And with Asphaltic flime, broad as the gate,
Deep to the roots of Hell the gather'd beach
They faften'd, and the mole immense wrought on 300
Over the foaming deep high arch'd, a bridge

Callimachus in his hymn call'd Delos has given a most inchanting defcription of this matter. Richardfon.

296. the reft his look &c.] In Milton's own editions the paffage was thus.

the reft his look

Bound with Gorgonian rigor not

to move,

And with Asphaltic flime; broad
as the gate,

Deep to the roots of Hell the ga-
ther'd beach
They fasten'd,

A difficult paffage, which Dr. Bent-
ley perceiv'd and try'd to mend
thus,

As Delos now, once floting: then

his look

The fabric with Gorgonian pow'r faft bound,

As with Afphaltic flime. Broad as the gate, &c.

But he did not observe, that Milton by the words the reft meant thofe fubftances, which were not folid or foil, but were foft and flimy. ver. 286. And Death is here defcribed as not binding faft the fabric (the foundation of that was yet but lay ing) but as hardening the foft and

Of

flimy fubftances, and fixing them
(like the foil) for the foundation of
his bridge. To Gorgonian rigor the
Doctor objects that the rigor or hard-
nefs was not in the Gorgon's look,
but in the object turn'd into stone.
And fo it may be understood here-
a rigor fuch as was caus'd by the
Gorgon's look. Milton has the
authority of Claudian for expreffing
himself thus,

rigidâ cum Gorgone Perfeus.
In Ruffin. I. 279.

Again, the Doctor objects to And
with Asphaltic flime, because then
the conftruction would be, his look
bound it with flime. I agree with
him that this could not come from

Milton. But then I think the Doctor's change of And into As does not fufficiently mend the paffage; for does it not leffen the thought to fay, that it was bound with Gorgonian pow'r as with flime? even Afpower, which fable fuppofes the phaltic flime had not that binding Gorgon's look to have had. Thus I can fee that neither the common reading nor the Doctor's are free from great exceptions There is only one way (I think) in which all thefe difficulties are to be got over, and that is by changing two of the

Of length prodigious, joining to the wall
Immoveable of this now fenceless world

Forfeit to Death; from hence a paffage broad,
Smooth, easy, inoffenfive down to Hell.
So, if great things to fmall may be compar'd,

ther'd beach They faften'd,

The first part of the paffage, ending at move, I underftand as relating only to the hardening the foft and flimy fubftances: and all the reft feems to relate to the faft'ning the foundation with Afphaltic flime to the roots of Hell. I may be mistaken in my conjecture; but this reading (methinks) bids fairer for the true one, than either of the other two.

Pearce. It appears that by the reft we are to understand the flimy parts, as diftinguifh'd from the folid or foil: and it would be very abfurd to say, that his look bound the flimy parts with Afphaltic flime or as with Af phaltic flime. It is much eafier to fuppofe with Mr. Richardson that the comma after move and the femicolon after flime have changed places, and that the paffage fhould be read thus

305

Xerxes,

to move;

And with Asphaltic flime, broad as the gate,

Deep to the roots of Hell &c. The fenfe is then the very fame as in the foregoing moft excellent remark of Dr. Pearce's, and we venture to print it accordingly. We generally follow carefully Milton's own punctuation; but though he was extremely accurate, yet he was not always infallible. A falfe pointing may now and then efcape the molt correct writer and printer in the world.

304. - from bence a passage broad, Smooth, caly, inoffenfive down to Hell] Alluding perhaps to Virgil, En. VI. 126.

facilis defcenfus Averni: Or to the paths of wickedness, Heliod. Fp. I. 285.

Την μεν της κακοτητα και λαδο εςιν ελέθαι

Ρηϊδίως ολίγη [1] μεν Θ,

Mada segulsvare Jortin.

306. So Xerxes &c.] This fimile is very exact and beautiful. As Sin and

Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke,

From Sufa his Memnonian palace high
Came to the fea, and over Hellefpont
Bridging his
way, Europe with Asia join'd,
And fcourg'd with many a stroke th' indignant waves.

310

Now had they brought the work by wondrous art Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock,

Over the vex'd abyfs, following the track

Of Satan to the self fame place where he
First lighted from his wing, and landed safe

and Death built a bridge over Chaos to fubdue and inflave mankind: So if great things to fmall may be compar'd, Si parva licet componere magnis, as Virgil fays, Georg. IV. 176. Xerxes, the Perfian monarch, to bring the free ftates of Greece under his yoke, came from Sufa, the chief city of Sufiana a province of Perfia, the refidence of the Perfian Monarchs, called Memnonia by Herodotus, of Memnon who built it and reigned there; and over Hel lefpont bridging his way, and building a bridge over Hellefpont, the narrow fea by Conftantinople, that divides Europe from Afia, to march his large army over it, Europe with Afia join'd, and fcourg'd with many a firoke th' indignant waves; alluding particularly to Xerxes his madnefs in ordering the fea to be whipt for the lofs of fome of his fhips; indignant waves, corning and raging

315

by wondrous art Pontifical,] By the frange art of raifing bridges. Pontifex, the high priest of the Romans, had that name from pans a bridge and facere to make: Quia fublicius pons a

From out of Chaos, to the outside bare

Of this round world: with pins of adamant
And chains they made all faft, too fast they made
And durable; and now in little space

The confines met of empyréan Heaven

320

And of this World, and on the left hand Hell
With long reach interpos'd; three feveral ways
In fight, to each of these three places led.
And now their way to Earth they had defcry'd, 325
To Paradife firft tending, when behold

Satan in likeness of an Angel bright

Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering

His zenith, while the fun in Aries rofe:

Difguis'd he came, but those his children dear 330
Their parent foon difcern'd, though in disguise.
He after Eve feduc'd, unminded flunk

Into the wood faft by, and changing fhape
To' obferve the fequel, faw his guileful act
By Eve, though all unweeting, feconded
Upon her husband, faw their fhame that fought
Vain covertures; but when he faw defcend
The Son of God to judge them, terrify'd
He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun

The prefent, fearing guilty what his wrath

335

340

Might

this round world, from whence he had come down, ver. 317. Befides the Doctor instead of rofe reads rode: but it was evening, when Meffiah came and pafs'd the fentence on the tranfgreffors, ver. 92. and after that Sin and Death made the bridge; fo that the fun might be rifing in Aries, when they met Satan fteering his zenith. And this is confirm'd by what follows here in ver. 341_ &c.

Pearce.

Satan to avoid being difcover'd (as he had been before, IV. 569. &c.) by Uriel regent of the fun, takes care to keep at as great a distance as poffible, and therefore while the

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