Hath brought me from the quires of Cherubim
Alone thus wand'ring. Brightest Seraph, tell
In which of all these shining orbs hath Man
His fixed feat, or fixed feat hath none,

But all these shining orbs his choice to dwell; 670 find him, and with fecret gaze

That I may

Or

open admiration him behold,

On whom the great Creator hath bestow'd

Worlds, and on whom hath all these graces pour'd;

That both in him and all things, as is meet,

675

The universal Maker we may praise;

Who juftly hath driv'n out his rebel foes
To deepest Hell, and to repair that loss
Created this new happy race of Men
To ferve him better: wife are all his
So fpake the false diffembler unperceiv'd;

reads and favorite whom, and fays that Man his chief favor is not Englifh. But, as Dr. Pearce replies, by favor furely may be meant the object of his favor; as by delight is plainly meant not his delight itfelf, but the object of his delight. And as Mr. Upton obferves, it is only using the abstract for the concrete. So Terence ufes fcelus for fceleftus, Andria, Act. V. Scelus

ways.

680

For

For neither Man nor Angel can difcern

Hypocrify, the only' evil that walks

Invifible, except to God alone,

684

By his permiffive will, through Heav'n and Earth: And oft though wisdom wake, fufpicion fleeps

At wisdom's gate, and to fimplicity

Refigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill
Where no ill feems: Which now for once beguil'd
Uriel, though regent of the fun, and held

The sharpeft fighted Spirit of all in Heaven;
Who to the fraudulent impoftor foul
In his uprightness answer thus return'd.

Fair Angel, thy defire which tends to know
The works of God, thereby to glorify
The great Work-Mafter, leads to no excefs
That reaches blame, but rather merits praise

683. Hypocrify, &c.] What is faid here of hypocrify is cenfur'd as a digreffion, but it feems no more than is abfolutely neceffary; for otherwise it might be thought very ftrange, that the evil Spirit fhould pafs undiscover'd by the ArchAngel Uriel, the regent of the fun, and the sharpeft-fighted Spirit in Heaven, and therefore the poet endevors to account for it by Taying, that hypocrify cannot be difcern'd by Man or Angel, it is invi

695

The more it seems excess, that led thee hither
From thy empyreal manfion thus alone,

705

To witness with thine eyes what fome perhaps 700
Contented with report hear only' in Heaven:
For wonderful indeed are all his works,
Pleasant to know, and worthieft to be all
Had in remembrance always with delight;
But what created mind can comprehend
Their number, or the wisdom infinite
That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep?
I faw when at his word the formless mass,
This world's material mold, came to a heap:
Confufion heard his voice, and wild uproar
Stood rul'd, ftood vaft infinitude confin'd;
Till at his second bidding darkness fled,
Light fhone, and order from diforder sprung:

poetically exprefs'd, in the whole poem. What great art has the poet Thown in taking off the dryhefs of a mere moral fentence by throwing it into the form of a fhort and beautiful allegory! Thyer.

694. Fair Angel, &c.] In the anfwer which this Angel returns to the difguis'd evil Spirit, there is fuch a becoming majefty as is altogether fuitable to a fuperior being. The part of it, in which he reprefents himfelf as prefent at the cre

710

Swift

Swift to their several quarters hafted then

The cumbrous elements, earth, flood, air, fire; 715
And this ethereal quinteffence of Heaven
Flew upward, fpirited with various forms,
That roll'd orbicular, and turn'd to stars
Numberlefs, as thou feeft, and how they move;
Each had his place appointed, each his course;
The reft in circuit walls this universe.

720

Look downward on that globe, whose hither fide
With light from hence, though but reflected, shines;
That place is Earth the feat of Man, that light-
His day, which else as th' other hemisphere
Night would invade; but there the neighb'ring

moon

Tas, which Tully renders in Latin thus, Id ex inordinato in ordinem adduxit. Cicero de Univ. So alfo Philo the Jew after his mafter Plato, Exe♪n yap TV 801αν ατακτον και συγκεχυμένην ουσαν εις ταξιν εξ αταξίας, και εκ συγχύσεως εις διακείσιν αγων ὁ κοσμοπλατης, κοσμείν ήρξατο. It would be no fmall pleasure to the curious reader to compare Uriel's account of the creation with that in Plato's Timæus. This inftance plainly fhows that Milton had that in his eye. Thyer.

715. The cumbrous elements,] Even

725

(So

air and fire are fo in comparison of the ethereal quinteffence, celestial fire, or pure fpirit. Richardfan.

716. And this ethereal quintel

fence of Heaven] The four elements hafted to their quarters, but this fifth effence few upward. It fhould be this, as it is in Milton's own editions: and not the ethereal quintessence, as it is in Bentley's, Fenton's, and fome other editions. For the Angel who speaks is in the fun, and therefore fays this, as the fun was a part of this ethereal quinteffence. And this notion our author borrow'd from

(So call that oppofit fair star) her aid

730

Timely' interposes, and her monthly round
Still ending, ftill renewing, through mid Heaven,
With borrow'd light her countenance triform
Hence fills and empties to inlighten th' Earth,
And in her pale dominion checks the night.
That spot to which I point is Paradise,
Adam's abode, thofe lofty fhades his bower.
Thy way thou canst not miss, me mine requires. 735
Thus faid, he turn'd; and Satan bowing low,

As to fuperior Spirits is wont in Heaven,
Where honor due and reverence none neglects,
Took leave, and tow'ard the coast of earth beneath,
Down from th' ecliptic, fped with hop'd fuccess, 740

from Ariftotle and others of the ancient philofophers, who fuppofed that befides the four elements there was likewise an ethereal quinteffence or fifth effence, out of which the ftars and Heavens were formed, and its motion was orbicular: eva δε παρα τα τεσσαρα τοιχεία, και άλλο πεμπτον, εξ έ τα αιθερια συνεςαναι αλλοιαν δι' αυτό την κινησιν είναι, κυκλοφορικήν γαρ: which are the very words of Diogenes Laertius in his life of Ariftotle; and it would be eafy to make a parade of learning and multiply quotations, but this is auVOL. I.

Throws

thority fufficient to juftify our author.

These stars are numberless, as thou feft, (fays the Angel) and feeft how they move; and the reft of this fifth effence that is not formed into stars surrounds and like a wall inclofes the universe. Lucret. V. 470.

Et latè diffufus in omnes undique partes

Omnia fic avido complexu cætera fepfit.

730. her countenance triform] Increafing with horns towards the eaft, decreafing with horns towards the weft, and at the full. Bb

741.

-in