To him, their great dictator, whofe attempt
At first against mankind fo well had thriv'd
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march 115
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 coast of Jordan he directs
His easy steps, girded with fnaky wiles,

120

Ver. 113. To him, their great dictator,] 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 expedition on which he is going of the utmost 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 witnelling it, that Jefus being now baptized, ὑπέτρεψεν ἀπὸ Tỡ 'Iopðávy, returned from Jordan. NEWTON.

Ver. 120. His eafy steps,] In reference, (as Dr. Newton has obferved,) to the calmnefs 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 fpeech had faid,

Ibid.

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.

This being girt about with a girdle of fnakes, puts us in mind, fays Warburton, of the inftrument of the Fall. Surely this interpretation is a far-fought and groundlefs refinement; as is alfo the remark on ver. 310, of the wild beafts growing mild at our Saviour's appearance as a mark of the returning Paradifiacal state. Jos. WARTON.

Where he might likelieft find this new-declar'd,
This Man of men, attefted 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 fmiling spake.

Girded here feems ufed only in a metaphorical fenfe; as in Scripture the Chriftian, properly armed, is defcribed having his "loins GIRT about with truth," (Ephef. vi. 14.) "Girded with Snaky wiles" is equivalent to the "dolis inftru&tus" of Virgil, Eu. ii. 152. Thus alfo, in the beginning of the third Book of this poem, Satan is described,

"At length collecting all his ferpent wiles." DUNster.

Ver. 128.

1 the Paradife Loft, B. i, 794;

in full frequence] Thus, in

"A thoufand 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.

thus to Gabriel Smiling Spake.]

This

Ver. 129. fpeech is properly addreffed to Gabriel, among the Angels, as he feems to have been the Angel particularly employed in the em baffies and tranfactions relating to the Gospel. Gabriel was fent to inform Daniel of the famous prophecy of the feventy weeks; Gabriel notified the conception of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and of our bleffed Saviour to his Virgin Mother, The Jewish Rabbis fay that Michael was the minifter of severity, but Gabriel of mercy; accordingly our poet makes Gabriel the guardian angel of Paradife, and employs Michael to expel our first parents out of Paradife: and for the fame reason this speech is directed to Gabriel in particular. NEWTON,

Gabriel, this day by proof thou fhalt behold, 130 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

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

"E tra Dio quefti e l' anime migliori

"Interprete fedel, nuncio giocondo:

"Giù i decreti del ciel porta, ed al cielo

"Riporta dè mortali i preghi, e 'l zelo." DUNSTER. Ver. 129. fmiling Spake.] 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 consistory" of infernal Peers, it is faid,

"With looks aghaft and fad he thus befpake."

The benevolent Smile of the Deity is finely defcribed by Virgil, En. i. 254.

Ver. 130.

"Olli fubridens hominum fator atque Deorum, "Vultu, quo cœlum tempeftatéfque ferenat." DUNSTER. by proof] This is an allufion to the old trial by combat. The duel, or trial by combat, is defined by Fleta, Singularis pugna inter duos ad probandam veritatem litis, et qui vicit probate intelligitur." Thus, ver 11. "and brought'ft him thence

"By proof the undoubted Son of God."

And before, in the very opening of the poem :

"the Tempter foil'd,

"In all his wiles defeated and repuls'd:"

And the defart is called "his victorious field." DUNSTER.

Ver. 131. Thou and all Angels converfant on earth.

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

from the verfes attributed to Orpheus ;

"Αγγελοι, οισι μέμηλε βροτοῖς ὡς πάντα τελεῖται. NEWTON.

135

In Galilee, that the fhould bear a fon,
Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God;
Then told'ft her, doubting how these things
could be

To her a virgin, that on her should come

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

grown,

To fhow him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expofe
To Satan; let him tempt, and now affay
His utmost fubtlety, because he boasts

140

Ver. 137. Then told't her,] Milton fometimes, from a wish to comprefs, latinifes, fo as to obfcure and confufe his language confiderably.--The fenfe, which he intends here, is plainly Thou told't her, &c.; fo that toldt 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 fome other verb dependent on the fame pronoun. He has adopted the same 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, compressione 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 just before faid to his companions, ver. 100;

And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 145
Of his apoftafy: he might have learnt
Lefs overweening, fince he fail'd in Job,
Whofe conftant perfeverance overcame
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.

He now shall know I can produce a Man, 150
Of female feed, far abler to refift

All his folicitations, and at length

All his vaft force, and drive him back to Hell;
Winning, by conqueft, what the first Man loft,
By fallacy furpris'd. But first I mean
To exercife him in the wilderness;

There he fhall firft lay down the rudiments

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

Ver. 145.

66

155

THYER.

the throng

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

Of his adorers."

Of his apoftafy: i. e. of his apoftates. In the twelfth Book of the Paradife Loft, there is the fame figure of fpeech, where the Angel defcribes Abraham paffing over the Euphrates, followed

"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, primæ
"Clara rudimenta, et caftrorum dulce vocaret
Aufpicium" en DUNSTER.