That all this good of evil shall produce, By me done and occasion'd or rejoice 470 475 Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring, To God more glory, more good will to men 480 From God, and over wrath grace shall abound. had so many other qualifications to recommend it, was deficient in this particular. It is here therefore that the poet has shewn a most exquisite judgment, as well as the finest invention, by finding out a method to supply this natural defect in his subject. Accordingly he leaves the adversary of mankind, in the last view which he gives us of him, under the lowest state of mortification and disappointment. We see him chewing ashes, grovelling in the dust, and loaden with supernumerary pains and torments. On the contrary our two first parents are comforted by dreams and visions, cheered with promises of salvation, and in a manner raised to a greater happiness, than that which they had forfeited: in short, Satan is represented miserable in the height of his triumphs, and Adam triumphant in the height of misery. Addison. 475. -or rejoice Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring,] He seems to have remembered that rant of one of the Fathers, O felix culpa, quæ talem ac tantum meruit habere redemptorem! O happy fault, which deserved to have such and so great a Redeemer! As in what follows, To God more glory, &c. he alludes to the heavenly hymn, Glory to God in the highest, &c. The promise of the Father, who shall dwell His Spirit within them, and the law of faith Working through love, upon their hearts shall write, Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts, Baptiz'd, shall them with wondrous gifts indue As did their Lord before them. Thus they win 487. The promise of the Father,] Luke xxiv. 49. And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you. 490. To guide them in all truth,] John xvi. 13. When the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. 490. and also arm Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts,] Alluding to Eph. vi. 11, &c. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand 490 495 500 505 against the wiles of the devilwherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 493. What man can do against them, not afraid, Though to the death,] So this passage is pointed in Milton's own editions, and I suppose the construction to be, Not afraid of what man can do against them though to the death, though it be persecution to death itself; and it is an allusion to Psal. lvi. 11. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. They die; but in their room, as they forewarn, 510 Then shall they seek to' avail themselves of names, 515 507. but in their room, as they forewarn, Wolves shall succeed &c.] So St. Paul had forewarned the elders of the church at Miletus, to which the author here alludes, Acts xx. 20. For 1 know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. See too his Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings out of the Christian Church. Vol. i. p. 563. edit. 1738. Not long after, as the Apostle foretold, hirelings like wolves came in by herds, &c. 514. Though not but by the Spirit understood.] I do not think Milton in all his writings ever gave a stronger proof of 520 his enthusiastical spirit than in this line. Warburton. I suppose he alluded to 1 Cor. ii. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned understanding it as some enthusiastic sectarists have understood it. 522. -laws which none shall find &c.] Laws neither agreeable to revealed or natural religion, neither to be found in holy Scripture, or written on their hearts by the Spirit of God, according to that divine promise, Jer. xxxi. 33. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. Left them inroll'd, or what the Spi'rit within Of spi'rit and truth; the rest, far greater part, 525 530 535 Bestuck with sland'rous darts, and works of faith And vengeance to the wicked, at return The Woman's Seed, obscurely then foretold, 526. His consort liberty ?] For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. iii. 17. 527. His living temples,] Christians are called the temples of God, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. and vi. 19. 532. On all who in the worship persevere Of spirit and truth;] He alludes to John iv. 23. The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 540 534. Will deem] This is the genuine reading of the first edition; in the second it was printed by mistake Well deem; but absurd as this reading is, it has been followed in all the editions which I have seen, till Mr. Fenton's and Dr. Bentley's. 540.-the day of respiration] This is what the Scripture calls the times of refreshing, Acts iii. 19. Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord, Satan with his perverted world, then raise How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blest, Satan with his perverted world,] An expression of the same import, as when the light is said to dissolve the darkness, Extulit os sacrum cœlo, tenebrasque resolvit. Virg. Æn. viii. 591. Our author probably borrowed the phrase from Scripture, 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, &c. the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved. And he had mentioned before, ver. 459. this world's dissolution. 549. New heav'ns, new earth,] 545 550 555 560 2 Pet. iii. 13. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. This notion, of the heavens and earth being renewed after the conflagration, and made the habitation of angels and just men made perfect, was very pleasing to our author, as it was to Dr. Burnet, and must be to every one of a fine and exalted imagination; and Milton has enlarged upon it in several parts of his works, and particularly in this poem, iii. 333, &c. x. 638. xi. 65, 900. xii. 462. |
