Happiest both to thyfelf and all the world, 225 That thou who worthieft art should'st be their king? 230 235 Short fojourn; and what thence couldst thou observe? The wifeft, unexperienc'd, will be ever But I will bring thee where thou soon shalt quit 240 245 The monarchies of th' earth, their pomp and state, Sufficient introduction to inform Thee, of thyself fo apt, in regal arts, And regal myfteries, that thou may'st know How beft their oppofition to withstand. 250 With that (fuch pow'r was giv'n him then) he took The Son of God up to a mountain high. It was a mountain at whofe verdant feet we ought to have fome better authority than conjecture. 242. As he who seeking affes found a kingdom] Saul, who feeking his father's loft affes, came to Samuel, and by him was anointed king. The ftory is related in 1 Sam. IX. 253. It was a mountain &c.] All that the Scripture faith, is that the Devil took our Saviour up into a high mountain, Luke IV. 5. an exceeding high mountain, Mat. IV. 8. Lay and commentators generally fuppofe it to be one of the mountains in the neighbourhood of Jerufalem, Jerufalem being furrounded by mountains, or fome mountain near the wilderness, near the place where our Saviour was tempted. The Ancients speak little concerning it, but the Moderns conceive it to be the mountain Quarantania, as it is now call'd. That ingenious traveller, Mr. Maundrel, in his Journey from Aleppo to Jeru falem, Lay pleasant; from his fide two rivers flow'd, 255 Th' one winding, th' other strait, and left between Fair champain with lefs rivers intervein'd, 1 259 Then meeting join'd their tribute to the sea: 66 falem, mentioning the plain of Jericho, fays that (Mar. 29.) we "defcended into it, after about "five hours march from Jerufa"lem. As foon as we enter'd the plain, we turned up on the left hand, and going about one hour "that way, came to the foot of "the Quarantania; which they "fay is the mountain into which "the Devil took our bleffed Sa"viour, when he tempted him "with that vifionary scene of all "the kingdoms and glories of the "world. It is, as St. Matthew "ftiles it, an 'exceeding high « mountain, and in its afcent not « only difficult but dangerous.” But this is all conjecture, for the Scripture has not fpecified any particular place, and the Scripture having not afcertain'd the place, the poet was at liberty to choose any mountain, that beft fuited his fancy, for the scene of this vifion. And accordingly he fuppofes the Devil (Juch pow'r was giv'n him then) to carry our Saviour many a The league up to a high mountain, of which he forbears to mention the name out of reverence to the Scripture, which hath likewife mention'd no name; but by his defcription of it he must mean mount Taurus, as Mr. Thyer and Mr. Calton have concurred with me in obferving; for he describes it exactly in the fame manner as Strabo has defcribed that part of mount Taurus, which divides the greater Armenia from Mefopotamia, and contains the fources of the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Strabo Lib. XI. p. 521. Edit. Amftel. Το δ' εν νοτιωτατον (βορειοτατον) μας λισα εσιν ὁ Ταυρος ορίζων την Αρμενιαν απο της Μεσοποταμίας. Εντευθεν δ ̓ αμφότεροι έπωσιν οἱ την Μεσοποταμιαν εκυκλωμένοι ποταμοι, και συναπίονίες αλληλοις είγυς κατα την Βαβυλωνιαν, είτα εκδιδοντες εις την κατα Πέρσας θαλατίαν, ὁ τε Ευφράτης, και ο Τίγρις. And the courfe of the rivers is defcribed in the fame manner by Strabo, the Euphrates winding, and the Tigris frait and fwift as ал The prospect was, that here and there was room 264 To this high mountain top the Tempter brought Well have we fpeeded, and o'er hill and dale, an arrow. Ετι δε μείζων ὁ Ευφράτης και πλείω διέξεισι χωραν, (κολιῳ τῷ ῥεῖθρῳ. κ. τ. λ. Dionyfius, and other ancient Geographers give us much the fame defcription: of the Euphrates, he fays ver. 797. Edit. Wells. Ὃς δητοι πρωτα μεν ἀπ' ερεθ Μακρά επι νοτον εισι, παλιν δ' Αυτην ηελίοιο, κ. τ. λ. and for the fame reafon, as Lloyd has remarked in his Dictionary, it is called vagus Euphrates by Statius, and flexuofus by Martianus Capella. Of the Tigris Dionyfius fays Τον δε μετ' εις αυγας, ποταμών ωκίς απαντών Τιγρις εὐρρείης Φερέλας, κ. τ. λ. And indeed we need only look into the map to be fatisfied, that the course of these rivers answers to the defcription here given, and 270 Araxes that afterwards they unite their ftreams, and fall together into the Perfan gulf. And as to the fertility of the country, Milton copies after Dionyfius, but contracts his defcription. Ου μεν τον κείνης γε νομάς ωνισσαίο βατης, Ουδ' όσις Ουριο κερώνυχα Πανα γεραίρων, Μηλοις αγραυλοισιν εφέσπεται· εδε μεν ύλην Παντοιην φιλοεργος ανήρ αθερισσαίο καρπων. Τοιη επι κείνης αροσις τελεί, εν μεν αίξειν Ποιην, εν δε νομες ευανθέας, κ. τ. λ. 261. Huge cities and high towr'd,] So alfo in the L'Allegro, Towred cities please us then. Turrita urbes is very common amongst the Latin poets. Thyer. 269. here thou behold'ft Affyria and her empire's ancient bounds,] A fitter fpot could not Araxes and the Cafpian lake, thence on not have been chofen to take a view of the Affyrian empire and its ancient bounds, the river Araxes and the Cafpian lake to the north, the river Indus to the eaft, the river Euphrates to the weft, and oft beyond, as far as to the Mediterranean, and to the fouth the Perfian bay, and the deferts of Arabia. 275. Here Nineveh, &c.] This city was fituated on the Tigris, of length, as Mr. Sympfon fays he means of circuit, within her wall feveral days journey, and according to Diodorus Siculus Lib. II. its circuit was 60 of our miles, and in Jonah III. 3. it is faid to be an exceeding great city of three days journey, 20 miles being the common computation of a day's journey for a foot-traveler built by Ninus old, and after him the city is faid to be called Nineveh; of that first golden monarchy the feat, a capital city of the Affyrian empire, which the poet ftiles golden monarchy, probably in allufion to the golden head of 275 Ifrael the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the four empires; and feat of Salmanaffar, who in the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah carried the ten tribes captive into Affyria 721 years before Chrift, fo that it might now be properly called a long captivity. 280. There Babylon, &c.] As Nineveh was fituated on the river Tigris, fo was Babylon on the river Euphrates; the wonder of all tongues, for it is reckon'd among the feven wonders of the world; as ancient as Nineveh, for fome fay it was built by Belus, and others by Semiramis, the one the father, and the other the wife, of Ninus who built Nineveh ; but rebuilt by him, whoever built it, it was rebuilt, and inlarged, and beautify'd, and made one of the wonders of the world by Nebuchadnezzar, (Is not this great Babylon that I have built &c. Dan. IV. 30.) who twice Judah led captive, in the reign of Jehoiachin 2 Kings XXIV. and eleven years after |