With fruits and flow'rs from Amalthea's horn,
And Ladies of th' Hefperides, that seem'd
Fairer than feign'd of old, or fabl'd fince
Of Fairy Damfels met in foreft wide
By Knights of Logres, or of Lyones,

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Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore.

And all the while harmonious Airs were heard

Of chyming ftrings, or charming pipes; and winds
Of gentle ft gale Arabian odours fann'd

From their foft wings, and Flora's earliest smells.

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Such was the fplendor; and the Tempter now
His invitation earnestly renew'd.

What doubts the Son of God to fit and eat? Thefe are not fruits forbidden, no interdict Defends the touching of thefe Viands pure;

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Their tafte no knowledge works at least of evil,

But life preferves, deftroys life's enemy,

Hunger, with fweet reftorative delight.

All thefe are Spirits of Air, and Wood, and Springs,
Thy gentle Minilters, who come to pay

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Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord:

What doubt thou Son of God? fit down and eat.

To whom thus Jefus temp'rately reply'd:

Saidft thou not, that to all things I had right?

And who with-holds my pow'r that right to use?
Shall I receive by gift, what of my own,

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When and where likes me beft, I can command?
I can at will, doubt not, as foon as thou,
Command a Table in this Wilderness,
And call fwift flights of Angels ministrant
Array'd in Glory on my Cup t'attend..
Why shouldst thou then obtrude this diligence
In vain, where no acceptance it can find,
And with my hunger what hast thou to do?
Thy pompous Delicacies I contemn,

And count thy fpecious gifts no gifts, but guiles.

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Τα

To whom thus anfwer'd Satan malecontent:

That I have alfo pow'r to give, thou seeft;

If of that pow'r I bring thee voluntary

What I might have beflow'd on whom I pleas'd,
And rather opportunely in this place

Chofe to impart to thy apparent

need ;

Why shouldst thou not accept it? but I fee

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What I can do or offer is fufpect;

Of these things others quickly will difpofe,.

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Whofe pains have earn'd the far fetcht spoil. With that

Both Table and Provifions vanish'd quite

With found of Harpies wings, and Talons heard;

Only the importune Tempter ftill remain'd,

And with thefe Words his Temptation purfu'd.

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By hunger, that each other Creature tames,

Thou art not to be harm'd, therefore not mov'd;
Thy temperance invincible befides;

For no allurement yields to appetite:

And all thy heart is fet on high defigns,

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High actions; but wherewith to be atchiev'd?

Great acts require great means of enterprise.

Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of Birth,`

A Carpenter thy Father known, thy felf

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Bred up in poverty and ftreights at home,
Loft in a Defart here, and hunger-bit: "
Which way, or from what hope doft thou afpire
To greatness? whence Authority deriv❜st?
What Followers, what Retinue can't thou gain,
Or at thy heels the dizzy Multitude,

Longer than thou canst feed them on thy coft?

Mony brings Honour, Friends, Conquest and Realms.
What rais'd Antipater the Edomite,

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And his Son Herod plac'd on Judah's Throne,

Thy Throne, but Gold that got him puiffant Friends?

Therefore, if at great things thou would'st arrive,
Get Riches firft, get Wealth, and Treasure heap,
Not difficult, if thou hearken to me:

Riches are mine, Fortune is in my hand;

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They

They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain,
While Virtue, Valour, Wisdom fit and want.

To whom thus Jefus patiently reply'd :
Yet Wealth without these three is impotent
To gain dominion, or to keep it gain'd;
Witness thofe antient Empires of the Earth,
In height of all their flowing wealths diffolv'd:
But men endu'd with thefe, have oft attain'd
In lowest poverty to highest deeds;

Gideon and Jephtha, and the Shepherd Lad,
Whofe Off spring on the Throne of Judah fat
So many Ages, and fhall yet regain

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That Seat, and reign in Ifrael without end.
Among the Heathen, (for throughout the World
To me is not unknown what hath been done

Worthy Memorial) canft thou not remember

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Quintus, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?

For I esteem those names of men fo poor,

Who could do mighty things, and could contemn

Riches, though offer'd from the hand of Kings.

And what in me feems wanting, but that I

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May alfo in this poverty as foon.

Accomplish what they did, perhaps and more?

Extol not Riches then, the toyl of Fools,

The wife man's cumbrance, if not fnare, more apt
To flacken Virtue, and abate her edge,

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Than prompt her to do aught may merit praife.

What if with like averfion I reject

Riches and Realms? yet not, for that a Crown,

Golden in fhew, is but a wreath of thorns,

Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights

To him who wears the Regal Diadem,

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When on his fhoulders eich man's burden lies:`
For therein ftands the Office of a King,
His Honour, Virtue, Merit and chief Praife,
That for the Publick all this weight he bears.
Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules
Paffions, Defires, and Fears, is more a King;

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Which

Which ev'ry wife and virtuous man attains:
And who attains not, ill afpires to rule
Cities of men or head-ftrong multitudes,
Subject himself to Anarchy within,

Or lawless Paffions in him, which he ferves.
But to guide Nations in the way of truth
By faving Doctrine, and from error lead
To know, and knowing worship God aright,
Is yet more Kingly; this attracts the Soul,
Governs the inner man, the nobler part:
That other o'er the body only reigns;
And oft by force, which to a gen'rous mind.
So reigning, can be no fincere delight.
Befides, to give a Kingdom hath been thought
Greater and nobler done, and to lay down
Far more magnanimous, than to affume.
Riches are needlefs, then, both for themselves,
And for thy reason why they should be fought,
To gain a Scepter, ofteft better miss'd.

The End of the Second Book.

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