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PARADISE REGAIN'D.

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III.

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,

5 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 10

Contains

10.

thy heart

word species with as little success in Contains of good, wise, just, the per- my opinion as Milton has done

feet shape. ] Milton, no doubt, here by his Englsh fape. Thyer. by the word jhape intended to ex- Of good, wife, just, the perfeët shape. press the meaning of the Greek I should rather think it expressed term ded, but in my opinion it from the perfecta forma honestatis, does not at all come up to it, and and the forma ipsa honesti of Ciseems rather harsh and inelegant. cero. De Fin. Il. 15. Habes undiThere are words in all languages, que expletam et perfectam, Torwhich cannot well be translated quate, formam honeftatis, &c. De without losing much of their beau- Of. I. 5. Formam quidem ipfam,

. ty, and even some of their mean- Marce fili, et tanquam faciem hoing; of this sort I take the word nesti vides; quæ, fi oculis cernere. idea to be. Tully renders it by the tur &c. And the more, because

Contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape.
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

15
Infallible: or wert thou fought to deeds
That might require th' array of war, thy skill
Of conduct would be such, that all the world
Could not sustain thy prowess, or subsist

In

13

lous gems

he renders forma by Shape in the given to the breaft-plate in its conParadise Loit. IV. 848.

secration, of obtaining an oraca.

lous answer from God, whenever Virtue in her shape how lovely.

counsel was asked of him by the as the oracle high-priest with iton, in such manUrim and Thummim, those oracu- ner as his words did direct; and

that the names of Urim and ThumOn Aaron's breast; &c.] Aaron's mim were given hereto only to debreast-plate was a piece of cloth note the clearnefs 'and perfection, doubled, of a span square, in which which these oracular answers al. were set in fockets of gold twelve ways carried with them. For Urim precious stones bearing the names fignifieth light, and Thummim pera of the twelve tribes of Israel in- fection. But Milton by adding graven on them, which being fixed

those oraculous gems to the ephod, or upper vestment of

On Aaron's breast the high priest's robes, was worn by him on his breast on all folemn seems to have been of the comoccasions. In this breaft-plate the mon received opinion among the Urim and Thummim, say the Scrip- Jews, that the answer was given tures, were put. And the learned by the precious stones, that it was Prideaux, after giving fome ac- by the shining and protuberating count of the various opinions con- of the letters in the names of the cerning Urim and Thummim, says twelve tribes graven on the twelve it will be safest to hold, that the stones in the breast-plate of the words Urim and Thummim' meant high-priest, and that in them he only the divine virtue and power, did read the answer. But as Dr.

Prideaux 20

In battel, though against thy few in arins.
These God-like virtues wherefore dost thou hide,
Affecting private life, or more obscure
In savage wilderness? wherefore deprive
All earth her wonder at thy acts, thyself
The fame and glory, glory the reward

25
That sole excites to high attempts, the flame
Of moft erected spi'rits, most temper'd pure
Ethereal, who all pleasures else despise,

All

Prideaux says, it appears plain which would be an alteration for
from Scripture, that when the the worse, the commendation in
high-priest appeared before the veil this place not being of his skill in
to ask counsel of God, the answer general, but of his skill of conduct in
was given him by an audible voice particular.
from the mercy seat, which was 25. – glory the reward,]. Our

-
within behind the veil.

Saviour having withstood the al

lurement of riches, Satan attacks or tongue of seers old Infallible:

him in the next place with the

charms of glory. I have sometimes The poet by mentioning this after thought, that Milton might possiUrim and Thummim seems to allude bly take the hint of thus connectto another opinion of the Jews, ing these two temptations from that the Holy Spirit spake to the Spenser, who in his second book children of Israel during the ta- of the Faery Queen representing bernacle by Urim and Thummim, the virtue of temperance under the and under the first temple by the character of Guyon, and leading prophets. See Prideaux Connect. him through various trials of his Part I. Book III.

constancy, brings him to the house

thy skill of riches or Mammor's delive as he Of conduct would be such,] The terms it, and immediately after it meaning is, thy skill in conducting to the palace of glory, which he an army would be such, that &c: describes in his allegorical manner so that there is no occafion for under the figure of a beautiful woreading, as Mr. Meadowcourt has man call'd Philotimè. Thyer. proposed, thy skill And conduci, 27. Of moft erceted spirits,j The

author

17.

H4

All treasures and all gain esteem as dross,
And dignities and pow’rs all but the highest?

30
Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe; the fon
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 35
The Pontic king, and in triumph had rode.

Yet

authcr here remembered Cicero. Spain, and was only between 28 Pro Archia. Trahimur omnes laudis and 29, when he was chosen conftudio, et optimus quisque maxime ful before the usual time, and gloria ducitur. De Off. I. 8. In transferred the war into Africa. maximis animis splendidiffimisque Young Pompey quell’d the Pontic king, ingeniis plurumque exfiftunt ho- and in triumph had rode. In this innoris, imperii, potentiæ, gloriæ stance our author is not so exact as cupiditates.

in the rest, for when Pompey was 31. Thy years are ripe, and over- fent to command the war in Afia

ripe ;] Our Saviour's tempta- against Mithridates king of Pon. tion was Toon after his baptism, tus, he was above 40, but had ligand he was baptized when he was nalized himself by many extraorabout thirty years of age. Luke III. dinary actions in his younger years, 23. And the son of Macedonian and had obtained the honor of two Philip, Alexander the great, had triumphs before that time. Pomere thesê, before these years, won pey and Cicero were born in the Afia, and the throne of Cyrus, the same year; and the Manilian law, Persian empire founded by Cyrus, which gave the command in Afia held at his dispose; for Alexander to Pompey, was proposed when was but 20 when he began to reign, Cicero was in the 41st year of his and in a few years overturned the age. But no wonder that Milton Persian empire, and died in the was mistaken in point of time, 33d year of his age. Young Sci- when several of the Ancients were, pio had brought down the Carthagi- and Plutarch himself, who speaknian pride; for Scipio Africanus ing of Pompey's three memorable was no more than 24 years old, triumphs over the three parts of when he was sent proconsul into the world, his first over Africa, his

second

Yet

years, and to ripe years judgment mature, Quench not the thirst of glory, but augment. Great Julius, whom now all the world admires, The more he

grew

in
years,
the more inflam'd

40 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

TOIS

TET

second over Europe, and this last See Plutarch's Life of Cæfar. over Asia, says that as for his age, Others say, it was at the sight of those who affect to make the pa- an image of Alexander the greatrallel exact in all things betwixt animadversa apud Herculis temhim and Alexander the great, plum magni Alexandri imagine inwould not allow him to be quite gemuit; et quasi pertæsus igna34, whereas in truth at this time viam fuam, quod nihil dum à se he was near 40. tesco de Tote mu

memorabile actum effet in ætate (ως μεν οι κατα σανία τω Αλεξανδρω qua jain Alexander orbeim terrarum • τσαραβαλλοντες αυτον man aporeza fubegiffet, &c. Suetonii Jul. Cæs.

και ζούλες αξιεσ.) νεωτερο των τριακονία cap. 7: και τετταρων, αληθεια δε

4.4. Thou neither doft persuade me Tazazovia togoonyer, Plut. Vit. Pom- &c] How admirably does Milton peii.

in this fpeech expose the emptiness 41.--wept that he had liv'd so long and uncertainty of a popular cha

Inglorious:] Alluding to a story racter, and found true glory upon related of Julius Cæsar, that one its only sure bafis, the approbation day reading the history of Alex- of the God of truth? There is a ander, he fat a great while very remarkable dignity of sentiment thoughtful, and at last burit into runs quite through it, and I think tears, and his friends wondring at it will be no extravagance at all the reason of it, Do you not think, to affert, that he has comprised in faid he, I have just cause to weep, this short compass the substance when I consider that Alexander at and quintessence of a subject which my age had conquer'd so many has exercised the pens of the greatel nations, and I have all this time moralifts in all ages. done nothing that is memorable ?

Thyer.

The