115

To him, their great dictator, whose attempt
At first against mankind fo well had thriv'd
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march
From Hell's deep-vaulted den to dwell in light,
Regents, and potentates, and kings, yea Gods,
Of many a pleasant realm and province wide.
So to the coaft of Jordan he directs
His eafy steps, girded with fnaky wiles,

120

Ver. 113. To him, their great dilator,] Milton applies this title very properly to Satan in his prefent fituation; as the authority he is now vefted with is quite dictatorial, and the expe dition on which he is going of the utmoft confequence to the fallen Angels. THYER.

Ver. 119. to the coaft of Jordan] The wilderness, where our Saviour underwent his forty days temptation, was on the fame bank of Jordan where the baptifm of John was; St. Luke witneffing it, that Jefus being now baptized, iæéspe↓er áæò̟ T 'lopdare, returned from Jordan. NEWTON.

Ver. 120. His eafy fteps,] In reference, (as Dr. Newton has obferved,) to the calmness or eafinefs of his prefent expedition, compared with the danger and difficulty of his former one to ruin mankind. Accordingly Satan in the conclufion of his speech had faid,

Shall waft me;"

"a calmer voyage now

But eafy steps feem here alfo to include an intended contrast with a paffage in the first Book of the Paradife Loft, where Satan walks with his fpear

Ibid.

"to fupport uneasy steps

"Over the burning marle." Dunster.

girded with fnaky wiles,] Girded with fnaky wiles alludes to the habits of forcerers and necromancers, who are reprefented in fome prints as girded about the middle with the skins of fnakes and ferpents. NEWTON.

Where he might likelieft find this new-declar'd,
This Man of men, attested Son of God,
Temptation and all guile on him to try;
So to fubvert whom he fufpected rais'd
To end his reign on earth, fo long enjoy'd: 125
But, contrary, unweeting he fulfill'd

The purpos'd counfel, pre-ordain'd and fix'd,
Of the Moft High; who, in full frequence bright
Of Angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake.

But girded here feems used only in a metaphorical fense; as in Scripture the Chriftian, properly armed, is defcribed having his "lains GIRT about with truth," (Ephes. vi. 14.) “ Girded with fnaky wiles" is equivalent to the "dolis inftructus" of Virgil, Ez. ii. 152. Thus alfo, in the beginning of the third Book of this poem, Satan is defcribed,

"At length collecting all his ferpent wiles." DUNSTER, Ver. 128. in full frequence] Thus, in

the Paradife Loft, B. i. 794;

"A thousand demi-gods on golden feats,

"Frequent and full."

And he has the fame expreffion of full frequence, in the fecond Book of this poem, ver. 130. DUNSTER.

Ver. 129. thus to Gabriel Smiling Spake.] This fpeech is properly addreffed to Gabriel, among the Angels, as he feems to have been the Angel particularly employed in the embaffies and tranfactions relating to the Gofpel. Gabriel was fent to inform Daniel of the famous prophecy of the feventy weeks; Gabriel notified the conception of John the Baptift to his father Zacharias, and of our bleffed Saviour to his Virgin Mother. The Jewish Rabbis fay that Michael was the minifter of feverity, but Gabriel of mercy accordingly our poet makes Gabriel the guardian angel of Paradife, and employs Michael to expel our firft parents out of Paradife and for the fame reafon this speech is directed to Gabriel in particular. NEWTON,

Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, 139 Thou and all Angels converfant on earth With man or men's affairs, how I begin To verify that folemn meffage, late On which I fent thee to the Virgin pure In Galilee, that she should bear a fon,

135

Taffo, fpeaking of Gabriel, who is the Meffenger of the Deity to Godfrey, in the opening of the Gerufalemme Liberata, fays

Ibid.

E tra Dio quefti e l' anime migliori
İnterprete fedel, nuncio giocondo:
"Giù i decreti del ciel porta, ed al cielo

"Riporta dè mortali i preghi, e 'l zelo." DUNSTER. fmiling pake.] Smiling is here no cafual expletive. It is a word of infinitely fine effect, and is particularly meant to contraft the defcription of Satan, in the preceding part of the Book, where his "gloomy confiftory" of infernal Peers, it is faid,

"With looks aghaft and fad he thus befpake."

The benevolent fmile of the Deity is finely described by Virgil, En. i. 254.

"Olli fubridens hominum fator atque Deorum,

"Vultu, quo cælum tempeftatéfque Jerenat." DUNSTER.

Ver. 130.

by proof] This is an allufion to the old trial by combat. The duel, or trial by combat, is de. fined by Fleta, "Singularis pugna inter duos ad probandam veritatem litis, et qui vicit probasse intelligitur."

Thus in the opening of this poem;

-" and brought'ft him thence

"By proof the undoubted Son of God" DUNster.

Ver. 131. Thou and all Angels converfant on earth

With man or men's affairs,] This feems to be

taken from the verses attributed to Orpheus;

*Αγγελοι, οισι μέμηλε βροτοῖς ὡς πάντα τελεῖται. ΝεπTON,

Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God; Then told'st her, doubting how these things could be

To her a virgin, that on her should come

The Holy Ghost, and the power of the Highest O'erfhadow her. This Man, born and now up

grown,

140

To show him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expofe
To Satan; let him tempt, and now affay
His utmost subtlety, because he boasts
And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 145
Of his apoftafy he might have learnt

Ver. 137. Then told'ft her,] Milton fometimes, from a wish to comprefs, latinifes, fo as to obfcure and confuse his language confiderably. The fenfe, which he intends here, is plainly Thou told't her &c.; fo that told' is ufed here as equivalent to the Latin dixifti, with its pronominal nominative understood; but which our language pofitively requires to be expreffed, unless where the verb is connected by a conjunction with some other verb dependent on the fame pronoun. He has adopted the fame mode of writing in other places; particularly ver. 221, of this Book,

"Yet held it more humane, &c."

where the paffage is perfectly confufed for want of the pronoun I. See alfo ver. 85 of this Book.

We may in this refpect apply to our author what Cicero has faid of the ancient orators; "Grandes erant verbis, crebri fententiis, compreffione rerum breves, et ob eam ipfam caufam interdum fubobfcuri." Brutus, 29. Ed. Prouft. DUNSTER.

Ver. 144.

because he boafts

And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng Of his apoftafy:] This alludes to what Satan had juft bef re faid to his companions, ver. 100;

Less overweening, fince he fail'd in Job,
Whose constant perfeverance overcame
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
He now shall know I can produce a Man,
Of female feed, far abler to refift
All his folicitations, and at length

150

155

All his vaft force, and drive him back to Hell;
Winning, by conquest, what the first Man lost,
By fallacy furpris'd. But first I mean
To exercise him in the wilderness ;
There he shall first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I fend him forth

"I, when no other durft, fole undertook &c."

Ver. 145.

the throng

THYER.

Of his apoftafy:] Thus, Par. Loft, B, ix, 142;
-" and thinner left the throng

"Of his adorers”

Of his apoftafy: i. c. of his apoftates. In the twelfth Book of the Paradife Loft, there is the fame figure of speech, where the Angel describes Abraham paffing over the Euphrates, followed by

a cumbrous train

"Of flocks and herds, and numerous fervitude.”

Ver. 157.

DUNSTER,

the rudiments

Of his great warfare,] Virg. Æn. xi. 156.
"Primitiæ juvenis miferæ, bellique propinqui
"Dura rudimenta”-

And Statius, Sylv. v. ii. 3.

"Quod fi militiæ jam te, puer inclyte, prima
"Clara rudimenta, et caftrorum dulce vocaret
DUNSTER.

Aufpicium".