be still. 
 
 262. ^— the hospitahle cffvert nigh 
 Of trees thick interwoven ; — J 
 
 Thus Horace ; 
 
 Qua piniu ingeni albai]u< pop«I*« 
 
 Neivten, 
 
 tjmbram hospitalem consociare amant 
 
 Ramis ; ' ' 
 
 L. ii. Ode iii. |. 
 
 And Virgil, Georg. iv. 24; 
 
 Obviaquc hospitiis tencat fR»NDEKTiBU» arboia 
 Milton also, Comus, 186; 
 
 ^— ^ such cooling fruit 
 As the kind hospitable v^oods provide. 
 
 263. Of trees thick interwoven ! — ] 
 
 ThusCoMWs, 54j; 
 
 . a bank 
 With ivy canopied, and int»rwo^» 
 With flaunting honey-suckle, 
 
 S64. And dream'd, as appetite is wont to dreatSy 
 
 Of meals and drinks — ] 
 Thus Lucretius, speaking of dreams as produced 
 by the aftual sensations of mind or body ; 
 riumen item sitiens, aut fontem propter amznum, 
 Adsidet, et totum prope faucibus occupat amnem. 
 
 iv. ioig« 
 
 N 
 
 Him
 
 ^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 270 
 
 Him thought, he by the brook of Cherith stood. 
 
 And saw the ravens with their horny beaks 
 
 Food to Ehjah bringing even and morn, 
 
 Though ravenous, taught to abstain from what they brought; 
 
 He saw the prophet also, how he fled 
 
 Into the desert, and how there he slept 
 
 Under a juniper ; then how awak*d 
 
 He found his supper on the coals prepar'd, 
 
 And by the Angel was bid rise and eat. 
 
 And eat the second time after repose. 
 
 The strength whereof suffic'd him forty days : 
 
 Sometimes that with Elijah he partook, 
 
 Or as a guest with Daniel at his pulse. 
 
 ^75 
 
 266. Him thoughty^-^ 
 
 We say now, and more justly, he thought ; but 
 bim thought is of the same construftion as me thought, 
 and is used by our old writers, as by Fairfax, 
 Cant. 13. St. 40. 
 
 Him thought he heard the softly whistling wind. 
 
 ISeivton, 
 »66. — __ he hy the brook of Cherith stood, Wc] 
 Alluding to the account of Elijah, i Kings, xvii. 
 5, 6. He 'went and diudl by the brook Cherith, that 
 is before Jordan : And the ra'vens brought him bread 
 and Jlesh in the morning, and bread and fesh in the 
 rvening. And again, i Kings, xix. 4,&c. But 
 he himself •went a day's journey into the ^wilderness, 
 and came and sat doivn under a juniper tree. — And 
 MS he lay and slept under a juniper-tree, behold then, 
 an Angel touched him, and said unto him. Arise and 
 tat. And he looked, and behold there luas a cake 
 haken on the coals, and a cruse of 'water at his head; 
 and he did eat and drink, and laid him do'wn again. 
 And the Angel of the Lord came again the tecmd 
 
 time, and touched him, and said. Arise and" eaf^ 
 because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, 
 and did eat and drink, and 'went in the strength of 
 that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Hortb the 
 mount of God. And Daniel's living upon pulse and 
 •water, rather than the portion of the king's meat 
 and drink, is celebrated, Dan. i. So that, as out 
 dreams are often composed of the matter of our 
 waking thoughts, our Saviour is with great pro- 
 priety supposed to dream of sacred persons and 
 Eubjefts. Lucretius, iv. 960. 
 
 Et quoi quisque fere studio dcvinfius adhsretj 
 Aut quibus in rebus multum sumus ante morati, 
 Atque in qua ratione fuit contenta magis mens. 
 In somnis eadem plerumque videmur obire. 
 
 Neiutoltr 
 
 467. 
 
 with their horny toAj] 
 
 Cicero, De Natura Deorum, L. i. C.-36, 
 speaking of storks, describes them " aves excelsx, 
 cruribus rigidis, corneo " proceroque rostro." 
 
 s;8. Or as a ^utsl uit/t Denid at his pulse.] 
 
 Daniel>
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 91 
 
 Thus wore out night ; and now the herald lark 
 Left his ground-nest, high towering to descry 
 
 280 
 
 Daniel, when a captive at Babylon, being de- 
 •tlned 10 serve in some capacity about the king, 
 was, together with other young men, ordered to 
 be educated and supported by a daily provision of 
 meat and wine from the royal table. As it was 
 customary among the Babylonians to offer some 
 part of what they eat to their gods, Daniel and 
 three other Jewish youths considered these pro- 
 visions from the king's table as having been already 
 offered to idols, and consequently unclean. They 
 therefore declined eating of them, and desired to 
 have only pulse and -water for their subsistence ; 
 with which poor food they yet retained more ap- 
 pearance of health and vigour, than others who 
 were more luxuriously and abundantly fed. Daniel, 
 C. I, 
 
 279- 
 
 tAe herald lark'] 
 
 The lark is called by Shakespeare, Romeo and 
 Juliet, Aft III. Sc. 7. 
 
 — — the HBRAi,D of the morn, 
 
 Newton, 
 
 «So. Lift his grcund-resl,—] 
 
 Thus, in Com us, the early hour of morning is 
 marked by the lark's rousing from its tbatch'd 
 $allat ; 
 
 And if your stray attendence be yet lodg'd, 
 Or shroud within these limits, I shall know 
 Ere morrow wake, or the low-roosted lark 
 From uis thatch'd pallat rouse.—— 
 
 Theocritus, also, marks the early hour, at which 
 reapers begin their work, by the rising of the lark ; 
 and their leaving it off in the evening, by this 
 bird's going to rest. 
 
 J^^y(jitT%x\ ^ afJLuivrx^ ty;ifo[jitvu xopudaXXt;, 
 
 Idyll, x. 50. 
 
 iSo. 
 
 high towering — ] 
 
 Obc of the cheerful man's pleasures, Alligho, 
 41, it 
 
 To hear the lark begin his flight, 
 And singing startle the dull night. 
 From his watch-tower in the skiex, 
 Till the dappled dawn doth rise. 
 
 And Drayton, Polyolb. S. iii, speaksof the lark 
 
 ^-^ CLIMBING UP to Heaven, hcr high-pitcht 
 hymn to sing 
 Unto the springing day. 
 
 «79- 
 
 ■ the herald lark 
 
 Left kis ground-nest, high towering to descry 
 The morn's approach, and greet her with his song; 
 Js lightly from his grassy couch up rose 
 Our Saviour, — ], 
 
 Thus, in Chaucer's Knight's Tale, 149!, 
 " the lark's saluting the morning with her song" 
 is the signal for his knight to rise. 
 
 The merry lark, tnessengere of the day, 
 Salewith in her sono the morrow CRAY, 
 And &ry Phebus risith up so bright 
 That all the Orient laugheth at the sight, 
 And with his stremis dryeth in the greves 
 The silver dropis hanging in the leves, 
 And Arcite that of the Court riall 
 With Theseus is Squyier Principall, 
 
 Is RISE, AND LOOKETH ON THE MERRY DAY 
 
 And to don his observances to May. 
 In the same manner Spenser, Faery QuEEtf, 
 B, i. C. xi. 51 ; 
 
 The joyous day 'gan early to appear, 
 
 And fair Aurora from her dewy bed 
 
 Of aged Tithone 'gan herself to rear. 
 
 With rosie cheeks for shame as blushing red; 
 
 Her golden locks for haste were loosely shed 
 
 About her ears, when Una did her mark, 
 
 Climb to her charet all with flowers spread, 
 
 Trom Heaven high to chase the cheerless daik; 
 
 With merry notes her Lotjo salltss the 
 
 MOUNTING lark. 
 
 Then freshly up arose the doughty Knight, 
 
 All healed of his hurts, &c. 
 
 Mr. Calton observes that the herald lark greeting 
 the approach of morning <with its song, is " a beautl- 
 " ful thought which modern wit has added to 
 " the stock of antiquity." At the same time he
 
 >» 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 The morn's approach, and greet her with his song : 
 As Hghtly from his grassy couch up rose 
 Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream ; 
 Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting wak'd. 
 Up to a hill anon his steps he rear'd. 
 From whose high top to ken the prospe^l round. 
 If cottage were in view, sheep-cote, or nerd ; 
 But cottage, herd, or sheep-cote none he saw. 
 Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove. 
 
 285 
 
 »ays, «*■ we may see it rising out of a low hint of 
 Theocritus, like the bird _/>5ot /;■« thatch' d pallnt ;" 
 and he refers to the passage already cited from the 
 Greek Pastoral Poet. He then exhibits the four 
 first lines of the passage in Chaucer, and the latter 
 part of the stanza of Spenser, which is here given 
 entire. The lines from Chaucer he terms four of 
 the Jineit lines in all his tiiorks. Dryden, in his 
 Falamon and Arcite, has paid them the com- 
 pliment of preserving the three first unaltered, con- 
 sidering them, we may suppose, as rising to that 
 degree of excellence, which, under any advance- 
 ment of language, it is not easy to improve : 
 the fourth, by altering orient to horizon, and ex- 
 tending the verse to " a needless Alexandrine," he 
 certainly has not improved. I subjoin the whole 
 passage from Dr}den. 
 
 The morning-lark, the messenger of day, 
 
 Saluted in her song the morning gray. 
 
 And soon the sun arose with beams so bright. 
 
 That all th' horizon laugh'd to see the joyous sight; 
 
 He with his tepid rays the rose renews. 
 
 And licks the drooping leaves, and dries the dews; 
 
 When Arcite left his bed, rcsolv'd to pay 
 
 Observance to the month of merry May. 
 
 »8a. from his grassy couch—'] 
 
 for beast and bird, ' 
 
 They to thiir orassv couch, these to their nestt 
 Were tlunk, 
 
 Fa&adki Loit, iv. 600. 
 Thjer. 
 
 283. 
 
 atid/ound all was hut a </rM«.J 
 
 -^-^— but, O ! how glad I wak'd 
 
 To FIND THIS EOT A DRIAM!— — — 
 
 Paradise Lost, v. yt, 
 
 286. From mhose high top to ken the prospe3 round,^ 
 
 ■ It was a hill. 
 Of Paradise the highest, from whose top 
 The hemisphere of earth, in clearest ken, 
 Stretch'd out to the amplest reach of prospect lay. 
 Paradise Lost, xi. 377. 
 
 287. If collage were in vieai, sheep-cote, or herd; 
 Sut cottage, herd, or sheep-cote none he saw,^ 
 
 This mode of repetition our Poet is fond of, and 
 has frequently used with singular effeft, — Thus, 
 CoMus, 221. 
 
 Was I deceived, or did a sable cloui] 
 Turn forth her silver lining on the night ? 
 I did not err, there does a sable cloud 
 Turn forth her silver lining on the night. 
 And casts a gleam over this tufted grove. 
 
 Thus also, Paradise IiOST, iv. 640, adelighf. 
 ful description of morning, evening, and night, » 
 beautifully recapitulated. 
 
 189. Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove. 
 
 With chant of tuneful birds resounding loudf 
 Thither he irnt his uay, determin'd then 
 To rest at noon, and enler'd soon the shade 
 High-rocf'd, and ualks beneath, and alleys irowBy 
 That efen'd in th( taidst a woody sunt;] 
 
 Th»
 
 BOOK ri. PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 With chant of tuneful birds resounding loud : 
 Thither he bent his way, determin'd there 
 
 93 
 290 
 
 The Tempter here is the Magician of the Italian 
 Poets. This " pleasant grove" is a magical creation 
 in the desert, designed as a scene suited for the 
 ensuing temptation of the Banquet. Thus Tasso 
 lavs the scene of the sumptuous banquet, which 
 Armida provides for her lovers, amidst 
 
 High trees, sweet meadows, waters pure and good 
 
 Under the curtail) of the greenwood shade, 
 Beside the brook, upon the velvet grass, 
 
 Fairfax's Tasso, C. x. 63. 64. 
 
 The whole of Milton's description here is very 
 beautiful ; and I rather wonder that the noble 
 author of the Anecdotes of Painting did not subjoin 
 it to his citations, from the Paradise Lost, in 
 his Observations on Modern Gardening, He there 
 ascribes to our author the having foreseen, " with 
 «' the prophetic eye of taste," our modern style of 
 gardening. It may however be questioned, whether 
 his idea of a garden was much, if at all, elevated 
 above that of his contemporaries. In the Com us, 
 ipeaking of the gardens of the Hesperides, he de- 
 scribes cedarn alleys, and crisped shades and boivers ; 
 and in his Penseroso, *' retired leisure" is made 
 to please itself in trim gardens. Mr. Warton, in 
 a note on the latter passage, observes that Milton 
 had changed his ideas of a garden when he wrote 
 his Paradise Lost. But the Paradise which he there 
 describes is not a Garden, either ancient or mo- 
 dern. It is in fadl a Country in its natural, un- 
 ornamented state, snly rendered beautiful, and, 
 (which is more essential to happiness in a hot 
 climate,) at all times perfeftly habitable from its 
 abundance of pleasingly-disposed shade and water, 
 and its consequent verdure and fertility. From all 
 such poetical delineations, as from Nature herself, 
 the Landscape Gardener may certainly enrich 
 his fancy, and cultivate his taste. The Poet in 
 the mean time contributes to the perfedion oi Art, 
 not by laying down rules for it, but by his exqui- 
 lite descriptions of the more beautiful scenes of 
 
 Nature, which it is the office ot Art to imitate and 
 to represent. One merit of our modern art of lay- 
 ing out ground, independent of the beauty of it» 
 scener}', is its being peculiarly adapted to the cir- 
 cumstances of our climate. A modern English plea- 
 sure-ground would not be considered as a Paradise 
 on the sultry plains of Assyria, if it could be formed, 
 or exist there : accordingly another mode of garden- 
 ing has always prevailed in hot countries, which, 
 though it would b,e the height of absurdity to 
 adopt it in our own island, may be well defended 
 in its proper place by the best of all pleas, necessity. 
 The reader may see this question fully dis- 
 cussed, with great taste and judgment, by my 
 learned friend Dr. Falconer, in his Historical Vieiv 
 of the Taste for Gardening and laying out Grounds, 
 among the Nations of Antiquity. 
 
 290. With chant of tuneful birds resounding loudi\ 
 
 Virgil, Georg. ii. 328, has 
 
 Avia turn resonant avibus virgulta canokiSi 
 
 Spenser seldom fails to adorn his groves aji 
 gardens with singing birds j 
 
 And on the other side A pleasant croVS 
 
 Therein the merry birds, of every sort. 
 Chanted aloud their cheerful harmony, 
 
 Faerv Queen, B. II. C. v. 31, 
 
 No dainty flower or herb that grows on ground. 
 No arboret, with painted blossoms drcst. 
 And smelling sweet, but there it might be found 
 To bud out fair, and her sweet smells throw all around. 
 
 No tree whose branches did not bravely spring, 
 No branch whereon a line bird did not sit; 
 No bird but did her shrill notes sweetly sing, 
 No song but did contain a lovely dit : 
 Trees, branches, birds, and songs were framed fit 
 For to allure frail men to careless ease. 
 
 Ibid. B. II. C. vi. 12. I2. 
 
 sgi. 
 
 T« rtit at neea — } 
 
 dittrmn'dthcrt 
 
 The
 
 94 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. book n. 
 
 To rest at noon, and enter'd soon the shade * 
 
 High roof 'd, and walks beneath, and alleys brown, 
 
 The custom of retiring to the shade and reposing, 
 in hot countries, during the extreme heat of the 
 middle part of the day, is frequently alluded to by 
 Milton in his Paradise Lost. 
 
 Von flowery arbors, yonder alleys green, 
 
 Our walk at noon with branches overgrown,— 
 
 iv. 62S. 
 ^^— — in what bower or shade 
 Thou find'st him, from the heat or noon ritir'd. 
 To rcspit his day-labor with repast, 
 Or with repose ; 
 
 T. «30. 
 
 Him through the spicy forest onward come 
 Adam discem'd, as in the door he sat 
 Of UI5 cool bower, while now the mounted 
 
 SUN 
 
 Shot down direct his fervid rays— — 
 
 193. 
 
 •^—— she to him as oft engag'd 
 
 To be return'd by noon amid the bower, 
 
 And all things in best order to invite 
 
 Noon-tide repast, or afternoon's repose. 
 
 ix. 400. 
 
 jg2. ^^— — — — — — ^— — the shade 
 
 Higk-rooJ'dj and walks hcncatki and alleys brown^ 
 
 Thus in the Penseroso, 133. 
 
 To arched walks of twilight grove«. 
 And shadows brown that Sylvan loves 
 
 And, in the manuscript of his Comus, V. 181, 
 Milton had written 
 
 In the blind alleys of this arched wood 
 
 And in Paradise Lost, i. 302 ; 
 
 Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks 
 Jtn Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades 
 High over-arch'd imbower 
 
 Such are also the arched over-shading groves of 
 Spenser, with their walks, alleys, and arbours. 
 
 A shady grove not far away they spied. 
 
 That promis'd aid the tempest to withstand; 
 
 Whose lofty trees yclad with summer's pride 
 
 Did spread so broad that heaven's light did hide, 
 
 Not picrcable with power of any star; 
 
 And all within were paths and allies 
 
 WIDE. 
 
 FaEKY gt-'EEN, B. I. C. i. 7. 
 
 And again, B. IV. C. x. 25. 
 
 And all without were walks and allies dight. 
 With divers trees enrang'd in even ranks; 
 And here and there were pleasant arbors pight, 
 And shady seats and sundry flowering banks; 
 
 High-roof d reminds us of some of Milton'* 
 descriptions in the Paradise Lost. 
 
 -^^-^.^ a shady bank 
 Thick overhead with verdant roof imbower'd, 
 
 ix. 1037. 
 
 Speaking of Adam's bower he says, 
 
 the ROOF 
 
 Of thickest covert was inwoven shade. 
 Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
 Of firm and fragrant leaf; 
 
 iv. 691. 
 
 Again, in reference to the bower. 
 
 And on their naked limbs the flowery roo> 
 Shower'd roses, 
 
 77». 
 
 Thus also he brings our first parents out to " their 
 " morning orisons," 
 
 ■ from under shady arborous roof, 
 
 V- >37- 
 The deep shade, produced by great masses of 
 wood, is a favorite objeft of our Poet's descrip- 
 tion. The epithet broiun that he applies to it, 
 (as here " allies brown,") he borrowed from the 
 Italian Poets ; as has been justly observed by 
 Mr. Thyer, who brings several instances of its 
 being used by them to describe any thing shaded. 
 See his note on Paradise Lost, iv. 246; where 
 our Author, with the Italian imbrunir in his mind, 
 says 
 
 — — — the unpicrc'd shade 
 Imbrown'd the noon tide bower : 
 
 In Book IX. 1086, as Rp. Newton remarks, he 
 also expresses himself in a similar manner, 
 
 woods, impenetrable 
 
 To ^tar or sun-lij^iit, spread their umbrage broad 
 And BROWN as evening : 
 
 In
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 95 
 
 That open'd in the midst a woody scene ; 
 Nature's own work it seem'd, nature taught art, 
 And, to a superstitious eye, the haunt 
 
 295 
 
 In the following passage in the Tempest, 
 Aft IV. Scene i. 
 
 thy broom grove s> 
 
 Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, 1 
 
 Sir Thomas Hanraer inclines to read, and it 
 «eems justly, browk gro'vesi 
 
 19^. That open'd in the midst a woody scene; 
 
 Nature's own work it seem'd^ nature taught art. 
 And, to a superstitious eye, the haunt 
 0/ Wood-Cods and Wood-Nymphs — J 
 
 Here is some resemblance of Homer's Descrip- 
 tion of the Bower of Calypso. 
 
 0)i))<r«iTo iJw», Kj T£fwGii>i tpfiaiv J10-l». 
 
 Odyss. v. 63. 7j. 
 
 Without the grot a various sylvan scene 
 Appear'd around, and groves of living green; 
 Poplars and alders ever quivering play'd. 
 And nodding cypress foim'd a fragrant shade; 
 
 A scene where if a God should cast his sight, 
 A God might gaze, and wonder with dehght. 
 
 It may be observed, that " a various sylvan 
 " scene" was possibly suggested by Milton's 
 
 thus was this place 
 
 A happy rural seat of various view; 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 246. 
 
 igj. Nature's own work it seem'd, nature taught art,] 
 Thus Spenser in his description of the Gardens 
 of Acrasia, Having spoken of 
 
 The painted flowers, the trees up-shooting high, 
 The dales for shade, the hills for breathing-space, 
 The trembling groves, the crystal ruoning by, 
 
 he adds. 
 
 And that, which all fair works doth most aggrace, 
 The Art, which all that wrought, appeared ia no place. 
 
 One would have thought, (so cunningly the rude 
 
 And scorned paits were mingled with the hoe,) 
 
 That Nature had for wantonness ensu'd 
 
 Art, and that Art at Nature did repine; 
 
 So, striving each the other to undermine. 
 
 Each did the other's work more beautify ; 
 
 So, differing both in wills, agreed in fine : ' 
 
 So all agreed, through sweet diversity, 
 This garden to adorn with all variety. 
 
 Faery Queen, B. II, C. xii. 58. 55. 
 
 But here he is not a little indebted to his pre- 
 decessor Tasso, in his description of the Garden of 
 Armida. 
 
 Fior vari, e varie piante, erbi diverse, 
 
 Apriche coUinette, ombrose valli, 
 
 Selve e spelonche in una vista ofTerse : 
 
 E quel che il bello, e il caro accresce all' opre 
 
 L' arte, che tutto fa, nulla si scopre, 
 
 Stimi (si misto 11 culto c col negletto). 
 
 Sol naturali c gli ornamenti, e i siti. 
 
 Di natura arte par, che per diletto 
 
 L'imitatrice sua schetzando imiti, 
 
 C, xvi. 9. 10. 
 
 Fair trees, high plants, strange herbs, and (lowrets new, 
 Sunshiny hills, dales hid from Phcebus' rays, 
 Groves, arbors, mossy caves, at once they view ; 
 And that which beauty most, most wonder brought, 
 No where appear'd the art which all this wrought. 
 
 So with the rude the polish'd mingled was. 
 That natural seem'd all, and every part ; 
 Nature would craft in counterfeiting pass, ■ 
 And imitate her imitator. Art : 
 
 Fairfax, ■ 
 
 S96. And, to a superstitious eye, the haunt 
 0/ Wood-Gods and Wood-Nymphs — ] 
 
 Thus Lucretius, speaking of places remarkable 
 for their echo ; 
 
 H.«C EOCA CAPRIPEDES SaTVROS NVMPHASaU*- 
 
 -r ENERE 
 
 Finitimi fingunt ; -^— ^— 
 
 iv. 584. 
 
 Haunt
 
 ^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK JI. 
 
 Of Wood-Gods and Wood-Nymphs ; he view'd it round, 
 
 When suddenly a man before him stood, 
 
 Not rustic as before, but seemlier clad. 
 
 As one in city, or court, or palace bred, 300 
 
 And with fair speech these words to him address'd. 
 
 With granted leave officious I return, 
 But much more wonder that the Son of God 
 
 Haunt is a favourite word with Milton, in similar 
 descriptions in the Paradise Lost. 
 
 yet not the more 
 
 Cease I to wander, where the Muses haunTj 
 Clear spriDg, or shady grove, or sunny hill, 
 
 iii. 26. 
 
 In shadier bower, 
 
 More sacred and sequestcr'd, though but feigQ*d| 
 Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor nymph 
 Nor Faunus haunted. 
 
 iv. 705. 
 
 See also Paradise Lost, Tiii. 330. — ii. 273. 
 
 199. Not rustic as before, iut seemlier clad,"] 
 
 The Tempter is very properly made to change 
 his appearance and habit with the temptation. In 
 the former book, when he came to tempt our Saviour 
 to turn the stones into bread to satisfy their hunger, 
 he appeared as a poor old man in rural iveeds ,• but 
 now, when he comes to offer a magnificent enter- 
 tainment, he is seemlier dad, and appears as a 
 wealthy citizen or a courtier : and here 'with fair 
 speech he addresses his words, there it was only ijuiih 
 •words thus utter'd spake. These lesser particular 
 have a propriety in them, which is well worthy of 
 the reader's observation. Neiutoa, 
 
 302. With granted leave — ] 
 
 It is true that Satan at parting, in the conclusion 
 of the former book, had asked leave to come again, 
 but all the answer that our Saviour returned was 
 
 Thy coming liiiher, though 1 know thy scope, 
 
 I bid not or forbid ; do as thou find'st 
 
 Fetmiuion from above. 
 
 But as the Tempter must needs have been a most 
 impudent being, it was perfeftly in charafter to 
 represent him as taking permission for granted 
 leave, Neivton, 
 
 The granted leave here, is " permission from 
 " above." In answer to Satan's request, (B. i» 
 492.) 
 
 ^— ^^ disdain not such access to me| 
 
 our Saviour had said, 
 
 — ^— do as thou find'st 
 
 Permission from above- 
 
 Satan therefore here introduces himself with a 
 boast oi that permission from HIM, who had before 
 given up Job to be tempted by hira; 
 
 he 
 
 Gave up into my hands Uzzean Job 
 To prove him. 
 
 i. 368. 
 
 Indeed our Author makes the Deity, in his 
 speech to Gabriel, say, speaking of our blessed 
 Lord, 
 
 ■ this man, born and now up-grown, 
 
 To shew hira worthy of his birth divine 
 
 And high prediflion, henceforth I expose 
 
 To Satan ; let him tempt and now assay 
 
 His utmost subtlety. 
 
 i. 14O1 
 
 302, ' officious — ] 
 
 " Officious" is here adopted from the Latin, 
 and used in the same sense as by Cicero ; ■ 
 " — ipsi Lampsaceni surarae in omnes cives Ro- 
 " maaos officios!,'* In Veh*. i. 24. 
 
 In
 
 BOOK ir 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 In this wild solitude so long should bide 
 
 Of all things destitute ; and, well I know, 
 
 Not without hunger. Others of some note. 
 
 As story tells, have trod this wilderness ; 
 
 The fugitive bond-Vv'oman, with her son 
 
 Out-cast Nebaioth, yet found here relief 
 
 By a providing Angel ; all the race 
 
 Of Israel heire had famish'd, had not God 
 
 Rain'd from Heaven manna ; and that Prophet bold. 
 
 Native of Thebez, wandering here was fed 
 
 91 
 
 Z^S 
 
 lO 
 
 308. The fugitive hond-zuoman, with her son 
 Outcast Neiaiol/i,—] 
 
 Hagar, who fled from the face of her mistress. 
 Gen. xvi. 6, is therefore called a fugitive : her 
 son was not a fugitive, but an out-cast; so exaft 
 was our author in the use of his epithets. But 
 then what shall we say to the words, Out-cast 
 Nebaioth ? For Nebaioth was the eldest son of 
 Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 13.) and grandson of Abra- 
 ham and Hagar. He seems here to be put by mis- 
 take for Ishmael : at least it is not usual to call 
 the father by the name of the son. Neivton, 
 
 There is no immediate instance of a grandson 
 being substituted for a son in scripture : and yet 
 the curse is addressed to Canaan, (Genesis, ix. ^^,) 
 though it was Ham, his father, who had offended 
 Noah ; and, (z Sam. xix. 24.^ Mephibosheth, the 
 son of Jonathan, is called the son of Saul. 
 
 and that Prophet lio/dj 
 
 In the charafter of Elijah, as it stands portrayed 
 in scripture, we trace a spirit and resolution of the 
 most dignified kind. Hence it is said, 1 Maccab. 
 ii. c8, that he -was taken up into Heaven for being 
 FERVENT AND ZEALOVS for the /a-jj. "The tiue/ve 
 first verses of the forty-eighth Chapter of Ecc/e- 
 siastic/ts are entirely occupied with a panegyric upon 
 
 him ; in which it is said, that he stood up li\e fire, 
 and that his ixjords burned like a lamp ; which 
 expressions must be understood to imply a peculiar 
 
 fervor of zeal and spirit. Milton seems to 
 
 have been much struck, with the charaifler of this 
 " Prophet bold," as he here terms him. He had 
 before, V. 16, of this Book, called him the " Great 
 Thisbite," and has mentioned him no less than 
 four times in this Poem, and three times in his 
 juvenile Latin Poems. El. iv. — In Prodit. 
 BoiMBARD. — and In obit. Pr^^sul. Eliens.— 
 But it may be observed, (and I hope without 
 impropriet}-,) that possibly he had a political pre- 
 dileftion for this eminent Prophet, to whose lot it 
 fell to resist the tyranny of wicked kings, and ta 
 denounce the judgments of God against them. In 
 this part of his office he particularly manifested his 
 undaunted spirit ; on which account he might be 
 a favourite scripture-charafter with our Author. 
 
 313. Nalii! of Thd'cz, — ] 
 
 Thebrz is the same as Thesbe, or Thisbe, or 
 Tishbe, the birth-place of the prophet Elijah. 
 
 Ne-Mton, 
 
 Milton, El. iv. 97, describes Elijah, 
 
 — — YATES TERR^ ThESBITIDIS— 
 
 O 313. Kttitder-
 
 98 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 »00K II. 
 
 Twice by a voice inviting him to eat : 
 
 Of thee these forty days none hath regard, 3 15 
 
 Forty and more deserted here indeed. 
 
 To whom thus Jesus. What conchid'st thou hence ? 
 They all had need, as I thou seest have none. 
 How hast thou hunger then ? Satan reply'd. 
 Tell me, if food were now before thee set, 
 Would'st thou not eat ? Thereafter as I like 
 The giver, answer'd Jesus. Why should that 
 Cause thy refusal ? faid the subtle Fiend. 
 Hast thou not right to all created things ? 
 
 320 
 
 3'3- 
 
 aJidering hire zvasjed'^ 
 
 It appears that Milton conceived the wilderness, 
 where Hagar wandered with her son, and where the 
 Israelites were fed with manna, and whece Elijah 
 retreated from the rage of Jezebel, to be the same 
 with the wilderness, where our Saviour was tempted. 
 And yet it is certain, that they were very different 
 places; for the wilderness, where Hagar wandered, 
 was ite iviUerness of Beer-sheba, Gen. xxi. 14. ; 
 and where the Israelites were fed with manna was 
 the rwildcrness of Sin, Exod. xvi. i ; and where 
 Elijah retreated was in the 'wilderness, a days 
 journey from Beer-sheba, i Kings," xix. 4; and 
 where our Saviour was tempted was the tuilderness 
 near Jordan. But our author considers all that 
 traft of country as one and the same wilderness, 
 though distinguished by different names from the 
 different places adjoining. Neivtoa. 
 
 321. Would' St thou not eat ? Thereafter as I like 
 The giver, answer'd Jesus. — 1 
 
 Thus, in CoMus, when the Enchanter offers the 
 cup to the Lady, and presses her to drink of it, 
 the tells him. 
 
 Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets, 
 I would not taste thy treasonous offer ; none, 
 
 But such as are jood men, can give good things; 
 And tlijt, which is not good, is not delicious 
 To a well-govern'd and wise appetite. 
 
 701. 
 
 It may be observed, that our Lord does no* 
 positively refuse to take any food, but subjefts hi» 
 future decision to the quarter from which it should 
 be offered to him. Accordingly, when the Temp- 
 tation is concluded, he is refreshed with a banquet 
 presented by Angels ; which is a contrast in every 
 respeft to the insidious one here described. 
 
 324. Hast thou not right lo all created things t 
 
 Owe not ait creatures hy just right to thet ^ 
 
 Duty and se> vice, &c. tJc] 
 
 This part of the Tempter's speech alludes to the 
 heavenly declaration which he had heard at Jor- 
 dan, This is my belo'ved Son, Cfr. One may observe 
 too, that it is much the same sort of flattering ad- 
 dress with that which he had before made use of 
 to seduce Eve, Paradise Lost, ix. J39; 
 
 Thee all things living gaze on, aU things thine. 
 By gift, &c. 
 
 Tbjer. 
 
 Owe
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 99 
 
 Owe not all creatures by just right to tliee 325 
 
 Duty and service, not to stay till bid. 
 
 But tender all their power ? Nor mention I 
 
 Meats by the law unclean, or ofFer'd first 
 
 To idols, those young Daniel could refuse ; 
 
 Nor profFer'd by an enemy, though who 330 
 
 Would scruple that, wdth want oppress'd ? Behold, 
 
 Nature asham'd, or, better to express, 
 
 Troubled, that thou should'st hunger, hath purvey'd 
 
 From all the elements her choicest store. 
 
 To treat thee, as beseems, and as her Lord, ;^^^ 
 
 With honour : only deign to sit and eat. 
 
 He spake no dream ; for, as his words had end. 
 Our Saviour lifting up his eyes beheld. 
 In ample space under the broadest shade, 
 A table richly spread, in regal mode, 340 
 
 329. 
 
 those young Daniei 60uld refuse /T 
 
 See Note on V, 278, of this Book. 
 
 333- 
 
 hath purvey*d 
 
 From alt the elementi her choicest s£ore^'\ 
 
 The Latin Poets have similar passages, descrip- 
 tive of that unbounded luxury, which ransacked all 
 the elements to furnish out the requisite delicacies 
 of their banquets. 
 
 Interea gustus elementa per omnia quxrunt, 
 
 Juvenal, xi. 14, 
 
 Infudere epulas auro, quod terra, quod aer, 
 Quod pelacus nilusque oedit, quod 1uxu& inaui 
 Ambitione furens toto quiesivit in orbe. 
 
 Lucan. Fharsal. x. 1^5. 
 
 536- 
 
 $nly deign tt sit and eat.J 
 
 Comus, thus, briefly concludes his invitation to 
 the Lady, to taste of his banquet, 
 
 I Be wise and taste. 
 
 Comus, 813. 
 
 And Adam, in the Paradise Lost, invites the 
 Angel in his bower 
 
 To rest, and what the garden choicest bears 
 
 To SIT AND TASTE. -^^ 
 
 V. 368. 
 337. He spake no dream — ] 
 
 This was no dream, as before Vcr. 264, but 
 a reality. Neijutcin. 
 
 340. A taUe richly Spread^ £?c.] 
 
 This temptation is not recorded in Scripture, 
 
 but is however invented with great consistency, 
 
 O 2 anJ
 
 lOO 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 With dishes pil'd, and meats of noblest sort 
 And savor ; beasts of chase, or fowl of game. 
 
 and very aptly fitted to the present condition of 
 our Saviour. This, way of embellishing his subjeft 
 is a privilege which every poet has a just right to, 
 provided he observes harmony and decorum in his 
 hero's charafter; and one may further add, that 
 Milton had in this particular place still a stronger 
 claim to an indulgence of this kind, since it was 
 a pretty general' opinion among the Fathers, that 
 our Saviour underwent many more temptations 
 than those which are mentioned by the Evangelists; 
 nay, Origen goes so far as to say, that he was 
 every day, whilst he continued in the wilderness, 
 attacked by a fresh one. The beauties of this de- 
 scription are too obvious to escape any reader of 
 taste. It is copious, and yet expressed with a very 
 elegant conciseness. Every proper circumstance is 
 mentioned, and yet It is not at all clogged or in- 
 cumbered, as is often the case, with too tedious 
 a. detail of particulars. It was a scene entirely 
 fresh to our author's imagination, and nothing like 
 it had before occurred in his Paradise Lost, for 
 which reason he has been the more diffuse, and 
 labored it with greater care, with the same good 
 judgment that makes him in other places avoid 
 expatiating on scenes which he had before de- 
 scribed. In a word, it is in my opinion worked 
 up with great art and beauty, and plainly ihews 
 the crudity of that notion which so much prevails 
 among superficial readers, that Milton's genius was 
 upon the decay when he wrote his Paradise Re- 
 gained. Thyer. 
 
 The banquet here furnished by Satan, Bp. New- 
 ton observes, is like that prepared by Armida for 
 her lovers. Tasso, C, x. 64. 
 
 Apprcstar su 1' herbctla, ov' e piu dcnsa 
 L' ombra, c vicino al suon de I'acque chiare, 
 Fccc di sculti vasi altera mensa, 
 E ricca di vivande elcuc c care. 
 Era qui cio ch'ogni stagioo dispcnsa, 
 Cio che dona la terra, 6 manda il mare, 
 Cio che 1' ane condiscc, c cento belle 
 Strvivano al convito accorlc anccllc. 
 
 Under the curtain of the green-wood shade, 
 
 Beside the brook upon the velvet grass, 
 
 In massy vessel of pure silver made, 
 
 A banquet rich and cosily furnish'd was ; 
 
 All beasts, all birds beguil'd by fowler's trade. 
 
 All fish were there in floods or seas that pass; 
 
 All dainties made by art : and at the table 
 
 An hundred virgins sctv'd — — 
 
 Fairfax. 
 
 In CoMus, where the Lady is tempted by the 
 Enchanter, the scene is laid in " a stately palace 
 " set out luilh all manner of delkioustiess, soft 
 " music, and tables spread luith all dainties." 
 
 34°- 
 
 richly sprtad, in regal mode.J 
 
 Regal mode was probably intended to glance at 
 the luxury and expence of the Court at that time i 
 it is however well covered by classical authority. 
 
 — .^— Epul.t-qce ante era farat-^ 
 
 Recifico Luxt;. 
 
 Virg. i£N. vi. 604. 
 
 Instituunt de more epulas, fcstamque per urbcm 
 Recifice EXTRUcTis Celebrant coDvivia mensis. 
 
 Sil. Ital. xi. 273. 
 
 34t. IVilk dishes pil'd — ] 
 
 • .^— -^ Rais'd of grassy turf 
 Their table was, and mossy seats had round. 
 And on her ample square from side to side 
 All autumn riL'o, 
 
 Paradise Lost, v. 391. 
 
 ^—— all in circles as they stood. 
 Tables are set, and on a sudden pil'd 
 With Angels' food, 
 
 Ibid. v. 631. 
 
 beasts tf chace — ] 
 
 342- 
 
 All beasts of the earth since wild, and of all chacs 
 
 In wood or wilderness.— 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 341. 
 
 In
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 lOI 
 
 In pastry built, or from the spit, or boil'd, 
 Gris-amber-steam'd ; all fish, from sea or shore. 
 Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin, 
 And exquisitest name, for which was drain'd 
 
 345 
 
 343. In pastry built — ] 
 
 The pastry in the beginning of the last centur)-, 
 was frequently of considerable magnitude and so- 
 lidity. Of such kind must have been the pye in 
 which Jeoffrey Hudson, afterwards King James's 
 Dwarf, when eight years old was served up to table 
 at an entertainment given by the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham. We may suppose this pye was not con- 
 siderably larger than was usual on such occasions, 
 otherwise the joke would have lost much of its 
 effeft from something extraordinary being expelled. 
 A species of mural pastry seems to have prevailed 
 in some of the preceding centuries, when artificial 
 representations of castles, towers, &c. were very 
 common at all great feasts, and were called sut- 
 
 thties, stibtiltics, or sotilties. Leland, in his 
 
 account of the entertainment at the inthronization 
 of Archbishop Warham in 1 504, (Collc£laiiea, 
 Vol. 6,) mentions " a suttlety of three stages, 
 •' with vanes and towres embattled," and " a 
 •' warner with eight towres embattled, and made 
 with flowres ;" which possibly meant made in 
 pastry. — In the catalogue of the expences at this 
 feast, there is a charge for wax and sugar, in ofc- 
 ratioite de le sotilties. Probably the wax and sugar 
 were employed to render the paste of flour more 
 adhesive and tenacious, the better to support itself 
 when moulded into such a variety of forms. 
 
 344. Gris-amber-stcanC d ; — ] 
 
 Ambergris or grey-amber is esteemed the best, 
 and used in perfumes and cordials. A curious lady 
 communicated the following remarks upon this 
 passage to Mr. Peck, which we will here tran- 
 scribe. " Grey amber is the amber our Author here 
 " speaks of, and melts like butter. It was for- 
 " merly a main ingredient in every concert for 
 " a banquet ; viz. to fume the meat with, and 
 " that whether boiled, roasted, or baked ; laid 
 
 " often on the top of a baked pudding ; which 
 " last I have eat of at an old courtier's table. And 
 " I remember, in an old chronicle there is much 
 " complaint of the nobilities being made sick at 
 " Cardinal Wolsey's banquets, with rich sented 
 " cakes and dishes most costly dressed with am- 
 " bergris. I also recollecl I once saw a little book 
 " writ by a gentlewoman of Queen Elizabeth's 
 " court, where ambergris is mentioned as the haut- 
 " gout of that age. I fancy Milton transposed the 
 " word for the sake of his verse ; to make it read 
 " more poetically." And Beaumont and Fletcher 
 in the Custom of the Country, Aft III. 
 Scene 2. 
 
 ^— ^— Be sure 
 The wines be lusty, high, and full of spirit, 
 And amber'd all. 
 
 Newton. 
 
 Mr. Warton, in his Note on Comus, V. 863, 
 cites several curious passages, which shew that am- 
 ber was formerly a favourite in cookery ; among 
 others, one from Massinger's City Madam, where 
 " pheasants drenched with ambergrise" are 
 spoken of as a prime delicacy; and another from 
 Marniion's Antiquary, which mentions " a fat 
 " nightingale seasoned with pepper and amber- 
 
 " GRISE," 
 
 346. And exquisitest namc^ — ] 
 
 This alludes to that species of Roman luxury, 
 which gave exquisite fiamcs to fish of exquisite taste, 
 such as that they called cerebrum Jo'vis. They ex- 
 tended this even to a very capacious dish, as that 
 they called clypeum Minernite. The modern Italians 
 fall into the same wantonness of luxurious impiet}'-, 
 as when they call their exquisite wines by the 
 names of lacrym<e Christi and lac Virgims. 
 
 Warhtrton. 
 
 J46. fir
 
 loa 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Pontiis, and Lucrine bay, and Afric coast. 
 (Alas, how simple, to these cates corapar'd. 
 
 346- 
 
 • Jor wkifh zcas draiii'd' 
 
 PontHS, and Lucrine b*); and Afric coast.'[ 
 The fish are brought, to furnish this banquet 
 from all the different parts of the world then 
 known ; from Potitus, or the Euxine Sea, in Asia ; 
 from the Lucrine Bay, in Italy ; and from the const 
 of Africa; all which pkces are celebrated for dif- 
 ferent kinds of fish by the authors of antiquity. 
 
 Nenvtoit, 
 
 Milton had here in his mind the excessive luxury 
 of the Romans in the article of fish; in regard to 
 which it is said by Juvenal that, having exhausted 
 their own seas, they were obliged to be supplied 
 from their distant provinces. 
 
 Et jam defecit nostram mare, dum gula ssevit, 
 Retibus asiiduis penitus scratame macello 
 Proxima, ncc patltur Tyrrhenum crescerc piscem. 
 Instruit ergo focum provincla :— — 
 
 Sat. v. 94. 
 
 In Tiberius's time, the Scuyuf, a favorite fish, was 
 brought by one of their admirals in immense quan- 
 tities, from the furthest part of the Mediterranean, 
 in vessels so construfted as to convey them alive ; on 
 purpose to stock the sea all along the coast of Naples 
 to the mouth of the Tiber. That they might increase 
 abundantly, it was forbidden to take one for five 
 years. Pliny, ix. i 7. Macrob. Saturn, ii. 12. 
 
 Petronius seems to have alluded to this circum- 
 stance when speaking of their luxury in carrying 
 this fish alive from the Sicilian Straits for their 
 entertainments ; he calls it, Siailo scams irquore 
 tnersus ; where menus seems to imply that it was 
 not a native of that sea, but brought from a dis- 
 tance and introduced there. 
 
 Ingeniosa gula est, Siculo scarus .€<juore mersus 
 Ad mensam vivus perducitur, — — — 
 
 Pctron. De Bell. Civil. 
 
 347. Pontus—"^ 
 
 Pliny observes how quickly all sorts of fish can>e 
 to perfeAion in the Ponius Euxiniis. " Piscium 
 " genus omne prxcipua celetitate adolescit, raaxime 
 
 " in PoNTo. Causa, multitude amniuin dulces in- 
 " ferentium aquas. L. ix. 15. 
 
 347. — ^— Lucrine bay — ] 
 
 Horace notices the shell-fish of the Lucrine 
 Lake, 
 
 Non me LucRi N A juverint conchy lia, 
 
 troD. ii. 49. 
 
 and particularly commends its muscles, 
 Murice Baiano mclior LueRiNA pKLgRis: 
 
 2 Sat. iv. 32. 
 
 Martial records the excellence of the Lucrine 
 Oysters, 
 
 Ostrea tu sumis stacno saturata I.ucrino, 
 
 L. iii. £r. Ix. 3. 
 
 These were so much in request that Lucrina alone 
 is sometimes used by the last-mentioned poet to 
 signify oysters. L. vi. Er. xi. 5. & L. xii. Ep. 
 xlviii. 4. Sergius Grata was the first person who 
 discovered the superior excellence of the Lucrine 
 Oysters, and, having found out the method ot fat» 
 tening them in beds on the coast of Baias, derived 
 much advantage to himself from the sale of a 
 delicacy so highly in request. See Pliny, ix. J4. 
 Macrobius, Saturn, ii. 11. and Val. Maximus, 
 
 ix. I . Petronius speaks of the high price which 
 
 these oysters bore, 
 
 inde Lucrinis 
 
 Eruta lilloribus vcndunt conchylia cocnas. 
 
 De Bell. Civil. 
 
 The Oysters of the English coast were also in 
 repute at Rome; and, as we may collea, were 
 considered at least equal to those of the Lucrine 
 Lake. Pliny, speaking of the Lucrine Oysters 
 first coming into fasliion, says, " nondum Brit- 
 •' tannica serviebant Uttora, cum Grata Lucrina 
 " nobilitabat," ix. 54. 
 
 Juvenal particularly mentions the Oysters of ^^a- 
 tupiiim, or Richborough, on the coast of Kent. 
 
 Circceis nata forent, an 
 Lucriinim ad saxum, Rutupinove edita »undo 
 
 Oitreai 
 
 Sat. IV. 140. 
 
 347 Af"'
 
 kOOK It. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 103 
 
 Was that crude- ap^leythat diverted Eve !) 
 And at a stately side-board by the vi^ine, 
 
 35^ 
 
 S47- 
 
 ^^fric coait.'] 
 
 Aulus Gellius, in his chapter on Roman Luxury, 
 extrafted from the Satire of M. Varro wsfi eJsr- 
 fszTi^v, notices the Lamprey from the Straits of 
 Gibraltar, Murcsna Tartessia. L. vii. 1 6. 
 
 It is related by Athensus (B. L p. 7.) that the 
 celebrated Roman glutton Apicius, having been 
 used to eat at Minternas a sort of cray-fish, which 
 exceeded the lobsters of Alexandria in bigness, 
 when he was told there were some of these fish 
 still larger, to be found on the coast of Africa, 
 sailed thither immediately, in spite of a great 
 many inconveniencics. The fishermen, who were 
 apprized of the objefl of his voyage, met him with 
 the largest they had taken ; but as soon as he found 
 they had none which exceeded those he had been 
 Wsed to eat at Minterns, he sailed back instantly 
 without going on shore. 
 
 34g. — — .— — — .— that (diverted Eve f^ 
 
 Diverted is here used in the Latin signification 
 of diverto, to turn aside, Neiuton. 
 
 350. And at a sidtely side-board, &e, — } 
 
 As the scene of this entertainment lay in the 
 east, Milton has with great judgment thrown in 
 this and the following particulars to give it an air 
 of eastern grandeur; as in that part of the world, 
 it is well known, a great part of the pomp and 
 splendor of their feasts consists in their having a 
 great number of beautiful slaves of both sexes, to 
 attend and divert the guests with music and singing. 
 
 Thyer, 
 
 350. — — wine. 
 
 That fragrant smell dijfus'd, — ] 
 
 Thus Homer, Odyss. ix. 210, 
 
 oS/*,) s'rjSiTsc ottto xf*)T^fo; qSuSh 
 © e (TTrstrm .— — — — — 
 
 ■ the goblet crownM 
 Brealh'd aromatic fragvancy around. 
 
 And Ovid, Fast. iii. 301. 
 
 Plcnaqiie odorati Dis ponit pocuU Bacchi. 
 
 Pfl/r. 
 
 The Ancients prized their wines according to 
 their fragrance. Omq ajSoirixia; was the term of 
 supreme commendation among the Greeks. In the 
 Plutus of Aristophanes, among the advantages 
 of being rich enumerated by Cano the servant, a 
 principal one is 
 
 Vcr. 807 Ed. Brunei. 
 Casks full of fragrant and dcep-colour'd wine. 
 
 In the Female Orators of the same Comic 
 Poet, a female servant descants upon the superior 
 fragrance of wine above that of the richest oint- 
 ment ; and, calling for a cup of wine, she par- 
 ticularly desires it may be unmixed and seleiled for 
 its fragrancyy as affording a gratification of the most 
 durable kind, 
 
 Kepatf-oc axparov, Et^^paiJii tj^I' wy^ oAiiJ-, 
 
 H23. 
 
 Thus Laena, a drunken old woman, in the Cir. 
 cuLio of Plautus, Aft I. Scene 2. 
 
 Flos vcteris vini meis naribus objcflus est. 
 
 Ejus amos cupidam me hue prolicit per tcncbras. 
 
 L'bi, ubicst? Propemecst. Evax habco. Salve ani mi mi', 
 
 Liberi lepos ! Ut veteris vetusti cupida sum ! 
 
 Nam omnium ungentum odor prx tuo nautea est. 
 
 Tu mihi stafte, tu cinnamomum, tu rosa, 
 
 Tu crocinum et casia es, tu bdellium. 
 
 And in a fragment of the old Comic Poet 
 Hermippus, preserved by Athena;us, the praises of 
 a wine named Sapria or Saprian, are celebrated as 
 so highly fragrant, that if the least went is gi-ven t» 
 he cask, an odor equal to that of "violets, roses, and 
 hyacinths, immediately rushes out, 
 
 'Ou yap aTro rofAaro; ^x^^tuv avmyo^i-ia-uv 
 
 L. 1. 
 
 The
 
 104 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 BOOK II, 
 
 That fragrant smell difFus'd, in order stood 
 Tall stripling youths rich clad, of fairer hue 
 Than Ganymed or Hylas ; distant more 
 Under the trees now tripp'd, now solemm stood. 
 
 The Omi asSoiTftiar, according to Athensus, was 
 an artificial preparation ; it seems to have been 
 drunk in a state of fermentation to make the in- 
 fused odours more perceptible. Archestratus, whose 
 skill in these matters we may collecl from his sir- 
 name of oflCTo^(!>'s.-, in a passage preserved also in 
 Athenasus, mentions the Lesbian wine as most 
 excellent, when it " flowers in the cup" so as to 
 have a cream at the top. 
 
 And, speaking of the same wine, he says, its 
 fragrancy was such, that it was more like ambrosia 
 than wine. 
 
 ^— Kuvoi Si hxr.a-ct 
 Ovx oii'U 0-01 ix^i' o.«o>o» 7-=fa.:, af/.^fornc h. 
 
 Theophrastus, in his Treatise De Odoribus, 
 EJif. Heinjii, Fol. 1613. p. 443. speaks of the 
 infusing liquid odors into wine, or mixing sweet 
 spices with it, t« ^v^a, toi; cini; £7n;(£o»Tf{, jj ra 
 ccfa/iccTa £f4(3aWio»T£;. 
 
 353. Then Ganymed or Hylas ; — ] 
 
 These were two most beautiful youths, the one 
 beloved by Jupiter, to whom he was cup-bearer, 
 the other by Hercules for whom he drew water : 
 they are therefore both properly mentioned upon 
 this occasion. Netv/on. 
 
 Milton had mentioned these two boys in his 
 SEVENTH Elegy, where he compares the God of 
 Love to them. 
 
 Aslat Amor leflo, piais Amor impigcr alis, 
 
 Prodidit astantem mota pharctra Deum : 
 Prodidit et facies, et duke minantis ocelli, 
 
 £t quicquid puero digiium ct Amore fuit. 
 Talis in aterno juvenis Siceius Olympo 
 
 Miso«i.amatori pocula plena Jovi ; 
 Aut, qui formosas pcUexit ad oscula nymphaS; 
 
 TbiodomantKus Naiadc raptus Hi i.as. 
 
 In which he had most probably an eye to Spenser's 
 description of Fancy in his Mast of Cnjiid. 
 
 The first was Fancy, like a lovely boy, 
 Of rare aspeft, and beauty without peer; 
 Matchable either to that imp of Troy, 
 Whom Jove did love and chose his cup to bear. 
 Or that same dainty lad. which was so dear 
 To great Alcidcs, that, when as he dy'd. 
 He wailed womar.-lil^e with many a tear, 
 And every wood and every valley wide 
 
 He fiU'd with Hylas' name; the nymphs eke Hylas cry'd. 
 Faery Queen, B. III. C. xii. 7. 
 
 354- 
 
 no'j^ tripp^dy now solemn stood,'] 
 
 The Deities of the Heathen Mythology had a 
 peculiar species of motion ascribed to them by the 
 Poets. Thus Virgil makes jEneas discover his 
 Mother by the single circumstance of her gait ; 
 
 ■ vera iNCESsf patuit Dca. 
 
 jEn. i. 405. 
 
 Juno likewise describes herself, 
 
 Ast ego quae Divijm incedo regina. 
 
 Ibid. i. 46. 
 
 And, in the fifth ./Eneid, among the distinguish- 
 ing marks of divinity, we find the gressus etinti : 
 
 —^— divini signa dccoris 
 Ardcntesquc notate oculos ; qui spiritus illl, 
 Qui vultus, vocisque sonus, vcl ckessus eukti. 
 
 647. 
 
 The most antient statues represent the Dii Ma~ 
 jores with their feet ev^n ; not as walking, but with 
 a sort of sliding motion. The gracefulness of their 
 motion was supposed proportionate to their rank : 
 the supremacy of majestic grace was attributed to 
 Juno; Athenxus has the phrase 'Hfaio» ^asifsi, and 
 Propertius, L. ii. El. 2. describing the charms of 
 his mistress, says, 
 
 Fulva coma est, lon^aeque manus : et maxima toto 
 Corpors ; et incedit vel Jove djcna $oror. 
 
 Milton,
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Nymphs of Diana's train, and Naiades 
 
 With fruits and flowers from Amalthea's horn, 
 
 '°5 
 355 
 
 Milton, in his Paradise Lost, ascribes in the 
 same manner to the Angels a gait proportioned 
 to their rank. When Satan, in the third Book, 
 assumes the form of a htripling Cherub, previous 
 to his conference with Uriel, he has " decent," 
 that is graceful, " steps." But, when Michael 
 descends to Paradise to dispossess our first Parents, 
 Adam says to Eve, 
 
 I descry. 
 From yonder blazing cloud that veils the hill. 
 One of the heavenly host, and by his gait 
 Kone of the meanest, some great potentate, 
 Or of the thrones above, sucii majesttt 
 
 Invssts him coming ; 
 
 xi. IzS. 
 
 To these rural Goddesses likewise, these Demi- 
 Deities, Milton ascribes solemn, that is graceful, 
 attitudes, and a motion " more than human." In 
 the continuation of the passage just cited, Adam 
 describes the Angel, as he approaches, 
 
 — — ^ not terrible 
 That I should fear, nor sociably mild, 
 As Raphael, that I should much conhde, 
 But SOLEMN and sublime; whom, not to offend, 
 With reverence I must meet, 
 
 And, in the twelfth Book, Michael, fore- 
 shewing the circumstances attending our Lord's 
 birth, says. 
 
 His place of birth a solfmn Angel tells 
 
 To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night; 
 
 364- 
 " Solemn," then, conveys to us the idea of stately- 
 gracefulness, while tripping implies a motion of a 
 divine, but festive, kind. Mr. Richardson, in a 
 Note on Paradise Lost, xi. 847, derives to trip 
 from the Latin tripudio, which he renders to step 
 lightly on the toe. Tripping, as Mr. Warton ob- 
 lerves on the word, CoMus, 960, was the proper 
 pace of Fairies. Thus, in the same Mask, V, i i 7, 
 
 And on the tawny sands and shelves 
 Trip the pert Fairies and the .dapper elves, 
 
 And, Ibid. 964, the Dryads are termed the 
 J41MCING Dryades : to illustrate which phrase 
 
 Mr. Richardson cites Isaiah, iii. 16, where the 
 Daughters of Zion are described mincing at 
 they go, and where the marginal reading for 
 " mincing" is tripping nicely. — In tht^ Allegro 
 also, Milton, having described Euphrosyne, the 
 Goddess of Chearfulness, attended by her ■' Groupe 
 " of Mirth," calls upon her to advance in the 
 most festive and engaging manner : 
 
 Come, and trip it, as you go, 
 0.1 the light fantastic toe. 
 
 In this highly-finished description of a banquet, 
 replete with every species of luxury that could 
 engage the attention or solicit the appetite, these 
 seemingly divine and beautiful attendants are thus 
 distinguished by their graceful attitude, or fsti've 
 elegant motion, purposely to set off, and increase the 
 effev.^ of, their personal beauty. 
 
 354. — ^— — ^.— — now solemn stood,'] 
 Ihe same idea of graceful attitude is given in 
 a lineofCoMus, where the Enchanter, speaking 
 to the Lady of her Brothers, whom he professes to 
 have seen, says, 
 
 Their port was more than human as they stood, 
 
 297. 
 
 Hamlet likewise in the scene with his Mother, 
 where he compares the personal qualities of his 
 Father and Uncle, as represented in their piflures, 
 having noticed the beauty and expression of his 
 
 Father's countenance. 
 
 See what a grace was seated on that brow"; 
 Hyperion's curls ; the front of Jove himself; 
 An eye, like Msrs, to threaten or command ; 
 
 thus exemplifies the gracefulness of his person, 
 
 A STATION like the h.rald Mercury 
 ' New-lighted on a beavcn-kissing hill ; 
 
 where " station" is attitude, or the a3 of standing, 
 
 355- t^Mifhs of Dictna's train, — ] 
 
 Homer, Odyss. vi. 105, having described Diana^ 
 adds, 
 
 r AroanA
 
 io6 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 And ladies of the Hesperides, that seem'd 
 Fairer than feign'd of old, or fabled since 
 
 lOOK II. 
 
 Around her sportive play the rural nymphs, 
 Daughters of iEgis-bearing Jove, 
 
 Milton, in the very beautiful part of the ninth 
 Book of the Paradise Lost, where Eve previous 
 to her temptation separates herself from Adam, 
 compares her to a nymph of Delias train, that is, 
 oi the train of Diana, who was likewise called 
 Delia from her birth-place Delos; 
 
 like a Wood-nymph light. 
 
 Oread or Dryad, or or Delia's train, 
 
 where it may be observed that light refers to Eve's 
 .graceful, goddess-like ; motion, and it is added that 
 fhe 
 
 Delia's self 
 
 Surpas'd in gait, and goddess-like deport. 
 
 355- 
 
 Naiades 
 
 With fruits and jltiuiers from Amalthea's horn,] 
 The story oi Amalthea's Horn, striftly so called, 
 is given by Ovid, Fast. v. 115. 
 Naiis AtBalthaea Crcteea nobilis Ida 
 
 Dicitur in sylvis occuluisse Jovemi 
 Huic fuit hjedorum mater formosa duoram 
 
 Inter Diftscos conspicienda greges ; 
 Cornibus acriis atque in sua terga recurvis, 
 
 Ubere, quod nutrix possit habere Jovis. 
 iac dabat ilia Deo. Sed fregit in arbore cornu ; 
 
 Truncaque dimidla parte decoris erat. 
 Sustulit hoc Nymphe ; cinftumque recentibus herbis 
 
 Et plenum ponjis ad Jovis ora tulit. 
 Ille, ubi res coeli tenuit, sdlioque paterno 
 
 Sedit, et invitlo oil Jove majus erat, 
 Sidera nutricem, nutricis fertile cornu 
 
 Fecit ; quod Dominae nunc quoque nomen habet. 
 
 But in the beginning of the ninth Book of the 
 Metamorphoses, (where the River-God Achelous 
 relates to Theseus the story of his being conquered 
 by Hercules, with whom he fought for Deianira, 
 in which contest he assumed several shapes, and 
 lastly that of a Bull,) a different history of a Cor- 
 micofia is given, which se;ras to be more imme- 
 diately referred to in this passage of the Paradise 
 Regained. 
 
 Nee satis id fuerat; rigid um fcra dextera oornu 
 Pum tenet infregit ; truncaque a fronte rcvellit. 
 
 Naiades hoc, pomis et odoro flore repletum, 
 Sacrarunt ; divesque meo bona Copia cornu est. 
 
 357. And ladies if the Hesperides, — ] 
 
 The daughters of Hesperus, the brother of Atlas, 
 are said by the poets to have possessed gardens or 
 orchards, which produced apples of gold ; Ovid. 
 Met. iv. 6-^6. Milton frequently alludes to these 
 Ladies of the Hesperides. Thus, in the Comus, 981; 
 
 All amidst the gardens fair 
 
 Of Hesperus and his daughters three. 
 
 That sing about the golden tree : » 
 
 Mr. Warton asks, what ancient fabler celebrate* 
 these damsels for their skill in singing ? He then 
 cites a passage from ApoUonius Rhodius, Argon. 
 iv. 1396, (an author whom, he observes, Milton 
 taught to his scholars,) where these ^vft.(pa,\ 'Lavt- 
 pijf? are described E<J>IMEPON AEIaOYSAI sweetly 
 
 singing, Our Author's favorite Tragic Poet, 
 
 Euripides, also celebrates them under the title of 
 
 Herc. Furens. 393, 
 
 Then came he to the harmonious nymphs, that band 
 
 Who in Hesperian gardens hold 
 Their station ; where the vegetative gold 
 Glows in the fruitage ; with resistless hand 
 
 To snatch the apple from its height, 
 
 mdhuii. 
 
 358. Fairer than feign'd of old, or failed since'] 
 
 In Paradise Lost, v. 380, Eve is described 
 
 — ^— MORf LOVELY FAIR 
 
 Than wood-nymph, or the fairest goddess feion'o 
 Of three that in mount Ida naked strove, 
 
 And, B. ix. 30. the Poet speaks of 
 
 FABi. ED knights 
 
 In battle feign'd ;— 
 
 Of
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 107 
 
 Of faery damsels, met in forest wide 
 By knights of Logres, or of Lyones, • 
 
 360 
 
 3^9. » ■ fatry damsels met infonst zuide 
 By knights of Logres^ or of Lyoms^ 
 Lancelot^ or PelUas, or PcUenori.'^ 
 
 Sir Lancelot, Pelleas, and Pellenore, (tile latter 
 by the title oi King Pellenore,) are Persons in the 
 old Romance of Morte Arthur, or TI.e Lxf 
 if King Arthur, of his noble Knyghtes of the round 
 table, and in thende the dolorous deth of them all; 
 written originally in French, and translated into 
 English by Sir Thomas Malleory, Knt. printed by 
 William Caxton, 1484. — From this old Romance, 
 Mr.Warton, (Observations on Spenser, Seft. 2,) 
 shews that Spenser borrowed much. Sir Lancelot 
 is there called oi Logris ; and Sir Tristram is named 
 of Lyones, under which title he appears also in the 
 Faery Queen, Logris is the same with Loegria, 
 (according to the more fabulous historians, and 
 amongst them Milton,) an old name for England. 
 Hollinshed calls it both Loegria and Logiers. In 
 his History of England, B. ii. 4. 5, having related 
 the conquest of our Island by Brute, or Brutus, a 
 Trojan, and his building the city of Troynovant, 
 he thus proceeds. " When Brutus had builded this 
 " city and brought it under his subjeflion, he by 
 " the advice of his nobles commanded this isle, 
 «' (which before hight Albion,) to be called Britain, 
 « and the inhabitants Britons after his name, for 
 " a perpetual memorie that he was first bringer of 
 " them into the land. In this mean while also he 
 " had by his wife three sons, the first named Lo- 
 " crinus or Locrine, the second Cambris or Cam- 
 " ber, the third Albanaftus or Albanaft. Now 
 " when the time of his death drew neere, to the 
 " first he betooke the government of that part of 
 <• the land nov/ known by the name of England, 
 " so that the same was long after called Loegria 
 
 « or Logiers of this Locrinus, &c. &c. The 
 
 same author, in his Description of Britain, instead 
 oi Loegria, Qt Logiers, writes it Lhoegres. The 
 Title of his twenty-second Chapter is, after 
 nxihat manner the so'vereigntie of this isle doth re- 
 maine ti the princes of Lhoegres or kings of England, 
 
 Spenser, in his Fafrv Queen, where he gives the 
 Chronicle of the early Briton Kings from Brute to 
 Uther's reign, calls it Logris, 
 
 I.ociinc was kft the sovereign lord of all, 
 
 But Albanai^ had all the northern jiart 
 
 Which of himst If Albania he did call ; 
 
 And Camber did possess the western quart, 
 
 Which Severn now from Logris doth dcp:irt, 
 
 B. II. C. X. 1,5. 
 Lyones was an old name for Cornwall, or at least 
 for a part of that county. Camden, (in his Bri- 
 tannia,) speaking of the Land's End, says, " the 
 " inhabitants are of opinion that this promontory 
 " did once reach farther 10 tlie Weat, which the 
 " sea-men positively conclude from the rubbish 
 " they draw up. The neighbours will tell you too, 
 " from a certain old tradition, that the land there 
 " drowned by the incursions of the sea was called 
 " Lionesse," Sir Tristram of Lyones, or Lionesse, 
 is well known to the readers of the old romances. 
 In the French translation of the Orlando Inamo- 
 rato of Boiardo, he is termed Tristran de Leonnois, 
 although in the original he is only mentioned by the 
 single name of Tristran. In the Orlando Inamorato 
 also, among the knights, who defend Angelica in 
 in the fortress of Albtacca against Agrican, is Sir 
 
 Hubert of Lyones, Uberto dal Lione. Tristram, 
 
 in his account of himself in the Faery Queen, 
 B. VI. C. ii. 28, says. 
 
 And Tristram is my namr, the only heir 
 Of good king Meliogras, which did rciga 
 In Cornwall, 'till that he through life's despair 
 Untimely died. 
 
 He then relates how his Uncle seized upon tlie 
 crown, whereupon his Mother, conceiving great 
 fears for her Son's personal safety, determined to 
 send him into " some foreign land." 
 
 ^o^ taking counsel of a wise man read, 
 She was by him advis'd to send me quite 
 Out of the country wherein I was bred, 
 The which the fertile LioN£SS£ is Iiight, 
 Into the land of Faery. 
 
 P 2 These
 
 io8 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore. 
 
 And all the while harmonious airs were heard 
 
 Of chiming strings, or charming pipes ; and winds 
 
 Of gentlest gale Arabian odors fann'd 
 
 These particulars, Mr. Warton shews, are drawn 
 from the Morte Arthur, where it is said " there 
 " was a knight Meliodas, and he was Lord and 
 " King of the county of Lyones, and he wedded 
 
 " King Marke's sister of Comewale." The 
 
 issue of this marriage was Sir Tristram. — These 
 Knights, he also observes, are there often repre- 
 sented as meeting beautiful damsels in desolate 
 forests. Indeed a forest was almost as neces- 
 sary in an old Romance as a valorous Knight, or 
 a beautiful Damsel, whose beauty and prowess were 
 severally to be endangered and proved by the dif- 
 ficulties and dangers they underwent amidst 
 
 forests and inchantments drear, 
 
 Penseroso, itg. 
 
 Milton's later thoughts could not, we find, but 
 rove at times where, as he himself told us, his 
 " younger feet wandered," when he " betook him 
 " among those lofty fables and romances, which 
 " recount in solemn Cantos the deeds of knight- 
 " hood founded by our viftorious kings, and from 
 " hence had in renowne over all Christendome." 
 Apol. for Smectymh. p. I '77. Prose Works. 
 Ed. Amst. 1698. 
 
 Sir Pelleas, " a very valorous knight of Arthur's 
 " round table," is one of those who pursue the 
 Blatant beast, when, after having been conquered 
 and chained up by Sir Calidore, it " broke its iron 
 « chain" and again " ranged through the world." 
 Faery Queen-, B. VI. C. xii. 39. 
 
 362. jind all ihe while harmonious airs wert heard 
 Of chiming strirgs^ and charming pipes^—'^ 
 
 Thus in Paradise Lost, xi. 558, 
 
 the sound 
 
 OF instruments THAT made melodious chime, 
 
 And again, Ver. 594. 
 
 • songs, garlands, flowers, 
 
 And CHARMING SYMruONlES ■ 
 
 Spenser, as Mr. Calton observes, thus likewise 
 uses the verb to charm ; 
 
 Like as the fowler on his guileful pipe 
 Charms to the birds full many a pleasant lay, 
 
 F. Q. B. IV. C. ix. 13. 
 But Spenser has to charm frequently in this sense. 
 Thus, in the opening of his Colin Clout's come 
 
 HOME AGAIN, 
 
 The shepherd's boy (best knowcn by that name} 
 That after Tityrus first sang his lay, 
 Lays of sweet love, without rebuke or blame. 
 Late (as his custom was) upon a day 
 Charming his oaten pipe unto his peers. 
 
 And again in the conclusion of his October, 
 Here we our slender pipes may safely charm. 
 
 363. ^^— ^— -^—^^ and winds 
 
 0/ gentlest gales Arabian odors fanned 
 From their soft wings, — J 
 
 Mr. Thyer, who supposes this circumstance in- 
 troduced in compliance with the eastern custom of 
 using perfumes at their entertainments, has noticed 
 the similarity of the following lines, 
 
 now gentle gales 
 
 Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense 
 Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
 
 Those balmy spoils. 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 156. 
 
 He might also have cited a beautiful line from 
 
 our Author's early Elegy, In adventum veris ; 
 
 Cinnamea Zephyrus Icve plaudit odorifcr aid. 
 
 6g. 
 
 Milton in the same Elegy refers to the " Arabian 
 
 " odors ;" 
 
 Atque Arabum spiral misses—— 
 
 59- 
 And in the continuation of the passage from the 
 Paradise Lost, exhibited by Mr. Thyer, he 
 speaks of the winds blowing 
 
 Sab«ean odors from the spicy shors 
 Of Arauv the blest; 
 
 From
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 From their soft wings, and Flora's earliest smells. 
 Such was the splendor ; and the Tempter now 
 His invitation earnestly renew'd. 
 
 109 
 3^5 
 
 365- 
 
 Flora's earliest smells.'^ 
 
 We may colleft from many passages in our 
 Author's poems, that he was habitually acquainted 
 with the beauties of the early morning, and parti- 
 cularly sensible of them. Mr. Warton says that he 
 " has delineated them with the lively pencil of 
 a lover." A^o/? o» Lycidas, 27. 
 
 In his Arcades, 56, he speaks of 
 
 — — the ODOROUS BREATH OF MORN. 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, iv. 641. he likewise 
 alludes to the peculiar fragrance of flowers at 
 •' that sweet hour of prime;" 
 
 Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet 
 
 And in the beginning of the fifth Book, Adam 
 thus concludes the speech in which he comforts 
 Eve, on her waking in the morning, respefting her 
 troublesome dream ; 
 
 Be not dishcarten'd then, nor cloud those looks, 
 
 That wont to he more chcarful and serene 
 
 Than when fair morning first smile* on the 
 
 WORLD : 
 
 And let us to our fresh employments rise 
 Amon^ tlie groves, the fountains, and the flowers. 
 That open now their choicest bosom' d smells,—. 
 Philips, the imitator of our Author, has most 
 
 beautifully, and in a manner perfeflly worthy of his. 
 
 Master, copied the idea expressed in the last line : 
 ^-^-~ when the kind early dew 
 
 Unlocks embosomed odors, 
 
 Cider, ii. _;jg. 
 
 But to revert to Milton, where he speaks more 
 at large, and perfeftly con amcre; 
 Now when as sacred light began to dawn 
 In Eden on the humid flowers that breath'd 
 Their morning incense, when all things that breathe 
 From the earth's great altar send up silent praise 
 To the Creator, and his nostrils fill 
 With grateful smell, forth came the human pair, , 
 And join'd their vocal worship to the quire 
 Of creatures wanting voice ; thrt done, partake 
 The season frime for sweetest sents and airs: 
 Paradise Lost, ix. 191. 
 
 To the first part of which passage we may trace 
 
 Mr. Gray, in a highly-finished line of his Elegy; 
 
 The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,— 
 
 We find a semblance of " Flora's earliest smells" 
 
 in the following very piifluresque and poetical stanza 
 
 of Spenser. 
 
 Thus being entcr'd they behold around 
 A large and spacious plain, on every side 
 Strowed with pleasance, whose fair grassy ground 
 Mantled with green, and goodly beautifide 
 With all the ornaments of Flora's pride, 
 Wherewith her mother Art, as half in scoirn 
 Of niggard Nature, like a pompous bride 
 Did deck her, and too lavishly adorn, 
 
 When forth from virgin bower she comes m 
 
 th' early morn. 
 
 F. Q. B. II. 12. 50. 
 
 366. Such was the splendor — ] 
 
 Virgil describing the magnificent entertainment 
 prepared by Dido for ^neas, (jEn. i. 637,) says, 
 
 At domus interior regali splendida luxu 
 
 Instruitur; ■ 
 
 on which La Cerda observes, " Apte et signate 
 splendida, nam splendor de conviviis sape ;" and 
 he cites from Athensus, B. iii. AAMnPOTATHN 
 
 The description of the splendid entertainment 
 here prepared, purposely to captivate each of the 
 senses, resembles the Address of Pleasure to Her- 
 cules in the famous Allegory of Prodicus, which 
 Xenophon has preserved in his Memorabilia, 
 L. 2, as repeated by Socrates. The Temptress 
 there offers the young Hero that, if he will follow 
 her, he shall enjoy whatever can gratify the senses; 
 
 • Tt af y.iya,^i^\i,ivrjv ti cnri'^v n ttotov effOi?, vi t» ccv 
 
 iouv )) Ti aJiHacc^ T£f^O£ii:;, »! Tiyaiv o^i^faivofA-va^ ri xyfia- 
 (iiio; iiffS.-i);?. — The translation subjoined is from the 
 Choice of Hercules published in Mr. Spence's 
 
 PoLYMETIS. 
 
 Then will I grant thee all thy soul's desire ; 
 
 All that may charm thine ear and please thy tight; 
 
 AU
 
 no 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK ir. 
 
 What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat ? 
 These are not fruits forbidden; no interdi6l 
 Defends the touching of these viands pure ; 
 Their taste no knowledge works, at least of evil. 
 But life presences, destroys life's enemy. 
 Hunger, with sweet restorative delight. 
 .All these are Spirits of air, and woods, and springs. 
 Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay 
 Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord : 
 What doubt'st thou, Son of God ? Sit down and eat. 
 
 To whom thus Jesus temperately reply'd. 
 Said'st thou not that to all things I had right ? 
 
 Z1<^ 
 
 375 
 
 All that thy ihouglu can frame or wish require, 
 
 To steep thy ravish'd senses in delight : 
 The sumptuous feast enhanc'd with music's sound, 
 
 Fittest to tune the melting soul to love : 
 Rich odors breathing choicest sweets around ; 
 
 The fragrant bower, cool fountain, shady grove ; 
 Fresh flowers to strew thy couch and crown thy head ; 
 Joy shall attqid thy steps, and ease shall smooth thy bed. 
 
 369. Thfse are vo fruits forhidderij no interdict 
 Defends the touching of these viands pure. 
 Their taste no knowledge works, at least of evil,'] 
 
 This sarcastical allusion to the Fall of Man, and 
 to that particular command by the transgression of 
 which, being seduced by Satan, he fell, isfinely 
 in charafter of the speaker. 
 
 Milton, in his Paradise Lost, terras the for- 
 bidden fruit 
 
 — — — the tree 
 
 Of iNTERi>icr£D knowlcdge- 
 
 V. 5>. 
 
 And, in the eighth Book, where Adan-, relating 
 to the Angel what he remembered since his own 
 creation, particularly recites the divine command 
 not to eat of the tree of knaiMledgc ; 
 But of the tree whose operation brings 
 
 KueWLIOCK Of bOOO AND ILL] * * * 
 
 Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste,. 
 And shun the bitter consequence ; for know, 
 The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command 
 Transgressed, inevitably thou shalt die, 
 From that day mortal, and this happy state 
 Shalt lose, expell'd from hence into a world ■ 
 Of woe and sorrow. Sternly he pronounc'd 
 The rigid interdiction, which resounds 
 Yet dreadful in my ear, 
 
 323- 
 37c. Defends — ] 
 
 From the French defendre to forbid. See a pre* 
 ceding note, B, i. 53, 
 
 374. All thise are spirits of air, and woods, and springs,"] 
 These " Spirits of air, and woods, and springs" 
 remind us of Shakespeare's 
 
 elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves, 
 
 in the Tempest ; where Prospero in the last act 
 addressing his spiritual ministers, and reciting what 
 wonderful feats he had performed by their assiitance, 
 professes his intention of breaking his staff, drown- 
 ing his book, and renouncing all magical arts for 
 the future, 
 
 And
 
 SOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Ill 
 
 And who withholds my power that right to use? 380 
 
 Shall I receive by gift what of my own, 
 
 When and where likes me best, I can command ? 
 
 I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou, 
 
 Command a table in this wilderness, 
 
 And call swift flights of Angels ministrant 3 85 
 
 Array'd in glory on my cup to attend : 
 
 Why should'st thou then obtrude this diligence, 
 
 In vain, where no acceptance it can find ? 
 
 And with my hunger what hast thou to do ? 
 
 385- 
 
 •fights of Angels — ] 
 
 An expression likewise in Shakespeare, Hamlet, 
 Aft V. Sc. 6 ; 
 
 And FLIGHTS or Angels sing thee to thy rest. 
 
 385. 
 
 Angels ministrant'] 
 
 Laertes, in Hamlet, tells the Priest who re- 
 fuses any further funeral rites to the body of Ophe- 
 lia, on account of her having destroyed herself, 
 
 I tell thee, churlish priest, 
 A MiNisTRiNG ANGEL shall my sister be 
 When thou liest howling. 
 
 And, Paradise Lost, x. 86, when the Son of 
 God descends to judge and pass sentence on Adam 
 and Eve after their Fall, 
 
 him thrones and powers, 
 
 Princedoms and dominations ministrant, 
 Accompanied to Heaven gate, 
 
 St. Paul, speaking of the inferiority of the angels 
 to the Son of Goi, says, Are thej not all minis- 
 TRING SPIRITS? Heb. i. 14. 
 
 Whence, in the sixth Book of the Paradise 
 Lost, Satan, in derision of his opponents, 
 
 I see that most through sloth had rather serve, 
 MimsTiiiNG sriiiiis, traiu'd up in feast and song; 
 
 »6fi. 
 
 386. 
 
 on my cup to attend .-J 
 
 In the New Testament an Angel attends on the 
 mystical Cup of Christ's Passion. Luke, xxii. 42. 
 Pharaoh's chief butler was his cup-bearer ; accord- 
 ingly he says, Pharaoh's cup 'was in my hand, — 
 
 _ and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's 
 
 hand. Gen. xl. ii.— And in later times all great 
 personages had cup-bearers. It was a place of great 
 honour ; the King of Bohemia is great cup-bearer 
 to the Emperor. 
 
 When Adam entertains the Angel, in Paradise 
 Lost, Eve is their cup-hearer, or attends on their 
 cup, 
 
 •^.^— at table Eve 
 Minister'd naked, and their flowing cups 
 With pleasant lisoors crown'd:— ^ 
 
 V. 443- 
 
 Ministrare poculum and miscere poculum 
 are classical phrases. 
 
 Non ambrosia Deos, aut neaare, aut juventute 
 pocula ministrante, l^tari arbitror. 
 
 Cicero, i Tusc. Qu.«st. 26. 
 
 Arripit Iliadem, qui nunc quoque pocula miscet, 
 Invilaque Jovi nictar Juaone ministrat. 
 
 Ovid, Met. x. 109. 
 
 Thy
 
 112 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Thy pompous delicacies I contemn, 2 90 
 
 And count thy specious gifts, no gifts but guiles. 
 
 To whom thus answer'd Satan malecontent. 
 That I have also power to give, thou seest ; 
 If of that poM^er I bring thee voluntary 
 What I might have bestow'd on M'^hom I pleas'd, 395 
 
 And rather opportunely in this place 
 Chose to impart to thy apparent need. 
 Why should'st thou not accept it? but I see 
 What I can do or offer is suspecl ; 
 
 Of these things others quickly v/ill dispose, 400 
 
 Whose pains have earn'd the far fet spoil. With that 
 Both table and provision vanish'd quite 
 
 jgi. And count thy speciouj gifts no gifts, iut guiles,'] 
 
 Not without a resemblance to Virgil's 
 
 — — timeo Daoaos ctcoNA fsrzntes; 
 
 JEn. ii. ^g. 
 
 and to a preceding part of the same speech of 
 Laocoon ; 
 
 — — O miseri, qua tanta insania, elves? 
 Creditis avcctos hostes, aut ulla putatis 
 Dona cakkre oolis Dan'aum ? 
 
 Bp. Newton observes, that " tkj gifts no gifts" 
 15 from Sophocles, 
 
 AjAX, 675. 
 Gifts proffer'd by an enemy 'twere wrong 
 To reckon gifts, or look for profit from them. 
 
 401. 
 
 ■firfrt-] 
 
 Bp. Newton collefls several instances of Chaucer, 
 Spenser, and Johnson, using yj/,- and accompanies 
 them with an observation " thatyj/ is much softer 
 " than fetch'd," upon which he grounds another 
 remark that " our old writers had a better ear, 
 " and studied the beauties of sound more than the ■ 
 " jDoderns." I confess, to my eaifar-feuL'd reads 
 
 at least as musically &% far-fet. But '' fet" is one 
 of those old words which Milton sometimes intro- 
 duces purposely to deviate from the more modern- 
 ised language of the day. Obvious and ordinary 
 forms of speech, as Mr. Addison observes, in hit 
 Critique on the Language of the Paradise Lost, 
 are so far debased by common use, that they became 
 iiTiproper for a Poet or an Orator. " Old words" 
 he adds, " make a poem appear the more vene« 
 " rable, by giving it an air of antiquity." 
 
 Fet is frequently used iot fetched in our vertion 
 of the Scriptures. 
 
 401 
 
 With thai 
 
 Both table and provision uanislt^d quite 
 
 With sound of harpies' wings, and talons heard:'] 
 
 In which the Author has imitated Virgil, JEv, 
 iii. zzy. 
 
 At tubitx horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt 
 Harpyix, et magnis quatiuDt dangoribus alas, 
 Diripiu'itque dape*;. 
 
 Shakespeare has a like scene in the Tempest, 
 Aft III, wkere several strange shapes bring in a 
 
 banquet ;
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 li: 
 
 With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard : 
 
 Only the importune Tempter still remain'd, 
 
 And with these words his temptation pursu'd. 405 
 
 By hunger, that each other creature tames, 
 Thou art not to be harm'd, therefore not mov'd ; 
 Thy temperance, invincible besides. 
 For no allurement yields to appetite ; 
 
 And all thy heart is set on high designs, 410 
 
 High a6lions : but wherewith to be achiev'd ? 
 Great a6ls require great means of enterprise ; 
 Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth, 
 A. carpenter thy father known, thyself 
 Bred up in poverty and straits at home, 415 
 
 Lost in a desert here and hunger-bit : 
 Which way, or from what hope, dost thou aspire 
 To greatness ? whence authority deriv'st ? 
 What followers, what retinue canst thou gain. 
 Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, 420 
 
 banquet; and afterwards, Enters Ariel like a harpy, 
 claps his nuings upon the table, and luith a quaint 
 device the banquet vanishes, Neivlon. 
 
 404. importune — ] 
 
 Spenser and our old poets write importune, thus 
 accented ; 
 
 And often blame the too importune fate : 
 
 Faery Oueen, B. I. C. ig. 16. 
 
 4.0. 
 
 higk designs t 
 
 Hi^k actions : — ] 
 In the FOURTH Book of this Poein, the " lofty 
 « grave Tragedians" are charafterised, 
 High actions, and uicu passions best describingi 
 
 iig. _— unhouin, unfriended, low oj birth, 
 
 A carpenter tliy father— \ 
 Such was the language of our Lord's own coun- 
 trymen respefting him. Is not this the carpen- 
 ter's SON ? Is not his mother called Mary, and his 
 brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 
 
 Mat. xiii. 5j. 
 
 416. 
 
 -^ hun^er-bit :'\ 
 
 His strength shall be hunger- BITTEN; and de- 
 struBion shall be ready at his side. Job. xviii. 1 2. 
 
 420. Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude. 
 
 Longer than thou canst-fced tlitm en thy cost ?] 
 
 Ci. The
 
 114 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost ? 
 
 Money brings honor, friends, conquest, and reahns : 
 
 What rais'd Antipatcr the Edomitc, 
 
 And his son Herod plac'd on Judah's throne. 
 
 Thy throne, but gold that got him puissant friends ? 
 
 Therefore, if at great things thou would'st arrive, 
 
 Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap, 
 
 Not difficult, if thou hearken to me ; 
 
 Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand. 
 
 425 
 
 The dizzj multitude is the ventosa plehs of the 
 Roman Poet, who speaks of them, as to be gained 
 in the same manner. 
 
 Non rgo ventos^ plebis suffragia venor 
 
 iMPt^NSIS CCZNARUM, 
 
 Hor. L. i. Ei'isT. xix. 37. 
 The following passage in Shakespeare's Timon 
 OF Athens, Aft ii. Sc, 2. was possibly here in 
 Milton's mind : 
 
 How many prodigal bits have slaves and peasants 
 This night engluttcd ! Who now is not Timon's? 
 What heart, head, sword, force, means, but is Lord 
 
 Timon's ? 
 Great Timon, noble, worthy, royal Timon's ? 
 Ah ! when the means are gone that buy this praise, 
 The breath is gone whereof this praise is made; 
 F^st-won, fast-lost ; one cloud of winter showers, 
 These il es are couch'd. 
 
 411. 
 
 canst feed ihem on thy coit f ] 
 
 Thus, Henry V. Aft iv. Sc. 3: 
 
 Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost. 
 422. Monty brings honour, friends, conrjuest, and realms ;] 
 Mammon, in the Faeky (j^'een, attempts the 
 
 virtue of Sir Guyon with the same pretences. 
 
 B. ii. Cant. vii. St. 11. 
 
 Vain-glorious Elf, s id he, dost thou not weet. 
 
 That money can thy wants at will supply ? 
 
 Shields, steeds, and arms, auj all things for thee meet 
 
 It can purvey in twinkling of an eye ; 
 
 And crowns and kiagdoms to thee multiply. 
 
 Do I not kings create, and throw the crown 
 
 Soractiincs to him that low in dust doth he ? 
 
 And him that reign'd into his room thrust down. 
 And whom I lust do heap with glory and renown ? 
 
 C alt on. 
 Horace has a passage not dissimilar. 
 
 ^-^— amnis cnim res. 
 Virtus, fama, ciecus, divina humanaque pulchrxs 
 Di VITUS parent; quas qui construxerit, ille 
 Clarus erit, fortis, Justus, sapiens, etiam et rex, 
 
 Et quicquid volet ; 
 
 Hor. L. ii. Sat. iii. 94, 
 And Ovid, Fasti, i. 217. 
 
 In pretio pretium nunc est. Dat census honores; 
 Census .-vmicitias; pauper ubique jacet. 
 
 4'23. What rais'd Antipatcr the Edomite, 
 
 And his son Herod placed on Jud:ih's throne^ 
 
 Til is appears to be the faft from history. When 
 Josephus introduces Antipater upon the stage, he 
 speaks of him as abounding with great riches. 
 i'iX'^ Si Ti; T^xata I^Mfxai©-, AtliTraxf©- ^.i-yofj-ir®-, 
 xo^^i;^' f^lv ivTTofuv yjvif^xruHf x. t A. Antiq. Lib. 
 xiv. Cap. I. And his son Herod was declared 
 king of Judea by the favour of Mark Antony, 
 partly for the sake of the money which h= promised 
 to give him ; tcc Si xJ iItto Xf^'s^"-'^'^' '^' "'-itu 
 
 HfCi.'^-/]; vTriC-^zTQ Sucrnv a yivoiro ^x<n>^iv^. Ibid* 
 Cap. 14. Neiuton, 
 
 427, Get riches first,-—"] 
 
 ^^— qu^renda pecunia primum est, 
 
 Hor. 1 EpiST. i. 53. 
 
 Neiutoii, 
 429. Riches are niine^ Jortune is in my hand, 
 
 J'hey whom IJavor thrive in wealth amain,] 
 
 This
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ^5 
 
 They whom I favor thrive in wealth amain. 
 While virtue, valor, wisdom, sit in want. 
 
 To whom thus Jesus patiently reply'd. 
 Yet wealth, without these three, is impotent 
 To gain dominion, or to keep it gam'd. 
 Witness those ancient empires of the earth, 
 In highth of all their flowing wealth dissolv'd 
 But men endued with these have oft attain'd 
 In lowest poverty to highest deeds ; 
 Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad. 
 Whose offspring on the throne of Judah sat 
 So many ages, and shall yet regain 
 
 430 
 
 435 
 
 440 
 
 This Temptation we owe to our Author's inven- 
 tion, as Mr. Thyer observes, who adds, that " it is 
 " very happily contrived, as it gradually leads the 
 " reader on to the stronger ones in the following 
 " books." It affords also a fine opportunity of 
 concluding this book with some reflexions, the 
 beauty of which Mr. Th3'er has justly noted, on 
 the insufficiency of riches and power to the hap- 
 piness of mankind. 
 
 The language here reminds us of Spenser, who 
 puts a similar speech in the mouth of Mammon, 
 
 God of the world and wordlings I me call, 
 
 Great Maaimon, greatest God below the sky. 
 
 That of my plenty pour unto all, 
 
 Ar\d unto none my graces do envte; 
 
 Riches, renown, and principality, 
 
 Honour, estate, and all this worlde's good, 
 
 For whicli men swink anc sweat incessantly, 
 
 From me do flow 
 
 Faery Queen, B. ii. C. vii. 8. 
 
 431. To whom thus Jesus patiently rrplicd.'^ 
 
 When our Saviour, a little before, refused to 
 
 partake of the banquet, to which Satan had invited 
 
 him, the line ran thus, Ver. 378. 
 
 To whom thus Jesus TEMPERAfELv reply'd. 
 
 But now when Satan has reproached him wi:h 
 
 his poverty and low circumstances, the word is fitly 
 
 altered, and the verse runs thus. 
 
 To whom thus Jesus patiintlt reply'd. 
 
 Ncwtoii. 
 
 439. Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad,'\ 
 Our Saviour is rightly made to cite his first in- 
 stances from Scripture, and of his own nation, af 
 being the best known to him ; but it is with great 
 art that the pjet also supposes him not to be un- 
 acquainted with Heathen histoty, for the sake of 
 introducing a greater variety of examples. Gideon 
 saith of himself, O mj Lord, 'whtrewith shall I sa've 
 Israel? behold my family is poor in Manasseh, and 
 I am the least in my father's house. Judges, vi. I J. 
 And Jephtha nvas the son of an harlot, and his 
 brethren thrust him out, and said unto him, 'Thou 
 shall not inherit in our father's house, for thou art 
 the son of a strange ixioman. Judges, xi. i, 2. And 
 the exaltation of David from a sheep-hook to a 
 sceptre is very well known. He chose David also his 
 servant, end took him from the sheep-folds : From 
 fulhiuing the ezves great ivith young, he brotight him 
 to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance, 
 Psalmlxxviii. 70, 71. Netvton. 
 
 0^2 
 
 That
 
 ii6 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 That seat, and reign in Israel without end. 
 Among the Heatlien, (for throughout the world 
 To me is not unknown what hath been done 
 Worthy of memorial,) canst thou not remember 
 Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus ? 
 For I esteem those names of men so poor, 
 Who could do mighty things, and could contemn 
 
 445 
 
 446. Quhtius, Fjliriciuj, Curius, Re^ufus,] 
 ^intius Cincinnattts was twice invited from fol- 
 lowing the plough, to be consul and dilator of 
 Rome ; and after he had subJusd the enemy, when 
 the senate would have enriched him with public 
 lands and private contributions, he rejefted all these 
 offers, and retired again to his cottage and old 
 course of life. Fabricius could not be bribed by 
 all the large offers of king Pyrrhus to aid him in 
 negociating a peace with the Romans : and yet he 
 I'ved and died so poor, that he was buried at the 
 public expence, and his daughters fortunes were 
 paid out of the treasury. Curius Dentatus would not 
 accept of the lands which the senate had .nssigned 
 him for the reward of his viflories; and when the 
 ambassadors of the Samnites offered him a large 
 sum of money as he was sitting at the fire and 
 roasting turnips with his own hands, he nobly 
 Tefu ed to take it, saying that it was his ambition 
 not to be rich, but to command those who were so. 
 And Regulus, after performing many great exploits, 
 was taken prisoner by the Cartliaginians, and sent 
 with the ambassadors to Rome to treat of peace, 
 upon oath to return to Carthage, if no peace or 
 exchange of prisoners should be agreed upon : but 
 was himself the first to dissuade a peace, and chose 
 to leave his country, family, friends, everything, 
 and return a glorious captive to certain tortures and 
 death, rather than suffer the senate to conclude a 
 dishonourable treaty. Our Saviour cites these in- 
 stances of noble Romans in order of time, as he 
 did those of his own nation : And, as Mr. Calton 
 observes, the Romans in the most degenerate times 
 
 were fond of these (and some other like) examplei 
 of ancient virtue ; and their writers of all sorts 
 delight to introduce them : but the greatest honor 
 that poetry ever did them is here, by the praise 
 of the Son of God. Neiutou. 
 
 447. For I esteem those names of men so poor, 
 IVfio could do mighty things, i3c.'\ 
 
 The Author had here plainly Claudian in his 
 mind. De IV. Cons. Honor. 412. 
 
 DiscMur hinc quantum paupertas sobria possit : 
 Pauper crat Curius, cum regcs \inccret armis; 
 Pauper Fabricius, Pyrrhi cum spernerei aurura ; 
 Soidida Scrranua flexit Didator aratra ; &c. 
 
 And again. In Rufinum, i. 200. 
 
 Semper inops, quicunque cupit. Contentus honMl* 
 Fabricius parvo sperncbat munera regum, 
 Sudabacque gravi Consul SLriaims arairo, 
 Et casa pugnaces Curios angusta tcgebat. 
 HtEc mihi paupertas opulentior. 
 
 It is probable that he remembered here some of 
 his beloved republicans, 
 
 those names of men so poor 
 
 Who could do mighty things 
 
 and it is possible that he might also think of him- 
 self, who 
 
 — — could contemn 
 Riches though offcr'd from the hand of kings, 
 
 if that story be true of his having been offered to 
 be Latin Secretary to Charles the 2d, and of his 
 refusing it. 
 
 Neivlou, 
 
 Riches
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 i'7 
 
 Riches, though offer'd from the hand of kings. 
 
 And what in me seems wanting, but that I 450 
 
 May also in this poverty as soon 
 
 Accomphsh what they did, perhaps and more ? 
 
 Extol not riches then, the toil of fools, 
 
 The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare ; more apt 
 
 To slacken virtue, and abate her edge, 455 
 
 Than prompt her to do ought may merit praise. 
 
 What if with like aversion I rejedl 
 
 Riches and realms ? yet not, for that a crown, 
 
 453. Extol not richis then^ £?i:.— ] 
 
 Milton concludes this book and our Saviour's 
 
 reply to Satan with a series of thoughts as noble 
 
 and just, and as worthy of the speaker, as can 
 
 possibly be imagined. I think one may venture 
 
 to affirm, that, as the Paradise Regained is a poem 
 
 entirely moral and religious, the excellency of which 
 
 does not consist so much in bold figures and strong 
 
 images, as in deep and virtuous sentiments expressed 
 
 with a becoming gravity, and a certain decent 
 
 majesty, this is as true an instance of the sublime, 
 
 as the battles of the Angels in the Paradise Lost. 
 
 Thyer, 
 453. — ^-^— ^^^^^— the toil of fools^ 
 
 The wise jnan's cumbrance, if not snare ; more apt 
 
 To slacken virtue, and abate her edge. 
 
 Than prompt her to do ought may merit praise.'] 
 
 Thus Juvenal, Sat. vi. 297. 
 
 Prima perecrinos oesccena pecunia mores 
 
 INTOLIT, et TURPI FRIGERUNT S.«CULA LUXU 
 DlVlTlvt MOLLES. 
 
 And Spenser, Faery Queen, B. II. C. vii. 
 St. 12. 13. 
 
 All otherwise, said he, I riches read, 
 And deem them root of all disquielness ; 
 rirst got with guile, and then preserv'd with dread, 
 And after spent with pride and lavishness, 
 ieaving behind them grief and heaviness. 
 
 Infinite mischiefs of them do arise ; 
 Strife and debate, bloodshed and bitterness, 
 Outrageous wrong and hellish covetise, 
 That noble heart, as great dishonour, doth despise. 
 
 Ne tliine be kingdoms, ne the scepters thine ; 
 But realms and rulers thou dost both confound, 
 And loyal truth to treason dost incline ; 
 Witness the guiltless blood pour'd oft on ground. 
 The crowned often slain, the slayer crown'd, 
 The sacred diadem in pieces rent, 
 And purole robe gored with many a wound, 
 Castles surpris'd, great cities sack'd and brent; 
 
 So mak'st thou kings, and gainest wrongful government. 
 
 454. The ZL'ise man's cumbrance, — ] 
 
 The expression cumhrance has some resemblance 
 a phrase of Horace, L. ii. Sat. ii. 77. 
 
 corpus onustum 
 
 Hesternis vitiis ANiMUM e"oauE pracravat.— 
 
 45» 
 
 yet not, for that a crown^ 
 
 Coldtn in show, is but a wreath of thorns, 
 
 Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights 
 
 To him who wears the regal diadem. 
 
 When on his shoulders each man's burden lies; 
 
 For therein stands the ojice of a king, 
 
 His honor, virtue, merit, and chief praise, 
 
 That for the public all this weight he bears."] 
 
 Milton seems here to have had in hit mind 
 several parts of the soliloquy in Shakespeare't 
 
 Henrt
 
 iiS 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Golden In show, is but a wreath of thorns. 
 
 Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights, 460 
 
 Henry the Fifth, which the poet has put in 
 the mouth of the king, immediately before the 
 battle of Agincourt. 
 
 Upon the King! let 115 our lives, our souls, 
 Our debts, our caieful wives, our children, and 
 Our sins lay on the King ! He must bear ail. 
 O liard condiaon, and twin-born with greatness, 
 Subjeft to breath of every fool, whose sense 
 No more can feel but his own wringing. 
 What infinite heart-ease raust Kings ncgleft 
 That private men cnjo)- !****** 
 
 » * 
 
 « « « 
 
 ♦ » # » * ♦ Thou proud dream. 
 That play'st so subtly with a King's repose, 
 I am a King that find thee, and 1 know 
 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball, 
 The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, 
 The enter-tissu'd robe of gold and pearl. 
 The farscd title running 'fore the King, 
 The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp, 
 That beats upon the high shore of this world ; 
 No, not all these thrice-gorgeous ceremonies, 
 Not all these, laid in bed inajes'.ical, 
 Can sleep so soundly as the wretciied slave, 
 Who, with a body fill'd and vacant mmd, 
 Gets him to rest. 
 
 Or we may compare the Prince of Wales's 
 Address to the Crown, when he finds his father 
 sleep, with the crown upon hispillow, 2 Henry IV. 
 
 Aaiv. 
 
 Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow. 
 Being so troublesome a bed-fellow ? 
 O poUsh'd perturbation! golden care! 
 That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide 
 To many a watchful night : sleep with it now .' 
 Yet not so sound, and l;ulf so deeply sweet. 
 As he whose brow, with homely biggen bound, 
 Snores out the watch of night. O majesty ! 
 When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit 
 Like a rich armour worn in heat of day. 
 That scalds with safety. — - 
 
 And in the opening of the third Aft of the 
 same play, where the King, complaining of his 
 wakeful night, descrilics the sleep of the poor and 
 laborious,. and particularly of the ship-boy upon 
 " the high and giddy mast," he adds. 
 
 Can'st thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose 
 
 To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude, 
 
 And in the calmest ind the stillest nighr. 
 
 With all appliances and means to boot. 
 
 Deny it to a King ? Then happy low ! lie down ; 
 
 Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 
 
 In the Hiero of Xenophon, (a Dialogue between 
 Simonides the Poet, and iliero. King of Syracuse, 
 on the Pleasures and Pains of Royalty,) many 
 passages likewise occur similar to the sentiments 
 which Milton has here so admirably expressed. 
 Some of the passages are subjoined from Mr. 
 Graves's very pleasing translation. 
 
 Simonides, who is at first the advocate of the 
 pleasures attendant on royalty, having said that 
 " kings, in every particular, experience more plea- 
 " sure and less pain than private persons," Hiero 
 replies, " This is by no means the case ; but be 
 " assured that kings taste much less pleasure, and 
 '< feci much more chagrin than those individuals 
 " who are placed in the middle ranks of life." In 
 another place Hiero says, " For my part I assure 
 " you, from ray own experience, that kings have 
 " the least share of the greatest goods, and much 
 " the largest portion of the greatest evils incident 
 " to human life." And again, in a more parti- 
 cular and descriptive manner, " But I will now 
 " lay before you, my Simonides, a true account 
 " of those pleasures which I enjoyed when I was 
 " a private man, and which I find myself de- 
 " prived of since I became a king. I then con- 
 " versed familiarly with my equals ; delighted 
 " with their company, as they were with mine ; 
 " and I conversed also with myself whenever 
 " I chose to indulge in the calm of solitude. 
 " I frequently spent mv time in convivial enter- 
 " tainments with my friends, so as to forget the 
 " chagrins to which human life is obnoxious; nay, 
 " often to extravagance ; to singing, dancing, and 
 " every degree of festivity unrestrained but by our 
 " own inclinations. But I am now debarred from 
 " the society of those who could afford me any 
 " delight, as I have slaves alone for my com- 
 
 " panion
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 IT9 
 
 To him who wears the regal diadem, 
 
 When on his shoulders each man's burden Hes ; 
 
 For thereni stands the office of a king, 
 
 " panions, instead of friends : nor can I converse 
 " agreeably with men in whom I cannot discover 
 " the least benevolence or attachment to me ; and 
 " I am forced to guard against intoxication or 
 
 •' sleep, as a most dangerous disease But now 
 
 " to be continually alarmed, cither in a croud or 
 '• in solitude : to be in fear when without guards, 
 " and to be afraid of the guards themselves: to be 
 " unwilling to have them about me without their 
 " arms, and to be under apprehensions to see thera 
 ♦' armed ; what a wretched state of existence is 
 " this! ^—Moreover to place a greater confidence 
 •' in strangers than in our own countrymen ; in 
 " barbarians than in Greeks ; to be under a ne- 
 " cessity of treating freemen like slaves, and to 
 " give slaves their freedom ; are not all these evi- 
 " dent symptoms of a mind disturbed and quite 
 *' deranged by fear ? Now this passion of fear not 
 '' only creates uneasiness, and diffuses a constant 
 " gloom over the mind, but, being mixed with all 
 ♦' our pleasures, deprives us of all kind of enjoy- 
 « ment." 
 
 463. For therein standi the oflce of a hing. 
 
 His honor, virtue, merits and chiej praise. 
 That for the public all this zceight he hears,"] 
 
 Milton, in the height of his political ardor, 
 declared that he w,as not afluated " by hatred to 
 " kings, but only to tyrants." Neither is there any 
 occasion to question the truth of his assertion ; but 
 such was his apprehension of monarchical tyranny, 
 that the current of his prejudices certainly ran 
 very strongly in favour of a republican govern- 
 ment. Even in one of his latest political pub- 
 lications, The ready and easy 'way to establish a 
 Free Commonnvcalih, he professes that " though 
 " there may be such a king, who may regard the 
 " common good before his own, yet this rarely 
 " happens in a monarchy not eleftive ;" and, on 
 this ground, he strongly remonstrates against the 
 risk of admitting Kingship. The contest how- 
 
 ever was now completely over; and our Author, 
 having seen the fallacy not only of his hopes, but 
 also of his confidence in those persons, of whose 
 consummate hypocrisy his ardent integrity had 
 been the dupe, seems, in thus sketching out the 
 laborious duties of a good and patriotic prince, to 
 be somewhat more reconciled to kingly govern- 
 ment. About this time also, seemingly under 
 the same impression, he had proceeded in his His- 
 tory, and composed the fifth and sixth Books, in 
 which we find no marks of any splenetic dislike to 
 kings : on the contrary, many of the charafters of 
 our early monarchs are drawn not merely with an 
 impartial hand, but often with a favorable one. 
 The charafler of Alfred in particular is given 
 with the most affeiflionate admiration, and is not 
 without its resemblance to the compressed descrip- 
 tion of a good king in this place.- " From the 
 
 " time of his undertaking Regal charge, no man 
 " more patient in hearing causes, more inquisitive 
 " in examining, more exaft in doing justice, and 
 " in providing good laws, which are yet extant ; 
 " more severe in punishing unjust Judges, or obsti- 
 " nate offenders; thieves especially and robbers, to 
 " the terror of whom in cross ways were hung upon 
 " a high post certain chains of gold, as it were 
 " daring any one to take them thence, so that 
 " justice seemed in his days not to flourish only, 
 " but to triumph. No man than he more frugal of 
 " two precious tilings in man's life, his time and 
 " his revenue ; no man wiser in the disposal of 
 " both. His time, the day and night, he dis- 
 " tributed, by the burning of certain tapers, into 
 " three equal portions ; the one was for devotion, 
 " the other for public or private affairs, the third 
 " for bodily refreshment. How each hour passed, 
 " he was put in mind by one who had that office. 
 " His whole annual revenue, which his first care 
 '< was should be justly his own, he divided into 
 « two equal parts. The first he emploj'ed to secular 
 
 " uses.
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 His honor, virtue, merit, and chief praise, 
 That for the pubhc all this weight he bears. 
 Yet he, who reigns within himself, and rules 
 Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king ; 
 Which every wise and virtuous man attains, 
 And who attains not, ill aspires to rule 
 Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes, 
 Subje6t himself to anarchy within. 
 Or lawless passions in him, which he serves. 
 But to guide nations in the way of truth 
 
 465 
 
 470 
 
 " uses, ami subdivided those into three ; the first 
 " to pay his soldiers, household servants and guard; 
 " the second was to pay his architects and work- 
 " men, whom he had got together of several 
 " nations, for he was also an elegant builder, above 
 '• the custom and conceit of Englishmen in those 
 " days; the third he had in readiness to relieve or 
 " honor strangers according to their worth, who 
 " came from a".I parts to see him and to live under 
 " him. The other equal part of his yearly wealth 
 " he dedicated to religious uses, those of four sorts; 
 " the first to relieve the poor, the second to the 
 " building and maintenance of two monasteries, 
 " the third of a school, where he persuaded the 
 " sons of many noblemen to study sacred know- 
 " ledge and liberal arts, some say at Oxford ; the 
 " fourth was for the relief of foreign churches. — 
 " Thus far, and much more might be said of his 
 " noble mind, which rendered him the mirror of 
 " Princes; his body was diseased in his youth with 
 " a groat soreness in the siege, and, that ceasing of 
 " itself, with another inward pain of unknown 
 " cause, which held him by frequent fits to his 
 " dying day ; yil not disenabled to sustain those 
 " many glorious labours of his life both in peace 
 " and war." 
 
 ^6*. Ytt h', who reigns i^ilhin himself, £^c.— ■] 
 
 " The Paradise Regained," Mr. Hayley very 
 justly observes, " is a poem that particularly de- 
 " serves to be recommmended to ardent and in- 
 " genuous youth, as it is admirably calculated to 
 " inspire that spirit of self-command, which is, as 
 " Milton esteemed it, the truest heroism, and the 
 " triumph of Christianity." Life of Milton, ^.126. 
 
 466. Yet he who reigns luithin himself, Be. — ] 
 Such sentiments are inculcated not only by the 
 philosophers, but also by the poets ; as Hor. L. ii. 
 Od. ii. 9. 
 
 Latius regnes avidum domando 
 Spiritum, &c. 
 
 and, Sat. ii. vii. 83. 
 
 Quisnam ijjitur liber ? Sapiens ; sibi qui imperiosua, &c. 
 
 Neiuton, 
 471. Suhjell himself to anarchy zuithin, 
 
 Or lawless passions in him, which he sen'es.~\ 
 
 We may compare the following passage in the 
 Paradise Lost, xii. 86. 
 
 Reason in man obscur'd, or not obey'd, 
 Immediately inordinate desires 
 And upstart passions catch the governmeht 
 From reason, anu to servitude reduci 
 Man till then free. 
 
 473, But to guide nations in the way of truth 
 
 By saving doSrine, and from error lead 
 
 To
 
 BOOK n. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 I2J 
 
 By saving dodrine, and from error lead 
 To know, and knowing worship God aright, 
 Is yet more kingly ; this attrads the soul, 
 Governs the inner man, the nobler part; 
 That other o'er the body only reigns, 
 And oft by force, which, to a generous mind. 
 So reigning, can be no sincere delight. 
 Besides to give a kingdom hath been thought 
 
 475 
 
 480 
 
 To know, avd kjiouiing morskip Ged aright. 
 Is yet more kingly; — ] 
 
 In this speech concerning riches and realms, our 
 poet has culled all the choicest, finest flowers out 
 of the heathen poets and philosophers who have 
 •written upon these subjefts. It is not so much their 
 words, as their substance sublimed and improved. 
 But here he soars above them, and nothing could 
 have given him so complete an idea of a divine 
 teacher, as the life and charafter of our Blessed 
 Saviour. Netuton. 
 
 478. That other o*er the body only reigns. 
 
 And oft by force, which to a generous mind 
 So reigning, can be no sincere delight,] 
 
 This is perfeftly consonant to our Lord's early 
 sentiments, as the poet describes him relating them 
 in the first Book of this Poem ; 
 
 Yet held it more humane, mare heavenly, first 
 By winning words to conquer willing hearts, 
 And m»ke persuasion do the work of fear. 
 
 ill. 
 
 481. Besides to give a kingdom hath been thought 
 Greater and nobler done, and to lay down 
 Far more magnanimous, than to assume.'} 
 
 So Hephjestion to those who transferred the 
 kingdom of Sidon from themselves to another. 
 (Quint, Curt. IV. i.) " Vosquidem mafti virtute 
 inquit, estote, qui primi intellexistis, quanto majns 
 esset, regnum fastidire quam accipere," &c. Dio- 
 clesian, Charles V, and others, who have resijrjied 
 the crown, were perhaps in our Author's thought, 
 
 upon this occasion. For, as Seneca says, (Tin e»t, 
 III. 529.) 
 
 Habere regnum, casui est : virtu-, dare. 
 
 Ncwtotr. 
 
 Possibly Milton had here in his mind the famous 
 Christina Queen of t>\vedcn, who, after havino- 
 reigned twenty-one years, resigned her crown to 
 her cousin Charles Guitavus, when she was sliU 
 a young woman, being only tliirty \ears old. Our 
 Author had before paid her considerable compli- 
 ments. The verses under Cromwell's piclure, sent 
 to Christina, have been generally supposed to be 
 hit : though Mr. Warton inclines to think they 
 were written by Andrew Marvel, and adds that he 
 suspefts " Milton's habit of facility in elegiac 
 " Latinity had long ago ceased." Whatgxoundhe 
 had for this suspicion he does not specify, nor is it 
 easy to conjedure. I shoaM not willingly per- 
 suade myself that our Author could soon lose any 
 faculty which he had acquired, B.;sides these verses 
 must have been written before the year 1654, when 
 Christiiia abdicated ; and only nine years before 
 that, when he published a colledlion of his Lat'n 
 and English Poems in 1645, he had add;d to his 
 SEVENTH Elegy ten lines which sufficiently shew 
 that he then perfeftly retained his Elegiac Latinity; 
 and why it should be supposed entirely to cease in 
 eight or nine years more I cannot imagine. As Marvel 
 was not hisassociate in theSecretarysIiiptilltheyear 
 1657, Milton has officially the best claim to them. 
 R It
 
 122 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Greater and nobler done, and to lay down 
 Far more magnanimous, than to assume. 
 Riches are needless then, both for themselves, 
 
 It was also an employment which, we may well 
 suppose, he was fond of, as at this time he certainly 
 thought highly of Christina, and was particularly 
 flattered with the idea that, on reading his De- 
 FENSio PopuLi, she withdrew a1! her protedion 
 from his antagonist Salmasius, who was then re- 
 sident at htr court, and whom, it was then said, 
 she dismissed with contempt, as a parasite and an 
 advocate of tyranny. Accordingly, in his Defens'.o 
 SEC UND A, Milton honours her with a most splendid 
 panegyric; and in appealing to her that he had no 
 determined prejudices against kings, nor any wish 
 wantonly to attack their rights, he particularly 
 congratulates himself upon having a witness of his 
 integrity TAM VERE reciam. The expression is 
 sufficiently obvious and hackneyed in the flatterj- 
 of royalty, but it is well worth observing, when it 
 comes from one who so seldom sings in that strain. 
 It may also be noticed here, as we trace a resem- 
 blance of it in some of the preceding lines, where 
 our Author having said that in the laborious and 
 disinterested discharge of magistracy consists the 
 real and proper " office of a king," proceeds to 
 ascribe a superior degree of royalty, or the most 
 distinguished eminence, to him who is duly prac- 
 tised in the habit of self-command ; 
 
 Yet he who reigns within himself and rules 
 Passions, desires, and fears, is mokz a king ; 
 
 and still more to him who conscientiously labours 
 for the well-doing and well-being of mankind at 
 large, by the zealous propagation of truth and pure 
 unadulterated religion ; 
 
 But to guide nations in the way of truth 
 By saving doctrine, and from error lead 
 To know, and knowing worship God aright, 
 Is ytt uexi Ki.Nci.«, 
 
 Milton it appears however was rather unfortunate 
 in hisseledion of a favouritefromamongthecrowned 
 heads of his time. Mr. Warton, in his note on the 
 Verses to Christina, collefts many curious anecdotes 
 of her improprieties and absurdities : and Harte, the 
 English Historian of Gustavus Adolphus, terms her 
 " an unaccountable woman; reading much, yet not 
 " extremely learned ; a collcif^or and critic in the 
 " fine arts, but collefking without jiadgment, and 
 " forming conclusic .3 without taste ; affeifiing 
 " pomp, and rendering herself a beggar; fond to 
 " receive servile dependance, ytt divesting herself 
 " of the means ; paying court to the most seriotis 
 " Christians, and making professson of little less 
 " than atheism." But our Anchor saw only the 
 bright side of her charafter, and considered her as 
 a learned, pious, patriotic, disinterested Princess. 
 
 ^83. — ■— ^^^^— — — ^ and to Ijy di'wn 
 
 F<iT more m^cnanimous^ than to aisumc.'\ 
 
 We may rather trace Milton here to Macrobius, 
 than to the passage cited in a preceding note, from 
 Q^Curtius b/ Bp. Newton. " Quia ? quod duas 
 " virtutes, quae inter nobites qaoque unice clara; 
 " sunt, in uno video fuisse mancipio, imperium 
 " regendi peritiam et tMPERiuM contemnendi 
 " MAGNANiMiTATEM. AnaxLlaus cnLm Messc- 
 " nius, qui Messanam in Sicilia conoid it, fuit Rhe- 
 " ginorum tyraunus. Is, cum parvcs relinqueret 
 " liberos, Micitho servo sao coniniendassc contcn- 
 " tusest. Is tutelam sanfte _gessit; imperiumque 
 « tam clemcnter cbtinuit, ut Rhegini a servo rcgi 
 " non dedignarontur. Pcrduiflus deinde in statein 
 " pueris et bona et imperium tradidit. ' Ipse parvo 
 " viatico sumpto profeftus est ; et Olympiie cum 
 " summa tranquilitate consenuit." 
 
 SATUK.NAL. i. I f. 
 
 And
 
 BOOK II. PARADISE REGAINED. 125 
 
 And for thy reason why they should be sought, 485 
 
 To gain a sceptre, oftest better miss'd*. 
 
 * The opening of this second Book is not calculated to engage attention, by any particular beauty ot 
 the pifturesque or descriptive kind; but by recurring to what passed at the river Jordan among Jesus's new 
 disciples and followers upon his absence, and by making Mary express her materr.al feelings upon it, the 
 poet has given an extent and variety to his subjeft. It might perhaps be wished, that all which he has put 
 into the mouth of the Virgin, respefting the early life of her Son, had been confined solely to this jilace, 
 instead of a part being incorporated in our Lord's soliloquy in the first Book. There it seems aukwardly 
 introduced, but here I conceive her speech might have been extended with good effefl. — Our Lord 
 (Ver, 110.) is, in a brief but appropriate description, again presented to us in the wilderness. The poet, In 
 the mean time, makes Satan (Ver. 1 1 8.) return to his infernal council, to report the bad success of his first 
 attempt, and to demand their counsel and assistance in an enterprise of so much difficulty. This he docs 
 (Ver. 121.) in a brief and energetic speech. Hence arises a debate ; or at least a proposition on the part of 
 Belial, and a rejeftion of it by Satan, of which I cannot sufficiently express my admiration. The language 
 of Belial (Ver. 153.) is exquisitely descriptive of the power of beauty, without a single word introduced, 
 oreven a thought conveyed, that is unbecoming its place in this divine poem. Satan's repJy (Ver. i 73.) is 
 eminently fine : his imputing to Belial, as the most dissolute of the fallen Angels, the amours attributed by 
 the poets and mythologists to the Heathen Gods, while it is replete with classic beauty, furnishes an 
 excellent moral to those extravagant fiftions : and his description of the little efFeft which the most powerful 
 enticements can produce on the resolute mind of the virtuous, while it is heightened with many beautiful 
 turns of language, is in its general tenour of the most superior and dignified kind. Indeed all this part of 
 his speech (from Ver, 191, to Ver. 225.) seems to breathe such a sincere and deep sense of the charms of real 
 goodness, that we almost forget who is the speaker : at least we readily subscribe to what he had said of 
 himself, in the first Book ; 
 
 I have not lost 
 
 To love, at least contemplate and admire. 
 
 What I see excellent in good, or fair. 
 
 Or virtuous. 
 
 After such sentiments so expressed, it might have been thought difficult for the poet to return to his sub- 
 jeft, by making the Arch- Fiend resume his attempts against the divine person, the commanding majesty of 
 whose invincible virtue he had just been describing with such seemingly heart-felt admiration. This is ma- 
 naged with much address, by Satan's proposing (Ver. 225.) to adopt such modes of temptation as are apt to 
 prevail most, where the propensities are virtuous, and where the disposition is amiable and generous : and, 
 by the immediate return of the Tempter and his associates to the wilderness, (Ver. 241.) the poem advances 
 towards the height of its argument. — Our Saviour's passing the night (Ver. 261. j is well described. The 
 coming on of morn (Ver. 279.) is a beautiful counterpart of " Night coming on in the desert," which so 
 finely closed the preceding Book. Our Lord's waking (Ver, 282.) — his viewing the country( Ver, 285.) — and 
 the description of the " pleasant grove," (Ver, 292,)which is to be the scene of the banquet — are all set off 
 with every grace that poetry can give. The appearance of Satan (Ver. 298.), varied from his first disguise, 
 as he has now quite another part to aft, is perfeftly well imagined ; and his speech (Ver. 302.), referring to 
 scripture examples of persons miraculously fed in desert places, is truly artful and in charafter; as is his 
 second sycophantic address (Ver, 324.), where, having acknowledged our Lord's right to all created 
 things, he adds, 
 
 R X > ■ ' ■' ■ Bebop
 
 124 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. book ii. 
 
 Behold, 
 
 Nature asham'd, or, better to express. 
 
 Troubled that thou should'st hunger, hath purvcy'd 
 From all the elements her choicest store, 
 To treat thee, as beseems, and, as her Lord, 
 With honour. 
 
 The banquet (Ver. 340.) comprises every thing that Roman luxury, Eastern magnificence, mythological 
 fable, or poetic fancy can supply ; and, if compared with similar descriptions in the Italian Poets, will be 
 found much superior to them. In the concluding part of his invitation (Ver. 368.) the virulence of the 
 Arch- Fiend breaks out, as it were involuntarily, in a sarcastic allusion to the divine prohibition respefting 
 the tree of knowledge ; but he immediately resumes his hypocritical servility, which much resembles his 
 language in the ni nth Book of the Paradise Lost, when, in his addresses to Eve, " persuasive rhetorick 
 " sleek'd his tongue." The three last lines are quite in this style ; 
 
 All these are spirits of air, and woods and springs. 
 Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay 
 Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord. 
 Our Lord's reply is truly sublime ; 
 
 I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou. 
 Command a table in the wilderness. 
 And call swift flights of Angels ministrant, 
 Array'd in glory, on my cup to attend. 
 
 But 1 must not swell these notes with the citation of passages, the beauty of which is sufficiently obvious 
 to ever}^ reader of taste; and yet, in reviewing the several parts of this admirable poem, it is often difficult 
 to refrain. This part of it in particular is so highly finished, that I could wish this second Book had 
 concluded, as it might well have done, with the vanishing of the banquet, (Ver. 403.) — The present con- 
 clusion, from its subjeifl, required another style of poetry. It has little description, no machinery, and 
 no mythological allusions to elevate and adorn it ; but it is not witbout a sublimity of another kind. 
 Satan's speech (Ver. 406.), in which he assails our Lord with the temptation of riches as the means of 
 acquiring greatness, is in a noble tone of dramatic dialogue; and the reply of our Saviour, (Ver. 433.) 
 where he rejefts the offer, contains a series of the finest moral precepts expressed in that plain majestic 
 language, which, in many parts of Didaftic Poetry, is the most becoming •vestHui orationis. Still it 
 must be acknowledged, that all this is much lost and obscured by the radiance and enriched descriptions 
 of the preceding three hundred lines. These had been particularly relieved, and their beauty had been 
 rendered more eminently conspicuous, from the studied equality and scriptural plainness of the exordium of 
 this Book; which has the effeft ascribed by Cicero to the subordinate and less shining parts of any writing, 
 " quo magis id, quod erit illuminatum, extare atque eminere videatur." De Orator, iii. 101. Ed. 
 Proust. — Bat the conclusion of this Book, though excellent in its kind, unfortunately, from its loco- position, 
 appears to considerable disadvantage. Writers of Didaftic Poetry, to secure the continuance of their 
 leader's attention, must be careful not only to diversify, but as much as possible gradually to elevate, their 
 .•strain. Accordingly, they generally open their several divisions with their dryer precepts, proceed thence 
 to more pleasing illustrations, and are particularly studious to close each Book with some description, or 
 fpisode, of the most embellished and attraftive kind. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND BOOK.
 
 THE 
 
 THIRD BOOK 
 
 O F 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED.
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK III. 
 
 Satan, in a speech of much flattering commendation, endeavours to awaken in Jesus a passion 
 for glory, by particularising various instances of conquests atchicved, and great actions 
 performed, by persons at an early period of life. Our Lord replies, by shewing the vanity 
 of worldly fame, and the improper means by zvhich it is general'y attained ; and contrasts 
 zvith it the true glory of religious patience and virtuous zvisdom, as exemplified in the 
 charaEter of Job. Satan justifies the love of glory from the example of God himself, 
 who requires it from all his creatures. Jesus deteEts the fallacy of this argument, by 
 shewing that, as goodness is the true ground on zvhich glory is due to the great Creator of 
 /ill things, sinfil Man can have no right whatever to it. — Satan then urges our Lord 
 respeSiing his claim to the throne of David ; he tells him that the kingdom of Judea, 
 being at that time a province of Rome, cannot be got possession of without much personal 
 exertion on his part, and presses him to lose no time in beginning to reign. Jesus refers 
 him to the time allotted for this, as for all other things; and, after intimating sofneivhat 
 respeBing his own previous sufferings, asks Satan, zvhy he should be so solicitous for the 
 exaltation of one, whose rising zvas destined to be his fall. Satan replies, that his ozvn 
 desperate state, by excluding all hope, leaves little room for fear ; and that, as hii ozvn 
 punishment zvas equally doomed, he is not interested in preventing the reign of one, from 
 whose apparent benevolence he might rather hope for some interference in his favour. — • 
 Satan still pursues his former incitements ; and, supposing that the seeming reluElance of 
 
 /fjesus to be thus advanced might arise from his being unacquainted zvith the world and its 
 glories, conveys him to the summit of a high mountain, and from thence shezvs him most of 
 the kingdoms of Asia,)particularly pointing out to his notice some extraordinary military pre' 
 parations of the Parihinns to resist the incursions of the Scythians. He then informs our 
 Lord, that he skewed him this purposely that he might see hozv necessary military exertioMi 
 are to retain the possession of kingdoms, as well as to subdue them at first, and advises 
 him to consider hozv impossible it was to maintain Judaa against two suck powerful 
 neighbours as the Romans and Parthians, and how necessary it zvould be to form an 
 alliance zvith one or other of them. At the same time he recommends, and engages to secure 
 to him, that of the Parthians ; and tells him that by this means his power zvill be defended 
 from any thing that Rome or Casar might attempt against it, and that he will be able to 
 extend his glory wide, and especially to accomplish, what zvas particularly neces^sary to 
 make the throne of Judea really the throne of David, the deliverance and restoration of 
 the ten tribes, still in a state of captivity. Jesus, having briefly noticed the vanity of 
 military efforts and the zveakness of the arm of flesh, says, that when the time comes for 
 ascending his allotted throne he shall not be slack : he remarks on Satan's extraordinary 
 zeal for the deliverance of the Israelites, to zvhom he had always shelved himself an 
 enemy, and declares their servitude to be the consequence of their idolatry ; but adds, that 
 at a future time it may perhaps please God to recall them, and restore them to their 
 liberty and native land.
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 O O spake the Son of God, and Satan stood 
 A while, as mute, confounded what to say, 
 What to reply, confuted, and convinc'd 
 Of his weak arguing and fallacious drift ; 
 At length, collecting all his serpent wiles, 
 With soothing words renew'd him thus accosts. 
 
 I SEE thou know'st what is of use to know. 
 What best to say canst say, to do canst do ; 
 Thy actions to thy words accord, thy words 
 To thy large heart give utterance due, thy heart 
 Contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape. 
 
 10 
 
 10. To thy large heart—'] 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, i. 444. 
 
 whose HEAttT, though large, 
 
 Beguil'd by fair idolatresses fell 
 To idols foul. 
 
 And Cowley, in his Poem, On the Death of 
 Mr. William Hervey. 
 
 Large was his soul ; as large a soul as ere 
 Submiited to inform a body here 
 
 11. — — of goad, wise, just, the perfe^ shape,'] 
 Milton, no doubt, by the word tha/>e intended 
 
 to express the meaning of the Greek tha, but in 
 my opinion it does not at all come up to it, and 
 seems rather harsh and inelegant. TI.ere are words 
 in all languages, which cannot ivell be translated 
 without losing much of their beaut\', and even some 
 of their meaning; of this sort I take the word idea 
 to be. Tully renders it by the word species with 
 as little success as Milton has done here by his 
 English shape. Thjer. 
 
 I should rather think it expressed from the fer- 
 
 fe^a forma honestatis, and ^t forma ipsa hoiiesti of 
 
 S Cicero.
 
 r^o 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK 11^; 
 
 Should kings and nations from thy mouth consult, 
 Thy counsel would be as the oracle 
 Urim and Thummim, those oraculous gems 
 On Aaron's breast ; or tongue of seers old 
 Infallible : or wcrt thou sought to deeds 
 That might require the array of war, thy skill 
 Of conduct would be such, that all the world 
 Could not sustain thy prowess, or subsist 
 In battle, though against thy few in arms. 
 These God-like virtues wherefore dost thou hide, 
 Aifecting private life, or more obscure 
 In savage wilderness ? Wherefore deprive 
 
 «5 
 
 20 
 
 Cicero. De Fin. ii. 1 5. Habes undique expletam 
 et perfeBam, Torquate, formam haiiestalis, Sec. De 
 Off. i. y. Formam quidcm ipsam, Marce fili, et 
 tanquam faciem honesti vides ; qua;, si oculis cer- 
 neretur, &c. And the more, because he renders 
 forma by shape in the Paradise Lost, iv. 848. 
 Virtue in her SHAri; how lovely, 
 
 «3- 
 
 as the Oracle 
 
 NeivtO!!, 
 
 Urim and Thummim, those oraculous gems 
 On Aaron's Ireast /—J 
 
 Aaron's breast-plate was a piece of cloth doubled, 
 of a span square, in which were set in sockets of 
 gold twelve precious stones bearing the names of 
 the twelve tribes of Israel engraven on them, which 
 being Lxed to the ephoil, or upper vestment of the 
 high priest's robes, was worn by him on his breast 
 on all solemn occasions. In this breast-plate the 
 Urim and Thummim, say the Scriptures, were put. 
 And the learned Prideaux, after giving some ac- 
 count of the various opinions concerning Urim and 
 Thummim, says it will be safest to hold, that the 
 words Urim and Thummim meant only the divine 
 -virtue and power, given to the breast-plate in its 
 .eonsecration, of obtaining an oraculous answer from 
 
 God, whenever counsel was asked of liim by the. 
 high-priest with it on, in such manner as his words 
 did direfl ; and that the names of Urim and Thum~ 
 ?nim were given hereto only to denote the clearnes* 
 and perfeftion, whicn these oracular answers alway* 
 carried with them. For Urim signlfieth light, and 
 Thummim, perfcdion. Newton, 
 
 tr tongue of seers of old 
 
 hfallible:—'] 
 The poet by mentioning this after Urim and 
 Thummim seems to allude to the opinion of the 
 Jews, that the Holy Spirit spake to the chil- 
 dren of Israel during the tabernacle by Urim and 
 Thummim, and under the first temple by xhe prophets. 
 See Prideaux's Conneft. Part I. Book III. 
 
 Neivton, 
 
 42. AJfcQinr private /j/f,— ] 
 
 Shakespeare, and the poets of his time, fre- 
 quently use to a^nB in the sense of affecto ia 
 Latin. 
 
 Xcc tantum jiiclas, scd prolinus ardua virtus 
 
 AFf zcT.'iTA tibi I 
 
 Suiius, 5 Svi-v, ii. 98. 
 
 All
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 ■tJi 
 
 All earth her wonder at thy afts, thyself 
 The fame and glory, glory the reward 
 That sole excites to high attempts, the flame 
 Of most ere6led spirits, most temper'd pure 
 Ethereal, who all pleasures else despise, 
 
 ^5 
 
 «5- 
 
 ' S^"')' '^" '■'"""■'^] 
 
 Our Saviour having withstood the allurement of 
 riches, Satan attacks him in the next place with 
 the charms of glory. I have sometimes thought 
 that Milton might possibly take the hint of thus 
 connefling these two temptations from Spenser, 
 who, in his second Book of the Faery Queen, repre- 
 senting the virtue of temperance under the character 
 of Guyon, and leading him through various trials 
 of his constancy, brings him to the house of riches, 
 or Mammon's del-ve as he terms it, and immediately 
 after to the palace of glory, which he describes, 
 in his allegorical manner, under the figure of a 
 beautiful woman called Philolime. 1 hjer. 
 
 or. ^_««^— ^— ^— ^lory the reward 
 
 That sole excites to high attempts, the fame 
 0/ most erc^ed spirits, most temper'd pure 
 Ethereal, tvho all pleasures else despise,] 
 
 What the Tempter here says, on the subjecl of 
 glory, is afterwards correfted by our Lord in his 
 reply. 
 
 This is tvue gloiy and renown, when God 
 
 Looking on the earth with approbation marks 
 
 The iust man, Sec. 
 
 6o. 
 
 Taking the two passages together, we trace a 
 striking resemblance of them in a beautiful part of 
 the Lycidas. 
 
 Tame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise, 
 (The last infirmity of noble mind,) 
 
 To SCORN DELIGHTS AND LIVE LABORIOUS DAYS; 
 
 But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, 
 And think to burst out into sudden blaze, 
 Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears. 
 And slits the thin-spun life. But not the praise, 
 Phccbus reply'd, and touch'd my trembling ears ; 
 Tame is no plant that crows on mortal soil, 
 Kor in the glisteiing foil 
 
 Set off to the world, nor in broad lumor lies, 
 
 But LIVES AND SPREADS ALOFT BY THOSE PURE 
 
 EYES, 
 And PERFECT WITNESS OF ALL-.JUDCING JoVK; 
 As HE PRONOU-NCES LASTLY ON EACH DEED, 
 Of SO MUCH FAME IN HEAVEN EXPECT THY MEED. 
 
 70. 
 
 ty. 0/ most ereBed spirits, — ] 
 
 The Author here remembered Cicero ; Pro Ar- 
 chia. Trahiraur omnes laudis studio, et optimus 
 quisque maxime gloria ducitur. De Off. i. 8. In 
 maximis animis splendidissimisque ingeniis plu- 
 rumque exsistunt honoris, impeiii, potentii, gloria; 
 cupiditates. Neijjtoii. 
 
 Ereaed spirits is a classical phrase. " Magno 
 " ANiMo et ERECTO est, nec unquam succumbit 
 " inimicis, nec fortunx quidem." 
 
 Cicero, Pro Rege Deiotaro, 13. 
 
 And Seneca, Epist. ix. " Ad hoc enim multis 
 " illi rebus opus est, ad illud tantum animo sano, 
 " ET ERECTO, ct despicicnte fortunam." 
 
 It occurs likewise in Paradise Lost, i. 679. 
 
 Mammon the least erected siirit that fell 
 From Heaven. — 
 
 2S. 
 
 who all pleasures else despise, 
 
 All treasures and all gain esteem as dross,'] 
 
 Thus Spenser, in the conclusion of his Hymn 
 OF Heavenly Love ; 
 
 Thenceforth all world's desires will in thee die. 
 And all earth's glory, on which men do gaze. 
 Seem dirt and dross in thy pure-sighted eye. 
 
 And Milton, in his Verses on time ; 
 
 Which is no more than what is false and vain. 
 And merely mortal dross ;— 
 
 S 2 
 
 AH
 
 13* 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 All treasures and all gain esteem as dross, 
 And dignities and powers all but the highest? 
 Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe ; the son 
 Of Macedonian Philip had ere these 
 Won Asia, and the throne of Cyrus held 
 At his dispose ; young Scipio had brought down 
 The Carthaginian pride ; young Pompey quell'd 
 The Pontic king, and in triumph had rode. 
 Yet years, and to ripe years judgment mature, 
 Quench not the thirst of glory, but augment. 
 
 3^ 
 
 35 
 
 31. Thy yean arc ripe, and over-ripe; — ] 
 
 Our Saviour's Temptation was soon after his 
 Baptism ; and he was baptized when he was about 
 thirty years of agf, Luke, iii. 23. 
 
 NeivtoM, 
 Ji. ■ the son 
 
 Of Macedonian Phil{p had ere these 
 H'on Asia, and the throne of Cyrus held 
 At his dispose ; — ] 
 Alexander was but twenty years old, when he 
 Ijegan to reign; and in a few years he overtarned 
 the Persian Empire, which was founded by Cyrus. 
 Alexander died in the thirty-third year of his age. 
 
 Neivto/i. 
 34. At his dispose ; — ] 
 
 Shakespeare writes dispose for disposaL 
 
 Needs must you lay your heart at his disposi, 
 
 Against whose fury and unmatched force 
 
 The awlcss lion could not wage the fight. 
 
 K.John. Act I. Sc. 3. 
 
 34. — ^— — young Scipio had brou«ht down 
 The Carthaginian pride ;— ] 
 
 Scipio Africanus was no more than twenty-four 
 years old, wlien he was sent i'roconsul into Spain, 
 ile was between twenty-eight and twenty-nine, 
 when, being chosen Consul before the usual time, 
 he transferred the war into Africa. Neiulon, 
 
 -^— — ^— .— .^ you}ig Pompey t^uell'd 
 The Pontic king, and in triumph had rod' .J 
 
 In this instance our Author is not so exaft as ia 
 the rest ; for when Pompey was sent to command 
 the war in Asia against Mithridates king of Pontus, 
 he was above forty, but had signalized himself by 
 many extraordinary aftions in his younger years* 
 and had obtained the honor of two triumphs before 
 that time. Pompey and Cicero were born in the 
 same year ; and the Manilian law, which gave the 
 command in Asia to Pompey, was proposed when 
 Cicero was in the forty-first year of his age. But 
 no wonder that Milton was mistaken in point of 
 time, when several of the Ancients were. Plutarch, 
 speaking of Pompey 's three memorable triumphs 
 over the three parts of the world, his first over 
 Africa, his second over Europe, and this last over 
 Asia, says, that as for his age, those who affeft to 
 make the parallel exaft in all things betwixt him 
 and Alexander the Great, would not allow him to 
 be quite thirty-four, whereas in trutji at this time 
 he was near forty, rixixio. ^s tote rj* (w; ja.'.v 01 xurct. 
 
 ttjotvlct, Tu A^=|a^^faJ t^apaCaXXovIci; xvrov x.xi ■njfoo'tita- 
 l^otltf a^ivai) HWTef®- rm -rnaxotlx xai m1ao(j\i, aA,i- 
 6eia ^e T015 TSTTajaxovIa v^oafiytr, Plut. Vit. Pom- 
 
 peii. 
 
 Neivto//, 
 
 the thirst ofgliry — J 
 
 nee honores si no, nee desidero gloriam;— 
 Cicero. Ad Quinct. Frat. iii. 5. 
 And
 
 *O0K III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ^n 
 
 Great Julius, whom now all the world admires, 
 The more he grew in years, the more inflam'd 
 With glory, wept that he had liv'd so long 
 Inglorious : but thou yet art not too late. 
 
 To whom our Saviour calmly thus reply'd. 
 Thou neither dost persuade me to seek wealth 
 For empire's sake, nor empire to aife(5l 
 For glory's sake, by all thy argument. 
 For what is glory but tlie blaze of fame, 
 The people's praise, if always praise unmix'd ? 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 And our Author, in his Preface to his Eicono- 
 CLASTEs; " I never was so thirsty after 
 '< FAME, nor so destitute of other hopes, and 
 " meancs better, and more certain to attain it." 
 
 41. 
 
 zuepl that he had liv'i so Itn^ 
 
 Inglorious :— ] 
 
 Alluding to a story related of Julius Cssar, that, 
 one day reading the history of Alexander, he sat 
 a great while very thoughtful, and at last burst into 
 tears, and his friends won^'ring at the reason of it. 
 Do you not think, said he, I have just cause to 
 weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age 
 had conquered so many nations, and I have all 
 this time done nothing that is memorable ? See 
 Plutarch's Life of Cxsar. Others say, it was at 
 the sight of an image of Alexander the Great — 
 animadversa apud Herculis templum magni Alex- 
 andri imagine, ingemuit; et quasi pertssusiignaviam 
 suam, quod nihil dum a se memorabile aftum esset 
 in state, qua jam Alexander orbem terrarum sub- 
 cgisset, &c. Suetonii Jul. Css. Cap. 7. 
 
 Nciutott. 
 
 '• Inglorious" here is Virgil's inglorius, i, e. 
 insensible to the charms of glory. 
 
 Kura mihi et rigui placcant in valUbua amnes ; 
 Jlumina amem sylvasque inclokius, 
 
 Geo&g. ii. 48 j. 
 
 44. Thon neilhir dost fersuaie mc, Wt.— ] 
 
 How admirably does Milton in this speech expoie 
 the emptiness and uncertainty of a popular charafter, 
 and found true glory upon its only sure basis, the 
 approbation of the God of truth! There is a 
 remarkable dignity of sentiment runs quite through 
 it, and I think it will be no extravagance to 
 assert, that he has comprised in this short compass 
 the substance and quintessence of a subjedl which 
 has exercised the pens of the greatest moralists in 
 all ages. ^^y""- 
 
 44. Thou mithir dost ptnuade me to seek aieallh 
 for empire^ s sake, — ] 
 
 This refers to Ver. 422, and 427, of the second 
 Book. 
 
 48. The people's praise, Uc.—'] 
 
 We may compare with this and some of the 
 following lines a stanza of Giles Fletcher. 
 
 Frail raulutudc ! whose giddy law is list, 
 
 And best applause is windy flattering. 
 
 Most like the breath of which it doth consist, 
 
 No sooner blown, but as soon vanishing, 
 
 As much desir'd, as little profiting, 
 
 That makes the men that have it oft as light 
 
 As those that give it, — 
 
 Chriit's Triumth ovsr Diatii, St. 31. 
 
 And
 
 '■3^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IIT, 
 
 And what the people but a herd corifiis'd, 
 
 A miscellaneous rabble, \yho extal 50 
 
 Things vulgar, and, well weigh'd, scarce worth the praise ? 
 
 They praise, and they admire, they know not what, 
 
 And know not whom, but as one leads the other , 
 
 And what delight to be by such extoll'd, 
 
 To live upon their tongues and be their talk, 55 
 
 Of whom to be disprais'd were no small praise ? 
 
 His lot who dares be singularly good. 
 
 The intelligent among them and the wise 
 
 Are few, and glory scarce of few is rais'd. 
 
 This is true glory and renown, when God 
 
 49. And luhat the ptople but a herd confui'd, 
 A miscellaneous mihle, who extol 
 
 Things vulgar, and, vicll-ii;eigh'd, scarce worth the praise? 
 They p'-aise, and ihe\ admire, they know not what, 
 Anikiibw not whom, but' as one leads the other /] 
 
 These 1! lies are certainly no proof of a Democratic 
 disposition in our Autlior. 
 
 £,6. Of whom to be disprais'd were no small praise.'\ 
 
 Tills is an instance of tliat play vpon ivords, in 
 whicli, as Dr. Johnson justly observes, Milton 
 •• delighted too often" He seems to have fancied 
 that in some places it had a particularly good effeft. 
 Possibly the following passage stood well in his 
 own opinion. 
 
 For strength, from tnith divided and from just, 
 Illaudabic, naught mciits but dispraise 
 And ignominy, ytt TO GLORV Asi'iRls 
 Vain t lorious, and turouch infamy szeks tame. 
 Paradise Lost, vi. 381. 
 
 J7. JIis let who dares be singularly good.^ 
 
 Ep. Newton conjefturcs that Milton miglit here 
 allude to himself, " who Jareti to be as singular in 
 V his opinions and in his conduft as any man what- 
 " ever,"— But the language of the poet in this place 
 
 60 
 
 is perhaps only classical, as it might well have beeo 
 suggested by Horace's 
 
 -.^^— Sapere AunE ; 
 Incipe; Vivendi recte qui prorogat horam, 
 Rusticus cspcflat dum defluit amnis ; 
 
 1. ErisT. ii. 40, 
 
 5g. ^^-^^ and glory scarce of few is ru/j'J.J 
 Gloriam latius fusam intelligo; consensum 
 
 ENIM MULTORUM exigit. *»**»• 
 
 **». .»«.*» Quij intersit 
 inter claritatem et gloriam dicam ; gloria mul- 
 TORUM juBiciis constat, claritas bonorum. 
 
 Senec. Epist. 102. 
 
 60. This is true glory and renown, £?c.] 
 
 Here is a glory that is solid and substantial, 
 exprcssa, as Tully says, non adumbrata ; and that 
 will endure, when all the records and memorials of 
 human pride are perished. Callort. 
 
 The passage alluded to by Mr. Calton is well 
 worth citing at large, particularly as it is not 
 without its resemblance to some preceding sinti- 
 ments of our Author, as well as to this immediate 
 place. Cum vero accedit eodem, quasi maximus 
 
 ■■ quidam
 
 BOOK iir. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 »35 
 
 Looking on the earth, with approbation marks 
 
 The just man, and divulges him through Heaven 
 
 To all his Angels, who with true applause 
 
 Recount his praises : thus he did to Job, 
 
 "When, to extend his fame through Heaven and Earth, 65 
 
 As thou to thy reproach may'st well remember, 
 
 He ask'd thee, " Hast thou seen my servant Job ?" 
 
 Famous he was in Heaven, on Earth less known ; 
 
 Where glory is false glory, attributed 
 
 quidara magister, populus, atque omnii undique ad 
 vitia consentiens mullitudo, turn plane inficimur 
 opinionum pravitate, naturaque desclscimus ; ut 
 nobis optimam naturam invidisse videantur, qui 
 nihil melius homini, nihil magis expetendiim, nihil 
 prxstantius honoribus, imperils, popular! gloria 
 judicaverunt, ad quam fertur optimus quisque : 
 veramque illam honestatem expetens, quam una 
 natura raaxime inquirit, in summa inanitate ver- 
 «atur, conseiflaturque nullam eminentem effigiem 
 -virtutis, sed adumbratam imaginem gloris ; est 
 enim gloria souda qu.edam res, et expressa, 
 NON ADUMBRATA. Ea cst consentiens laus bo- 
 norum, incorrupta vox bene judicantium de excel- 
 lente virtute; ea virtuti rcsonat tanquam imago: 
 quas, quia refte faflorum plcrumque comes est, non 
 cst a bonis viris repudianda. 
 
 Tusc. Quest, iii. 2. 
 
 io. 
 
 zv/tcn God 
 
 Looking on the earlh, with aj'proliation mar/is 
 The just man — ] 
 
 Ecce speclaculum dignum, ad quod respiciat 
 intentus operi suo Deus! Ecce par Deo dignum, 
 vir fortis cum mala fottuna compositus, utique si 
 et provocavit! Non .video, inquam, quid habet in 
 terris Jupiter pulchrius, si convertere an-.mum velif, 
 quara ut speitet Catonem, jam partibus non semel 
 fraftis stantem, nihil cminus inter ruinas publicas 
 reflum. Seneca, Be Providentia, 2. 
 
 This celebrated passage of Seneca the amiaSly 
 affoftionate biographer of Milton applies to the 
 principles and the affliftions of our Author. (Hay- 
 ley's Life of Milton, p. 130.) — Possibly Milton 
 himself, under a consciousness of his own deter- 
 mined integrity, (in which, as meriting and meet- 
 ing divine approbation, he nobly prided himself,) 
 might have intended in this place the same appli- 
 cation. 
 
 62. — ^— — — and iivulgcs him through Henvm'] 
 
 Though fame divulge him father of five soi)s. 
 
 All of giganlic size, ^^— — 
 
 Sau3. Acon. 124iS> 
 
 Cujus ct extinfti, propter divina repcrta, 
 Divui.cATA vctus jam ad ccelum gloria fertur. 
 
 Lucret. vi. 8. 
 
 67. J!e ask'd theee, " Hdst thou seen my servant Job /"'] 
 job, i. 8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Half 
 iLvtc considered my ser'vant yob, that there is noni 
 like him in the earth, a pcrfeii and an upright man, 
 one that feareth God, and esche-welh etiil? 
 
 Kewlon, 
 
 69 Where glory is false glory, attributed 
 
 Til things not glorious, men not worthy of fumt.'] 
 
 In a passage cited from the Tuscular Questions, 
 in a preceding note, Tully shews that true glory 
 is really the praise of good men, and the echo, (or 
 natural consequence,) of virtue. He afterwards 
 proceeds to shew, that tliere " is a false semblance 
 
 " of
 
 136 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 »00K lit. 
 
 To things not glorious, men not worthy of fame. 
 
 They err, who count it glorious to subdue 
 
 By conquest far and wide, to over-run 
 
 Large countries, and in field great battles win, 
 
 Great cities by assault : what do these worthies, 
 
 But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and inslave 
 
 70 
 
 75 
 
 •' of this true glory, (a direft contrast of it,) which 
 " originates in the injudicious applause of the 
 " multitude, and is often bestowed upon the worst 
 " adions." Ilia autem, quae se ejus iraatricem esse 
 vult, temeraria atque inconsiderata, et plerumque 
 peccatorum vitiorumque laudatrix, fama popularis, 
 simulatione honestatis formam ejus pulcritudinem- 
 que corrumpit. Qua cscitate homines, cum quacdam 
 etiatn prsdara cuperent, caque nescirent, nee ubi 
 nee qualia essent, funditus alii everterunt suas 
 
 civitates, alii ipsi occiderunt. This passage is 
 
 cited by Mr. Caltoa ; who observes, that, " when 
 " Tully wrote his Tusculan Disputations, Julius 
 " Caesar had overthrown the constitution of his 
 " countr)', and was then in the plenitude of his 
 " power ; and Pompey had lost his life in the same 
 " pursuit of glory." 
 
 7I1 T/iey err, alio count it glorims to suldue 
 By fonquestjar and wide, to over-run 
 i-arge countries, and in Jield great battles uiin, 
 Great cities by assault ; &c. &c—] 
 
 Here might be an allusion intended to Lewis 
 THi FOURTEENTH, who at this time began to 
 disturb Europe, and whose vanity and ambition 
 were gratified by titles, such as are here mentioned, 
 from his numerous parasites. 
 
 We may here compare Paradise Lost, xi. 691. 
 
 To overcome in battle, tnd subdue 
 
 Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite 
 
 Winslaughter, shall be held the highest pitch 
 
 Of human glory, and for glory done 
 
 Of triumph, to be sljl'd great conquerors, 
 
 Fatrons of mankind, Gods, and sons of Gods, 
 
 Btttioycii righUici caU'd, and plagues of mea. 
 
 And again, Ver. 7S9, of the same BooK. 
 
 ^.^ iu aSs of prowess eminent 
 And great exploits, but of true virtue void ; 
 Who having spilt much blood, and done much w^stt. 
 Subduing nations; and atcliiev'd thereby 
 Fame in the world, high titles and rich prey, 
 Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth.. 
 
 74- 
 
 wfiat do these worthies. 
 
 But reb and spoil, Sc. £?c.— ] ' 
 
 Thus Drummond, in his Shadow of thi 
 Judgment ; 
 
 All live on earth by spoil » • » • • 
 • <••***•*• «•• 
 
 Who most can ravage, rob, ransack, blarphemej 
 
 Is held most virtuous, hath a worthy's name :— — 
 
 And Thucydides, describing the ancient inha- 
 bitants of Greece, says, " They betook themselves 
 '• to robbing under the direftion of persons by no 
 " means despicable, and spent their lives chiefly in 
 " plundering defenceless towns and villages; these 
 " practices being so far from discreditable, that 
 " they were attended with a certain degree of 
 " honour." — nfavara «rfo; ^urtia", yiyvft,%tuj atSfur 
 y Twc aevvxTwretTaiv — — ^ i^ TTpocTTriwioTij 
 wc.>^<7tv aT£iX'S"0K, Kj Kxra. Kujiat omuftitiit:, yifrct^tt, 
 Kj irm wTuiror ru ^iB tjTtfSiv £Toi5»!o* ovie ixoito; vu 
 aicryyiT,-/ TovTS T» ifya, iptfoiToj ^1 Tt Xj oo|a< f««Ms>. 
 
 L. i. C. J. 
 
 7 j. But rob and spoil, bunt, slaughter, and inslave 
 Peaceable nations, neighboring, or remote. 
 Mad: captive,-^'] 
 This description of the ravages of conqueror* 
 may have been copied from some of the account* 
 of the barbarous nations that invaded Rome. Ovid 
 
 describe*
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Peaceable nations, neighbouring, or remote, 
 Made captive, yet deserving freedom more 
 Than those their conquerors, who leave behind 
 Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove, 
 And all the flourishing works of peace destroy, 
 Then sw^ell with pride, and must be titled Gods, 
 Great Benefa6tors of mankind. Deliverers, 
 Worshipt with temple, priest and sacrifice, 
 
 80 
 
 describes the Getae thus spoiling^ rohhing^ ^^^J^^gi 
 ensla'vitigi and burning : 
 
 HosL:s, equo pollens longeque volante sagluA, 
 
 Vicinam U'e depopulatur humum. 
 DiiTugiunt alii; nuUisque tuentibus agroi 
 
 Incustoditac diripiuntur opes ; 
 Ruris opes parva?, pecus et stridentia plaustra, 
 
 Et quas divitias incola pauper habet. 
 Pars agitur vinftis post tergura capta lacerti*, 
 
 Respicicns frustra rura laremque suum. 
 Pars cadit hamatis misere conExa ftagittis; 
 
 Nam volucri ferro tinftile virus iriest. 
 QuK nequcunt secum ferre aut abducerc, pcrdant; 
 
 £t cremat insontes hostica flamma ca:^as. 
 
 Trist. iii. El. x. 55. 
 
 >8. 
 
 mio Uavc Ic, 
 
 Nothing but ruin — J 
 
 Thus, Joel, ii. 3. The land is as the garden cf 
 Eden before them, aiid behind them a desolate 
 
 WILDERNESS. 
 
 And Mr. Gray, in his Bard, has a similar 
 description finely expressed, where he speaks of the 
 conquests of Edward the Black Prince in France. 
 
 — — What terrors round hlra wait ! 
 Amazement in his van, with Flight combin'd, 
 And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind. 
 
 8i. 
 
 and must b: titled GodSf 
 
 Gnat BcnrJii£}ors of nankind, Deiiverers,'] 
 
 The second Antiochus king of Syria was called 
 Antiochus ©s<^, or t/jt Cod: and th« learned 
 
 author De Epoch. Syro-Macedonum, p. icg. 
 speaks of a coin of Epiphanes inscribed ©.a E771. 
 f a>a.:. The Athenians gave Demetrius Poliorcetes, 
 and his father Antigonus, the titles of Eiefyj-rai, 
 BettefaBors, and SiuTrffi, Dcli^jerers. CaltoH. 
 
 In Froelick's Annales regum et renm Syri<e there 
 are prints of five different coins of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, with the inscription BASIAF.ns ANTI- 
 OXOT ©EOT Eni<l>ANOYr. The first Antiochus was 
 called SnTHP; as was the first Ptolemy king of 
 Egypt. Two of the Ptolemies assumed tlie tide 
 
 of ETEPrETHJ. Diodorus Siculus relates that 
 
 the Syracusans with one voice saluted Gelon by the 
 
 titles of Benefactor, Deliverer, and King. tM» 
 
 ^«»i) •T»»T«; «7rJXa^£l« EYEPFETHn, kbi SfiTHPA, 
 xai BAZIAE.J,. L. ii. z6. 
 
 The title of tusfysTrs as assumed by tyrants ii 
 referred to, Luke, xxii. 25. — And they that exer- 
 cise authority o'vcr them ARE called benefac- 
 tors. 
 
 When Demetrius Poliorcetes returned from his 
 expedition to Corcyra, the Athenians received him 
 with divine honours, and in their hymns and cho^ 
 russes celebrated him as " the only true God, for 
 " that all other Gods were asleep, or were gone 
 " abroad, or did not exist." i-; im /«vo{ 6;o,- 
 
 iiff-ii, Demochares ap. Athenar, T,, 6. 
 
 (One
 
 t3^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 lOOK lU. 
 
 (One is the son of Jove, of Mars the other,) 
 
 Till conqueror Death discover them scarce men, 85 
 
 RolHng in brutish vices, and deform'd, 
 
 Violent or shameful death their due reward. 
 
 But if there be in glory aught of good, 
 
 It may by means far different be attain'd, 
 
 Without ambition, war, or violence ; 90 
 
 By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent. 
 
 By patience, temperance : I mention still 
 
 Him whom thy wrongs, with saintly patience borne. 
 
 Made famous in a land and times obscure ; 
 
 Who names not now with honor patient Job ? 95 
 
 Poor Socrates, (who next more memorable 
 
 84 (One is the son of Jove, of Mars the other,)'] 
 Alexander is particularly intended by the one, 
 and Romulus by the other, who, though better 
 than Alexander, founded his empire in the blood 
 of his brother, and for his over-grown tyranny was 
 at last destroyed by his own senate. Ncivton. 
 
 85. Rolling in brutish vices, and deform'd,'] 
 
 Thus, in Com us, those persons are described 
 who drink of the Enchanter's Cup ; 
 
 Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, 
 
 The express resemblance of the Gods, is changed 
 
 Into some brutish form of wolf, or bear, 
 
 Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat, 
 
 All other psiis remaining as ihey were; 
 
 And they, so perfect is their misery. 
 
 Not once perceive their foul disSgurement, 
 
 but boast themselves more comely than before, 
 
 And all their friends and native home forget. 
 
 To ROLL WITH rLEASURB IN A SENSUAL STYE. 
 
 68. 
 
 To roll in vice is a mode of expression frequently 
 
 used by Cicero. in domesticis est germanitatit 
 
 STUPRIS VOLUTATUS. 
 
 Oratio De Haruspic. Respons. 20. 
 
 Quis timquam nepos tarn libere est cum scortis, 
 quam hie cum sororibus volutatus? 
 
 Ibid. 27. 
 
 • cum omnes in omni genere et scelerum 
 
 ET FLAGITIORUM VOLUTENTUR. 
 
 Epist. Ad. Familiar, ix. j. 
 
 Non jusjurandum reliquisti ? non amicos pro- 
 didisti ? non parenti manus intulisti .' non denique 
 
 IN OMNI DEDECORE VOLUTATUS ES ? 
 
 Ad Herenn, iv. ig. 
 
 96. Poor Socrates, (mho next more memorable 
 
 By what he taught, and suj^er'dfor so doing?,) 
 For truth*s sake suffering death unjust, lives now 
 E^ual in fame to proudest conquerors. 
 
 Milton here does not scruple with Erasmus to 
 place Socrates in the foremost rank of Saints; an 
 opinion more amiable at least, and agreeable to 
 
 that
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARyVDISE REGAINED. 
 
 139 
 
 By what he taught, and suffer'd for so doing ?,) 
 For truth's sake suffering death unjust, hves now 
 Equal in fame to proudest conquerors. 
 Yet if for fame and glory aught be done, 
 Aught suffer'd, if young African for fame 
 His wasted country freed from Punic rage. 
 The deed becomes unprais'd, the man at least, 
 And loses, though but verbal, his reward. 
 Shall I seek glory then, as vain men seek. 
 Oft not deserv'd ? I seek not mine, but his 
 Who sent me ; and thereby witness whence I am. 
 To whom the Tempter murmuring thus rcply'd. 
 Think not so slight of glory ; therein least 
 
 100 
 
 lO' 
 
 that spirit of love which breathes in the Gospel, 
 than the severe orthodoxy of those rigid textuaries, 
 who are unv^illing to allow salvation to the moral 
 ▼irtues of the Heathen. Thyer. 
 
 Mr. Pope in his Temple of Fame, as Bp. 
 Newton observes, has made Socrates the principal 
 figure among the better sort of heroes. 
 
 Much sufFering heroes next their honours claim, 
 Those of less noisy and less guilty fame, 
 Fair Virtue's silent train; supreme of thsse 
 Hlxe ever shines the cod-like S0CRATI9. 
 
 if young African for fame 
 
 Hii wasted country freed from Pumc ra^e,'] 
 
 This shews plainly that he had spoken before of 
 the elder Scipio Africanus ; for he only can be said 
 with propriety to have freed fiis luasted caunlry from 
 Funic rage, by transferring the war into Spain and 
 Africa, after the ravages which Hannibal had com- 
 Biitted in Italy during the second Punic war. 
 
 Neviton, 
 
 to^. And hiei, though but verbal^ his r»w»rd.'\ 
 
 In the beginning of the sixth Chapter of St. 
 Matthew, where the Pharisaical ostentation of good 
 works and devotion is censured, it is twice said. 
 Verily I say itnto you they ha-ve their retvard : in 
 which passage some persons have wished rather to 
 render a.nti-)(jiv7\ they hinder, or prevent, their re- 
 ward. It is possible that Milton had the passage, 
 thus rendered, in his mind. 
 
 106. 
 
 / seek not mine^ hut his 
 
 That sent me; and thereby witness whence J am."] 
 John, vii. 18. He that seeketh his glory 
 THAT SENT HIM, the same is true, and no unright- 
 eousness is in him. Where Bp. Pearce renders 
 a^iKix falsehood, rather ihzn unrighteousness. (See 
 his Commentary on the place ; and likewise his 
 Note on Luke, xvi. 9.) — And John, viii. 49. & 
 50, Jesus says, / honour my Father / seek 
 
 NOT MINE OWN GLORY." 
 
 xog. Think not so slight of glory ;—'\ 
 
 There it nothing throughout the whole poem more 
 
 expressive of the true character of the Tempter than 
 
 T z this
 
 140 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Resembling thy great Father : he seeks glory, 
 And for his glory all things made, all things 
 Orders and governs ; nor content in Heaven 
 By all his Angels glorify'd, requires 
 Glory from men, from all men good or bad. 
 Wise or unvrise, no difference, no exemption ; 
 Above all sacrifice, or hallow'd gift, 
 Gloiy he requires, and glory he receives. 
 Promiscuous from all nations, Jew or Greek, 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 HO 
 
 'I5 
 
 this reply. There is in it al! the real falsehood of /,Jf 
 father of lies, and the glnzing subtlety of an insi- 
 dious deceiver. The argument is false and unsound, 
 and yet it is veiled over with a certain plausible 
 air of truth. The poet has also, by introducing 
 this, furnished himself with an opportunity of ex- 
 plaining that great question in divinity, why God 
 created the world, and what is meant by that glory 
 which he expefts from his creatures. This may be 
 no improper pkce to observe to the reader the 
 author's great art in weaving into the body of so 
 short a work so many grand points of the Christian 
 theology and raoralit)-. Tbjir. 
 
 n8. Promiscuoiii from all nit joys, jfizc or Grul, 
 Or barbarous, nor excrplion hath dcdar'd; —1 
 
 It is ohsirved by Bp. Warburton, with a refer- 
 ence to a passage in the fwelfth Oration of Thc- 
 mistius, that the poet puts into the mouth of 
 the Devil the absurd notions of the apologists for 
 Piganism. The passage he here alludes to is thus 
 citi-.i in his Bivr.^E Li^cation, B. ii. Sedl. 6. 
 
 Tat'Ti) i-ofAi^i yav^i/c-^ai tri 'CroiK^iee tov Ty Trailer Arp^- 
 
 ».v,i',- Ar/'.-TTiia;. '' The great lord and governor of 
 <' the earth seems to bj delighted with these diver- 
 " sities of Religions. It is his will that the Syrians 
 " v.-orsliip him one way, the Greeks another, and 
 " the Egyptians yet anotlier."— It should be ob- 
 served hov/cvcr that in Thcmistius [Ed. Petav. Paris. 
 
 1 61 8.) instead of %^r,^x.fuia , we find iroXiTEUEC-Sai. 
 ——In Lis Notes upon this part of the Divine 
 Legation, the Bishop likewise cites a passage from 
 the Jesuit Tachard ; where a similar mode of rea- 
 soning forms the answer given by a King of Siam 
 to a FrencTi Embassador, who urged him, in his 
 master's name, to embrace the Christian religion. 
 " Je m'etonne que le roy de France mon bon ami 
 " s'interesse si fort dans une affaire qui regards 
 " Dieu, ou il semble que Dieu meme ne prenne 
 " aucun interest, et qu'il a entierement laisse a 
 " notre discretion. Car ce vray Dieu, qui a cree 
 " le ciel et la terre et toutes les creatures qu'on 
 " y voit, et qui leur a donne des natures et des 
 " inclinations si differentes, ne pouvoit il pas, s'il 
 " eiit voulu, en donnant aux hommes des corps et 
 " des ames semblables, leur inspirer les raemes sen- 
 " timens pour la religion qu'il falloit suivre, et 
 " pour la culte qui luy etoit le plus agreable, et 
 " faire naitre toutes les nations dans une meme 
 " loy ? Cet ordre parral les hommes et cette unite 
 " de religion dependant absolunient dc la Pro- 
 " vidence divine, qui pouvoit aussi aisement in- 
 " troduire dans le monde que la diversite des 
 " scftes qui s'y sont etablies de tout tems ; ne 
 " doit en pas croire que le vray Dieu prend autant 
 " de plaisir a estre honore par des cultes et des 
 " ceremonies differentes, qu' a estre glorifie par 
 " une prodlgieuse quantite de creatures qui le 
 
 " loiienr
 
 «00K 111. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 1/i.i 
 
 Or barbarous, nor exception hath declar'd ; 
 From us, his foes pronounc'd, glory he exadls. 
 
 To whom our Saviour fervently reply'd. 
 And reason ; since his word all things produc'd, 
 Though chiefly not for glory as prime end, 
 But to shew forth his goodness, and impart 
 His good communicable to every soul 
 Freely ; of whom what could he less exped 
 Than glory and benediclion, that is thanks, 
 The slightest, easiest, readiest recompense 
 From them who could return him nothing else. 
 And, not returning that, would likeliest render 
 Contempt instead, dishonour, obloquy ? 
 Hard recompence, unsuitable return 
 For so much good, so much beneficence ! 
 But why should man seek glory, who of his own 
 Hath nothing, and to whom nothing belongs, 
 But condemnation, ignominy, and shame ? 
 Who, for so many benefits receiv'd, 
 Turn'd recreant to God, ingrate and false. 
 
 " loiient chacune a sa maniere ?" Voyage de Siam, 
 !, V. p. 231, 232. Ed. Amst. 1688. 
 
 It8. The slightest^ easiest^ Ttadiest recompinse'] 
 
 The same sentiment occurs in the Paradise 
 Lost, iv. 46. 
 
 What could be less than to afford him praise, 
 The easiest recompence, and pay him thanks ? 
 
 How due! • 
 
 Neivtan. 
 
 120 
 
 I2i 
 
 3^ 
 
 '35 
 
 132. Hard recompence, utisuilahle rftnrn 
 
 For so much good, so much henejicence '.—'^ 
 
 Ah wherefore ? He deserv'd no such return 
 from me, whom he created what I was 
 
 In that bright eminence, 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. 41. 
 
 138. — — — recreant—'} 
 
 In Shakespeare's King John, Aft III. Sc. t, 
 where Constance reproaches the Duke of Austria 
 
 with
 
 142 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOlt III. 
 
 And so of all true good himself despoil'd, 
 Yet, sacrilegious, to himself would take 
 That which to God alone of right belongs ; 
 Yet so much bounty is in God, such grace. 
 That who advance his glory, not their own. 
 Them he himself to glory will advance. 
 
 So spake the Son of God ; and here again 
 Satan had not to answer, but stood struck 
 With guilt of his own sin, for he himself, 
 Insatiable of glory, had lost all ; 
 Yet of another plea bethought him soon. 
 
 Of glory, as thou wilt, said he, so deem ; 
 Worth or not worth the seeking, let it pass. 
 But to a kingdom thou art born, ordain'd 
 To sit upon thy father David's throne. 
 By mother's side thy father ; though thy right 
 Be now in powerful hands, that will not part 
 Easily from possession won with arms ; 
 Judcca now and all the promis'd land. 
 
 140 
 
 ^45 
 
 550 
 
 ^53 
 
 with having deserted her cause, and being perjured 
 and a coward, she says to him ; 
 
 Thou wear a lion's hide ? Doff it for shame, 
 
 And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. 
 
 And Spenser, Faery Queen, B, II. C. vi. 28. 
 
 Thou RECREANT knighu 
 
 Where Mr. Warton observes that " recreant 
 " knight" is a term of romance ; and cites the 
 following passage from the Morte Arthur. 
 " Than said the knight to the king, thou art in 
 
 " my daunger whether me lyst to save thee or to 
 " sley thee ; and, but thou yield thee as overcome 
 " and RECREANT, thou shalt dye. As for death, 
 " said king Arthur, welcome be it when it cometh; 
 " but as to yield me to thee as recreant, &c. 
 
 Recreant, or recreditus, in the feudal signification 
 imported the highest degree of treason, baseness, 
 and cowardice. Du Cangc says, " probrosum adeo 
 " censuit vocabulum, ut illud describere nolueric 
 " Ranulfus de Glanvillus." 
 
 Reduc'd
 
 SOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 H3 
 
 Reduc'd a province under Roman yoke, 
 Obeys Tiberius ; nor is always rul'd 
 With temperate sway ; oft have they violated 
 The temple, oft the law, with foul aftronts, 
 Abominations rather, as did once 
 Antiochus : and think'st thou to regain 
 Thy right, by sitting still, or thus retiring ? 
 So did not Maccabeus : he indeed 
 
 1 60 
 
 165 
 
 158. Reduc'd a province under Roman yoke,] 
 Judsa was reduced to the form of a Roman 
 Province, in the reign of Augustus, by Quirinius, 
 or Cyrenius, then governor of Syria; and Coponius, 
 a Roman of the equestrian order, was appointed to 
 govern it, under the title of Procurator. Netuton. 
 
 «59- 
 
 nor is always ruVd 
 
 With temperate sway^^ 
 
 The Roman government indeed was not always 
 the most temperate. At this time Pontius Pilate 
 was procurator of Judxa, and, it appears from 
 history, was a most corrupt and flagitious governor. 
 See particularly Philo, t/e Legatione ad Caium. 
 
 Newton, 
 
 It is there related of Pilate that he had erefted 
 and dedicated some golden shields to Tiberius, not 
 more to do honour to the Emperor than to vex the 
 
 people, ovx era "ril^^ Ti/3£fia ftctWiov, ri aiixct ra Tvutdi- 
 a-ai TO TrXtjQoi. On their petioning him to have them 
 removed, he is described replying to them with 
 much severity, and as being of an inexorable dis- 
 position, j-£p5W5 «JTiX!0'OfT05, yii yaf Ttt ^vcrii aKaji^m;. 
 On this the Jews threatened to apply to Tiberius 
 himself, whereu]>on Pilate began to fear, lest his 
 various other miscondufts should be reported to the 
 
 Emperor, — To nTituratov Tovro yLaT^ira, avrov t^iTfu^ 
 
 a^^);5 auTB tTriTfoTiif, eliXsylwff'i T«{ JuJpoJoxia,', Ta{ 
 vBfecci;, T«{ afrrayuf, t»5 tcixia;, ra; 67r>ipiia5, T«? 
 #t»fpiTtf$ Ksci err aXKrt'Ks^ Conn;, 
 
 Leg. ad Caium. p. 799. Ed. Col. Allob. 
 
 Josephus speaks of the murders committed on the 
 Jews by Pilate, Antic^. Jud. L. xviii. C. ^. 
 
 160. 
 
 oft have they violated 
 
 The temple, Gc— ] 
 
 Pompey, with several of his officers, entered not 
 only into the holy place, but also penetrated into 
 the holy of holies, where none were permitted by 
 the law to enter, except the high-priest alone, once 
 in a year, on the great day of expiation. Antiochuj 
 Epiphanes had before been guilty of a similar pro- 
 fanation. See 2 Macab. C. v. Ncwtot. 
 
 165. So did not Maccabeus, ^c. — ] 
 
 The Tempter had noticed the profanation of the 
 temple by the Romans, as well as that by Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, king of Syria; and now he would infer, 
 that Jesus was to blame for not vindicating his 
 country against the one, as Judas Maccabeus had 
 done against the other. He fled indeed into the 
 wilderness from the persecutions of Antiochus, but 
 there he took up arms against him, and obtained 
 so many viftories over his forces, that he recovered 
 the city and sanfluary out of their hands, and his 
 family was in his brother Jonathan advanced to the 
 high priesthood, and in his brother Simon to the 
 principality, and so they continued for several 
 descents sovereign pontiffs and sovereign princes 
 of the Jewish nation till the time of Herod the 
 great : though their father Mattathias, (the son of 
 John, the son of Simon, the son of Asmona;us, from 
 whom the family had the name of Asmoncans,) was 
 
 no
 
 144 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Retir'd unto the desert, but with arms ; 
 
 And o'er a mighty king so oft prevail'd, 
 
 That by strong hand his family obtain'd. 
 
 Though priests, the crown, and David's throne usurp'd. 
 
 With Modin and her suburbs once content. 170 
 
 If kingdom move thee not, let move thee zeal 
 
 And duty ; zeal and duty are not slow. 
 
 But on occasion's forelock watchful wait : 
 
 no more than a priest of the course of Joarib, and 
 dwelt at MoJin, which is famous for nothing so 
 much as being the country of the Maccabees. Sec 
 I Maccab. Josephus, Prideaux, &c. Neiuion. 
 
 i-]\. If kingdom move thee not—'] 
 
 Kingdom here, like regnum in Latin, signifies 
 kingly state, the circumstances of tegnl foiver ; or, as 
 our Author in his Political works writes, kingship. 
 
 let move thee zeal] 
 
 This is a bolder Latinism than is quite consonant 
 with English Poetrj'. The same may be observed 
 of the following passage, in the beginning of the 
 NINTH Book of the Paradise Lost. 
 
 Me, of these 
 
 Nor skiil'd nor studious, higher argument 
 Remain!. 
 
 And again, ii. 443, 
 
 ^-^ what RKUAIN9 «IM Ic^S 
 
 Than unknown dangers and as hard escape ?— 
 
 Dr. Johnson, in his life of Milton, observes that 
 " he formed his style by a perverse and pedantic 
 " principle. He was desirous to use English words 
 " with a foreign idion>. Eut such" adds the emi- 
 nent biographer, " is the power of his poetry, that 
 " his call is obeyed without resistance, the reader 
 " feels himself in captivity to a higher and a nobler 
 " mind, and criticism sinks in aimiration," 
 
 573. But on occasion's fori lock watch/ul uijiV,] 
 
 \ 
 
 Spenser personifies Occasion, as an old hag with 
 
 a grsy forelock. 
 
 Her locks, that loathly were and hoary grey, 
 Grew all afore, and loosely hung unroU'd ; 
 But all behind was bald and worn away, 
 That none thereof could ever taken hold ; 
 
 Faery Queen, B. II. C. iv. St. ir. 
 
 And in Stanza 12, Sir Guyon 
 
 ^— ^-^— fast h;r hent 
 
 By the HOARE LOCKS THAT HUNG BEFORE HER EYSS, 
 
 Spenser likewise, Sonnet 70, gives Time the ^ 
 same forelock. • , 
 
 Go to my love, where she is careless laid, 
 Yet in her winter's bower not well awake ; 
 
 Tell her tlie joyous time will not be staid. 
 Unless she do him by the forelock take. 
 
 Shakespeare, in his Othello, has 
 
 To take the safest OCCASION Bv the frokt. 
 
 The Greek and Latin Poets also describe occa- 
 sion, i. e. eime or opportunity, " with a forelock." 
 
 Thus Phsdrus, in his Occasio Depicta,. 
 
 Calvus, COMOSA FRONTE, nudo corporc, 
 Quern si occuparis, teneas ; clapsum semel 
 Non ipse possit Jupiter reprehendcre ; 
 
 And, in an Epigram on a statue of Time, in the 
 Anthologia j 
 
 'H Js «ojx,i, Ti xut' »4'"; vvailiaffceirt Xa|9£«'S«i- 
 Tof yap etTra^ TrltjvoKr* 'mctfoiJ^ff^juTa. fii woa'Ci¥t 
 
 Thu»
 
 SOOK lit. 
 
 FARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 U5 
 
 They themselves rather are occasion best i 
 
 Zeal of thy father's house, duty to free 175 
 
 Thy country from her Heathen servitude. 
 
 So shalt thou best fulfil, best verify 
 
 The prophets old, who sung thy endless reign ; 
 
 The happier reign, the sooner it begins : 
 
 Rejgn then ; what canst thou better do the while ? 1 80 
 
 To whom our Saviour answer thus return'd. 
 All things are best fulfill'd in their due time ; 
 And time there is for all things, Truth hath said. 
 If of my reign prophetic Writ hath told. 
 That it shall never end, so, when begin, 185 
 
 The Father in his purpose hath decreed ; 
 He, in whose hand all times and seasons rolL 
 What if he hath decreed that I shall first 
 Be try'd in humble state, and things adverse. 
 
 Thus translated by Eergius ; 
 
 ^uid crinita autem frons monstrat ? Ut obvift- prendar. 
 
 Cur calvum parte est p&steriore caput ? 
 Quod scniel oblatum qui rue permittit abire, 
 
 Copia ei in reliquum non datur ulia mei. 
 
 375. Zeal of thy /uther* s Hous^-—'] 
 
 Psalm Ixix. 9. For tlie zeal of thine house 
 iath eaten me up ; which passage is applied in the 
 New Testament (John, ii. i-].J to the zeal shewed 
 by our Lord for the honour of hiiT'ather's house, 
 ■when he drove the buyers and sellers out of the 
 temple. 
 
 1 83. And time there is for ail things. Truth hcth said ;] 
 To e'very thing there is a season, and a time to 
 fverj furfose under tit Heaven, Eccles. iii.'l. 
 
 J^e-wton. 
 
 187. He in whose htnd all tines and seastns roH.'] 
 
 It is not for you to inoiv the times and TKE 
 
 SEASONS, lukich the Father hath put in his ow* 
 
 poiuer. Acls, I. 7. 
 
 Ne'willh 
 187. ■ tiaes and seattns rfll-l 
 
 Thus Virgil J jEn. iii. 366. 
 
 — — iic fata Dcuin rex 
 Sortitur, tolvitbue vices 
 
 And Claudian, in his Address to the Sun ; 
 
 Sol, qui fiaTOmigeris raiindum complcxus h»beni* 
 VoLvis inexhausto rcdcuntia sacola motu, 
 
 Sparge diem mcliore coma 
 
 In Pros, it Oiyb. Cons. 
 
 189. St try'd in humble state, and things adverse,^ 
 
 £xrLOItANT ADVERSA VLfOS- 
 
 SiL. Itai» iv. 605. 
 
 u 
 
 By
 
 146 
 
 P A R A D I S F- REGAINED, 
 
 BOOK ur. 
 
 By tribulations, injuries, insults, 
 Contempts and scorns, and snares, and violence, 
 Suffering, abstaining, quietly expecting. 
 Without distrust or -doubt, that he may know 
 What I can suffer, how obey ? Who best 
 Can suffer, best can do ; best reign, who first 
 Well hath obey'd ; just trial, ere I merit 
 My exaltation without change or end. 
 But what concerns it thee, when I begin 
 My everlasting kingdom ? Why art thou , 
 Solicitous ? What moves thy inquisition ? 
 Know'st thou not that my rising is thy fall. 
 And my promotion will be thy destrucflion? 
 
 190 
 
 'd$ 
 
 200 
 
 IJ?. Suffering., a!>ilaining,^uittly expeflivg. 
 
 Without distrust or doubt, that he may knoto 
 What I can s'lffcr, how ohiy ? Who best 
 Can sujfcr, best can do; best reign, whojirst 
 Well hath obrfd;—'] 
 
 Thus, in the Paradise Lost, xii. 561 ; 
 
 Henceforth I learn that to obey is best, 
 And love with fear the only God, to walk 
 As in his presence, ever to observe 
 His Providence, and on him sole depend, 
 _♦*-»***•*»** 
 
 •» » » » that suffering for truth's sake 
 Is fortitude to highest vifiory, 
 And to the faithful death the gate of life ; 
 Taught this by his example whom I now 
 Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest. 
 
 i9«- 
 
 best reign, who fust 
 
 Well hath ohey'd:-] 
 
 Here probably the Author remembered Cicero. 
 — — Qui bf'ne impcrat, paruerit aliquando neccsse 
 ,t ; et qui modeste parct, videtur, qui aliquando 
 iniperet, dignus esse. De Leo. iii. 2. 
 
 iWit/Za;/. 
 
 The same sentiment, as Ep. Newton observes, 
 occurs in Aristotle and Plato. — AWia /*£» tvcuiliTui y= 
 
 TO Jvyao-Sai et^yivt Kj ec:^t<7^xi, t^ 7roX»Ta aoxi[Ati ij afsrit 
 in ro SmecrBcct Xj «f;^£ii', Xj af^io-Sau xaAo.?. Atistot. 
 Politic, iii. 4. " To be at once capable of 
 " governing and ready to obey is praiseworthy ; 
 " neither is the truly excellent citizen more distin- 
 " guished by his able go\ernment, than by his 
 " exemplary obedience." And again —Ov» aris eu 
 ap|ai fA>) a;x,^iVTu, Ibid. " He can never be fit 
 " to reign, who has never himself been praftised 
 " in obedience." — Plato also (De Leg.vj. p. 762. 
 Ed. Ser.) lays it down as an incontrovertible truth — 
 :t'j jjcyi Sov?^evJx^ ovo ca oia'iTjir)^; y-vo\ro a^io? tTratHj 
 " that he, who lias never been in the situation of 
 " a subjeft, will never make a meritorious ruler." 
 
 201. Knozu'st thou not that my rising is thy Jail ^ 
 
 Alluding to the rising and setting of opposite 
 stars. — Milton, in the first Book of this Poem, terms 
 our Lord 
 
 — — our moining-star, then in his rise,— 
 
 To
 
 fi«OK lU. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 X47 
 
 To whom the Tempter, inly rack'd, reply'd. 
 Let that come when It comes, all hope is lost 
 Of my reception into grace : what worse ? 205 
 
 For where no hope is left, is left no fear : 
 If there be worsc,^ the expectation more 
 Of worse torments me than the feeling can. 
 I would be at the worst : worst is my port. 
 My harbour and my ultimate repose ; 2 10 
 
 The end I would attain, my final good. 
 My error was my error, and my crime 
 My crime ; whatever, for itself condemn'd ; 
 And will alike be punish'd, whether thou 
 Reign, or reign not ; though to that gentle brow 215 
 
 Willingly could I fly, and hope thy reign, 
 From that placid aspe6l and meek regard,. 
 Rather than aggravate my evil state. 
 Would stand between me and thy Father's ire. 
 
 206. For where >w hope is Itjt, is lejt no /car ;] 
 
 Milton here, and in some of the following verses, 
 plainly alludes to part of Satan's fine soliloquy, in 
 the beginning of the fourth Book of the Para- 
 dise Lost ; 
 
 So farewell hope, and, with hope, farewell fear ! 
 larewe'.l remoriC ! All good to mc is lost : 
 
 Evil, be thou my good ! 
 
 Thjer. 
 
 217. From th.it pluciJ aspkl—'] 
 
 Spenser, Shakespeare, and the poets of that time, 
 I believe, uniformly wrote asjiht thus accented on 
 the second syllable ; as Milton has likewise alwayj 
 done in his Paradise Lost.— I carmot forbear citing 
 one instance on account of the exnuisite beauty ot 
 
 the passage. It is a similar description of thesamt 
 Divine Person, who had just been offering himself 
 a ransom for man. 
 
 His words here eadeJ, but his mkek aspect 
 Silent yet spake, and breath'd immortal love 
 To mortal man. 
 
 Paradise Lost, iii. s<5. 
 
 And Vida nrakes Mary, in her Lamentation at 
 the foot of the cross, particularly refer to out 
 Lord's placid, or vieel, aspeft ; 
 
 Hen! quem te, nate, aspicio ? Tuanc ilia jebena 
 
 LlCE MACIS FACIES ASPECTU CKATA?— — — 
 
 Christiad, v. 860. 
 2 1 9. Wouli suni Iclwccn mi and Ihy Father's ire,"] 
 
 U 2 Miltca
 
 I'+S 
 
 PARADISE REGAIN F. D. 
 
 BQOK Irt. 
 
 220 
 
 225 
 
 (Whose ire I dread, more than the fire of Hell,) 
 
 A shelter, and a kind of shading cool 
 
 Interposition, as a summer's cloud. 
 
 If I then to the worst that can be haste, 
 
 Why move thy feet so slow to what is best, 
 
 Happiest, both to thyself and all the world, 
 
 That thou, who worthiest art, should'st be their king ? 
 
 Perhaps thou lingcr'st, in deep thoughts detain'd 
 
 Of the enterprise so hazardous and high ; 
 
 No wonder, for, though in thee be united 
 
 What of perfection can in man be found, 
 
 Or human nature can receive, consider. 
 
 Thy life hath yet been private, most part spent 
 
 At home, scarce view'd the Galilean towns, 
 
 And once a year Jerusalem, few days' 
 
 Short sojourn : and Mdiat thence could'st thou observe? 235 
 
 The world thou hast not seen, much less her glory. 
 
 Empires, and monarchs, and their radiant courts. 
 
 230 
 
 Milton in one of his earliest poems, an Ode 
 
 «N THE nKATH OF A FAIR INFANT, has a 
 
 similar expression. 
 
 But oh ! why didst thou not stay Iir re hclow 
 T« bless us with thy htavcn-Iov'd innocence. 
 To slake his wrath whom sin hath made our foe, 
 » To turn swift-rushing black perdition hence, 
 Or drive ^way the slaughtering pestilence, 
 
 TosTAND'TWIXT LSAND0URDES5RVEDSMAI1T? 
 
 Stanza lo. 
 221. ^— — — — a kind ef slicing cool 
 
 Inlerfojiiion, as a summrr's cloud. — ] 
 
 In the TtvENTY-FiFTH Chapter of Isaiah, the 
 Prophet addressing God, terms hira a stn?igth to 
 
 the poor, a siroigth 10 the iieedj' in his distress, a 
 refuge from thr ilirm, A SHADOW FROM T'lB 
 HEAT, V, 4, 
 
 235. And once a ytar Jcrtt^akm — ] 
 
 At the feast of the passover. Luke, ii. 41. 
 
 Neiulant 
 
 237. The world thou hast not seen, much less its glory^ 
 Again the Devi/ taketh him up into an exceeding 
 high mountain, and shcueeth him all the kingdoms of 
 the viorld, and the glorv of them. Mat, iv. 8. 
 
 Best
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 149 
 
 Best school of best experience, quickest insight 
 
 In all things that to greatest aflions lead. 
 
 The wisest, unexperienc'd, will be ever 240 
 
 Timorous and loath, with novice modesty, 
 
 (As he, who seeking asses, found a kingdom,) 
 
 Irresolute, unhardy, unadventurous : 
 
 But I will bring thee where thou soon shalt quit 
 
 Those rudiments, and see before thine eyes 245 
 
 The monarchies of the earth, their pomp and state ; 
 
 Sufficient introdu6tion to inform 
 
 Thee, of thyself so apt, in regal arts. 
 
 And regal mysteries ; that thou may'st know 
 
 How best their opposition to withstand. 250 
 
 With that, (such power was given him then,) he took 
 The Son of God up to a mountain high. 
 It was a mountain at whose verdant feet 
 
 a42. (As U< rtiho itching aises found a kingdom^) 
 Saul, seeking his father's asset, came to Samoel, 
 and by him was anointed king, i Sam. ix. 
 
 Nfwton. 
 
 253. It WJJ a mountain^ Sc. — ] 
 
 All that the Scripture saith is, that the Devil 
 took Jesus up in/0 an exceeding high movntain 
 (Mat. iv. 8, ; which commentators gencially sup- 
 pose to have been one of the mountains in the 
 neighbourhood of Jerusalem, or near the wilderness. 
 The Ancients speak little concerning it ; but the 
 Moderns iinagine it to have been the mountain 
 Quarantania, as it is now called. Mr. Maundrell, 
 in his "Journey from Aleppo to yerusalem, speaking 
 of the plain of Jericho, says, " we descended into 
 '' it, after about five hours march from Jerusalem, 
 
 " As soon as we entered t^ie plain, we turned up 
 " on the left hand, and, going about one hour 
 " that way, came to the foot of the Quarantania ; 
 " which they say is the mountain into which the 
 «' Devil took our blessed Saviour, when he tempted 
 " him with that visionary scene of all the kingdoms 
 " and glories of the world. It is, as St. Matthew 
 " stiles it, ?.n exceeding high mountain, and in its 
 
 " ascent not only difficult but dangerous." But 
 
 this is all conjefture ; and, as the Scripture has not 
 specified any particular place, the poet was at libeny 
 in this point to suit it to his own fancy. By his 
 description here he must mean Mount 'I aurus, for 
 he describes it exaftly in the same manner as Strabo 
 has described that part of Mount Taurus which 
 divides the greater Armenia from Mesopotamia, 
 » U and
 
 i!;o 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 A spacious plain, outstretcli'd in circuit wide, 
 Lay pleasant ; from his side two rivers flow'd, 
 
 255 
 
 and which contains the sources of the Euphrates 
 and 1'igris. To JVi/v MTiararo* (Sof£ioTaT^») (*a^ir» 
 triv Taafos cpi^u» T>i» Ap(*:na» a^ro t>i; MscroTro'a/Aiair. 
 EiTf^iSii' i'«ft:poT£poi fiotia-i* 01 Til' MKroTrolaftia* sj"''*- 
 
 ^tfi[>o. worafifi. Strabo, L. xi. p. 521. 
 
 That part of Mount Taurus which bounds Meso- 
 potamia on the north, we learn from Strabo, was 
 sometimes called simply Mount Taurus, and some- 
 times the Gordyasan mountains; in the middle of 
 which, neatly above Nisibis, stood Mount Matius. 
 But this mountainous range does not contain the 
 sources either of the Euphrates or Tigris; although 
 from every part of it lesser contributory streams flow 
 into each of these rivers. In the passage cited by 
 Bp. Newton from Strabo, fmav signifies only that 
 the two liveis ^oiv through, or amongst, these moun- 
 tains, and not that they spring, or ha've their sources, 
 in them. That such is here the sense of (mav 
 appears from another passage of the same ancient 
 geographer in this part of his work, where, having 
 traced the course of Mount Taurus eastward to the 
 Euphrates, he speaks of the continuity of these 
 mountains being no further interrupted than by the 
 course of the river as it Jloivs through the middle of 
 them — opn avsi^rj tok ft'tf 7rpoE»p?;/*eyo*f, ^^J)" oa-tiv oict- 
 xoirln PEHN Jia pi<7w» o r-oraftos. Indeed Strabo is 
 very particular in pointing out the original sources 
 of these two rivers. The springs of the Tigris he 
 fixes in the southern side of Mount Niphates, which 
 is considerably north-east of Mount Masius and the 
 Gordyian mountains ; and the prime source of the 
 Euphrates he carries very far north, (as Ptolemy 
 had also done,) and affirms that the springs of the 
 two rivers are two thousand five hundred stadia, 
 (which is above four hundred miles), distant from 
 each other. Possibly there is some error here, as 
 Eustathius, (on Dionysius, V. 985.) says they arc 
 only one thousand five hundred stadia apart. As 
 the mountains, which constitute the head or northern 
 boundary of Mesopotamia, incline to the south, and 
 
 are absolutely the most southern part of the whole 
 ancient Taurus, the lower end of Mount Amanui 
 alone excepted, they are justly described by Strabo, 
 »oTiiaTaT<i» ; and why Bp. Newton should give ;3ofsic- 
 TaTt.r, as an hypothetical emendation in a paren- 
 thesis, or why Xylander should render the passage 
 '• mexime ad septentriones accedens," I do not com- 
 prehend. Mount Masius, or any projefting elevation 
 of that ridge, would have been no improper point 
 for viewing a great part of this geographical scene. 
 Milton might therefore, not without reason, be sup- 
 supposed to have followed Strabo as cited by Bp. 
 Newton : and indeed " from his " side two rivers 
 " flow'd" seems almost an exaci translation of 
 i,Titj9si' U af«(poTEpt.i peairii', &c. — But still, all circum- 
 stances considered, I conceive this was not the exaft 
 spot which he had seleded in his mind for his 
 " specular mount." We must recolleft that, at the 
 conclusion of the third Book of his Paradise 
 Lost, he makes Satan, in his way to Paradise, 
 alight on the top of Mount Niphates ; and, while 
 he is there, it is said that Eden 
 
 in Ills view 
 
 Lay pleasant. 
 
 That he fixed upon Mount Niphates in that 
 place for Satan to light upon, and from thence 
 to survey Eden, was certainly owing to his con- 
 sidering it as the most elevated range of this part 
 of Mount Taurus; and, that it was so, he coUefted 
 from Strabo, who, having traced the course of the 
 mountain from the Euphrates eastward, or rather 
 north-east, and having described the Gordysan 
 mountains as being higher than any parts which he 
 had before considered, says, " from thence it rises 
 " still higher, and is distinguished by the name of 
 *' Niphates," — sfrdra w>.eo» i^atfiTui, xat xa>.£irai 
 
 Ni<paT»jc. The objeft of the poet, in this part of 
 
 the Paradise Regained, certainly was to select 
 a point of Mount Taurus inclining to the south 
 east, but sufficiently central and elevated to com- 
 mand the Caspian sea, Aitaxata, and other places 
 
 specified.
 
 BOOK IIT. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 '5^ 
 
 The one winding, the other strait, and left between 
 Fair champain with less rivers intervein'd, 
 
 specified, that lay direftly, or nearly, north. Mount 
 Niphates most particularly suited his purpose, and 
 will, I imagine, be found to agree perfeftly with all 
 his descriptions. It may be observed also that it 
 rises immediately above Assyria, which is the first 
 country shewed to our Lord, As to what is said, 
 thzt. from its side tivo ri'vers flo'w' d, the sources of 
 the Tigris, it is agreed, were in the southern side 
 of this mountain; and several ancient authors have 
 supposed the Euphrates and Tigris to spring from 
 the same source. Sallust affirms this in a fragment 
 preserved by Seneca ; " Sallustius, auftor certis- 
 " simus, asserit Tigrin et Euphratem uno 
 " FONTE MANARE in Armenia, qui per diversa 
 " euntes longius dividantur, spatio medio relifto 
 " multorum millium ; qus tamen terra, qus ab 
 " ipsis ambitur, Mesopotamia dicitur." — Boethius 
 likewise, (Cons. Philosoph. L. v.) says positively, 
 
 Tigris ct Euphiatcs uno se fonte resolvunt; 
 And Lucan, L. iii. 256. 
 
 Quaque caput rapido tollit cum Tigride magnus 
 Euphrates, quos non diversis foxtibus edit 
 Persis ; 
 
 on which passage Grotius observes, that non dt- 
 •versis means panim dislantibus, but adds " vulgo 
 " tamen creditum unum habuisse fontem." It is 
 also observable that one principal source of the 
 Euphrates, according to Strabo, was in Mount 
 Abus, at no considerable distance north of Mount 
 Niphates. Neither has the prime source of this 
 river been carried by other geographers so far north, 
 as Strabo and Ptolemy have inclined to place it. — 
 It may be further remarked, that the descriptions of 
 the Poet in other respeds point out Niphates as 
 the " specular mount," in preference to Mount 
 Masius or any point of the Taurus between that 
 mountain and the Euphrates ; as in such a station^ 
 the verse describing the extent of the Assyrian 
 empire. 
 
 As far as Indus east, Euphrates west, 
 
 jcems highly improper, when the speaker was stand- 
 
 ing so near the very bank of the last river. — Besidei 
 had the speclators of this geographical scene been 
 placed on Mount Masius, or any point of the moun- 
 tains immediately at the head of Mesopotamia, the 
 plain " at the feet of these mountains" would have 
 been only Mesopotamia. But the Poet positively 
 distinguishes between Mesopotamia and his great 
 plain, that lay at the foot of that vast range of 
 Mount Taurus of which Mount Niphates may be 
 considered as the highest and most central point. 
 The latter he describes 
 
 A spacious plain outstretched in circuit wide; 
 
 while the former he places between its two rivers, 
 and terms it 
 
 Tair champain with less rivers intervein'd. 
 
 253. It was a mountain, at whose verdant Jat 
 
 A spachus plain, outitretc/i'd in circuit wide. 
 Lay pleasant ;^^ 
 
 It was a hill 
 Of Paradise the highest, from whose top 
 The hemisphere of earth, in clearest ken, 
 Strftch'd out to the amplest reach of 
 prospect lay, 
 
 Paradise Lost, xi. 377. 
 
 2 j6. The one winding, the other strait — ] 
 
 Strabo, speaking of these two rivers, says the 
 Euphrates " is the largest, and passes through a 
 " greater traft of country with a winding stream." 
 
 En ^i fiei^uv i Eu^faTD?, xa' irX'.iu Sn^turi X^i^'y 
 <rxo^lu; Tu fii^u.—h. xi. p. 521. — And Dionysius 
 describes it flowing at first for a considerable way 
 direftly southward, then making sereral windings 
 eastward, before it passes through Babylon; 
 - wfuT'-c f*iJ aV afio? AfftEi'ioio 
 
 Attn' liXiOio, j*£fr,v Ba^vhuta wsfiura;, 
 
 978. 
 
 Statius gives it the epithet vagus, 5 Sylv. i. 89. 
 
 Quid VAGUS EuPHRATi», quid ripa binominii Istri. 
 
 The rapidity of the Tigris, and the straitness of 
 its course, are noticed by Dionytius ;
 
 15^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Then meeting join'd their tribute to the sea : 
 
 Fertile of corn the glebe, of oil, and wine ; 
 
 With herds the pastures throng'd, with flocks the hills ; 260 
 
 
 9*J- 
 
 S57- 
 
 with ten rivers inlcrvein'd,] 
 
 The word intrv^eind may here serve as a ckie 
 to lead us to a passage, which was very probably 
 in Milton's mind in this place. Quintus Curtius, 
 having spok-rn of the great fertility of the country 
 between the Euphrates and the Tigris, adds, " Causa 
 " fertilitatis est humor, qui ex utroque amne manat> 
 «' toto fere solo propter venas aquarum resu- 
 «' dante. L. v. C. i. 
 
 158. Then meding joined their tribute to the sea;"] 
 Strabo describes these two rivers, after having 
 
 encircled Mesopotamia, joining their streams near 
 Babylon, and flowing into the Persian Gulph : 
 ffvta^TovTii aX^T.X&i^ tyyvi; xaroi Tr.* Ba^L'Xwuar, T « 
 txiti'jt-t; £i{ try xaru IlefiTa; SaXaTXa^. L. XI. p. 52 I, 
 
 159. Fertile of corn the glehr^ cj oil and t^ine ; j 
 Thus Paradise Lost, xii. 18.; 
 
 Laboring the soil, and r, aping plenteous crop, 
 
 CORM, WINE, AND OIL ; ■ 
 
 And Ovid, 2. Amor. xvi. ig. ; 
 
 Terra jerax Cereris, multoquc fcracior u v * ; 
 
 Dal quoquc bacciferam Pallada gratus agcr. 
 
 Corn, wine, and oil, arc very frequently joined 
 together in Scripture, as the productions of the earth 
 most necessary to the support of human life, or 
 most conducive to its gratification. Deut. vii. 13. 
 xi. 14. 2 Chrnn. xxxii. 28. — Psalm iv. 7.— civ. i j. 
 In Jotham's Fable (Judges, jx.) the vine and the 
 olive arc; introduced as two of the most valuable 
 trees. It is there said of wine that it cheereih God 
 and Mati, that is, the high and low, princes and 
 peasants, all conditions of men ; and ol' oil, that by 
 it they hotioiir God and Man ; they used it in their 
 sacrifices, they made oblations of it, and anointed 
 with it the priests, their garments, and all their 
 
 holy things; t'ney also anointed kings with it, and 
 any great persons to whom they meant to do honour. 
 Oils and unguents weie much in use throughout 
 the East, at all entertainments. Hence the Psalmist, 
 in acknowledgment of God's bounty to him, says, 
 //ij.Y anointeit my head luilh oil, my cup runneth 
 o'ver. Psalm xxiii. 5. And (Luke, vii. 46.) our 
 Lord says to the Pharisee, at whose house he 
 was entertained, Mine head luith oil thou didit not 
 anoint. 
 
 Bp. Newton, conceiving this description of the 
 fertility of the country to refer only or principally 
 to Mesopotamia, cites the following passage irotn 
 Dionysius, as copied here by Milton. The geo- 
 graphical poet had been speaking of the counlrf 
 between the Euphrates and the Tigris. 
 
 Ov i^iv T6» xe.v>]? yi vofAy; uioaffXTt* ^wt*);, 
 Ov^' ort? o-vfiyyt xeft^fV^x Hx^u yifxtfuiff 
 M>iXoii afyai/Xoiffi» i^^wia.' eit ftf» v\yit 
 n*»Ton]»' ^tT&Epyo; avrif tt^i^iffffciTO xapTrtTr. 
 
 No herdsman ere those pastures rich disd in'd ; 
 No shepherd &wain, who, on his Qocks afield, 
 1 ending, attunes his vocal reed to Fan 
 The horn-hoot 'd Deity ; no planter scorns, 
 As worth!ejs his regard, the ticcs that here 
 With truus ut various kinds abundant rise, 
 
 Quintus Curtius likewise notices the peculiar 
 fertility of the " fair champain," between the two 
 rivers. " Inter Tigrim et tuphratem jacentia tarn 
 " uberi et piiigui solo sunt, ut a pastu repelli pecora 
 
 " dicantur, ne satiecas perimat." L. v. i. ^And 
 
 Strabo terms Mes)potamia il^oto? ;^;i.■fa, it, tt/tprf, 
 a country abounding in j-aitures and rich 'vegetation^ 
 
 L. xvi. p. 747. But the greater part of this 
 
 " large prr speft," at least of those countries which 
 lay east ot Mesopotamia as far as India, is well 
 entitled to this description of fertility, either con- 
 sidered figurative, or literal ; as both ancient and 
 modern accounts combine to shew. 
 
 Huge
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 IPARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 153 
 
 Huge cities and high tower'd, that well might seem 
 The seats of mightiest monarchs ; and so large 
 The prospe£l was, that here and there was room 
 For barren desert, fountainless and dry. 
 To this high mountain' top the Tempter brought 
 Our Saviour, and new train of words began. 
 
 "Well have we speeded, and o'er hill and dale, 
 Forest and field and flood, temples and towers. 
 Cut shorter many a league ; here thou behold'st 
 Assyria, and her empire's ancient bounds, 
 Araxes and the Caspian lake ; thence on 
 As far as Indus east, Euphrates west. 
 
 26- 
 
 270 
 
 eSi. Huge citin and high-tower' i — ] 
 So also in the Allegro, i i 7. 
 
 Tower'd cities please us then, 
 
 Turritce urbes is veiy common amongst the Latin 
 poeti. Thjer. 
 
 Euarufyo; ■!ro\K is no less common with the Greek 
 Authors. Thus Hesiod, 
 
 Ylccfo. ¥ EYnYPrOS ffoXi? av}fm. 
 
 Scut. Hercul. 87Q. 
 Whence, Paradise Lost, xi. 640. 
 Cities of men with ioftv gates and towers. 
 
 Milton also, in his first elegy, thus speaks 
 of London ; 
 
 Tuque urbs Dardanits, Londinuin, shufla colonis, 
 
 TuRRiGERUM latc conspiclcnda caput. 
 
 73* 
 164. For barren desert fountainless and dryj] 
 
 Fountainless, a word of much effeft, was probably 
 suggested by the Greek amJfor. — Diodorus Siculus 
 speaking of the Arabia Deserta, terms it tfv.fto; xai 
 ati/Jpj; ; and Strabo describes the parts of Mesopo- 
 tamia, that lay most southward, aiuofa xai hvitfa. 
 
 £68. 
 
 temples and toicers,'] 
 
 Thus in the succeeding Book, V. 33 ; 
 
 On each side an imperial city stood, 
 With TOWERS AND TEMPLES proudly clcvatC' 
 and in our Author's most beautiful Sonnet, ft^hett 
 the assault ixias intended against the city. 
 
 Lift not thy spear against the Muses* bower j 
 The great Emathian conqueror bid spare 
 
 The house of Pindarus, when temple and tower, 
 Went to the ground ; 
 
 Mr. Warton observes that temple ako tower 
 is a frequent combination in the old metrical 
 romances. 
 
 269. 
 
 here thou hehold'st 
 
 Assyria and its empire's ancient hounds^ 
 jira^es and the Caspian lake; thence on £^t'.] 
 
 The situation of Mount Niphates, it hai been 
 already observed, was particularly adapted for 
 this view, in which the Poet traces accurately 
 the bounds of the Assyrian Empire in its greatest 
 extent ; the ri'ver Araxes end the Caspian Lake to 
 the north ; the ri'ver Indus to t'he east ; the ri-ver 
 Euphrates to the west, ahd oft bejond as far as the 
 Mediterranean ; and the Persian Saj and the De- 
 serts of Arabia to the south. 
 
 X And
 
 154 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BffoK iir. 
 
 And oft beyond ; to south the Persian bay, 
 And, inaccessiblcj the Arabian drouth : 
 Here Nineveh, of length within her wall 
 
 275 
 
 s-4. — — inacctnibk — '] 
 
 SoHmis describes in a similar manner the most 
 •esert parts of Africa. Speaking of the boundaries 
 of the province of Cyrene, he says, " A tergo 
 " barbarorum variae nationes, et solitudo in- 
 
 " ACCESSA. 
 
 C, 50, 
 
 174, 
 
 the Arabian drought ; — ] 
 
 This figure of speech is equally bold and of fine 
 effecl. We might suppose it suggested by Virgil's 
 
 HiNC DESEKTA SITl REtIO, 
 
 Or by Lucan's 
 
 ^— calldas Liby.«: »itientis arenas. 
 
 Or still more by a description of the wilderness 
 ©f Barca in Silius Italicus, who terms it 
 
 ■ Barce sitiintibl's arida venis. 
 
 in. 251. 
 
 But, by adopting the reading of the elder edi- 
 tions, we find the very phrase in a passage of the 
 last- mentioned poet : 
 
 Hie, contra Libycamque sitim Caurosquc furentes, 
 Cernit devcxas Lilybieon nobilc Chclas. 
 
 xiv. 74. 
 
 It is true, in Drakenborch's edition, where this 
 reading is noticed, it is branded with a " Pessime 
 " prisca: editiones :" but, had every copy united in 
 reading Libyamque situm, surely there is a prosaic 
 flatness in the words, totally inconsistent with the 
 rest of the description. Lihyca sitis would be 
 much more consonant to the Canri furaites and the 
 Nobile Lilybo'cn. 
 
 I cannot forbear inserting here a citation from 
 a poet of our own country, contemporary with 
 Milton, where a description of the " sandy desert" 
 is given in the same bold style. 1 cite the passage 
 more at large than is necessarj', from an opinion 
 that the whole of it must be acceptable to the reader 
 of taste. It is taken from the Address to the Deity, 
 which concludes the Poems of ^ieorge Sandys, 
 
 printed in 1653, under the title of a Paraphras* 
 ON DIVINE poiMs. The Authot had been a gfcat 
 traveller ; and published his Travels ia Turkey 
 
 Egypt, and the Holy Land, 
 
 O who hath tasted of thy clemency 
 
 In greater measure, or more oft than I ? 
 
 Sly grateful verse thy goodness shall display, 
 
 O thou that went'st along in all my way, 
 
 To where the morning with perfumed wingj 
 
 From the high mountains •f Panch^a springs ; 
 
 To that new-found-out world, where sober night 
 
 Takes from the Antipodes her silent flight ; 
 
 To those dark seas, where horrid winter reign* 
 
 And binds the stubborn floods in icy chains; 
 
 To Libyan wastes, whos» thirst mo showikj, 
 
 ASSUACE, 
 
 And where swoln Nilus cools the lion's rage. 
 Sandys was the translator of Ovid. Part of this 
 volume of Poems consists of a Paraphrase of th* 
 Psalms ; with tunes composed by Lawes, who ori- 
 ginally set the songs in Comus to music. This 
 paraphrase Mr. Warton, in a Note on Milton's 
 Sonnet addressed to Laiucs, justly terms admirable. 
 There is also a Paraphrase of the Book of Job, m 
 so masterly a style, that it may be well doubted if 
 any poet of die succeeding century has surpassed it 
 in a similar attempt. 
 
 275. Here Nineveh, &c. — ] 
 
 This city was situated on the Tigris ; of length-, 
 i. e. of circuit, ivithin her njoall several days journey ,• 
 according to Dlodorus Siculus, Lib. ii. its circuit 
 was sixty of our miles, and in Jonah, ii. 3. it is 
 said to be an exceeding great city of three days journey, 
 twenty miles being the common computation of a 
 day's journey for a foot-traveller : huilt by Nintm 
 old, after whom the city is said to be called Nineveh; 
 of that first golden monarchy the seat, a capital city 
 of the Assyrian empire, which the poet stiles golden 
 monarchy, probably in allusion to the golden bead 
 of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the 
 four empires ; aud seat of Salmanassar, who in the 
 
 reign
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ^55 
 
 Several days journeyj built by Ninus old, 
 Of that first golden monarchy the seat, 
 And seat of Salmanassar, whose success 
 Israel in long captivity still mourns ; 
 There Babylon, the wonder of all tongues, 
 As ancient, but rebuilt by him who twice 
 Judah and all thy father David's house 
 Led captive, and Jerusalem laid waste, 
 
 280 
 
 reign of Hezekiah king of judah carried the 
 ten tribes captive into Assyria seven hundred and 
 twenty-one years before Christ, so that it might 
 now be properly called a long capti'vity. 'Newton. 
 
 tlJ, ■ ■ that Jirst golden monarchy—'] 
 Golden is here geaerally descriptive of the splendor 
 of monarchy. It may refer to what is said in his- 
 tory of the magnificence of the kings of Persia, their 
 golden palaces, golden thrones, gohUn beds, &c. 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, ii. 3, 
 
 Or where the gorgeous east, with richest hand, 
 Showers on hsr kings barbaric pkarl and 
 
 COLD, 
 
 Colden might also have a political reference to 
 Milton's apprehensions of the great expences of 
 monarchy; with respeft to which, in justifying 
 his republican principles, he had said that " the 
 ♦• trappings of a monarchy would set up an or- 
 " dinary commonwealth." 
 
 »8o. There Bahylon, Bc.—I 
 
 As Nineveh was situated on the river Tigris, 
 so was Babylon on the Euphrates ; the ivonder 
 of all tongues, for it is reckoned among the seven 
 wonders of the world ; as ancient as Nineveh, for 
 some say it was built by Belus, and otheVs by 
 Semiramis, the one the father, and the other the wife, 
 of Ninus, who built Nineveh ; but rebuilt by him, 
 i. e. whoever built it, it was rebuilt, and enlarged, 
 and beautified, and made one of the wonders of the 
 
 world by Nebuchadnezzar, (Is not this greiit BabyhH 
 that I have built, i^c, Dan. iv. 30.); luho twice 
 Judah led captive, in the reign of Jehoiakim, 
 2 Kings, xxiv. and eleven years after in the reign 
 of Zedekiah, and laid luaste Jerusalem, 2 Kings. 
 XXV ; in which desolate condition it lay many years, 
 //■// Cyrus set them free, and restored the Jews to 
 their country again, Ezra, i. and ii. Nevutont 
 
 «8o. 
 
 the wonder of all tongues,'] 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, i. 693, Milton speak* 
 of those who 
 
 ^— — WONDERING TELL 
 
 Of Babel, and the works of Mcmphian kings,— 
 That Babylon was reckoned among the seven 
 wonders of the world is noticed by Strabo, who 
 ascribes this to the great height and solidity of its' 
 
 walls ; otoirtf Tuy lirla isxi^aTnv ?,'.-/iT^i, L. XVI. 
 p. 738. — Diodorus Siculus describes the height of- 
 the walls as incredible to those who had only heard 
 it reported ; t» i' C-^o; awiro' TiiTc, axsaJT.'. L. ii. 
 Pomponius Mela terms Babylon " urbs mir^e mag- 
 <' nltudinis." L, i, C. 11, — Quintus Curtius speak- 
 ing of this city, when it sutrendered to Alexander, 
 says, " ipsius utbis pulchritudo ac yetustas, non 
 <' regis modo, sed etiam omnium oculos in semet 
 « haud immerito convertit." L. v. C. i. — And 
 Herodotus says it was adorned with a magnificence 
 at that time unexampled ; — ixixofffiriro Si u; n^t 
 a^^• ToXja-fta rut ii/*sit tSfU', L. i« p. 84* Ed. Wes-. 
 seling. 
 
 X 2 
 
 Till
 
 155 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK 111* 
 
 Till Cynis set them free ; Persepolis, 
 His city, there thou seest, and Ba6lra there ; 
 Ecbatana her stru6lure vast there shews, 
 And Hecatompylos her hundred gates ; 
 There Susa by Choaspes, amber stream, 
 
 285 
 
 ««4- 
 
 Persipolis, 
 
 Hi} c/A',— ] 
 The city of Cyrus ; if not built by him, yet by 
 hitn made the capital city of the Persian Empire. 
 
 Neivton, 
 
 Pliny (L. vi. C. 26.) terms Persepolis, fenki 
 regni caput ; and Diodorus Siculus, L. I 7. fttirpa- 
 7roAi» T))5 Uifrav ,'9a(rl^l^a?. jElian sayt that Cyrus 
 built a palace there. De Amimal. L. i. C. 59. 
 
 185. ' Baclra there !—'] 
 
 The chief city of Baftriana a jwovince of Persia, 
 famous for its fruitfulness ; mentioned by Virgil, 
 Georg. ii. 136. Neiuton, 
 
 286. Ecbdtana her sim&ure vast there sheivi,'] 
 Ancient historians speak of Ecbatana, th« me- 
 tropolis of Media, as a very Targe city. Herodotus 
 compares it to Athens, L. i. C. 98; Strabo calls 
 it a great city, f/.[ya\n ttoXk, L. ii ; and Polybius, 
 L. 10. says it greatly excelled other cities in riches 
 and magnificence of buildings. Nnuton. 
 
 The walls of Ecbatana (Judith, C. i. V. 2,) 
 were built with stones three cubits broad and six 
 long ; their height in the whole being seventy 
 cubits, and their breadth fifty. Supposing the cubit 
 to have been only a foot and half, this made them 
 one hundred and five feet high, and seventy-five 
 broad. These walls were, however, destroyed by 
 Esar-haddon, during the life-time of Deioces who 
 had built them, and who died six hundred and 
 forty-nine years before Christ, having reigned over 
 Media fifty-three years. Deioces, in Judith, is 
 called by the name of Arphaxad, and Esar-haddon 
 by that of Nabuchodonosor. See Prideaux, Part i. 
 Book I. 
 
 187. And H(Cftompylos her hundred gates ; — ] 
 
 The name signifies a city ivirh art hundred gates ; 
 and so the capital city of Parthia was called, "E*a- 
 Ts^n'^^^>' TO rui Ilafivxniiii ^maiTmiJt. Strabo. L. xi. 
 p. 514. Newton. 
 
 »88. Susa 6y Chcispes, — 1 
 
 Susa, the Shushan of the holy scriptures, and the 
 royal seat of the kings of Persia, who resided here 
 in the winter and at Ecbatana in the summer, was 
 situated on the river Choaspes, or Euloeus, or Ulai 
 as it is called in Daniel; or rather on the con- 
 fluence of these two rivers, which meeting at Susa 
 form one great river, sometimes called by one name, 
 and sometimas by the other. Neiuton. 
 
 DionysJDS describes the Choaspes flowing bjr 
 
 Susa, 
 
 •xafct, T£ psiiuv j^6o>a Zsc»i»« 
 
 1 071. 
 
 >88. 
 
 amber stream,"] 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, iii, 358. 
 
 And where the river of bliss through midst of hcavea 
 Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream ;— 
 
 where Bp. Newton observes that the clearness of 
 amber was proverbial with the ancients, and cite* 
 
 . AAEKTPINON vluif. 
 
 Callimach. Hymn ad Oik, xg. 
 
 And Virgil. Georg. iii. 522. 
 
 . non qui per saxa volutus 
 
 Pu»iOR ELECT Ro campum petit amnis : 
 
 Sabrina the River-Goddess, in Comus, is ad- 
 dressed, Ver. 863, as having 
 
 — — — AMBER-DROPPiNC hair; 
 where Mr. Warton observes that her hair drops 
 amber, because, in the poet's idea, her stream was 
 supposed to be transparent. 
 
 The
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 157 
 
 The drink of none but kings ; of later fame, 
 Built by Emathian or by Parthian hands, 
 
 290 
 
 ttg. Tke drink of none ht kings — ] 
 
 If we examine it as an historical problem, whether 
 the kings of Persia alone drank of the river Choaspcs, 
 we shall find great reason to determine in the nega- 
 tive. We have for that opinion the silence of many 
 authors, by whom we might have expeiflcd to have 
 found it confirmed, had they known of any such 
 custojn. Herodotus, Strabo, Tibullus, Ausonius, 
 Maximus Tyrius, Aristides, Plutarch, Pliny the 
 elder, Athenaeus, Dionysius Periegetes, and Eujta- 
 thius, have mentioned Choaspes, (or Eulsus,) as the 
 drink of the kings of Persia or Parthia, or have called 
 it ^amXixmi vSuf regia lympha, but have not said that 
 they alone drank of it. I say Cheaspes or Eultsus, 
 because some make them the same, and others 
 counted thera different rivers. The silence of Hero- 
 dotus ought to be of great weight, because he is so 
 particular in his account of the Persian affairs; and, 
 next to his, the silence of Pliny, who had read so 
 many authors, is cansiderable. Though it can hardly 
 be expefted that a negative should be proved any 
 other way than from the silence of writers, yet so 
 it happens that iElian, if his authority be admitted, 
 affords us a full proof that the water of Choaspes 
 might be drunk by the subjefts of the kings of Persia. 
 
 TUTi xh^M t<poitx £iV/Io ru H£f|i) «7oXt.TE^=i«j tat aXa- 
 Coitiacq 'CJETrXrj^w^Fva, xa» av xai vc:jp yixoXySa* to eh re 
 XoaffTTtf. Ette* ^ bv Ttn Epn(^tt) xeTw i^t-^r.^rav, uoettu t>9c 
 Ssfamia; ^'xstrtjc, ixnfvx^'t TW {■faslowsJw, et Ti; ejjjEi C^uf 
 ■*K T^Xoa^wy, lite Qu |3otffiA£i -bjieiv. Kat eJ^eS^ Tt^ ^^cl^u 
 Jwti QicrtiT®' E%W)'. Ettii* hv TaTO ^ffiri-, uat luifyilr 11 
 
 TtV 00v1» El'OfttO-El', OTt ac a7TO)X{]o T>) ^.-^r,. El fJ,Yl EKEltO 
 
 ivfi^Ti, In the carriages niohich folloiUid Xerxes, 
 there nuere abundance of things •v.hich ser'ved only 
 for pomp and osteyitation ; /here ivas also the avnter 
 0/" Choaspes. The army being oppressed 'with thirst 
 in a desert place, and the carriages not being yet 
 come up, it ivas proclaimed that if any one had of 
 the luater of Choaspes, he should gi've it Xerxes to 
 drink. One luas found luho had a little, and that 
 not siveet. Xerxes drank it, and accounted him ivho 
 ga've it him a benefaBor, because he had perished 
 
 luith thirst, if that little had not been found. Var. 
 Hist, xii. 40. Mention is made indeed by Aga- 
 thocles of a certain water, which none but Persian 
 kings might drink ; and if any other writers men- 
 tion it, they take it from Agathocles. We find it 
 in Atheneus : AyaOouXm n n£f<r*i5 ^ij^o a.ai kxi 
 
 p^fuo-Kn y.a^>Jj*tvo» v^Uf' eiibi ^e t«to Tii^x^a; iCJo" 
 f*>!xeJTa, «»ai i^-zhta 'Critsii' aw avl>J ri (iitot ^a-TiXra 
 x«i Toy CBfE yCJIoIov avli ruv tson^m' rwv h aXAuy ecu 
 Ti{ roin, S«»al'S- ii fijiAia. Agathocles says that there 
 is in Persia a ivater called ^o\Aen; that it is sei'enly 
 streams, that none drinks of it except the king and his 
 eldest son, and that if any other person does, death 
 is the punishment.. It does not however appear, that 
 the golden ivater and Choaspes- were the same. 
 Eustathius, having transcribed this passage from 
 
 Agathocles, adds : Zjjirilsot & ei xan to Xoa^Tuoi 
 
 iiuq, iiTif fTTin rpolEfo/AEV©' Vlifs-m |3a<7i>,<t;, riiavlra 
 ETTiTifx.isi' K>i,» £(p£l^«£E1o. — ^u<ere, luhether the •water of 
 Choaspes, nxihich the Persian king drank in his expe- 
 ditions, 'Was forbidden to all others under the same 
 penalty. Eustathius in Homer. Iliad. T, p. 1301. 
 Ed. Basil. It may be granted, and k is not at all 
 improbable, that none besides the king miglu drink 
 of that water of Choaspes, which was boiled and 
 barreled up for his use in his military expeditions. 
 Solinus indeed, who is a frivolous writer, says 
 " Choaspes ita dulcis est, ut Persici reges quamdiu 
 " intra ripas Persidis fluit solis sibi ex eo pocula 
 " vindicarint." Milton therefore, considered as 
 a poet, with whose purpose the fabulous suited 
 best, is by no means to be blamed for what he 
 has advanced ; as even the authority of Jiolii>us is 
 sufficient to justify him. Jortin, 
 
 All Dr. Jortin's proofs, with many mpre, as 
 Mr. Warton observes, (Note on Comus,) V. 912, 
 are to be found in Brissonius, De Principat. 
 Pers. L. I. 
 
 Eustathius, in his Commentary on Dionysiu?, 
 Perieges. 1073., says the King of Persia drank 
 no other water but that of the river Choaspes. to 
 
 u^af Xoao-ffaov (3o',(7i?vMti> r.F, eI «V7V ya( fintl frtttn 
 
 « T-fc'r
 
 ^58 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 BOO-K III. 
 
 The great Seleucia, Nisibis, and there 
 Artaxata, Teredon, Ctesiphon, 
 Turning with easy eye, thou may'st behold. 
 All these the Parthian, (now some ages past. 
 
 ; Tt» Tiifriin /Jayi^suf. Herodotus also positively i* 
 asserts the same, ts fue-i tjitji ^txa-.XiVi, ««i a?,Xy 
 tJsKj; ToTaM.b'. L.I. p. 89. Edit. Wesseling; where 
 it should be observed that a various reading of 
 f.c»9$ for i»,ntii is exhibited, but condemned a» n'/ie 
 causa. 
 
 oj later Jaite, 
 
 Buih by Emathian, or by Purthtan handSj 
 
 The great Seleucia, Niiibis, and there 
 
 Artaxata, Teredon, Clesiphon,'] 
 Cities of later date, built by Emathian hands, that 
 is, Macedonian ; by the successors of Alexander in 
 Asia. The great SiLucia, built near the river Tigris 
 fcy Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander's captains, 
 and called great to distinguish it from others of 
 the same name ; Nisibis, another city upon the 
 Tigris, called also Antiocha, Antiochia quam Nisibin 
 'vocant. Plin. vi. 16. Artaxata, the chief city of 
 Armenia, seated upon the river Araxes, juxta 
 Araxem Artaxate. Plin. vi. 10. Teredon, a city 
 near the Persian bay, below the confluence of 
 Euphrates and Tigris, Teredon infra conflnentem 
 Euphratis et Tigris, Plin. vi. 28. Ctesiphon, near 
 Seleucia, the winter residence of the Parthian kings, 
 Strabo. L. xvi. p. 743. Newton, 
 
 sg2. Artaxata — ] 
 
 Strabo, L. xi. p. 528. says that Artaxata was 
 built by Hannibal, for Artaxas; who, after being 
 general to Antiochus the Great, became king of 
 Armenia, 
 
 494. All these the Parthian, (ntio some ages past 
 Hy great Arsar.es led, uho founded frst 
 That empire,) under his dominion holds. 
 From the luxurious kings of Antioch aios.J 
 
 All these cities, which before belonged to the 
 Seleucids or Syro-Macedonian princes, sometimes 
 called kings of Antioch, from their usual place of 
 «esidfnce, were now under the dominion of the 
 
 Parthlans, whose empire was founded by Arsaces^ 
 who revolted from Antiochus Theus, according to 
 Prideaux, two hundred and fifty years before Christ. 
 This view of the Parthian empire is much more 
 agreeably and poetically described than Adam'i 
 prospeft of the kingdoms of the world from th» 
 mount of vision in the Paradise Lost, xi. 385 
 41 1: but still the anachronism in this is worse than 
 in the other : in the former Adam is supposed to 
 take a view of cities many years before they were 
 built, and in the latter our Saviour beholds cities, 
 as Nineveh, Babylon, dire, in this flourishing con- 
 dition many years after they were laid in ruins ; 
 but it was the design of the former vision to exhibit 
 what was future, it was not the design of the latter 
 to exhibit what was past. Ne^jjton. 
 
 The immediate objefl of this Temptation wai 
 to awaken ambition in our blessed Lord, by shewing 
 him all the kingdoms' of the ivorld, and the glory of 
 them, that is, the splendor of the great empires that 
 had been, or still were in existence. These are 
 shewed by means of their principal cities, the ex- 
 tent and magnificence of which may be supposed to 
 mark the great power and riches of the princes, 
 that built or inhabited them : 
 
 Huge cities and high-tower'd, that well might seera 
 
 The SEATS OF MIGHTIEST MONARCHS ; 
 
 Thus, having traced the extensive bounds of the 
 ancient Assyrian Empire, he exemplifies its splendor 
 and importance in the description which he gives 
 of Nineveh and Babylon, the two principal seats of 
 its government. He next touches on the Persian 
 and Median Empires, in noticing Perscpolis and 
 Ecbatana; and thence by direfling the attention to 
 Hecatompylos, iffc. makes a transition to the Parthiaa 
 Empire, at that time the rival and formidable anta- 
 gonist of the Roman power. Whatever anachro- 
 nism therefore there may be in this place, it is 
 
 surely
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 159 
 
 By great Arsaces led, v/ho founded first 
 That empire,) under his dominion holds. 
 From the luxurious kings of Antioch won. 
 And just in time thou com'st to have a view 
 Of his great power ; for now the Parthian king 
 
 295 
 
 wrdy not introduced uselessly and unnecessarily, as 
 Bp. Newton insinuates, 
 
 395, ■ great Arsaces — ] 
 
 Justin describes Arsaces " vir, sicut incerta; 
 " originis, ita virtutis experts," L. xli. C. 4. ; 
 and, speaking of his death, he says; " Sic Arsaces, 
 " quEsito simul constitutoque regno, non minus 
 " memorabilis Parthis, quam Persis Cyrus, Mace- 
 <' donibus Alexander, Roraanio Romulus, matura 
 " seneftute decedit. Cujus memorial hunc honorem 
 •' Parthi tribuejunt, ut omnes exinde reges suos 
 " Arsacis nomine nuncupent." C. 5. 
 
 «97. — — the luxurious kings of Anlioch — ] 
 
 No particular luxury seems laid by history to 
 the charge of Antiochus Theus, though it was the 
 •profligate conduft of Agathocles, or Andragoras, 
 then Governor of Parthia under him, that incited 
 »he resentment of Arsaces, and was the cause of 
 Ihe revolt, and finally of the creation of the Parthian 
 Empire. See Prideaux. Part ii. Book 2. The 
 contest with Arsaces was afterwards carried on 
 by Seleucus, the son of Antiochus ; against whom 
 also no imputation of any luxurious excesses seem 
 to be recorded. The next king of Syria who 
 made any attempts to recover Parthia was An- 
 tiochus the Great, so named for his valour, pru- 
 dence, beneficence, and other virtues, which he 
 maintained unimpeached till he was above fifty 
 years old ; when he married a young woman, and 
 totally changing his charadler, passed his whole 
 time, as Livy describes him, L. 36, omissd omnium 
 rerum cura, in confi'viis et 'vinum sequentiLits -voliip- 
 tatibus, ac deindc, ex fatigatione mngis quam salietaie 
 tarv.m, in sotnno. Before this he had however ceded 
 Parthia and Hyrcania to Arsaces, son of the Arsaces 
 who first headed the revolt, on condition of his 
 
 becoming his confederate, and assisting him t» 
 recover the other provinces. But Milton had pro- 
 bably here in his mind the descriptions given in 
 history of the luxury and profligacy of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes ; whose abandoned conduft and dissi- 
 pation was such, that instead of £/;/Z'(7wx, or the 
 Illustrious, which name he had assumed, he was 
 generally known by that of Epimarus, or the Mad- 
 man. See Polyb, apuii Alhencvnm, L, v. 
 
 298. And just in time thou com^st to have a view 
 0/ his grcdt poiccr ; i3c. — ] 
 
 Milton, considering very probably that a geo- 
 graphic description of kingdoms, however varied 
 in the manner of expression and diversified with 
 little circumstances, must soon grow tedious, has 
 very judiciously thrown in this digressive pifture 
 of an army mustering for an expedition, which he 
 has executed in a very masterly manner. The same 
 condufl he has observed in the subsequent descrip- 
 tion of the Roman empire, by introducing into the 
 scene prstors and proconsuls marching out to tlieir 
 provinces with troops, liftors, rods, and other 
 ensigns of power, and ambassadors making their 
 entrance into that imperial city from all parts of 
 the world. There is great art and design in this 
 contrivance of our Author's, and the more as there 
 is no appearance of any, so naturally are the parts 
 connefled. Thjcr. 
 
 299. 
 
 ■ Jar now the Parthiun king 
 
 In Ctciip/ion lialh«ather'd all his host, &c.J 
 
 Ctesiphon seems to have been the general place 
 of rendezvous of the Parthian army, wherever their 
 destination might be. Strabo says that the Parthian 
 kines, who had before made Selcucia their winter 
 residence, removed to Ctesiphon, because it was 
 larger, and raoie calculated for considerable mili- 
 
 tarr
 
 i6o 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK Til. 
 
 Ill Ctesiphon hath gather'd all his host joo 
 
 Against the Scythian, whose incursions M^Ild 
 
 Have wasted Sogdiana ; to her aid 
 
 He marches now in haste ; see, though from far, 
 
 His thousands, in what martial equipage 
 
 They issue forth, steel bows and shafts their arms, 305 
 
 lary preparations, and because they wished to save 
 the inhabitants of Seleucia from the inconveniences 
 of a numerous army in a place not sufficiently 
 
 large to leceive them. Taiirr,i S" tironma x^tiA-aSmt 
 01 Ttit Tlxiivanif 0a!7iA?iC) (pn^oj^itot run SiAeucaiur, ivx 
 /*)! Karecraijitvauro iiTo Tut Sxt/Sixa pvAs Kxt rparif- 
 ri«»' Smxj/,\t 5> TlafSucv iro^n; avri x»/*i75 £r» xxi to 
 f4=Vf9o? TouaTof ys 7rX>)6o; j£;)i;o|itEH), xat rm xctrxuKivvit 
 w iKutut airron xaTa(7X£tmcr(*Ei')i, xat rot. «iviaj Kai Ta; 
 TsX'ix? wpoo-^fa; Mtivoi; n-E7rofi<r(*s>r,. Strabo. L, xvi. 
 p. 743. The passage is cited by Bp. Newton, ap- 
 parently under a misapprehension of its true sense ; 
 as he infers from it that the Parthian kings made 
 Ctesiphon their winter residence, for the purpose 
 of preventing the incursions of the Scythians. But 
 by YxvititH (pv>^, we must understand soldiers from 
 their provinces bordering on Scythia. The moun- 
 tainous Iberians, who make a part of the Parthian 
 army in this place, V. 318. are particularly de- 
 scribed by Strabo as resembling the Scythians in 
 their manner of living, Zxi^ut J'xnv ^i„»t.;. L. xi. 
 
 302. 
 
 to her aid 
 
 Ht marches noui in haste ;— J 
 
 In the Charon, or EniSKOnOYNTES of Lucian, 
 Mercury in a similar manner shews, and describes 
 to Charon, Cyrus marching on his expedition against 
 Croesus. Having explained who Cyrus is, and having 
 related his former conquests, he says, xai NYN f^2. 
 Cinm ETTi Auoiav ioixtv, u; ^«Gi^£^)» tok Kfoico, afX"' 
 iira-jTut. C. g. — This Dialogue of Lucian is not 
 without its resemblance, in other respei^s, to this 
 part of our Author's poem. Mercury, to gratify 
 Charon in a short time with a full view of what 
 is passing in the world, tells him that he must 
 
 devise a " specalar mount" on purpose, tvh ixa»>i» 
 SKOriHM. This he does by piling Pelion on Ossa, 
 and Oeta and Parnassus on these. He thence shew* 
 his friend an " outstretch'd prospeft" of land and. 
 water, yn> ■s•oA^,l^, * * * * x, ofn, Xj 7rcT>Sft»f. 
 Charon afterwards desires to see Nineveh, Babylon, 
 and other famous cities of antiquity. The first of 
 these Mercury tells him has been so completely 
 destroyed, that no traces of it remain : the second 
 he shews him, and, it may be remarked, describe* 
 
 it ivTrvfyo^, and to, jAiyxii ^ifi/SoAor (tp^tira,) which It 
 
 very similar to our Poet's 
 
 Huge cities aad hi»h-towsr'o,— 
 
 Ver. 361. sttprt. 
 
 I take this opportunity of observing that Miltoa 
 in the eleventh Book of his Paradise Lost, 
 where Michael describes, and afterwards shews to 
 Adam, Ver. 417, " the many shapes and ways of 
 " Death," leems more immediately to haye had 
 in his mind a part of this Dialogue; where Mercury 
 having noticed to his companion, " Conqueror 
 " Death," (5 ^eXriro? 9««aTo;,) putting a sudden stop 
 to the ardent hopes and vain schemes of man, pro- 
 ceeds to point out and describe the satellites or 
 ministers of this great power, in the many and 
 various modes of death. He specifies first "diseases 
 
 " dire;" — AyyAoi Je auTs) jtj v%rifirai i/M>j» voTAot, 
 
 (J; cfa?, TiTTiaAoi, k, irufzroi, Kj tpictet, «, vicivntvjA.'yjiai ; 
 to which he humorously adds, suicide, robbers, 
 public executions, and tyrants, |i^7), x, Ajir>ipt», 1^ 
 Kumct, t^ ^ixar^i, Xj rv(ccyi>ot, C. 1 y. 
 
 305- 
 
 steel bows and shajts their arms,] 
 
 Catullus terras the Parthians sagittiferi ; 
 
 Sive
 
 jooK in. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 i6i 
 
 Of equal dread in flight, or in pursuit ; 
 
 All horsemen, in which fight they most excel ; 
 
 See how in warlike muster they appear, 
 
 In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. 
 
 He look'd, and saw what numbers numberless 
 The city gates out-pour'd, light armed troops. 
 
 310 
 
 Sive in Hyrcanos, Arabasque molles, 
 
 Seu Sacas, SACITXtFIlOSaUt PAgTHOt, 
 
 E?. xi. 
 
 Afld Dionysius distinguishes them as luarlike 
 and armed ivilh boius, 
 
 — — x^riioiy o&yjct'XoTofoi, 
 
 P£RI£C£S. 1040. 
 
 J06. Of equal dread in fights or in pursuit ; 
 
 All /wrsiTTierij ia which fight they most excel ;'] 
 
 Lucan notices the «kill of the Parthians in dis- 
 charging their arrows at their pursuers, while they 
 fled from them ; 
 
 — missa Parthi post terga sagitta : 
 
 i. aag. 
 
 Ovid refers to the same circumstance, De Art. 
 
 Amand. i, 209. 
 
 Tergaque Parthorum, Romanaque peSora dicam ; 
 
 Telaque, ab averso qua: jaclt hostis cquo. 
 Qui fugis ut vincas ? quid vifto, Parthc, relinques ? 
 
 And Virgil speaks of 
 
 FiDENTEMauK FUCA Partbum,' 
 
 Gi.ORG. iii. 3g, 
 
 Dionysius describes the Parthians habituated from 
 their infancy to archery and horsemanship ; 
 
 cK h yem^Tin; 
 
 ^-^^— ^-^ but from their birth| 
 In tend'rest infancy, are ceaseless train'd 
 To archery and horsemanship. 
 
 1044. 
 
 309. Jn rhombs, and wedges, and half irtocns, and wings,'] 
 The Rhomb or foy-^anSrn (pahccy^ was a Battalia 
 with four equal, but not reflangular, sides. — The 
 tfA.^o\',v, or cuneus, was the rhomb divided in the 
 middle, having three sides, representing a wedge, 
 or the Greek letter A, It is described by Vegetius, 
 
 " Multitudo peditum qui jundla cum acle prirao 
 angustior, dein latior procedit, et adversariorum 
 ordines rumpit, quia a pluribus in unum locum 
 tela mittuntur." L. iii. zg. An instance of the 
 good efTeft of this form of drawing up soldiers, to 
 push their way through a surrounding enemy, i» 
 mentioned by Cssar. Bell. Gall. L. 6. Ad 
 finem, The cnneus is mentioned by Virgil ; 
 
 — — densi cuNEic se quisque coadlis 
 Aggionierant ; 
 
 X-D. xii. 470. 
 
 And by Statins, Thebaid, x. 740; 
 
 Cornua nuncequitum, cunsos nunc illc pedestret. 
 
 The half moon was the nuKaii-vr,!, ^a\ayi. It wat 
 in the form of a half moon, the wings being turned 
 backwards, and the main body presented to the 
 enemy ; it was also called xvfrn or xathv, being 
 convex and hollow. Statius seems to have alluded 
 to this form, Theb. v. 145; 
 
 LuNATUMuuE putej agmcii descendere, 
 
 And Silius Italicus has lunatis flexibus. 
 iv. 319. 
 
 Frontinus says that Scipio Africanus overcame 
 Asdrubal by drawing up his army after this manner, 
 " Lu NATA ACIE congressus facile fudit." Stratac. 
 L. ii. C. 3. 4. The tuings are the Kefara of the 
 Greeks, and the alee or cornua of the Latins. 
 
 310, He looked, and saw &c.-^'[ 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, xi. 638. 
 He i-ook'd, and saw wide territory spread, &c, &e. 
 310. .^^— ^— ^-^ zchat numbers numberless 
 A manner of expression very familiar with the 
 Greek poets. Thus ^schylus, 1'rometh. 904. 
 
 Y A»roXfft3t
 
 i6i 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 In coats of mail and military pride ; 
 In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong, 
 Prauncing their riders bore, the flower and choice 
 Of niany provinces from bound to bound ; 
 From Arachosia, from Candaor east. 
 
 3^5 
 
 nofi(*--5 
 
 And PersjE, 682. 
 
 Thus Lucretius, iii. 799. Sc x. 1053. 
 Innumero numero, 
 
 Thjer. 
 
 Our Author also, in his Paradise Lost, has 
 a similar expression : 
 
 The multitude of Angels with a shout, 
 
 Loud as from numbers without number, 
 
 "'• 345- 
 311. The city gates out-pour' d,—-] 
 
 This is Virgil's 
 
 ^-^ ingcntem foribus domus alta superbis 
 Mane salutaDtum tods vomit zdibus undam. 
 
 Georg. ii. ^6i. 
 
 C>' 
 
 light arm'd tToops'\ 
 
 Prima leves iueunt si c^uando prxlia Fartlii. 
 
 Virg. Geokc, iv. 314, 
 
 312. In coals of mail and military pride: 
 Jn mail their horses clad, &c. — ] 
 
 Plutarch, in his account of the defeat of Crassus, 
 says, that the Parthians, on a sudden throwing off 
 the covering of their armour, seemed all on fire from 
 the glittering brightness of their helmets and breast- 
 plates, which were made oiMargian steel, and from 
 the brass and iron trappings of their horses. 
 E^«»^*>;5 Ta 57f0xaAvf>c^aT«i Twv oTAa-y xaTajSaA&vTEf, 
 w^D>!(ra» auTci yi lp^07a£lJ£i;, x^amiTi xxi duifa^i, ra 
 Mafyia,a <rijv;fa, r>?'^t'»T£? c.|^u «ai wsfiAaf/iTTii* oi S' 
 i:77r&i xttTaTritpfjcyfjitvit ^a\xoiq xctt nartp^t^ crjcsTTaa- 
 
 pgg». And Justin, speaking of the Parthians, 
 describes them -and their horses completely armed, 
 " Munimenta ipsis cquisquc Loricae plumata; sunt; 
 " qus utrumque toto corpore tegunt." L.xli, C. 2. 
 
 We may compare with our Author's descriptioik 
 in this place a passage of Claudian. 
 
 Hie ultrix acies ornatu fulcida Martis 
 
 Explicuit cuneos. Peditcs in parte sinistra 
 
 Consistunt; ecuites illinc poscentia cursum 
 
 Ora reluctantur pressis sedare lupatis, 
 
 Hinc alii saevum cristato vertice nutant, 
 
 £t tremulos humeris gaudent vibrare colores, 
 
 Quos operit formatque chalybs. Conjunfla per artem 
 
 Flexilis indu£lis animatur lamina membris, 
 
 Horribilis visu. Credas simulacra moverx 
 
 Ferrea, COGNATOQUE VIROS spirare metallo. 
 
 Par vestitus ebuis; ferrata fronte minak* 
 
 TUR, 
 
 Ferratosque levant securi vulneris armos- 
 
 In Rl'FIn. ii. 351, 
 
 315. Of many provinces from, iound to bound: — "] 
 
 He had before mentioned the principal cities of 
 the Parthians, and he fiov/ recounts several of their 
 provinces. Neivton. 
 
 316. — — Arachosia,— 2 
 
 This was one of the largest provinces of the 
 Parthian Empire, and, as Bp. Newton obsenxs, is- 
 described by Strabo extending to the river Indus,. 
 fAjpjfi Ts hia TTolafCB TSTaftsm. L, xi, p. ^16. 
 
 316. — — ^— — Candaor — ] 
 
 In the Edition of 1680 it is written Gnndaor^ 
 Pliny, describing this country, speaks of the Gan- 
 dari, L. vi. 1 6. where Father Harduin would read 
 Candari, and says, (as Bp. Newton observes,) that 
 they are different from the Gandari, Pomponius 
 Mela notices the same people, L. i. C. 2. where 
 the commentators are divided between the readings 
 of Candari or Gandari. Vossius, in a note on the 
 place, clearly shews they were a different people 
 from the Indian Gandari, and that they were the 
 Candari of Ptolemy, and the people meant by 
 
 Pliny,
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 j6j 
 
 And Margiana to the Hyrcanian cliffs 
 
 Of Caucasus, and dark Iberian dales ; 
 
 From Atropatia and the neighbouring plains 
 
 Of Adiabene, Media, and the south 
 
 Of Susiana, to Balsara's haven. 
 
 He saw them in their forms of battle rang'd. 
 
 How quick they wheel'd, and flying behind them shot 
 
 Sharp sleet of arrowy showers against the face 
 
 320 
 
 Pliny, in the passage already referred to. — These 
 provinces lay eastward. Candahar, or Kandahar, 
 is the modern name of Arachosia, 
 
 J17, ^.— MiiTgiana to the Hyrcanian cUffs 
 OJ Caucasus, and dark Iberian dales,'] 
 
 Margiana and Hyrcania lay northward of Ara- 
 chosia towards the Caspian Sea. Margiana is men- 
 tioned by Pliny, L, vi. 16. The Hyrcanian 
 
 " cliffs of Caucasus" and " the Iberian dales" 
 are joined together by Strabo, who says, that the 
 highest part of the Caucasus bordered on Albania, 
 Iberia, and Colchis. — ras (/i.si' wt t;^^n^oTasTa tb o»tw; 
 Katxaas ra vortuTara er', t« wfo; A?v/3«»i« it, l^r,(icy. 
 
 K, KoXxoi?. L. xi. p. 506. The Iberian dales arc 
 
 termed dark, as the country abounded in forests. 
 Tacitus describes the Iberians " saltuosos locos 
 " incolentes." Annal. vi. 34. 
 
 319. From Atropatia and the neighboring plaini 
 Of Adiabene, Media, and the south 
 OJSuiiana, to Balsara's haven.'] 
 
 This description of the Parthian provinces moves 
 nearly in a circle. It begins with Arachosia east ; 
 then advances northward to Margiana ; and from 
 thence, turning westward, proceeds to Hyrcania, 
 Iberia, and the Atropatian or northern division of 
 Media. Here it turns again southward, and carries 
 us to Adiabene, or the western part of Babylonia, 
 which, as Bp. Newton observes, Strabo (L. xvi. 
 p. 745,) describes as a plain country, rtj; f^sii m 
 AjixjJiim? % ttXeij-i) tteJh! En ; then, passing through 
 part of Media, it concludes with Susiana, which 
 
 extended southward to the Persian Gulph, called 
 Sahara s haven, from the Port of Balscra, Bas- 
 sorah, or Bussorah. 
 
 324. Sharp sleet oj arrowy showers—'] 
 
 Mr. Richardson observes that this is not unlike 
 
 Virgil's 
 
 — fundunt simul undique tela 
 
 Crcbra Nivis ritu— — • 
 
 JE.t<. ii. 6i». 
 
 To which we may add another similar passage, 
 ^N. xii. 284. 
 
 I. it toto turbida ccelo 
 Tempestas telorum, ac ferreus ingruit imbek. 
 
 Pindar, in his fifth Isthmian Ode, has 
 
 «tafi9(iu» uvSut XAAAZAENTI tfova, 
 ^— — ^ ccede granqinea— 
 
 And Nonnus, L. xxii. 
 
 of^izfo^ oirwc. 
 
 Thus also Siatius, Thebaid. viii. 407. 
 
 — non tanta cadcntibus hxdis 
 Aerian Rhodopen solida nive verberat Arflot, 
 Ncc fragor Ausonia; tantus, cum Jupiter omni 
 Arce tonal, tanla quatitur nee grandine Syrtis, 
 Cum Libys Boreas Italos niger attulit imbres. 
 Excluscie diem tells, stanf ferrea collo 
 Nub I LA, nee jaculis arftatus sufEcit aer. 
 
 The " arrowy hail," or " arrowy shower" wai 
 
 a figure of speech not uncommon with the Roman 
 
 prose writers as well as poets. Thus Ammianus 
 
 Marcellinus, " r.iTU grandinis undique con- 
 
 Y 2 " volantibut
 
 z64 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III, 
 
 Of their pursuers, and overcame by flight ; 
 The field all iron cast a gleaming brown : 
 Nor wanted clouds of foot, nor on each horn 
 Cuirassiers all in steel for standing fight, 
 Chariots, or elephants indors'd with towers 
 
 3^5 
 
 " volantibus tclis." L, xiv. C. lo. P, 49. Ed. 
 Gronov. Fol. 
 
 Spenser has shower and hah. of arroivs ; 
 Faeiy Queen, B, v. C. iv. 38. 
 
 But in the middle way they were yrnet 
 
 With i sHARr suovRE OF ARROWS, which them 
 
 staid, 
 And better bad advise, ere they assay'd 
 Unknowen peril of bold women's pride. 
 Then all the rout upon them rudely layd, 
 And heaped strokes so fast on every side, 
 And ARROWS iiail'd so thick, that they could not 
 abide. 
 
 3^6. The jidd all iron cast a gUaming brown .•] 
 Mr. Thyer notices the particular beauty and 
 expressiveness of this line. — Bp. Newton observes 
 that it greatly exceeds Fairfax's 
 
 Imbatteled in walls of iron brown ; 
 
 Tasso. C. i. St. 64. 
 
 and even a very fine passage in Virgil, which I 
 rather conceive Milton to have had in his mind in 
 this place. 
 
 — ^^— turn late FER REUS hastis 
 Horret ager, campique arm is sublimibus ardent. 
 
 Ati. xi. 601. 
 
 3'7- 
 
 clouds of foot, — ] 
 
 So we have in Homer, II. iv. 374. NkJio? ■m^uv, 
 and in Virgil, JEn. vii. 793. nimbus peditum. — 
 But, as Mr. Thyer observes with me, this verse is 
 not very consistent with what goes before, V. 307. 
 
 All horsemf. n, in which fight they most excell ; 
 
 nor with what follows to the same purpose, V. 344. 
 
 Such, and so numerous, was their chivalry ; 1 
 
 Neiutott. 
 
 By htrsemen Milton meant only skilled In the 
 Hianagement of a horse, as every Parthian was j 
 
 and by no means that they never engaged except 
 
 on horseback. We may colleft from Tacitus, 
 
 Annal. vi. 34. that the Iberians who make a part 
 of this army were foot soldiers. Strabo also notices 
 the best soldiers of Iberia as coming from the 
 mountainous part of that country, while the inha- 
 bitants of the plains were habituated to agriculture 
 and peaceful occupations, to ft.it av irtQiov rut I/3>ifiii/ 
 oi ysufyiKwrxTDi xai «"fo^ nfrjvr,v ev iVK'.\tcc otjcua-iv — 
 — — TTjy 5' opd'jjy oi 9rA;iyc xon (jLccyj^xrn Kan^t^ffu 
 L. xi. p. 500. — The inhabitants of a mountainous 
 country, it is obvious, were more likely to be foot 
 soldiers. Milton had probably this passage of Strab» 
 in his mind, when he specified " the dark Iberiaa 
 «« daks." 
 
 328. Cuirassiers all in steel for standing fghl,'] 
 Sallust, Fragment. L, iv. speaks of " Equites 
 " Cataphraifli ferrea omni specie." — Similar 
 to the Cataphrafts of the Romans were the xXi^a- 
 yxfim of the Persians ; whom the Author of the 
 Glossarium Nomicum describes, o^s£rio>i,-oi, all in steel. 
 Livy mentions forces of this kind entitled Lori- 
 cati. XXXV. 48. & xxxvii. 40. — Ammianus Mar- 
 cellinus speaks of Persian foot-soldiers, who were 
 " in speciem Mirmillonum contecti." xxiii. 6. 
 
 323. __— — elephants indors'd uiilh towers,'] 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of elephants in 
 the Persian army. L. 24. — Pliny mentions them 
 bearing towers with sixty soldiers on them, " tur- 
 " riti cum scxagenis propugnatoribus." viii. 7. 
 
 Silius Italicus, speaking of elephants bearing 
 towers, terms them turritje moles, and adds 
 
 — ^— ^^ propugnacula dorso 
 
 Bellua nigranli gcstans, ecu mubilis agger, 
 Nutat, et erc&os attoUit ad slhera rouros. 
 
 IX. 239. 
 
 Of
 
 BOOK lit. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Of archers ; nor of laboring pioneers 
 A multitude, with spades and axes arm'd 
 To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill, 
 Or where plain was raise hill, or overlay 
 With bridges rivers proud, as with a yoke ; 
 Mules after these, camels and dromedaries. 
 And waggons, fraught with utensils of war. 
 Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp. 
 
 »6s 
 33^ 
 
 335 
 
 33'- 
 
 of lahoring pioneers 
 
 A muUitudi: with spades and axes arm'd^ 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, i. 675. 
 
 bands 
 
 Of pioneers, with spade and pick-axe arm'd, 
 
 333- 
 
 7-/^1 
 
 Neivlon, 
 
 With bridges rivers ptoudj as with a yoke ;^ 
 Alluding probably to iEschylus's description of 
 Xerxes's bridge over the Hellespont. Pers^, 71. 
 
 Tfyer. 
 The river Araxes is termed by Virgil, ^n. 
 viii. 728. 
 
 — — pontem indignatus Araxes, 
 from its carrying away, by a violent inundation, 
 a bridge which Alexander had just built over it. 
 
 337. Suchforees met not, nor so wide a campy 
 
 When African zuith all Ins northern pouters 
 iesieg'd Albracca, Cc— ] 
 
 What Milton here alludes to is related in Boiardo's 
 Orlando Inamorato, L. i. Cant, i o. The number 
 of forces said to be there assembled is incredible, 
 and extravagant even beyond the common extra- 
 vagancy of romances. Agrican the Tartar king 
 brings into the field no less than two millions two 
 hundred thousand ; 
 
 Venlidua centinaia di migliara 
 
 Di caualicr hauea quel Re uel campOj 
 
 Coja non mai udita 
 
 and Sacripante the king of Circassia, who comes 
 to the assistance of Gallaphrone, three hundred and 
 eighty-two thousand. It must be acknowledged, 
 1 think, by the greatest admirers of Milton, that 
 the impression which romances had made upon his 
 imagination in his youth, has in this place led' him 
 into a blameable excess. Not to mention the noto- 
 rious fabulousness of the fafl alluded to, which I 
 doubt some people will censure in a poem of so 
 grave a turn, the number of the troops of Agrican, 
 &c. is by far too much disproponioned to any 
 army, which the Parthian king by an historical 
 evidence could be supposed to bring into the field. 
 
 Thjer. 
 
 337. Such forces met not, dr. — ] 
 
 Thus our Author, Paradise Lost, i. 573. 
 
 for never, since created man, 
 
 Met SUCH imbodied roRCE. 
 
 And Lucan, having described at large the nations 
 which took part with Pompey, thus speaks of th& 
 whole amount of the forces assembled under hij 
 command. 
 
 Non, cum Memnonlis dediicrns agmina rcgnis 
 
 Cyrus, ct cffusis numcrato militc telis 
 
 Descendit Pcrscs, fraterniquc ultor amoris 
 
 vEquora cum tantis percussit classibus, unum 
 
 Tot rcgcs habuere ducem ; coisre nec UNauA.M 
 
 Tarn variE cuitu gentes, tarn dissona vulgi 
 
 Ora. 
 
 Pharsal. iii. 284, 
 
 When
 
 i66 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 When Agrican with all his northern powers 
 
 Besieg'd Albracca, (as romances tell,) 
 
 The city of Gallaphrone, from whence to win 340 
 
 The fairest of her sex Angelica, 
 
 His daughter, sought by many prowest knights. 
 
 Both Paynim, and the peers of Charlemain. 
 
 Such and so numerous was their chivalry : 
 
 At sight whereof the Fiend yet more presum'd, 345 
 
 And to our Saviour thus his words renew'd. 
 
 That thou may'st know I seek not to engage 
 Thy virtue, and not every way secure 
 On no slight grounds thy safety, hear, and mark 
 To what end I have brought thee hither, and shown 350 
 All this fair sight : thy kingdom, though foretold 
 By prophet or by Angel, unless thou 
 Endeavour, as thy father David did. 
 
 341. Thtfdircsl oj her sex Angelica^'] 
 
 This is that Angelica who afterwards made her 
 appearance in the same charafler in Ariosto's 
 Orlando Furioso, which was intended as a con- 
 tinuation of the story, which Boiardo had begun. 
 As Milton fetches his simile from a romance, he 
 adopts the terras used by these writers, viz. pro'vuest 
 and Paynim. Thjer. 
 
 312. -^—^-^—^—^—— prowest knights,'] 
 
 For yonder comes THE prowrst knight alive, 
 Prince Arthur flowre of grace arid nobilcsse ; 
 
 Spenser, Faery Oueen, B. II. C. viii. 18. 
 
 Fronvest is the superlative oi proiu, from the old 
 French preux, valiant. Preiix che'valier is the old 
 term for the Heroes of Romance. The French 
 writers of chivalry, speak, of the " nine worthies" 
 under tlie title of les luttf pratx. 
 
 3.J3. ioth Paynim, and th: peers of CharUmtin. 
 Such and so numerous aas their chivalry ;] 
 
 Milton, as Mr. Thyer observes, is still fond of 
 the fables of Romance, and in referring to them 
 retains its language. Thus in a simile in hii 
 Paradise Lost, i. 763, he describes 
 
 — a cover'd field, where champions bold 
 Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldan's chair 
 Dcfy'd the best of Paynim chivalry,— 
 
 And in the same Book, Ver. 585, he speaks of 
 the Saracen knights 
 
 whom Biserta sent from Afric shore, 
 
 When Charlemain, with all uii risRACi, fcU 
 
 By Foniarabbia. 
 
 Thou
 
 BOOK III, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 167 
 
 Thou never shalt obtain ; prediction still 
 
 In all things, and all men, supposes means, ^^^ 
 
 Without means us'd, what it predicts revokes. 
 
 But, say thou wert possess'd of David's throne. 
 
 By free consent of all, none opposite, 
 
 Samaritan or Jew ; how could'st thou hope 
 
 Long to enjoy it, quiet and secure, 360 
 
 Between two such inclosing enemies, 
 
 Roman and Parthian ? Therefore one of these 
 
 Thou must make sure thy own ; the Parthian first 
 
 By my advice, as nearer, and of late 
 
 Found able by invasion to annoy ^^$ 
 
 Thy country, and captive lead away her kings, 
 
 Antigonus and old Hyrcanus, bound, 
 
 Maugre the Roman. It shall be my task 
 
 To render thee the Parthian at dispose, 
 
 Choose which thou wilt, by conquest or by league : 370 
 
 366. 
 
 and caUive had aZL-ay her h'n^ 
 
 Antigonus^ and old Hyrcanus^ hundj"] 
 Here seems to be a slip of memory in our 
 Author. Tlie Parthians indeed led Hyrcanus away 
 captive to Seleucia, after his eyes were put out, and 
 when he was past seventy years of age, so that he 
 might well be called old Hyrcanus ; but instead of 
 leading away Antigotms captive, they constituted him 
 king of the Jews, and he was afterwards deprived of 
 his kingdom by the Romans. See Josephus Antiq. 
 jS^ib. 14. Cap. 13. De Bell, Jud. Lib. i. Cap. 13. 
 But it should be considered that Milton himself 
 was old and blind, and composing from memory he 
 might fall into such a mistake, which may be 
 pardoned among so many excellences, Neivton, 
 
 Bp. Newton's observation on the mistake of our 
 " old blind" poet, is here rather unfortunate ; as 
 he himself, with his eyes open, seems to have fallen 
 into a considerable mistake in this note, by de- 
 scribing Hyrcanus as having his eyes put out, which 
 does not appear to have been the case. His ears 
 were cut off by his rival Antigonus, {See Joseph. 
 A.NTiQ; Jud. xiv. 13.) to render him incapable, 
 when maimed in person, of filling the office of 
 High Priest; but, (L. xv. C. 6. Seft. 14. where 
 the various misfortunes that befel Hyrcanus are 
 particularly recited,) nothing is said of his eyes 
 being put out. 
 
 By
 
 i68 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 3O0K III, 
 
 By him thou shalt regain, without him not, 
 That which alone can truly reinstall thee 
 In David's royal seat, his true successor, 
 Deliverance of thy brethren, those ten tribes. 
 Whose offspring in his territory yet serve. 
 In Habor, and among the Medes dispers'd : 
 Ten sons of Jacob, two of Joseph, lost 
 Thus long from Israel, serving, as of old 
 Their fathers in the land of Egypt serv'd, 
 This offer sets before thee to deliver. 
 These if from servitude thou shalt restore 
 To their inheritance, then, nor till then. 
 Thou on the throne of David in full glory. 
 From Egypt to Euphrates and beyond, 
 Slialt reign, and Rome or Caesar not need fear. 
 
 Z1S 
 
 380 
 
 38: 
 
 374- 
 
 those ten tribes 
 
 ll'hse ofijirtng in his territory yet serve. 
 In Halur, and among the Medes dispersed;'] 
 
 These were the ten tribes, whom Shalmaneser 
 king of Assyria, carried captive into Assyria, and 
 put them ill Halab and in Habor by the ri-^er of 
 Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, z Kings, 
 xviii. 1 1, wliich cities were now under the dominion 
 of the Parthians, NeyjtQn. 
 
 377. Ten sons of Jjcob, two of Joseph— "] 
 
 The ten captive tribes of the Israelites were 
 those of Reuben, Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, 
 Cad, Asher, Napthali, Ephraim and Manasses, 
 Only eight of these were sons of Jacob; the two 
 others were the sons of Joseph. I would suppose 
 therefore that the Poet meant to give it, 
 
 fii^ht sons of Jacob, two of Joseph lost. 
 
 Otherwise he must have included in the ten sons of 
 Jacob both Levi and Joseph. The Levites it is 
 true did not form a distinft tribe, nor had any 
 possessions allotted them ; but, being carried into 
 captivity with the other tribes, amongst whom 
 they were scattered, Levi might be referred to 
 among the lost sons of Jacob, It seems however 
 quite incorreft to refer to Joseph, as the head of 
 a tribe, when he was really merged in the tribes 
 of his two sons Ephraim and Manasses. 
 
 3R4. From Egypt to Euphrates—"] 
 
 That is the kingdom of Israel in its utmost 
 extent ; for thus the land was promised to Abraham, 
 Gen. XV. i S. Unto thy seed ha've I given this iand, 
 from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the 
 river Euphrates: and the extent of Solomon's king- 
 dom is thus described, i Kings, iv. zr. And So- 
 lamsit reigned over all kingdoms from the river
 
 BOOK 111. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 169 
 
 To whom our Saviour answer'd thus unmov'd. 
 Much ostentation vain of fleshly arm 
 And fragil arms, much instrument of war. 
 Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought. 
 Before mine eyes thou hast set ; and in my ear 
 Vented much poUcy, and projects deep 
 Of enemies, of aids, battles and leagues. 
 Plausible to the world, to me worth naught. 
 Means I must use, thou say'st, prediction else 
 Will unpredidt, and fail me of the throne : 
 My time, I told thee, (and that time for thee 
 Were better farthest off,) is not yet come : 
 When that comes, think not thou to find me slack 
 
 90 
 
 395 
 
 CEuphratesJ unto the land of the Philistines, and 
 unto the border of Egypt. Neiuton. 
 
 387. Much ostentation vain of Jleshly arm,'] 
 
 " Fleshly arm" is scriptural. With him is an 
 ARM OF FLESH, but ivith us is the Lord our God, to 
 help us, and to fight our battles, 2 Chron. xxxii. 8. 
 ^hus saith the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth 
 in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and nuhose 
 heart departeth from the Lord, Jer. xvii. 5. 
 
 Spenser has. 
 
 What man is he that boasts of fleshly might? 
 
 Faery Queen, B. I. C. 10. \. 
 
 388. 
 
 muck instrument of war 
 
 Long in preparing — ] 
 
 Totius belli instrumento et apparatu — 
 Ciceron. Adademic. ii. i. 
 
 394- 
 
 prediSion else 
 
 Will unpredia—] 
 This refers to what the Tempter had said before, 
 Ver. 354, where he had fallaciously applied the 
 argument, that the requisite reliance on divine 
 
 providence does not by any means countenance a 
 supine negligence, and a dereliftion of all personal 
 exertions. Mr. Thyer censures the manner of speak- 
 ing here, as too light and familiar for the dignity 
 of the speaker, but it strikes me as censurable not 
 so much for the lightness, as for the quaintness, 
 of the expression, and somewhat of that jingling 
 play upon words, of which our Author was certainly 
 too fond. To unpredia is something like to un- 
 create. See Paradise Lost, v. 895. & ix. 943. 
 
 Rowe, in his admirable version of Lucan, has, 
 it may be observed, used the verb to undecrcc ; but 
 that in a manner so happily bold, as I conceive 
 goes nearer to vindicate the word ; 
 
 Ultimus esse dies potuit tibi Roma malorum ; 
 
 Exire e niediis potuit Pharsalia fatis, 
 
 vi. 31s. 
 
 Rome had not worn a tyrant's hated chain, 
 And Fate had undscreed Pharsalia's plain. 
 
 396. My time 
 
 is n9t yet come .•] 
 
 My time is not yit come, John, vii. 6. 
 
 Ni i:'to». 
 
 On
 
 17^ 
 
 PARADISE REGAIN ED." 
 
 SOOK lit. 
 
 On my part aught endeavouring, or to need 
 
 Thy politic maxims, or that cumbersome ' 40a 
 
 lAiggage of war there shown me, argument 
 
 Of human weakness rather than of strength. 
 
 My brethren, as thou calFst them, those ten tribes 
 
 I must deliver, if I mean to reign 
 
 David's true heir, and his full sceptre sway 405 
 
 To just extent over all Israel's sons. 
 
 But whence to thee this zeal ? Where was it then 
 
 For Israel, or for David, or his throne, 
 
 When thou stood'st up his tempter to the pride 
 
 Of numbering Israel, which cost the lives 410^ 
 
 Of threescore and ten thousand Israelites 
 
 By three days pestilence ? Such was thy zeal 
 
 To Israel then ; the same that now to me. 
 
 As for those captive tribes, themselves were they 
 
 400. 
 
 ' t/iat cumhrsome 
 
 ^'^gS<'g' of war— "l 
 The Romans called their military baggage, and 
 whatever related to it, impcdimoita. 
 
 JfiX. 
 
 argument 
 
 Of hi.mvi u'caltnei) ralher than (if stren^'h.'] 
 
 It is a proof of human weakness, as it shews that 
 man is obliged to depend upon something extrin- 
 sical to himself, whether he would attack his enemy 
 or defend himself. It alludes to the common ob- 
 servation, that nature has furnished all creatures 
 with weapons of defence, except man. See Ana- 
 creon's Ode on this thought. Thyer. 
 
 409. When thou .'tocd'.'t up hii tempter, fc] 
 Alluding to I Chron. xxi. ,. And Satan stood 
 up (tgahist Israel, and profoked Da-vid io >:umber 
 Israel.. Milton, we see; considers it not as the 
 
 advice of any evil counsellor, as some understand 
 the word Satan, but as the suggestion of the first 
 author of evil : and he expresses it very properly 
 by the pride of numbering Israel; for the best com- 
 mentators suppose the nature of David's offence to 
 consist in pride and vanity, in making flesh his 
 arm, and confiding in the number of his people. 
 And for this three things were proposed to him by 
 the prophet, three years famine, or three months to 
 be destroyed before his enemies, or three days 
 pestilence ; of which he chose the latter. So the Lord 
 sent pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel 
 seventy thousand ?nen, ver. 1 4. Netuton. 
 
 414. As for those ciptive tribes, iSc-l 
 
 The captivity of the ten tribes was a punish- 
 ment owing to their own idolatry and wickedness. 
 They fell off from Cod to ivorship calves, the golden 
 
 calves-
 
 SOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Who wrought their own captivity, fell off 
 From God to worship calves, the deities 
 Of Egypt, Baal next and Ashtaroth, 
 And all the idolatries of Heathen round, 
 Besides their other worse than heathenish crimes 
 Nor in the land of their captivity 
 Humbled themselves, or penitent besought 
 The God of their forefathers ; but so dy'd 
 Impenitent, and left a race behind 
 Like to themselves, distinguishable scarce 
 From Gentiles, but by circumcision vain. 
 And God with idols in their worship join'd. 
 Should I of these the liberty regard, 
 Who, freed, as to their ancient patrimony. 
 
 171 
 415 
 
 420 
 
 425 
 
 calves which Jeroboam had set up in Bethel and in 
 Dan, and which the poet calls the deities of Egypt ; 
 for it is probable, (as some learned men have con- 
 jeftured,) that Jeroboam, having conversed with tlie 
 Egyptians, set up these two calves in imitation of 
 the two which the Egyptians worshipped, the one 
 called Apis at Memphis the metropolis of the upper 
 Egypt, and the other called Mnevis at Hierapolis 
 the metropolis of the lower Egypt. Baal next and 
 Ashtaroth. Ahab built an altar and a temple for 
 Baal, I Kings, xvi. 32. and at the same time 
 probably was introduced the worship oi Ashtaroth, 
 the Goddess of the Zidonians, i Kings, xi. j. For 
 Jezebel, Ahab's wife, who prompted him to all 
 evil, was the daughter of Ethbnal king of the Zido- 
 nians, I Kings, xvi. 3 I. Anihy the prophets of the 
 grrj-ves (i Kings, xviii. ig.) Mr. Selden under- 
 stands the prophets of Ashtaroth or Astarte : and 
 the gro'ves under every green tree, z Kings, xvii, lO. 
 should be translated Ashtaroth under cverj green 
 
 tree. See Selden de Diis Syris Syntag. ii. cap. 2. 
 But for the wickedness and idolatry of the Israelites, 
 and their rejection thereupon, and still continuing 
 impenitent in their captivity, see 2 Kings, xvii. 
 and the prophets in several places. Ne-iuto)!. 
 
 428. Who; freed, as to their ancient patrimony, 
 UnhumbleJ, unrep:ntant, unrejonn^d. 
 Headlong would folloio ; and to their Gods perhaps 
 OJ Bethel and of Dan ,?— ] 
 There is some difficulty and obscurity in this 
 passage; and several conjcdures and emendations 
 have been offered to clear it, but none, I think, 
 entirely to satisfaftion. Mr. Sympson would read 
 Headlong ivoiildfall off, and l2c. or Headlong luould 
 fall, ^c.- But Mr. Calton seems to come nearer 
 the poet's meaning. Whom or what would they- 
 follow, says he ? There wants an accusative case ; 
 and what must be understood to complete the sense 
 can never be accounted for by an ellipsis, that any 
 rules or use of language will justify. He therefor? 
 Z 2 suspeflt
 
 lya 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 ROOK m. 
 
 Unbumblcd, unrepentant, unreform'd, 
 
 Headlong would follow ; and to their Gods perhaps 430 
 
 Of Bethel and of Dan ? No ; let them serve 
 
 Their enemies, who serve idols with God. 
 
 Yet he at length, (time to himself best known,). 
 
 Remembering Abraham, by some wondrous call 
 
 May bring them back, repentant and sincere, 435 
 
 And at their passing cleave the Assyrian flood, 
 
 suspefls by some accident a whole line may have 
 been lost ; and proposes one, which he says may 
 serve at least for a commentary to explain the 
 sense, if it cannot be allowed for an emenda- 
 tion. 
 
 Thar father s in their old imt/uiftes 
 Headlong would follow, &c ^^— « 
 
 Or is not the constraftion thus, Heacllorig ivould 
 follonu as to their ancient patrimonj, and to their 
 Gods perhapsy Uc. ? Netuiar. 
 
 There is somewhat of obscurity here, it must be 
 allowed ; but I conceive our Author to have many 
 p.issages that are more implicate. The sense seems 
 to be this ; " V^ ho, if they «'ere freed from that 
 " captivity, which was inflided on them as a 
 " punishment fur their disobedience, idolatry, and 
 " other vices, would return to take possession of 
 " their country, as something to which they were 
 " justly entitled, and of which they had been long 
 " unjustly deprived ; without shewing the least 
 '* sense either of their former abandoned conduft, 
 " or of God's goodness in pardoning and restoring 
 " them. This change in their situation would 
 " produce none whatever in their conduct, but they 
 " would retain the same hardened hearts, and the 
 " same wicked dispositions as before, and most 
 •' probably would betake themselves to their old 
 " idolatries and other abominations." — The ex- 
 pression headlong 'would fallcw seems allusive to 
 brute animals hurrying in a gregarious manner to 
 any new and better pasture; and headlong might 
 
 be particularly suggested by Sallust's description of 
 irrational animals, " pecora, quts natura frona, 
 
 " /J/5'«f VENTRI OBEDIENTI A ^«.r;/." If a COr- 
 
 reftion of the text be thought necessary, 1 should 
 prefer, 
 
 Wlio, freed as to their ancknt patrimony,. 
 Unliumblcd, unrepentant, unreform'd, 
 Headlong wouldyi// unto their Gods, perhaps 
 Of Bethel and of Dan 
 
 in recommendation of which it may be observed 
 that/rt///o idols is Miltonic ; as it is said of Solomon, 
 Paradise Lost, i. 444, that his heart 
 
 Eegnil'd by fair idolatresses FILL 
 To idols tuul. 
 
 4'j9. UiiliumhUd, unrepentant^ unreform^df] 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, iL i8j; 
 
 Unrespited, tinpitied, unrcpriev'd. 
 
 And Shakespeare, Hamlet, Aft I. Sc. ^. 
 
 Unhousel'd, unappointed, unancaTd, 
 436. And at their passing cleave the Assyrian Jlood, iSc.^ 
 
 There are several prophecies of the restoration of 
 Israel : but in saying that the Lord would cleave 
 the Assyrian flood, that is the river Euphrates, at 
 their return from Assyria, as he cleft the Red Sea 
 and the river Jordan at their coming from Egypt, 
 the poet seems particularly to allude to. Rev. 
 xvi. 1 z. And the sixth Angel poured out his vial 
 upon the great riiier Euphrates ; and the luater 
 thereof nxias dried up, that the luay of the kings of 
 the cast might be prepared : and to Isa. xi.. 15, J 6. 
 
 • And
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 173 
 
 While to their native land with joy they haste. 
 As the Red Sea and Jordan once he cleft, 
 When to the promis'd land their fathers pass'd ; 
 To his due time and providence I leave them. 
 
 So spake Israel's true king, and to the Fiend 
 Made answer meet, that made void all his wiles. 
 So fares it, when with truth falshood contends *. 
 
 440 
 
 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the 
 Egyptian sea, and nuith his mighty miind shall he 
 shake his hand o'ver the ri'vcr, and shall smite it in 
 the seven streams, and make men go O'ver dry-shod : 
 And there shall be an high'way for the remnant of 
 his people, •which shall be left from Assyria, like as 
 it ivas to Israel in the day that he catne up out of 
 the land of Egypt ^ Ne'Wton, 
 
 438. — — the Red Sea arid Jordjn once he cltft^'^^ 
 
 Thus in our Author's Version of Psalm cxxxvi. 
 done at the age of fifteen ; 
 
 The ruddy wave he cleft in twain, 
 Of the Erythrean main. 
 
 And Psalm Ixxiv. I j. Translation in the Bible. 
 ♦* Thau didst cleave the fountain and the flood," 
 
 441. 
 
 ani to the fiend 
 
 Made anszver meet, thai made void all his zciUs,'\ 
 
 We may compare the following passage of Vida) 
 where Satan in his Speech to the Devils in Pandje- 
 monium, relates how he had been foiled in the 
 Temptation of our blessed Lord. 
 
 Iste aulem, quamvis mortalia membra caducus 
 Induerit, tamen est nostris imperditus armis. 
 Nempe ego sspe adii, eoramque interritus urgens 
 Tentavi inbidiis nequicquam **•*•* 
 
 Quas non in fades, quas non mutatus in ora 
 Accessi incassum ! Semper me reppulit ipse 
 Non armis uUis fretus, non viribus usus ; 
 Sed, (antum veterum repetito carmine vatum, 
 Ir«ita tentamsnta, dolos, et vim exuit 
 
 O.MNEM, 
 
 Chr iSTi ad. i. 193, 
 
 * Among the various beauties, which adorn this truly Divine Poem, the most distinguishable and 
 captivating feature of excellence is the charafter of Christ. This is so finely drawn, that we can scarcely 
 forbear applying to it the language of Quintllian, respcfting the Olympian Jupiter of the famous sculptor 
 
 Phidias, " cujus pulchritudo adjecisse aliquid etiam recepts religioni videatur, adeo majestas uperis- 
 
 «« Deum aquavit." L. xii. C. 10. It is observed by Mr. Hayley, that, " as in the Paradise Lost 
 " the Poet seems to emulate the sublimity of Moses and the Prophets, it appears to have been his wish in 
 " the Paradise Regained to copy the sweetness and simplicity of the Evangelists." Life of Milton,. 
 p. 125. — The great objeft of this second poem seems indeed to be the exemplification of true Evangelical 
 Virtue, in the person and sentiments of our blessed Lord. From the beginning of this third Book to 
 Ver. 363 of the next, praflical Christianity, thus personified, is contrasted with the boasted pretensions of 
 the Heathen world, in its zenith of power, splendor, civilization and knowledge ; the several claims of 
 
 which are fully stated, with much ornament of language and poetic decoration. After an exordium of 
 
 flattering commendation addressed to our Lord, the Tempter opens his progressive display of Heathen 
 excellence with an Eulogy on Glory (Ver. 2 j.), which is so intrinsically beautiful, that it may be questioned', 
 whether any Roman orator or poet ever so eloquently and concisely defended the ambition of Heroism ; 
 tlie judement of the Author may also be noticed {\\\. 31, ^^c.) in the seleifllon of his heroes, two o£ 
 * 1 wfiom,.
 
 174 PARADISE REGAINED. book in- 
 
 whom, Alexander and Scipio, he had before introduced (B. ii. 196. 199.) as examples of continency and 
 
 self-denial: in short, the first speech of Satan opens the cause, for which he pleads, with all the art 
 
 becoming his characler. — In our Lord's reply, the false glory of worldly fame (Ver. 47.) is stated with 
 energetic briefness, and is opposed (Ver. 60.) by the true glory of obedience to the Divine commands. 
 The usual modes of acquiring glory in the Heathen world, and the intolerable vanity and pride with 
 whicli it was claimed and enjoyed, arc next (Ver. 74.) most forcibly depifted ; and are finely contrasted 
 (\'cr. 88.) with those means of acquiring honour and reputation, which are innocent and beneficial : 
 
 But, if there be in glory aught of good, 
 It may by means far diiferent be obtain'il. 
 Without ambition, war, or violence ; 
 By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent. 
 By patience, temperance.- 
 
 These lines are marked with that peculiar species of beauty, which distinguishes Virgil's description of 
 the amiable heroes of benevolence and peace, whom he places in Elysium, together with his blameless 
 warriors, the virtuous defenders of their country; 
 
 Hie manus, ob patriam pugnando vulnera pass!, 
 Quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat, 
 Qu^ique pii vates, et Phoebo digna locuti, 
 Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes, 
 Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo ; 
 Omnibus his nivea cinguntur tempora vittii. 
 
 ./En. vi. 660. 
 
 In the conclusion of the Speech (Ver. 96.) an heroical charafter of another kind is opposed to the 
 
 w^arlike heroes of antiquity ; one who, though a Heathen, surpassed them all in true wisdom and true 
 
 fortitude. Such indeed was the charafter of Socrates, such his reliance on Dixine providence and his 
 resignation thereto, that he seems to have imbibed his sentiments from a source " above the famed Castalian 
 " Spring ;" and while his demeanour eminently displays the peaceable, patient, Christian-like virtues, his 
 language often approaches, nearer than could be imagined, to that of the holy penmen. — " Ei Tai/rii 0m piV^»," 
 
 says he, '- TatT» 7;«5-Si." Epiftet. AIATPIB. L. i. C. 29. The artful sophistry of the Tempter's 
 
 further defence of glory (Ver. log.), and our Lord's majestically plain confutation of his arguments 
 in .£l>e clear explanation given (Ver. 121.) of the true ground on which glcry and honour are due 
 
 to the great Creator of all things, and required by him, — are both admirable. The rest of the 
 
 Dialogue is well supported ; and it is wound up, with the best effeft, in the concluding speech, where Satan 
 (Ver, ZO4.) offers a vindicatory explanation of his condufl, in which the dignity of the Arch-angel, (for, 
 though " ruiiial," the Satan of Milton seldom " appears less than an Arch-angel,") is happily combined 
 with the insinuating art and " sleeked tongue" of this grand Deceiver. The first nineteen lines are 
 peculiarly illustrative of this double charaifter : the transition that follows (Ver. 223.) to the immediate 
 Temptation then going on, and which paves the way for the ensuing change of scene, is managed with 
 the happiest address — The Poet now quits mire Dialogue for that «' union of the narrative and dramatic 
 " powers," which Dr. Johnson, speaking of this poem, observes " must ever be more pleasing than 
 «' a dialogue without aftion." — T!ic description (Ver. 251.) of the " specular mount," where our Lord 
 is placed to view at once the whole Parthian empire, at the same time that it is truly poetical, is so 
 accurately given, that we arc enabled to ascertain the exaft part of Mount Taurus, which the Poet had 
 in his mind. The geographical scene (from Ver. 268 to 292.) is delineated with a precision that brings 
 each place immediately before our eyes, and, as Bp. Newton remarks, fat surpasses the prospeft of the 
 
 kingdoms
 
 BOOK III. PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 175 
 
 kingdoms of the world from " the mount of vision," in the eleventh Book of the Paradise Lost. 
 The military expedition of the Parthians (from Ver. 300. to 336.) is a pifture in the boldest and most 
 masterly style. It is so perfedly unique in its kind, that I know not where in Poetry, antient or modern, 
 to go for any thing materially resembling it. The fifteenth Book of Tasso's Jerusalem, &c. (where 
 the two Christian Knights, who are Sent in search of Rinaldo, see a great part of the habitable world, and 
 are shewn a numerous camp of their enemies,) does not appear to have furnished a single idea to our Author, 
 
 either in his geographical, or his military scene The speech of Satan, (Ver. 346.) professing the 
 
 purpose v/hy he shewed all this to Jesus, judiciously reverts to the immediate subjeft of the Temptation ; 
 and, by urging our Lord to avail himself of the Parthian power, that he might gain possession of David's 
 throne, and free his countrymen from the Roman yoke, it applies to those patriotic feelings which he had 
 expressed in the first Book of this Poem, where he declares that one of his earliest sentiments of 
 virtue, more than human, was marked with a wish 
 
 To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke. 
 
 217. 
 
 Our Lord's reply (Ver. 386.) is close and pointed, and serves further to unfold the charafler of our 
 great pattern of every virtue. — The same objeftion still lies against the conclusion of this Book, as against 
 
 that of the preceding one; by coming immediately after a part so highly finished, as the view of the 
 
 Parthian power in all the splendor of a military expedition, it has not the effeft it would otherwise have. 
 It is however a necessary conclusion, and one that materially carries on the business of the Poem. An 
 essential test of its merit is, that, however we might wish it shortened, it would scarcely have been possible 
 to compress the matter it contains. 
 
 END OF THE THIRD BOOK.
 
 THE 
 
 FOURTH BOOK 
 
 O F 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Aa
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK IV. 
 
 Satan, persisting in the temptation of our Lord, shews him Imperial Rome in its greatest 
 pomp and splendor, as a power which he probably would prefer before that of the 
 Parlhians ; and tells him that he might ivith the greatest ease expel Tiberius, restore the 
 Romans to their liberty, and make himself master not only of the Roman Empire, but by 
 so doing of the whole zvorld, and inclusively of the throne of David. Our Lord, in 
 reply, expresses his contempt of grandeur and worldly power, -notices the luxury, vanity, 
 and profligacy of the Romans, declaring how little they merited to be restored to that liberty, 
 which they had lost by their misconduSi, and briefly refers to the greatness of his own 
 future kingdom. Satan now desperate, to enhance the value of his proffered gifts, professes 
 that the only terms, on which he zvill hestozv them, are our Savieur's falling down and 
 worshipping him. Our Lord expresses a firm but temperate indignation at such a pro- 
 position, and rebukes the Tempter by the title of " Satan for ever damned.'" Satan 
 abashed attempts to justify himself : he then assumes a nezv gi'ound of temptation, and, 
 proposing to Jesus the intelletlual gratifications of zvisdom and knozvledge, points out to him 
 the celebrated seat of ancient learning, Athens, its schools, and other various resorts of learned 
 teachers and their disciples ; accompanying the viezv with a highlyfinished panegyrick on 
 the Grecian musicians, poets, orators, and philosophers of the different seSis. Jesus replies, 
 by shewing the vanity and insufficiency of the boasted Heathen philosophy ; and prefers to 
 the music, poetry, eloquence, and didaElic policy of the Greeks, those of the inspired Hebrew 
 writers. Satan, irritated at the failure of all his attempts, upbraids the indiscretion of 
 our Saviour in rejefiing his offers ; and, having, in ridicule of his expected kingdom, 
 foretold the sufferings that our Lord zvas to undergo, carries him back into the wilderness, 
 and leaves him there. Night comes on : Satan raises a tremendous storm, and attempts 
 further to alarm Jesus with frightful dreams, and terrific threatening speSlres ; zvhich 
 hczvever have no effe£l upon him. A calm, bright, beautiful morning succeeds to the 
 horrors of the night. Satan again presents himself to our blessed Lord, and, from noticing 
 the storm of the preceding night as pointed chiefly at him, takes occasion once more to insult 
 him zv'ith an account of the sufferings zvhich he was certainly to undergo. This only drazvs 
 from our Lord a brief rebuke. Satan, nozv at the height of his desperation, corf esses that 
 he had frequently zvatched Jesus from his birth, purposely to discover if he was the true 
 Messiah ; and, colleEling from what passed at the river Jordan that lie most probably 
 zvas so, he had from that time more assiduously followed him, in hopes of gaini)ig some 
 advantage over him, which would most^ effeEiuatly prove that he zvas not really that 
 Divine Person destined to be his '■'fatal Enemy." In this he acknowledges that he has 
 hitherto completely failed ; but still determines to make one more trial of him. Accord- 
 ingly he conveys him to the Temple at Jerusalem, and, placing him on a pointed eminence, 
 requires him to prove his Divinity either by standing there, or casting himself down with 
 safety. Our Lord reproves the Tempter, and at the same time manifests his own Divinity 
 by standing on this dangerous point. Satan, amazed and terrified, instantly falls ; and 
 repairs to his Infernal Compeers, to relate the bad success of his enterprise. Angels in 
 the mean time convey our blessed Lord to a beautiful valley, and, while they minister to 
 him a repast of celestial food, celebrate his victory in a triumphant hymn. 
 
 A a. z
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 X ERPLEX'D and troubled at his bad success 
 The Tempter stood, nor had what to reply, 
 Discover'd in his fraud, thrown from his hope 
 So oft, and the persuasive rhetoric 
 
 1. Perpkx'd—I 
 
 The strong sense in which Milton almost always 
 uses this word may induce us to suppose that in his 
 own mind he derived it of the Greek wXija-o-u, i!\r,- 
 yfi?, n■£7r^u>'f«Kl;, percutio, 'vexo, perterreo, or from 
 its compound TrapaTrXiilTw, from whence TrafawXrl 
 mente percuhus, attonitus, and vra.^a.VivT^iiyfii.iin'; fiiri- 
 hundus. Perplexed and perplexity are used in this 
 strong sense in our version both of the Old and 
 New Testament. See Isaiah, xxii. 5. Esther> iii. 
 15, Micah, vii. 4. Luke, ix. 7, and xxi. 25. 
 
 the persuasive rhetoric 
 
 That sleeked his tongue, and won so much on ^ve^ 
 
 The progressively " persuasive rhetoric" of the 
 Serpent, in his temptation of Eve, is most exqui- 
 sitely described in the ninth Book of the Para- 
 dise Lost. The previous art, with which he 
 
 endeavours to attraft her attention, is beautifully 
 represented : 
 
 — ^— ^— — oft he bow'd 
 His turret crest and sleek enamel'd neck, 
 Fawning, and lick'd the ground whereon she trod. 
 His gentle dumb expression turn'd at length 
 The eye of Eve to mark his play; he, glad 
 
 Of her attention gain'd, with serpent tongue 
 Organic, or impulse of vocal air, 
 His fraudulent temptation thus began. 
 
 His language is at first that of general, and 
 rather palpable, flattery, professing admiration of 
 her beauty and merit; but this is cloathed in terms 
 so irresistibly captivating, that we are not surprised 
 when we find that 
 
 Into the heart of Eve his words made way. 
 On her wondering to find him gifted with speech, 
 he proceeds to relate the manner of his acquiring 
 both reason and speech, and the general elevation 
 of his mental faculties, from eating a particular 
 fruit of the garden of Eden ; and he winds up his 
 narration of this circumstance in a more artful and 
 highly-finished compliment to Eve, than any in his 
 first address to her. 
 
 Thenceforth to speculations high or deep 
 
 I turn'd my thoughts, and with capacious mind 
 
 Conslder'd all things visible in Heaven, 
 
 Or earth, or middle, all things fair and good ; 
 
 But all that fair and good in thy divine 
 
 Semblance, and in thy beauty's heavenly ray, 
 
 United I beheld ; no fair to thine 
 
 Eijuivalcnt or second, which comptll'd 
 
 Me
 
 iZz 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 That sleek'd his tongue, and won so much on Eve, 
 So httle here, nay lost ; but Eve was Eve, 
 This far his over-match, who, self-deceiv'd 
 And rash, before-hand had no better weigh'd 
 The strength he was to cope with, or his own : 
 But as a man, who had been matchless held 
 
 10 
 
 Me thns, though importune perhaps, to come 
 And gaze, and worship thee of right declar'd 
 Sovran of creatures, universal Dame. 
 
 Eve is not proof against all this. She becomes 
 *' yet more amazed," and " replies unwaringly ;" 
 th^t is, the flattery is so acceptable to her, that her 
 prudence begins to give way, and she enquires, with 
 apparent curiosity, respeding the tree on which the 
 fruit grew. The Serpent proceeds, by a beautiful 
 description of the situation of the tree, and the way 
 that led to it, to increase her curiosity : 
 
 Empress, the way is ready, and not long, 
 Beyond a row of myrtles^ on a flat, 
 Fast by a fountain, one small thicket past 
 Of blowing myrrh and balm; if thou accept 
 My condudl, I can bring thee thither soon. 
 Lead then, said Eve. — ^ 
 
 When they come to the tree, which she finds to 
 be that of the forbidden fruit, her words rather 
 mark her concern than any surprize or indignation : 
 
 Serpent wc might have spar'd our coming hither, &.C. 
 
 On her informing him that they were commanded 
 by God not to taste or touch the fruit of that tree, 
 he briefly insinuates his wonder at so singular a 
 prohibition, in terms that have a sensible effeft on 
 Eve. When replying she is said to be " yet sinless;" 
 which seems to imply that, though she had not yet 
 aftually incurred the breach of the commandment, 
 she was but too much disposed to do so. This 
 then is the moment for the Tempter to exert all 
 his powers, by combining every artful seduftion 
 of the most accomplished " Rhetoric." External 
 comeliness, graceful attitude, impressive aftion, 
 and impassioned language, unite to give force to 
 the plausibility of his tale, and the sophistry of his 
 
 reasoning. Sucli indeed is the admirable art of the 
 Poet in this place, that we are ourselves seduced by 
 him, and are inclined to say, that if the Tempter 
 had failed, " Eve would not have been Eve." But 
 " Eve tuas Eve," and 
 
 his words replete with guile 
 
 Into her heart too easy entrance won. 
 
 I have been led to trespass on my reader's 
 patience, by recalling to his recolleftion tills very 
 fine part of the Paradise Lost, from an idea that it 
 was, with Milton himself, a particularly favorite 
 part of his great poem. As such he seems here to 
 have had it in his mind, while in introducing the 
 Tempter in a less triumphant situation, he with 
 great propriety refers to his former success, and to 
 what he here terms 
 
 ^— the PERSUASIVE RHETORIC 
 
 That sleek'd his tongue, and won so much on Eve. 
 10. Bui as a man, Gt.— ] 
 
 It is the method of Homer to illustrate and 
 adorn the same subjeft with several similitudes. 
 Our Author here follows his example, and presents 
 us with a string of similies together. This fecundity 
 and variety of the two poets can never be sufii- 
 ciently admired ; but Milton, I think, has the 
 advantage in this respeft, that in Homer the 
 lowest comparison is sometimes the List, whereas 
 here they rise one upon another. The first has too 
 much sameness with the subjeft that it would illus- 
 trate, and gives us no new ideas. The second is 
 low, but it is the lowness of Homer, and at the 
 same time is very natural. -The third is free from 
 the defefts of the other two, and rises up to Milton's 
 usual dignity and majesty. Ni'wton, 
 
 Mr.
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 i8c 
 
 In cunning, over-reach'd where least he thought,, 
 To salve his credit, and for very spite. 
 Still will be tempting him who foils him still. 
 And never cease, though to his shame the more ; 
 Or as a swarm of flies in vintage time. 
 
 Mr. Thyer also observes that Milton, as if 
 conscious of the defefts of his two first compa- 
 risons, rises in the third to his usual sublimity. 
 
 20. But as a majij who had been matchless heldf £?c.— ] 
 " A poetical simile," says Dr. Johnson, " is 
 " the discovery of likeness between two aftions, 
 " in their general nature dissimilar, or of causes 
 " terminating by different operations in some re- 
 " semblance of effeft. But the mention of another 
 " like consequence from a like cause, or of a like 
 " performance by a like agency, is not a simile, but 
 " an exemplification." This passage of the Para- 
 dise Regained is indeed, strlftly speaking, no 
 simile; it is only an exemplificntiou of Satan's 
 " vain importunity," in the frequent condufl of 
 persons in real life, vi'ho, priding themselves on 
 their superior cunning, if they happen to employ it 
 against any one capable of seeing through their de- 
 signs, and defeating their arts, become so irritated, 
 that they lose not only their boasted cunning, but 
 even common prudence, and, with the rash violence 
 of desperation, press and pursue the attack to their 
 
 accumulated detriment and disgrace. But the 
 
 charafter of the man of amning irritated by defeat, 
 however well drav/n, is here an image too general 
 and indistinft, materially to illustrate, or in any way 
 to decorate, this part of the poem. We may there- 
 fore perhaps suppose the description in this place to 
 have been personal : it might refer to his old lite- 
 rary, political, enemy, Salmasius, as the " man who 
 had been matchless " held", and who, after being 
 " foiled" in the controversy by our Author's de- 
 FENsio popuLi, endeavored " to salve his credit" 
 by a virulent reply, which he did not live to finish, 
 but which was published by his son : or it might 
 relate to his later antagonist Alexander More, or 
 Morus, 
 
 15. Or as a swarm of Jliis in vintage time, 
 
 Mout the luine-press, where sweet must is pour'tt, 
 Beat oj', returns as oft with liumming sound;'] 
 
 This comparison. Dr. Jortin observes, is very 
 just ; and in the manner of Homer. 
 
 ZraO^w svi^fn^ivai tstf^yT^ecyEcti kxtcc 'SJiXT.cccf 
 fi^-fj tv £fafn^, 0T£ T£ yT-.^yo^ ctJyBtc ^lyei, 
 
 II. xvi. 641. 
 Thick as beneath some shepherd's thatch'd abode, 
 (The pails high foaming with a milky flood,) 
 The buzzing flies, a persevering train, 
 Incessant swarm, and chas'd return again. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 'Htf, xai it[yr,iA.cn fA-eiKx irif Xf""! etsafofiicic, 
 li7^ccveca oaXEEiv, >waifov te ot ft»/A at9[*it'9rtf. 
 
 II. xvii. £-0. 
 So burns the vengeful hornet, (soul all o'er,) 
 Repuls'd in »ain, and thirsty still of gofc ; 
 (Bold son of air and heat,) on angry wings, 
 Untam'd, untir'd, he turns, attacks, and stings. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Where Mr. Pope has turned the //)■ of Homer 
 into a hornet, and has added two more lines to the 
 comparison, " to keep up" as he says, " the 
 " dignity of his author." 
 
 Mr, Thyer notices likewise the simile of the 
 Flies in the skcond Book of the Iliad, 469. 
 
 'AiTf Kara. ras9/*ov ■BJoi/xvijVot Ji^a^xairiv 
 'Uf/l £v £i«pitvi, oT£ T£ yT^ayoi ecfy-x Jfuii. 
 
 ^— ^— ^— - thick as inscfts play, 
 The wandering nation of a summer's day, 
 That, drawn by milky streams, at evening hours, 
 In gather'd swartns surround the rural bowers ; 
 
 Pope. 
 
 The lar>guage of this last simile is beautiful, but 
 the image which it presents is of a kind that scarcely 
 
 embellishes.
 
 I §4 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 About the wine-press where sweet must is pour'd, 
 Beat off, returns as oft M^th humming sound ; 
 Or surging waves against a solid rock, 
 
 embellishes, and certainly does not dignify, the 
 description. The other two comparisons of a band 
 of'warriors obstinately defending the dead body of 
 their companion from the repeated attacks of the 
 enemy, to a number of flies which it is scarcely 
 
 possible to drive back from a milk pail, and of 
 
 a single hero ading the same resolute part, to a fly 
 
 that will not quit a dead carcase, are, it must be 
 
 allowed, similics of the degrading kind, and un- 
 worthy of the subjeft they are intended to illustrate. 
 But the application of the same simile by Milton in 
 this place is so perfeflly appropriate, that no such 
 objeftion lies against it. It is justly observed by 
 Dr. Blair, respedling similies, " that they are com- 
 " monly intended to embellish and to dignify ; and 
 " therefore, unless in burlesque writing, or where 
 " similies are introduced purposely to vilify and 
 " diminish an objeft, mean ideas should never be 
 " presented to us." This then is one of the Critic's 
 exceptions, as it may be supposed the Poet's objeft 
 here to diminish, by setting in its true light, the 
 charafier of the Tempter, which in parts of this 
 Poem he had found it convenient to invest with 
 such a portion of dignity, that it was necessary at 
 other times to counteraft it by lowering descriptions 
 and degrading comparisons. Besides, as the courage 
 and force of a magnanimous hero may be illustrated 
 by the comparison of a lion or a torrent, so may 
 the low cunning and base arts of an insidious ad- 
 versary be, with no less propriety, elucidated by a 
 comparison of an inseft or a reptile. 
 
 It may be observed that 7nu!ca. is used meta- 
 phorically, by the best Roman authors, to signify 
 a pertinacious parasite, a person of the most imper- 
 tinent curiosity, or of such impudence of any kind 
 as can with difficulty be restrained or repressed. 
 Thus Stephens, in his Thesaurus, interprets musca 
 by homo molestus, importunus, Lipsius, in a note on 
 Plautus, Mercat. Aa II. Sc. iii. 26., remarks 
 that a Fly was the ^Egyptian symbol of impudence. 
 
 " ^gyptios Orus tradit, cum impudenitam significarc 
 " vellent, muscam pinxisse, quod nimirum vix abafta 
 " nihilominus continue rededt." 
 
 17. 
 
 viith hummhg sound:'] 
 
 Thus Virgil in his Simile of the Bees, jEn. 
 vi. 707; 
 
 Floribus insidunt varlis et Candida ciraum 
 
 Lilia funduntur ; strepit OMNis mormure campits. 
 
 The humming of bees is described, in a verse of 
 much effeft, by Theocritus, Idyll, i. 107. 
 
 'Sloi xa^o» BOMBEYNTI 5roTi a-ftaMO-ai fitMio-o-ai; 
 who again speaks of " the humming bee," iii. 1 5. 
 "A BOMBEYSA ftE^iro-a, 
 
 18. Or surging vims against a solid rod. 
 
 Though all to shivers dash'd, the assault mew. 
 Vain battery, and in froth or buhbks end ;"] 
 
 There can be but one opinion respefting this 
 simile. " It presents" says Mr. Thyer, " to the 
 " reader's mind an image which not only fills and 
 " satisfies the imagination, but also perfeflly ex- 
 " presses both the unmoved stedfastness of our 
 " Saviour, and the frustrated baffled attempts of 
 " Satan." — -We may trace a resemblance of it, 
 where Vida describes the vain attempts of the 
 Arch- Fiend, in the Temptation of our blessed 
 Lord. 
 
 ■ Haud destitit hostls 
 Congressu viftus primo, pugnamque retcntat, 
 Atque aliis super atque aliis assultibus instat, 
 Terquc uovos, semper cocpti irriuis, integrat astus, 
 Ncquicquam nunc regnorum, nunc laudis, inani 
 Immotum tentans animum pervcrtere amore. 
 Ut, cum soUicitum toUunt mare fluftibus Euri, 
 Crcbra ferlt, sxvitquc minaci raurmure in alta 
 LiUora, sed saxis allisa revertitur undA. 
 
 Christiad. iv, 628. 
 
 We may also compare the following Stanza 
 of Giles Fletcher's Christ's Triumph over 
 Death,
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 185 
 
 20 
 
 Though all to shivers dash'd, the assault renew, 
 
 (Vain battery !) and in froth or bubbles end ; 
 
 So Satan, whom repulse upon repulse 
 
 Met ever, and to shameful silence brought, 
 
 Yet gives not o'er, though desperate of success, 
 
 And his vain importunity pursues. 
 
 He brought our Saviour to the western side 25 
 
 Of that high mountain, whence he might behold 
 
 Another plain, long but in breadth not wide, 
 
 Wash'd by the southern sea, and, on the north. 
 
 To equal length back'd with a ridge of hills 
 
 That screen'd the fruits of the earth and seats of men 30 
 
 From cold Septentrion blasts ; thence in the midst 
 
 So have I seen a rock's lieroic breast, 
 Against proud Neptune, that his ruin threats, 
 When all his waves he hath to battle prcsr, 
 And with a thousand swelling billows beats 
 The stubborn stone, and foams and chaffs and frets 
 
 To heave him from his root, unmoved stand ; 
 
 And more in heaps the barking surges land, 
 The more in riitcss beat fly weeping to the strand. 
 
 And we may trace all these later poets to Virgil, 
 ^n. vii. 586. 
 
 lUe, velut peliigi rupcs immota, resistit ; 
 
 Ut pelagi rupes, magno veniente fragorc, 
 
 Quse sese, multis circum latrantibus undis. 
 
 Mole tenet ; scopuli nequicquam et spumea circum 
 
 Saxa fremunt, laterique illisa refunditur alga, 
 
 18. — — surging waves — ] 
 
 Thus Spenser, Faery Queen, B. ii. C, xii. zi. 
 
 Sudden they see, from midst of all the main, 
 ThesuRGiNG WATERS like a mountain rise. 
 
 And our Author in his Paradise Lost, vii, 213. 
 
 Up from the bottom turn'd by furious winds, 
 And siiRCiNC WAVES, 
 
 27. Another plain, iSc, — j 
 
 The learned reader need not be informed tliat the 
 country here meant is Italy, which indeed is long 
 but not broad, and is washed by the Mediterranean 
 on the south, and screened by the Alps on the north, 
 and divided in the midst by the river Tiber. 
 
 Netxifon. 
 
 The ridge of hills here does not mean the Alps, 
 but the Apennines, which divide the south-west 
 part of Italy from the north-west ; and in which the 
 river Tiber has its source. The plain, contained 
 between these Hills and the Mediterranean sea, 
 consists of the old Etruria, Latium, and Campania; 
 the two latter being divided from the former by 
 the course of the Tiber. 
 
 31- 
 
 thtnce in the midst 
 
 Divided by a river, of uihoie ba':ks 
 
 On each side an imperial city stoiid,'\ 
 
 Romam : 
 
 ApENN I NICEN .« (iU.« PROXIMA TlBRIDIS UNDtS 
 
 Mole sub ingenti rerum fundamina ponit. 
 
 Ovid. Met. xv. 431. 
 
 Bb 
 
 Divided
 
 1 86 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Divided by a river, of whose banks 
 On each side an imperial city stood, 
 With towers and temples proudly elevate 
 On seven small hills, with palaces adorn'd, 
 Porches and theatres, baths, aqueducls, 
 
 35 
 
 S^. With loaders and Umples proudi)' elevate 
 0>: seicti small hill.', with palaces adorned. 
 Perches and theatres, baths, aqueduRs, 
 Statues and trophies, and triuKf^hal arcs. 
 Gardens and groves, presented to his eyes,^ 
 
 Thus Spenser, in his Ruins of Time, where 
 Verulam, comparing herself with Rome, describes 
 " the beauty of her buildings fair;" 
 
 High TOWERS, fair timples, goodly thiatres, 
 Strong walls, rich porches, princely palaces, 
 Large streets, brave houses, sacred sepulchres, 
 Sure gates, sweet gardens, stately galleries, 
 Wrought with fair pillars, and Gnc imagciics. 
 
 55. On seven small hills— 1 
 
 Thus Virgil, Georgic ii. 535, speaking of 
 Rome, 
 
 SEfTEMBUE una sibi oiuro circumdcdit arces. 
 
 NeiVio», 
 Horace terras the tutelary Gods of Rome, 
 
 Diis, (jiiibus SEF TEM placucrc colles. 
 
 Carm. Sec, 7. 
 
 Propertius describes Rome, El. iii. 10, 
 
 Settem urbs alia jufiis. 
 
 And Statius, 4 Sylv. i. 6. 
 
 F.t sErTEitcEMiNO jaclantior sthera puUct 
 Roma juco : 
 
 And Prtidentius, Romaki Martyris sup- 
 TLICIUM, 414. 
 
 IJbi iste vesicr tunc crat sumnius Dcus, 
 DivCm favorc quum puer Mavonius 
 Fiindarct arcem sephcollem Romulus? 
 
 35- 
 
 tvilh palaces adorn'd, 
 
 Parches and theatres, baths, ajuedulls. 
 Statues, and trophies, and triumphal arcs. 
 Gardens and groves — ] 
 
 The Author, having before mentioned temples 
 and towers, has in these lines comprehensively 
 
 summed up all the other marks of Roman mag- 
 nificence, that could be distinguished on such a 
 view as is here exhibited. 
 
 3j. — ^^— luilh palaces adorn'd,"] 
 
 These were a subjeft of immense expence and 
 grandeur. Clodius, the antagonist of Milo, even 
 in the times of the republic, dwelt in a house that 
 cost near one hundred and twenty thousand pounds 
 of our money. — We may form some judgment of 
 the size and extent of the Roman palaces, from 
 what is said of them by the writers of the Augustan 
 age. Sallust mentions "domes et villas in ur- 
 
 " BIUM MODUM EX^DIFI CATAS." BeLL. Ca- 
 
 TiLiN. 12. And Ovid uses a similar expression, 
 speaking of the house which Augustus Cssar pulled 
 down, as setting a dangerous example of luxury, 
 when he built the Temple of Concord, and the 
 Livian Portico, in its room. 
 
 iJisce taracn, veuiens selas, ubi Livia nunc est 
 
 Porticus, iramensx teSa fuisse domus. 
 Urbis opus domus una FuiT ; spatiumquc tenebat, 
 
 Quo brevius muris oppida multa tenent. 
 
 H^c squata solo est, nuUo sub crimine rcgni, 
 
 Sed quia luxuria visa nocere sua. 
 
 Fast. vi. 639. 
 
 Seneca also speaks in the same manner of the 
 
 private houses in his time ; "aedificia privata laxi- 
 
 " TATEM UREIUM MAGNARUM VINCENTIA." 
 
 De Benefic. vii. 10. and Epist. xc. he notices 
 
 " domos INSTAR URBIUM." 
 
 36. Porches — ] 
 
 The Porticos also were an article of immense 
 magnificence at Rome. They were elevated struc- 
 tures of great extent ; and were much resorted to 
 for shade in summer, and for dryness in winter.— 
 Martial speaks of the Claudian Portico ; 
 
 Claudia difTusas ubi porticus explicat umbras, — 
 
 Ue SpeciaC. £r. ii. 9. 
 
 and
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 187 
 
 Statues, and trophies, and triumphal arcs, 
 Gardens and groves, presented to his eyes. 
 
 and describes the famous Portico of Cn. Oftavius, 
 in tlie Circus Flaminius, 
 
 — — centum pendcniia tefla columnis ;— 
 
 L. ii. Ep. xiv. 
 
 Ovid notices the Pompeian, Odavian, and Liviaa 
 Porticos. 
 
 Tu modo Pomptia lentus spaliare sub umbrS, 
 
 Cum sol Hcrculei terga leonis adit ; 
 Aut ubi muneribus nati sua muiicra mater 
 
 Addidit, externo marniorc dives opas. 
 Ncc tibi vitetur, qucc priscis sparsa tabeilis 
 Porticus auillaris Livia nomen habct. 
 
 De Art. Amand. i. 67. 
 These buildings were introduced by Scipio Na- 
 sica, on the termination of the Punic war ; who 
 built one in the Capitol. Besides those which were 
 separate buildings by themselves, others were pre- 
 fixed to temples, theatres, and baths. The Por- 
 tico, which Augustus ereded before the Temple of 
 Apollo in memory of the battle of Aftlum, is par- 
 ticularly described by Propertius, L. 2. El. xxxi.; 
 and is also mentioned by Ovid, L. 3. Trist. i. jg. 
 As Roman luxury rose to its height, private persons 
 had their porticos. Juvenal speaks of the 
 
 —^ porticus, in qua 
 Gestatur dominus, quoties pluit :— — 
 
 Sat. vii. 1 78. 
 
 And Paterculus, having spoken of the public 
 Porticos, adds ; " publicam magniticentiam secuta 
 " privata luxuria est." L. ii. C. i. 
 
 36. — — ^-— ^ ihiatics, — ] 
 
 The Theatres, in which we may include the 
 Amphitheatres, Circi and Naiimachi^, were con- 
 spicuous objefts among the magnificent buildings 
 of Rome. They were at first only temporary build- 
 ings, but were erefled sometimes at an incredible 
 expence. Pliny describes very particularly one built 
 by M. Scaurus, the son-in-law of Sylla, which he 
 terms " opus maximuin omnium qure umqiiain 
 "■ fuere humanu manu faifla." L. xxxvi. C. i j. 
 This building he likewise mentions (L. xxxvi. 
 C. 2.) to have been erefted at this wonderful ex- 
 pence, scarcely for the amusement of one month, — 
 
 Pompey was the first person who built a fixed 
 theatre ; for which, according to Tacitus, he was 
 censured, as introducing new customs tendin^^ to 
 corrupt the manners of the people. (Aknal. xiv. 
 C. XX.) Permanent theatres of a great extent soon 
 became frequent. Some remains of those built by 
 Marcellus, and Staiilius Taurus, are still to be seen ; 
 as well as that of Tiberius, who also, {Tacit. An- 
 NAL. vi. 42.), repaired that of Pompey which had 
 been destroyed by fire. — Nero afterwards (accord- 
 ing to Pliny, L. xxxiii. C. 3.) covered this theatre 
 with gold. 
 
 36. k,t!,^.—1 
 
 The great extent of the Roman pubiic-baths may 
 be judged of by the ruins now remaining of those 
 of Caracalla and Dioclesian. Ammianus Marcel- 
 linus speaks of baths at Rome " in modura pro- 
 '' vinciarum extrufla," (L. xvi. C. 10;) where, 
 however, Valesius judiciously suggests the readino; 
 piscinarum rather than fro-vineiaium, — Rutilius, in 
 his Iti ner ARiUM, says ; 
 
 Consumunt lotos celsa lavacra lacus. 
 
 101. 
 
 The baths even of private persons were very lofty 
 
 buildings, and were ornamented in the most superb 
 
 style. Juvenal, speaking of the expences of private 
 
 persons in whatever gratified their own luxury, 
 
 specifies particularly their baths and portias. 
 
 Balnea sexccmis, et pluris poilicus,— 
 
 Sat. vii. 1 78. 
 
 where, if sexcentis he understood of the jc-';V»//.vw, 
 which the sense seems to require th.it it should, the 
 expence of a private bath is estimated by the satyrisc 
 at near five thousand pounds ol our money. Seneca 
 particularly notices this absurd extravagance of his 
 countrymen, in the Epistle, where, having describcil 
 the bath of Scipio Africanus, " Balneolura angus- 
 " tum, tenebrosum ex consuetndine antiqua," he 
 compares the manners of his own contemporaries 
 with those of a former age. — " At nunc quis est, 
 " qui sic lavari susiineat .' Pauper sibi videtur et 
 " sordidus, nisi parietes magnis et pretiosis orbibus 
 B b 2 " refulserunt ;
 
 i8S 
 
 PARADISE R E G A I X E D. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Above the heighth of mountains interpos'd ; 
 (By what strange parallax, or optic skill 
 
 40 
 
 <■' rf fulicrunt ; nisi Alexandrina marmora Kun-.i- 
 " dicis cnistis distinda sunt ; nisi illis undique 
 " operosa et in picturx raodum variata circumlitio 
 " praftexitiir ; nisi vitro absconditur camera; nisi 
 " Thasius Lapis, quondam rarum in aliquo spec- 
 " taculum templo, piscinas nostras circumdedit ; 
 
 « nisi aqiiam argentea epistomia fuderunt. 
 
 << Et adhuc plebeias fistulas loquor : quid cum ad 
 " balnea libertinorum pervenero ? Quantum sta- 
 " tuarum, quantum columnarum est nihil susti- 
 " nentium, sed in ornamentum positarum, et im- 
 
 " pensx causa! Eo (ieliiiarum pervenimus, 
 
 " ut nisi gemmas caleare nolimus." Ep. Ixxxvi. 
 w— Statius has a poem, the subjeft of which is the 
 bath of Claudius Etruscus ; which he describes in 
 the same manner. 
 
 Nil ibi plcbeium ; rusquam Temeseia noubis 
 
 ^£ra, sed arjeiuo fa;Ux propellitur unda, 
 
 Ari'cntoqjc cadit, labrisquc nitenfbus instat 
 
 Dglicias mira'.a siias, ct abire recusal. 
 
 I Sklv. v. 47. 
 
 36 
 
 aquedu^^^ 
 
 These were some of the noblest works of the 
 Romans. Frontinus, in his Treatise de Aquadiic- 
 tibus Urbis Roma:, affirms them to have been " mag- 
 " nitudinis Romani Imperii prascipuum indicium." 
 Pliny speaks particularly of the aqueduA begun by 
 Caius Cisar, and finished by Claudius, as far ex- 
 ceeding all that had ever been before it in every 
 lespeft. L. xxxvi. C. i ;. The expence he says 
 was " scsteriium tcr millies," equal to about a mil- 
 lion and half sterling. — Rutilius, speaking of the 
 
 ■ aciio pcndcnus foraice livos, 
 adds, 
 
 Hos potius dicas crcvis^e in sidcra montcs : 
 Tale Giganteum Grxcia laudat opus. 
 
 J f I N ER AR. 97. 
 
 37. Statues,^] 
 
 The passion of the Romans for statues appears 
 from the number of antique statues yet remaining 
 at Rome, after the numerous desolations of that 
 city. Greece, Asia, and Egypt were all plun- 
 
 dered to ornament it with statues. Among the most 
 conspicuous of these, on a bird's eye view of the 
 city, were the colossal images of some of their 
 emperors, standing on superb columns. — Ammianus 
 Marcellinus, in his description of the triumphal 
 entry of Constantius into Rome, notices the " elatos 
 " vertices, qui scansili suggestu consurgunt, pri- 
 " orum principum imitamenta portantes." These 
 may be supposed the statues which the poet here 
 intends. 
 
 37- 
 
 trolhici, — ] 
 
 Rutilius notices the numberless trophies which 
 decorated every part of the city of Rome ; 
 
 Quod regnas minus est, quam quod rcgnare mereris \\ 
 
 Excedis fadlis grandia faia tuis, 
 Pcrcenscre labor deiibis decora alia trophfeis, 
 
 Ut si quis Stellas pcinumerare velit. 
 
 IriNER AR, ^1. 
 
 Milton had here perhaps in his mind the trophies 
 now remaining in the front of the Capitol, thought 
 to be the Cimbric trophies of Marius. 
 
 37- 
 
 Iriumphat arcs,"} 
 
 The arches erefted in honor of eminent persons 
 were in the early ages of Rome rude struftures. 
 That of Camillus was of plain stone. But those of 
 Cisar, Drusus, Titus, Trajan, Constantine, and 
 others, were of marble, and many of them orna- 
 mented with statues, trophies, and the most curious 
 sculpture ; particularly those of Titus and Con- 
 stantir.e. Claudian refers to the arches adorned 
 with trophies. 
 
 scptem circumspice monies, 
 
 Qui soils radios auri fulgore lacessunt, 
 Indutosque arcus spoliis, 
 
 In Secund. Cons. Stilich. 63. 
 
 3S. Cardcns and groves, — ] 
 
 These were high articles of luxury among the 
 Romans. Those of Lucullus arc mentioned by 
 Plutarch, as even in his time the most magnificent 
 of any belonging to the emperor. Messalina, the 
 
 adulterous
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 1S9 
 
 Of vision, miiltiply'd through air, or glass 
 
 Of telescope, were curious to inquire :) 
 
 And now the Tempter thus his silence broke. 
 
 The city which thou seest no other deem 
 Than great and glorious Rome, queen of the earth. 
 
 45 
 
 adulterous consort of Claudius, caused Valerius 
 Asiaticus to be put to death, that she might get 
 possession of these gardens, — " hortos inhians quos 
 " ille a LucuUo coemptos insigni niagnificentia 
 
 " excolebat." Tacit. Annal. xi. i. Julius 
 
 Caesar by will bequeathed his gardens near the 
 river Tiber to the Roman people. Martial men- 
 tions groves of laurel, planes, and cypresses, as 
 contributing much to the luxury and elegance of 
 a mansion ; and joins them with baths and porticos. 
 
 Daphnonas, platanonas, et aerias cyparisscsi 
 £t non unius balnea solus habcs; 
 
 Et tibi centenis stat porticus alta columnis, 
 
 Calcatusquc tuo sub pcde lucet onyx. 
 
 L. xii. Ep. 50. 
 
 40. £y what strange par.i!lax, or optic skiU 
 Ofviiion^ mutttplied through air, or glass 
 OJ telescope— '] 
 The learned have been very idly busy in con- 
 triving the manner in which Satan shewed to our 
 Saviour all the kingdoms of the world. Some 
 suppose it was done by vision; others by Satan's 
 \ creating phantasms or species of different kingdoms, 
 and presenting them to our Saviour's sight, &c. Sec. 
 But what Milton here alludes to is a fanciful notion 
 j'which I find imputed to our famous countryman 
 • Hugh Broughton. Cornelius a Lapide in summing 
 up the various opinions upon this subjeft gives it 
 in these words : Alii subtiliter imaginantur, quod 
 Dxmon per multa specula sibi invicem objefta 
 species regnorum ex uno speculo in aliud et aliud 
 continuo reflexerit, idque fecerit usque ad oculos 
 Christi. In locum Matthjei. For want of a proper 
 index I could not find the place in Broughton's 
 works. But Wolfius, in his Curx philologicae in SS. 
 Evangelia, fathers this whim upon him : Alii cum 
 Hugone Broughtono ad instrumenta artis optica: se 
 recipiunt. Vid, Wolf, in Matt, iv, 8. Thjer, 
 
 The learned Bochart has a Dissertation on this 
 subjeft; the following passage of which might here 
 have been in Milton's recoUeftion, " Eo usque 
 " progreditur hominum industria, ut in trumentis 
 " quibusdara opticis, telescopiis, microscopiis, et 
 " speculis, iic. remotissima qiia'que oculis subjiciat, 
 " minutissima quxvis adducat in conspedum, ob- 
 " jeiSiorum situm prorsus immutet, adeo ut poste- 
 " riora anterius, inferius superiora ccrnantur. Nul- 
 " latenus profefto dubitandum quin longe major sit 
 " Diaboli in objeiflis admovendis, aniplificandis, 
 " suo situ emovendis, &c. vis ac solertia ; cum 
 " pro' tubis opticis, aut speculis bipedalibus, vel 
 " tripeJalibus, quibus sclemus uti, ille pra?sto 
 " nubes habeat, quas ex arbitrio, tanquam aeris 
 " princeps, fingit ac usurpat." 
 
 Bochart. Tom. i. p. 949. 
 
 42. 
 
 were curivus to en<juire :] 
 
 This is something in the manner of a passage 
 in Horace, L. iv, Ode 4, where speaking of t!ie 
 Vindelici, he says, 
 
 — — ^— ^^— quibus 
 Mos undc dedudtus per oinne . 
 Tempus Am^izonia securi 
 Dextras obarmet, qu^rere uistuli ; 
 
 on which passage the Dclphin Commentator ob- 
 serves, Hcec ironiam sane continent in qnosdam eo 
 tempore de nugis ejusmodi acrius el perperam dis- 
 piitantes. — Milton may be supposed here to allude 
 to the idly busy enquiries of the learned, acrius 
 et perperam dispittantes concerning the optic skill of 
 Satan, in displaying this distant scene before our 
 blessed Lord. 
 
 45 -^— great and glorious Rome, jmen o/t/ie ta>tli, 
 So far rinozo.'J, — ] 
 
 In
 
 190 
 
 PARADISE R E G A I N E D. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 So far renown'd, and with the spoils enrich'd 
 Of nations : there the Capitol thou scest, 
 Above the rest lifting his stately head 
 On the Tarpeian rock, her citadel 
 Impregnable ; and there mount Palatine, 
 
 50 
 
 In the ELEVENTH Book of tlie Paradise Lost, 
 where Michael shews Adam the four divisions of 
 the world, Rome in its plenitude of power is 
 described as the great dist'nguishing feature of 
 Europe. 
 
 — Europe thence, and where Rome was to sway 
 Th e world ; 
 
 Thus Propertius terms Rome, 
 
 S:ptem urbs aha jugis, ftu.E toti tr.^sidet orpi, 
 
 L, iii. El. 10, 
 
 And Lucan, ii. 655. 
 
 Ip'a CAPUT MUNDi, bcllorum maxima mcrces 
 Roma, 
 
 Martial likewise addresses her, 
 
 TiRRARU.Vl Dea CENTIUMBUE ROMA, 
 
 Cui par est nihil, el nihil secundum, 
 
 L. xii. Ep. 8. 
 
 And in the sixth Book of the jEneid, where 
 
 Anchises, shewing to .(Eneas in the shades the 
 
 Roman heroes that were to descend from him, 
 
 points out Romulus as the founder of Rome ; 
 
 En hujus, natc. auspicils illa inclyta Roma 
 iMPiiRiUM TERRis, animos aequabit Olynipo ; 
 
 782. 
 
 Rutilius, in his Itinerarium, where he de- 
 scribes himself quitting Rome, thus begins a most 
 affedionate valediftory address to her; 
 
 Exaudi, kxcina tui f i'lcuirrim a mu.ndi, 
 
 Inter ^idcreos Roma rcccpta polos. 
 
 L. i. 47. 
 
 46. ^— -._— _ ii,i;h tin spoils er.ruh'd 
 Of tjiitiom ;— ] 
 
 This refers to the immense sums carried to Rome, 
 and deposited i.i the treasury by their generals ; 
 and to what was amassed by the fines which the 
 Romans arbitrarily set upon other states and king- 
 doms, as the price of their friendship, — Lucan, where 
 
 he relates the plundering of the treasur)- by Julius 
 Cacs.Tr, particularly describes the spoils and trea- 
 sures accumulated by these rulers of the world. 
 
 ^— — — tunc conditus Imo 
 
 Eiuitur templo, niultis intadus ab annis, 
 
 Romani census populi, quern Punica bella, 
 
 Quern dcderal Pcrses, qucm vifli praeda Pliilippl : 
 
 Quod tibi Roma fuga Pyrrhus trepidante rcliquit, 
 
 Quo te Fabricius legi non vendidit auro, 
 
 Quicquid parcorum mores servascis avonim, 
 
 Quod dites Asia? populi misere tributum, 
 
 Vifloiique dedit Minoia Creta Metello, 
 
 Quod Cato lon>;inqua vexit super aequora Cypro. 
 
 Tunc Orientis opes, captorumque ultima regum 
 
 Qux Pompciaius pr^lata est gaza tiiumpliis 
 
 Egeritur ; 
 
 Pharsal, iii, 155. 
 
 47. — ^-^^ there the Capitol thou seeit. 
 Above the rest h/tivg his stately head 
 On the Tarpeian rod, her citadel 
 Impregnable ;— ] 
 
 Thus Virgil, jEn. viii. G^z. 
 
 . In summo custos Tarpei it Manllus ARcrs 
 Stabat pro templo, ct capitolia czlsa tenebat. 
 
 And Silius Italicus, iii. 623. 
 
 AuREA Tarpeia ponel Capitoli.\ rl'pe. 
 
 Tacitus, speaking of the Capitol, terms it, 
 
 " munitissimam Capitolii arcem, et ne magnms 
 " quidem exercitibus expucnabilem." 
 
 Hist. iii. 78. 
 
 5°- 
 
 there mount Palatine, , 
 
 The imperial palace, compass huge, and high 
 The slruflure,—"] 
 
 Servius supposes, that Virgil, in describing the 
 palace of Latinus in the seventh .^neid, had a 
 view to Augustus's palace on the Palatine mount. 
 
 Teftum augustum, ingcns, centum sublime tolumn'.s, 
 Urbe fuit summa, Laurentis rcgia Pici ; 
 
 Horreiidum
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 191 
 
 The imperial palace, compass huge, and high 
 The strudure, skill of noblest architefts. 
 With gilded battlements conspicuous far, 
 Turrets, and terraces, and glittering spires : 
 Many a fair edifice besides, more like 
 Houses of God, (so well I have dispos'd 
 My aery microscope,) thou may'st behold, 
 Outside and inside both, pillars and roofs, 
 
 55 
 
 Horrendum sylvis ct religione parentum. 
 
 Hinc sceptra accipere, et priraos attollere fasces 
 
 Rcgibus omen crat ; hoc illis curia templum, 
 
 Hce sacris sedes epulis; hie ariete co-so 
 
 Pcrpetuis soliti patrcs considcrc mcnsis. 
 
 170. 
 
 Bianchini, in his Palazzo de Cesari, adopts the 
 same opinion, and further observes that at this 
 passage the Vatican Virgil has a portico of eight 
 pillars in front, of the Corinthian order and fluted. 
 This, he supposes, was designed to represent the ves- 
 tibule of Augustus's palace, which he adds might pro- 
 bably be standing when that manuscript was written. 
 Mr. Holdsworth says, it is probable that Augustus's 
 palace was built just about the time when Virgil 
 
 was writing this part of his poem. Eut the 
 
 imperial palace, or at least that part of it in which 
 Augustus really resided, was neither extensive nor 
 magnificent. Suetonius describes Augustus residing 
 " in ^dibus modicis, et neque laxitate, neque cultu 
 " conspicuis; ut in quibus porticus breves essent 
 " Albanarum columnarum, et sine marraore uUo 
 " aut insigni pavimento conclavia." Sueton. \'it. 
 August. 72. 
 
 In the following passage from Chudian we 
 may perhaps trace something like the groundwork 
 of this description of Rome. 
 
 Ecce Palatine crcvit rcvercntia monti, 
 Exsultatque habitante Deo, potioraque Dclphis 
 Supplicibus late populis oracula pandit; 
 Atque suas ad signa jubet rcvirescere laurus. 
 Nim alium ccne decuit rcfloribus orbis 
 Esse larcm, nuUoquc niagis se coUe potcstas 
 
 ^stiraat, et summl senlit fastigia juris. 
 Attollens apicem subjcftis rcgia rostris 
 Tot circuiTi dclutra vidct, taniisque Dcorum 
 Cint^itur excubiis. Jcvat infra tcfla Tonantis 
 Ccrneie Tarpeia pendentcs rupe Gig.intas, 
 Ca:latasq-je fores, mediisque volaniia signa 
 Nubibus, et densum stipanlibus azlheta ttmplis, 
 .traque vestitis numerosa puppe columnis 
 Consita, subnixasque jugis immanibus sdcs, 
 Naturam cumulante manu ; spoliisque micanies 
 Innum-ros arcus. Acics smpet igne mctalli. 
 El circumfuso Ir pidans obtunditur auro. 
 
 De vi. Cons. Honor. 35, 
 
 54. Turr:l<, and leirdces, — ] 
 
 Thus in the Spirit's votive address of thanks to 
 
 Sabrina, at the conclusion of the Comus ; 
 
 Maylhy lofty head be crown'd 
 
 With many a tower and terrace round ! 
 
 where Mr. Warton observes that Milton, who then 
 lived at Horton near Colnebrook, was impressed 
 with this idea from his vicinity to Windsor Castle. 
 The descriptive and poetical ideas that our Pcct 
 once caught he seldom relinquished: he seems here 
 to have blended the old English Castle v.ith his 
 Roman view. 
 
 58. Outside and inside both, — ] 
 
 So Menippus, in Lucian's Icaro-Menippus, could 
 see clearly and distlnftly, from the moon, cities and 
 men upon the earth, and what they were doing, 
 both 'Without doors, and 'within, where they thought 
 themselves most secret, KacL-.'.vi, «; 7s» k •»••-:» yi.i.
 
 192 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV 
 
 Carv'd work, the liand of fam'd artificers, 
 111 cedar, marble, ivory or gold. 
 
 60 
 
 To>, ci-,u.'v--> 7\x;6x liv. Luciani Op. Vo]. II. p. 197. 
 Ed. Grxv. Calton. 
 
 58. 
 
 ' piUars a7)d ronfs^ 
 
 Carv'd luorh^ tht hand of Jam'd art'jtuTi-^ 
 In cedar, narii/c, itjrv, and ^dJ,"] 
 
 Thus in Paradise Lost, Paadamonium is de- 
 scribed 
 
 Euilt like a tcitip!-, w'lcre pilasters rouad 
 Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid 
 With golden architrave; nor did thei"e want 
 Cornice or frieze, wi:h bossy sculpture graven; 
 The roof was fretted gold. 
 
 '• 7'3- 
 
 S9- 
 
 the hand oj f-iM'J arfiftceis,'] 
 
 The hatiiljivork, as in Virgil, &n. i. 4JJ. 
 
 Artificumsue manus inter sc operumque laborem 
 Miratur. 
 
 Neiuion. 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, ix. ^^6. 
 
 AmonCT thick-woven arborets and flowers 
 Imbordcr'd on each bank, the hand of Eve; 
 
 And Ibid. i. 732. 
 
 — ^ Ijis HAND was known 
 In Heaven by many a towcr'd stiuflure higli. 
 
 We find the same figure of speech in Petronius 
 Arbiter. " Zeuxidos manus vidi, nondum vetiis- 
 •' tatis injuria viftas." Satyric. p, 311. Ed, 
 Hadrian, 
 
 Thus also Silius Italicus, xi\'. 653. 
 — — ^ hie san<£la vetustas 
 
 Artificum manibus,- 
 
 And Statius, i Svlv. iii. 47. 
 Vidi aites, vctcruuiquc manus 
 
 60. In cedar t marble, ivory, and gold."] 
 
 Tlie Romans were incredibly expensive in the 
 columns and roofs, or cielings of their houses. 
 Pliny mentions tjiree hundred and sixty columns of 
 foreign marble erefled hy M. Scaurus for the scenery 
 of a temporary theatre. L, xxxvi. C. 2. L. Crassus, 
 the orator, had, as some cojses of Pliny read, sixty 
 
 columns of Hymettian marble, each twelve feet 
 high, in his palace. L. xxxvi. C. 3. Columns were 
 afterwards made of the /<7/'/; alabastritcs, or o>:yx, 
 which was brotjght from the mountains of Arabia, 
 Pliny says he saw more than thirty of this sort in 
 the supper apartments of Callistus a freedinan of 
 Claudius. L. xxxvi. C. 7. The walls of their houses 
 were incrusted with marble. Plin. xxxvi. 6. The 
 ceilings even of private houses were covered with 
 gold, " laquearia (\ax nunc et in privatis domibus 
 " auro teguntur." Plin. xxxiii. 3, The beams were 
 decorated in a similar manner. Statius, i SyLv. 
 iii. 35, notices the auratas trabcs in the villa of 
 Manlius Vopiscus ; and Propertius speaks of 
 
 camera auratas inter cburna trases. 
 
 That Ivory was employed, we learn from Horace's 
 
 Non EBUR, neque aurcum 
 
 Mea renidet in domo lacunar,'^- 
 
 L. ii. Ode i8. 
 And from Statius, i Svlv. 3. 48. 
 
 — ^ labor est auri roemorare figuras, 
 
 Aut EBU R, 
 
 Ennius, in a fragment of his Andromache, 
 thus speaks of the palace of Priam ; 
 
 Vidi ego to, adstante ope barbarica, 
 
 Tcffis ccelatLS, laqueatis, 
 
 AuRO, EBORE, instruilam regifice. 
 
 As Homer had done of that of Menelaus at 
 Sparta ; which he describes " adorned with gold, 
 " silver, ivory, and amber." 
 
 — — SuiAxra. yiyfrinret 
 
 XPYSOY T, HAEKTPOY re xai, APFYPOT, n^' 
 
 EAE*ANTOS, 
 
 Odvss. iv. 72; 
 
 For the united magnificence of " marble, ivory, 
 " and gold," we may refer to Lucan's description 
 of the palace of Cleopatra at Alexandria, which he 
 terms 
 
 Nondum translatos Romana in sa:cula luxus ; 
 intimating that at the time he wrote there was no 
 occasion to go from Rome to Egypt iii search of 
 palaces thus splendidly decorated. 
 
 Ipse
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 193 
 
 Thence to the gates cast round thine eye, and sec 
 What conflux issuing forth, or entring in ; 
 Praetors, proconsuls to their provinces, 
 Hasting, or on return, in robes of state, 
 LicSlors and rods the ensigns of their power. 
 Legions and cohorts, turms of horse and wings : 
 Or embassies from regions far remote, 
 In various habits, on the Appian road, 
 Or on the Emihan ; some from farthest south. 
 
 65 
 
 Ipse locus templi, quod tik corruptior ztai 
 £xcraat, instar erat ; laqueataque tefla fcrebanC 
 Divitias, crassumque trabes absconderet aurum. 
 Ncc summit crustata domus, le^isque niCebaC 
 Marmoribos ; stabatque sibi non segnit Achates, 
 Purpureusquc lapis, totaque effusus in aula 
 Calcabatur onyx : Hebenus Mareotica vastot 
 Non operit postes, sed stat pro robore vili 
 AuxIIium, non forma domus. Ebur atria vestit, 
 Et suffixa manu foribus testudinis Indx 
 Terga sedent, crebro maculas disUndla Smaragdo. 
 
 PUARSAL. X. Ill, 
 
 Cedar was used by the ancients in their build- 
 ings. Hence Virgil, speaking of the woods of 
 Caucasus, Georg. ii. 442. 
 
 — «— dant utile lignum 
 Navigiis pinus, domibus cedrosbus cupressoique. 
 
 Pliny says the beams of Diana's temple at Ephesus 
 were of cedar. L. xvi. C. 11. 
 
 63. Prators, proconsuls to their provinces 
 
 Hasting, or on return, in robes oj state, i^c— ] 
 
 The rapacity of the Roman provincial governors, 
 and their eagerness to take possession of their prey, 
 is here strongly marked by the word hasting. Their 
 pride and vanity was not less than their rapacity, 
 and was displayed not only in their triumphs, but 
 in their magisterial state upon all occasions. The 
 pride and state of the Roman magistrates is noticed 
 by Sallust, who also refers to their infamously 
 
 rapacious condufi ; " incedunt per ora vestra 
 
 " inagnifice saccrdotia et consulatus, pars triumphos 
 
 « suos ostentantes : perinde quasi ea honori, non 
 " PRJED/E, habeant." Bell. Jugurth. C. 31. 
 
 £6. .^— — ^— — turms of horse — ] 
 Troops of horse ; as Bp. Newton observes, from 
 the Latin, turma. Virg. jEn. v. j6o. 
 
 I cquitum turm.e,— — 
 
 68. 
 
 on the Appian road. 
 
 Or the Emilian, — ] 
 
 The Appian road from Rome led towards the 
 south of Italy, and the Emilian towards the north. 
 The nations on the Appian road are included in 
 ver. 69 — 76, those on the Emilian in ver. 77 — 79. 
 
 Netjutan. 
 
 1 some from farthest south, 
 
 69. 
 
 Syene, — ] 
 
 Milton had in riew what he read in Pliny and 
 other authors, that Sjc/ie was the limit of the Romas 
 Empire, and the remotest place to the south that 
 belonged to it. Or it may be said that poets have 
 not scrupled to give the epithets extrcmi, ultimi, to 
 any people that lived a great way off; and that 
 possibly Milton intended farthest south to be so 
 applied both to Syene and to Meroe. Jortin. 
 
 - from farthest south. 
 
 69. 
 
 Syene, and where the shadow loth v:ay falls, &c. — ] 
 
 He first mentions places in Africa; Sjeiif, a city 
 
 of Egypt on the confines of Ethiopia ; Ditionis 
 
 iEgypti esse incipit a fine iEthiopiae Syene ; Plin. 
 
 Lib. V. Seft. 9. ; Meroc, an island and city of 
 
 C c Ethiopia,
 
 194 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK It. 
 
 Syene, and where the shadow both way falls, 
 
 Meroe, Nilotic isle ; and, more to west. 
 
 The realm of Bocchiis to the Black-moor sea ; 
 
 From the Asian kings, and Parthian among these ; 
 
 From India and the golden Chersonese, 
 
 And utmost Indian isle Taprobane, 
 
 Dusk faces with white silken turbants wreath'd ;. 
 
 From Gallia, Gades, and the British west ; 
 
 Germans, and Scythians, and Sarmatians, north 
 
 'O 
 
 75 
 
 Ethiopia in the river Nile, therefore called Nilotic 
 isle, 'where the shadoiu both •way falls ; Rursus in 
 
 Meroe, (insula h^c caputque gentis -iEthiopum 
 
 in amne Nilo habitatur,) bis anno absumi umbras ; 
 Plin. Lib. ii. Seft. 73.; the realm of Bocchus, 
 Mauritania. Then ^j;a?j nations; among these //jf 
 golden Chersonese, Malacca the most southern pro- 
 montory of the East Indies, (see Paradise Lost, 
 xi. 392.;) and utmost Indian isle Taprohane, where- 
 fore Pliny says it is " extra orbera a natura re- 
 " legata;" Lib. vi. Seft. 22. Then the Europ<ean 
 nations as far as to the Tauric pool, that is the palus 
 Msotis ; " Lacus ipse Mxotis, Tanain amnem ex 
 " Riphseis montibus defluentem accipiens, novis- 
 " simum inter Europam Asiamque finem, &c." 
 I'lin. Lib. iv. Se(fl. i z. Neijuton. 
 
 The description here, seems governed by the car- 
 iJlnal points. It first looks southivard, to Africa ; 
 then caifward, to Asia; then 'west-ward, to France, 
 Spain, and the British Islands ; then mrth'ward, to 
 Germany, antient Scythia, and the most northern 
 European nations. 
 
 71. hUroe, Nilotic isle; — ] 
 
 Diodorus Siculus mentions Meroe as the largest 
 of tlic islands formed by the course of the Nile. 
 
 Claudian terms it 
 
 — ^— ^— Meroe circl-mflua Nilo. 
 
 Di NupT. Honor, et Max. 223. 
 
 7»- 
 
 Nilotic— '\ 
 
 Martial, speaking of Egypt, calls It 
 
 NiLOTiCA tellus. 
 
 L. vi. Ep. 80. 
 
 72. Tlie realm oj Bocchus-^] 
 
 Thus Claudian ; 
 
 Arx incensa Jubse ; rabies Marusia fcrro 
 
 Cessit, et ANTiaui penetralia diruta Bocchi. 
 
 De iv. Cons. Honor, gg. 
 
 And Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, L. xxxii ; 
 Leva al fin gli occhi ; e vede il Sol che'l tergo 
 Havea mostrato a la citta di Boccho. 
 
 — to the Black-mosr sea ;] 
 ubi Maura semper 
 
 i£stuat UNDA. 
 
 73- 
 
 Hor. L. ii. Ode vi. 3. 
 
 and Parthian among tkesCy] 
 
 The Tempter having failed to captivate our Lord 
 with the view of the immense forces of the Par- 
 thians and their military preparations and skill, now 
 endeavours to impress upon him a sense of the great 
 power of the Roman Empire. This is displayed 
 in the embassies of distant and powerful natiotu, 
 among whom we find the Parthians, who are thus 
 made to bow the head to the Genius of Rome. 
 
 77- 
 
 Gades, — ] 
 
 Gades, the old Roman name for Cadiz, or Cales, 
 a principal sea-port of Spain, without the straits of 
 Gibraltar, is here put to signify the part of Spain 
 most distant from Rome ; which the Romans dis- 
 tinguished by the name of Hispania ulterior. 
 
 j8. Germans, and Scythians, and Sarmatians, north 
 Beyond Danubius to the Tauric feol.J 
 
 The
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 '95 
 
 Beyond Danubius to the Tauric pool. 
 
 All nations now to Rome obedience pay ; 80 
 
 To Rome's great emperor, whose wide domain, 
 
 In ample territory, wealth, and power. 
 
 Civility of manners, arts and arms. 
 
 And long renown, thou justly may'st prefer 
 
 Before the Parthian. These two thrones except, 85 
 
 The rest are barbarous, and scarce worth the sight, 
 
 Shar'd among petty kings too far remov'd ; 
 
 These having shown thee, I have shoM^n thee all 
 
 The Danube was the southern boundary of an- 
 tient Germany. From the mouth of the Danube to 
 the Palus Mxotis, all along the shores of the Euxine 
 Sea, lay the European Scythians, and beyond them 
 northward, the Sauromataj, Sarmats, or Sarmatians. 
 All the intermixed nations seem at the time of the 
 Christian ^ra to have been so far swallowed up in 
 these two, as to have ranked under the general head 
 of Scythians or Sarmatians ; which names antient 
 historians have much confounded. These two na- 
 tions extended themselves very far north. Cluverius 
 says, that Sarmatia reached quite to the Northern 
 Ocean ; which was thence called Oceanus Sar- 
 maticus. Juvenal joins the Sarmatians with this 
 ocean ; 
 
 Ultra Saui-Qmatas fugere hinc Ubet, et glaciakm 
 Qceanum, 
 
 Sat. ii. 1. 
 
 Milton may therefore be understood, in this de- 
 scription, as meaniBg to comprehend all the European 
 nations from the banks of the Danube, and the shores 
 of the Euxine, to the Northern Ocean. 
 
 84. 
 
 thou justly rnayst prtjer 
 
 Lejore the Parthian, — ] 
 
 The Tempter had before advised our Saviour to 
 prefer the Parthian, iii. 363. 
 
 the Partliian first 
 
 By my advice : 
 
 but this shuffling and inconsistency is very natural 
 and agreeable to the father of lies, and by these 
 touches his charafter is set in a proper light. 
 
 Neivton. 
 There appears to me here no inconsistency what- 
 ever. What is here said rather marks the great and 
 accomplished art of the Tempter, than it indicates 
 a " shuffling." Satan only varies the attack, by 
 changing the ground on which it had not been 
 successful. His manner of doing it is perfeftly 
 plausible. " You," says he, " may very possibly 
 " prefer an alliance with the Romans, whose power 
 " and splendor I have just displayed, to one with 
 " the Parthians; and you judge wisely in so doing." 
 
 / have ihoun thee all 
 
 The kingdoms oj the worlds and all their ^/yn'.] 
 
 The Poet in the preceding Book had displayed 
 at large the military power of the Parthian empire. 
 In the beginning of this Book he shews and dcscrilies 
 Imperial Rome, the " Queen of the Earth," in all 
 her magnificence of splendor and pride of power; 
 and introduces the rest of the world as subjeft to 
 her, doing homage to her greatness, and suing to 
 her with embassies. Thus admirably has he de- 
 picted " the kingdoms of the world, and all their 
 C c 2 " glory,"
 
 ,96 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 The kingdoms of the world, and all their glory. 
 This emperor hath no son, and now is old, 
 Old and lascivious, and from Rome retir'd 
 To Capre^, an island small, but strong, 
 On the Campanian shore, with purpose there 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 90 
 
 " glory," in the great and principal empire of the 
 Heathen world : very judiciously also and with con- 
 siderable effeft has he wound up his extended and 
 highly finished description, by recurring to the brief 
 account in scripture of the Devil shewing our Lord 
 all the kingdoms of the luorld, and the glory of them. 
 Mat. ir. 
 
 50. This empiroT hath no sort, (3c. — ] 
 
 The accuracy and historical correflness, with 
 which the charafter of Tibarius is here drawn, is 
 
 well worth noticing. It is mentioned by Dion 
 
 Cassius, that when there ceased to be any immediate 
 successor fit to undertake the government, the con- 
 du(5l of the emperor, which had till that time been 
 eminent and exemplary, was so changed as to become 
 the very reverse of what it had before been. Tt^tfio; 
 
 oi iirn TO ETTE^'pH'o^ ot;K£T* EtX^c, £? wav n:&avTiQV rav 
 
 fisr?!. Ivii. It is also said of him by Tacitus, that 
 in the ninth year of his government, in which year 
 Drusus died, he began to assume that conduft for 
 which our Poet justly brands him as a " monster;"' 
 
 " coepit saevire ipse, aut saevientibus vires pix- 
 
 " here." Annal. iv. i. 
 
 <)0. 
 
 and vow is old, 
 
 Old and lascivious^ and from Rome retired 
 To Capreit,—] 
 
 The retreat of Tiberius to Capres was in the 
 year of Rome 780, being the thirteenth of his 
 reign, and the sixty-eighth of his age. This was 
 the twenty-seventh year of the Christian jEra, so 
 that at the time our Poet is speaking of him, he 
 was more than seventy. That his vices encreased 
 with his age, or at least that he more openly 
 Indulged them, we learn from Tacitus, who in the 
 conclusion of his charafter says, " postremo in 
 
 " scelera simul ac dedecora prorupit, postquam, 
 " remoto pudore et mctu, suo tantum ingenio 
 
 " utcbatur." Jnnal. vi. 51. And Suetonius, 
 
 describing some of his " horrid lusts," says, 
 " pronior sane ad id genus libidinis, et natura, 
 " et artate." C 44. 
 
 9«. 
 
 an island im*ll but strong 
 
 On the Campanian shore,— "[ 
 
 Suetonius thus describes Capres. " Capreas 
 
 " se contulit : prxcipue delegatus insula, quod 
 " uno parvoque littore adiretur, septa undique 
 " prsruptis immensx altitudinis rupibus, et pro- 
 
 " fundo maris." l^it. Tiber, C. 40. And 
 
 Tacitus, " Capreat se in insulam abdidit, trium 
 " millium freto ab extremis Surrentini promon- 
 " torii disjunflam. Solitudinem ejus placuisae 
 " maxime crediderim, quoniam importuosum circa 
 " mare, et vix modicis navigiis pauca subsidia ; 
 •• neque adpulerit quisquam, nisi gnaro custode." 
 Annal. iv. 67. 
 
 93- 
 
 tL<ilh purpose there 
 
 His horrid fusts in private to enjoy,'\ 
 
 Suetonius, C. 42, describing Tiberius in the 
 
 island of Caprejc, says; " secret! licentiam 
 
 " naftus, quasi civitatis oculis remotus, cunfla 
 " simul vitia, male diu dissimulata, tandem pro- 
 " fudit." And in the following chapter he proceeds 
 to describe the arcane libidines of this monster. — 
 Tacitus also describes him when he had once quitted 
 Caprei to go to Rome, returning immediately to 
 his retreat, and his " horrid lusts." — Saxa rursum 
 et solitudinem maris repetiit, pudore scelerum ct 
 libidinum; quibus adeo indomitis exarserit, &c. — 
 Annal. vi. i. And he had before described him 
 on his first retiring to Caprese, " quanto intentus 
 
 " olim
 
 fiOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 197 
 
 His horrid lusts in private to enjoy ; 
 Committing to a wicked favorite 
 All public cares, and yet of him suspicious ; 
 Hated of all, and hating. With what ease, 
 
 95 
 
 •< olim in publicas curas, tanto occultos in luxus, 
 " et malum otium retolutus." iv. 67. 
 
 95. Commilling to a Kicked favorite 
 All public cares, — ] 
 
 Tiberius's total negleft of all "public cares," after 
 his retreat to Caprea;, is particularly specified by 
 Suetonius, •' Regressus in insulam, Reipublicae 
 " quidem curam usque adeo abjecit, ut postea non 
 " decuriasequitum unquam supplerit; non tribunos 
 " militum prsfeftosque, non provinciarurn praesides 
 " ullos mutaverit ; Hispaniamet Syriam per aliquot 
 " annos sine consularibus legatis habuerit, &c." 
 C. 41. — The charafter of his " wicked favorite," 
 Sejanus, is thus drawn by Tacitus, " Corpus illi 
 " laborum tolerans, animus audax ; sui obtegens, 
 " in alios criminator; juxta adulatic et superbia ; 
 " palamcomposituspudor, intus summa adipiscendi 
 " libido ; ejusque causa, modo largitio et luxus, 
 " sspius industria ac vigilentia, baud minus noxix, 
 " quotiens parando regno finguntur." Annal. 
 
 iv, I. The power and authority of Sejanus, 
 
 under the unbounded favor and compliance of the 
 
 emperor, is related by the same historian, 
 
 " inripere paulatim militares animos, adeundo, ap- 
 " pellando; simul centuriones ac tribunos ipse de- 
 " Hgere : neque senatorio ambitu abstinebat, cli- 
 " entes suos honoribus aut provinciis ornando, 
 " facili Tiberio atque ita prono ut socium laborum, 
 " non modo in sermonibus, sed apud patres et 
 " populum celebraret, colique per theatra et fora 
 " effigies ejus, interque principia legionum si- 
 
 " neret." C. t. His authority is described, 
 
 after the retreat of Tiberiut, to have been still in- 
 creased : it is also intimated that his wickedne!=s 
 was less concealed. The historian, speaking of the 
 consulbhip, adds, " ad quem non, nisi per Sejanum, 
 " aditus : neque Sejani voluntas, nisi sceiere qux- 
 " rebatur," Annal. iv. 68. It may be ob- 
 
 served that a very different charafter of Sejanus it 
 given by Velleius Paterculus, who terms him iin- 
 gularem principalium onertim adjutorem. But it must 
 be recoUefled that it was written, when Sejanus was 
 in the height of his power. Tacitus particularly 
 specifies, as a reason of his own undertaking to 
 dcvelope the history of this period, the false and 
 flattering histories of Tiberius and his successors, 
 which were written by persons immediately con- 
 temporary with them, and therefore afraid to speak 
 the truth, " Tiberii Caiique, Claudii ac Neronif 
 " res, florentibus ipsis, ob metum falsa; composite 
 " sunt," Annal, i. 1, 
 
 96. 
 
 and yet of him suspicious,'] 
 
 Tacitus speaks of Tiberius as in a certain degree 
 restraining and concealing the ferocity of his dis- 
 position, " dum Sejanum dilexit, timuitve." 
 Annal. vi. 51. Suetonius also notices his sus- 
 picions of Sejanus, where he charges the emperor 
 himself with having put to death the two sons of 
 
 Germanicus; " quorum ipse alterum suspecto 
 
 " jam, alterum opprcssodemum Sejano, interemit." 
 61. The natural disposition of Tiberius to sus- 
 picion, immediately on his accession to the govern- 
 ment, is strongly depifted in a passage of Tacitus, 
 
 respefling the death of L. Arruntius ; " nulla 
 
 " vetus in Arruntium ira; sed divitem, promptum, 
 " artibus egregiis, et pari fama publice, suspec- 
 " TABAT." Annal. i. 13. — His hatred and sus- 
 picion of many person, at the time when he quitted 
 Rome, are particularly mentioned by Seneca, where 
 he speaks of the confidence which both Augustus 
 and Tiberius placed in L. Piso. — " Huic et Divus 
 " Augustus dedit secreta mandata, cum ilium pra;- 
 " poneret Thracis, quara perdomuit; et Tiberius 
 " proliciscens in Campaniam, cum multa in urbe 
 " susPECTA relinquereet invisa." Epist. Ixxxiii. 
 
 97. Hated cfall, and hating ;— ] 
 
 Such
 
 io8 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Indued with regal virtues as thou art, 
 
 Appearing, and beginning noble deeds, 
 
 Might'st thou expel this monster from his throne. 
 
 Now made a stye, and, in his place ascending, 
 
 A viclor people free from servile yoke ! 
 
 And with my help thou may'st ; to me the power 
 
 Is given, and by that right I give it thee. 
 
 Aim therefore at no less than all the world ; 
 
 Aim at the highest : without the highest attain'd, 
 
 Will be for thee no sitting, or not long. 
 
 On David's throne, be prophecy'd w^hat will. 
 
 To M'hom the Son of God unmov'd reply'd. 
 Nor doth this grandeur and majestic show 
 Of luxury, though call'd magnificence, 
 More than of arms before, allure mine eye, 
 Much less my mind ; though thou should'st add to tell 
 
 lOO 
 
 ^^5 
 
 I lO 
 
 Such was the general detestation in which Ti- 
 berius was held at last, that the Parthian king, 
 Artabanus, wrote letters to him enumerating the 
 various abominable crimes of which he had been 
 guilty, and advising him that by putting an end 
 to himself, " maximo jusTissiMoeyJE civium 
 " oDio quam primum satisfaceret." Sueton. Vit. 
 Tiber. 66. ' And that his own resentments and 
 suspicions of gthers, were equal to their detestation 
 of him, may be collefted from Suetonius, who 
 says, " Quam vero inter hzec non moJo invisus ac 
 " detestabilis, sed pr/etrepidus quoque, atque 
 " oBNoxius vixerit, multa indicia sunt." 63. 
 
 thii momtir-^'^ 
 
 Thus Cicero, speaking of Catiline ; " nulla jam 
 pernicies a mokstro illo atque prodigio nicc- 
 
 " nibus ipsis intra moenia comparabitur." 2. In 
 Catilin. I. 
 
 101. Kow made a stye, — ] 
 
 Cicero, in his Oration In Pisonem, S. i6, 
 addresses Piso by the title of " Epicure noster, 
 
 " EX HARA PRODUCTE," 
 
 Thus also, CoMUs, 76; 
 
 To roll with pleasure in a sensl'Ai. stye. 
 
 1C3. 
 
 to me the power 
 
 Is given, and ly that right J give it thee.^ 
 All this poiuer tuill I gi've thee, and the glory of 
 
 ikem ; FOR THAT is DELIVERED UNTO ME, AND 
 To WHOMSOEVER J WILL 1 GIVE IT. Lukc, iv. 6. 
 
 Their
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Their sumptuous gluttonies, and gorgeous feasts 
 On citron tables or Atlantic stone, 
 (For I have also heard, perhaps have read,) 
 Their vi^ines of Setia, Cales, and Falerne, 
 
 199 
 
 115 
 
 1 1 4. T/ieir sumpluour gluttonies, and gorgeous feasts,] 
 
 The poet had here perhaps in his mind the 
 account given by Suetonius, C. 15. of the sump- 
 Tuous GLUTTONIES of Vitcllius, or the immense 
 sums expended in this way by the famous Apicius; 
 of whom Seneca says, " cujus exitum nosse, operx 
 " pretium est. Cum sestertium millies in culinam 
 ♦' congessisset, cum tot congiaria principum, et 
 " ingens Capitolii veftigal singulis commessati- 
 " onibus exsorpsisset; sere alieno oppressus, rationes 
 " suas tunc primum inspexit. Superfuturum sibi 
 " sestertium centies," (upwards of eighty thousand 
 pounds of our money,) "coraputavit; etvelutinul- 
 " tima fame viclurus, si in sestettio centies vixisset, 
 " veneno vitam finivit." De Consolat. Ad 
 
 Helv. C. 10. The gorgeousuess of the Roman 
 
 feasts is thus described by a poet of the Augustan 
 age; 
 
 -^— Triclinia templis 
 Concertant ; tedlique auro jam vescimur aurum. 
 
 Manilius, L, v. 507. 
 
 1x5. On citron tjhles or Atlantic stone,"] 
 
 Tables made of citron wood were in such request 
 among the Romans, that Pliny calls it memarum 
 insania. They were beautiful!)' veined and spotted. 
 See his account of them, Lib. xiii. Seft. 29. I do 
 not find that the Atlantic stone or marble was so 
 celebrated : the Nu/nidicus lapis and Niimidicum 
 marmor are often mentioned in Roman authors. 
 
 Neiuton, 
 
 Among Cicero's charges against Verres, we find 
 the following; " Tu maximam et pulcher- 
 
 " RIMAM MENSAM CITREAM a Q^ Lutatio Dio- 
 
 " doro, qui (^Catuli beneficiis a L. Sulla civis 
 " Romanus faftus est, omnibus scientibus Lilybcci 
 " abtulisti." — This citron Wood, which grew upon 
 Mount Atlas in Mauritania, was held by the Romans 
 equally valuable with gold, if not superior to it. 
 Hence Martial, L. xiv. Ep. Ixxxix. 
 
 Acdpe fclices, Atlantica munera, jylvaj 
 ■ Aurea qui dedcrit, dona minora dabit. 
 
 And Varro, De R. R. iii. 2. « Nuncubi hie 
 " vides ciTRUM, aut aurum." 
 
 Citron tables are mentioned by Lucan in his de- 
 scription of the gorgeous feast given by Cleopatra 
 to Caesar. 
 
 Dentibus hie niveis sectos Atlantide sylva 
 Imposuere orbes ; quales ad Cxsaris era 
 Nee capto venerc Juba. 
 
 Pharsal. X. J44. 
 
 Milton, I should suppose, did not mean to cele- 
 brate any marble under the name of " Atlantic 
 " stone." Indeed it does not appear that the 
 Romans ever used marble for tables. Atlantic 
 must therefore have a reference to this citron wood, 
 which is said to have grown no where but upon 
 Mount Atlas. It might perhaps be called " Atlantic 
 " marble" or " stone," from its marble-like ap- 
 pearance ; being curiously veined and spotted. 
 
 1:7. Tlieir mines of Setia, Cales, and Fa/erne,] 
 
 These were three of the most famous Campanian 
 wines among the Romans. Pliny, speaking of 
 Campania, says, " Hinc felix ilia Campania est. 
 " Ab hoc sinu incipiunt viiiferi colles, et temu- 
 " lantia nobilis succo per omnes terras inclyto ; 
 " atque, (ut veteres dixere,) summum Liberi Patris 
 " cum Cerere certamen, Hinc Setini et Cscub. 
 " obtenduntur agri. His junguntur Falerni, 
 " Caleni." — Hist. Nat. iii. 5. 
 
 The Falernian was commonly considered as their 
 prime wine. Hence Virgil, Georg. ii, 96. 
 
 nee cellis ideo contcndc Falernis, 
 
 And Tibullus, speaking of the Falernian distriifl, 
 terras it 
 
 -.^^— Baechi eura, Falernus agsr. 
 
 L. i. El. 9. 
 
 And Varro, De R. R.— i. 2 ; " Quod far 
 
 " conferam Campano ? Quod triticum Appulo ? 
 
 " Quod
 
 ;oo 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Chios, and Crete, and how 
 Crystal, and myrrhine cupS; 
 
 " Quod vinum Falerno ? Quod oleum Ve- 
 " nafro ?" 
 
 Setine wine, according to Pliny, was the favorite 
 wine of Augustus. " Divus Augustus Setinum prs- 
 " tulit cunttis." xiv. 6. — Martial speaks of Setia, 
 now Sezza, famous for its wine, and its situation 
 on the brow of a hill ; 
 
 Pendula Pomptinos qu« special Setia campoi 
 Exigui vctulos misit ab urbe cados. 
 
 L. xiii. £p. 112. 
 
 Xec qux paludcs deli cat a Pomptinas 
 
 Ex arce cuvi spcflat uva Sktini, 
 
 L. X. Ep. 74. 
 
 The same poet seems to put the Setine wine upon 
 a footing with the Falernian ; 
 
 Ebna Setino fit sarpe, et sxpe Falerno. 
 
 L. xii. Ep. 17. 
 
 Pliny calls the principal town of the agei- Calenns, 
 
 Calenum. Silius Italicus calls it both Cales and 
 
 Cah, viii. 513.— xii. 525. Virgil and Horace 
 
 write it Cahs. The latter, in an Ode addressed 
 
 to the former, speaks of the Calenian wine, as a 
 
 wine of value ; 
 
 Sed PREssuM Calibui ducere Liberum 
 
 Si gestis,— — 
 
 L. 4. Ode xii. 14^ 
 
 In another Ode, where he invites Mjecenas to 
 visit him, he speaks of it jointly with the Ctecuhum, 
 but seems to consider it as inferior to the Falernum, 
 which he tells his patron that his cellars do not 
 afford. 
 
 Caccubum et pr.^lo domitam Caleno 
 
 Tu bibcs uvam. Mca nee Fakrnse 
 
 Temperant vites, neque Formiani 
 
 Pocula colics. 
 
 1 Ode. XX 9. 
 
 And yet Pliny, having noticed the Cascuban, 
 as a most generous and celebrated wine, and pro- 
 ceeding to speak of the Falernian, says, " Secunda 
 " nobilitas Falerno agroerat." Nat. Hist. xiv. 6. 
 — Horace, i Ode, xxxi. 9. speaks of the Calenian 
 wine as a luxury of the highest kind, 
 
 118. Chill and Crete, — ] 
 
 tb.ey quaff in gold, 
 , imboss'd with gems 
 
 Pliny, speaking of the wines imported into Italy, 
 says, " in summa gloria fuerunt Thasium Chi- 
 " UMQUE. Ex Chio quod Arvisium vocant." 
 xiv. 7. And Virgil, Ecl. v. 71. 
 
 Vina hotum fundam calathis Artisia nectar. 
 Silius Italicus likewise terms it 
 
 - Ambrosiis Arvisia pocula succis. 
 
 vii. s>o. 
 
 Strabo describes the country of Arvisium as pro- 
 ducing the best of all the Greek wines. "H Afiao-ta 
 
 Horace places the Chian among the rich winet 
 
 in the miser's cellar ; 
 
 . positis intus Can vcterisque Falerni 
 
 Mille cadis, 
 
 2 Satir. ili. 115. 
 
 He likewise alludes to the high estimation in 
 which this wine was held, L. 3. Ode xix. 5. 
 
 Quo Chium pretio cadum 
 Mcrcemur,^— 
 
 The wines of Crete are joined with those of 
 Chios or Scios, by Tasso. Gierusal. Lib. i. 78. 
 
 Ogni isola de' Creci a lui sol mieta, 
 
 E Scio pietrosa gli vindemmi, e Crzta. 
 
 The isles of Greece sent in provisions meet, 
 And store of wine from Scios came and Crete. 
 
 Fair/ax, 
 
 Cretan wine is mentioned, together with the 
 Chiaa and other celebrated wines of Greece, by 
 
 iElian; Var. Hist. xii. 31. Solinus, in his 
 
 description of Crete, C. 17, says, " larga vitis ; 
 " mira soli indulgentia." — Martial celebrates the 
 possum, made at Gnossus, a city of Crete; 
 
 Gnossia Minoiie gcnuit vindkmia Cret*. 
 
 L. xiii. Ep. io6. 
 
 Juvenal speaks of it as a rich wine ; 
 
 — ^ piNouE antique de littore Cretat 
 
 PASSUM,— — — 
 
 xiv. 270. 
 
 The 'vinum passum was made of grapes that were 
 nearly dried. See Pliny, xiv. 9. Colura. xii. 16. 
 
 1 1 8. _______^_ how they juaff in goU, 
 
 Crystal,
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 201 
 
 And studs of pearl ; to me should'st tell, who thirst 
 And hunger still. Then embassies thou show'st 
 From nations far and nigh : what honour that, 
 
 120 
 
 Ciystal and myrrhine cups imbtss'd with gems 
 And studs of pearl,— -\ 
 
 Crystal and myrrhint cups are often joined to- 
 gether by ancient authors. " Murrhino et cr^-stal- 
 " lina ex eadem terra efFodimus, quibus pretium 
 « faceret ipsa fragilitas. Hoc argumentum opum, 
 " hsc vera luxuriae gloria existimata est, liabere 
 •' quod posset statim totum perire." Plin. Lib. 
 Kxxiii. Proem. We see that Pliny reckons myrr- 
 hine cups among fossils ; Scaliger, Salmasius, and 
 Others, contend from this verse of Propertiusj iv. 26. 
 
 Murrheaque in Parthis pocula coSa focis, 
 that they were like our porcelain : but if they were 
 so very fragil as they are represented to be, it is 
 flot easy to conceive how they could be imboss'd 
 tuith gems and studs of pearl, I suppose our author 
 asserted it from the words immediately following 
 in Pliny; " Nee hoc fuit satis: turba gemmarum 
 « potamus, etsmaragdis teximus calices: ac temu- 
 " lentix causa tenere Indiam juvat : et aurum jam 
 " accessio est." Or perhaps the words, /V«^o«V<z<;;//& 
 gems, ice. refer only to gold first mentioned, which 
 is no unusual construftion. They quaff in gold im- 
 hoss'd lAiith gems and studs of pearl. NeiutoK. 
 
 Crystal and myrrhine cups are mentioned to- 
 gether by Juvenal ; 
 
 Grandia tolluntur crystallina, maxima rursus 
 Mykrhima, I 
 
 Sat. vi. 154. 
 
 And by Statiui, 3 Sylv. iv. 57. 
 
 ^— — hie pocula magno 
 Prima duci, mvrrhasque graves CRYsTALLAeuE 
 partat. 
 
 Thus also Martial ; 
 Opinianum morionibus ne£lar 
 Crystal L1NIS2UE myrrhinissue propinat. 
 
 L, 3. £p. Ixxxii. 24. 
 
 For the great price given for these cups, see 
 Meursius De Luxu Romanorum, C. 8. 
 
 The myrrhine cups seem to have been considered 
 as gems, and are described as such by some of the 
 
 ancient writers. Thus Seneca, De Eekkfic. vii. g., 
 in a passage where he had just mentioned the luxury 
 of citron tables, and crystalline cups ; " Video 
 " MtJRRHiNA POCULA : pafum scilicet luxuria 
 " magno furit, nisi, quod vomant, capacibui 
 
 " GEMMis inter se propinarent." The large 
 
 vases shewn in different parti of Italy, as being 
 onyx, agate, &c. are by many people supposed of 
 tliis myrrhine kind. See Mr. Holdsworth, on Vir- 
 gil's Ut gemma bibat, &c. Georg. ii. jo6. — But 
 in his unfinished vocabulary, at the end of the last 
 edition of his work, he considers the myrrhina as 
 a sort of porcelain. — That the ancients " quaff'd 
 " in gold emboss'd with gems, &c." appears from 
 numberless passages of their writers. Thus Cicero ; 
 " Exponit suas copias omnes, multum argentum, 
 " non pauca etiam poet; la bx .'Vuro, qux, ut 
 " mos est regius, et maxime in Syria, cemmis 
 
 " ERANT DISTINCTA CL ARISSl MIS." In VeR. 
 
 REM. iv. 27. Virgil also thus describes a bowl 
 
 or goblet ; 
 
 Hinc regina ckavim ceumis auroque proposcit 
 Implevitque mero pater am, 
 
 jtN. i. 728. 
 
 Silius Italicus speaks of 
 
 arc E NTO fulgentia pocula, mixta 
 Queis CEMMA quxsitus honos, 
 
 xiv. 661. 
 
 And Juvenal says, 
 
 — — nulla aconita bibuntur 
 Fiflilibus; tunc ilia time, cum pocula sumes 
 GfMUATA, et lato Setinum ardcbic in auro. 
 
 Sat. X. i~. 
 
 It appears, from the same satyrist, that the Romans 
 were sometimes suspicious their guests might rob 
 these rich cups of some of their valuable orna- 
 ments ; 
 
 ' ■ libi non committilur aurum; 
 
 Vel, si quando datur, custoi aflixus ibidem, 
 Qui numerct gcmmas, ungucsfiic observct acutos. 
 
 Sat. v. 39. 
 
 Dd 
 
 But
 
 202 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV^ 
 
 But tedious waste of time, to sit and hear 
 So many hollow compliments and lies, 
 Outlandish flatteries ? Then proceed'st to talk 
 Of the emperor, how easily subdued. 
 How gloriously : I shall, thou say'st, expel 
 A brutish monster ; what if I withal 
 Expel a Devil who first made him such ? 
 Let his tormenter conscience find him out ; 
 For him I was not sent ; nor yet to free 
 That people, vidor once, now vile and base ; 
 Deservedly made vassal ; who, once just. 
 Frugal, and mild, and temperate, conquer'd well. 
 But govern ill the nations under yoke. 
 Peeling their provinces, exhausted all 
 
 ^25 
 
 13^ 
 
 35 
 
 IS4. So navy holleui compliments and lies, 
 Outlandish JklUnes ? — ] 
 
 Possibly not without an allusion to the congratu- 
 larory embassies on the Restoration. 
 
 130. Let his tormenter conscience Jind him out; — "] 
 
 Milton, as Dr. Jortin observes, had here in his 
 mind Tacitus, who, having related the extraor- 
 dinary letters written by Tiberius to the senate, 
 adds ; " Adeo facinora atque flagitia sua ipsi 
 " quoque in supplicium verterant. Neque frustra 
 " prasstantissimus sapientix firmare solitus est, si 
 " rccludantur tyrannorum mentes, posse aspici la- 
 " niatus et ictus, quando ut corpora verberibus, ita 
 «' sxvitia, libidine, malis consultis, animus Jilace- 
 " retur. Quippe Tiberium non fortuna, non soli- 
 " tudines protegebant, quin tormenta peftoris suas- 
 ■' que ipse poenas fateretur." Annal. vi. 6. 
 
 131. That people, vidor once, nou vile and base: iic] 
 
 This description of the corruption and decline of 
 the Roman empire, contained in this and the fol- 
 
 lowing ten lines, is at once conciiely fine, and, 
 accurately just. 
 
 136. Peeling their provinces,— "] 
 
 This expression might be suggested by the well- 
 known answer of Tiberius, at a time when his 
 conduft was consistent with it. Being urged by 
 some provincial governors to require an increase of 
 tribute from the subjeft provinces, he replied, that 
 " a good shepherd would be content to " sheer his 
 " sheep without flaying them." — boni pastoris esse 
 tondere pecits, non deglubere. Sueton. TiaER. 
 C. 32. — or, as reported by Dion Cassius, Ivii. 
 xsipEirfiai ft,a ta wfn^enct, uMJ eta. AflOHIfPESQAI, 
 
 ^sXofMti. " I would sheer my sheep, but not to the 
 « quick," 
 
 >36- 
 
 exliausted alt 
 
 Sy lust and rapine ;— ] 
 
 The rapine, by which the provinces subjeft to 
 the Romans were drained and exhausted, was most 
 notorious. The exaflions of \''erres in Sicily were 
 
 estimated
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 jo: 
 
 By lust and rapine ; first ambitious grown 
 Of triumph, that insulting vanity, 
 
 estimated by Cicero at a sum exceeding three 
 hundred thousand pounds of our money. The op- 
 pression of the Asiatic provinces, by the Roman 
 proconsuls and tax-gatherers, is particularly com- 
 plained of in a speech of Mithrldates, in Justin, 
 where it is said, " Adeo illis odium Romanorum 
 " incussit rapacitas proconsulum, sectio 
 " puBLiCANORUM," Justin, L. xxxviii. C. 7. — 
 Cicero, in his Oration de provinciis consula- 
 RiBus, brings many severe accusations of this kind 
 against L. Piso and A. Gabinius, at that time 
 proconsuls in Macedonia and Syria. — Against the 
 former of these, to the charge of rapine, is joined 
 
 that oi lust. " Quis vestrum hoc non audivit, 
 
 " quis ignorat, Achasos ingentem pecuniam pen- 
 « dere L. Pisoni quotannis ? veftigal ac portiorum 
 *« Dyrrhachinorum totura in hujus unius qusstum 
 " esse conversum ? urbem Byzantiorum, vobis at- 
 «' que huic imperio fidelissimam, hostilem in mo- 
 «' dum esse vexatam ? quo ille, posteaquam nihil 
 " exprimere ab egentibus, nihil ulla vi a miseris 
 " extorquere potuit, cohortes in hiberna misit; his 
 " praeposuit, quos putavit fore diligentissimos sa- 
 " tellites scelerum, ministros cupiditatum suarum. 
 " Omitto jurisdiftionem in libera civitate contra 
 " leges senatusque consulta ; cides relinquo, li- 
 " bidines prstereo ; quarum acerbissimum extat 
 " indicium, et ad insignem raemoriam turpitu- 
 " dinis, et poene ad justum imperii nostri odium, 
 « quod constat, nobilissimas virgines se in puteos 
 " abjecisse, et morte voluntaria necessariam tiirpi- 
 
 •• tudinem depulisse." C. iii. In the same 
 
 Oration, speaking of Gabinius, he says; " Igitur 
 " in Syria imperatore illo nihil allud aftum est, 
 " nisi paftiones pecunianim cum tyrannis, de- 
 " cisiones, direptiones, latrocinia, ca-des, &c.'' 
 Civ. And afterwards, joining them both to- 
 gether, he terms them, " has duplices pestes so- 
 " ciorum, militum clades, publicanorum ruinas, 
 " provinciarumvastitates, imperii maculas." C.vi. 
 -—In the Oration likewise, In L. Pi son em, he 
 thus sums up the abominable condu£\ of Piso in 
 
 his consulship, principally towards the provinces : 
 " Achaia exhausta, Thcssalia vexata, laceratx 
 " Athene, Dyrrhachium et Apollonia exitenita, 
 " Ambracia direpta, Parthini et Bullienses illusi, 
 " Epirus excisa, Locri, Phocii, Bsotii exusti, Acar- 
 " nania, Amphilochia, Perrh:ebia Athamanumque 
 " gens vendita, Macedonia condonata Barbaris, 
 " iEtolia amissa, Dolopes Rnitimique montani op- 
 " pidis atque agris exterminati, cives Romani, qui 
 " in lis locis negotiantur, te unum solum suura de- 
 " peculatorem, vexatorem, praedonem, hostera, ve- 
 " nisse senserunt." C. 40. — In this Oration also 
 the charges of lust and rapine arc again jointly 
 
 brought against Piso, " evertisti miseras fun- 
 
 " ditus civitates, qux non solum bonis sunt ex- 
 «' haustx, sed etiam nefarias libidinum conruraelias 
 
 " turpitudinesque subierunt." C, xxxv. Some 
 
 parts of these two Orations, which abound in 
 charges of this double kind, were probably in 
 Milton's recolleftion. — It must however be ob- 
 served that libido is often used by Latin authors 
 to signify any violent passion, and particularly that 
 of gain and plunder. Thus Cicero, in his Oration 
 De Lege Agraria, C. xx. " O libidinem 
 " refrenandam!" where Turnebus observes, " //- 
 " hidinem cum dicit, cupiditatcm, a'viditatcm deiiique 
 " intelligit." 
 
 Our poet seems to have had this sense of lihidt 
 in his mind, in his Paradise Lost, iv. 194.; 
 So since into his church lewd hirelings climb. 
 
 137. .. ambiUMs gruiL'H 
 
 Of Iriiimph, that insulting vanit)- ; — ] 
 
 " Ciuid tandem habet iste currus ? quid vinfli 
 " ante currum duces ? quid simulacra oppidorum ? 
 " quid aurum ? quid argentum ? quid legati in 
 " equis et tribuni ? quod clamor militum ? quid 
 " fota ilia pompa ? inania sunt ista, mihi 
 " crede, deledamenta poene puerorum, cajitare 
 " plausus, vehi per urbem, conspiei v«lle, quibut 
 " ex rebus nihil est quod solidum tenere ; nihil 
 " quod referre ad vohiptatem corporis possis." 
 
 Cicero, In L. Pison. C. 25. 
 
 Dd a 139- '^'"t
 
 204 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Then cruel, by their sports to blood inur'd 
 Of fighting beasts, and men to beasts expos'd ; 
 Luxurious by their wealth, and greedier still, 
 And from the daily scene effeminate. 
 What wise and vahant man would seek to free 
 
 140 
 
 . ijg. Titn cruel, by their sjiorts to blood inur'd 
 
 Of jignting men, and men to beasts exposed; 
 Luxurious by their wealth, and greedier still. 
 And from the daily scene effeminiite.J 
 
 The connexion of luxury, cruelty, and effeminacy, 
 has been often remarked in all ages. Athensus no- 
 sices the cruelty of the people of Milctns as connefted 
 with their luxury ; and, speaking of some Scythian 
 nations, he describes them advancing in cruelty, in 
 proportion as they plunged themselves in luxury 
 and effeminacy, xai wfwToi tm TO TPYOAN op^cr;- 
 ^acvru i»5 T8T0 wpo>!X9oir u|3pEu; Ufa wctiTUt rut av^fuvui 
 e;; ovf a^iKfiT* wpoT»ipia?o» Ta; fi>2;. p. 525. Ed, 
 
 Cansab. — The lonians are described by the same 
 aathor as " devoid of philanthropy, chearfulness, 
 " and even natural affeftion, and shewing upon all 
 •' occasions a disposition of the most unfeeling 
 " kind ;" and at the same time he notices " their 
 *' habits of luxury and effeminacy," ra Iwn» »i9/) 
 ifvpfiirifa. p. 625. — Tacitus connefls luxury and 
 cruelty together in the charafter of Otho. Having 
 spoken of Vitellius as " ventre et gula sibi ipsi 
 " hostis," he adds, " Otho, luxu, s^vitia, 
 " audacia, reipnblics exitiosior ducebatur." Hist. 
 
 ji. 31, The effeminacy of the Romans, as 
 
 luxury advanced, became a subjeft of complaint 
 and censure to all their moralists and historians. 
 " Miramur," says Columella, " gestus efFocmina- 
 " torum, quod a natura sexum viris denegatum 
 •' muliebri motu mentiantur, decipiantque oculos 
 " speftantium." L. i. — Nero assumed the dress 
 and behaviour of a woman, and was aftually several 
 times married, with much ostentation of the nuptial 
 rites, to several of his minions. Elagabalus imitated 
 his example in this,and in other disgraceful instances. 
 Milton probably alluded to some of these circum- 
 stances in the Roman history. 
 
 1 40. Offghting beasts, and men to beasts exfos'd,] 
 
 The fighting beasts are a poor instance of the 
 Roman cruelty in their sports, in comparison of 
 the gladiators; who might have been introduced 
 so naturally and easily here, only by putting the 
 word gladiators in place of the other two, that ona 
 may very well be surprised at the poet's omitting 
 them. See Seneca's viith Epistle. Calton, 
 
 Beast-fights were exhibited among the Romans 
 with great variety. Sometimes, by bringing water 
 into the amphitheatre, even sea-monsters were in- 
 troduced for the purpose of combating with wild 
 beasts. This is mentioned by Calphumius, Ecl. 
 vii. 64. 
 
 Nee nobis tantum sylvesiria cerncre monstra 
 Contigit, .^ouoREOS ego cum certantibus umis 
 
 SpECTAVI VITULOS. 
 
 The men that fought with wild beasts were called 
 bestiarii. These were principally condemned per- 
 sons ; although there were some who hired them- 
 selves like gladiators. 
 
 141. Luxurious by their wealth, and greedier still,^ 
 
 LUXURIAMQUI LUCKIS CinimUS, LUXUQUX RAPINAS. 
 
 Manii.. iv. 10. 
 
 143. What wise and valiant man would seek tojret 
 These, thus degenerate, by themselves inslav'd ? 
 Or could of inward slaves make outward free .'J 
 
 The following citation, from a truly philosophical 
 work, may be no improper comment on this passage 
 of Milton. " Were a nation given to be moulded 
 " by a sovereign, as clay is put into the hands of 
 «' the potter, this proje<5l of bestowing liberty on 
 " a people who are adually servile, is perhaps of 
 " all others the most difficult, and requires most 
 " to be executed in silence, and with the deepest 
 
 " reserve.
 
 150 K rv. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 These, thus degenerate, by themselves inslav'd ? 
 Or could of inward slaves make outward free ? 
 Know therefore, when my season comes to sit 
 On David's throne, it shall be like a tree 
 Spreading and overshadowing all the earth ;- 
 Or as a stone, that shall to pieces dash 
 All monarchies besides throughout the world ; 
 And of my kingdom there shall be no end : 
 Means there shall be to this ; but what the means, 
 Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell. 
 
 ^03 
 
 f45 
 
 '5^ 
 
 " reserve. Men are qualified to receive this blessing, 
 " only in proportion aS they are made to apprehend 
 " their own rights, and are made to respefl the 
 " just pretensions of mankind ; in proportion as 
 " they are willing to sustain in their own persons 
 " the burthen of government and of national de- 
 " fence, and to prefer the engagements of a liberal 
 •' mind to the enjoyments of sloth, and the delusive 
 " hopes of a safety purchased by submission and 
 " fear." — Ferguson on civil society, P. 6. S. 5. 
 
 145. Or could oj iiiward slaves wake outward free P] 
 
 This noble sentiment Milton explains more fully, 
 and expresses more diffusively, in his Paradise 
 Lost, xii. go. 
 
 •^— therefore since he permits 
 Within himself unwonhy pow'rs to reign 
 Over free reason, God in judgment just 
 Subjefts him fxora without to violent lords ; &c. 
 
 So also again, in his xiith Sonnet, 
 
 Licence they mean, when they cry Liberty; 
 
 For who loves that, must first be wise and 
 
 GOOD. 
 
 No one had ever more refined notions of true 
 liberty than Milton, and I have often thought that 
 there never was a greater proof of the weakness of 
 fcaman nature, than that he^with a head so ckarj 
 
 and a heart, I really believe, perfedly honest and 
 disinterested, should concur in supporting such a 
 tyrant, and professed trampler upon the liberties of 
 his country, as Cromwell was. Th^er^ 
 
 146. Know therefore, when my season comes to sit 
 On David's throne, (3c.— '\ 
 
 A particular manner of expression, but frequent 
 
 in Milton; as if he had said. Know therefore when 
 
 the season comes to sit on David's throne, that 
 
 throne shall be like a tree &c. alluding to the 
 
 parable of the mustard-seed grown into a tree, s» 
 
 that the birds lodge in the branches thereof, (Mat. 
 
 xiii, 32.); and to, (what that parable also respedls,) 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great tree ivhose 
 
 heighth reached unto hea'ven, and the sight thereof 
 
 to the end of all the earth, (Dan. iv. ti.) Ter- 
 
 tuUian also compares the kingdom of Christ to that 
 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, See Grotius in Matt. Or as 
 
 a stone &c. ; alluding to the stone in another of 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, which brake the image 
 
 in pieces, and so this kingdom shall break iu pieces, 
 
 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
 
 for e'ver, (Dan. ii. 44.) And of my kingdom there 
 
 shall be tia end : the very words of Luke, i. 55. 
 
 with the only necessary change of the person ; and 
 
 of his kingdom there shall be no end. Neivton, 
 
 To
 
 200 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 »00K IV. 
 
 To M'hom the Tempter impudent reply'd. 
 I see all offers made by me how slight 
 Thou valuest, because offer'd, and rejecl'st: 
 Nothing will please the difficult and nice. 
 Or nothing more than still to contradi61: : 
 On the other side know also thou, that I 
 On what I offer set as high esteem. 
 Nor what I part with mean to give for naught ; 
 All these, which in a moment thou behold'st. 
 The kingdoms of the world, to thee I give, 
 (For, given to me, I give to whom I please,) 
 No trifle ; yet with this reserve, not else. 
 On this condition, if thou wilt fall down. 
 
 '35 
 
 1 60 
 
 ■65 
 
 162. ^11 these, uifik/i in a moment thou behold'st. 
 The kingdoms of the world, to thee I give! 
 (For, given to me, I give to tehom I please,) 
 No trijle ; yet with this reserve, not else. 
 On this condition., if thou wilt /all down. 
 And worship me as thy superior lord, &€."] 
 
 And the Jivily taking him up into a high mountain, 
 shelved unto him all the kingdoms of the luarld in 
 a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, all 
 this poiuer nuill I gime unto thee, and the glory of 
 them : for that is delitiered unto me ; and unto 
 'whomsoever I nuill, I give it. 
 
 If thou therefore ivilt ivorship me, all shall be 
 '*'■»'• Luke, iv. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 >66. On this condition, if thou wUt fall 4oan, 
 And worship m:, as thy superior lord,^ 
 
 In my opinion, (and Mr. Thyer concurs with 
 me in the observation,) there is nothing in the 
 disposition and conduft of the whole poem so justly 
 liable to censure, as the awkward and preposterous 
 jntroduftion of this incident in this place. Thj 
 Tempter should have proposed the condition at the 
 
 same time that he offered the gifts, as he doth in 
 scripture; but after his gifts had been absolutely 
 refused, to what purpose was k to propose the 
 impious condition ? Could he imagine that our Sa- 
 viour would accept the kingdoms of the world upon 
 the abominable terms of falling down and worship- 
 ping him, just after he had rejected them unclogged 
 with any terms at all ? Well might the author say 
 that Satan impudent replied; but that doth not solve 
 the objeftion. Netuton. 
 
 I differ entirely from Bp. Newton and his very 
 able coadjutor, respefling this part of the poem. 
 The management of the poet seems so far from 
 objeftionable, that I conceive this passage to 
 be a striking instance of his great judgment in 
 arranging his work, as well as of his great skill in 
 
 decorating it. The conduft and demeanour of 
 
 Satan had hitherto been artfully plausible, ar.d 
 such as seemed most likely to forward his designs. 
 At the beginning of this Book, after repeated 
 defeats, he is described desperate of success, and 
 " flung from his hope;" but still h« proceeds. 
 
 Upon
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 207 
 
 lycy 
 
 And worship me as thy superior lord, 
 (Easily done,) and hold them all of me ; 
 For what can less so great a gift deserve ? 
 
 Whom thus our Saviour answer'd with disdain. 
 I never lik'd thy talk, thy offers less ; 
 Now both abhor, since thou hast dar'd to utter 
 The abominable terms, impious condition : 
 But I indure the time, till which expir'd 
 Thou hast permission on me. It is written. 
 The first of all commandments. Thou shalt worship 
 The Lord thy God, and only him shalt serve ; 
 And dar'st thou to the Son of God propound 
 To worship thee accurs'd ? now more accurs'd 
 For this attempt, bolder than that on Eve,, r8o 
 
 ^75 
 
 Upon his next attack failing, the paroxysm of his 
 desperation rises to such a height, that he is com- 
 pletely thrown off his guard, and at once betrays 
 himself and his purpose, by bringing forward, with 
 the most intemperate indiscretion, those abominable 
 terms, which, could it have been possible for his 
 temptations to have succeeded, we may imagine 
 were intended in the end to have been proposed 
 to our Lord. This then is the «»ayvwfio-K5 or full 
 discovery who Satan really was ; for it must be 
 observed, that though Jesus in the first Book 
 (Ver. 3j6.) had declared that he knew the 
 Tempter through his disguise, still the Temptation 
 proceeds in the same manner as if he had not 
 known him : at least our Lord's condudl is not 
 represented as influenced by any suspicion of an 
 insidious adversary. — As to proposing the condition 
 together nxiith the gifts ; this I conceive could not 
 be done without changing the whole plan of the 
 poem, as by pushing the question immediately to 
 
 a point, it must have precluded the gradually pro- 
 gressive temptations which the poet so finely brings 
 
 forward. It might perhaps have been wished 
 
 that the circumstance of Satan's betraying himself 
 and his purpose, under the irritation of defeat and 
 desperation, had been kept back till the 'subsequent i 
 temptation, in the highly-finished description of / 
 Athens with all its pride of learning and phi-/ 
 losophy, had been tried, and had also failed. But 
 the apologetic speech of Satan (Ver. 196.], in 
 which he recovers himself from his intemperate 
 impetuosity, and repairs the indiscretion of his 
 present violent irritation, so far as to pave the way 
 for another temptation, is not only marked with 
 such singular art and address as is truly admirable, 
 but it likewise gives a material variety and relief 
 to this part of the poem ; which I cannot wish to 
 have been in any respeft different from what it is,- 
 as 1 do not conceive that even Milton himself could 
 Iiave improved it. 
 
 And
 
 :o8 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 •lOOK IV. 
 
 And more blasphemous ; which expedl to rue. 
 
 The kingdoms of the world to thee were given f 
 
 Permitted rather, and by tliee usurp'd ; 
 
 Other donation none thou canst produce. 
 
 If given, by whom but by the king of kings, 
 
 God over all supreme ? If given to thee. 
 
 By thee how fairly is the giver now 
 
 Repaid ! But gratitude in thee is lost 
 
 Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame, 
 
 As offer them to me, the son of God ? 
 
 To me my own, on such abhorred padl. 
 
 That I fall down and worship thee as God ? 
 
 Get thee behind me ; plain thou now appear'st 
 
 That evil one, Satan for ever damn'd. 
 
 To whom the Fiend, with fear abash'd, reply'd. 
 Be not so sore offended, Son of God, 
 Though sons of God both Angels are and Men, 
 If I, to try- whether in higher sort 
 Than these thou bear'st that title, have propos'd 
 What both from Men and Angels I receive, 
 Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the earth. 
 
 185 
 
 290 
 
 95 
 
 200 
 
 the king cf kings. 
 
 God over all jiipreme ?— ] 
 —— •who it the blessed and only potentate, THE 
 
 KING OP KINGS, AND LORD OF LORBS. I Tim, 
 
 vi. 15. 
 
 'who is OVER ALL, Cod blessed for e-ver. 
 
 -Romans, ix. j. 
 
 188. 
 
 But gratitude in thct is lost 
 
 i-tng tinee.—-] 
 
 Milton had made Satan declare " long" before, | 
 
 ^— ^ all good to me is lost ; 
 
 Evil be thou roy good ! 
 
 Faradisz Lost, iv. icg. 
 
 igg. ____ ^___— — hav! prtpos'd / 
 
 IVhatiothfrom Men and Angels I receive, Be.'} ( 
 
 The terms of worship and vassalage. SeeVer. 166. 
 
 supra. 
 
 201. Tctranhs of Jire, air, food, and on the earth,'] 
 
 The
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 £Of 
 
 Nations beside from all the quarter'd winds, 
 God of this world invok'd, and world beneath : 
 Who then thou art, whose coming is foretold 
 To me most fatal, me it most concerns ; 
 The trial hath indamag'd thee no way. 
 Rather more honor left and more esteem ; 
 Me naught advantag'd, missing what I aim'd. 
 Therefore let pass, as they are transitory. 
 The kingdoms of this world ; I shall no more 
 Advise thee ; gain them as thou canst, or not. 
 
 205 
 
 210 
 
 The arch-fiend here means to prove the extent 
 of his dominion, and his pretensions to the name 
 and power of a God, from the homage paid him 
 by Demons of every supposed order and descrip- 
 tion; 
 
 — — those Dcmont that are found, 
 
 la FIXI, AIR, FLOOD, or UNDBR GROUND, 
 
 PiMXROSO. 93. 
 
 It is, says Mr. Warton, one of the visions of 
 Thomas Aquinas, that God permitted some of the 
 fallen angels, less guilty than the rest, in their 
 descent or precipitation from heaven, to remain in 
 the air, fire, water, and earth, till the day of Judg- 
 ment. Drayton, speaking of evil spirits, has the 
 same doftiinc j 
 
 Some EARTHLY mixtures take, as others which aspire, 
 Them subtler shapes resume, of w a ter, air, and firs; 
 Being those immortals long before the heaven, that fell, 
 Whose deprivation thence determined their hell. 
 
 The Spirits in Tasso, which the Necromancer 
 summons to take possession of the enchanted forest, 
 are invoked as fallen angels, who controul the dif- 
 ferent elements which they inhabit ; 
 
 Udite, udite o vol che da le stelle 
 Prccipitar giu i folgori tonanti ; 
 Si voi che le tempeste c le procelle 
 Xfovetc, hibitator de I'aria erranti, &c. 
 
 GiBK. I.1I!. C. xiii. '■ 
 
 Hear, hear, you Spirits all that whilom fell. 
 Cast down from Heaven with dint of roaring thunder; 
 Hear you, amid the empty air that dwell, 
 And storms and showers pour on these kingdoms under; 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 And in the first part of Shakespeare's Hen. VI. 
 Joan la Pucelle summons her Spirits, or DeraonJ, 
 and addresses them by the titles of 
 
 — familiar Spirits, that are call'd 
 Out of the powerful legions undxr zartk. 
 
 and of 
 
 speedy helpers, that are substitutis 
 
 Under the lordly monarch of the vortb, 
 
 i.e. under Satan himself. — See Mr. Warton 's long, 
 but very curious, note, already referred to, on the 
 Penseroso. 
 
 E03. God of this world invok'd — ] 
 
 Milton pursues the same notion which he had 
 adopted in his Paradise Lost, of the Gods of the 
 Gentiles being the fallen Angels, and he is sup- 
 ported in it by the authority of the primitive 
 fathers, who are very unanitnous in accusing the 
 heathens of worshipping devils for deities. Thjer. 
 
 The devil, in scripture, is termed the Gedofthii 
 I'jorU, 2 Cor, iv. 4. 
 
 Ec 
 
 And
 
 zio 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 And thou thyself seem'st otherwise inclin'd 
 
 Than to a worldly crown ; addided more 
 
 To contemplation and profound dispute, 
 
 As by that early a^lion may be judg'd, 215 
 
 When, slipping from thy mother's eye, thou went*st 
 
 Alone into the temple, there wast found 
 
 Among the gravest Rabbles, disputant 
 
 On points and questions fitting Moses' chair. 
 
 Teaching, not taught. The childhood shews the man, 2 20 
 
 As morning shews the day : be famous then 
 
 By wisdom ; as thy empire must extend, 
 
 So let extend thy mind o'er all the world 
 
 In knowledge, all things in it comprehend. 
 
 All knowledge is not couch'd in Moses' law, 225 
 
 219. 
 
 ■ Jilting Moses' chair,'] 
 
 Moses' (hair was the chair in which the dodlors 
 sitting expounded the law either publicly to the 
 people, or privately to their disciples. The scribes 
 ttnd Pharisees sit in Moses chair, uri t>i! Maitreii; KOir- 
 lif/aj. Mat. xxxiii. 2. NeiutoTt, 
 
 iij. — .^— ^— — ^— ^ addiHedmort 
 To contemplation—'] 
 
 Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 297., describes 
 Adam in his state of innocence " for contem- 
 " PLATioN form'd." 
 
 The childhood shfuis the matt, 
 
 As morning shews the day, — ] 
 Thus Ben Jonson, in his verses to susan 
 COUNTESS OF montgomert; 
 
 Were they that nam'd you prophets ? Did they tis 
 
 Et'n in the DtW OF caACE, WHAT YOD WOUJ.D BI? 
 
 221. As morning shews the day :— ] 
 
 Alluding to St, Matthew, xvi, iM—'Aitd in the 
 
 moruitig, it 'Will befoul 'Weather to-daj ; for the sij 
 is red. 
 
 Be/amaus then 
 
 By wisdom ;—] 
 
 We are now come to the last temptation properly 
 so called ; and it is worth the reader's while to ob- 
 serve how well Satan has pursued the scheme which 
 he had proposed in council, ii. 22;. 
 
 Therefore with manlier objefis we must try 
 His constancy ; with such as have moje shew 
 Of worth, of honor, glory, and popular praise. 
 
 The gradation also in the several allurements pro- 
 posed is very fine; and I believe one may justly say, 
 that there never was a more exalted system of mo- 
 rality comprized in so short a compass. Never were 
 the arguments for vice dressed up in more delusive 
 colours, nor were they ever answered with more 
 solidity of thought, or acuteness of reasoning. 
 
 Thjer, 
 
 The
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 21 f 
 
 The Pentateuch, or what the Prophets wrote ; 
 
 The Gentiles also know, and write, and teach 
 
 To admiration, led by nature's light. 
 
 And with the Gentiles much thou must converse, 
 
 Ruling them by persuasion, as thou mean'st ; 230 
 
 Without their learning, how wilt thou with them, 
 
 Or they with thee, hold conversation meet ? 
 
 How wilt thou reason with them, how refute 
 
 Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes ? 
 
 Error by his own arms is best evinc'd. 235 
 
 Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount. 
 
 830. Ruling them iy persuasion as thou mean'st,'] 
 
 Alluding to those charming lines, i. 221. 
 
 Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first 
 By winning words to conquer willing hearts, 
 And make persuasion do the work of fear. 
 
 NenvtoH, 
 
 234. — — idolisms, — ] 
 
 Idolisms is, I believe, a word of Milton's own 
 fabrication. It seems not so much to mean the 
 idolatrous worship of the Gentiles, as the opinions 
 with which they might endeavour to defend it. 
 Our Author has also idolisis, Sams. Agon. 453. 
 
 i and op'd the mouths 
 
 Of IDOLISTS and atheists ; 
 
 434. ■ traditions,—] 
 
 By traditions, we may understand opinions col- 
 lefted from those philosophers who instrudled pub- 
 lickly, without committing any of their precepts to 
 writing; which was the case with Pythagoras, Numa, 
 and Lycurgus. See the lives of the two latter by 
 Plutarch. 
 
 234- 
 
 I paradoxes f] 
 
 Alluding to the paradoxes of the Stoic philo- 
 •ophers, then in high repute. 
 
 *35- ^rror ty his oten arms is best evinc'd.] 
 
 Eniinc'd is here used in its Latin signification of 
 subdued or conquered ; in which sense it is more 
 forcible and appropriate, than, as it is more com- 
 monly used by us to shetti, or prrve, 
 
 236. ——•^———— this specular mount,] 
 
 Thus in the Paradise Lost, xii. 588. when 
 the Angel had finished what he had to shew, and 
 to relate to Adam, he says, 
 
 Let us descend now therefore from this T0^ 
 Of s>tcuLATiOM ; 
 
 Specula and speculator are used In this sense by 
 the Latin poets. 
 
 Prsceps aerii specula de month in undas 
 Dcferar.^— 
 
 Vlrg. EcLOC. viii. 59, 
 
 SPECULA sublimis ab alta 
 
 Non Romana minus servat, quam Funica castrai 
 
 Sil. Iial. vii. j2i. 
 
 Celsi Ditcearchi aricuiATRix villa profunfli. 
 
 Stat, a Stlv. ii. 3. 
 
 Ee 2 
 
 West-
 
 212 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK lY. 
 
 Westward, much nearer by southwest, behold ; 
 Where on the ^Egean shore a city stands. 
 Built nobly, pure the air, and light the soil ; 
 
 137. JVeslward, much nearer iy soulhoieit, — ] 
 This might be understood W. by S. that is, one 
 point from west towards southwest; which is nearly 
 the aflual position of Athens, with respeft to Mount 
 
 Kiphates. Or it may only mean, that our Lord 
 
 had no occasion to change his situation on the wes- 
 tern side of the mountain (See Ver, 25. of this 
 Book); but only, as the latitude of Athens was 
 four degrees southward of that of Rome, that he 
 must now direft his view so much more toward the 
 touthwest, than when he was looking at Rome, 
 which lay nearly due west, or in a small degree 
 northwest, of Mount Niphates. 
 
 238. Where on the ^gean shore a city stands,"] 
 The following description of Athens, and its 
 learning, is extremely grand and beautiful. Mil- 
 ton's Muse, as was before observed, is too much 
 \ cramped down by the argumentative cast of his 
 ( subjefl, but emerges upon every favorable occasion, 
 and, like the sun from under a cloud, bursts out 
 into the same bright vein of poetry, which shines 
 out more frequently, though not more strongly, in 
 the Paradise Lost. Thjer. 
 
 I cannot persuade myself that our author, when 
 he selected his subjeft, and formed his plan, con- 
 sidered himself as any ways cramped dcwn by it. 
 I have no doubt that he looked forward with plea- 
 sure to the opportunities, which he foresaw it would 
 afford him, of introducing this and other admirable 
 descriptions; and that he was particularly aware of 
 the great efFeft which the argiimentati've cast of part 
 of his poem would give to that which is purely 
 descriftrjc. 
 
 439. Built nohfy,—'] 
 
 Homer, speaking of Athens, calls it a 'uiell-built 
 
 tity ; 
 
 0» y «f' AOrjl<»{ si}(jHi Eii«TlfU>0> »•T0^1!6fCl 
 
 II. ii. 546. 
 
 Ncvitan, 
 
 239. -^— — pure the air, and light the soil;'] 
 Attica being a mountainous country, the soil was 
 light, and the air sharp and pure ; and therefore 
 said to be produftive of sharp wits. ■ th> tuxfa<7ia» 
 Till, ofwy £> avra xart^atra, oTi (pfoniiuraTHi «»Jfa{ 
 oiaii. Plato in Timaso, p. 24. Vol. 3. Ed. Serr. 
 
 " Athenis tenue coelum, ex quo acutiores etiaro 
 
 " putantur Attici." — Cicero, De Fato, 4. 
 
 Neivfim, 
 
 Pure the air, and light the soil, Mr. Calton re- 
 marks, is from Dio Chrysostom. Orat. 7. where, 
 speaking of Attica, he says, Ei»ai yx( tr/i %wpa» 
 (Zf-aia?, xai To» aifa xs^ci, esse enim regionem tenui 
 solo, ac levem aera. Aihens, he observes, was built 
 between two small livers, Cephisus and liissus ) 
 whence it is called by Euripides, in his Medea, 
 
 Itf'SJir 7roT«f4WS 
 
 For its holy strc:vns renown'd. 
 
 349. 
 
 «5«. 
 
 WodhHll. 
 
 The effeft of the waters upon the air, he adds, is 
 poetically represented in tlie same chorus ; 
 
 KacXAiiaa t' vm Kn^is'ti ^ixCi 
 Tar Kv7rp>v x^))>^S7i> a^u- 
 
 From Cephisus' amber tide, 
 At the Cyprian queen's comtnand. 
 As sing the Muses, are supplied. 
 To refresh the thirsty land, 
 Fragrant gales of temperate air. 
 
 ITcdhul/. 
 
 The strophe of that chonls, from the antistrophe 
 of which the passage just cited by Mr. Calton is 
 given, may also be adduced to shew the proverbial 
 pureness and clearness of the air of Attica. The 
 chorus addresses the Athenians ;
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Zl'. 
 
 Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts 
 And eloquence, native to famous wits 
 
 240 
 
 Epep^SlitfKi To 'jTu^aitif oX/ojO(j 
 Kci Se^k wai^ES fiUHUfuv, 
 
 T' a7rti<pspj3o(*£i'oi 
 KA£i»5TaT«» ao^iav, 
 
 Batsoi'TE; B|Sfa; ai9£fo?j— — 
 
 Heroes of Ereflheas* race, 
 
 To the gods who owe your birth 
 
 And in a long succession trace, 
 
 Your sacred origin from earth, 
 
 Who on wisdom's fruit regale. 
 
 Purest breezes still inhale, 
 
 And behold skies ever bright!— 
 
 829. 
 
 Wodhull. 
 
 E40. Athens the eye of Greece, — ] 
 
 Demosthenes somewhere calls Athens the eye of 
 Greece, oOfiaXftos '£^^^aJoc ; but I cannot at present 
 recoUeft the place. In Justin it is calletl one of 
 the two eyes of Greece, Sparta being the other, 
 (L. V. C. 8.) ; and Catullus (xxxii. i.) terms 
 Sirmio the eye of islands j 
 
 Peninsularum Sirmio, insuhrumque 
 
 OCELLE) 
 
 But the metaphor is more properly applied to 
 Athens than any other place, as it was the great 
 seat of learning. Neivton, 
 
 I cannot discover the passage in Demosthenes 
 referred to by Bp. Newton. Thysius, in a note on 
 Justin, fL, ii, C. 6. Ed, Varior,,) and on a passage 
 of Valerius Maximus, (Ed. Varior, L, i, C. 6. 
 Exempl. Extern. i.J, notices that Athens is men- 
 tioned by Demosthenes under this description, .'he 
 eye of Greece : but no reference is made to the 
 particular passage. — Cicero, in his Oration Pro 
 Lege Manilia, C. v. calls Corinth " totlus 
 " GajzciM LUMEN," upon which Hotoman ob- 
 serves, " alludens opinor ud Leptinis diftum, qui 
 " Corinthum alterura Crscis oculum, Athenas 
 ♦' alterum appellavit."—— Aristotle, speaking of 
 metaphors, (Rhetoric. L. iii. C. x. S. 3.) cites 
 the passage here alluded to, from a speech of 
 
 Leptlnes, in which he conjures the Athenians 
 " that they would not suffer Greece to become 
 " iTE,;of Ga^(Aof, deprmed of one of her eyes, by the 
 " extinftion of Sparta." It was not therefore 
 Corinth, but Sparta, to which the orator alluded, 
 as being, next to Athens, the ornament of Greece. 
 The speech must have been spoken on the debate, 
 whether Athens should assist Sparta, when in danger 
 
 of being over-powered by the Theban league. 
 
 The Greek poets frequently used ofGaXfioj, in a 
 metaphorical sense, for the lustre of superior ex- 
 cellence. The Sun is called, by Aristophanes, the 
 eye of HeaiJen, AieEPOS OMMA, Nun. 284. And 
 in a fragment of Sappho, in Achilles Tatius, (De 
 Leucip. et Clitoph. L. ii.) that poetess de- 
 scribes the rose as the eye, or paragon, of floiaers ; 
 — rn; £"i xoa-f/.o;, ipvri^v a^Xaic-fta, 0<!>©AAMOS AN- 
 
 eE^N Pindar in his second Olympic Ode, 
 
 which celebrates the viftory of Theron, king of 
 Agrigentum, in the chariot race, speaking of 
 Theron's ancestors who underwent many difficulties 
 before they could build that city, and settle them- 
 selves in it, terms them the eye of Sicily, SixfAiof 
 
 KajxosTE; oi voXKa. Bvfm, 
 
 l£fo» ec^X"' """If* 
 
 noTKfiB, SIKEAIA2 T' E2AN 
 
 OO0AAMO2. 
 
 A race, long cxercis'd in woes. 
 Ere, smiling o'er her kindred flood, 
 The mansion of their wish'd repose. 
 Their sacred city stood ; 
 And through amaz'd Sicilia shone. 
 The lustre of their fair renown. 
 
 fTeit. 
 
 Thus also Cicero, In Catilin. iii. C. x. ; 
 " Superavit postea Cinna cum Mario. Turn vero, 
 " clarissimis viris interfeftis, lumina civitatis 
 " EXTiNCTA SUNT." — And Vellcius Paterculus, 
 speaking of the defeat of Pompey by Julius Crcsar 
 at the battle of Pharsalia, mentions " tantum utrius- 
 " que exercitus profusum sanguinis, et conlisa inter
 
 ZI4 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 «00K IV. 
 
 Or hospitable, in her sweet recess, 
 
 City or suburban, studious walks and shades. 
 
 " se duo reipublicx capita, effossnmque alterum 
 
 «« RoMANI IMPERII LUMEN." 
 
 Ben Jonson, in one of his poems, terms Edinburgh 
 
 The heart of Scotland, Britain's other eye. 
 
 Giles Fletcher, in the dedication of his poems 
 to Dr. Neville, Master of Trinity College, Cam- 
 bridge, having, in the metaphorical style of his 
 time, (which prevailed in prose as much as in verse,) 
 called Europe " the Queen of the World," and 
 England " the very face and beauty of Europe," 
 addsj "And what are the two eyes of this 
 LAND, but the two Universities ? — — — 
 And truly I should forget myself, if I should not 
 call Cambridge the right ete. 
 
 240. ^— ^~^^^— — ^ mother of arts 
 And eloquence, — ] 
 
 Justin, (L. V. C. 9.) terms Athens " Patria 
 " COMMUNIS eloquenti-e."— — And (L. ii. 
 C. 6.) he says, " LiteRjE certe et facundia 
 
 " veluti templum Athenas habent." 
 
 Cicero abounds in panegyrics upon this celebrated 
 seat of learning and eloquence. He describes it 
 
 " illas OMNIUM DOCTRINARUM IKVENTRICES 
 
 " Athenas, in quibus summa dicendi tis et 
 
 " INVErJTA EST, ET PERFECTA." De OrATOR. 
 
 L. i. 13. Ed, Proust. And in his Brutus, 
 
 Seft. 39. he charaderises it " ea urbs, in qua et 
 " nata, et alta, sit eloquentia." — And, Ibid. 
 Seft. 26, he says, " Testis est Grscia, qus cum 
 " eloquentix studio sit incensa, jamdiuque excellat 
 " in ea, pnestetque cxteris, tamen omnes artes ve- 
 " tustiores habet et multo ante non inventas solum, 
 " sed etiam perfeftas, quara hsc est a Gracis ela- 
 « borata dicendi vis atque copia. In quam cum in- 
 " tucormaximemihioccurrunt, Attice, et lucent 
 
 " quasi AtHEN.S TU.t; QUA IN URBE PRIMUM 
 
 " ORATOR se extulit." — And again, Seft. 49. 
 speaking of eloquence; " Hoc studium non erat 
 " commune Gr.Tclas, sed propriu.m Athena- 
 »< KUM." To which may be added a more general 
 testimony of the same great orator in favour of 
 
 Athens, as the Mother of the Arts,' and the dis- 
 tinguishing ornament of Greece. " Adsunt Athe- 
 " nienses, unde humanitas, doftrina, religio, fruges, 
 " jura, leges ortse, atque in omnes terras distributa; 
 •' putantur : de quorum urbis possessione, propter 
 " pulchritudinem etiam inter Decs certamen fuisse 
 " proditum est : * * * * auftoritate autem 
 " tanta est, ut jam fraftum prope ac debilitatum 
 " Grscisnomenhujus urbis laude nitatur." Orat. 
 
 Pro L. Flacc. 26. Isocrates also, in his 
 
 Panegyric, describes Athens as first " inventing 
 " those arts which are most necessary to the com- 
 " fort of life, and afterwards thereon imagining 
 " those which conduce to the refined pleasures." — 
 x»i (/.£» ^n xai Tut '■i//iit, rec; Si 7r,»; rx avayKam ta 
 Pm y(^fv,aii/.cn;, xat rxc irfx; noont ^Ef^ap^tevn^sira;, rat 
 jilt ivfaaa, Ta; Si Soxifieiiraa'at 
 
 142. -* /lospilaile,^] 
 
 Diodorus describes the Athenians as " hospi- 
 " table to wits" of other countries, by admitting 
 all persons whatever to benefit by the instruftion 
 of the learned teachers in their city ; — thj TrarfiJ* 
 Koint vatStuTYifiot •itaftpf^ciA.ut.vi ^reto'ir ",i9p: ttih . L. xiil. 
 C. 2 7. — The Athenians were remarkable for their 
 general hospitality towards strangers, to whom their 
 city was always open, and for whose reception and 
 accommodation they had particular officers, under 
 the title of wpa^im. The Lacedaemonians were at 
 the same time noted for their ^ t-Xatn.i-if, or driving 
 all strangers away from their city. — The condurt of 
 the Athenians, as differing in this respedt from that 
 of the Lacedemonians, is particularly ncilced by 
 Pericles, in the speech which he is recorded by 
 Thucydides to have delivered in commemoration 
 of his countrymen, who had fallen in battle. The 
 orator there takes occasion to display the superiority 
 of the Athenians to the other states then combined 
 against them in the Pelopponnesian war. th* 
 T£ yaj ■7ro>.iy X)i»>:» »r2f;;^oftt», Kai ouK ifu «T£ ii>v>>ec- 
 
 cydid, Hist. ii. C. 35. — <« We open out city to 
 
 " all
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 215 
 
 See there the oHve grove of Academe, 
 Plato's retirement, M^here the Attic bird 
 
 245 
 
 " all persons whatever, and never exclude strangers 
 *< either from its places of instruflion or enter- 
 « tainment." 
 
 444. Sec there the olive grove &c. — ]" 
 A later Bard has well sketched this Athenian 
 scene ; 
 
 • Guide my feet 
 Through fair Lyceum'! v,alk<, the olive shades 
 Of Acadcmus, and tke sacred vale 
 Haunted by steps divine, w!:efe once, beneath 
 That ever-living platane's arapL ijoughs, 
 Ilyssus, by Socratic sounds detain'd, 
 On his negledled urn attentive lay. 
 
 Akcnside, Pleasures or Imagination, i. 715. 
 
 144. 
 
 the olive grove oj Academe,'] 
 
 The Academy is always described as a woody, 
 ihady, place. Diegenes Laertius calls it TioariKit 
 AA2n;\ES ; and Horace speaks of the sylvas 
 Academi, 2 Epist. ii. 45. But Milton distinguishes 
 it by the parricular name of the oli've grove of Aca- 
 deme, because the olive was particularly cultivated 
 about Athens, being sacred to Minerva the goddess 
 of the city : he has besides the express authority of 
 Aristophanes, Nub. iooi. 
 
 am' «{ Ai£aJ»ifcia» xarii^v, ivi Tai; fiofiaif atm- 
 
 Sed in Academiam dcscenden$ sub sacris olivii spa- 
 liabcris. 
 
 Neivton, 
 
 This whole description of the Academe is in- 
 finitely charming. Bp. Newton has justly observed 
 that " Plato's Academy was never more beautifully 
 " described." " Cicero," he adds, " who has 
 " laid the scene of one of his dialogues ( De Fin. 
 " L. v,) there, and who had been himself on the 
 " spot, has not painted it in more lively colours," 
 
 Plutarch, in his treatise de exilio, refers to the 
 three celebrated gymnasia of Athens here noticed 
 by the poet, — the Academy, the Lyceum, and the 
 Stoa, or Portico. Em tous o-t^t;; e^9£, xai Ta« 
 
 o Avxi>^, T«; a AKaSr.jita, mr Sreav. And the 
 
 same author, in his Life of Sjlla, speaking of the 
 Academy, (the trees of which he says Sylla cut 
 dovpn,) describes it to have been more abounding 
 with trees than any part of the suburbs of Athens, — 
 
 AENAPO<I>OPnTATH>J wpoartiwi'. Milton, in 
 
 the conclusion of his seventh Elegy, transfers 
 the title of umbrosa Academia to his own university, 
 Cambridge. Cicero, De Divinat. L, i. C. 13., 
 speaks of those eminent persons, 
 
 Otia qui studiis lieti tcnuere decoris, 
 
 Inque Academia umbrifera, nitidoque Lycaso 
 
 Fuderunt claras faecundi pcfloris artcs. 
 
 It may not be improper here to subjoin some 
 account, not only of the Academy, but also of the 
 other public gardens that were the resort of the 
 learned at Athens. Nor can I better do this than 
 by the following extrafl from a very able and pleas- 
 ing work, to which I have already referred in these 
 notes. 
 
 • We know that the philosophers at Athens de- 
 ' lighted in the pleasures of a garden, particularly 
 
 • Epicurus, who made choice of it for his school 
 
 • of philosophy. This, as well as the garden of 
 
 • Plato, were situated in the neighbourhood of 
 ' the Academy, and were probably but small. 
 
 • —We do not meet with any accounts con- 
 ' ceming the manner, or taste, in which these were 
 
 « arranged. The scene of Plato's dialogue on 
 
 ' Beauty is indeed laid in a pleasant spot upon the 
 ' banks of the Ilyssus, and under the shade of the 
 ' plane-tree ; the description of which situation, 
 « however short in Plato, seems to have been 
 < greatly admired, and to have become so trite, as 
 ' to be commonly imitated in the prefaces to 
 
 • philosophical dialogues. With respeft to 
 
 ' the taste and stile in which the public gardens at 
 ' Athens were laid out, our accounts are rather 
 ' more particular, though far from distinft. We 
 « are t&ld by Plutarch, that Cimon planted the 
 
 • Academic Grove, which was before a rude, iin- 
 ' cultivated spot, and conveyed streams of water to 
 ' it, probably for ornament as well as use, and laid 
 
 « it
 
 :l6 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 TOOK IV. 
 
 Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long ; 
 There flowery hill Hymettus, with the sound 
 
 it out in shady walks. The trees were partly | 
 olive ; and partly of other kinds, as the platane, 
 and the elm. Those in the Lyceum were pro- 
 bably plane-trees ; at least such were plained 
 there, as appears from a passage in Theophrastus, 
 quoted by Varro, which refers to the height and 
 size the trees grew to in that situation. Both 
 these were destroyed by Sylla, at the siege of 
 Athens, in the war with Mithridates, in order to 
 supply warlike engines; and these woods are ex- 
 pressly said by Plutarch to have been selefled on 
 account of their extraordinarj' size. The destruc- 
 tion however was but partial, as it is spoken of 
 as a woody place by Horace, and afterwards 
 by Pausanias, whose description of it I shall 
 next consider.' 
 
 " The approach to the Academic Grove was 
 adorned with the temples of gods and tombs of 
 heroes. Of the former were those of Diana and 
 Bacchus; among the latter those of Thrasybulus 
 and Pericles, together with many other illustrious 
 charafters, particularly Conon, Timotheus, and 
 Chabrias. Many of these tombs were adorned 
 with statues, columns, and military trophies. 
 At the entrance was an altar dedicated to Love, 
 with an inscription, importing that it was the 
 first raised to that deity by any inhabitant of 
 Athens.— ^Within the limits of the Grove stood 
 the altar of Prometheus, a place celebrated for 
 the festival or ceremony performed at it. Besides 
 these were the altars of the Muses and Mercury; 
 and, farther inwards, those of Hercules and 
 Minerva. Near these was seen a celebiated 
 oH'.e-tree, reported to have been the second ever 
 produced in that country. Near the Academy 
 stood the mor»ument of Plato; and not far from 
 thence a tower ascribed to Titnon, the celebrated 
 misanthropic character. Near this stood the 
 hill, rendered illustrloua by Sophocles, as being 
 the scene of his tragedy of Qidipus Coloneus ; 
 whereon were placed the altars of Neptune and 
 Minerva, ornainented w ith equestrian figures of 
 
 " these deities, together with the tombs of the 
 «' heroes of the remotest antiquity, as Pirithous, 
 " 1 heseus, Qidipus, and Adrastus."— ^Falconer's 
 Historical Fieiu of the Taste for Gardening and 
 Layi7!g-ovt Grounds among the Nations of Antiquity, 
 p. 30. 
 
 245. Plato's rttiremtnt.—'J 
 
 ^' £5-* yvfMXff\0!/f 'm^Car£iO> ff.7i7(itdi^f Ct7.'0 TiW©* /jftf©. 
 
 (DOjiacim Axaatifm, xaix xat Eun'oXi; tv A;^aTtumi 
 
 Ev £t:a-fi(cif S^jo/xstrtr Axa^juv S-|tf. 
 
 ■ ;<ai ETai^j) £» rri AxciSTif/,iec, ci6« Tof ■sj^jirot 
 
 f£u6,i >i (x,v uvTn aifio-ic. " Being returned to Athens 
 " from his journey to Egypt, he settled himself in 
 " the Academy, a gymnasium or place of exercise 
 " in the suburbs of that city, beset with woods, 
 " taking name from Academus, one of the heroes, 
 " as Eupolis, 
 
 In sacred Academus shady walks. 
 " and he was buried in the Academy, where he 
 " continued most of his time teaching philosophy, 
 " whence the seft which sprung from 1 im waj 
 " called Academic." Diogenes Laertius, Life or 
 Plato. Neiotott. 
 
 Milton, in his Poem de Idea Platonica, terms 
 Plato the dea:s of the Academic grove ; 
 
 A: tu [-erennc ruris Academi decus, i5cc, 
 
 A.nd Pope, in his first chorus for the Brutus, 
 thus addresses the gro>es of Academe. 
 Ye shades, where sscicd truth is sought, 
 Crore:, where immertal sages taujht, 
 Where heavenly visions Plato lir'd, &c. ■ 
 
 2^5. . where the Attic bird 
 
 Trills htr thkli-warblei notes (3c.— '\ 
 Philomela, who according to the fables, was 
 changed inro a nightingale, was the daughter of 
 Pandion king of Athens. Hence the nightingale 
 is called Atthis in Latin, quasi Attica avis; thus 
 Mariial, L. i. Ep. 54. 
 
 Sic
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 217 
 
 Of bees' industrious murmur oft invites 
 To studious musing ; there Ilissus rolls 
 
 Sic ubi muliisoni fervet sacer At T 11 IDE lucus, &c' 
 
 NenjiMon, 
 The nightingale is with peculiar propriety intro- 
 Siiced in this description of the Academe ; in the 
 neighbourhood of which, we learn from Pausanias 
 (L. i. C. 30.), lay the place called Colonus Equts- 
 tns, which Sophocles has made the scene of his 
 CEdipus Coloneus ; and which he celebrates 
 as particularly abounding with nightingales. An- 
 tigone thus describes it to her blind father, of 
 whom she is the conductor, 
 
 Aa?»>!;, £>.aia{, afMisX^' nYKNOriTEPOI 
 
 A' iia-u X.CCT avTw EY2TOMOY2' AHAONES. 
 
 »7- 
 This place is sacred, by the laurel shade, 
 
 Olive, and vine thick-planted, and the songs 
 
 Of nightingales sweet warbling through the grove. 
 
 Franklin. 
 
 And again, where the chorus welcome CEdipus 
 to Colonus, they celebrate it as distinguished by 
 a greater abundance of nightingales than any other 
 place. 
 
 0AMIZOY£A MAAIST' av^ut. 
 
 7°3- 
 Where many a love-lorn nightingale 
 
 Warbles sweet her plaintive tale. 
 
 Franklin. 
 
 a ^6. Trills her tbick^zuarbled notes — ] 
 
 Bp. Newton observes that perhaps there never 
 was a verse more expressive of the harmony of the 
 nightingale than this. Homer has a description of 
 the song of that bird, which is not dissimilar; 
 
 Ht£ Sa/xa rfumu^ci. XEEI nOAYHXEA <I>nNHM. 
 
 Odvsj. xix. 521, 
 
 246- — ^.^.^-^-^^-^-— ^— tlis summer long;"] 
 
 The nightingale is commonly supposed to sing 
 only in the spring, and not during summer. 
 
 Milton describes it singing in the end of April, 
 
 While the jolly hours lead on propitious May. 
 
 Sonnet, to the m<;HTiNGAtK. 
 
 Sappho, in a verse preserved by the Scholiast on 
 Sophocles, Electr. 148., terms this bird 
 HI OS A' ArrEAOS (fXEfoipDvo; ar,h-'. 
 Sweet Philomel, the messenger of spring. 
 
 Pliny says, that the song of the nightingale con- 
 tinues in its greatest perfeftion only fifteen days, 
 from which time it gradually declines. " After- 
 " wards, as summer advances," he adds, " it loses 
 " all its variety and modulation." Max cestu auSlo 
 in totum alia fox Jit, ticc modulala, nee vezria, 
 
 L. X. 29. It seems therefore extraordinarj' that 
 
 our Author should here describe this bird of fpring, 
 singing " the summer long." — We might indeed 
 suppose that this protrafted song of the nightingale, 
 was an intended compliment to the classic spot, 
 " Plato's retirement ;" as the Thracians affirmed 
 that the nightingales near the tomb of Orpheus 
 sung with uncommon melody, and in a strain far 
 superior to what they did in any other place. Aiyan 
 h 01 0faK£5 at ruv anaovuif £;^a£rt voaaict^ itti tu Tx(pca 
 r5 Of^Eii?, TauTa; rl^ioK xxi /xeii^m ti (zhiv. Fausan. 
 
 L. ix. C. 30. But on referring to the various 
 passages in the Paradise Lost, where Milton has 
 introduced this bird, it does not appear that he 
 considered it as singing only in the spring. T/.'c 
 song of the nightingale is in faft one of his favourite 
 circumstances of description, when he is painting 
 a summer's night. 
 
 247. There Jloioery hill Hymettus zoilh the sound 
 Oj bees^ industrious murmur oft invites 
 To studious musing; — j 
 
 Valerius Flaccus calls it Florea juga Hymetti, 
 Argonaut, V. 344. ; and the honey was so much 
 esteemed and celebrated by the ancients, that it was 
 reckoned the best of the Attic honey, as the Attic 
 honey was said to be the best in the world. The 
 poets often speak of the murmur of the bees as in- 
 viting to sleep, Virg. Eel. i. 56. 
 
 Sipe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro : 
 
 but Milton gives a more elegant turn to it, and says 
 
 that it in-vites to stiidiaus musing, which was more 
 
 F f projier
 
 aiS 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 E 0« K I V . 
 
 His whispering stream: within the walls, llien view 250 
 The schools of ancient sages ; his, v/ho bred 
 
 proper indeed for his purpose, as he is here de- 
 scribing the Attic learning. Neivton. 
 
 Pausanias describes Hymettiis as producing those 
 herbs, which are particularly acceptable to bees. 
 Attica. C. 32. 
 
 Ovid gives this mountain the epithet of cjer- 
 
 Jlo'VJeryy 
 
 Venice de summo seupib klorentis Hymetti, 
 
 Met. vii. 701. 
 
 Silius Italicus notices the faivers and btes of 
 Hymettus. 
 
 Aut ubi Cecropius, formidine nubis aqiiOs;c, 
 
 Sparsa supek f i or es ex ami na toUit HvmettOs. 
 
 L. ii. 217. 
 t.jg. — — ^— ^— — — — J'^ssus'—~\ 
 
 Mr. Calton and Mr. Thyer have observed with 
 me, that Plato hath laid the scene of his Phaedrus 
 on the banks, and at the spring, of this pleasant 
 
 river. — ^xfav'a ya» xui xa6a;a xa\ dix^x:r, ra ucaTia 
 (pamrai. " Nonne hinc aquulae puras ac pellucidx 
 " jocundo mur.Tiure confluunt ?" Ed. Serr. Vol. iii. 
 p. 229. The philosophical retreat at the spring- 
 head is beautifully described by Plato, in the next 
 page, where Socrates and Phaidrus are represented 
 sitting on a green bank, shaded with a spreading 
 platane, of which Cicero hath said very prettily, 
 that it seemeth not to have grown so much by the 
 water which is described, as by Plato's eloquence ; 
 " qax mihi videtur non tarn ipsa aquula, qux de- 
 " scribitur, quam Platonis oratione crevisse." De 
 Orat. i. 7. Neivton. 
 
 Pausanias (Attica. C. ig.) notices the Ilissus 
 at the principal river of Attica. He supposes it to 
 have been sacred to the Muses ; as there stood an 
 altar to the Ilissiati Muses on its banks. Dionysius 
 calls it a divine stream : 
 
 AItixoj voa:. 
 
 r5 ?.a ©ESnESIOy ipsasTa. jPoo? lAIZSOIO, — 
 
 Perieces. 413. 
 where Eustathius ascribes the epithet of divine, and 
 the general celebrity of the stream, to its flowing by 
 a city so eminently distinguished as Athens. 
 
 250. Nix whispering stream; — ] 
 
 Thus LvciDAs, 136; 
 
 ■Ye valleys low where the roild whispers use 
 
 Of sh.idcSi and -wanton winds, and gushing brooks,-^ 
 
 And Virgil, Culex, 118; 
 
 I'A jam compellantc vagae pastope capell<e 
 
 Iina iUSURRANTis repetebant ad v ada LVMPH.t; — 
 
 25'- 
 
 Zijfio ^red 
 
 Great Alexander to subdue the worlds'] 
 Milton, in his elegy to his former preceptor, 
 Thomas Young, then Minister of the Church of 
 the English Merchants at Hamburgh, speaks of his 
 afFeftion for his old master as superior to that of Al- 
 cibiades to Socrates, or of Alexander for Aristotle. 
 
 Charier ille mihi, quam tu, doilissim<; Graium, 
 
 Cliniadi, pronepos qui Telamonis erat. 
 Quamque Stagyrites generoso magnus alumne, 
 
 Quum pcperit L:byco Chaonis alma Jovi. 
 
 Ee. iv. 23. 
 
 We are told by Cicero that Aristotle, having 
 observed how Isocrates had risen to celebrity on the 
 sole ground of florid declamation, (inanem sermqnis 
 elegantiam,) was thereby induced to add to his own 
 stock of solid knowleilge, the external grace of 
 oratorical embellishments; which recommended him 
 so much "to Philip of Macedon, that he fixed upon 
 him to be preceptor to his son Alexander, %vhom 1 e 
 wished to be taught at once conduft and eloquence, 
 — " et agendi prxcepta, et loquendi." De Orator, 
 iii. 41. Ed. Proust. — The letter which Philip wrote 
 to Aristotle upon the birth of his son, is presencd 
 by Aulus Gellius. L. ix. C. 3. I<r8i poi vsyoo-a 
 viiix ii(.7i^»!» a» T015 Ssoi{ X*?-' '%"> "''% arw; jtti iji 
 •y-tKru Ta ttkiJc;, 0;; iirt tu xx-Ta rr.v i7m r,^ixia» auTM 
 yiyotitai. tXirt^ai -/a:, auTo» vats !ru TfiCsiTa xxi irai- 
 ^;'-OiPT^, a|(o> s^s^^M* *5t» r,iJLie> kat Tr$ r^v trpxy- 
 ft.ot.xm oia.li<.yjrK.~— " Know that I have a son just 
 " born. For this I am truly grateful to the gods; 
 " not merely that 1 have a son, but that he is born, 
 
 " in
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 219 
 
 Great Alexander to subdue the world, 
 Lyceum there, and painted Stoa next : 
 
 " in your time : as I flatter myself, when he shall 
 " have been brought up and educated by you, he 
 " vvLIl prove a credit to us, and to his own important 
 " situation." 
 
 • 53. Lyceum thtrc^ — ] 
 
 The Lyceum was the school of Aristotle, who had 
 been tutor to Alexander the Great, and was tlie 
 founder of the seft of the Peripatetics, so'called, 
 a.'Kt Ta cTii-nrKliit, from his lualkiiig, and teaching 
 philosophy. But there is some reason to question, 
 whether the Lyceum was luilhin the ivalls, as Milton 
 asserts. For Suidas says expressly, that it was a place 
 in the suburbs, built by Pericles for the exercising 
 of soldiers : and I find the scholiast upon Aris- 
 tophanes in the Irene, speaks of going into the 
 Lyceum, and going out of it again, and returning 
 back into the city : si; to Auxti'.p euioli; 
 
 wij7 ir. h'eivfou. 
 The establishment of the Lyceum has been at- 
 tributed both to Pisistratus and Pericles. Meursius 
 (Athen^e Attics, L. ii. C. 3.) supposes that 
 it might have been begun by the former, and com- 
 pleted by the latter. Plutarch ascribes it to Pericles, 
 who, he says, made plantations, and built a Pal<estra 
 there. [See Life of Pericles.) The same writer 
 (Sympos. viii. Qua;st. 4.) says that it was dedi- 
 cated to Apollo, as the God of healing, and that 
 with propriety, because health aloue ca/i furnish the 
 strength requisite for all corporeal exercises and ex- 
 ertions, The name Lyceum has been variously 
 
 accounted for. Some writers trace it to an old 
 gymnasium, or temple, originally built there by 
 Lye us, the sou of Pandion. Others, without re- 
 curring to Lycus, suppose it to have been dedicated 
 to Apollo, under his title of Auxoxtoio:, or the ijiiolf- 
 slnying god; of which epithet, in this sense, various 
 origins are given. But another, and that a more 
 obvious, sense of the word Auxdxtovoc, has not long 
 since been suggested by a gentleman of considerable 
 critical acumen, and the greatest literary acquire- 
 
 ments. By deriving it from the old Greek word 
 >.vKr,c, or "Kvxv, lux, and ix-taia extendo, the slayer of 
 luol'ves becomes the extender of light, a term highly 
 appropriate to the Deity, who, in the heathen mytho- 
 logy, represented the sun. — Macrobius (Saturn al. 
 i. I 7.) accounts in a nearly similar manner for the 
 title of Auxi»c, or Lycius, by which Apollo was 
 known : and supposes that the epithet ■Kvx.r,ya-r,i, 
 which is given him by Homer (II. iv. ioi.), did 
 not signify born in Lycia, but lucem generdns, or the 
 
 producer of light. The name Lyceum, we may 
 
 then conceive, was derived from, and the place 
 dedicated to, that great fountain of light and heat 
 which illuminates and invigorates the world and iti 
 inhabitants : and in these public walls and schools, 
 under the supposed influence and proteflion of this 
 great power, the minds and bodies of the young 
 Athenians were with much propriety according to 
 the system of the times, cultivated and exercised. 
 
 That the Lyceum stood without the walls, ap- 
 pears from the beginning of Plato's Li-sis, where 
 it is positively described as being itiithaut the -walls; 
 EwofEuof(.»iv fijn eI Aya,irij/.iai, iviu Avxhh rr.ii i^a m- 
 
 X^uf, Cv' auTo To riix"^' Strabo also speaks of some 
 fountains of clear and excellent water without the 
 gates near the. Lyceum, exto; tu Sioxct^fm **V-u- 
 
 ^ivujv Tzv'Kuvf %X-/:ctoii Ty Avxna, L, ix. p. ^97. 
 
 253- 
 
 painted Stoa — ] 
 
 Stoa was the school of Zeno, whose disciples from 
 the place liad the name of Stoics; and this Stoa, or 
 portico, being adorned with variety of paintings, 
 was called in Greek noixiV/;, or -various, and here by 
 Milton the painted Stoa. See Diogenes Laertius, 
 in the lives of Aristotle and Zeno. Neivton. 
 
 There were abundance of porticos, or piazzas, 
 at Athens ; of which this was the most noted. 
 The paintings of the Stoa were by different masters; 
 of whom the principal was Polygnotus, who con- 
 tributed his assistance, (as we are particularly told 
 by Plutarch in his life of Cymon,) without any 
 pecuniary recompcnce, purely from his regard for 
 F f 2 the
 
 ?20 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 There slialt thou hear and learn the secret power 
 
 Of harmony, in tones and numbers hit 
 
 By voice or hand ; and various-measur'd verse, 
 
 uEoHan charms and Dorian lyric odes. 
 
 And his, who gave them breath, but higher sung, 
 
 ^5S 
 
 the city, and a wish to do it honour. The other 
 artists were Mycon, and Panxnus, brother to the 
 celebrated sculptor Phidias. The subjefts of the 
 paintings were the most renowned of the Athenian 
 viftories, such as those of Marathon and SalaMts ; 
 and other honorable circumstances of their military 
 history. In the Athen.e Attics of Meursius, 
 (L. i. C. 5.) we find the following ancient inscrip- 
 tion, which Theodosius Zygomanushad copied from 
 one of the walls of the Stoa, when the writing was 
 so ancient and decayed that it was barely legible ; 
 and which is preserved in his Epistle De Pericidis 
 Urbh ConstantinofolitaniS, 
 
 E« Tuv w^o TroXXwv Tic'v Xoywv T^tv fA>lT;fflt> 
 
 Actiquitus matrem inclytam sapiential 
 Aureas Atllicnas, illustrein urbem, 
 Ponicus quxdam, varia ornata, 
 Piflurarum ornabat excellentium 
 Coiorata corporibus, percellens quodammodo 
 Splcndore varia appellata. 
 
 Persius terms the Stoa " the portico of wisdom ;" 
 referring at the same time to the famous pid^ure of 
 the battle of Marathon by Polygnotus. 
 
 Quxque docet sapiens, braccatis illita Medis, 
 
 Port :c us, — — 
 
 Sat. iii. 53. 
 
 25j. — — harmony, in tones and numbcri hit 
 
 By voice or hand; — ] 
 
 And yet such music worthiest were to blaze 
 The peerless height of her immortal praise, 
 Whose luitre leads us, and for her most fit. 
 If my inferior hand or voice couli> hit 
 
 iKiMITABLE aOUNPS," 
 
 Arcades, 74. 
 
 And in the first Book of this Poem, Ver. i 71. 
 
 while THE HAND 
 
 Sung WITH THE VOICE, 
 
 Oj6. — — ^— — and various-nttastir'd verse,] 
 
 Possibly Milton liad here in his mind a passage- 
 of Ovid, where that poet charafterises Horace as 
 'varied in numbers, or abounding in a variety o£ 
 metres ; 
 
 , Et tcnuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures. 
 Dura fcrit Ausonia carmina culta lyra. 
 
 Trist. L. iv. El. x. 49. 
 
 237. j£olian charms, — ] 
 
 Molia carmina, verses such as those of Alcasus 
 and Sappho, who were both of Mitylene in Lesbos, 
 an island belonging to the jEolians. 
 
 Princcps /Eolium carmen ad Italo& 
 Deduxisse modos, 
 
 Hor. L. iii. Ode xxx. 13* 
 
 Fingent ^olio carmine nobilem, — 
 
 Ibid. L. iv. Ode iii. !3. 
 Kfuiton. 
 
 Our English word charm is derived from carmen; 
 as are inckant, and incantation, from canto. 
 
 257- 
 
 Dorian Lyric odes,'\ 
 
 Such as those of Pindar ; who calls his lyre Aufmj 
 ^offtiyya. Olymp. i. 26, &C. Neivton.. 
 
 258. And his tuho gave them breath, &c.—'\ 
 
 Our Author agrees with those writers, who speak 
 of Homer as the father of all kinds of poetry. Such 
 wise men as Dionysius the Halicarnassean, and 
 Plutarch, have attempted to shew that poetry in all 
 its forms, tragedy, comcviy, ode, and epitaph, are 
 included in his works. Neivion. 
 
 258. 
 
 and higher sung.'] 
 
 Ihus
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAIN ED: 
 
 22r 
 
 Blind Meicsigenes, thence Homer call'd, 
 Whose poem Phoebus challeng'd for Lis own : 
 Thence what the lofty grave tragedians taught 
 
 260 
 
 Thus in the Lycidas, 85; 
 
 That STRAi N- I heard was op a higher mood : — 
 
 Homer is here charaiflerised as not only the first, 
 but also the greatest, of poets. Mr. Pope terras 
 Eim, " a prince, as well as a father, of poetry." 
 
 259. Blinil hUItsigaici, thence Homer call'd,'] 
 
 Our Author here follows Herodotus, in his life 
 of Homer, where it is said that he was born near 
 the river Meles, and that from thence his mother 
 named him at first Melesigenes, — riOExai onifta tw 
 
 BraiSi M£^£J■ly:lfa, asro Ta woia.wa fm fTruivf/.ia.'/ ^a- 
 /3so-a, — and that afterwards when he was blind and 
 settled at Cuma, he was called Homer, quasi ft>j 
 ofu>, from the term by which the Cumjeans distin- 
 guished blind persons; — ;»TEi;Oe» Je xa; Ta»ofi« '0/x»fc? 
 EWEKpaTijcrt To; M£X)i(7iy£»£i, ana t»i5 auftpopi;. 01 7«p 
 Ki>/xwiot Tou; Tup^s; ofmpss Xiyacrii'. Nenutoii, 
 
 260, IVliose poem Phahus chalUng'd for his oojh.J 
 
 Alluding (as Bp. Newton observes,) to a Greek 
 Epigram, in the Anthologia; where Phoebus is 
 die speaker ; 
 
 Heioov fi-v tyair, i^ufit^ac ii^iioi 'Oftiifo?. 
 
 Which Mr. Fenton has thus happily enlarged. 
 
 'Round Phoebus when the nine harmonious maids 
 
 Of old assembled in the> Thespian shades, 
 
 " What themes," they cried, " what high, immortal air, 
 
 *' Befits these harps to sound, and thee to hear?" 
 
 Rcply'd the God, *' your loftiest notes empioy, 
 
 " To sing young Peleus, and the fall of Troy." 
 
 The wonderous song with rapture they rehearse. 
 
 Then ask who wrought that miracle of verse. 
 
 He answer'd with a frown : ** I now reveal 
 
 " A truth, that Envy bids me not conceal. 
 
 " Retiring frequent to this laureate vale, 
 
 •' I warbUd to the lyre that favorite tale, 
 
 •' Which unobserv'd a wandring Gre^k and blind, 
 
 •' Heard me repeat, and treasur'd in his mind; 
 
 *' And, fir'd with thirst ot more than mortal praise, 
 
 ♦• From rac, the God of wit, usurp'd the bays." 
 
 I have omitted the application to the English 
 Iliad, in the eight concluding lines ; not merely as 
 being beside my purpose, but as I conceive Mr. 
 Fenton to have been more fortunate in his enlarge- 
 ment of the Greek Epigrammatist's thought, than 
 in his application of it to Mr. Pope. 
 
 261. ■ iw the hfly grave tragedianst-^ 
 
 jEschylus is thus charafterised by Quinftilian; — 
 " Tragedias primuin in lucem ^schylus protulit, 
 '« suBLiMis et GRAVIS, et grandiloquus, &c." 
 L. X. C. I. — Where also the same author, com- 
 paring Sophocles and Euripides, says, " cravitas, 
 " ct COTHURNUS ct sonus Sophoclis videtur esse 
 
 " sublimior." Tragedy wa«. termed lofty by 
 
 the ancients from its style, but at the same time 
 not without a reference to the elevated buskin 
 which the aflors wore. Thus Claudian, describing 
 tragedy as distinguished from comedy ; 
 
 — — ^ ALTE graditur majore cothurno: 
 
 De Mall. Theod, Cons. 314. 
 
 And Ovid, Amor. L. ii. El. 18., speaking of 
 himself as having written tragedy, but being seduced 
 from so grave an employment by the charms of his 
 mistress, adds, 
 
 Deque coTHURNATO VATE triumphat amor. 
 
 Again, Trist. L. ii. Ei,. i. 553, he refers to his 
 Medea in similar terms; giving the epithet _frax/f 
 to the Cothuimis, or high tragic buskin. 
 
 Et dedimus tracicis scriptum regale cothurnis : 
 Quajque gravis debet verba cothurnus habet. 
 
 Horace, in his Ode to C. Asinius Pollio, whose 
 eminence in tragic poetry is also referred to by 
 Virgil in his eighth Eclogue, speaks of the sfjerity, 
 or gra'-vity, of the Tragic Muse, and elevates her 
 on the Cecropian, or Athenian, buskin. 
 
 Paulum SEVERN Musa TRACvtDi,« 
 Desit Theatris ; mo.t, ubi publicas 
 Res ordinaris, grandc munus 
 
 Cccropio repetei coJiurno,— — 
 
 Milton,
 
 tiz 
 
 PAI^ADiSE REGAINED. 
 
 ROOK IV, 
 
 111 Chorus or Iambic, teachers best 
 
 Of moral prudence, with delight receiv'd 
 
 Milton, in his brief discourse on tragedy, pre- 
 fixed to his Samson Agonistes, says, " Tragedy, 
 " 8s it was antiently composed, hath ever been held 
 « tiie GRAVEST, mora kit, and most profitable of all 
 " other poems, &.<:.." 
 
 And Ovid had said, 
 
 X)mne genus scripti cratitatb Tragsedia vincit; 
 
 T»isT. L*. ii. Et. 1. 381. 
 
 162. ^^— C^.orus or Iambic^ — J 
 
 The two constituent parts of tht ancient tragedy 
 wete the dialogue, written chiefly in the Iambic 
 measure, and the chorus, which consisted of various 
 measures. — The charafter here given by our author 
 of the ancient tragedy, is very just and noble; and 
 the English reader cannot form a better idea of it 
 in its highest beauty and perfeftion, than by reading 
 our author's Samson Agonistes. heivtoit. 
 
 The chorus was the regular place for the moral 
 sentences in the Greek tragedy; although they are 
 frequently introduced by Euripides into the Limbic, 
 or dialogue part. 
 
 962. 
 
 teachers best 
 
 Of moral prudence^ with delight reC'Av'd 
 In hrie/ sententious precepts,— \ 
 
 This description particularly applies to Euripides, 
 who, next to Homer, was Milton's favourite Greek 
 
 author. Euripides is described by QuinfliHan, 
 
 " sENTENTiis DENS US, et in iis, qua; a sapientibus 
 " tradita sunt, pcene ipsis par." L. x. C. i. And 
 Aulus Gellius, (L. xi. C.4.) citing some verses from 
 the Hecuba of Euripides, terms them " verbis sen- 
 
 «* TENTIA, brevitate insigncs lUustresque." 
 
 Aristotle, where he treats of sentences [Rhetoric. 
 L. ii. C. 22.), takes almost all his examples from 
 Euripides. 
 
 The abundance of moral precepts introduced by 
 the Greek tragic poets in their pieces, and the de- 
 light with which they were received, are thus ad- 
 mirably accounted for by an eminent and excellent 
 writer. ' In the virtuous s mplicity of less polished 
 •« times, this spirit of moralizing is very prevalent ; 
 
 the good sense of such people always delighting to 
 shew itself in sententious or proverbial v»-/a2i, or 
 observations. Their charafter, like that of the 
 Clown in Shakespeare, is to be niery siuift and sen- 
 irn/ious. (As YOU LIKE IT, AftV. Sc. I.) This 
 is obvious to common experience, and was long 
 since observed by the philosopher, 01 ayroix'-i //.::- 
 ^t^A Tj'fif^oTtJTToi Eio-i, xett tst^itiX; aTTriZaiviVta:, (Arist. 
 
 Rhet. L. ii. C. 21.) an observation which of it- 
 self accounts for the praftice of the elder poets in 
 Greece, as in all other nations. A custom, thus in- 
 troduced, is not easily laid aside, especially when 
 the oracular cast of these sentences, so fitted to 
 strike, and the moral views of writers themselves, 
 (which was more particularly true of the old dra- 
 matists,) concurred to favour the taste. But there 
 was added to this, more especially in the age ot 
 Sophocles and Euripides, a general prevailing 
 fondness for moral wisdom, which seems to have 
 made the fashionable study of men of all ranks in 
 those days ; when schools of philosophy were re- 
 sorted to for recreation as well as rnstruftion, and 
 a knowledge in morals was the supreme accom- 
 plishment in vogue. The fruit of these philo- 
 sophical cor.fercr;ces would naturally shew itself 
 in certain brief sententious conclusions, which 
 would neither contra;! ift the fashion, nor, it 
 seems, offend against the ease and gaiety of con- 
 versation in those times. Schools and pedantry, 
 morals and austerity, were not so essentially con. 
 nefted in their combinations of ideas, as they have 
 been since; and a sensible moral truth might have 
 fallen from any mouth, without disgracing it. 
 Xay, which is very remarkable, the very scholia, 
 as they were called, or drinking catches of the 
 Greeks, were seasoned with this moral turn ; the 
 sallies of pleasantry, v. hich escaped them in their 
 freest hours, being tempered, for the most part, by 
 some strokes of this national sobriety.* " During 
 ' the couric of their entertainment,'' says Athe- 
 naeus, (L. xv. C. 14.,) " they loved to hear, from 
 " some wise and prudent person, an agreeable 
 
 " song:
 
 BOOK IV^. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 223 
 
 In brief sententious precepts, while they treat 
 Of fate, and chance, and change in human hfe. 
 High anions, and high passions best describing : 
 Thence to the famous orators repair. 
 
 265 
 
 "■ song : and those songs were held by them most 
 " agreeable, which contained exhortations to virtue, 
 " or other instruflions relative to their conduft in 
 
 "life." Bp. Hurd's note on Horace's Art of 
 
 Poetry, Ver. 219. , 
 
 264, Of fate-t and chance^ and change in human lift ;'\ 
 The arguments most frequently selefted by the 
 Greek tragic writers, (and indeed by their epic 
 poets also,) were the accomplishment of some 
 oracle, or some supposed decree oi fatt. . 
 
 ' AlO; 0' ET£^£l£TO j3bA»j. 
 
 II. i. 5. 
 But the incidents or intermediate circumstances 
 which led to the destined event, according to their 
 system, depended on fortune, or chance. Fate and 
 chance then furnished the subjeft and incidents of 
 their dramas ; while the catastrophe produced the 
 
 peripetia, or change of fortune. The histor)' of 
 
 CEdipus, one of their principal dramatic subjefls, 
 was here perhaps in our Author's mind. The fate 
 of CEdipus was foretold before his birth; the won- 
 derful incidents, that, in spite of every guarded pre- 
 caution, led to the accomplishment of it, depended 
 apparently on chance ; the peripetia, or change of 
 fortune, produced by the discovery of the oracle 
 
 being so completely fulfilled, is truly affefting. 
 
 Change in human life might here perhaps not merely 
 refer to the pathetic catastrophes of the Greek 
 tragedy, as it sometimes formed the entire argu- 
 ment of their pieces; ot which the Oedipus Co^o- 
 NJEUS is an instance. 
 
 166 High aSioni, and high pasiions, hat describing ;'\ 
 High aBiom refer to fate and chance, the argu- 
 ments and incidents of tragedy ; high passions to 
 the peripetia, or change of fortune, which included 
 the wa9o;, or affefling part. High actions are the 
 xa^al 7rpa|£i5 of Aristotlcj who, speaking of the 
 tragic poets as distinguished from the writers of 
 
 comedy, says, 01 ft!» o-ipoTjfoi TAS KAAAS ifiif4B»T» 
 nPAHEII. 
 
 Milton, whose predileftion for dramatic poetry 
 has been already noticed, {Note on Book i. 169.), 
 introduces the principal subjedls of ancient tragedy 
 in his Pensekoso, Ver. 97.; 
 
 SoiTictimes let gorj;cous tragedy 
 
 In sccpterM pall come sweeping by, 
 
 Pics nting Thebes or Pclops' line, 
 
 Or the tale of Tioy divine, 
 
 Or wha', though rare, of later age. 
 
 Ennobled hath the buskin'd stage. 
 
 97- 
 And again in his first Elegy ; 
 
 Sen msret Pelopeia domus, scu nobilis Hi, 
 Aut luit incestos aula Creonlis avos. 
 
 45- 
 Mr. Warton, in his note on the 31st verse of 
 this Elegy, censures our Author, whom he considers 
 as describing a London theatre, for introducing 
 charaders of the Latin and Greek drama. — But 
 I rathei" suppose that his theatre, in this place, was 
 his own closet ; where, when fatigued with other 
 studies, he relaxed with his favourite dramatic 
 poets. — The " sinuosi pompa tkeatri," and after- 
 wards, " Et dolet, et speilo" were merely the cre- 
 ations and ideal.decorations of his own vivid imagi- 
 nation, with the work of some favourite dramatic 
 poet before him. — He had before said, 
 
 Et totem rapiunt me, mea vita, libri. 
 
 And he immediately adds to the supposed descrip- 
 tion of a theatre, and its exhibitions, 
 
 Scd nequc tub tefto semper, ncc in urbc, latemus ; 
 where snb telio and latemus seem to imply that all 
 this passed in his father's private house. 
 
 26?. Thence to the famous orators repair, &c.^] 
 
 How happily does Milton's versification in this, 
 and the following lines, concerning the Socratic 
 philosophy, express what he is describing ! In the 
 
 fiist
 
 224 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence 
 
 Wielded at will that fierce democratic, 
 
 Shook the arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece 
 
 To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne : 
 
 To sage philosophy next lend thine ear, 
 
 From Heaven descended to the low-roof'd house 
 
 270 
 
 lirst we feel, as it were, the nervous rapid eloquence 
 of Demosthenes, and the latter have all the gentle- 
 ness and softness of the humble modest charafler of 
 Socrates. Thjer. 
 
 a68. Thon ancient^ — ] 
 
 Milton was of the same opinion as Cicero, who 
 preferred Pericles, Hyperides, iEschines, Demos- 
 thenes, and the orators of their times, to Deme- 
 trius Phalereus, and those of the subsequent ages. 
 See Cicero, De Claris Oratoribus. And, in the 
 judgment of Quintilian, Demetrius Phalereus was 
 the first who weakened eloquence, and the last almost 
 of the Athenians who can be called an orator : " is 
 " primus inclinasse eloquentiam dicitur — ultimus 
 " est fere ex Atticis qui dici possit orator." De 
 Instit. Orat. x. i. Neiuton. 
 
 »68. 
 
 whose resistless eloquence 
 
 Wielded at will that jierce demccratic^ 
 Shook the arsenal, and fulmin'd over Creece,'^ 
 
 Alluding, as Bp. Newton and Dr. Jortin have 
 both observed, to a celebrated passage in the 
 AcHARNENsEs of Aristophanes, where the old 
 comic poet, with much malignity towards Athens 
 and Pericles, thus accounts for the origin of the 
 Peloponnesian war. 
 
 riofvDv h SifiaiSav io»Ti{ Mtyxfcth 
 
 Ka8 01 Meyeepijt ohvecu; m^vatyyw^nni 
 A»T£|£KX£iJ/a» AffTTuataf wop* iiio' 
 
 EMiiai na.ait tx Tfiw» Xaixarfii'v, 
 Emi/0£» ofv^ nE; IKAEHS OTAYMniOS 
 H2TPAIITEN, EBPONTA, SYNEKYKA THN 
 EAAA^A. 
 
 5«3' 
 
 Some youths of Athens in a drunken frolic 
 
 Going to Megara bore off from thence 
 
 The whore Simasthe, The Mi-garian youths, 
 
 To make reprisals, seiz'd and carried off 
 
 Two wantons of the fam'd Aspasia's train. 
 
 Hence, on account of three vile prostitutes. 
 
 This fa'.al war among the Greeks broke forth; 
 
 Hence Pericles cnrag'd, like Jove himself, 
 
 Ev'n with the thunder's roar, the light'ning's blaze, 
 
 Burst forth to vengeance, and convuls'd all Greece. 
 
 For the varioas authors who have referred, or 
 alluded, to tliis description of the resistless eloquence 
 of Pericles, see Kuster's note on the passage, in his 
 edition of Aristophanes ; where however he has 
 overlooked Quinftilian, L. ii. C. 16. & L. xii. 
 C. 10. — Cicero, (EnsT. ad Attic, xv. i. and 
 Orator. Seft. 234. Ed. Proust,) speaks of the 
 " FULMiNA Demosthenis." The younger Pliny 
 thus describes the eloquence of his friend Pompeius 
 Saturninus ; " Adsunt apta?, crebrsque sententix, 
 " gravis et decora constructio, sonantia verba et 
 " antiqua. Omnia hic mire placent. Cum impetu 
 " quodam et fulmine prasvehuntur :" — And, in 
 the xith ^.NEiD, Virgil makes Turnus, in his 
 speech to Drances, say 
 
 Proinde tona eloquio; solitum tibi 
 
 383. 
 
 471. To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne:'] 
 
 As Pericles and others fulmin'il over Greece to 
 Artaxerxes throne against the Persian king, so 
 Demosthenes was the orator particularly, whoy>//- 
 min'd over Greece to Macedon against king Philip, 
 in his Orations, therefore denominated Philippics. 
 
 Neijuton^ 
 
 273, From Heaven descended to the tow-rooj'd house 
 Of Socrates;— ] 
 
 Mr.
 
 BOOK IV 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 22; 
 
 Of Socrates ; see there his tenement, 
 Whom well inspir'd the oracle pronounc'd 
 Wisest of men ; from whose mouth issued forth 
 
 275 
 
 Mr. Calton thinks the author alludes to Juvenal, 
 Sat. xi. 27. 
 
 ^— — e cocio desccndit j-vw9( a-i'j.vrw, 
 
 as this famous Delphic precept was the foundation 
 of Socrates 's philosophy, and so much used by him, 
 that it hath passed with some for his own. Or, as 
 Mr. Warburton and Mr. Thyer conceive, the author 
 here probably alludes to what Cicero says of So- 
 crates, " Socrates autem primus philosophiam de- 
 " vocavit e coelo, et in urbibus coUacavit, et in 
 «• domus stiam introduxit." Tusc. Disp. V. 4. 
 But he has given a very different sense to the words 
 cither by design or mistake, as Mr. Warburton ob- 
 serves. It is properly called the loixiroofd house ; 
 for I believe, said Socrates, that if 1 could meet 
 with a good purchaser, I might easily get for my 
 goods, and house and all, five pounds. Eyo fi£« oifta» 
 (i<pri a TuxfxTT.i) Si ayaGs unrn STrirujijotfti, tvfuii a.v 
 fAO( aw Tn otxicc xui TO. ov\x 'zccvla 'Sjctvv ^aoittiq cteWi 
 
 pa?. Xenophon Oeconomic. Five miniE, or Attic 
 pounds, were better than sixteen pounds of our 
 money, a mina, according to Barnard, being three 
 pounds eight shillings and nine pence. Neiuton. 
 
 In the Clouds of Aristophanes, (Ver. 92.) where 
 Strepsiades points out the habitation of Socrates to 
 his son, he uses the diminutive oixiJi«», adicula, 
 »mall house, or tenement. 
 
 175. Whom luell inspir'd the oracle pronounc'd 
 Wisest oj men ; — ] 
 
 The verse, delivered down to us upon this oc- 
 casion, is this ; 
 
 Of all men Socrjtes is the wisest. 
 
 Neiutan. 
 
 .76. 
 
 • jrom ztihose mouth issu'd forth 
 
 hUUiJluous streams, that waler'd all the schools 
 Of Academics &c. i3c. — ] 
 
 Thus Quintilian calls SocxdXtifons philosophorum. 
 L. i. C. 10. As the ancients looked upon Homer 
 
 to be the father of poetry, so they esteemed Socrates 
 the father of moral philosophy. Thus Cicero, 
 (Academic L. i. C.4. ;) " Socrates mihi videtur, 
 " id quod constat inter omnes, primus a rebus oc- 
 " cultis et ab ipsa natura involutis, in quibus oranes 
 " ante eum philosophi occupati fuerunt, avocavisje 
 " philosophiam, et ad vitam communeni adduxisse; 
 " &c." and, speaking of the Academic and Peri- 
 patetic schools, he says, — " idem fons erat utrius- 
 
 «■ que." The different sefts of philosophers 
 
 were indeed so many different families, which all 
 acknowledged Socrates for their common parent, 
 Cicero, speaking of him, (Tusc. Disp. L. v. C. 4.,) 
 
 says " cujus multiplex ratio disputandi, rerum- 
 
 " que varietas, et ingenii magnitudo, Platonis me- 
 " moria et Uteris consecrata, p!ura genera efFecit 
 
 " dissentientium philosophorura." And, (De 
 
 Orator. L, iii. C. 16.) — " Nam cum essent plures 
 " orti fere a Socrate, quod ex illius variis, et di- 
 " versis, et in omnem partem diffusis disputatio- 
 " nibiis alius aliudapprehendcrat; proseminatx sunt 
 " quasi familia; dissentientes inter se, et multum 
 " disjunfiae et dispares, cum tamen omnes se phi- 
 " losophi Socraticos et dici vellent, et esse arbitra- 
 " rentur.'' Neivton, 
 
 The ancients in general, and Cicero in particular, 
 considered Socrates as the fountain-head, or inventor 
 of moral philosophy." — Thus, (Brutus, Seft. 31. 
 Ed, Proust.) " lis opposuit sesc Socrates; qui sub- 
 " tilitate quadam disputandi refellere eorum insti- 
 " tuta solebat verbis. Hujus ex uberrimis ser- 
 
 " MONIBUS EXSTITERUNT DOCTISSIMI VIRi: 
 
 " primumque tum philosophia, non ilia de natura, 
 " qux fuerat antiquior, sed in hac, in qua dc bonis 
 " rebus et malis, deque hominum vita et moribus 
 
 " disputatur, inventa dicitur." And, (De 
 
 Orator, i. 42.) " Urgerent praeterea philoso- 
 " phorum greges, jam ab illo fonte et capitk 
 " Socrate, nihil te de bonis rebus in vita, nihil de 
 " malis, nihil dc animi perraotionibus, nihil de 
 G g " horainum
 
 226 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Mellifluous streams, that water'd all the schools 
 Of Academics old and new, with those 
 Surnam'd Peripatetics, and the seel 
 Epicurean, and the Stoic severe ; 
 These here revolve, or, as thou lik'st, at home. 
 Till time mature thee to a kingdom's weight ; 
 These rules will render thee a king complete 
 Within thyself, much more with empire join'd. 
 
 2.80 
 
 " hominum moribus, nihil de ratione vltx dldi- 
 " cisse." He also terms Socrates, (De Nat. 
 
 Deor. i. 34.,) " PARENTEM philosophis." 
 
 Paterculus, (L. i. C.16.,) speaks of "Philosophorum 
 
 " ingenia Socratico ore defluentia." 
 
 And Minucius Felix, (Oawv. C. 13.,^' having de- 
 scribed Socrates as " sapientia; principem," adds 
 " Hoc fonte defluxit ArcesilE, et multo post 
 " Carneadiset Acaderaicorum plurimorum in sura- 
 ♦' mis quastionibus tuta dubitatio;" — Milton, in 
 the conclusion of his viith Elegy, uses the Socrntic 
 streams to signify philosophy in general ; 
 
 Donee SocRATicos umbrosa Academia rivos 
 Praebuit, 
 
 But our author, in speaking here of the mellifiuous 
 streams of philosophy that issued from the mouth of 
 Socrates, and 'watered all the 'various schools, or seiis, 
 of philosophers, had in his mind a passage of iElian, 
 (Var. Hist. L, xiii. C. 22,,) where it is said that 
 " Galaton the painter drew Homer as a fountain, 
 " and the other poets drawing water from his 
 
 " mouth." — XcCKa^m Si o ^wyfctfo; lyfa-^i roi fx.!» 
 
 (*•>« rfucftsujs. Whence also Manilius, speaking of 
 
 Homer; 
 
 I cujusque rx oke profusos 
 
 Omnis posteritas laticcs in carmina duxit, 
 Amnemque in tenues ausa est deduccic rlvos 
 Uuius fscunda bonis. 
 
 And Ovid, 3. Amor. ix. 25; 
 
 L. li. 8. 
 
 Ac^ice Mionidem, a auo, C£u fonte perennm, 
 
 VaTUM PlISIlS OSA RICANTUR AftUlS. 
 
 278. Of Academics old and new,— "] 
 
 The Academic seft of philosophers, like the- 
 Greek comedy, had its three epochs, old, middle, 
 and neiu. Plato was the head of the old Academy, 
 Arcesilas of the middle, and Cameades of the new. 
 
 279. -^-^— Peripatetics, — ] 
 
 The Peripatetics were so called, from the ritfi- 
 TTctToi, or walk of the Lyceum, where Aristotle 
 and his successors taught ; in the same manner as 
 the Stoics had their name from the Srca, or Portico, 
 where they attended the instruftions of their master, 
 Zeno. " The common opinion" says Dr. Gillies, 
 " that the Peripatetics were so called, ik tS nsfi- 
 " ■jrnTci:, ex deambulatione,. as adopted by Cicero 
 " and others, is refuted by the authors cited by 
 " Brucker, Vol. I. p. 787." 
 
 280. ^^-^— — — — Stoic severe:"] 
 
 Seneca says that the sedl of Stoics were corni. 
 monly censured " tanquam nimis dura." De Cle- 
 ment, ii.j. — Ahd Cicero, (ProMurena, C. 35.,) 
 " At enim agit mecum austere et Stoice Cato." 
 
 283. T/iCiC rules — ] 
 
 There is no mention before of rules ; but erf 
 poets, orators, and philosophers. We should read 
 therefore. 
 
 Their rules will render thee a king complete, &c. 
 
 Caltoa, 
 
 283. ^-^—^—— a king complete 
 
 H'it/iin thyself, — ] 
 
 This refers to what our Saviour had said before. 
 
 Book ii. 446, respefting the true dignity, or kiti^ 
 
 ship, of self-command ; 
 
 Yet
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 To whom our Saviour sagely thus reply 'd. 
 Think not but that I know these things, or think 
 I know them not ; not therefore am I short 
 Of knowing what I ought : he, who receives 
 Light from above, from the fountain of light. 
 No other doctrine needs, though granted true ; 
 But these are false, or little else but dreams, 
 Conjeclures, fancies, built on nothing firm. 
 The first and wisest of them all profess'd 
 
 227 
 285 
 
 290 
 
 Yet he, who reigns within himself, and rules 
 Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king, 
 
 285. To whom our Saviour sagely thus r<p/y'd.'^ 
 This answer of our Saviour is as much to be 
 admired for solid reasoning, and the many sublime 
 truths contained in it, as the preceding speech of 
 Satan is for that fine vein of poetry which runs 
 through it : and one may observe in general, that 
 Milton has quite throughout this work thrown the 
 ornaments of poetry on the side of error, whether 
 it was that he thought great truths best expressed 
 in a grave, unafFefted stile, or intended to suggest 
 this fine moral to the reader, that simple naked 
 truth will always be an over-match for falsehood, 
 though recommended by the gayest rhetoric, and 
 adorned with the most bewitching colours. Tijer. 
 
 he zcho receives 
 
 Light from above^ from the jountain of lights 
 No other dodrine needs j though granted t}ue;2 
 
 It had been supposed from Milton's acquaintance 
 with EUwood, and with Mrs. Thomson, (to the 
 memory of whom, under the title of his Christian 
 Friend, he has inscribed a Sonnet,) that he was a 
 Quaker. Mr. Warton observes that this passage of 
 the Paradise Regained seems to favor the notion of 
 Milton's Quakerism. But this passage is rather 
 scriptural than seftical ; and seems to be built on 
 what is said by St, "James, C. i, V. 17. E'very good 
 find everj ferfeSi gift is from abotie, and Cometh 
 
 DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS ; which 
 
 refers to what the apostle had said in the 5th verse 
 of the same chapter; If any of you lack wisdom, let 
 him ask of God, that gi-veth to all men liberally, l^c. 
 
 293. The first and wisest of them all profess'd 
 To know this only, that he nothing biew;] 
 
 Socrates; of whom Cicero, " Hie in omnibus 
 " fere sermonibus, qui ab iis, qui ilium audierunt, 
 « perscripti varie, copiose sunt, ita disputat, ut nihil 
 «' adfinnet ipse, refellat alios : nihil se scire dicat, 
 " nisi id ipsum : eoque prsstare ceteris, quod illi 
 «' qu:e nesciant scire se putent; ipse, se nihil scire, 
 " id unum sciat." Cicero Academic, i. 4. 
 
 Netuton, 
 
 Diogenes Laertius mentions that Socrates was 
 frequently used to say of himself " that the only 
 " thing he knew, was that he knew nothing." — 
 eiJe^ai (*£» finhv, wX-.;w avTo tsto tio.'iai. VlT. So- 
 
 CRAT. And Plato, in his Apology of Socrates, 
 w^here he makes him compare himself with some 
 great pretender to wisdom, introduces him thus 
 reasoning, — 5uto; f<.£» oietw ti ithixt, ovk iiJwj* lyu 
 Se, wVTTJf 5i ovK oi^«, ouJs otoftai. loix* yoZi nvra ye 
 a-y.ixc3 Tin oiVTU TOfTW (To^wTEfo? Eiai, oTi ec ftij oidas, 
 
 sJe oiof*«i e.j£»«(. " this man thinks he knows 
 
 " something, which in faft he does not know; but 
 " I, while I really know nothing, do not admit the 
 " supposition of ray knowing any thing. I seem 
 " therefore to be somewhat the wiser of the two 
 
 Gg 
 
 « on
 
 •228 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 To know this only, that he nothing knew ; 
 The next to fabhng fell, and smooth conceits ; 
 A third sort doubted all things, though plain sense ; 
 Others in virtue plac'd felicity, 
 
 295 
 
 " on this account, that what I really do not know, 
 « I do not pretend to know." Ed. Serran. Vol. I. 
 p. 21. 
 
 195. The next to fabling Jell, and smuth cenceitt ;] 
 Milton, in his Latin Poem, De Idea Pla- 
 tonic a, terms Plato 
 
 , ipse FABfLATOR msximus. 
 
 38- 
 
 This passage shews our Poet inclined to censure 
 the ficlions of the philosopher ; which were also 
 noticed in early times. Diogenes Laertius cites a 
 -verse of Timon, to this purpose, 
 
 'fl; a»£wX«C£ U^2Tt•» 7^E7^^a^■fi£:•» SatiitaTa ii&j. 
 What wondcrous fiilions learned Plato fram'd ! 
 
 Athensus says of Plato's laws, " that they were 
 fitted not for any people that really existed, but 
 for such only as he had figured in his own imagin- 
 ation." 
 
 Mr. Calton cites a passage from Parker's Free 
 and Impartial Censure of the Platonic Philosophy, 
 Oxford, 1667. where it is observed that " Plato 
 " and his followers communicated their notions 
 " by emblems, fables, symbols, parables, heaps of 
 " metaphors, and all sorts of mystical rcpresenta- 
 " tions." " These," it is afterwards added, 
 " though they are pretty poetic fancies, are infi- 
 " nitely unfit to express philosophical notions and 
 " discoveries of the nature of things." 
 
 Smooth conceits aie the Italian concetti; by which 
 term an Italian writer would, I apprehend, cha- 
 raflerise any far-fetched or fine-spun allegories. 
 
 196. A third sort doubted all things, though plain sense i\ 
 These were the Sceptics or Pyrrhonians, the dis- 
 ciples of Pyrrho, who asserted nothing to be either 
 honest or dishonest, just or unjust ; that men do all 
 things by l.iw and custom ; and that in every thing 
 this is not preferable to that. This was called the 
 Sceptic philosophy from its continual inspeftion. 
 
 and never finding; and Pyrrhonian from Pyrrho. 
 (See Stanley's Life of Pyrrho, who takes this ac- 
 count from Diogenes Laertius.) Ntiuton. 
 
 That the Pyrrhonists carried their scepticism to 
 the height described by Milton appears from the 
 following pass.ige, among others, in the life of 
 Pyrrho, by Diogenes Laertius j 'At h aio-S>ii7ft; 
 
 Titaiet vim tS» x^Lisrici, lesei a tovf woixiXu; Tfi^rslai* 
 uyyui'of 0V9 to xpiTripior, xa» oioe t«to ri g^y.Qiig. 
 " The senses are liable to be deceived, reasoning 
 " has its ambiguities, the reality even of the ob- 
 " jefts which we see is questioned by the judgment, 
 " and the judgment has no positive rule of decid- 
 " ing : hence we never arrive at certainty, nor 
 
 " consequently at truth." Among other highly 
 
 refined sceptical declarations of the Pyrrhonists, 
 
 we also find the following ;- on irvf xaiti aio-Sa- 
 
 tO'XsS*. :i h (pvait t;^£i xaurix);>, £7r£;^0fis», " We 
 
 " perceive that fire burns, but we do not venture 
 " to assert that its nature is to bum."— And, in 
 
 another place ; to f4£» oti iri 7^uxf, ou TiSufn. 
 
 TO h oTi paiv£Tai, JftoAoyi?. — " I cannot lay it down 
 " for certain that such a thing is really sweet ; 
 " although I confess that to the taste it appears so." 
 
 S97. Others in virtue placed felicity. 
 
 But virtue joined with riches and long life;"] 
 
 These were the old Academics, and the Peri- 
 patetics the scholars of Aristotle. " Honeste aatem 
 " vivere, fruentem rebus iis, quas primas homini 
 •' natura concillet, et vetus Academia censuit, et 
 " Aristoteles : ejusque amici nunc prnxime vi- 
 " dentur acceder*." Cicero Academic, ii. 42. 
 " Ergo nata est sententia vcterum Academicorum 
 " et Pcripateticorum, ut finera bonorum dicerent, 
 " secundum naturam vivere, id est, virtute ad- 
 " hibita, frui primis k natura datis." De Fin. 
 ii, II, Newton. 
 
 Thus
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 229 
 
 But virtue join'd with riches and long Hfe ; 
 In corporal pleasure he, and careless ease ; 
 The Stoic last in philosophic pride, 
 
 300 
 
 Thus Cicero, in another passage, De Finidus, 
 &c. ; " Multi enim et magni philosophi hsc ul- 
 " tima bonorum junfla fecerunt, ut Aristoteles, 
 " qui virtutis usum cum vita; perfeftx prosperitate 
 " conjunxit." ii. 6. 
 
 agg. In corporal pleasure he^ and careless ease ;2 
 
 The H E is here contemptuoutly emphatical. 
 
 Thus Deraosthenes, in the opening of his first 
 
 Philippic, referring to Philip, whom he had not 
 
 mentioned by name, — kui th tvt vpfti TOYTOY, h 
 
 m TafalrofCEOa. And, in the Paradise Lost, 
 
 Satan, in his first speech, when, on the burning 
 lake, he " breaks the horrid silence," speaks of 
 the Deity, in a manner not dissimilar, by the 
 title of 
 
 HE with his thunder : 
 
 '•93- 
 Bp. Newton illustrates the sentiments here attri- 
 buted to Epicurus by a passage from Cicero, who 
 says of him; " Confirmat illud vel maxime, quod 
 " ipsa natura, ut ait ille, asciscat, et reprobet, 
 " id est voluptatem et dolorera ; ad haec, et quje 
 ** sequamur, et quas fugiamus, refert omnia." De 
 Fin. i. 7. — But Epicurus may speak for himself. 
 In his Epistle to Memceus, preserved by Diogenes 
 Laertius, he points out as the only essential and 
 truly interesting objefls of a wise man's attention, 
 rytv Ttf o-o-'^aTo? vymav, xcti rvjv Trj; ij/up^vj? aTUfx^iav ; 
 " health of body, and an undisturbed state of mind." 
 « In this," continues he, " consists the perfection 
 " or sum of a happy life ; and accordingly our 
 " great endeavor is that nothing may give us pain- 
 " ful sensations, or disturb our ease and tranquillity. 
 " When once we have secured this material point, 
 " there is an end to all agitation of the mind ; 
 " there being no objed nor pursuit that really calls 
 " for the attention of living creatures, except the 
 " completion of their mental and corporal happi- 
 •' ness." TWTo Ta ftaxafiw; ^lii/ eri teXo;' Tars- 
 
 yap X""* «''!rcitT» wfolTo^sv cTTw; (*))Tt a^yuiAiv, f*»)T£ 
 
 Taf/3w//.si* eras os affcl tovto vifi ofia; ytmxt, ^l'^- 
 Tai wa; T>i; ■4'^X'';i X*'f""> ""^ sXo»To? to fua ^aJi- 
 
 ^ilV uq 7rfr{ EpJcCK Tl, '■iCH l^riTiiV ITSfOV, If TO Tr)? ■\'Vyj,^ 
 
 zcn TB o-wftaTo; ayaOcj 0-tJf47rXiifa)6vi(r£TX'. —"—Thus 
 
 also his great priest and poet ; 
 
 — - nonne videre 
 
 Nil aiiud sibi naturam latrarc, ni^i ut, quont 
 Corpore sejunflus dolor absit, mentc fruatur 
 Jucundo sensu, cura semota raetuquc ? 
 Ergo corpoream ad naturam pauca vidcmus 
 Esse opus omnino, quae demant cunque dolorem, 
 Delicias quoque uti multas substcrncic possint; 
 Gratius interdum nequc natura ipsa rcquiric. 
 
 LucRET. ii. 16. 
 
 But this philosopher himself was at times more 
 explicit respecting the to -ra o-wftaroc ayxdt^t, which 
 he positively places in " ra? Jia ^vtSiv ^Jwa;, raj 
 ^i a^po^tcrtaiv, T«; ^i' a.>ipa^ot,TU)i , Kai t«; ^ta ^/.o^^rii 
 xxT c4/i» Ji'ltia; xii>!7£i;." The passage from his n;ft 
 tAs-:, is preserved by Diogenes Laertius, L. x., 
 and by Athenasus, L. viii. ; and the sense is ex- 
 hibited by Cicero, Tusc. Disput. L. x. C. 20.,) 
 — ego tamen memincro, quod videatur ei summum 
 bonum ; non enim verbo solum posuit voluptatem, 
 sed etiam explanavit quid diceret; " Sapor em, 
 " inquit, et corporum complexum, et ludos, 
 " atque cantus, et kormas ias, quidus ocuh 
 
 " JUCUNDE MOVEANTUR." 
 
 300. T/ie Stoic last tj'f.— ] 
 
 Nine lines are here employed in exposing the 
 errors of the Stoic philosophy, while the other seds 
 have scarcely more than a single line bestowed upon 
 each of them. This is done with great judgment. 
 The reveries of Plato, the superlative scepticism of 
 Pyrrho, the sensuality of Epicurus, and the selfish 
 meanness of the old Academics and Peripatetics 
 might well be supposed to carry sufficient confuta- 
 tion along with them. But the tenets of the Stoics, 
 which had a great mixture of truth with error, and 
 inculcated, among other things, the moral duties, 
 a great degree of self-denial, and the imitation of 
 
 the
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 book: IV. 
 
 By him call'd virtue ; and his virtuous man, 
 Wise, perfe6l in himself, and all possessing 
 Equal to God, oft shames not to prefer, 
 
 the Deityi as fixed principles, were worthy of a 
 more particular examination; and required to have 
 their speciousness and insufficiency in other respects 
 more panicuhirly marked and laid open. Add to 
 this the esteem in which the Stoics were held not 
 only among the philosophers of antiquity, but 
 among sojne of tlie earlier writers on Christianity. 
 Cicero, though no Stoic, says of them, " Licet in- 
 " seftemuristos (Stoicos), metuonesoli philosophi 
 " sint." Tusc. Disr. iv. 24. Clemens Alexan- 
 drlnus in many parts of his works professes himself 
 a Stoic, St. Jerome, in his Commentary on Isaiah, 
 acknowledges that the Stoics in most points of doc- 
 trine agree with the Christians, " Stoici cum nostro 
 " dogmate in plerisque concordant." C. 10. To 
 bring forward, therefore, and to censure in this place 
 the exceptionable doflrines of this seft, was highly 
 becoming the charafter under which our blessed 
 Lord is here represented and described. The defefls 
 and insufficiencies of their scheme, as Mr. Thyer 
 observes, could not possibly be set in a stronger 
 light than they are here by our author. 
 
 3C0. 
 
 in philosophic pride,'] 
 
 The Stoics maintained that the end or purpose 
 of man was to live conformably to nature, and that 
 this consisted in an absolute perfeAion of the soul, 
 of which they believed human nature to be capable. 
 This sentiment, as Mrs. Carter observes in tlie 
 preface to her Translation of Epidctus, tempted 
 even the best of men to pride, by flattering them 
 with false and presumptuous ideas of their own 
 excellence. — Plutarch mentions the arrogance of 
 the Stoics, and the superiority which they assumed 
 over the Academics; oti h toi? xara uvtr.^uaq 
 
 ixJo9!io-i» mTu KOMnSIN K.AI MEFAAHrOPOYSIN, 
 uTi Te« iia,nm ofiou moi AxaJufixiXiJa >~.-iyo\j^ ti; TauTo 
 
 tyfa-J/K Et; JtajSo^w tlv ai5-9)i3f£w». 
 
 Plutarch. De Stoicor. Contrariet.\tibus, 
 
 301. By htm call'd lirttie ; — ] 
 
 The philosophy of the Stoics consisted, as they 
 described it, in living according to nature ; and 
 this they called virtue. Thus Diogenes Laertius, 
 in his Life of Zeno ; — taos sri TO K.AT' APETHN 
 ZHX, Ta xxr fTTSifiaii tu> (fvcru crvji^mnnm Ijfin. 
 
 302. Wise, perfcSl in himself, and all possessing"] 
 
 Thus Cicero, De Finieus, iii. 7, where Cato if 
 introduced summing up the principles of the Stoic 
 philosophy; — " cum ergo hoc sit extremum, (quod 
 " T£^5; Grscus dicat,) congruentet naturje conve- 
 " nienterque vivere, necessario sequitur omnes sa- 
 " piENTES semper feliciter, absolute, for- 
 
 " TUNATE vivere, NULLA RE IMPEDIRI, NULLA 
 " PROHIBERI, NULLA EGERE." 
 
 303. Equal lo Cod — J 
 
 Bp. Newton here reads 
 
 Equals to God, &c. 
 
 and conceives the sense to be so much improved, 
 that the omission of the letter s must have been an 
 error of the press. I retain the reading in Milton's 
 own edition, as the sense appears sufficiently clear 
 with it, neither do I see any material improvement 
 resulting from the correftion. 
 It seems to me also probable that 
 
 all possessing 
 
 Equal to God, 
 
 was suggested by a passage of Seneca, who is like- 
 wise describing the virtuous man of the Stoics,— 
 " Deorum ritu cunda possideat." Epist. xcii. 
 The passage cited in the preceding note from 
 Cicero, (De Finibus,) shews how much power and 
 dignity, how many positive attributes of divinity, 
 the Stoics ascribed to their wise or virtuous man. — 
 Seneca speaks more fully, Epist. Ixxxvii; " Qniris 
 " qux res sapientem efficit ? Qus Deum." And 
 
 again, Epist. lix. " Sapiens ille est plenus 
 
 " gaudio, hilaris et placidus, inconcussus, cum 
 " DII5 ex pari vivit," — See also Epist. Ixxiii, 
 
 where
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 231 
 
 As fearing God nor man, contemning all 
 Wealth, pleasure, pain or torment, death and life. 
 Which when he lists, he leaves, or boasts he can. 
 For all his tedious talk is but vain boast. 
 
 S'^S 
 
 where ha compares the truly wise man to Jupiter, 
 to whom he makes him in every respecl, excepting 
 only duration of life, equal; and adds, " Sapiens 
 " NIHILO SE MiNoRis jEstimat, quod virtutes 
 " ejus spatio breviore clauduntur." — And Epist. 
 xcii ; — " Sed si ciii njirliis animuique in corpore pr^- 
 " sens; hic DECS jEquat, &c." — Seneca indeed 
 every where abounds with such passages. Epiftetus 
 also, (L. i. C. 1 2,) says. On ^ihn% ot)» xa&' 'a. VZOX 
 
 EI TOIS 0EO1S, £X£i ira TiGtaS^i to ayc/A:i \- 
 
 « Will you not therefore consider that as your 
 chief good, in which you are equal to the gods ?" 
 
 303. — ^— — — ojt sliamis not to prtjer,'] 
 
 " Ferte fortiter;" says Seneca, " hoc est quo 
 " Deum antecedatis. Hie extra patientiam 
 " malorum est, vos supra patientiam." De Pao- 
 
 " vident. C. vi. And, in his fifty-third 
 
 Epistle; — " Est aliquid quo sapiens antecedat 
 « Deum ; ille natural beneficio non timet, suo 
 " sapiens." 
 
 304. ^s fearing God r.or man,^—"] 
 
 " Deos nemo sanus timet. Furor est enim me- 
 " tuere salutaria ; nee quisquam amat, quos timet." 
 
 Senec. De Beneficiis. iv. ig. " Si animus 
 
 " fortuita contempsit, si se supra metum sustulit, 
 « » » » » • J si deorum hominumque for- 
 " midinem ejecit, et scit non multum esse ab ho- 
 " mine timendum, a Deo nihil; si contemptor om- 
 " nium, qulbus torquetur vita, dum ornatur, eo 
 " perduftus est, ut illi liqueat, mortem nullius 
 " mali esse raateriam, multorum finem:"— Seneca, 
 De Beneficiis, L. vii. i. 
 
 304- 
 
 contemning all 
 
 Wealthy pUasurCi pain or torment^ death and life. 
 Which when he iisti^ he leaves, or boosts he Ci/n,] 
 
 These are the well-known doftrines of the Stoics. 
 There can be little doubt that our author had here 
 in his mind the conclusion of Seneca, De Provi- 
 
 DENTiA ; where an exhortation to Stoi:al fortitude 
 is put in the mouth of the Deity. Part of the 
 passage has been cited in a preceding note. " Puta 
 ' itaque Deum dicere. * » * » Intus omne 
 ' posui bonum : non egere felicitate, felicitas vestra 
 ' est. At multa incidunt tristia, horrenda, dura 
 ' tolcratu. Quia non poteram vos istis subduccre, 
 ' animos vcstros adversus omnia armavi. Fcrte 
 ' fortiter; hoc est quo Deum antecedatis. Ille 
 ' extra patientiam malorum est, vos supra patien- 
 ' tiam. Contemnite paupertatem ; nemo 
 ' tam pauper vivit, quam natus est. Contemnite 
 ' dolo&em; aut solvetur, aut solvet. Contfm- 
 ' nite forti;nam; nullum illi telum, quo feriret 
 ' animum, dedi. Contemnite mortem; qus 
 ' vos aut finit, aut transfert. Ante Omnia cavi, ne 
 ' quis vos teneiet invitos. Patet exitus. Si 
 ' pugnare non vultis, licet fugere. &c." 
 
 Exaflly similar to which last passage is the lan- 
 guage of Epiftetus, El KTa; Ta^a; £1/^.1, AJMHM TO 
 AnOQANEIN. ouTcj K £ri» ^lf.l•,» r.a'iruv hxix-Tof. 
 avTvi VI tearoe^vyvi. 01a xaro o'jhv ruv tv Ti; lo;w %aA£- 
 w« snu- OTAN eEAHS EHHA0E2. L. iv. C. 10. — 
 
 " When we are oppressed with misery, to die is to 
 " escape from the storm. Death is to all mankind 
 " a harbour, and a place of refuge. It takes away 
 " every evil from that life, which it is in our own 
 
 " power to quit whenever we please." Seneca 
 
 also speaks of death, in the same precise terms, as 
 
 a desirable harbour from the storms of life. 
 
 " Portus est aliquando petendus, nunquam 
 
 " recusandus." Epist. Ixx, And in the same 
 
 Epistle he says; " Hoc est unum, cur de vita non 
 " possumus queri : neminem tenet. Place r ? 
 " VIVE. NoN placet? licet eg reverti, 
 
 " UNDE VENISTI." 
 
 307. For all his tedious talk is but vain toMt, 
 Or subtle shifts — J 
 
 Vain
 
 232 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 Or subtle shifts conviction to evade. 
 
 Alas ! what can they teach, and not mislead. 
 
 Ignorant of themselves, of God much more. 
 
 And how the world began, and how man fell 
 
 Degraded by himself, on grace depending ? 
 
 Much of the soul they talk, but all awry. 
 
 And in themselves seek virtue, and to themselves 
 
 All glory arrogate, to God give none ; 
 
 Rather accuse him under usual names. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 310 
 
 3^5 
 
 Fain boasts relate to the Stoical paradoxes ; and 
 subtle shifts to their dialeftic, which this seft so 
 much cultivated, that they were known equally by 
 the name of Dialeiiicians and Stoics. Warhurton. 
 
 308. sukU shifts conviSion to evade,'] 
 
 " Stoicorum autera non ignoras quam sit sub- 
 
 " TILE, vel spinosum potius, disserendi genus." 
 
 Cicero, De Fin. iii. i. 
 
 310. Ignorant of themselves, of God much mtre, 
 And how the world hegan, and how tr an fell 
 Degraded by himself, on grace depending ?] 
 
 Having drawn most accurately the charafler of 
 the Stoic philosopher, and exposed the insufficiency 
 of his pretensions to superior virtue as built on su- 
 perior knowledge, the poet here plainly refers to 
 the holy scriptures, as the only true source of in- 
 formation respefting the Nature of God, the Cre- 
 ation, the Fall of Man, &c. They who have never 
 benefited by divine revelation, he intimates, must 
 bewilder themselves in such researches, and cannot 
 but fall into the greatest absurdities, as was the 
 case of the Stoics and other philosophers, 
 
 313. Much of the soul they tali, but all auiry,] 
 
 See what Bp. Warburton has said of the absurd 
 notions of the ancient philosophers, concerning the 
 nature of the soul, in his Divine Legation, 
 Book iii. Seft. 4. Ne-wtoit, 
 
 a' 3' 
 
 but all awry,'] 
 
 But their opinions fail'd by error lid awry,.— 
 
 Drayton, Polvolbion, S. 1. 
 
 314. And in themselves seek virtue, and to themselves 
 All glory arrtgate, to Cod give none,'] 
 
 Cicero speaks the sentiments of ancient philo- 
 sophy upon this point, in the following- words : — 
 " propter virtutem enim jure laudamur, et in 
 " viRTUTE RECTE GLoRiAMUR: quod non con- 
 " tingeret, si id donum a Deo, non a nobis habe- 
 " remus. At vero aut honoribus aufti, aut re fa- 
 " miliar!, aut si aliud quippiam nafti sumus for- 
 " tuiti boni, aut depulimus mali, ciim Diis gratia* 
 " agimus, turn nihil nostra laudi assumptum ar- 
 •' bitramur. Num quis, quod bonus vir esset, 
 " gratias Diis egit unquam ? At quod dives, quod 
 " honoratus, quod incolumis. — Ad rem autem ut 
 •< redeam, judicium hoc omnium mortalium 
 
 " EST, FORTl/NAM A DEO PETENDAM, A SE IPSO 
 
 " sumendam ESSE SAPIENTIAM," Dc Nat. Deor. 
 iii. 36. IFarburtott, 
 
 316. Rather accuse him under usual names, 
 fortune and Fate, — ] 
 
 Thus in the speech which Jupiter addresses to 
 the assembly of the gods in the beginning of the 
 Odtssey. 
 
 n TTOTTOl, OlOV Jl) m $£«{ |3fOT01 KITi3&l>Tai. 
 
 E| r.fiiut yxf fairt Ka,te iftftEiai, oi ii Xj etvroi 
 
 X^niTii aTacrSosXiiiff-iF v7tt( fMftn cthyt tX'"'"- 
 
 i. 32. 
 
 Pcrveric
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 233 
 
 Fortune and Fate, as one regardless quite 
 Of mortal things. Who therefore seeks in these 
 True wisdom, finds her not ; or, by delusion, 
 Far worse, her false resemblance only meets. 
 An empty cloud. However many books, 
 
 320 
 
 Perverse mankind, whose wills created free 
 Charge all their woes on absolute decree; 
 All to the dooming gods their guilt translate, 
 And follies are miscall'd the crimes of fate. 
 
 Pofe. 
 
 3>6. 
 
 UJider usual names. 
 
 Fortune and Fate, — J 
 
 Several of the ancient philosophers, but especially 
 
 the Stoics, thus charafterised the Deity. " Sic 
 
 " hunc naturam vocas, fatum, fortunam; om- 
 " nia ejusdem Dei nomina sunt, varie utentis sua 
 
 " potestate." De Beneficiis, iv. 8. " Vis 
 
 " ilium FATUM vocare ? non errabis." Nat. 
 Qy^sT. ii. 4j. 
 
 Thus also Seneca the tragic poet ; 
 
 Fatis agimur; cedite fatis. 
 
 Non solliciti possunt curas 
 
 Mutare rati stamina fusi, &C. 
 
 CEdip. 980. 
 
 The Stoic poet, Lucan, frequently terms the 
 Deity, Fate or Fertuns. 
 
 Vir fcrus, et Romam cupienti perdere Fato 
 
 SuHiciens. 
 
 Pharsal, i. 87. 
 
 ^■^— — — — habenti 
 
 Tam pavidum tibi, Roma, ducem fortuna pepercit. 
 
 Ibid, iii, q6. 
 
 318. ■ Who therejorc seeks in these 
 
 True zuisdonif Jinds her not ; or, hy delusion, 
 Far viorse, her Jalse resemblance only meets, 
 An empty cloud. — ] 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, some of the fallen angels, 
 who are represented as bewildered in the errors of 
 ancient philosophy, 
 
 ^■^— reason'd high 
 Of providence, fore-knowledge, will, and fate, 
 rix'd fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute, 
 And found no end, in wandering mazes lost. 
 
 ii. sjS. 
 
 This is term'd 
 
 Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy; 
 
 and serving only to 
 
 Fallacious ho: e- 
 
 jsi. An empty cloud. — J 
 
 A metaphor taken from the fable of Ixlon, who 
 embraced an empty cloud for a Juno. Kcnuton. 
 
 We meet with an expression somewhat similar, 
 iu a beautiful speech of Adam, in the eighth 
 Book of Paradise Lost. Our first parent had 
 shewed a curiosity and disposition to reason and 
 enquire concerning celestial motions. The Angel 
 replies to him without materially explaining what 
 he enquires after ; and in the conclusion of his 
 speech tells him, 
 
 ■ Heaven is for thee too high 
 
 To know what passes there; be lowly wise! &c. 
 
 Adam, thus correfted, thanks the Angel for his 
 advice, and adds 
 
 ^—^— apt the mind or fancy it to rove, 
 Unchcck'd, and of her roving is no end ; 
 Till warn'd, or by experience taught, she learn. 
 That not to know at large of things remote 
 From use, obscure and subtle, but to know 
 That which before us lies in daily life. 
 Is the prime wisdom ; what is more, is Ft;M£, 
 Or emptiness, &c. 
 
 (88. 
 
 .—————— -^— many books. 
 
 Wise men have said, are tcearisome ;— 3 
 
 Alluding to Eccles. xii. 1 2. 0/ maklrig many 
 books there is no end, and much study is a lueariness 
 of the flesh. Neivton, 
 
 The same sentiment may be traced to clas- 
 sical authority, " Aiunt cnim," says the younger 
 H h Pliny,
 
 ^34 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 Wise men have said, are wearisome ; who reads 
 
 Incessantly, and to his reading brings not 
 
 A spirit and judgment equal or superior, 
 
 (And what he brings what needs he elsewhere seek?) 
 
 Uncertain and unsettled still remains. 
 
 Deep vers'd in books, and shallow in himself, 
 
 Crude or intoxicate, collecllng toys 
 
 And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge ; 
 
 As children gathering pebbles on the shore. 
 
 1 o c 
 
 33"^ 
 
 Pliny, " MULTUM legendnm esse, non multa." 
 L. viii. Epist. 9. — It is indeed a Stoical precept, 
 and as such Milton might refer to it in the words, 
 ivise men ha<vi said. — In* h ^tlSf^an ^i-^uv fiij-oi-. 
 Antonin. Meditat. L. xi. 3 — " Do not indulge 
 *' yourself in a thirst after books." — " Iliad autem 
 " vide ne ista lectio multori'm auctorum, 
 " et omnis generis voluminum, habeat aliquid 
 " yagum et instabile. **»*»*»» 
 " Distrahit animum librorum multitudo." 
 Senec. Epist. ii. " Quo mihi innumerabiles libros 
 " et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita 
 "sua indices perlegit ? One&at discentem 
 " turba, non instruit ; multoque satius est paucis 
 " te audloribus tradere, quam errare per mul- 
 " Tos." Senec. De Tranquillitat. Animi. 
 C.9. 
 
 322. 
 
 uho J tads 
 
 Imcssanlly, iic,—] 
 
 The same just sentiment, Mr. Thyer observes, 
 may be seen in Paradise Lost, vii. 126. 
 
 knowledge is as food, and needs no less 
 
 Her temperance over appetite 
 
 Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turni 
 
 Wisdom to folly, as nouiishraent 10 wind. 
 
 317. Dtep urs'd in books, and shallow m himstlj,] 
 
 Milton would, I conceive, thus have charafterised 
 his old antagonist, Salmasius. 
 
 Z"-!- 
 
 shaltoM in thinisehes,'] 
 
 We have exaflly the opposite phrase in the 
 SECOKD Book of this Poem. It is there said that 
 our blessed Lord, 
 
 ^^— tracing the desert wild, 
 
 Sole, but with holiest meditations fed, 
 Into himsilf DiscENDtD,— 
 
 3^9- 
 
 iL'orth a sponge;'^ 
 
 tog. 
 
 Suetonius has the expression spongias, where, 
 speaking of the liberality with which Augustus 
 Caesar bestowed his gifts on festival occasions 
 among the people, he also notices that he some- 
 times used to amuse himself by throwing amongst 
 them things of no 'value. " Festos et sollennes dies 
 " profusissime, nonnunquam joculariter tantum, 
 " celebrabat. Saturnalibus, et si quando alias li- 
 " buisset, modo munera dividebat, vestem, et 
 
 " aurum, et argentum ; interdum nihil prater 
 
 " cilicia, et spongias, et rutabula, Sec." — Vit. 
 August. C. 75. 
 
 330. ^s tkildren gathering pebbles on the shore.'\ 
 Cicero, (De Orator, ii. 22. Ed. Proust,) makes 
 Crassus relate that Laelius and Scipio, when they 
 had escaped into the countr}', were accustomed to 
 amuse themselves with the pastimes of their child- 
 hood; where the circumstance of their " gathering 
 " pebbles on the shore," is particularly specified 
 among the puerile relaxations of these great men. 
 
 " Non
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 23S 
 
 Or, if I would delight my private hours 
 
 With music or with poem, where, so soon 
 
 As in our native language, can I find 
 
 That solace ? All our law and story strow'd 
 
 With hymns, our psalms with artful terms inscrib'd, 
 
 Our Hebrew songs and harps, in Babylon 
 
 That pleas'd so well our vi6lors' ear, declare 
 
 That rather Greece from us these arts deriv'd ; 
 
 111 imitated, while they loudest sing 
 
 The vices of their Deities, and their own, 
 
 In fable, hymn, or song, so personating 
 
 Their Gods ridiculous, and themselves past shame. 
 
 Remove their swelling epithets, thick laid 
 
 335 
 
 340 
 
 " Non audeo dicere de tallbus viris, sed tamen ita 
 
 " solet narrare Scasvola, conchas eos et umbilicos 
 
 " ad Caietam et ad Laurentiim legerc consuesse, 
 
 " et ad omnem animi remissionem ludumque de- 
 
 " scendere." 
 
 335. — -^ — our pialmi with artful ttrms imcrib'd,'] 
 
 He means the inscriptions often prefixed to the 
 beginning of several psahns, such as To the chief 
 musician upon Nebilcith, To the chief musician on 
 Neginoth upon Shemineth, Shiggaion of Dai; id, Mich- 
 tarn of Ba-vid, tiff, to denote the various kinds of 
 psalms or instruments, i^cuiion, 
 
 336. , Our Hcbreiu songs and harps, in Babylm 
 That pleased so well our vUlors^ ear, — ] 
 
 This is said upon the authority of Psal. cxxxvii. 
 
 I, &c. Bj the rivers of Babylon, there ive sat doiun, 
 yea, ive •wept, luhen ive remembered Sion. We 
 hanged our harps upon the ivillouus in the midst 
 thereof. For there they that carried us aiuay cap- 
 tiiie, required of us a song ; and they that masted us, 
 required of us mirth, saying. Sing us one of the songs 
 of Sion, Neixiton. 
 
 338. That rather Greece from us these arts diriv'J;'] 
 
 This was the system in vogue at that time. It 
 was eftablished and supported with vast erudition 
 by Bochart, and carried to an extravagant and evea 
 ridiculous length, by Huetius and Gale. 
 
 lyariurlon, 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus ascribes the invention of 
 hymns and songs to the Jews; and says that the 
 Greeks stole theirs from them. (Stromat. L. i. 
 p. 308. Ed. Colon, 1688.) He also charges the 
 Grecian philosophers with stealing many of their 
 doftrines from the Jewish prophets. (L. i. p. 312.) 
 
 341- 
 
 pi:rsonating\ 
 
 This is in the Latin sense oi persono, to celebrate 
 loudly, to publish or proclaim. 
 
 g^g. __^__ swellini; epithets, thick laiJ] 
 Sivelling epithets thick laid is particularly appli- 
 cable to the Orphic hymns. Indeed gods and heroes 
 were scarcely ever mentioned by the Greek poets 
 without some sivelling, i. e. compound, epithet. 
 Jupiter is Nt^iXDyipsTo!, or Aiyiop^o?, the Cloud' 
 H h z compeller.
 
 236 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 lOOK lY. 
 
 As varnish on a harlot's cheek, the rest, 
 
 Thin sown with aught of profit or dehght, 345 
 
 Will far be found unworthy to compare 
 
 With Sion's songs, to all true tastes excelling. 
 
 Where God is prais'd aright, and God-like men, 
 
 The Holiest of Holies, and his Saints, 
 
 (Such are from God inspir'd, not such from thee,) 350 
 
 compeller, or the JEgis-beartr ; Apollo, Exu^oXo?, 
 or AfyiifoTo|of, the far-darter, or the Gad of the 
 sil'ver boiu ; Neptune, Ya,\r,oyi>^, Emoo-ivaiof, the circlet 
 of the earth, and the shaker of the earth ; MarSj 
 AjJfcpovoc, Bf(;To>,oi7o,-, T!lp/£(T^!r^»T>!;, the slayer of 
 men, and the o'ver turner of cities. Juno was Asu- 
 xB?i.:»of, or the nvhite-arm'd ; Minerva, T^uxvxuinr, 
 or the ilue-ej'd : Agamemnon was Evfvxfuur, or 
 the ividely-rcigaitig ; Heflor, zof»9aio?ioc, master of 
 the variegated helmet; Achilles, s-oJat wxt?, and 
 TToJafxij;, the iiuift of foot, &C. 
 
 343- 
 
 thick laid. 
 
 As vajvish on the harlal's cheek, — ] 
 
 The Duke of Buckingham, very possibly, had 
 this passage of Milton in his mind, when he wrote 
 the following lines of his Essav on Poetry; 
 Figures of speech, which poets think «o fine, 
 (Art's needless varnish to make nature shine.) 
 Are all but faint upon a beauteous facx, 
 And in descriptions only claim a pljce. 
 
 as Milton, most probably, had the following lines of 
 Shakespeare : 
 The harlot's cheek, beaut ied with plaster inc 
 
 ART, 
 
 Is not more ugly to the tiling that helps it, 
 Than is my deed to my moit painted word. 
 
 Hamlet, Ad III. Sc. i. 
 
 345. Th:n sown uiith aught oj profit or delight,'] 
 
 In allusion to Horace's 
 
 Aut PRODESSE volunt, aut delectare poetae ; 
 
 Art. Poet. 333. 
 
 Plato also has observed, {De Repub. x. p. 607. 
 
 Ed, Serran.) that the only justification of poetry is 
 
 when it unites the power of pleasing with civil and 
 
 moral instruction. u$ 5 f^oyem n&hec aTAa, x.at u^i^-ifin 
 fffo! Tuq TToAiTitas Ka> To» ^iM Tc» o-y&fumiciy jri« 
 
 346. Will far be found unworthy to compare 
 With Sion's songs, — ] 
 
 He was of this opinion not only in the decline 
 of life, but likewise in his earlier days, as appears 
 from the preface to his second Book of the Reason 
 
 of Church Gouernmeitt. " Or if occasion shall 
 
 " lead to imitate those magnific odes and hymns 
 " wherein Pindarus and Callimachus are in most 
 " things worthy, some others in their frame ju- 
 " dicious, in their matter most an end faulty. But 
 " those frequent songs throughout the law and 
 " prophets beyond all thefe, not in their divine 
 " argument alone, but in the very critical art of 
 " composition, may be easily made appear, overall 
 " the kinds of lyric poetry, to be incomparable." 
 
 NetMton, 
 348. Where Cod is praii'd aright, and Cod-like men,"] 
 The only poetry which Plato recommends to be 
 admitted into a state, are " hymns to the gods, 
 " and encomiums on virtuous anions." Ei^e»a» 
 ^•i oTt Iffov ^o;ov tf*ii?; 9tOi; xai iyy.:cyAX ta; ccyxtfi^ 
 voyricziii; TrafaitiXTsov £15 TrtXi:. De RefUB. L. -X. 
 
 p. 607. Ed. Serran. 
 
 3jO. Such are from God inspir'd, not such from thee. 
 Unless where moral virtue is expressed 
 By light of nature, not in all quite lost.] 
 
 Thus the passage stands pointed in Bp. Newton's 
 edition; where Mr. Meadowcourt observes that the. 
 sense of these lines is highly obscure, and explains 
 
 them
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 237 
 
 Unless where moral virtue is express'd 
 By light of nature, not in all quite lost. 
 Their orators thou then extoU'st, as those 
 The top of eloquence ; statists indeed. 
 And lovers of their country, as may seem ; 
 But herein to our prophets far beneath, 
 As men divinely taught, and better teaching 
 The solid rules of civil government. 
 In their majestic unafFedled stile, 
 Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome. 
 In them is plainest taught, and easiest learnt. 
 What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so. 
 
 355 
 
 360 
 
 them to mean, " Poets from thee inspired are not 
 " such as these, unless where moral virtue i& ex- 
 " pressed &c " But this is very far from fatisfac- 
 tory. — Indeed the obscurity, if not caused, is in- 
 creased by departing from the pundualion of the 
 first edition, which had a semicolon after not siiih 
 from thee. Unless certainly has no reference to the 
 immediately preceding line ; which I have there- 
 fore put in a parenthesis, supposing the exception 
 to refer to Ver. 346. 
 
 Will far be found unworthy to compare 
 With Sion's songs, &c. 
 Unless where moral virtue is express'd 
 By light of nature, not in all quite lost. 
 
 I will venture however to suggest a new arrange- 
 ment of the passage ; 
 
 Thin sown with auglit of profit or delight, 
 (Unless where mortal virtue is express'd 
 By light of nature not in all quite lost,) 
 Will far be found unworthy to compare 
 With Sion's songs to all true tastes excelling, 
 Where God is prais'd alike and God-like men, 
 The Holiest of Holies, and his Saints : 
 Sugh are from God inspir'dj not such from thee. 
 
 354- 
 
 statists — ] 
 
 Or statesmen. A word in more frequent use 
 formerly, as in Shakespeare, Cymbeline, AcI II. 
 Sc, 5. 
 
 •^—— I do believe, 
 (Statist though I am none, nor like to be :) 
 
 and Hamlet, Aft V. Sc. 3. 
 
 I once did hold it, as our statists do, &c. 
 
 Milton uses statists for statesmen, in his Areo. 
 PAGiTiCA. — " When as private persons are hereby 
 " animated to think ye better pleased with public 
 " ailviee, than other statists have been before 
 " delighted with public flattery." Prose Works. 
 p. 424. Ed, Amsterdam. 1698. 
 
 362. makes a nation /i.ijipy, and keeps it so,} 
 
 Horace, L. i. Epist. vi. 2. 
 
 FACERE aut sERVARi bcatum. 
 
 Richardson. 
 
 With a reference also to Proverbs, xiv. 34. 
 Righteousness exalteth a riatio/t, but sin ii a reproach 
 to any people. 
 
 What
 
 238 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities fiat ;. 
 These only with our law best form a king. 
 
 So spake the Son of God; but Satan, now 365 
 
 Quite at a loss, (for all his darts were spent,) 
 Thus to our Saviour with stern brow reply 'd. 
 
 Since neither wealth nor honor, arms nor arts. 
 Kingdom nor empire pleases thee, nor aught 
 By me propos'd in life contemplative 370 
 
 Or active, tended on by glory or fame, 
 What dost thou in this world ? The wilderness 
 For thee is fittest place ; I found thee there. 
 And thither will return thee ; yet remember 
 What I foretel thee, soon thou shalt have cause 375 
 
 To wish thou never hadst rejediled, thus 
 Nicely or cautiously, my ofter'd aid. 
 Which would have set thee in short time with ease 
 On David's throne, or throne of all the world. 
 Now at full age, fulness of time, thy season, 380 
 
 363- 
 
 lays cities Jill ;'\ 
 
 Alluding perhaps to the expression in scripture 
 respedling Jericho; — The luall of the city shall foil 
 doiun FLAT. Joshua, vi. 5. &c 20. 
 
 366. 
 
 • for all his darts uicn spent,'] 
 
 Possibly with a reference to the fierj darts of the 
 nukked. Ephes. vi. 16. But archery furnished me- 
 taphors frequently to the Latin and Greek writers. 
 Thus Horace, reproving the unbounded aims and 
 designs of men ; 
 
 Quid brcvi fortes jaculamur «vo 
 Multi? 
 
 L. ii. Ode xvi. 
 
 And ^schylus, speaking of " the tongue that 
 
 " launches forth much improper language," 
 
 — — y'Kuaax T05EY0Y2A ftu ra. xaifia. 
 
 Surf Lie. 455. 
 
 And in the same manner Euripides, Hecub. 603. 
 
 Kai ravTx /iit Ji) suf ETOSEYSEN fiarnr- 
 
 377. Nicely or cautiously — ] 
 
 Thus Ver. 157, of this Book, 
 Nothing will please the difficult and Niei. 
 
 j8o. fulness of time, thy seastn,'] 
 
 Galat. iv. 4. When the fulaess of the time -was 
 come, God sent forth his Son. Neiuton. 
 
 When
 
 BOOK IV, 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 239 
 
 When prophecies of thee are best fulfill'd. 
 
 Now contrary, if I read aught in Heaven, 
 
 Or Heaven write aught of fate, by what the stars 
 
 Voluminous, or single characlers, 
 
 In their conjunction met, give me to spell, 385 
 
 Sorrow and labors, opposition, hate 
 
 Attend thee, scorns, reproaches, injuries, 
 
 Violence and stripes, and lastly cruel death ; 
 
 A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, 
 
 Real or allegoric, I discern not ; 39° 
 
 Nor when ; eternal sure, as without end, 
 
 382. 
 
 ij I nai aught in Heaven,'] 
 
 A satire on Cardan, who with the boldness and 
 impiety of an atheist and a madman, both of which 
 he was, cast the nativity of Jesus Chrift, and found 
 by the great and illustrious concourse of stars at 
 his birth, that he must needs have the fortune 
 which befel him, and become the author of a re- 
 ligion, which should spread itself far and near for 
 many ages. The great Milton, with a just indig- 
 nation of this impiety, hath satirized it in a very 
 beautiful manner, by putting these reveries into the 
 mouth of the Devil. Nenuton, 
 
 385- 
 
 ■ give me to spel/,] 
 
 Where I may sit and rightly spell 
 Of every star that Heaven doth shew, 
 And every herb iliat sips the dew ; 
 Till old experience do attain 
 To something like prophetic strain. 
 
 Pensekoso. i;o. 
 
 386. Sorrows, and labors, opposition, hate 
 
 Attend thee, scorns, reproaches, injuries. 
 Violence and stripes, and lastly, cruet death ;] 
 
 Plato, in his Republick, where he draws the 
 charafter of the Just Man and the Unjust, says 
 there can be no difficulty in foreseeing what will 
 be the fate of each of these respeftive person • 
 
 He then proceeds to describe that of the truly Just 
 Man, who is aftuated by no other principle but 
 Justice or Virtue, and shews that his life will be 
 a continued state of affliflion and suffering. He 
 professes indeed that he is not delivering his own 
 real sentiments, but the sentiments and usual mode 
 of reasoning of the professed partizans of AJixia, 
 or an interested and unprincipled conduft. But the 
 calamitous life of the Just Man is, in a great part, 
 so literally descriptive of that of our Blessed Lord 
 upon earth, that it may be well exhibited here in 
 Plato's own words. O Jixaio; (tAariyiit^tlai, ^fE(3^«- 
 CETci, h^na-erai, — — — — — T^^Et)T4Il/ 
 '7r:iiTx Kxfia "^x^lxv uv«.7yivSi>^£V^iiffiTeii, De Re- 
 
 puDLic. L. ii. p. 361. Ed. Serran. " The just 
 " man shall be scourged, shall be put to the tor- 
 " ture, shall be bound, — — — — at 
 " length having suffered every species of barbarous 
 " treatment, he shall be crucified." Serranus thus 
 translates ac/.^rp^ivciXsiflijo-iTai by i>i crucem tolletur ; 
 and Heysychius explains a^at^Xl^^l^s^/^« by aias-xo- 
 AoTTi^ij, and civot.aitCh't'ni^u by avaravpoiy. 
 391, —^^^-^^—^—^ as uithout end. 
 Without heginnin.-r,—] 
 
 " The poet," says Bp. Newton, " did not think 
 " it enough to d\ictti.\t judicial astrtlogj by making 
 
 " it
 
 24CI 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Without beginning, for no date prefix'd 
 Directs me in the starry rubric set. 
 
 So saying he took, (for still he knew his power 
 Not yet expir'd,) and to the wilderness 395 
 
 Brought back the Son of God, and left him there, 
 Feigning to disappear. Darkness now rose, 
 As day-light sunk, and brought in lowering night 
 Her shadowy offspring ; unsubstantial both. 
 Privation n>ere of light and absent day. 400 
 
 " it patronised by the Devil ; to shew at the same 
 " time the absurdity of it, he makes the Devil also 
 •' blunder in the expression of portending n kingJom 
 " luhich ivas -ivilhout beginning. This," he adds, 
 " destroys all he would insinuate." But the poet 
 certainly never meant to make the Tempter a blun- 
 derer. The fact is, the language is here intended 
 to be highly sarcastic on the eternity of Christ's 
 kingdom, refpefting which the Tempter says he 
 believes it will have one of the properties of eter- 
 nity, that of 7ie<ver beginning. This is that species 
 of insulting ivit, which the Devils, in the sixth 
 Book of the Paradise Lost, indulge themselves 
 in on the first efFefts of the artillery they had in- 
 vented; where Mr. Thyer, as cited by Bp. Newton, 
 observes that Milton is not to be blamed for in- 
 troducing it, '*■ when we consider .the charafler of 
 " the speakers, and that such kind of insulting 
 " wit is most peculiar to proud, contemptuous 
 " spirits." 
 
 398. 
 
 lew'ring night. 
 
 Ikr skaiiotvy cjjiprir^, umubstar.tial hthi"] 
 
 This is a good deal in the manner of Cowley ; 
 who thus begins his Ode entitled Life and 
 Fame; 
 
 O life, tbou nothing's younger brother ! 
 
 So like lliat one might take one for the other ! 
 
 M'hat's somebody, or nobody ! 
 In all the cobwebs of the schoolmen's trade, 
 
 \Vc no such nice distin£lions see, 
 
 As 'tis to be, or not to be ! 
 Dream of a shadow ! &c. 
 
 400. Privation mere of light, and, absent day.'] 
 
 Aristotle, (De Anmma, L. ii.) defines dark- 
 ness to be " the privation of light." — ^aq Si eri» ts 
 
 Stafavnc itsf/iix, CQXn Si To ^»f EvanTioy Ta cxoTn, 
 iTi OS TO (TxtiTo; STEPHSIS tjj? TOiavTtii i^niii ix Sia- 
 
 ^ccsuq. — And again (De Sens, et Sens.) — Iran >?ti 
 ■au;uhi cv Jiapa.fi, H MEN nAPOYSIA (fcns, H AE 
 ZTEPHSIS ESTI SKOTOS. But " our poet's phi- 
 " losophy," as Bp. Warburton observes, " is here 
 " ill placed. It dashes out the image he had just 
 " been painting." Euripides, in a chorus of his 
 Orestes, personifying Night, calls upon her to arise 
 from Erebus, or the shades below. 
 
 EfEjSoOiV 161, 
 
 174. 
 
 where, it may be observed, the scholiast reftifies the 
 philosophy of the poet, by explaining night or dark- 
 ness as really " unsubstantial," and mere/y produced 
 by the absence of light, or day .——Y^a,Tt[xou.aa ra 
 »]>ta £K To i/TTo yiiy ij/AKT^atpiov, ffxoT»; iTtcviu tijj 7>:j 
 yttirat, ucrTtif tx ruv xa.ru&iii anitai Soxm, ovx u( ov iv 
 Toi{ xctru XXI anfX"!*'":', AAAA TH AHOYSIA TOT 
 *nTOS TOTTO T<t)I2TATAI. 
 
 Our
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 141 
 
 Our Saviour meek and with untroubled mind 
 
 After his aery jaunt, though hurried sore, 
 
 Hungry and cold, betook him to his rest, 
 
 Wherever, under some concourse of shades, 
 
 Whose branching arms thick intertwin'd might shield 405 
 
 From dews and damps of night his shelter'd head ; 
 
 But shelter'd slept in vain, for at his head 
 
 The Tempter watch'd, and soon with ugly dreams 
 
 Distui'b'd his sleep. And either tropic now 
 
 403- 
 
 betook him to his rest, 
 
 Wherevir, under some concourse of shades. 
 
 Whose branching arms thick intertwined might shield 
 
 From dews and damps of night his sheltered head^^ 
 
 Thus, Book ii. 260. ; 
 
 It was the hour of night, when thus the Son 
 Commun'd in silent walk, then laid him down 
 Under tbe hospitable covert nich 
 Of tress thick intir woven ; 
 
 And Book i. 303.; 
 
 Full forty days he pass'd, whether on hill - 
 Sometimes, anon in shady vale, each niout 
 Under the covert of some ancient oak 
 Or cedar to defend him from the dew, 
 Or harbor'd in one cave, is not reveal'd ; ^i^^ 
 
 405. — — branching arms — ] 
 
 In the NINTH Book of the Paradise Lost, 
 v. 1 103, the Indian fig-tree is described, spreading 
 
 ^^— her ARMS 
 B&anchinc so broad and long, that in the ground 
 The bended twigs take root &c. 
 
 And Arcades, Ixxxvii. ; 
 
 Under the shady roof 
 
 Of branching elm star-proof. 
 
 407. 
 
 at his head 
 
 The Tempter watched, and soon xuith ugly dreams 
 Disturb' d his sleep;—'] 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, the Tempter begins 
 his Temptation of Eve by working on her imagi- 
 nation in dreams. Ithuriel and Zephon find him 
 
 Squit like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, 
 
 Assaying by his devilish art to reach 
 
 The organs of her fancy, and with them forge 
 
 Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams ; 
 
 Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint 
 
 The animal spirits that from pure blood arise 
 
 Like gentle breaths from rivers pure, thence raise 
 
 At least distemper'd, discontented thoughts, 
 
 Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires, 
 
 Blown up with high conceiu ingendering pride# 
 
 iv. 800. 
 
 Here it may be observed the Tempter tries only 
 " to disturb our Lord with ugly dreams," and not 
 to excite in him, as he did in Eve, 
 
 " Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires." 
 
 409. 
 
 and either tropic now 
 
 'Can thunder, and both ends of Heaven s the clouds. 
 From many a horrid rift, ^c.— ] 
 
 It thundered from both tropics, that is perhaps 
 from the right and from the left. The Ancients 
 had very different opinions concerning the right 
 and the left side of the world. Plutarch says, that 
 Aristotle, Plato, and Pythagoras were of opinion, 
 that the east is the right side, and the west the left; 
 but that Empedocles held that the right side is to- 
 wards the summer tropic, and the left towards the 
 winter tropic. nu9«yopa5, U^aTut, A^ifortMi} &t^ia 
 TU xtiO"fts ra avxroXixa ftif>i, ecp uf n ajj/i) T>n Ki»r,- 
 Ciui;' a^irt^a ^f, Ta ^t>Tixa. £|Ll7rI^ox^l!{ Si^ia ft.ti ra 
 xaTix TO' diproK r^oirtxo' ce^irt^x ^< Tx xaToi ror X"!"''' 
 
 jiFov De Placit, Philos. ii. 10. AiyvnTw tmrxt 
 I i T«
 
 i42 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 'Gan thunder, and both ends of Heaven ; the clouds, 410 
 From many a horrid rift, abortive pour'd 
 
 rx fu» sua. TS xtcfui w^oauitc- iitai, to. Si «ij©' jSo('e«> 
 Si^tcc, ra ii 'Ofjos torn a>tri^cc. Id. de Isid. p. 363. 
 If by eitirr tropic he meant the ri^it side and the 
 If/i, by iotb end! of Hea'uen may be understood 
 before and behind. I know it may be objeifled, that 
 the tropics cannot be the one the right side, and 
 the other the left, to those who are placed without 
 the tropics : but I do not think that objeftion to 
 be very material. I have another exposition to 
 offer, which is thus : It thundered all along the 
 Heaven, from the north pole to the tropic of Cancer, 
 from thence to the tropic of Capricorn, from thence 
 to the south pole : from pole to pole. The ends 
 of Heaven are the poles. This is a poetical tem- 
 pest, like that in Virgil, ^n. i. 
 Intonuere poU 
 
 " Id est extremae partes coeli a quibus totum 
 
 ♦• ccelum contonuitse significat." Servius. Jortin. 
 
 By either tropic noiu 'gan thunder Bp. Newton 
 understands, it thundered from the north and from 
 the south; but he observes that the expression is 
 inaccurate, the situation of our Saviour not being 
 within the tropics. By and both ends of hea-ven, 
 he understands from or at both ends of Hea'ven, the 
 preposition being omitted, as is frequent in Milton. 
 He therefore reads the passage thus : 
 
 — ^— cuher tropic now 
 
 •Gan thunder, and, both ends of Heaven, the clouds 
 From many a horrid rift abortive pour'd &c. 
 
 I agree that by either tropic Milton most pro- 
 bably meant that it thunder'd from the north and 
 south ; but I conceive that by both ends of Hea-Jin 
 he means east and west, the points where the sun 
 rises and sets; as his purpose is to describe a general 
 storm, not coming from any particular quarter, nor 
 only from north and south, but from every point 
 of the horizon at once. 
 
 This storm, as Bp. Newton has suggested, is 
 TCry much like one in Tasso, which was raised in 
 the same maimer by evil spirits; 
 
 Ma la schiera infernal, ch* in quel conflitto 
 La tirannide lua cadcr vcdca, 
 
 Scndole ci6 permesso, in un momento 
 L'aria in nubi ristrinse, c mosse il vento. 
 
 Da g!i occhi de* mortali un negro vclo 
 Rapisce il giorno, e'l Sole, e par ch' avvampi, 
 Negro via piu c' horror d' inferno, il cielo, 
 Cosi 6ameggia infra baleni e lampi : 
 Fremono i tuoni, e pioggia accoica in gelo 
 Si ver&a, e i paschi abbate, e inonda i campi ; 
 Schianta i rami il gran turbo, e par che crolli 
 Non pur le quercie, ma le rocche, e i colli. 
 
 Canto vii. St. 
 
 «»4- 
 
 —^ had not the Devils, who saw the sure decay 
 Of their false kingdom by this bloody war, 
 At once made heaven and earth with darkness blind. 
 And stirr'd up tempests, storms, and blustering wind. 
 
 Heaven'* glorious lamp wrapp'd in an ugly veil 
 
 Of shadows dark was hid from mortal eye, 
 
 And hell's grim blackness the bright skies assail; 
 
 On every side the fiery lightnings fly; 
 
 The thunders roar ; the streaming rain and hail 
 
 Pour down, and make that sea which erst was dry ; 
 
 The tempests rend the oaks, and cedars brake, 
 
 And make not trees, but rocks and mountains quake. 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 410. 
 
 the clouds f 
 
 From many a horrid rift, abortive pour'd 
 Fierce rain with lightning mix'd, ^c. — J 
 
 This Storm of Milton will lose nothing by a 
 comparison with the celebrated ones of Homer in 
 his FIFTH Odyssey, and of Virgil in his first 
 JEntiA. It is painted from nature, and in the 
 boldest style. — The night is a loturing one, with 
 a heavy overcharged atmosphere. The storm com- 
 mences with thunder from every part of the heavens. 
 The rain then pours down in sudden precipitated 
 torrents, finely marked by the epithet aborti've as 
 materially different from the gradual progression of 
 the most violent common showers ; and the light- 
 nings seem to burst in a tremendous manner from 
 horrid rifts, from the most internal recesses of the 
 sky. To make the horror complete, the winds, as 
 is often the case in those countries where thunder 
 storms are most violent, join their force to that of 
 
 the
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 243 
 
 Fierce rain with lightning mix'd, water with fire 
 In ruin reconcil'd : nor slept the winds 
 Within their stony caves, but rush'd abroad 
 
 the other two elements. Violent winds do not often 
 attend violent thunder storms in this country ; and 
 therefore Mr. Thyer has thought it necessary to 
 observe that the accounts we have of hurricanes in 
 the West Indies agree pretty much to this descrip- 
 tion. But such storms are not confined to tropical 
 situations, or eren to countries approaching towards 
 them. I was a witness of one in the northern part 
 of Germany, lat. 52, which was every thing the 
 poet has here described : the wind was to the full 
 as tremendous as the thunder and lightning, and, 
 like them, seemed to come from every point of the 
 heavens at once. 
 
 411. From many a horrid rifl, abortive pour'd 
 Fierce rain with lightning mix'd,—'] 
 
 ' Involvere diem nimbi, et nox humida caelum 
 Abstulit: ingeminant abruptis nubibus ignes. 
 
 Virg. ^N. iii. 196. 
 
 412. 
 
 water withjire 
 
 In ruin reconcil'd .•] 
 
 Bp. Warburton understands this, joined togtther 
 to do hurt. Mr. Thyer says it is a bold figure 
 borrowed from iEschylus's description of the storm 
 that scattered the Grecian fleet ; 
 
 EvyufAoffav "yec^^ ovre^ gp^Oij-o* to ^rfir, 
 rivf x«i OaA«o-<ra, &C. 
 
 AcAMiM, 55g. 
 
 Theie powers once adverse, fire and water, now 
 Became confederate 
 
 But I apprehend Bp. Newton sees the passage in 
 its true light, when he says it only means tie fire 
 and ivater fell, (u e. rtish'd doivrtyj together, ac- 
 cording to Milton's usage of the word ruin. Pa- 
 radise Lost, i. 46, and ruining, vi, 868. 
 
 Thus also, Ver. 436. of this Book ; 
 After a night of storm so RmNous, 
 
 Ruo and ruina are used by the Roman poets in 
 this sense. 
 
 Thus Virgil, Georc. i. 324. 
 
 i R u 1 T arduus ather, — • 
 
 And, ^n, i. 129. 
 
 Fluflibus oppresses Troa^, ccellque ruina. 
 Thus also Silius Italicus, i. 251. 
 
 ^— — — insanos imbres cccliquc ruinam. 
 
 •4>3- 
 
 nor slept the winds 
 
 Within their stony caves, — ] 
 
 Virgil describes the winds as placed by Jupiter 
 in certain deep dark caves of the earth, under the 
 controul of their god, iEolus. 
 
 ■ Hlc VASTO rex i£olus antro 
 
 Lu£lantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras 
 
 Imperio premit, ac vinclis et carcerc frasnat. 
 
 IIU indignantes magno cum murmure montia 
 
 Circum claustra freraunt. Cclsa scdet ^olus arcc 
 
 Sceptra tenens, mollitque animos et tcmperat iraj* 
 
 Ni faciat, maria ac terras ccelumque profunduin 
 
 Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verraatque per auraf. 
 
 Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris, 
 
 Hoc metuens ; molemque et msates insuper altos 
 
 Imposuit, 
 
 i£N. i, jCi 
 
 Lucan also speaks of the " stony prison" of the 
 winds 5 
 
 — ^— non imbiibus atrum 
 JS.01.U jacuisse Notum sub carcsrs saxi 
 
 Crediderim. 
 
 V. 608. 
 
 And Lucretius, L. vi. 
 
 SriLUNCASeUB VBLUT SAXH P«ND1NTIBUS tTRUC- 
 TAS 
 
 Cemere, quas vent! quom, tempestate coorta, 
 Compl^runt, magno indignantur murmure dausi 
 Nubibus . 
 
 414. 
 
 but ruih'd abroad 
 
 From the four hinges of the world, — ] 
 That is, from the four cardinal points; cardo 
 signifying both a hinge and a cardinal point, Virgil, 
 
 I i ( Uaa
 
 244 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 From the four hinges of the world, and fell 
 On the vex'd wilderness, whose tallest pines, 
 Though rooted deep as high, and sturdiest oaks 
 Bow'd their stiff necks, loaden with stormy blasts. 
 Or torn up sheer. Ill wast thou shrouded then, 
 O patient Son of God, yet only stood'st 
 Unshaken : nor yet stay'd the terror there ; 
 
 415 
 
 420 
 
 Una EuTusque Notusque rvunt, crcberque procellis 
 Afrlcus. 
 
 Ntiuton, 
 416. On the vex'd uildernet!., — ] 
 
 Fexare is commonly used by the Latin poets to 
 describe the effefts of a storm. 
 
 — — aut male Caspium 
 
 VixANT iDicquales proccilx;.— 
 
 Hor. 2. Osi ix. 
 
 'inderoia nimbis 
 
 Continuii vixat^,- 
 
 Martial, 1 Ep lii. 
 montesque suprcmoi 
 
 STLVirRAClJ VXXAT FLABRIS,- 
 
 Lucret. i. 5j6. 
 Milton freqnently uses to vex in its Latin sense : 
 see Paradise Lost, i. 306., and, iii. 429. 
 
 417. Though rooted dctp as high,— '] 
 
 This, as Mr. Richardson observes, is from Virgil, 
 where he compares the obduracy of jEneas, when 
 quitting Dido, to an oak, which, though assailed 
 by the most violent storms, stands unmoved ; 
 
 Ipsa becret scopulis; et quantum vxrticx ad aurai 
 
 ^THlRKASjTANTWM RADIOS AD TARTAR A TINDIT. 
 
 itN. iv. ^^r,. 
 
 ■\ti. ' leaden with Uormy ilajti,] 
 
 This has some resemblance to Horace's 
 
 aquilonibus 
 
 Querceta Gargani laborant,- 
 
 419. 
 
 L. 2. Ode ix. 
 /// wait thou shrouded thtn,"] 
 
 Thus CoMUs, 316; 
 And if yoai stray attendance be yet lodg'd, 
 Or SHROUD within these limits, ' 
 
 And Paradise Lost, x. jo68, ; 
 
 ^— — while the winds 
 Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful locks 
 Of these far-spreading trees, which bid us seek 
 Some better shroud,——— 
 
 Spenser frequently uses shroud for shelttr ; 
 
 But trembling fear still to and fro did fly. 
 And found no place where safe he shroud him migku 
 Fairy JJuren, B. II. C. vii. St. is. 
 
 410. - yet only stcod'sl 
 
 Unshaken ; — 3 
 
 Milton seems to have raised this scene out of 
 what he found in Eusebius de Dem. Evan. (Lib. ix. 
 Vol. n. p. 434. Ed. Col.) The learned father ob- 
 serves, that Christ was tempted forty days, and the 
 same number of nights.-^^Ko* ivu^rmtf fl(*£fai; 
 
 nffcafOtKovTa^ KCCi Tciii roa-anratii vv^nt iwjigat^tTo. 
 
 And to these night temptations he applies what is 
 said in the Psalm xci. 5. and 6. Ov <po?>!9>j(T>i 
 aw' (poba tvtilt^iyu. Thou shall not be afraid for any 
 terror by night, — awo 'm(ay}jutt&- in aittrtu tfia- 
 ire^cvofiaov, nor for the danger that lualketh in dark- 
 ness. The first is thus paraphrased in the Targum, 
 (though with a meaning very different from Eu- 
 sebins's) " Non timebis a timore Damonutn qui 
 " ambulant in noHe." The fiends surround our 
 Redeemer with their threats and terrors; but they 
 have no effeft, Calton. 
 
 421. hferniil ghosts and hellish furies round 
 
 Environ d thee, some howl'd, some yell'd, &e. — ] 
 
 This too is from Eusebius, ibid. p. 435. En-ump 
 
 " quoniam dum tentabatur, malignx potestates 
 
 " ilium
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 245 
 
 Infernal ghosts and hellish furies round 
 
 Environed thee, some howl'd, some yell'd, some shriek'd, 
 
 Some bent at thee their fiery darts, while thou 
 
 Satst unappaird in calm and sinless peace. 425 
 
 Thus pass'd the night so foul, till morning fair 
 
 " ilium drcumstahant." And their repulse, it seems, 
 is also predifted in the 7 th verse of the xcist Psalm : 
 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand 
 at thy right hand, hut it shall not come nigh thee, 
 
 Calton, 
 Bp. Warburton and Dr. Jortin both observe that 
 this description is taken from the legend, or the 
 pictures, of the Temptation of St. Anthony. 
 
 Tasso has a description somewhat similar, where 
 Armida, having lost Rinaldo, and returning to 
 destroy her palace, assembles her attendant spirits 
 in a storm ; 
 
 Guinta a gli alberghi suoi chiamo trcccato 
 
 Con lingua horrenda deita d' Averno. 
 
 S'empie il ciel d' atre nubi, e in un momento 
 
 Irapallidisce il gran pianeta eterno, 
 
 £ Sofia, e scote i gioghi alpestri il vento. 
 
 Ecco gia sotto i pie mugghiar 1' inferno. 
 
 Quanto gira il palagio, udresci irati 
 
 Sibili, e urli, e fremiti, c latrati. 
 
 Canto, xvi. St. 67. 
 
 When home she came, she called, in outcry shrill, 
 
 A thousand devils, in Limbo deep that wun ; 
 
 Black clouds the skies with horrid darkness fill ; 
 
 And pale for dread became the eclipsed sun ; 
 
 The whirlwind bluster'd big on ev'ry hill, 
 
 And Hell to roar beneath her feet begun ; 
 
 You might have heard how, through the palace wide, 
 
 Some spirits howl'd, some bark'd, some hiss'd, some 
 
 cried. 
 
 We may also compare a passage in Shakespeare, 
 which concludes Clarence's relation of his horrid 
 dream in the Tower just before he is murdered; 
 
 With that, methought, a legion of rooL viknds 
 Environ'd me, and howled in minx lAItt 
 Such hideous cries, that with tht very noise 
 I trembling wak'd ; and for a season after 
 Could not believe but that I was in Hell : 
 Such terrible impression made my dream, 
 
 K. RiCHAKD III. Act I. Jc. 5. 
 
 4t4. — • their fiiTj djrts, — J 
 
 —— the FIERY DARTS of the <wicked. Ephes. 
 vi. 16. 
 
 44^. Satst unappall'd in calm and sinliss piaci.'] 
 
 The contrast, which this line gives to the pre- 
 ceding description of the horrors of the storm, has 
 a singularly fine efFeft. 
 
 426. 
 
 tilt morning fair 
 
 Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray^'] 
 
 In the C0MU8 evening is described, in a simi- 
 larly beautiful manner, as distinguished by the 
 monastic habit and religious charafter; 
 
 -^^.— the CRAY'HooDED even. 
 Like a sad votahist in palmer's weed, 
 
 And not dissimilar is the justly-admired descrip- 
 tion of evening coming on, in the fourth Book 
 of the Paradise Lost; 
 
 Now came still evening on, and twilight c»av 
 
 Had in her sober livery all things clad, 
 
 698. 
 
 on which passage Mr. Thyer, remarking the fre- 
 quent and particular notice which Milton has taken 
 of the ttuilight gray, whenever he has occasion to 
 speak of the evening, observes that " the weakness 
 " of the poet's eyes, to which this kind of light 
 " must be vastly pleasant, might be the reason that 
 " he so often introduces the mention of it."— — 
 The same may be said of his descriptions of the 
 early morning, the soften'd light of day-break. 
 
 Thus, (Paradise Lost, vii. 374,) having de- 
 scribed " the glorious regent of day" beginning 
 his jocund course, he adds 
 
 the CRAY 
 
 Dawn, and the Pleiades, before him danced 
 
 ShEDDINC IWEEt INf rUENClt,— — 
 
 Thu
 
 246 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IT. 
 
 Came forth, witli pilgrim steps, in amice gray ; 
 Who with her radiant finger still'd the roar 
 
 Thus also, Lycidas, 187; 
 
 while the suU raoin went out with sandals crav. 
 
 And Allegro, 44.; 
 
 Till the DAPPLED dawn doih rise; 
 where dappled racins gray. Dappled gray is a 
 spotted gray; thus Shakespeare, Much ado 
 
 ABOUT NOTHING, Aft V. Sc. 3. 
 ————— the gentle day 
 Dapples the drowsy east with spots op gray. 
 
 Shakesiieare is fond of the gray morning. 
 
 The cray-ev'd morn smiles on the frowning night. 
 
 Romeo and Juliet, II. 3. 
 I'll say yon crav is not the morning's eve. 
 
 Ibid. III. 5. 
 
 Chaucer, in his Knight's Tale, Ver. 1493, 
 describes 
 
 The merry larke, messengere of the day, 
 Salcwing in her song the morning gray. 
 
 ^2j. _^— with pilgrim steps— ^ 
 
 With the slow solemn pace of a pilgrim on a 
 journey of devotion. Neiuton. 
 
 427. amice gray,"] 
 
 Amice gray is gray cloathing. Amice, a signi- 
 ficant word, is derived from the Latin amicio, to 
 clothe; and is used by Spenser, Faery Queen, 
 Book I. C. iv. St. I 8, 
 
 Array'd in habit black, and amice thin. 
 Like to an holy monk the service to begin. 
 
 Neijuton. 
 
 Amice gray, Mr. Warton says, is the graius amic- 
 tiis of the Roman Ritual. Milton, he also ob- 
 serves, in a controversy about church-habits, uses 
 the word amice. " We have heard of Aaron, and 
 " his linen amice &c." Pr. W. i. 100. 
 
 The Roman poets give night a sable or dusky 
 amice. Thus Silius Italicus, xv. 285. ; 
 
 —— nox ATRO circumdata corpus amictu. 
 
 And Ibid. xii. 61 z.; 
 
 terras c<sco nox condit amicti;. 
 
 Thus also, Statius, Theeaid. iii. 415.; 
 
 Nox subiit, curasque hominum, motusque fcrarutn 
 Composuit, nicroque polos involvit amictv. 
 
 Virgil gives the Naiad Jnturna a glancus am'ic- 
 tus, a sort of " gray amice," or robe of a light 
 gray, or sea-green, colour ; 
 
 Jam tum effata caput cl auco contexit amictu. 
 
 The gray-robe of this goddess of the brook might 
 be the gray mist that frequently exhaled from the 
 stream ; or the gray willows that hung over it, and 
 fringed its banks. The Roman poets, by giving 
 the epithet glaucus to the olive tree, ascertain that 
 colour to have been nearly a gray. 
 
 Aurora in Homer, (II. viii. i.,) has a saffron 
 robe, or amice, and is termed 
 Hwj KPOKonEnAor. 
 In Hamlet, (Aft I. Sc. i.,) 
 
 ——— the morn, in russet MANTLS ClAD, 
 Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. 
 
 And in the Penseroso, Ver. 44., morn at lU 
 firft appearance is civil-suited, i.e. dressed like 
 a sober citizen in gray, or at least in some colour 
 not of a glaring kind. 
 
 428. Who with her radiant Jinger still'd the rear 
 
 Of thunder, chac'd the clouds, and laid the winds, (3c.'\ 
 
 This is an imitation of a passage in the first 
 jEneid of Virgil, where Neptune is represented 
 with his trident laying the storm which ^Eolus 
 had raised, ver. 142. 
 
 Sic ait, et di£io citius tumida icquora placat, 
 CoLLECTAsauE Ft;GAT NUBEs, solcmque rcduclt. 
 
 There is the greater beauty in the English poet, 
 as the scene he is describing under this charming 
 figure is perfeftly consistent with the course of 
 nature ; nothing being more common than to see a 
 stormy night succeeded by a pleasant, serene morn- 
 ing. Thyer. 
 That Milton had here in his mind the POAO- 
 AAKTTAOS Ha;, the rosj-fingerd Aurora of Homer 
 and Hesiod, must be supposed ; but while rosy' 
 finger'd is the proper epithet of the dawn, which 
 
 immediately
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 247 
 
 Of thunder, chas'd the clouds, and laid the winds, 
 And grisly spe6lres, which the Fiend had rais'd 
 
 430 
 
 immediately precedes the rising of the sun, the 
 early morning, when the sun is absolutely risen, is 
 justly described with radiant, instead of joy fingers. 
 In availing himself of the heathen poet's mode of 
 charafterising the dawn, I conceive, our Author 
 had an eye to the finger of God, Exodus, viii ig. 
 Luke, xi. 20. It is observable that to still the roar 
 of the storm is also a scriptural phrase. Psalm 
 Ixv. 7. — Ixxxix. g. It is needless to suggest to 
 the reader of taste how much more the beauty and 
 imagery of this passage strikes us, when we consider 
 it with a view to these scriptural allusions. Aurora, 
 or the dawn, rising nuith rosy fingers, with a tint of 
 red in the extrame parts of her person that first 
 emerge, is a pleasing image ; but morning nuith her 
 radiant finger stilling the storm of the preceding night 
 is a truly sublime one. 
 
 430. Ani grisly spcBrcs aihick the Fiend had rais'd,'] 
 
 This is the old superstition of evil spirits dis- 
 appearing at break of day ; which Milton is cen- 
 sured by Bp. Warburton for introducing in this 
 place. — He has also alluded to it in his Ode on 
 THE Nativity ; 
 
 So when the sun in bedj 
 Curtain'd with cloudy red, 
 
 Pillows his chin upon an orient wave, 
 The flocking shadows pale, 
 Troop to the infernal jail, 
 
 Each fetter'd ghost slips to his several grave, 
 And the yellow-skirted Fayes 
 Fly after the night steeds, leaving their moon-Iov'd 
 maze. 
 
 We meet with it also in the following passage 
 of Prudentius; 
 
 Ferunt vagantes dasmonas, 
 Lztot tcnebris nofliuro, 
 Gallo canente exterritoi 
 Sparsim timcrc, ct cedcre! 
 
 Invisa nam vlcinitas 
 Lucis, salutisi numinis, 
 Rupto tcnebrarum situ, 
 Noftii fugat satclUtca, 
 
 Cathimirin, Hymn i. 
 
 This popular superstition, respefting the evanes- 
 cence of spirits at the crowing of the cock, Shake- 
 speare, as Mr. Warton observes, has finely availed 
 himself of in his Hamlet, where the Ghost va- 
 nishes at this circumstance. 
 
 It faded on the crowing of the cock. 
 Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes. 
 Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 
 The bird of dawning singeth all night long : 
 And then, say they, no spirit dares walk abroad ; 
 The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike, 
 No fairy lakes, no witch has power to charm ; 
 So hallow'd and so gracious is the time. 
 
 The supposed efleft of day-break, in this respeft, 
 is also described very poetically by the same great 
 master in his Midsummer Night's Dream, 
 Aft III. Scene the last; 
 
 And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger ; 
 At whose approach ghosts wandering here and there 
 Troop home to churchyards : damned spirits all, 
 That in crossways and floods have burial, 
 Already to their wormy beds arc gone. 
 
 Thus also Cowley, in his Hymn to Libht, 
 Stanz. 10; 
 
 Night and her ugly subjeftj thou dost fright, &c.— 
 And Stanz. 1 7. ; 
 
 The ghosts, and monster spirits, that did presum* 
 A body's privilege to assume, 
 Vani»h again invisibly. 
 
 But perhaps no poet has more happily availed 
 himself of this old superstition, or has introduced 
 it more poetically than the late Mr. Gray, in his 
 Progress of Poetry, where the relief, which the 
 Muse affords to the real and imaginary ills of life, 
 is compared to the day dispelling the gloom and 
 terrors of the night. 
 
 Night, and all her sickly dews, 
 
 Her spzcTRES WAN, and birds of boding cry. 
 
 He gives to range the dreary sky ; 
 
 Till down the eastern cliffs afar 
 
 Hyperion's march they spy, and glittering shafts of w»r. 
 
 Stanza ii. i. 
 
 To
 
 iJ^i 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 To tempt the Son of God with terrors dire. 
 And now the sun with more effectual beams 
 Had chear'd the face of earth, and dry'd the wet 
 From drooping plant, or dropping tree ; the birds, 
 Who all things now behold more fresh and green 
 After a night of storm so ruinous, 
 Clear'd up their choicest notes in bush and spray 
 To gratulate the sweet return of morn. 
 Nor yet, amidst this joy and brightest morn, 
 
 435 
 
 43B. And new the lun with mart efftHual beams 
 
 Had chear'd the face of earthy and dry'd the wet 
 from drooping plant, or dropping tree: the birds. 
 Who all things now behold more fresh and green 
 After a night of storm so ruinous, 
 Clear'd up their choicest notes in bush and spray. 
 To gratulate the sweet return ofmorn.'\ 
 
 There is in this description all the bloom of 
 Milton's youthful fancy. We may compare an 
 evening scene of the same kind, Paradise Lost, 
 ' ii. 488. 
 
 As, when from mouDtain tops the dusky clouds 
 Ascending, while the north-wind sleeps, o'erspread 
 Heaven's chearful face, the lowering element 
 Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape snow or shower ; 
 If chance the radiant sun with farewell sweet 
 Extend his evening beam, the fields revive. 
 The birds their notes renew, and bleabing herds 
 Attest their joy, that hill and valley ring, 
 
 Thyer, 
 
 We may also refer the reader to part of a beau- 
 tiful sonnet of Spenser. The poet is comparing 
 the smiles of his mistress, breaking out after some 
 cloudy looks. 
 
 Unto the fair sunshine in summer's day, 
 
 That, when a dreadful storm away is flit, 
 
 Through the broad world doth spread his goodly ray; 
 
 At sight whereof each bird that sits on spray 
 
 And every beast that to his den was fled 
 
 Come forth afresh out of their late dismay. 
 
 And to the light lift up their drooping head. 
 
 SOMNIT, XI,. 
 
 Cowley, in his Hymn to Light, has the fol- 
 lowing beautiful stanza ; 
 
 When, goddess, thou lift'st up thy waken'd head. 
 Out of the morning's purple bed, 
 Thy choir of birds about thee play, 
 
 And all the joyful world salutes the rising day. 
 
 Tasso has the decription of a sea-storm instantly 
 changed to a perfeft calm, by means of the magical 
 bark in which the two knights sail in search of 
 Rinaldo ; 
 
 A pena ha tocco la mirabil nave 
 
 De la marina all' hor turbata il lembo 
 
 Che spariscon le nubi, c cessa il grave 
 
 Note, che minacciava oscuro nembo. 
 
 Spiana i monti de 1' onde aura soave, 
 
 £ solo incrcspa il bel ceruleo grembo ; 
 
 £ d' un dolce seren diffuse ride 
 
 11 ciel, che se piu chiaro unqua non vide. 
 
 L. XV. 9, 
 
 The wonderous boat scant touch'd the troubled main, 
 But all the sea still, hush'd, and quiet was ; 
 Vanish'd the clouds, ceased the wind and rain, 
 The threaten'd storm did over-blow and pass; 
 A gently-breathing air made even and plain, 
 The azure face of Heaven's transparent glass ; 
 And Heaven itself smil'd from the skies above, 
 With a calm clearneas on the earth, hii love. 
 
 Fairfax, 
 
 Was
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 249 
 440 
 
 Was absent, after all his mischief done, 
 
 The prince of darkness ; glad would also seem 
 
 Of this fair change, and to our Saviour came ; 
 
 Yet with no new device, (they all were spent,) 
 
 Rather by this his last affront resolv'd. 
 
 Desperate of better course, to vent his rage 445 
 
 And mad despite to be so oft repell'd. 
 
 Him walking on a sunny hill he found, 
 
 Back'd on the north and west by a thick wood ; 
 
 Out of the wood he starts in wonted shape. 
 
 And in a careless mood thus to him said. 450 
 
 Fair morning yet betides thee. Son of God, 
 After a dismal night : I heard the wrack. 
 As earth and sky would mingle ; but myself 
 Was distant ; and these flaws, though mortals fear tliem 
 As dangerous to the pillar'd frame of Heaven, 455 
 
 449- 
 
 in wonted itape,"] 
 
 That is, in his own proper shape, and not under 
 any disguise, as at each of the former times when 
 he appeared to our blessed Lord. He comes now 
 hopeless of success, without device or disguise, 
 and, as the poet expressly says. 
 
 Desperate of better course, to vent his rage 
 And mad despite to be so oft repell'd. 
 
 453. As earth and sky viould mingle; — ] 
 Virgil, jEn. i. 137.; 
 
 Jam ccELUM TERRAMBUE meo sine numine, venti, 
 MiscEKE, et tantas audetis toUcre moles? 
 
 Richardson. 
 454. these Jlaus,—\ 
 
 Flaiv is a sea term for a sudden storm, or gust 
 of wind. 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, among the changes 
 
 produced in the natural world are violent storms, 
 which are described 
 
 arm'd with ice, 
 
 And snow and hail, and itormt ctJiT and >law ; 
 
 X. 697. 
 
 where Bp. Newton cites two verses from Shake- 
 
 speare's Venus and Adonis ; 
 
 Like a red morn thtt ever yet betoken'd 
 
 Gust, and foul flaws to herdsmen and to herds. 
 
 455. yls dangerous to the pil/aT'd/rame cf Htavtr>,\ 
 So also, CoMVS, 597.; 
 •^.-. if this faily 
 The riLLAR'D riRiiAMtNT is rottennesi. 
 
 In both, no doubt, alluding to Job, xxvi. 1 1 . The 
 PILLARS OF HEAVEN tremble, and ore astonish' d at 
 his reproof. Thyer, 
 
 Kk Or
 
 250 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Or to the earth's dark basis underneath, 
 
 Are to the main as inconsiderable 
 
 And harmless, if not wholesome, as a sneeze 
 
 To man's less universe, and soon are gone ; 
 
 Yet, as being oft times noxious where they light 460 
 
 On man, beast, plant, wasteful and turbulent. 
 
 Like turbulencies in the affairs of men, 
 
 Over whose heads they roar, and seem to point. 
 
 They oft fore-signify and threaten ill : 
 
 This tempest at this desert most was bent ; 465 
 
 Of men at thee, for only thou here dwell'st. 
 
 Did I not tell thee, if thou didst reje6l 
 
 The perfe6l season ofFer'd with my aid 
 
 To win thy destin'd seat, but wilt prolong 
 
 All to the push of fate, pursue thy way 470 
 
 Of gaining David's throne, no man knows when. 
 
 For both the when and how is no where told ? 
 
 Thou shalt be what thou art ordain'd, no doubt ; 
 
 For Angels have proclaim'd it, but concealing 
 
 The time and means. Each ad is rightlicst done, 475 
 
 Not when it must, but when it may be best : 
 
 If thou observe not this, be sure to find. 
 
 <6;. Did I not tell ihie, if thou d:dst rcjea 
 
 Thi perJcH stason qffcr'd by my aid, Be J 
 
 Here is something to be understood after Did I 
 not tell thee ? The thi?ig laid we may suppose to be 
 what Satan had before said, Book iii. 351.; 
 
 •— — Thy kingdom, though foretold 
 By Prophet, or by Angel, unless thou 
 Endeavour, as thy father David did, 
 Thou never thait obtain ; prejidion still, 
 In ;jll things, and all men, supposes means ; 
 Without means us'd, what it prcdiQs revokes. 
 
 What
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 What I foretold thee, many a hard assay 
 
 Of dangers, and adversities, and pains. 
 
 Ere thou of Israel's sceptre get fast hold ; 480 
 
 Whereof this ominous night, that clos'd thee round. 
 
 So many terrors, voices, prodigies. 
 
 May warn thee, as a sure fore-going sign. 
 
 So talk'd he, while the Son of God went on 
 And stay'd not, but in brief him answer'd thus. 485 
 
 Me worse thaa wet thou find'st not ; other harm 
 Those terrors, which thou speak'st of, did me none ; 
 I never fear'd they could, though noising loud 
 And threatening nigh : what they can do, as signs 
 Betokening, or ill boding, I contemn 490 
 
 As false portents, not sent from God, but thee ; 
 Who, knowing I shall reign past thy preventing, 
 Obtrud'st thy offer'd aid, that I, accepting. 
 At least might seem to hold all power of thee. 
 Ambitious Spirit ; and wouldst be thought my God ; 495 
 And storm'st refus'd, thinking to terrify 
 Me to thy will : desist, (thou art discern'd, 
 And toil'st in vain,) nor me in vain molest. 
 
 ^78. mat IJiiretold thee, Gc— ] 
 
 Ver. 3 74. of this Book ; 
 
 -^— yet remember 
 What i foketell thee ; • * • • • 
 «»«»«« jf J y^3(j aught In Heaven, 
 Or Heaven write aught of fate, by what the stars 
 Voluminous, or single charafters, 
 In their conjun£lion met, give me to spelli 
 
 Sarrow and labo'S, opposition, hate 
 Attend thee, scorns, reproaches, injuries, 
 Violence and stripes, and lastly cruel death ;— ~ 
 
 ^78. f taany a hard asiay'\ 
 
 Thus, Book i. 263. ; 
 
 — ^— — that my way must lie 
 Through uany a rakd' assay, — — 
 
 Kk z 
 
 To
 
 252 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 .JSOOK IV. 
 
 To \vhom the Fiend, now sM^oln with rage, reply'd. 
 Then hear, O Son of David, Virgin-born, 500 
 
 For Son of God to me is yet in doubt ; 
 Of the Messiah I had heard foretold 
 By all the Prophets ; of thy birth at length, 
 Announc'd by Gabriel, with the first I knew. 
 And of the angelic song in Bethlehem field, 50J 
 
 On thy birth-night that sung thee Saviour born. 
 From that time seldom have I ceas'd to eye 
 Thy infancy, thy childhood, and thy youth. 
 Thy manhood last, though yet in private bred ; 
 Till at the ford of Jordan, whither all 510 
 
 Flock to the Baptist, I, among the rest, 
 (Though not to be baptiz'd,) by voice from Heaven 
 
 .500. Then hear, Sm of David, Virgin-bom, 
 For Son of God to me is yet in doubt i^ 
 
 That Satan should seriously address our Lord 
 as " Virgin-born," because he entertained doubts 
 whether he was in any respeft the Son of God, is 
 palpably inconsequent. " To be bom of a virgin," 
 Mr. Calton observes from Bp. Pearson, in a sub- 
 sequent note, " is not so far above the produftion 
 " of all mankind as to place our Lord in that 
 " singular eminence, which must be attributed to 
 " the only-begotten Son of God." But it must be 
 recollefted, that the subjeft of this poem is a trial 
 nd probandum whether the person declared to be 
 the Son of God was really the Messiah : to ac- 
 knowledge therefore that he was beyond all dispute 
 born of a virgin, and had thereby fulfilled so material 
 a prophecy respefling the Messiah, would be to 
 admit in some degree the point in question. And 
 however " Virgin-born" might not be supposed to 
 ascertain in any degree the claim to the Messiah- 
 
 ship, still it could never be used in an address to 
 our Lord meant to lower him to " mere man." 
 " Son of David,' single and by itself, was an 
 expression that Satan might be expefted to use, 
 when, charafterising our Lord as a mere human 
 being, he professed to disbelieve that he was the 
 Son of God, born in a miraculous manner of a 
 pure virgin, as it was foretold the Messiah should 
 be. — " Virgin-born" then must be considered as 
 intended to be highly sarcastic. It is an epithet 
 of the most pointed derision; resembling the Hail 
 KING OF THE Jews, and they smote him luith their 
 bands. It is that species of blasphemous insult, 
 which might be expefled from the Arch- Fiend, 
 who at the opening of the speech is described 
 " swoln with rage." 
 
 502. Of the Messiah I had heard foretold] 
 
 All the editions read h(vue heard. Had seenie 
 absolutely requisite. 
 
 fieard
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 25- 
 
 Heard thee pronounc'd the Son of God belov'd. 
 
 Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view 
 
 And narrower scrutiny, that I might learn 515 
 
 In what degree or meaning thou art call'd 
 
 The Son of God ; which bears no single sense. > 
 
 The Son of God I also am, or was ; i 
 
 And if I was, I am ; relation stands ; 
 
 All men are Sons of God ; yet thee I thought 520 
 
 In some respedl far higher so declar'd : 
 
 Therefore I watch'd thy footsteps from that hour. 
 
 And follow'd thee still on to this waste wild ; 
 
 Where, by all best conjeftures, I colled; 
 
 Thou art to be my fatal enemy: 525 
 
 Good reason then, if I before-hand seek 
 
 To understand my adversary, who 
 
 And what he is ; his wisdom, power, intent ; 
 
 By pari or composition, truce or league. 
 
 To win him, or win from him what I can: $'^0 
 
 And opportunity I here have had 
 
 To try thee, sift thee, and confess have found thee 
 
 Proof against all temptation, as a rock 
 
 Of adamant, and, as a centre, firm ; 
 
 443- 
 
 this viaite zvilj;'] 
 
 And Eden rais'd in the wasti wilderness. 
 
 fl. i. 7- 
 {Sg. By par/,—} 
 
 Thus in Paradise Lost, vi. 296. ; 
 
 They ended parl, 
 
 And Shakespeare, Hamlet, Aft I. Sc. 1. ; 
 
 So frown'd he onee when, in an angry ?A»L, 
 
 He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice, 
 
 533- I' roof against alt temptation, as a rock 
 Of adamant, — ] 
 
 — ^— ^^ frock of mail 
 
 Adamantian rRooF,- 
 
 Sams. Agonist. 134. 
 
 To
 
 254 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED, 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 To the utmost of mere man both wise and good, 535 
 
 Not more ; for honors, riches, kingdoms, glory- 
 Have been before contemn'd, and may again. 
 Therefore, to know what more thou art than man. 
 Worth naming Son of God by voice from Heaven, 
 Another method I must now begin. 540 
 
 So saying he caught him up, and, without wing 
 Of hippogrif, bore through the air subhme. 
 Over the wilderness and o'er the plain. 
 Till underneath them fair Jerusalem, 
 The holy city, lifted high her towers, 545 
 
 538- 
 
 zt.'hat mors thou art than man^ 
 
 Worth naming Son of God by voice from Heaven,"] 
 
 Sec Bp. Pearson on the Creed, p. io6. " We 
 " must find yet a more peculiar ground of our 
 " Saviour's filiation, totally distinft from any which 
 " belongs unto the rest of the sons of God, that he 
 " may be clearly and fully acknowledged the only 
 " begotten Son. For although to be born of a 
 " virgin be in itself miraculous, yet is it not so far 
 " above the produiflion of all mankind, as to place 
 " him in that singular eminence, which must be 
 " attributed to the only-he gotten. We read of 
 " Adam the Son of God as well as Seth the Son of 
 " Adam: (Luke, iii. 38.) and surely the framing 
 " Christ out of a woman cannot so far transcend 
 " the making Adam out of the earth, as to cause 
 " so great a distance, as we must believe, between 
 " the first and second Adam." Calton. 
 
 i4>- 
 
 without tiling 
 
 0/ luffognf—] 
 
 Here Milton designed a refleftion upon the 
 Italian poets, and particularly upon Ariosto. An 
 hippogrif is an imaginary creature, part like an 
 horse, and part like a gryphon. See Orlando 
 Furioso, Cant. iv. ; 
 
 Only the beast he rode was not of art, 
 
 But gotten of a griffeth and a mare, 
 
 And like a griffeth had the former part, 
 
 As wings and head, and claws that hideous are, 
 
 And passing strength and force, and vent'rous heart, 
 
 But all the rest may with a horse compare. 
 
 Such beasts as these the hills of Ryff e yield, 
 
 Though in these parts they have been seen but seeld, 
 
 Harrincton. St. 13. 
 
 Ariosto frequently makes use of this creature to 
 convey his heroes from place to place. Nenvton. 
 
 jEschylus in his Prometheus, Ver. 282, makes 
 Oceanus travel on a ivinged steed. 
 
 545. The holy city, — ] 
 
 Jerusalem is frequently so called in the Old Tes- 
 tament. It is also called the holy city by St. Mat- 
 thew, who wrote his gospel for the use of the 
 Jewish converts ; but by him only of the four 
 Evangelists. Then the Devil taketh him up into 
 THE HOLY CITY, and setteth him on a pinnacle of 
 the temple, &c. Mat. iv. j. See also, Mat. xxvii. 53. 
 
 Dr." Townson having observed, that " St. Mat- 
 " thew alone, of all the Evangelists, ascribes those 
 " titles of sanftity to Jerusalem, by which it had 
 " been distinguished by the prophets and sacred 
 " historians, and was known among the neighbour-
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 25J 
 
 And higher yet the glorious temple rear'd 
 Her pile, far off appearing like a mount 
 Of alabaster, topt with golden spires : 
 There, on the highest pinnacle, he set 
 The Son of God ; and added thus in scoru. 
 
 55^ 
 
 " ing nations," thus accounts for this difference 
 between him and the other Evangelists, on the 
 supposition that St. Matthew was, as he has gene- 
 rally been supposed to be, the earliest writer of the 
 four. — " After some years the word of God, being 
 " received by multitudes in various parts of the 
 " world, did as it were sanftify other cities; while 
 " Jerusalem, by rancorous opposition to the truth, 
 " and sanguinary persecution of it, more and more 
 " declined in the esteem of the believers. They 
 " acknowledged the title and charafler which she 
 " claimed by ancient prescription, when St. Mat- 
 " ihew wrote ; but between the publication of hij 
 " gospel and the next, they were taught to transfer 
 " the idea of the holy city to a worthier objeft." 
 Townson's Discourses, Disc, iv, S. 3. 
 
 j^^. __— ^— ^^ ^if'"^ l''g^ f<" towers^ 
 The to'wers of Jerusalem are frequently men- 
 tioned in scripture; it is said that — Uzziah built 
 toivers in Jerusalem at the corner-gate, and at the 
 •vallej-gate, and at the turning of the -wall. 2. Chron. 
 xxvi. 9. — And, when Hezekiah fortified Jerusalem 
 against Senacherib, he strengthened himself, and built 
 vp all the ivall that nvas broken, and raised it up 
 TO THE TOWERS. 2. Chron. xxxii. 5. — The nu- 
 merous towers of the city of God are also referred 
 to by tlie Psalmist ; Walk about Zion, and go round 
 about her, and tell the towers thereof. 
 
 547- 
 
 ■ far c^ appearing like a mcunt 
 
 Of Alabaster ,—] 
 
 •^—^ il was A ROCK 
 Or ALAEASTIR, pil'li Up 10 lllC clouds 
 Co>6flCi;OUS fAR," 
 
 Paradise Lost, iv. J43. 
 J49 There, on the highest finnecle, he set 
 The Son of God; — ] 
 
 He has chosen to follow the order observed by 
 
 St. Luke, in placing this Temptation last, because 
 if he had, with St. Matthew, introduced it in the 
 middle, it would have broke that fine thread of 
 moral reasoning, which is observed in the course 
 of the other Temptations. 1 hyer. 
 
 In the gospel account of the Temptation, no dis- 
 covery is made of the incarnation ; and this grand 
 myster)- is as little known to the Tempter at the 
 end, as at the beginning. But now, according to 
 Milton's scheme, the poem was to be closed with 
 a full discovery of it. There are three circum- 
 stances therefore, in which the poet, to serve his 
 plan, hath varied from the accounts in the gospels. 
 
 1. The critics have not been able to ascertain what 
 the tr'tfuyiow or pinnacle {as we translate it) was, on 
 which Christ was set by the Demon : but whatever 
 it was, the Evangelists make no difficulty of his 
 standing there. This the poet (following the 
 common use of the word pinnacle in our own lan- 
 guage) supposeth to be something like those on the 
 battlements of our churches, a pointed spire, on 
 which Christ could not stand without a miracle. 
 
 2. In the poem, the Tempter bids Christ give proof 
 of his pretensions by standing on the pinnacle, or 
 by casting himself down. In the gospels, the last 
 only is or could be suggested. 3. In the gospel 
 account the prohibition Thou shah not tempt the 
 Lord thj God is alledged only as a reason why 
 Christ (whose divinity is concealed there) must 
 not throw himself down from the top of the temple, 
 because this would have been tempting God. But in 
 the poem it is applied to the Demon, and his at- 
 tempt upon Christ ; who is thereby declared to be 
 the Lord his God. Calton. 
 
 Bp. Pearcc supposes what is in the gospel called 
 wlift'/i , and com nonly translated pinnacle, to have 
 
 been
 
 ZS6 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 There stand, if thou wilt stand ; to stand upright 
 Will ask thee skill ; I to thy Father's house 
 Have brought thee, and highest plac'd ; highest is best : 
 Now shew thy progeny ; if not to stand, 
 Cast thyself down ; safely, if Son of God, ^^^ 
 
 For it is written, " He will give command 
 Concerning thee to his Angels, in their hands 
 They shall up lift thee, lest at any time 
 Thou chance to dash thy foot against a stone." 
 
 To whom thus Jesus : Also it is written, 560 
 
 " Tempt not the Lord thy God." He said, and stood : 
 
 been rather a iving of the temple, a flat part of the 
 roof of one of its courts ; probably on that side 
 where the Royal Portico was, and where the valley 
 on the outside was the deepest. Josephus, (An- 
 TiQuiT. XV. II. J.,) says, "whereas the valley 
 '• was so deep that a man could scarcely see the 
 " bottom of it, Herod built a Portico of so vast 
 " a height, that if a man looked from the roof of 
 " it, his head would grow giddy, and his sight not 
 " be able to reach from that height to the bottom 
 
 '< of the valley." Eusebius, (Hist, Eccle- 
 
 8IAST. ii. 23.) cites the account given by Hege- 
 sippus of the death of James the Apostle, in which 
 it is said that the Scribes and Pharisees brought 
 
 him £roi TO nTEPYriON Ta cay, up to this elenjated 
 
 point of the temple, and cast him down from thence. 
 
 454. Koii} shew thy j'TOgeny ;~^'\ 
 
 The immediate term progeny is probably from 
 Virgil's PoLLio ; 
 
 Jam nova frocinies cctIo demittitur alto. 
 
 or from a subsequent verse, 
 
 Clara Dei soboles, magnum Jovis incrcmentum. 
 The general tenor of the thought is from St. Mat. 
 Xxvii. 39. 40. And they that passed hy him reuiled 
 him luagging their heads, and saying. Thou that 
 
 destroyest the temple and httildest it in three dayi, 
 save thyself. If thou ee the Son of God, 
 
 COME DOWN FROM THE CROSS. 
 
 556. For it is viritten, " He uiill give contmani 
 Concerning thee to its Angels, in their hands 
 They shall uplift thee, *est at any time 
 Thou chance to dash thy foot against a stone "^ 
 
 This scripture, as referred to both by St. Mat- 
 thew and St. Luke in their account of the Temp- 
 tation, is in Psalm xci. ii. 12. For he shall give 
 his Angels charge O'ver thee, to keep thee in all thy 
 •ways ; they shrill hear thee up in their bands, lest 
 thou dash thy foot against a stone. 
 
 560. 
 
 ■ also it is written. 
 
 " Tempt not the Lord thy Cod."—'] 
 
 Yc shall not tempt the Lord your God, Deuteron. 
 vi. 16. 
 
 j6i. " Tempt not the Lord thy Cod." /// said, and stood:] 
 
 Here is what we may call after Aristotle the 
 atxTtu^tcic, or the discovery. Christ declares him- 
 self to be the God and Lord of the Tempter ; and 
 to prove it, stands upon the pinnacle. This wa« 
 evidently the poet's meaning, i. The miracle 
 shews it to be so; which is otherwise impertinently 
 introduced, and against the rule.
 
 JOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED 
 
 257 
 
 But Satan, smitten with amazement, fell. 
 As when earth's son Antaeus, (to compare 
 Small things with greatest,) in Irassa strove 
 
 Nee Deuj ir.lcrsit, nisi dignus vindice nodus 
 Inciderit. 
 
 It proves nothing but what the Tempter knew, 
 and allowed before. 2. There is a connedlion 
 between Christ's saying and standing, which de- 
 monstrates that he stood, in proof of something he 
 had said. Now the prohibitioni Tempt not the Lord 
 thy God, as alledged in the gospels from the Old 
 Testament, was in no want of such an attestation : 
 but a miracle was wanting to justify the applica- 
 tion of it to the Tempter's attack upon Christ; it 
 was for this end therefore that he stood. Calton. 
 I cannot entirely approve this learned gentle- 
 man's exposition. I am for understanding the 
 words, Also it is ivritten. Tempt not the Lord thy 
 God, in the same sense in which they were spoken 
 in the gospels; because I would not make the poem 
 to differ from the gospel account, farther than ne- 
 cessity compels, or more than the poet himself has 
 made it. The Tempter sets our Saviour on a pin- 
 nacle of the temple, and there requires of him a 
 proof of his divinity, either by standing, or by 
 casting himself down, as he might safely do, if he 
 was the Son of God, according to the quotation 
 from the Psalmist. To this our Saviour answers, 
 as he answers in the gospels, // is -written again. 
 Thou shah not tempt the Lord thy God, tacitly in- 
 ferring that his casting himself down would be 
 tempting of God. He said, i, e, he gave this 
 reason for not casting himself down, and stood. 
 His standing properly makes the discovery, and is 
 the principal proof of his progeny that the Tempter 
 required : Nona sheiu thy progeny. His standing 
 convinces Satan. His standing is considered as 
 the display of his divinity, and the immediate 
 cause of Sitan's /all ; and the grand contrast is 
 formed between the standing of the on€, and the 
 /all of the other 
 
 He taid, and (tood : 
 
 But Satan, imittca with amaxcmcnt, riLi. 
 
 and afterwards, Ver. 571.; 
 
 Fell whence he stood to tee hit vi&or fall. 
 
 56i. 
 
 Neiutm, 
 
 He saiJf and stood :] 
 
 This is in the manner of Homer ; 
 
 Htoi y uf eiTa/r, «»t' *f' c^tro) — 
 
 He ipokc and sat, 
 563. ^^-^— earth's son Arttavs, — ] 
 
 II. vii. 354. 
 Pope. 
 
 This simile in the person of the poet is amazingly 
 fine. IVarburtoH. 
 
 Antaeus was supposed to be the son of Neptune , 
 and Telhis. 
 
 Thus Statius, Thebaid. vi. 893.; 
 
 -^^ Herculeis pressum sic fama lacercit 
 Terricbnam sudasse Libya 
 
 And Silius Italicus, iii. 40. ; 
 
 Nee levior vinci Libycie TaLLURis ALDMMVa 
 Macre super, 
 
 j6j. ■ (to compare 
 
 Snail things with greatest,) — ] 
 
 This is the third time Milton has imitated 
 Virgil's 
 
 — — tic parvis componere magna lolcbam. 
 
 Eci.. i. tf. 
 
 See Paradise Lost, ii. 921. x. 306. 
 Some such mode of qualifying common simllies 
 is necessary to a poet writing on divine suhjeds. 
 
 ,64. 
 
 in Irassa— y 
 
 Irassa it a place in Libya, mentioned by Hero- 
 dotus, iv. I j8. tri ^i T»l X^fV THTW BrOf** Ifa^a, 
 
 and from him by Stephanus Byzant, who says, 
 
 'ifaca., TOW®- AiftiTi;, ti; or (iiTnyayoir Bar/di oi Ai?n{, 
 •>( 'HfoJoToi — where Berkelius notes, " Hujus urbis 
 " quoquc meminit Pindaruj," Pyth, ix. sed dn- 
 plici a scribitur : 
 
 LI *0io.
 
 258 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 With Jove's Alcides, and, oft foil'd, still rose, 
 Receiving from his mother earth new strength, 
 
 565 
 
 'Old AiQvtZffai; a(X» 
 'ifx^rat izf^ <roXi> Arjasi- 
 ^varrp£< ayax7\ix XHfar. 
 
 Ad quern locum sic scribit Scholiastes : 'ifxcm-a 
 
 'HfaxXii;. Pindarus nomen urbis gensre fcem. pro- 
 tulit, quod Schol. alio loco numero multitudinis 
 & gtnsre neut. efFert : Enci y»p ^xa-ir, on • atro 
 H^ax^£y,• jcxTxyoH^^ii^ Avlxif^, ^ct!7crtvz rif, etvo "ipxa- 
 ffun TUv £¥ T« TpiT6;i'i/i ^^jE/.^r,, u; tp>Tcr( ^iflsKv^vii;, From 
 
 whence we may observe, that in Herodotus and 
 Stephanus, Iiasa is the name of a place, in Pindar 
 and his Scholiast, the name of a town : that the 
 name is Irasa in Herodotus, Hirasa in Stephanus, 
 (though perhaps it should be Irasa, not "Ipaaa, 
 there) Irassa in Pindar and his Scholiast : that the 
 Scholiast says, Antteus dwelt at Irassa, not he who 
 wrestled with Hercules, but one later than him ; 
 which, if true, makes against Milton : that he 
 afterwards adds, that according to the opinion of 
 »ome, the Ant<tus whom Hercules overcame was 
 Jpaac-si/-, aTTo 'x^aaauv, which Berkelius takes to be 
 the gtnitive of t« 'ifaaaa, though it may be of 
 «' 'lf«o-<^ai. Jcrtin. 
 
 Antaus dwelt at the city Irassa, according to 
 Pindar. But it was not there that he wrestled 
 with Hercules, but at Lixos, according to Pliny; 
 " Lixos velfabulosissime antiquis narrata. Ibi regia 
 " Antxi, certamcnquecum Hercule." Nat. Hist. 
 Lib. V. Cap. I, Meadowcourt. 
 
 564. ■ strove'] 
 
 To strme is a frequent scriptural term for any 
 violent personal contest : see Genes, xxvi. 20. — 
 Exodus, ii. 13.— 2 Sam. xiv. 6.— Afls. vii. 26. 
 
 565. With Jove's Akid s, — ] 
 
 There were so many Hercules in the Grecian 
 mythology and history, that it was necessary to 
 
 specify when the principal Hercules, the son of 
 Jupiter and Alcmena, was meant. Thus Cicero, 
 De Nat. Deor. L. iii. 16. " Quanquam quem 
 " potissimum Herculem colamus, scire sane velim ; 
 " plures enim nobis tradunt ii, qui interiores scru- 
 " tantur et reconditas literas; antiquissimum Jove 
 " NATUM." — Varro says there were forty-three 
 Hercules. — It may be observed that, though Her- 
 cules the son of Jupiter is introduced with pro- 
 priety, the son of Jupiter by Alcmena had no right 
 to be called Alcides, this being the proper name of 
 the son of Amphitryon, whose father was Alcccus. 
 ■ — And yet Virgil also refers to Alcides as the Son 
 of Jo-ve ; 
 
 — Quid Thcsea, magnum 
 
 Quid memorem Alcidem ? et ml genus as Jov« 
 
 SUMMO. 
 
 ^N. vi. 123. 
 
 The name Alcides, it should however be noticed, 
 has sometimes been considered as derived from aXxn 
 rohur; in which sense it was also applied to Minerva, 
 Liv. L. xlii. C. 51. 
 
 ^65. —————— and, ojl JoiVd, still Tose,"] 
 
 Thus in Tasso, where the Soldan Solyraan is 
 slain by Rinaldo, the resistance he had before 
 made is compared to that of Antaeus, in his contest 
 with Hercules ; 
 
 Poi chc '1 Soldan, she spetso in lunga guerra, 
 
 Quati novello Antco, cadde c riaorsc 
 
 Piu fero ogn* hora, al Hn calco la terra 
 
 Per giacer semprc — — ^ 
 
 L. zx. Stanzi 108. 
 
 Now when the Soldan in these battles past. 
 Who, Antheus like, oft fell, role oft again 
 Ever more fierce, more fell, fell down at lact 
 To lie for ever, 1 
 
 Fair/ax, 
 
 566. Receiving from his mother tarth new strength,^ 
 
 Hoc (juoquc tarn vastas cumulavit munere tirei 
 Terra $vi tjitos, quod cum tetigcre pareBtem, 
 Jam dcfunft* vigent simovato koboie raembn. 
 
 Lucan. iv. 598. 
 
 Fresh
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 iS9 
 
 Fresh from his fall, and fiercer grapple join'd, 
 
 Throttled at length in the air, expir'd and fell ; 
 
 So, after many a foil, the Tempter proud, 
 
 Renewing fresh assaults, amidst his pride, 570 
 
 Fell whence he stood to see his vi6lor fall : 
 
 And as that Theban monster, that propos'd 
 
 Her riddle, and him who solv'd it not devour'd. 
 
 That once found out and solv'd, for grief and spite 
 
 Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep ; 575 
 
 So, struck with dread and anguish, fell the Fiend, 
 
 And to his crew, that sat consulting, brought, 
 
 57«. And ai that Theban monster, &c.—'] 
 
 The Sphinx, who, on her riddle being solved by 
 CEdipus, threw herself into the sea. Statius, Theb. 
 i. 66. 
 
 !- Si Sphingo* iniquae 
 
 Callidus ambages, tc premonstianie, reaolvi. 
 
 Nfwtan. 
 
 The same poet refers also to the falling of the 
 Sphinx from the Ismenian steep, when her riddle 
 was solved by CEdipus ; 
 
 dura Cidmua arat? dum t:cta cadit Sphynx ? 
 
 Th£baid. xI. 490, 
 
 The Sphinx is termed by Euripides, (PHOiNiss. 
 813.) apsiov TEfaf, the " MONSTER of the moun- 
 '■ tain!" She was supposed to have posted herself 
 on the mountain Phicius, at no great distance from 
 Thebes. Apollodor. L. iii. C. v. 8. She is termed 
 by Lycophron, SipixEio* T=pa?, (Ver. 1465.,) where 
 Heyne suggests the reading Oixeio* rtfa;, the monster 
 of 'the mountain Phicius, 
 
 jj2. — — — that neban monster that propos'd 
 
 Her riddle, and /urn who solv'd it not devour'd, 
 Thai once found out and solv'd, for grief and spite 
 Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep ;^ 
 
 Milton seems here to have had Apollodorus's 
 
 account of the Sphinx in his mind ; at least there 
 is a great coincidence of expression in the mytho- 
 logist and the poet. — ApoUodorus says the Sphinx 
 proposed her riddle to the Thebans, nPOYTEIME 
 T»K 0»/3aioi«, and that, every time they failed of 
 finding it out, she seized one of them, and devoured 
 him, iir a» oe MH ETPISfCON, afwa<Tas i»x KATA- 
 BIBPnXKE, that CEdipus, upon hearing it, solved 
 it, OiJi7!-«s Si a«ao-3s{ EAYSEN, — whereupon she cast 
 HERSELF headlong from the Cadmea, or citadel of 
 Thebes, EAYT0N EPPiYEN aira ry)i axfo7ro^£(.); — ; 
 
 which last words the learned Heyne thinks are an 
 interpolation, a mala manu insertum, as the moun- 
 tain Phicius towards Onchestos, (Pausan. ix. 26.), 
 was allowedly the haunt of the Sphinx. At the 
 same time he observes that she was supposed at 
 times to approach the walls of the Cadmea in 
 search of prey. (Euripid. Phosniss. 815. 816.) — 
 As Phicius was a mountain in the Theban territory, 
 either that, or the Cadmea, might be termed the 
 Ismenian steep, from the river Ismenus, which ran 
 by Thebes ; yaf Aaum, xa, "O ISMHNOS Ji» 
 Ta 7re^»» fsucrt th Trpo run ©jj/owv. Strabo. IX. p. 408. 
 
 — Ismenus is thus frequently used by the Latin poets 
 for Theban. 
 
 (Joyless 
 
 LI
 
 i6o 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 (Joyless triumplials of his hop'd success,) 
 
 Ruin, and desperation, and dismay, 
 
 Who durst so proudly tempt the Son of God. 
 
 So Satan fell ; and strait a fiery globe 
 
 Of Angels on full sail of wing flew nigh. 
 
 Who on their plumy vans receiv'd him soft 
 
 580 
 
 581. So Siitan Jell ! and strait (3c. — ] 
 
 Thus in G. Fletcher's Christ's Triumph on 
 EartHi where Presumption is personified, and re- 
 presented as in vain tempting our blessed Lordj 
 
 But, when she saw her speech prevailed caught, 
 Herself she tumbled headlong to the floor; 
 Bui him the Angels on their feathers caught, 
 And to an airy mountain nimbly bore. 
 
 Stanz. xxxviii. 
 
 J«.. 
 
 and strati a Jicry gUhc 
 
 Of Angels on Jull sail of wing Jlew nigh^ 
 Who on their plumy vam t^c— J 
 
 There is a peculiar softness and delicacy in this 
 description, and neither circumstances nor words 
 could be better selefied to give the reader an idea 
 of the easy and gentle descent of our Saviour, and 
 to take from the imagination that horror and un- 
 easiness which it is naturally filled with in con- 
 templating the dangerous and uneasy situation he 
 was left in. Thjer. 
 
 So Psyche was carried down from the rock by 
 zephyrs, and laid lightly on a green and flowery 
 bank, and there entertained with invisible music. 
 See Apuleius, Lib. iv. Richardson. 
 
 Mr. Richardson might have added that Psyche 
 was also entertained with a banquet ministered by 
 Spirits. The passages from Apuhius, (at the end 
 of the FOURTH Book of the Metamorphoses, 
 and the beginning of the fifth,) are well worth 
 citing. 
 
 " Psychem autem paventem ac trepidam, et in 
 «' ipso scopuli vertice deflentem, mitis aura molliter 
 " spirantis Zephyri, vibratis hinc inde laciniis et 
 " leflato sinu sensim levatam, suo tranquillo spiritu 
 " vehens paulatim per devexa rupis excels^, vallis 
 
 ' subdit^ florentis cespitis gremio leniter delapsam 
 
 ' reclinat." — — 
 
 " Et illico villi neclarei edulioruraque variorum 
 fercula copiosa, nullo serviente, sed tantum spiritu 
 
 • quodam impulsa, subministrantur. Nee quem- 
 ' quam tamen ilia videre poterat, sed vfrba tantum 
 ' audiebat excidentia et solas voces fa.nulas ha- 
 
 bebat. Post opimas dapes quidam intro cessit, et 
 ' cantavit invisus ; et alius citharam pulsavit, quse 
 ' non videbatur, nee ipse. Tunc modulata: mul- 
 ' titudinis conf^rta vox aures ejus afiertur ; ut 
 
 • quamvis hominum nemo pareret, chorum tamen 
 ' esse pateret." 
 
 583 Who on their plumy vans received him- soft 
 from his uneasy stat'on^ and upbore. 
 As on a footing couch, through the blithe air t^ 
 
 This description reminds me of an Assumption 
 of the Virgin, by Guldo, in St. Ambrosio's Church 
 at Genoa ; only the motion of the whole groupe 
 there is ascending. — If it is not from any famous 
 painting, it is certainly a subjeft for one. 
 
 583. Who on their plumy vans received him soft^ 
 
 The grammatical inaccuracy here, I am afraid, 
 cannot be palliated. Him, according to the common 
 construAion of language, certainly must refer to 
 Satan, tie person last mentioned. The intended 
 sense of the passage cannot indeed be misunder- 
 stood ; but we grieve to find any inaccuracy in a 
 part of the poem so eminently beautiful. 
 
 483 ' vans — ] 
 
 Thus, Pakasise Lost, ii. 927., speaking of 
 Satan ; 
 
 — — — hit sail-broad VAll» 
 He (prcada for flight, 
 
 And
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 261 
 
 From his uneasy station, and upbore, 
 
 As on a floating couch, through the bhthe air ; 
 
 Then, in a flowery valley, set him down 
 
 On a green bank, and set before him spread 
 
 A table of celesti il food, divine 
 
 Ambrosial fruits, fetch'd from the tree of life. 
 
 And, from the fount of hfe, ambrosial drink. 
 
 That soon refresh'd him wearied, and repair'd 
 
 What hunger, if aught hunger, had impair'd, 
 
 Or thirst ; and, as he fed, angelic quires 
 
 585 
 
 59° 
 
 And Tasso ; 
 
 Indi spiega al gran volo i vanni aurati; 
 
 GiiBUSAL. LiuERAT. Canto ix. St. 60. 
 
 JI5. •< through tht bhtke air ;'\ 
 
 Blithe ah is similar to huxom airy Paradise 
 
 Lost, ii. 842. V. 270. ^But I conceive it to 
 
 have a further mean'ng, chearful, or pleased ivith 
 its burthen; and it strikes me as an intended con- 
 trast to a passage in the Paradise Lost, describ- 
 ing the flight of Satan, at the time he first rises 
 from the burning lake; when the duskj air is loaded 
 with his weight. 
 
 Then with expanded wings he steer* his flight 
 Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air, 
 That fblt unusual wiicht, 
 
 i. uj. 
 
 8S. Then, in a flowery valley, set him down 
 On a grern bank, and set hejort him spread 
 A table of celestial food, divine 
 Ambrosial fruits, fetch'd from the tree of life. 
 And from the fount of life ambrosial drink,'] 
 
 We may compare the description of the Feast of 
 the Angels, Paradise Lost, v. 636.; 
 
 On ilowsrs repos'o, and with prish rLOwaiTt 
 
 crown'd, 
 They eat, 'hey drink, and, in communion sweet, 
 Quaff immortality and joy, 1 
 
 Their camp also extendi 
 
 6s« 
 
 By living streams among thi tkiei or lif>. 
 
 J87. and set before him spread 
 
 A tabu of tdcitial food, divine 
 Ambrosial fruits, fetch' d from the tree of life. 
 And from the fount of life ambrosial drink. 
 That soon refresh'd him wearied, and repair'd 
 What hunger, if aught hunger, had impair'd. 
 Or thirst; and, as he fid, angelic quires 
 Sung heavenly anthems of his villory 
 Ooer Temptation and the Tempter proud.] 
 
 Here is much resemblance to a stanza of Giles 
 Fletcher : 
 
 But to their Lord now musing in his thought 
 A hiavxnly volley of light Akgils pl»w, 
 And from his father him a banouit broucht 
 Through thi pins element, for well they knew 
 After his lenten fast he hungry crew ; 
 
 And, AS HE FID, the HOLY etlRIS COMBINE 
 To SING A HYMN OP THE CELESTIAL TRINE. 
 
 Christ's Triumpu on tARXH, Stanz. 61. 
 
 i9l- 
 
 ■ angelic quires 
 
 Sung heavenly anthems of his viBory (3c. — ] 
 As Milton in his Paradise Lost had repre- 
 tented the Angels singing triumph upon the Mes- 
 siah's vidory over the rebel Angels ; so here again 
 with the same propriety they are described cele- 
 brating his success against temptation, and to be 
 sure he could not have possibly concluded hit 
 
 work
 
 262 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Sung heavenly anthems of his viftory 
 Over Temptation and the Tempter proud. 
 
 True image of the Father ; whether thron'd 
 In the bosom of bhss, and Hght of hght 
 Conceiving, or, remote from Heaven, inshrin'd 
 In fleshly tabernacle, and human form. 
 
 595 
 
 work with greater dignity and solemnity, or more 
 agreeably to the rules of poetic decorum. Thjer. 
 
 596. True image of the Father ; &£. — ] 
 Cedite Romani scriptores, cedite Graii. 
 
 All the poems that ever were written must yield, 
 even Paradise Lost muit yield, to the Regained 
 in the grandeur of its close. Christ stands triumph- 
 ant on the pointed eminence. The Demon falls 
 with amazement and terror, on this full proof of 
 his being that very Son of God, whose thunder 
 forced him out of Heaven. The blessed Angeli 
 receive new knowledge. They behold a sublime 
 truth established, which was a secret to them at 
 the beginning of the Temptation ; and the great 
 discovery gives a proper opening to their hymn 
 on the viftory of Christ, and the defeat of the 
 Tempter. Cahon. 
 
 " True image of the Father" ij from Hebrews, 
 i. 8. — Who being the brightneit of his glory, and 
 
 the EXPRESS IMAGE of his person, \Sc Thus 
 
 also, Paradise Lost, iii. 384. 
 
 Begotten Son ! Divini similitusi !— — 
 
 i9S- 
 
 u.'hcthcr throned 
 
 In the bosom of bliss,*'-'^ 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, iii. 238., the Son of 
 God says to the Father; 
 
 •^— — I, for his sake, will leave 
 Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee ; 
 
 And the Father, in reply, Ver. 305. ; 
 
 Because thou hast, though iiiron'd in hicusst 
 
 BLISS 
 
 Equal to God, and equally enjoying 
 God-like fruition, quitted all to save 
 A worid from utter loss, 
 
 The Son of God, after having descended to earth 
 to pass sentence on fallen man, is likewise similarly 
 described returning to his Father in Heaven, and 
 
 Into HTs BLISSFUL BOSOM feassum'd 
 In glory as of old ;- 
 
 597- 
 
 Pakadiie Lost, x. ttj. 
 
 • light of light 
 
 Conceivings — J 
 
 From the Nicene Creed. 
 
 598. 
 
 inshrin'd 
 
 In fleshly tabernacle, and human form,~\ 
 
 St. John, in his Gospel, (C. i, 14.) says, Kai 
 >\i,y'j(; i7af| £y£»ETo, x«i ESKHNfiSEN en >!/*iv, — which, 
 literally translated, is the nvord tuas made flesh, 
 and tabernacled among us. St. Paul, (2 Cor. 
 C. V. Ver. I.,) terms the body or the " human 
 " form" our earthly house of Tnii tabernacle. 
 
 >) eiriysio; »Vwv oiKia TOY SKHNOYj:. — Thus 
 
 also our Author, in his unfinished Ode, the pas- 
 sion ; 
 
 He 'ovran Priest, stooping his regal head, 
 
 1 hat diopp'd with odorous oil down his fair eyes, 
 
 Poor FLESHLY TAB£]tNACL£ entered, ■ 
 
 And in his Latin Poem, On the Death »f Felton, 
 Bishop of Ely, he speaks of 
 
 Animasque molx ca«nia recondilas. 
 
 Seneca has the expression, " Deura rN humano 
 " coRPoRE hospItantem." EpfST. xxxi. But 
 it is only a strong way of expressing the same sen- 
 timent, as in Epist. Ixxiii., and in other parts of 
 his writings J " Nulla sine Deo mens bona." 
 
 Wandering
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 Wandering the wilderness ; whatever place. 
 Habit, or state, or motion, still expressing 
 The Son of God, with God-like force indued 
 Against the attempter of thy Father's throne, 
 And thief of Paradise ! Him long of old 
 Thou didst debel, and down from Heaven cast 
 With all his army ; now thou hast aveng'd 
 Supplanted Adam, and, by vanquishing 
 Temptation, hast regain'd lost Paradise, 
 And frustrated the conquest fraudulent. 
 He never more henceforth will dare set foot 
 In Paradise to tempt ; his snares are broke : 
 For, though that seat of earthly bliss be fail'd, 
 A fairer Paradise is founded now 
 For Adam and his chosen sons, whom thou, 
 
 263 
 600 
 
 605 
 
 610 
 
 600. 
 
 viliativer plate. 
 
 Habit J or itatCy or motio7iy — J 
 
 Probably not without allusion to Horace, Ep. I. 
 xvii. 23. ; 
 
 Omnis Aristippum dccuit color, et itatui, et res. 
 
 604. And thief of Paradise; — ] 
 
 Thus, Paradise Lost, iv. 192, where Satan 
 first enters Paradise ; 
 
 So clomb this riRST cbano tbiii into God't fold; 
 
 605. Thou didst deie/,—] 
 Virgil, JEv. vi. 853. j 
 
 — ^— ■ziiLLAKE superbot. 
 And Ibid, V. 730. ; 
 
 gens dura atque atpera coltu 
 
 DsBtLLANSA tit)i Latio eit;- 
 
 607. Supplanted—] 
 
 This is in the sense of sttpplantatus in Latin ; 
 o'vercame in lurestling, or having his heels tripped 
 
 up. Thus Seneca, Epist. xiii. « qui lur- 
 
 " pLANTATUS advetsarium toto tulit corpore." 
 
 611. 
 
 his snares are broke .] 
 
 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of 
 the fonjoler ; the snare is broken, aWw? are 
 deli'vered. Psalm, cxxiv. 7. 
 
 613. A fairer Paradise is founded noxu 
 For AJum and his chosen sons,— 2 
 
 then wilt thou not be loath 
 
 To leave this Paradise, but shah possesi 
 
 A PARADIIS WITHIN THX« BAfPIIR FAR;— — 
 
 Faraoisr Lost, xii. ^85. 
 
 A Saviour,
 
 264 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 A Saviour, art come down to re-install, 615 
 
 Where they shall dwell secure, when time shall be. 
 
 Of Tempter and Temptation without fear. 
 
 But thou, infernal Serpent, shalt not long 
 
 Rule in the clouds ; like an autumnal star. 
 
 Or lightning, thou shalt fall from Heaven, trod down 620 
 
 Under his feet : for proof, ere this thou feel'st 
 
 Thy wound, (yet not thy last and deadliest wound,) 
 
 By this repulse receiv'd, and hold'st in Hell 
 
 No triumph : in all her gates Abaddon rues 
 
 Thy bold attempt. Hereafter learn with awe 625 
 
 To dread the Son of God: he, all unarm'd, 
 
 619. 
 
 — — like an autumnal ittir^'] 
 
 swift as A SHOOTING JTAIl 
 
 In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fir'd 
 
 Impress the air, 
 
 Paradise Lost, it. 556. 
 
 Homer, Il.v, Ver. 5. 
 
 Possibly Satan is here compared to an autumnal 
 star, on account of the mischiefs that autumnal 
 stars, and Sirius in particular, were supposed to 
 produce to mankind. See Iliad, x. 26, &c. and 
 ^Eneid. X. 272. — Milton had before compared 
 the Arch- Fiend to a comet, that 
 
 from his horrid hair 
 Shakct pestilence and war ; 
 
 Paxaoise Loit, ii, 710. 
 
 6>0. Oj lightning, tficu shalt Jail from Heaven,—'^ 
 I beheld Satan as lightning fall from 
 Heaven. Luke. x. ig. 
 
 **°- " trod down 
 
 Under his Jtd .—J 
 
 And the Gad of feace shall bruise Satan 
 WIIDI& Yov» F«T. Romans, :tvi, 20.; where 
 
 the marginal reading for bruise is tread. From 
 whence in the Paradise Lost, x. 190 
 
 Whom he shall tread at last under our feet. 
 
 6J4. 
 
 in all her gates—'] 
 
 The gates of hell shall not prenjail againtt 
 it; Mat. xvi. 1 1. 
 
 624. 
 
 Abaddon — ] 
 
 The name of the Angel of the bottomless pit. 
 Rev. ix. II.; here applied to the bottomless pit 
 itself. Neiuton. 
 
 625. Thy bold attempt. — ] 
 
 Thus in this Book, Ver. 180. ; 
 
 —— now more accurs'd 
 
 For THIS ATTEMPT, BOLDER THAN THAT ON EvB, 
 
 And more blasphemous,- 
 6»6. 
 
 all unar/n^d,] 
 
 In Vida's Christiad, i, 192., Satan desciibei 
 himself having been completely foiled and defeated 
 by our Saviour thus all unarm'd ; 
 
 temper me rcppulit ipse, 
 
 NON AKMII ULLli FRITV*, oon viribui UIIMI 
 
 But
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 z6i 
 
 Shall chace thee, with the terror of his voice. 
 From thy demoniac holds, possession foul, 
 Thee and thy legions ; yelling they shall fly. 
 And beg to hide them in a herd of swine. 
 Lest he command them down into the deep, 
 Bound, and to torment sent before their time. 
 Hail Son of the most high, heir of both worlds, 
 Queller of Satan ! On thy glorious work 
 Now enter ; and begin to save mankind. 
 
 630 
 
 ^35 
 
 But all uitarm'J seems here to be an intended 
 contrast to that very fine description in Paradise 
 Lost, of the Messiah completely armed, ascending 
 " the chariot of paternal Deity," to accomplish 
 the viftory over the rebel Angels, and to drive them 
 out of Heaven ; 
 
 He. in celestial panoply all arm'd 
 
 Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought, 
 
 Ascended ; at his right hand Viftory 
 
 Sat caglc-wing'd ; beside him hung his bow. 
 
 And quiver with tliree bolted thunder stor'd, 
 
 And from about liim fierce cff'u ion roU'd 
 
 Of smoke, and bickering flames, and sparkles dire. 
 
 vi, 760. 
 
 The same sort of contrast we may also observe 
 in the preceding brief relation ^f the refreshment, 
 Ver. 587., ministered by Angels to our blessed 
 Lori), and the very copious and em' Uished descr'p- 
 tion of the luxurious banquet offei' ! to him by the 
 Tempter, in the second Book of liiis poem. 
 6a8. From thy demoniac holds, possession foul,"] 
 The iaiiiontofictoi, or dt-naniacs of the gofpel, are 
 constantly rendered in our version possessed ivith 
 a denjil, — And, Revelat, xviii. 2. Babylon is de- 
 scribed the HABITATION OF DEVILS, and the 
 HOLD OF EVERV FOUL SPIRIT. 
 
 629. The and thy legions ,• — ] 
 
 My name is legion ; for tut are many. Mark, 
 T. 9. — & Luke, viii. 30. 
 
 619. I yelling they thatl Jty, 
 
 And beg to hide them in a herd of sviine. 
 Lest he command them doivn into the deep. 
 Bound, and to torment sent before their time.'\ 
 
 there met hirr tiuo possessed toith devils. 
 
 coming out of the tombs, exceding fierce, so that na 
 man might pass by that nuay.— And behold they 
 cried out, saying. What have lue to do ixiith thee, 
 Jesus, thou Son of God? ART THOU COME HITHER 
 
 TO TORMENT US BEF )RE THE TIME? And there 
 
 nioas a good ivay off from them an herd of many 
 snuine feeding. — Sn the devils BESOUGHT HIM, SAY- 
 ING, IF THOU CAST Ul OUT, SUFFER US TO CO 
 
 AWAV INTO THE HERD OF SWINE. And he Said 
 
 unto them, go. And luhen they -were come out, they 
 luent into the herd of snuine. Mat. viii. zS. 29. 30. 
 31. 32. 
 
 631. Lest he command them down into the deep. 
 Bound, — 3 
 
 And I sanv an Angel come do'wn from Heaven, 
 having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great 
 chain in his hand. — And he laid hold on the dragon, 
 that old serpent, vjhich is the Devil and Satan, and 
 BijUnd him a thousand years, and CAST HIM INTO 
 THE BOTTOMLESS PIT. RcVClat. XX. I, Z. 3. 
 
 6j4. Queller of Satan ! £^c.— ] 
 
 who shall auiLL 
 
 Thi adversary serpent, and bring back 
 
 Ti rough the world's wilderness loog wander'd man 
 
 Safe to eternal Faiadite of rest. 
 
 Paradisk Lost, xii. 311, 
 
 M m 635. — — and
 
 266 
 
 PARADISE REGAINED. 
 
 lOOK IV. 
 
 Thus they the Son of God, our Saviour meek, 
 Sung viflor, and, from heavenly feast refresh'd. 
 Brought on his way with joy ; he, unobserv'd. 
 Home to his mother's house private return'd *. 
 
 635. 
 
 and begin tt save mankind.'] 
 
 In the FIRST Book of this Poem, our Lord is 
 represented. 
 
 Musing and much revolving in hij breast, 
 How best the mighty work he might begin 
 Of Satiour to manki nd. 
 
 636. 
 
 our Saviour mr^^,] 
 
 tSj. 
 
 — — Learn of me, for I am MEEK, and lo'wl^ 
 »f heart. Mat. xi. 29. 
 
 6j8. — — ^— ^— .— — — — he^ unobserv'd. 
 Home to his mother's house private return'd.'] 
 A striking contrast, in the delineation of circum- 
 stances in a certain degree similar by great poets, 
 strongly points out to us their recolleftion of the 
 prior description, for the purpose of adopting a 
 7/ianner totally different, but calculated to produce 
 no less effect sui generis. I have already noticed 
 an instance or two in the conclusion of this Eook. 
 
 This very unadorned account of our Lord's return 
 from his present viftory recalls, in this respeft, to 
 our minds that sublime passage in the Paradise 
 Lost, where the Messiah returns triumphant from 
 the expulsion of the Rebel Angels : 
 
 Sole viflor from the expulsion of his foec 
 Messiah his triumphal chariot turn'd: 
 To meet him atl his Saints, who silent stood 
 Eye-witnesses of his almighty a£ls. 
 With jubilee advanc'd ; a:id, as they went 
 Shaded with branching palm, each order bright 
 Sung triumph, and him sung viftorious King, 
 Son, Heir, and Lord ; to htm dominion given^ 
 Worthiest to reign : he celebrated rode 
 Triumphant through mid Heaven, into the courts 
 And temple of his mighty Father thron'd 
 On high ; who into gloiy him rcceiv'd, 
 Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss.' 
 
 Pakaoisz Lost, vi. 880. 
 
 * It has been observed of almost all the great epic poems, that they fall off, and become languid, in 
 the conclusion. The six last books of the .iEneid, and the twelve last of the Odyssey, are inferior to 
 the preceding parts of those poems. In the Paradise Lost the two last books fall short of the majesty 
 and sublimity of the rest: and so, observes Bp. Newton, do the two last books of the Iliad. " With 
 " the fall of our first parents," says Dr. Blair, " Milton's genius seems to decline :" and, though he admits 
 the Angel's shewing Adam the fate of his posterity to be happily imagined, " the execution," he adds, is 
 " languid." Mr. Addison, in pointing out the particular beauties of the two last books of the Paradise 
 Lost, observes that, though these were not looked upon as the most shining books of the poem, they ought 
 not to be considered as unequal parts of it. — Perhaps the two concluding books of the Paradise Lost might 
 be defended by other arguments, and justified in a more effeftual manner, than has been done by Mr. Addison; 
 but it is certainly fortunate when the subjeft and plan of an epic poem are such, that in the conclusion it may 
 rise in dignity and sublimity, so as to excite to the very last the attention and admiration of the reader. — This 
 last book of the Paradise Regained is one of the finest conclusions of a poem, that can be produced. 
 The Book of Ji b, which I have before supposed to have been our Author's model, materially resembles it 
 
 in this rcspeft, and is perhaps the only instance that can be put in competition with it. It has been 
 
 remarked that there is not a single simile in the first Iliad: neither do we meet with one in the three 
 first Books of the Paradise Regained. In the beginning of this fourth Book the poet introduces an 
 Homeric cluster of similies; which seems to mark an intention of bestowing more poetical decoration on the 
 conclusion of the poem, than on the preceding parts of it. — They who talk of our Author's genius being in 
 
 tkc
 
 looK IV. PARADISE REGAINED. 267 
 
 the decline when he wrote his second poem, and who therefore turn from it, as from a dry prosaic composition, 
 are, I will venture to say, no judges of poetry. With a fancy, such as Milton's, it must have been more 
 difficult to forbear poetic decorations, than to furnibh them; and a glaring profusion of ornament would, 
 I conceive, have more decidedly betrayed the foeta sentscens, than a want of it. The first book of the 
 Paradise Lost abounds in similies, and is, in other respefts, as elevated and sublime as any in the whole 
 poem. But here the poet's plan was totally different. Though it may be said of the Paradise Regained, 
 as Longinus has said of the Odyssey, that it is the epilogue of the preceding poem, still the design 
 and conduft of it is as different, as that of the Georgics from the jEneid. The Paradise Regained 
 has something of the didaBk charafter ; it teaches not merely by the general moral, and by the charaftet 
 and condud of its hero, but has also many positive precepts every where interspersed. It is written for 
 the most part in a style admirably condensed, and with a studied reserve of ornament : it is neverthelest 
 illuminated with beauties of the most captivating kind. Its leading feature throughout is that " excellence 
 «« of composition," which, as Lord Monboddo justly observes, so eminently distinguished the writings of 
 the Ancients ; and in which, of all modern authors, Milton most resembles them. 
 
 At the commencement of this book the argument of the poem is considerably advanced. Satan appear* 
 (Vcr. I.) hopeless of success, but still persisting in his enterprize. The desperate folly, and vain per- 
 tinacity of this condtift are peifedtly well exemplified and illustrated (Ver. lo. to Ver. 2c ) by three 
 apposite similies, each successively rising in beauty above the other. The business of the Temptation 
 being thus resumed, the Tempter takes our Lord to the western side of the mountain (Ver. 25.) and shews 
 to him Italy ; the situation of which the poet marks with singular accuracy, and, having traced the Tiber 
 from its source in the Apennines to Rome, he briefly enumerates (Ver. 34.) the most conspicuous objefts that 
 may be supposed at first to strike the eye on a distant view of this celebrated city. Satan now (Ver. 44.) 
 becomes the speaker, and, in an admirably descriptive speech, points out more particularly the magnificent 
 public and private buildings of ancient Rome, descanting on the splendor and power of its state, which 
 he particularly exemplifies in the superb pomp with which (Ver. 63.) their provincial magistrates proceed 
 to their respedive governments; and (Ver. 67.) in the numerous ambassadors that arrive from every quarter 
 of the habitable globe, to solicit the proteftion of Rome and the emperor. These are two piftures of the 
 most highly- finished kind : the numerous figures are in motion before us ; we absoUitely see 
 
 Praetors, proconsuls, to their provinces 
 Hasting, or on return, in robes of state, 
 Lidtors and rods the ensigns of their power. 
 Legions and cohorts, turms of horse and wings ;, 
 
 And 
 
 • embassies from regfons far remote. 
 
 In various habits, on the Appian road. 
 
 Or on the Emilian ; some from farthest south, 
 
 Syene, and where the shadow both way falls, 
 
 Meroe, Nilotic isle ; and, more to west. 
 
 The realm of Bocchus to the Blackmoor sea ; 
 
 From the Asian kings, and Parthian among these }• 
 
 From India and the golden Chersonese, 
 
 And utmost Indian isle Taprobane, 
 
 Dusk faces with white silken turbants wreath'd ; &c. 
 
 Mm 2 Having
 
 268 PARADISE REGAINED. book iv. 
 
 Having observed (Ver. 8i.) that such a power as this of Rome must reasonably be preferred to that of 
 the Parthians, which he had displayed in the preceding book, and (Ver. 85.) that there were no other powen 
 worth our Lord's attention, the Tempter now begins to apply all this to his purpose : by a strongly drawn 
 description (Ver. 90. to Ver, 97.) of the vicious and detestable charafter of Tiberius, he shews how easy it 
 would be to expel him, to take possession of his throne, and to free the Roman people from that slavery 
 in which they were then held. This he proffers (Ver, 103. to Ver, 109.) to accomplish for our Lord, 
 whom he incites to accept the offer not only from a principle of ambition, but as the best means of securing 
 to himself his promised inheritance, t!ie throne of David. Oar Lord in reply (Ver. 1 10.) scarcely notice* 
 the arguments which Satan had been urging to him ; and only takes occasion, from the description which 
 had been given of the splendor and magnificence of Rome, to arraign the superlatively extravagant luxury 
 of the Romans, (possibly not without a glance at the manners of our Court at that time,) and (Ver. 132.) 
 briefly to sum up those vices and miscondufts then rapidly advancing to their height, which soon brought 
 
 on the decline, and in the end effeftuated the fall of the Roman power. The next objeft, which 
 
 our Author had in view in his proposed display of heathen excellence, was a scene of a different, but no 
 lest intoxicating kind; Athens, in all its pride of literature and philosophy. But he seems to have been 
 well aware that an immediate transition, from the view of Rome to that of Athens, must have diminished 
 the effeCl of each. The intermediate space he has finely occupied. Our Lord, unmoved by the splendid 
 scene displayed to captivate him, and having only been led by it to notice the vices and corruptions of 
 the heathen world, in the conclusion of his speech (Ver. 146,) marks the vanity of all earthly power, by 
 referring to his own future kingdom, as that which by supernatural means should destroy 
 
 All monarchies besides throughout the world. 
 
 The Fiend hereupon urged by the violence of his desperation to an indiscretion, which he had not before 
 shewed, endeavours (Ver, 255.) to enhance the value of his offers by declaring that the only terms, on which 
 he would bes;tow them, were those of our Lord's falling down and worshipping him. To this our Saviour 
 (Ver. 171.) answers in a speech of marked abhorrence blended with contempt. This draws from Satan 
 (Ver. 196.) a reply of as much an, and as finely written, as any in the poem ; in which he endeavours, by 
 an artful justification of himself, to repair the indiscretion of his blasphemous proposal, and '.o soften the 
 effeft of it on our blessed Lord, so far at least as to be enabled to resume the process of his enterprise. 
 The transition (Ver. 212.) to his new ground of temptation is peculiarly happy: having given up all prospeft 
 of working upon our Lord by the incitements of ambition, he now compliments him on his predileftion 
 for wisdom, and his early display of superior knowledge, and recommends it to him, for the purpose of 
 ace mplishiiig his professed design of reforming and converting mankind, to cultivate the literature and 
 philosophy for which the most polished part of the heathen world, and Greece in particular, was so eminent. 
 This leads to his View of Athens, (Ver, 234.) which is given, with singular effeft, after the preceding 
 dialogue, where the blasphemous rage of the Tempter, and the art with which he endeavours to recover 
 it serve, by the variety of the subje^S and the interesting nature of the circumstance, materially to relieve 
 the preceding and ensuing descriptions. The Tempter, resuming his usual plausibility of language, now 
 becomes (Ver. 244.) the Ilicrophant of the scene, which he de>cribes,as he shews it, with so much accuracy, 
 that we discern every objedl distindUy before us. The general view of Athens, with its most celebrated 
 buildings and places of learned resort, (Ver. 244.) is beautiful and origin;il ; and the description of its 
 musicians, poets, orators and philosophers (Ver. 254. to 281.) is given with the hand of a master, and 
 with all the fond affeilion of an enthusiast in Greek literature. Our Lord's reply (Ver. 2b6.) is no les« 
 admirable; particularly where he displays (Ver. 293. to 321.) the fallacy of the heathen philosophy, and 
 points out the errors of its most admired sects, with the greatest acuteness of argument, and at the same 
 time m a noble strain of poetry. His contrasting the poetry and policy of the Hebrew* (Ver. 331. to 363.) 
 
 with
 
 BOOK IV, PARADISE REGAINED. tSg 
 
 with those of the Greeks, on the ground of what had been advanced by some learned men in thii retpeft, 
 is highly consistent with the argument of this poem ; and is so far from originating in that fanaticism, 
 with which some of his ablest commentators have chosen to brand our Author, that it serves duly to 
 counterbalance his preceding e/oge on heathen literature. The next speech of the Tempter (Ver. 368.) 
 15 one of those master-pieces of plain composition, for which Milton is so eminent : the sufferings of 
 our blessed Lord are therein foretold with an energetic brevity, that, on such subjefls, has an effe^ 
 superior to the most flowery and decorated language. The dialogue here ceases for a short time. The 
 poet, in his own person, now describes (Ver. 394. &c.) our Lord's being conveyed by Satan back to the 
 wilderness, the storm which the Tempter there raises, the tremendous night which our Lord passes, and the 
 
 beautiful morning by which it is succeeded: — how exquisitely sublime and beautiful is all this! Yet 
 
 this is the Poem, from which the ardent admirers of Milton's other works turn, as from a cold, uninteresting 
 composition, the produce of his dotage, — of a palsied hand, no longer able to hold the pencil of poetry ! ! 
 The dialogue which ensues, (Ver. 451. to 540.) is worthy of this book, and carries on the subjefl 
 in the best manner to its concluding Temptation. The last speech of Satan (Ver. 500.) is particularly 
 deserving our notice. The Fiend, now " swoln with rage" at the repeated failure of his attacks, breaks 
 out into a language of gross insult, professing to doubt whether our Lord, whom he had before frequently 
 addressed as the Son of God, is in any way entitled to that appellation. From this wantonly blasphemout 
 obloquy he still recovers himself, and often, with his usual art, a qualification of what he had last said, 
 and a justification of his persisting in further attempts on the Divine Person, by whom he had been 
 »o constantly foiled. These are the masterly discriminating touches, with which the poet has admirably 
 drawn the charaAer of the Tempter: the general colouring is that of plausible hypocrisy, through which, 
 when elicited by the sudden irritation of defeat, his diabolical malignity frequently flashes out, and displays 
 
 itself with singular effeft. — We now come to the catastrophe of the poem. The Tempter (Ver. 541.) 
 
 conveys our blessed Lord to the temple at Jerusalem ; where the description of the holy city and of the 
 temple is pleasingly drawn. Satan has now little to say ; he brings the question to a decisive point, in 
 which any persuasion of rhetorical language on his part can be of no avail ; he therefore speaks in his own 
 undisguised person and charafter, and his language accordingly (Ver. 55!.) is that of scornful insult. The 
 result of the trial is given (Ver. 561.) with the utmost brevity; and its consequences are admirably painted. 
 The despair and fall of Satan, with its successive illustrations (Ver. 562. to Ver. 580.), have all the boldness 
 of Salvator Rosa ; while the Angels (Ver, j8i.) supporting our Lord, 
 
 As on a floating couch through the blithe air, 
 
 is a sweetly pleasing and highly finished pifture from the pencil of Guido. The refreshment ministered 
 to our Lord by the Angels (Ver, 587.) is an intended and striking contrast to the luxurious banquet with 
 which he had been tempted in the preceding part of the poem. The Angelic Hymn (Ver. 596.), which 
 concludes the Book, is at once poetical and scriptural : we may justly apply to it, and to this whole 
 poem, an observation respefting our Author, from the pen of one, whose penetrating genius, fine taste, and 
 early acquaintance with the more ancient treasures of English poetry, eminently qualified him, had he 
 lived, duly to have discharged that task, which has fallen into very inadequate hands. " To mix the 
 waters of Jordan and Helicon in the " same cup," says Mr. Headley, " was reserved for the hand of 
 " Milton ; and for him, and him only, to find the bays of Mount Olivet equally verdant with those of 
 Parnassus." Biographical Sketches, prefixed to Headley's Select Beauties of Ancient English 
 Poetry, jlrt. F. Quarles. 
 
 That I have thus, in the conclusion of each Book, presumed, in a retrospeftive view, to point out the 
 Tariout beauties, with which, according to my apprehension, they severally abound, may require some 
 apology to the reader; especially as it may be objected, that to point out particular passages at beautiful, 
 
 without
 
 2^0 P AR A DISE R EG A I N ED. book iv. 
 
 without ascertaining the distinft species and proportion of their beauty, is doing very little in the province 
 of criticism. This objcaion has been particularly made to Mr. Addison's critique on the Paradise Lost, 
 in the Speflator. But, however those papers may have no great pretensions, striftly speaking, to be termed 
 critical. Still it is allowed that they were highly acceptable to the public, and that they contributed, more 
 
 than any thing else, to make the Paradise Lost universally known and read. If this Edition of the 
 
 Paradise Regained should have in any degree a similar effeft, I shall be most amply gratified; at 
 I cannot but conceive that, if this Poem were more generally known, and more attentively read, it could 
 not fail of being more generally admired, so as to find that place, among the works of its great Author, 
 
 which it now seldom obtains. To advance it from the obscurity, in which it has been shrouded, to 
 
 that unprejudiced attention, which I persuade myself it so well merits from the Public, is my earnest, 
 and indeed my sole wish. I neither pretend to fame, nor assume merit in having attempted that, which 
 I sincerely wish had been undertaken by some abler hand ; and must content myself with having indicated 
 what I conceive to be most valuable ore, leaving to persons of superior abilitiei and acquirements, and of. 
 more health and application, the task of critically assaying it. 
 
 CORRECTIONS
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES.
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 f. I. ycr. 1. /, zvho tre uikile tke happy garden sung 
 By one man*s disobeiience iost^ now sing 
 Recover'd Paradise to all mankind 
 By one man's Jirm ohedieme 6?c". — ] 
 
 We may here compare part of a stanza of Giles 
 Fletcher ; 
 
 A MAN was first the author of our fall, 
 A MAN is now the author of our rise, 
 
 And the old serpent with a new device 
 Hath found a way himself for to beguile ; 
 So he, that all men tangled in his wile, 
 Is now by one man caught, bcguil'd with his own guile. 
 Christ*s triumph over death, Stanz. XV. 
 
 P. 4. Ver. 12, — — ^— ehe mute.^ 
 
 Muieh used in a similar manner in the Paradise 
 Lost J 
 
 In Athens, or free Rome, while eloquence 
 flourish'd, since mute,' 
 
 ix. 67 >• 
 P. 13. Ver. 97. Not force hut well-couch' d fraud,'] 
 
 Thus the same speaker, on a similar subjefl, in 
 Crashaw's fine unfinished poem, from the Sospetto 
 p'Herode of Marino; 
 
 What fOKCE cannot effeft inAva shall devise. 
 
 St A.N z. xxxi. 
 
 P. 21. ^er, I 71. Add to the passages in this note, 
 aitei by Mr. Calton from Milton's other foems ; 
 
 When such music sweet 
 Their hearts and ears did greet, 
 
 As never was BY mortal riNCER strooIv, 
 
 DiTINELY WARBLED VOICE 
 AkSWERING THE STRINGED NOISE, 
 
 As all their souls in blissful rapture took : 
 
 Hymn on the Nativity, Sta.si. ix. 
 
 /. 30. Ter.t=,7. ' Ike vested priest,"] 
 
 ■ purzque in veste sacerdos. 
 
 Virg. ^N. xii. 169. 
 
 Came vested all in white, 
 
 Mihon's Sonnet, On hisoecsased wife, Ver. 8. 
 
 P. 34. jidd to the note respelling Bp, Ncivton's 
 thser^jaiions on the 'versification of our author ; 
 
 The late Dr. Foster in his very learned publica- 
 tion ON ACCENT Sec. is llkewisc too fond of mea- 
 
 suring English verse by classic rules : but I conceive 
 he has been particularly unfortunate in the examples 
 which he has adduced in support of his system ; at 
 least in those he has taken from Milton. Lord 
 Monboddo very justly condemns him, (okigin 
 
 AND PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE, Part. II. Book ii. 
 
 C. J.,) as carrying the matter too far. Dr. Blair 
 appears to have sufficiently laid down, in a very 
 short compass, the principles of English rythm : 
 indeed to those, who would push tlieir researches 
 any further, I feel inclined to say, with Lady 
 Macbeth to her husband. 
 
 Consider it not so deeply ! 
 
 " Our English heroic verse is of what may be 
 " called an Iambic strufture ; that is, composed 
 " of a succession nearly alternate of syllables, not 
 " short and long, but unaccented and accented. 
 " With regard to the place of these accents, how- 
 " ever, some liberty is admitted, for the sake of 
 " variet)'. Very often, though not always, the line 
 " begins with an unaccented syllable ; and some- 
 '* times, in the course of it, two unaccented syl- 
 " lables follow each other. But, in general, there 
 *' are either four or five accented syllables in each 
 " line. The number of syllables is ten, unless 
 « where an Alexandrine verse is occasionally ad. 
 " mitted. In verses not Alexandrine, instances 
 " occur where the line appears to have more than 
 " the limited number. But in such instances it 
 " will be found, that some of the liquid syllables 
 " are so slurred in pronouncing, as to bring the 
 " verse, with respeft to its efFeifl upon the ear, 
 " within the usual bounds." Blair's Leflures, 
 Vol. III. Lea. 38. 
 
 P. 35. Add to the note on Ver. 3 1 O.- 
 Giles Fletcher, in his Christ's Triumph on 
 Earth, has given a similar but more diffuse de- 
 scription of the eflfeft of our Lord's presence on the 
 wild beasts in tlie wilderness. 
 
 Whom to devour the beasu did make pretence; 
 But him their salvage thirst did nought appall; 
 Though weapons non« be bad for hii defence ; 
 
 N n What'
 
 274 
 
 COKRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 What arms for innocence but innocence ? 
 
 For when they saw their Lord's bright cognizance 
 Shine in his face, soon did they disadvance, 
 
 And sottie unto him kneel, and some about him dance. 
 
 .Down fell the lordly lion's angry mood, 
 And he himself fell down in congees low ; 
 tiddin" him welcome to his wasteful wood. 
 Sometimes he kiss'd the grass where he did go, 
 And, as to wash his feet he well did know, 
 
 With fawning tongue he lick'd away the dust ; 
 
 And every one would nearest to him thrust ; 
 And every one, with new, forgot his former lust. 
 
 Unmindful of himself, to mind his Lord, 
 The lamb stood gazing by tl.e tiger's side, 
 As though between them they had made accord, 
 And on the lion's back the goat did ride, 
 Foigetful of the roughness of the hide. 
 
 If he stood still, their eyes upon him baited ; 
 
 If walk'd, they ail in order on him waited ; 
 And, when he slept, they as his watch themselves con- 
 ceited. 
 
 Giles Fletcher, (who was the younger brother of 
 Phinias Fletcher, author of the Purple Island, and 
 cousin of John Fletcher the dramatic poet,) published 
 his Christ's Victory and Triumph in ]6io. 
 It is in four parts, the frsi of which he entitles 
 Christ's Viiiory in Heaven, and the three others, 
 Christ's Triumph on Earth — Christ's Triumph over 
 Death — and Christ's Triumph after Death. — The 
 subjeft of the second Part, is our Lord's Tempta- 
 tion ; but it is not often that we can trace our author 
 to any part of it. The whole poem has great merit, 
 considering the age in which it was written, 
 
 P. 36. Add to note on P'er. 312.,- 
 Worm is also used for serpent, or snake, by Cra- 
 ihaw, in his Sospetto d'Herode; 
 
 So said her richest snake, which to her wrist 
 
 For a beseeming bracelet she had ty'd, 
 
 (A special worm it was as ever kiss'd 
 
 The foamy lips of Cerberus,) she apply'd 
 
 To the king's heart, 
 
 Sr ANz. lix. 
 
 P. 3 -J. Note on Ver, 3 1 9. Add to the passages al- 
 ready cited from Shakespeare, the folloiuing speech of 
 Achilles to Heiior, in the fourth Afl o/'TroiLUS 
 AND Cressida ; 
 
 Now Hcdlor I have fed mine eyes on thee, 
 
 1 have with exaft view psruj'd thee, Heflor, &c,^ 
 
 It may be observed that the verb lego is used in 
 the same sense of accurately to observe by Latin 
 authors. Thus Virgil, lEn. vi. 754. ; 
 
 Et tumulum capit, undc omncs longo ordinc po. sit 
 Ad versos lege re, ct venientura diiceie vultus. 
 
 P. 43. Add to note on f'er. 377.; 
 Satan, (Paradise Lost, i. 9-.,) describes himself 
 
 — — chang'd in outward lustre. 
 
 P. 45. P'er. 407. 
 
 compoj*d of lies. 
 
 From the beginning, and in lies xvilt end;"^ 
 
 In the Paradise Lost, (B. iv. 949.,) Satan it 
 called 
 
 .^^— ^— a LIAR trac'd, 
 
 P. 46. Vcr. 423. 
 
 or pleasure to do ill e'<cites ;'\ 
 
 Satan, in the Paradise Lost, in his first coo- 
 ference with his infernal " compeer", says 
 
 — ^— ^ of this be sure, 
 To do aught good never will be our task; 
 But ever todoilloursoledelicht; 
 
 i. isg> 
 
 P.^3. Vcr, 497. He added not, ajtd Satan hawing low 
 His gray di Simulation, — ] 
 This said heturn'd; and Satan eowikc low, 
 As to superior spirits is wont in Heaven,^— 
 
 Paradise Lost, lii. 738. 
 
 •MOetMMMOOMftM 
 
 P. 69. Add to note on Ver. 65. ,• 
 
 And thus our author in his Address to his Native 
 Language, in the Vacation Exercise; 
 
 Yet 1 had rather, if I were to choose, 
 
 Thy service in some graver subjriS use; 
 
 Such as may make thee search thy coffers round, 
 
 Before thou CLOTHE my tanct in rir sound, 
 
 P, 78. Ver, 162. Hearts cjter them tangled in amorous nets^ 
 
 Thus Druramond, in his Iviiith Sonnet, ad- 
 dressed to a bracelet of his Mistress's hair; 
 
 Hair, fatal present, which first caus'd my woes. 
 
 When loose ye hang like Danae's golden rain, 
 
 Sweet nets which sweetly do all hearts enchaim. 
 
 It should be observed that the line, already cited 
 in the note from Milton's first Elegy, referred also 
 to beautiful hair ; 
 
 — - I- trcmulostju*
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 *7S 
 
 trcmulosque capillos. 
 
 Auira qus fallax retia tendit amor. 
 P, 79. Ver. 167. At tui/l the manliest resolutest breast,'^ 
 
 Thus Euripides in a Chorusof the Hippolitus, 
 addressed to Venus ; 
 
 Su Tccv hiu'v aaxiA.iflov OpEca 
 
 1282. 
 
 'Tis thine, O Venus, to controul 
 Of Gods and men the stubborn soul. 
 
 Note on Ver. 1 69 ; for Astrate read Astarte. 
 
 P. 80. Fer. 176. ■ al/raSwe gmce,'] 
 
 I pleas'd, and with attractive cracis won; 
 
 Paradise Lost, ii. 762. 
 
 For softness she and sweet attractive grace, 
 
 Ibid. iv. 298- 
 
 Krr. 178. lusty crew,'] 
 
 Milton seems to have given luity in the sense of 
 libidittosns, 
 
 P. 82. Note, on Fer. 1S8, last line but one; for 
 admirably relie'ue Sec. read — at once relieve &c. 
 
 P. 8y. Add to the second note on Ver. 216; 
 
 Beatley might have cited Shakespeare as well as 
 Spenser ; 
 
 Upon his BROW shame is asham'd (0 sit. 
 
 For 'tis a thronb where honour may be crown'd 
 
 Sole monarch of the universal earth. 
 
 Romeo and Juliet, Aft IIL Sc. a. 
 
 Add to note on Ver. 222 ; 
 
 But Milton had here in his mind Ovid, Db 
 Art. Amand. L. i. Ver. 627.; 
 
 Laudatas ostcntat avis Junonia pennas ; 
 
 Si TACITUS SPECTES, ILLA RECONDIT OFIS. 
 
 Ovid has somewhere likewise, 
 
 ■ LAUDATO pavone superbior, 
 
 P. 90. Note on Ver. 267 ; dele the inverted 
 commas before froceroque. 
 
 jP. 91. In Bp. Neivton's note on Ver. 279. instead 
 of Sc. 7. read Sc. 5. ,• — and add to the note ; 
 
 Browne, in his Britannia's Pastorali, had 
 termed the lark the herald of day ; 
 
 The mounting lark, day's herald, got on wing, 
 Bidding each bird choose out his bough and sing. 
 
 B. i S. 3. 
 
 id column of notes. The last note should have 
 been marked Ver. 280. ; and the text at the head 
 of it should have begun, 
 
 ^^— ^— ^^— ^— to descry 
 The morn's approach &c. 
 
 To the passages, there cited from Chaucer and 
 Spenser, may also be added a beautiful description 
 of " the lark high- towering and greeting the mora 
 " with his song," from another of our early poets; 
 
 The cheerful lark, mounting from early bed. 
 
 With sweet salutes awakes the drowst 
 
 LIGHT ; 
 
 The earth she left, and up to heaven is 
 
 FLED ; 
 
 There chants her Maker's praises out of sight. 
 
 Fletcher's Purple Island, Cant. ix. Staoz. e- 
 
 And again, Stanz. 3.; 
 
 Hcark how the larks civs welcome to the dav, 
 Tempering their sweetest notes unto thy lay ; 
 Up then, thou loved swain ; why dost thou longer »tay ? 
 
 P. 92. In the passage cited from Dryden, in the 
 conclusion of the note which begins in p. 91., for 
 
 morning-lark, read mounting-lark. 
 
 P. 1 01. Add to the note on Ver. 344. ; 
 
 Browne in his Britannia's Pastorals, (Book 
 ii. Song 3.,) speaks of 
 
 cullis mixM with amebrcriase, 
 
 as a highly luxurious dish. 
 
 P. 104. In note on Ver, 3 54. after " with a sort 
 " of sliding motion." insert, 
 
 Smooth^sliding without step,' - 
 
 Paradise Lost, viii. 302. 
 
 P 111.fcr.j85. 
 
 Angels ministranl 
 
 Artay'd in glory ^ — ] 
 
 And all about the courtly stable 
 Bricmt-karness'd ancels sit in order ser.. 
 viceable. 
 
 Hvmn on tux Katititv, /i>J/ StlDEt. 
 
 And Com us, 453.; 
 
 Nn s S*
 
 .76 
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 So df ar to heaven is saintly chastity, 
 
 That, when a soul is found sincerely so, 
 
 A thousand liveried Angels lacky her. 
 
 P. 114. Add to note on Ver. 420. ; 
 This mode of acquiring and losing popularity is 
 well described by Lucan ; 
 
 .^-^— p^ciquc intentus agehat 
 Quoque modo vanos populi conciret amores, 
 Gnarus et irarum causas, et summa favoeis 
 
 AnNONA momenta TRAHl. 
 
 "■■ 555- 
 Ycr. ^rS. Tkerffore, if at great things thou zuouldst arrive. 
 Get riches Jirst, get wealth, and treasure iejp,^ 
 
 Thus Euripides, PH.a;Niss. 453.; 
 
 Tat ^cr,[j.xr av9^w7roiC"» rtfjuuTaTec, 
 
 Of human honours riches are the source, 
 
 And rule with power suprerae the tribes of men. 
 
 frodiuii. 
 
 A ii6- ' f). ^^'J. 
 
 so poor 
 
 Who could do mighty things,— "^ 
 
 Virgil thus describes Fabricius, 
 
 .^^— PARVOaUE FOTENTEM 
 
 fabricium, 
 
 jEn. vi. 844. 
 
 / iig. Ver. 462. When on his shoulder each i/tan's burden 
 lies ;] 
 
 Julian, (Var. Hist. ii. 20.,) records an obser- 
 Tation of Antigonus to his son ; — Ovk oio-Sa, w irai, 
 
 Tn» jSao•l^•la» rificm itia^n men csXttEii' ;— " Know'st 
 
 " thou not, my son, that to be a king is to be a 
 
 " splendid slave ?" 
 
 See also Euripides, Ion. 633. 
 
 P. 1 30. Add to Bf. Newton's note on Ver. 466 ; 
 Thus also Seneca, the tragic poet j 
 
 Mens RCGNUM bona possidet. 
 
 TuTicT. 33». 
 
 f. lag. Ver. j. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 — colleSing all his serpent wiles. 
 With soothing words 0c.—] 
 
 In the Samson Agomistes, Ver. 402., Dalilah 
 it described 
 
 ' mustering all her wile». 
 
 With blandish'd parlies, feminine assaults, 
 Tongue-batteries, &c, 
 
 — — — ^— glory the reward 
 
 P.J31. Ver. 2^ 
 
 Gloria, 
 
 That sole excites to hi^h attempts, thejlame 
 Of most eretled spirits, — ] 
 
 FAX MENTIS HONEST* 
 
 Sil. Ital. vi. 3JJ, 
 
 i*. 134. Ver, ^6. Of whom to he dispraised is no small praise,^ 
 
 We meet with the same noble contempt of lo\r 
 
 unfounded popularity, similarly expressed, in his 
 
 DEFENSio SECUNDA. " Laudant vituperant 
 
 " sine dcleftu, sine discriraine, judicio, ajt modo, 
 <(»*« ***«***«»* 
 
 «»»«*» congestis undique et verborum 
 " et rerum tot discoloribus ineptiis, tamque putidis, 
 
 " Ut LAUDATUM LONGE PR^STAT SILERI, ET 
 " PRAVO qUOD AIUNT VIVERE NASO, QUAM SIC 
 " LAUDARI; VITUPERATUS VEROQUI SIT,HAUD 
 " MEDIOCn SANE HONORI SIB! DUCAT, SE TAt* 
 " ABSURDIS, TAM STOLIDIS NEBULONIBUS DIS- 
 
 " PLiCERE." — P. 33y. Ed. 410. Lond. 1753. 
 
 Cicero had said in his Oration, In Pisonem, 
 
 C. 29., " "quK quidem laudatio hominis tur* 
 
 " pissimi raihi ipsi pccne erat turpis." 
 
 y^dd to the noti on Ver, 57. ; 
 Martial has the immediate expression ; 
 
 — ^ sed tu fcub principe duro, 
 
 Tcmporibusque malii, ausi;s is esse boni;s. 
 
 L. xii. Ef. (J. 
 
 P. 138. Ver. gi. 
 
 by wisdom eminent. 
 
 By patience, temperance, — ] 
 
 Sallust, in his Oration ad Caium C^dsarem, 
 speaking of the true means of glory, places it " in 
 " labore, patientia, bonis ptasceptis, et faflis fortibu» 
 " exercitando." 
 
 Add to note on Ver, g6. ,• 
 
 Xenophon in his Apology, speaking of the death 
 of Socrates, says " Such was the wisdom and such 
 " the magnanimity of this man, that J ever must 
 " remember, and remembering, ever regret and re- 
 " sjieft him ; and if in future times any who are 
 " friends to virtue and the virtuous shall boast ac- 
 " quaintance with a better or more useful member 
 " of society, tJua was Socrates ; I hesitate not to 
 
 " pronounce
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 277 
 
 Mk. X. 553. 
 
 f* pronounce them the first and most blest of mor- 
 
 ** tals«"— Eyf fj.cv ^T) XKTavowv ry cc:^fo^ Tfiv re a-opiar 
 
 fci(pEAtf*(yTepw Tu* Hijkp:iTtii cvnyi^nui, gxEitov t^af to? 
 
 Xenophont. Apolog. nd finem. 
 
 P. 142. ^/ /Zv end of note on Ver. 138; for /'^a- 
 nulpbus de Glati'villus read Radiclpbus de Glannjilla. 
 
 P. I 53. yifij'i/ ?(3 /^f ««?«■ 8« ^ff. 261 ; 
 Virgil has 
 
 turrioerjE que urbcs,- 
 
 And Ovid, 
 
 — — — TURRiTis incingerc M/£Nibus urbes, 
 
 3. Amor. viii. 48. 
 
 ■ » TURRIT I muii 
 
 3. EpijT. EX Pont. vi. 40. 
 
 but I do not know where to point out the exafl 
 epithet turritce as joined with urbes. 
 
 J'. 1 59. Vcr. 298. And just in time thou commit to have a view 
 Of his great pozti^r ; Jor now the Parthian 
 king Bc< — ] 
 
 Thus in the PHiENiss.E of Euripides, where An- 
 tigone has ascended the tower to behold the Grecian 
 army, her conduftor says to her, 
 
 EIS KAIPON A' EBHS, 
 
 KifUjiitot yne rvypf^anst ^s^ao■ylxo» 
 2TpaT£ t. (*«, ' 
 
 106. 
 
 ' just in ticne 
 
 You mount the turret ; the Pclasgian host 
 Is now in motion, 
 
 ff^cdbull. 
 
 P, 162. -i^dd to the first note on Ver, 3 1 1 ; 
 
 or rather, ^n. xii. 121.; 
 
 Procedit legio Ausonidum, pilataque plenis 
 AcMiNA ss FUNDUNT FORTis; hiDC Troius omnis, 
 Tyrrhenusque ruit variis cxercitus armis : 
 Haud secus instrudi ferro, quam si aspura Martis 
 Pugna vocat. 
 
 P. 163. Add to the citations from Pindar and 
 Nonnus in note on Ver, 324; 
 
 We may also compare Homer, II. xii. 156. ; 
 A; r' un^KOi ^a«i;, t^^iOf eKmna Sor>)V*ft 
 
 fi; Tui iX %£ipa/> i3i^s sffEOF r,|^tt P.ya.im 
 Hji Ka.1 i» Tfuus, 
 
 As when sharp Boreas blows abroad, and brings 
 The dreary wintt-r on his frozen wings, 
 Beneath the low-hung cloudt the sheets of snow 
 Descend and whiten all the fields below, 
 So fast the darts on either army pour. 
 So down the rampires rolls the rocky shower, 
 Heavy and thick resounds the batter'd shields, 
 And the deaf echo rattles round the fields. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 P. 164. Add to note on Ver. 326 ; 
 
 I have since met with a passage more immediately 
 parallel in Euripides ; who literally describes his 
 field all brass. It is in the same scene of the 
 Ph^niss^, in which I have just before noted a 
 coincidence of expression with Ver. 298. 
 
 K.\TAXAAXON ADAN 
 
 nEAION ASTPAnXEI, 
 
 JIC. 
 
 —— how gleam> 
 
 With brazen armour the whole field around ! 
 
 Wodhull. 
 Gleaming broiun we may perhaps trace to Homer's 
 description of Idomeneus and Meriones going out 
 to battle, 
 
 xfxoftrOfiEvoi AIGOni XAAXn, 
 
 II. xiii 305. 
 
 which Mr. Pope, possibly with this passage of Miltoo 
 in his mind, translates, 
 
 And tbeir bright armi shot horror o'er the plain. 
 
 We may also compare a passage in Cowley'i 
 Paraphrase of Isaiah, C. xxxiv. 
 
 I see the sword of God biandish'd above. 
 And from it streams A disuai. ray ; 
 
 Note on Ver. 327.; for II. iv. 374. read, II, 
 iv. 2 74. ; and for Ni^o; vif^ut read Nif oj iri^ivr. 
 
 Ver. 3*8. 
 
 all in itiil — j 
 
 Claudian has 
 
 Fkrratisue viri 
 
 Dx vi. CoN«. Honor. 571. 
 
 And Homer, (II. xiii. 192.,) describes Heflor 
 
 unwounded by the well-direded javelin of Ajax, 
 
 because he was so completely arm'd ; 
 
 . HAS
 
 27S 
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SITPPLEMENT At NOTES. 
 
 .— HAS y ccfa. XAAXn 
 
 SMEPAAAEii KEKAAy<l>0' 
 
 Secure in mal, and ♦heath'd in shining steel. 
 
 To the note on fer. 329. add ; 
 
 Pliny speaks of the " turrigeros elephantorum 
 « huraeros." L. xi. C. 12. 
 
 I find the verb to indorse used in a sense exaftly 
 similar by Ben Jonson, in an Epigram to Wil- 
 liam Earl of Newcastle, upon his horseman- 
 ship; 
 
 When first, my Lord, I saw you back your horse, 
 Piovoke his inetilc and command his force 
 To all the uses of the field and race, 
 Methought I read the ancient arts of Thrace, 
 And saw a Centaur, past those tales of Greece ; 
 So seem'd your horse and you both of a piece! 
 You shew'd like Per^eus upon Pegasus, 
 Or Castor mounted upon Cyllarus ;— — 
 Nay so your scat his beauties did endorsGi 
 As I began to wish myself a horse. 
 
 P. 169. AW on ^ifr. 394. line 17.; instead of 
 goes nearer to 'vindicate, read goes near to 'vindicate, 
 
 MMCOOOMSSOOOCOOM 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 p. 1 14. Add to note on Ver, i 5. ,• 
 
 Muia is used in the same sense in Greek. — Anti- 
 plianes, a writer of the Middle Comedy, in his 
 rifoyov-ji, makes a parasite describe himself among 
 other circumstances, as " a fly that, though unin- 
 " vited, will not fail to thrust himself in to an 
 " entertainment," 
 
 Awjrmv ccKXr^Toq^ MYIA, 
 
 Note on Ver, I 7.; for ^t.i.»^^<!aa^ read (/.ihnrff-eci, 
 
 p. 185. j4dd to note on Ver. 1 8. ; 
 
 As we may Virgil himself to Homer, II. xv. 6j8. ; 
 
 ' U'JT; Wilfii 
 
 Hte ftscE* y^iytujv aisfAuy ^cti^r.fcc xtXevfia, 
 Kf/^aTot TE Tpo^:EvTa, ra Tt Tr^'jo-iCBvytTXi awTrir, 
 
 So some tall rock o'erhangs the hoary main, 
 By winds assail'd, by billows beat in vain, 
 l^nmov'd it hears above the tempests blow, 
 And sees the watery mountains break below. 
 
 Pf^e, 
 
 Pope. 
 
 P. 191. Note on Ver. 50. ; in the passage cited 
 from Claudian, for delutra read deluhra, 
 
 P. 193. Add to note on Ver, 60. ; see Homer, 
 II. xxiv. igi. 192. 
 
 AvTo; ^''ej SaXaf<o» TCoLti^rirtTO k^uttra, 
 KEAPINON v^ifo^tt, 
 
 Then pass'd the monarch to his bridal room. 
 Where cedar-beams the lofty roofs perfume. 
 
 Ver. 63. Correfl the punHuation thus ; 
 
 Pntors, proconsuls to their provinces 
 Hasting, or on return, in robes of state, &c. 
 
 /". 1 94. y^r. 76. Duik faces with while silken turbants ioreatk'd;\ 
 I have been told that a truly respetlable prelate, 
 whose taste and literary acquirements are of the 
 first eminence, has noticed this verse as one of the 
 most picturesque lines that he had ever met with ir> 
 poetry : alinost every word conveys a distinft idea, 
 and generally one of great effeft. 
 
 Prudentius has a passage not dissimilar ; 
 
 decolor Indus, 
 
 Tempora pinnatis redimitus nigra sagittis. 
 
 Hamarticxn. 499. 
 
 P. 196. Note on Ver. 93.; for to describe the 
 arcan<e libidines, read to notice the Sec. 
 
 P. 1 99. Note on Ver. 1 7. ,• read decubi. 
 
 P. ICO. P'er. 1 18. — — ^— — how they quaff in gold,"] 
 O let them IN THKiR COLD QuAFr dropsies down \ 
 P. Fletcher, Purpli! Island, i. ay. 
 
 P. 203. Note on I'er. 1 36. ; To the passages cited 
 in this note, marking the shameful conduft of the 
 Roman governors in their provinces, may be added 
 one from a speech of C. Gracchus, (Aulus Gellius, 
 L. XV. C. 12.) where, speaking of his return from 
 Sardinia, he says, " When I went from Rome 
 " I carried my bags full of money ; I brought 
 " them from the province empty. While others, 
 " who have carried out casks filled with wine, 
 " have brought them home filled with gold." 
 
 We may also refer to the description given by the 
 Locrians, (Livy, L. xxix. 17.,) of Pleminius the 
 Roman legate, when they accused him of oppression 
 to the senate ; " In hoc legato vestro nee hominis 
 " quicquam est, pattes conscripti, pixter figuram 
 
 «' et
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOThS. 
 
 279 
 
 •' et speciem; neque Romani civis praster habitum 
 *• vestitumque et sonum linguce Latinx. Pcstis et 
 " bellua immanis, quales freium, quondam, quo 
 " ab Sicilia dividimur ad perniciem navigantium 
 " circumsedisse, labula: feiur.t." 
 
 P. 204. Nott on l\'r. 1 39. ,■ To the passage from 
 Columella, marking the effeminacy of the Romans 
 
 in his time, may be added one from Seneca ; 
 
 " Torpent ecce ingenia desidioss juventutis. Can- 
 " tandi saltandique nunc obsca;na studia effemi- 
 
 " NATOS TENENT." ProOEM CoNTROVERS, 
 
 f. 213. ycT. 240. AthenSf the eye of Greece, mother of arts 
 And eloquence, native to famous wits £^c.] 
 
 Roger Ascham, (English Works, published at 
 London, 1771. p. 235-1) speaking of the great 
 authors produced by the city of Athens in philo- 
 sophy, eloquence, history, and poetry, adds, " in 
 " comparison of whom, let Italian, Latin itself, 
 " Spanish, French, Dutch and English bring forth 
 " their learning and recite their authors, Cicero 
 " alone excepted, and one or two more in Latin, 
 " they be all patched up clouts and rags, in com- 
 '• parison of fair-woven broad cloths ; and truly, 
 " if there be any good in them, it is either learned, 
 " borrowed, or stolen, from those worthy wits 
 " OF Athens." 
 
 P. 21 7. jiJJ to the second note on Vet; 246. ; 
 
 Shakespeare, in his fifty-first Sonnet, describes 
 the nightingale ceasing to sing, as the summer ad- 
 vances ; 
 
 As Philomel in summer's front doth sing, 
 
 And stops his pipe in growth of riper days, 
 
 Not that the summer is less pleasant now, 
 
 Than when her mournful hymns did hush the night. 
 
 The last verse of which passage, it may be ob- 
 served, has a beautiful resemblance to Milton's 
 Penseroso, Vcr. 56.; 
 
 Less Philomel will deign a song 
 In her sweetest, saddest, plight. 
 Smoothing the rugged brow of night. 
 
 F. 224. Add to the second note on Ver. 268. ; 
 
 Longinus, (C. xxxii.,) speaking of the superior 
 power of Demosthenes in oratory to the public 
 speakers of any age^ expresses himself in a similar 
 
 figure of speech ; — KATABPOMTA xai KATA<t>Er. 
 
 TEl TB OLTI aii;>-j; f,)Tcfat, &C. &C. 
 
 /". 229. ^Vr, 2gg. In corpo?ai pleasure he, and :arefejs ease il 
 
 Lucian speaking of the same philosopher has a 
 
 passage strikingly similar ; A/xs>>ii O (*!» atx*? 
 
 •TTX^rivH To "Trav fldt^^xly Xat fACO, t«to tK TracvToq f*STt- 
 
 tta-. — NccyoMANT. p. 460. Ed. Reitz. Where 
 also, see the account ot the Stoics and Peripatetic?, 
 and compare with Milton's account of them here. 
 
 P. 234. Jdd to note on Ver. 329. ,• 
 
 But Milton most probably alluded to the sponge 
 as used by the ancients for the purpose of blotting 
 out any thing they had written, and did not choose 
 to preserve. — Thus we read in Suetonius's Life of 
 Augustus, when that emperor had attempted a tra- 
 gedy on the subjeft of Ajax, and, finding it not 
 likely to succeed, had laid it aside, some of his 
 friends enquiring what was become of Ajax, he 
 answered, " Ajacem snum in spongiam incu- 
 " SUISSE." — So that 'worth a sponge literally means 
 not worth seeing the light, not worth preserving. 
 
 P. 240. Ver. 398. 
 
 louiering niaht 
 
 Her shadowy offspring, — ] 
 Night was sometimes the patent, and darkness 
 the Offspring. See Cicero, De Natura Deorlm, 
 where we meet with TenebviS among the progeny 
 
 oi Night antl Erebus. But Milton's Theagony it 
 
 conformable fo Hyginus, who makes Caligo, or 
 Darhtess, the Mother of Night, Day, Erebus, and 
 JEther. — See the first chapter of Hyginus, D» 
 Fabulis. 
 
 P. 246. Note on Ver. 426. ; in the passage cited 
 from Chaucer in the conclusion of this note, for 
 MORNING GRAY, read MORROW CRAY. 
 
 Morroiv gray was a common expression with 
 our early poets for the break of day ; 
 
 The MORROWE CRAY no sooner had begun 
 To spread his light e'en peeping in our eyes. 
 Than he is up, and to his workc grunne, &a. 
 
 SackviUc, Induct. Stanz. ^o. 
 
 Kfr. 427. 
 
 in amice gray, 
 
 Who with her radiant finger &c. — ] 
 
 Browne describes the first appearance of morning 
 in a manner not dissimilar, and with a beautiful 
 efFea; 
 
 It
 
 sSo 
 
 CORRECTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES. 
 
 It chanc'd, on- mokn, clad in a robe or «ray 
 And BLUSHING o.KT 3$ rising to betray, 
 Entic'd this lovely maiden from her bed, &c. 
 
 Britannia's Pastorals, B. ii. S. 4. 
 
 p. 247. /« note on Fer.^-^o, add immediati:lj- after 
 the passage cited from Prudentius ; — 
 
 Mr. Warton referring to this passage, (in a note 
 on cur Author's ode on the nativity,) observes 
 that some commentators, not easily to be found, 
 and whom he does not specify, prove the supersti- 
 tion to have been of much higher antiquity. 
 
 We find it two hundred years before Prudentius, in 
 Philostratus's Life of ApoUonius Tyanoeus. — There 
 the ghost of Achilles, that had appeared to Apol- 
 lonius, vanishes at once, in the midst of a conver- 
 sation, 'with a slight fash of lightning, i,\,-i arfaT>) 
 fuT^ia, as soon as the cocks began to croiv, xai yai Ju 
 «ai a(^lXTffo»6; >io»i wJw nifltno. Philostrat. ViT. 
 AroLLoN. L. iv. C. 16* 
 
 The circumstance of ghosts disappearing at day- 
 break is referred to by several of the Latin poets. 
 Thus Claudian, respefting the ghost of Theodosius ; 
 Dixit, et afflatus vicino sole refugit. 
 
 And, in Propertius, the account given by ghosts 
 
 of themselves is, 
 
 Nofle vaj3 ferimur; nox claiuas liberal umbras, 
 
 Errat ct abjafla Ccrberas ipse fera. 
 Luce jubent leges Lcthza ad stagna revert!, &c. 
 
 L. IV. El. 7. 
 
 P. 249. Note on Ver. 4 54. ; after produced in the 
 natural luorld read hy the fall of man. — Likewise 
 add to the note ; 
 
 In Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tvrh, 
 Pericles in a storm at sea, says. 
 
 Courage enough ; I do not fear the pla w ; 
 It hath done to me the worst,—— 
 
 Aa III. sc. 1. 
 
 And Hamlet, Aft V. Sc. i. ; 
 
 Should patch a wall to expel the winter's rL aw,^ 
 Add to note on Ver. 455 ; 
 .^tna is termed by Pindar, ist. Ptth. Ods. 
 
 — ^^— xiw»» ovf»v:-i3c^ 
 
 which Mr. West translates 
 
 The pillard prop of heaven, 
 
 P. 259. Ver. 567. fiicer grapple joi%'d,1 
 
 The GRAPPLING vigour and rough face of war. 
 
 Shakespeare, K. John, Aft III. Sc i. 
 
 Pj 262. Add to note on Ver. 598. ; 
 
 Xxvo^, tabernacle, is frequently used by profane 
 as well as scriptural writers, to signify the mortal 
 
 body. Thus Longinus, Seft. xxxii. at^^uirita 
 
 XKHN'OYS, the human tabernacle. And Plato termi 
 the body, Triov SKHNOI, the earthly tabernacle; 
 and, as cited by ^Eschines the Socratic, having said 
 that " we are a soul, an immortal being shut up in 
 " a mortal case, adds to ^£ SKHXor t«to ■zioc y.ax» 
 ■jrifinf/Mcri' 1) ^fCif, but this tabernacle nature hath 
 fitted to the ewil. — See Parkhurst's Lexicon, Vox 
 l]xi]vo^ — also cTKYivoUf and axyjvu^ia,. 
 
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