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His providence, and on him fole depend,
Merciful over all his works, with good
Still overcoming evil, and by fmall

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Accomplishing great things, by things deem'd weak
Subverting worldly ftrong, and wordly wife

By fimply meek; that fuffering for truth's fake
Is fortitude to highest victory,

And to the faithful death the gate of life;
Taught this by his example whom I now
Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest.

To whom thus alfo th' Angel laft reply'd.

570

This having learn'd, thou haft attain'd the fum 575
Of wisdom; hope no high'er, though all the stars
Thou knew'ft by name, and all th' ethereal pow'rs,
All fecrets of the deep, all Nature's works,
Or works of God in Heav'n, air, earth, or sea,

foolish things of the world to confound the wife; and God hath chofen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And fo in the rest there is the fenfe of Scripture, if not the very words. As to obey is beft, 1 Sam. XV. 22. Behold to obey is better than facrifice. And on him fole depend, 1 Pet. V. 7. Cafting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. And merciful over all his works, Pfal. CXLV. 9. His mercies are over all his works. &c.

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And all the riches of this world enjoy'dft,

And all the rule, one empire; only add

Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love,
By name to come call'd charity, the foul

Of all the reft: then wilt thou not be loath

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To leave this Paradife, but fhalt poffefs

A Paradife within thee, happier far.

Let us defcend now therefore from this top
Of fpeculation; for the hour precise

Exacts our parting hence; and fee the guards, 590
By me incamp'd on yonder hill, expect

Their motion, at whose front a flaming fword,
In fignal of remove, waves fiercely round;
We may no longer ftay: go, waken Eve;
Her alfo I with gentle dreams have calm'd

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Por

from this top

Of speculation;] From this vifionary highth, from this hill of prophecy and prediction. Speculation, watching on a tower or high place, thence a discovery, therefore applied to the prophets in the facred page, who are called feers and watchmen, speculatores of fpecula Latin, a watchtower; Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Ifrael. Ezek. III. 17. more exactly described chap. XXXIII. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Hume.

So

Portending good, and all her spi'rits compos'd
To meek fubmiffion: thou at season fit

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Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard,
Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,
The great deliverance by her feed to come
(For by the Woman's feed) on all mankind:
That ye may live, which will be many days,
Both in one faith unanimous though fad,
With cause for evils past, yet much more chear'd
With meditation on the happy end.
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He ended, and they both defcend the hill;
Defcended, Adam to the bow'r where Eve
Lay fleeping ran before, but found her wak'd;
And thus with words not fad fhe him receiv'd.

Whence thou return'ft, and whither went'ft, I

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For God is alfo' in fleep, and dreams advise,
Which he hath fent propitious, fome great good
Prefaging, fince with forrow' and heart's distress
Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on;
In me is no delay; with thee to go,
Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me
Art all things under Heav'n, all places thou,
Who for my wilful crime art banish'd hence.
This further confolation yet fecure
I carry hence; though all by me is loft,
Such favor I unworthy am vouchfaf'd,

611. For God is alfo in fleep, and dreams advife,] is also in fleep, and admonishes by dreams as well as by vifions, according to Numb. XII, 6. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vifion, and I will speak unto him in a dream. And thus Homer, Iliad. I. 63. Kou Jap Tovap en A es. Nam et fomnium quoque ab Jove eft. And the application is very elegant in this place, as Adam's was a vifion, and Eve's a dream, and God was in the one as well as in the other.

615. In me is no delay;] In me mora non erit ulla. Virg. Ecl. III. 52.

616. Is to ftay here; &c.] She is now come to that temper of mind, as to think it Paradife, wherever.

611

615

629

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Th' Arch-Angel flood,] Our poet obferves the το πρέπον, the decorum to the laft degree, making our firft parents fuch perfect patterns of modefty, as to forbear their indear

ments,

By me the promis'd Seed fhall all restore.

So fpake our mother Eve, and Adam heard

Well pleas'd, but answer'd not; for now too nigh 625
Th' Arch-Angel stood, and from the other hill
To their fix'd station, all in bright array
The Cherubim defcended; on the ground
Gliding meteorous, as evening mist
Ris'n from a river o'er the marish glides,
And gathers ground fast at the lab'rer's heel
Homeward returning. High in front advanc'd
The brandifh'd fword of God before them blaz'd
Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,

ments, though but in words, at the
Angel's approach. Hume.
629. Gliding meteorous,] Helio-
dorus in his Ethiopics acquaints us,
that the motion of the Gods differs

from that of mortals, as the former
do not flir their feet, nor proceed
ftep by step, but flide o'er the fur-
face of the earth by an uniform
swimming of the whole body. The
reader may obferve with how poeti-
cal a defcription Milton has attri-
buted the fame kind of motion to
the Angels who were to take pof-
feffion of Paradise. Addifon.

630. marish] An old word for marfh, of the French marais, and of the Latin marifcus, rushes commonly growing there. The word accurs in 1 Maccab. IX. 42. they

630

And

turned again to the marish of fordan, and again, ver. 45. the marish likewife and wood. We meet with it Act I. as Mr. Pope and Mr. Wartoo in Shakespear, 1 Henry VI. burton rightly read the paffage,

Our ile be made a marish of fale

tears.

And throughout the course of our

remarks we have been the more wil

ling to explain and illuftrate our au-
thor by fimilar expreffions and fen-
caufe Milton was a great reader and
timents in Shakespear, not only be-
admirer of his works, but alfo be-
cause we conceive Shakespear and
Milton to be two of the most ex-
traordinary geniufes and greatest
poets, whom any country or any
time has produced.
E e 4

635. And

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