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Action, or to fill up little Intervals of Difcourfe, I can bear with them; but then they must not use it when ' another is fpeaking, who ought to be heard with too much refpect, to admit of offering at that time from hand to hand the Snuff-Box. But Flavilla is fo far taken ' with her Behaviour in this kind, that the pulls out her Box (which is indeed full of good Brazile) in the mid'dle of the Sermon; and to shew she has the Audacity of C a well-bred Woman, fhe offers it the Men as well as 'the Women who fit near her: But fince by this Time all 'the World knows fhe has a fine Hand, I am in hopes ' she may give her self no further trouble in this matter. 'On Sunday was fevennight, when they came about for the Offering, fhe gave her Charity with a very good Air, but at the fame Time asked the Church-warden if he 'would take a Pinch. Pray, Sir, think of these things in time, and you will oblige,

T

Sir, your most humble Servant.

N° 345. Saturday, April 5.

Sanctius his animal, mentifque capacius alta
Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in catera poffet,
Natus homo eft

T

Ov. Mes

HE Accounts which Raphael gives of the Battel of Angels, and the Creation of the World, have in them thofe Qualifications which the Criticks judge requifite to an Episode. They are nearly related to the principal Action, and have a just Connection with the Fable.

THE eighth Book opens with a beautiful Defcription of the Impreffion which this Difcourfe of the Archangel made on our first Parent. Adam afterwards, by a very natural Curiofity, enquires concerning the Motions of thofe Celeftial Bodies which make the moft glorious Appearance a

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mong

mong the fix days Works. The Poet here, with a great deal of Art, represents Eve as withdrawing from this part of their Converfation, to Amusements more fuitable to her Sex. He well knew, that the Episode in this Book, which is filled with Adam's Account of his Paffion and Esteem for Eve, would have been improper for her hearing, and has therefore devised very juft and beautiful Reasons for her retiring.

Se fpake our Sire, and by his Count'nance feem'd
Entring on fludious Thoughts abftrufe: which Eve
Perceiving, where fhe fat retired in fight,
With Lowlinefs majestick, from her Seat,
And Grace, that won whe saw to wish her Stay,
Rofe ; and went forth among her Fruits and Flower
To vifit how they profper'd. Bud and Bloom,
Her Nursery: they at her coming fprung,
And touch'd by her fair Tendance gladlier grew.
Yet went fhe not, as not with fuch Difcourfe
Delighted, or nor capable her Ear

Of what was high: Such Pleasure fhe reserved,
Adam relating, fhe fole Auditrefs;
Her Husband the Relater he preferr'd
Before the Angel, and of him to ask
Chofe rather: he, she knew, would intermix
Grateful Digreffions, and folve high Difpute
With conjugal Careffes; from his Lip

Not Words alone pleas'd her. O when meet now
Such Pairs, in Love and mutual Honour join'd!

THE Angel's returning a doubtful Answer to Adam's Enquiries, was not only proper for the moral Reafon which the Poet affigns, but because it would have been highly abfurd to have given the Sanction of an Archangel to any particular Syftem of Philofophy. The chief Points in the Ptolemaick and Copernican Hypothefis are defcribed with great Concifenefs and Perfpicuity, and at the fame time dreffed in very pleafing and poetical Images.

ADAM, to detain the Angel, enters afterwards upon his own Hiftory, and relates to him the Circumstances in

which

which he found himself upon his Creation; as alfo his Converfation with his Maker, and first meeting with Eve There is no part of the Poem more apt to raise the Attention of the Reader, than this Difcourfe of our great Anceftor; as nothing can be more furprizing and delightful to us, than to hear the Sentiments that arofe in the firft Man while he was yet new and fresh from the Hands of his Creator. The Poet has interwoven every thing which is delivered upon this Subject in Holy Writ with fo many beautiful Imaginations of his own, that nothing can be conceived more just and natural than this whole Episode. As our Author knew this Subject could not but be agreeable to his Reader, he would not throw it into the Relation of the fix days Works, but referved it for a diftinct Episode, that he might have an opportunity of expatiating upon it more at large. Before I enter on this part of the Poem, I cannot but take notice of two fhining Paffages in the Dialogue between Adam and the Angel. The firft is that wherein our Anceltor gives an account of the pleasure he took in converfing with him, which contains a very no~

ble Moral.

For while I fit with thee, I feem in Heav'n,
And fweeter thy Difcourfe is to my Ear
Than Fruits of Palm-tree (pleafanteft to Thirst
And Hunger both from Labour) at the hour
Of fweet Bepaft: they fatiate, and foon fil,
Tho' pleasant; but thy Words with Grace divine
Imbu'd, bring to their Sweetness no Satiety.

THE other I fhall mention, is that in which the Angel gives a reason why he fhould be glad to hear the Story Adam was about to relate.

For I that day was abfent, as befel,

Bound on a Voyage uncouth and obfcure;
Far on Excursion towards the Gates of Hell,

Squar'd in full Legion (fuch Command we had );
To fee that none thence iffued forth a Spy,
Or Enemy, while God was in his Work,

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Left

Left he, incens'd at fuch Eruption bold,
Deftruction with Creation might have mix'd.

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THERE is no queftion but our Poet drew the Image in what follows from that in Virgil's fixth Book, where Eneas and the Sibyl ftand before the Adamantine Gates, which are there defcrib'd as fhut upon the Place of Torments, and liften to the Groans, the Clank of Chains, and the Noife of Iron Whips, that were heard in those Regions of Pain and Sorrow.

Faft we found, faft shut

The difmal Gates, and barricado'd ftrong;
But long ere our Approaching heard within
Noife, other than the Sound of Dance or Song,
Torment, and loud Lament, and furious Rage.

ADAM then proceeds to give an account of his Condition and Sentiments immediately after his Creation. How agreeably does he reprefent the Pofture in which he found himself, the beautiful Landskip that furrounded him, and the Gladness of Heart which grew up in him on that

occafion?

As new waked from foundest Sleep,

Soft on the flow'ry Herb 1 found me laid
In balmy Sweat, which with his Beams the Sun
Soon dried, and on the reaking Moisture fed.
Streight towards Heav'n my wond'ring Eyes I turn'd.
And gaz'd awhile the ample Sky, till rais'd
By quick inftinctive Motion, up I fprung,
As thitherward endeavouring, and upright
Stood on my Feet: About me round I faw
Hill, Dale, and fhady Woods, and funny Plains,
And liquid Lapfe of murmuring Streams; by thefe
Creatures that liv'd, and mov'd, and walk'd, or flew,
Birds on the Branches warbling; all things fmil'd:
With Fragrance, and with foy my Heart o'erflow'd.

AD AM is afterwards defcrib'd as furprized at his own Existence, and taking a furvey of himself, and of all the Works

Works of Nature. He likewife is reprefented as difcovering by the Light of Reason, that he and every thing about him must have been the Effect of fome Being infinitely good and powerful, and that this Being had a right tohis Worship and Adoration. His firft Addrefs to the Sun,

and to thofe Parts of the Creation which made the most diftinguished Figure, is very natural and amufing to the Imagination.

-Thou Sun, faid I, fair Light,

And thou enlightened Earth, fo fresh and gay,
Ye Hills and Dales, ye Rivers, Woods and Plains,
And ye that live and move, fair Creatures tell,
Tell if you faw, how came I thus, how here?

HIS next Sentiment, when upon his firft going to fleep he fancies himself lofing his Existence, and falling away into nothing, can never be fufficiently admired. His Dream, in which he still preferves the Consciousness of his Existence, together with his Removal into the Garden which was prepared for his Reception, are alfo Circumftances finely imagined, and grounded upon what is delivered in Sacred Story.

THESE and the like wonderful Incidents in this Part of the Work, have in them all the Beauties of Novelty, at the fame time that they have all the Graces of Nature. They are fuch as none but a great Genius could have thought of, tho', upon the perufal of them, they seem to rife of themselves from the Subject of which he treats. In a word, tho' they are natural, they are not obvious, which is the true Character of all fine Writing.

THE Impreffion which the Interdiction of the Tree of Life left in the Mind of our firft Parent, is described with great Strength and Judgment; as the Image of the feveral Beafts and Birds paffing in review before him iş very beautiful and lively.

Each Bird and Beast behold

Approaching two and two, thefe cowring low

With Blandifhment; each Bird ftoop'd on his Wing:
I nam'd them as they pass'd-

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ADAM,

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