Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, express'd
Immutable when thou wert loft, not I,

Who might have liv'd and joy'd immortal blifs,
Yet willingly chose rather death with thee?

And am I now upbraided as the cause
Of thy tranfgreffing? not enough fevere,

1165

It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more? 1170 I warn'd thee, I admonish'd thee, foretold

The danger, and the lurking enemy

That lay in wait; beyond this had been force,
And force upon free will hath here no place.
But confidence then bore thee on, secure
Either to meet no danger, or to find
Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps

I alfo err'd in overmuch admiring

What feem'd in thee fo perfect, that I thought
No evil durft attempt thee, but I rue

That error now, which is become my crime,
And thou th' accufer. Thus it fhall befall
Him who to worth in women overtrusting

1175

1180

Lets

1183. in women overtrufting] Dr. Bentley reads woman, and I fhould rather prefer it on account of what follows, her will, he will not

brook,

Lets her will rule; reftraint she will not brook,

And left to' herself, if evil thence enfue,

1185

She first his weak indulgence will accuse.

Thus they in mutual accusation spent

The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning,
And of their vain conteft appear'd no end.

brook, left to herself &c; tho' women
may be juftify'd, fuch a tranfition
from the plural to the fingular num-
ber being not uncommon in the best
authors, as in Terence, Eun. II.
I. 19.
Dii boni, quid hoc morbi eft? adeon'
bomines immutarier

Ex amore, ut non cognofcas eundem effe?

1185. -if evil thence enfue, &c] Juvenal Sat. VI. 283.

Nihil eft audacius illis Deprenfis; iram atque animos a crimine fumunt.

Hume.

The end of the Ninth Book.

THE

TENT H Воок

OF

PARADISE LOST.

Man's tranfgreffion known, the guardian Angels forfake Paradife, and return up to Heaven to approve their vigilance, and are approv'd, God declaring that the entrance of Satan could not be by them prevented. He fends his Son to judge the tranfgreffors, who defcends and gives fentence accordingly; then in pity clothes them both, and reafcends. Sin and Death fitting till then at the gates of Hell, by wondrous fympathy feeling the fuccefs of Satan in this new world, and the fin by Man there committed, refolve to fit no longer confin'd in Hell, but to follow Satan their fire up to the place of Man: To make the way eafier from Hell to this world to and fro, they pave a broad high-way or bridge over Chaos, according to the track that Satan first made; then preparing for Earth, they meet him proud of his fuccefs returning to Hell; their mutual gratulation. Satan arrives at Pandemonium, in full affembly relates with boafting his fuccefs against Man; inftead of applause is entertained with a general hifs by all his audience, transform'd with himself also suddenly into ferpents, according to his doom given in Paradife; then deluded with a fhow of the forbidden tree fpringing up before them, they greedily reaching to take of the fruit, chew duft and bitter afhes. The proceedings of Sin and Death; God foretels the final victory of his Son over them, and the renewing of all things; but for the prefent commands his Angels to make feveral alterations in the Heavens and elements. Adam more and more perceiving his fall'n condition heavily bewails, rejects the condolement of Eve; fhe perfifts, and at length appeases him: then to evade the curfe likely to fall on their ofspring, propofes to Adam violent ways, which he approves not, but conceiving better hope, puts her in mind of the late promise made them, that her feed fhould be reveng'd on the Serpent, and exhorts her with him to feek peace of the offended Deity, by repentance and fupplication.