Prince of the air; then rifing from his grave 185 The realm itself of Satan long ufurp'd, Whom he fhall tread at laft under our feet; 190 Ev'n he who now foretold his fatal bruife, 195. On Adam last thus judgment he pronounc'd. Because thou' haft hearken'd to the' voice of thy wife, And eaten of the tree, concerning which I charg'd thee, fay'ing, Thou shalt not eat thereof: 199 Curs'd 197. On Adam laft thus judgment under our feet: Rom. XVI. 20. And the God of peace fhall bruife Satan be pronounc'd. &c. ] He is under your feet. We fee by these equally exact in reporting the feninftances what use our author had tence pronounc'd upon Adam, Gen, made of reading the Scriptures. III. 17, 18, 19. And unto Adam be 192. And to the Woman thus his faid, Because thou haft hearken'd unfentence turn'd. &c.] Gen. to the voice of thy wife, and haft III. 16. Unto the Woman be faid, I eaten of the tree of which I comwill greatly multiply thy forrow and manded thee faying, Thou shalt not eat thy conception; in forrow thou shalt of it: curfed is the ground for thy bring forth children; and thy defire fake; in forrow halt thou eat of it fball be to thy busband; and be shall all the days of thy life: Thorns alfo. rule over thee. and thistles fhall it bring forth to thee: Curs'd is the ground for thy fake; thou in forrow 205 211 So judg'd he Man, both judge and saviour sent, thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: In the fweat of thy face fhalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it waft tbou taken; for duft thou art, and unte duft fhalt thou return. We quote thefe paffages at length, that without any trouble they may be compar'd with the poem. 214. the form of fervant to affume, &c.] Alluding to Phil. II. 7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon bim the form 215 Their Their nakedness with skins of beafts, or flain, came by the skins of beafts; and therefore our author adds they were either flain, but he does not fay whether by one another, or for facrifice, or for food; or they fhed their coats like Snakes and were repaid with new ones, a notion which we may prefume he borrow'd from fome commentator rather than advanc'd of himself. It seems too odd and extravagant to be a fancy of his own, but he might introduce it out of vanity to fhow his reading. Pliny indeed mentions fome leffer creatures shedding their skins in the manner of fnakes, but that is hardly authority fufficient for such a notion as this. 219. And thought not much to clothe his enemies:] Dr. Bentley fays that this line is certainly of the editor's manufacture, and quite fuperfluous; because it divides what is naturally connected, and changes the fentiments, from a family under a gracious father, to the condition of enemies. But I don't fee that it divides any natural connexion: and as for changing the fentiments, it does it to a beauty, not to a fault: 220 Τα for it fhows more goodness in a man to clothe his enemy, than only one of his family. Milton feems to have had in his thoughts what St. Paul fays, Rom. V. 10. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Milton again had much the fame fentiment, when he makes Adam fay in ver. 1059. Cloth'd us unworthy. Pearce. 222. with his robe of righte - oufnefs,] Ifa. LXI. 10. He hath clothed me with the garments of falvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteoufnels. 229. Mean while ere thus was finn'd and judg'd on earth,] Two imperfonals: Before Man had thus finn'd, and God had judged him, Sin and Death fat in counterview within the gates of Hell; but now upon Man's tranfgreffion and God's judgment Sin thus began and addrefs'd herself to Death. 230.- fat Sin and Death,] We are now to confider the imaginary perfons, or Sin and Death, who act a large part in this book. Such beautiful extended allegories are certainly To him with swift afcent he up Into his blissful bofom reaffum'd return'd, 325 In glory as of old; to him appeas'd All, tho' all-knowing, what had pafs'd with Man Recounted, mixing interceffion sweet. Mean while ere thus was finn'd and judg'd on Earth, Within the gates of Hell fat Sin and Death, certainly fome of the fineft compofitions of genius: but, as I have before observed, are not agreeable to the nature of an heroic poem. This of Sin and Death is very exquifite in its kind, if not confider'd as a part of fuch a work. The truths contained in it are fo clear and open, that I shall not lofe time in explaining them; but fhall only observe, that a reader, who knows the ftrength of the English tongue, will be amazed to think how the poet could find fuch apt words and phrafes to defcribe the actions of those two imaginary perfons, and particularly in that part where Death is exhibited as forming a bridge over the Chaos; a work fuitable to the genius of Milton. Since the fubject I am upon, gives me an opportunity of fpeaking more at large of fuch fhadowy and imaginary perfons as may be introduced into heroic poems, I fhall beg leave to explain myself in a matter which is curious in its kind, and which none of the critics have treated of. It is certain Homer and Virgil are full of imaginary perfons, who are 230 In very beautiful in poetry, when they are juft fhown, without being engaged in any feries of action. Homer indeed represents Sleep as a perfon, and afcribes a fhort part to him in his Iliad; but we must confider that tho' we now regard fuch a perfon as entirely fhadowy and unfubftantial, the Heathens made ftatues of him, placed him in their temples, and looked upon him as a real deity. When Homer makes ufe of other fuch allegorical perfons, it is only in fhort expreffions, which convey an ordinary thought to the mind in the most pleafing manner, and may rather be looked upon as poetical phrases than allegorical defcriptions. Inftead of telling us, that men naturally fly when they are terrified, he introduces the perfons of Flight and Fear, who, he tells us, are infeparable companions. Inftead of faying that the time was come when Apollo ought to have received his recompenfe, he tells us, that the Hours brought him his reward. Inftead of defcribing the effects which Minerva's Egis produced in battel, he In counterview within the gates, that now O Son, why fit we here each other viewing 235- he tells us, that the brims of it were incompaffed by Terror, Rout, Difcord, Fury, Purfuit, Massacre and Death. In the fame figure of fpeaking, he reprefents Victory as following Diomedes; Difcord as the mother of funerals and mourning; Venus as dreffed by the Graces; Bellona as wearing Terror and Confternation like a garment. I might give feveral other inftances out of Homer, as well as a great many out of Virgil. Milton has likewife very often made ufe of the fame way of speaking, as where he tells us, that Vidory fat on the right hand of the Meffiah when he marched forth against the rebel Angels; that at the rifing of the fun the Hours unbarr'd the gates of light; that Difcord was the daughter of Sin. Of the fame nature are thofe expreffions, where defcribing the finging of the nightingale, he adds, Silence was pleas'd; and upon the Meffiah's bidding peace to the Chaos, Confufion heard bis voice. I might add innumerable inftances of our poet's writing in this beautiful figure. It is For plain that these I have mention'd, in which persons of an imaginary nature are introduced, are fuch fhort allegories as are not defigned to be taken in the litteral fenfe, but only to convey particular circumftances to the reader after an unusual and entertaining manner. But when fuch perfons are introduced as principal actors, and engaged in a feries of adventures, they take too much upon them, and are by no means proper for an heroic poem, which ought to appear credible in its principal parts. I cannot forbear therefore thinking that Sin and Death are as improper agents in a work of this nature, as Strength and Neceffity in one of the tragedies of Efchylus, who reprefented thofe two perfons nailing down Prometheus to a rock, for which he has been juftly cenfur'd by the greateft critics. I do not know any imaginary perfon made ufe of in a more fublime manner of thinking than that in one of the prophets, who defcribing God as defcending from Heaven, and vifiting the fins of mankind, adds that |