771

Attended with ten thousand thoufand Saints,
He onward came; far off his coming fhone;
And twenty thousand (I their number heard)
Chariots of God, half on each hand, were feen;
He on the wings of Cherub rode fublime
On the crystalline sky, in sapphire thron'd,
Illuftrious far and wide; but by his own
First seen: Them unexpected joy furpris'd,
When the great enfign of Meffiah blaz'd
Aloft by Angels borne, his fign in Heaven;
Under whofe conduct Michael foon reduc'd
His army, circumfus'd on either wing,

Under their Head imbodied all in one.

775

Before him Power Divine his way prepar'd; 780

at the court-gate to flaughtering in the field; his diforderly bickering into an orderly invading." TODD.

Ver. 767. Attended with ten thousand thoufand Saints, &c.] See S. Jude, 14. "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints." Pfalm lxviii. 17. "The chariots of God are twenty thoufand." Rev. vii. 4. "I heard the number of them." Let it be remarked how much of his fublimity, even in the fublimeft part of his works, Milton owes to Scripture. NEWTON.

Ver. 771. He on the wings of Cherub rode] See Pfalm xviii. 10. "He rode upon a Cherub &c." GREENWOOD.

Ver. 776.

probably. GREENWOOD.

his fign] The fign of the cross

Matt. xxiv. 30. "Then fhall appear the fign of the Son of Man in Heaven."

GILLIES.

Ver. 779. Under their Head] See Rom. xii. 5. "We, being many, are one body in Chrift." And Col. i. 18. "He is the Head of the body." GREENWOOD,

At his command the uprooted hills retir'd
Each to his place; they heard his voice, and went
Obfequious; Heaven his wonted face renew'd,
And with fresh flowerets hill and valley fmil'd.
This faw his hapless foes, but stood obdur'd, 785
And to rebellious fight rallied their Powers,
Infenfate, hope conceiving from defpair.
In heavenly Spirits could fuch perverfeness dwell?
But to convince the proud what signs avail,
Or wonders move the obdurate to relent?
They, harden'd more by what might moft re-
claim,

Grieving to see his glory, at the fight
Took envy; and, afpiring to his highth,
Stood re-embattled fierce, by force or fraud

790

Ver. 781. At his command &c.] We frequently read in the Scriptures of hills and mountains trembling, and moving, at the prefence or the command of the Lord: But it is generally, if not always, mentioned as the effect or proof of his high displeasure. Here the poet lays hold of the fame thought, and applies it as an inftance of his great goodness, to renew the wonted face of Heaven. GREENWOOD.

Ver. 787. hope conceiving from despair.] Imitated from Virgil, En. ii. 354. “Una falus victis, nullam fperare falutem." Or rather from Quintus Curtius, lib. v. cap. iv. "Ignaviam quoque neceffitas acuit, et fæpe defperatio fpei causa est.”

NEWTON.

Ver. 788. In heavenly Spirits could fuch perverseness dwell?] Virgil, En. i. 11.

Ver. 791.

"tantæne animis cœleftibus iræ ?" HUME.

harden'd more by what might most reclaim,] As Pharaoh was, Exod. xiv, HUME.

Weening to profper, and at length prevail 795 Againft God and Meffiah, or to fall

In univerfal ruin laft; and now

To final battle drew, difdaining flight,

Or faint retreat; when the great Son of God
To all his hoft on either hand thus fpake.

800

805

Stand stillin bright array, ye Saints; here stand, Ye Angels arm'd; this day from battle reft: Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause; And as ye have receiv'd, fo have ye done, Invincibly: But of this curfed crew The punishment to other hand belongs; Vengeance is his, or whofe he fole appoints: Number to this day's work is not ordain'd, Nor multitude; ftand only, and behold God's indignation on these godless pour'd By me; not you, but me, they have defpis'd, Yet envied; against me is all their rage,

Ver. 797.

810

laft;] Dr. Bentley reads loft, but without any reafon affigned for the alteration. Dr. Newton inclines, however, to admit this reading, or to confider last as at laft. It is remarkable, that Dr. Newton should not have looked. into Tickell's edition, where the alteration loft appears; from which Bentley filently adopted it. TODD.

Ver. 801. Stand ftill &c.] As in Exod. xiv. 13, 14. "Stand ftill, and fee the falvation of the Lord, which he will show you to-day.-The Lord fhall fight for you, and ye fhall hold your peace." GILLIES.

Ver. 808. Vengeance is his,] See Deut. xxxii. 35. "To me belongeth vengeance." And Rom. xii. 19. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, faith the Lord." NEWTON.

820

Because the Father, to whom in Heaven fupreme
Kingdom, and power, and glory appertains, 815
Hath honour'd me, according to his will.
Therefore to me their doom he hath affign'd;
That they may have their wish, to try with me
In battle which the stronger proves; they all,
Or I alone against them; fince by strength
They measure all, of other excellence
Not emulous, nor care who them excels;
Nor other ftrife with them do I vouchsafe.
So fpake the Son, and into terrour chang'd
His countenance too fevere to be beheld,
And full of wrath bent on his enemies.
At once the Four spread out their starry wings
With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs
Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the found
Of torrent floods, or of a numerous hoft.
He on his impious foes right onward drove,
Gloomy as night; under his burning wheels

825

830

Ver. 826. And full of wrath bent on his enemies.] Dr. Bentley is for rejecting this verfe as mean and fuperfluous. The fenfe is, He chang'd his countenance into terrour, and bent it so chang'd and full of wrath upon his encmies; and I cannot fee how this is either mean or fuperfluous. Or rather bent may be a participle in this conftruction-his countenance too fevere to be beheld, and bent full of wrath on his enemies. NEWTON.

Ver. 827. At once the Four &c.] Whenever he mentions the four Cherubim, and the Meffiah's chariot, he still copies from Ezekiel's vifion. See ch. i. 9, 19, 24. NEWTON.

Ver. 832. Gloomy as night;] From Homer, Iliad xii. 462, where the tranflator ufes Milton's words:

Νυκτὶ ποῇ ἀτάλαλος υπώπια

835

The ftedfaft empyréan fhook throughout,
All but the throne itself of God. Full foon
Among them he arriv'd; in his right hand
Grafping ten thousand thunders, which he sent
Before him, fuch as in their fouls infix'd
Plagues: They, aftonish'd, all refiftance loft,
All courage; down their idle weapons dropt:
O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rode

A fimilar expreffion, translated in these words of Milton, is alfo in Ody. xi. 605. NEWTON.

Ver. 832.

under his burning wheels

The ftedfaft empyréan fhook throughout,] Job xxvi. 11. "The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof." HUME.

This fublime paffage owes part of its magnificence to another facred defcription, Daniel, vii. 9, of the Ancient of Days. "His throne was as the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire." Milton's diction is here superiour even to Hefiod's celebrated lines, Theog. v. 841.

Ποσσὶ δ ̓ ὑπ' ἀθανάτοισι μέγας πολεμίζετε Όλυμπος
Ορυμένοιο ἄνακτος· ἐπεςενάχιζε δὲ γαῖα.

The majefty of the exception, which Milton adds, affords to the whole paffage a folemnity unparalleled, and inimitable:

"under his burning wheels

"The ftedfaft empyréan fhook throughout,

"All BUT the throne itself of God."

Mr. Dunfter adds Pindar, Nem. Od. vi. 6.

Ὁ δὲ χάλκεος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεὶ ἕδος

μένει ὐρανός. TODD.