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He leaves his Gods, his friends, and native soil,
Ur of Chaldæa, passing now the ford
To Haran: after him a cumb'rous train

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Of herds, and flocks, and numerous servitude;
Not wand'ring poor, but trusting all his wealth
With God, who call'd him, in a land unknown.
Canaan he now attains: I see his tents
Pitch'd about Sechem, and the neighb'ring plain
Of Moreh: there, by promise, he receives
Gift to his progeny of all that land,

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From Hamath northward to the Desert south

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Things by their names I call, tho' yet unnamed), 140
From Hermon east to the great western sea;
Mount Hermon, yonder sea; each place behold
In prospect, as I point them: on the shore
Mount Carmel: here the double-founted stream
Jordan, true limit eastward; but his sons
Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills.
This ponder, that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blessed. By that seed
Is meant thy great Deliv'rer, who shall bruise
The Serpent's head: whereof to thee anon
Plainlier shall be reveal'd. This patriarch blest,
Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call,
A son, and of his son a grandchild leaves,
Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown.

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The grandchild with twelve sons increased, departs
From Canaan to a land, hereafter call'd
Egypt, divided by the river Nile.

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See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths

Into the sea. To sojourn in that land

He comes, invited by a younger son,

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In time of dearth: a son whose worthy deeds
Raise him to be the second in that realm

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Of Pharaoh. There he dies, and leaves his race
Growing into a nation, and now grown
Suspected to a sequent King, who seeks
To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests
Too num'rous; whence of guests he makes them slaves

speaking natural to the angel, to whom all the future was revealed. The reader will find the whole of the narrative here given in different parts of the Pentateuch.

155. With twelve sons increased a Latinism.

170

Inhospitably', and kills their infant males:
Till by two brethren (those two brethren call
Moses and Aaron) sent from God to claim
His people from iuthralment, they return
With glory' and spoil back to their promised land.
But first the lawless tyrant, who denies

To know their God, or message to regard,

180

Must be compell'd by signs and judgments dire. 175
To blood unshed the rivers must be turn'd;
Frogs, lice, and flies must all his palace fill
With loath'd intrusion, and fill all the land;
His cattle must of rot and murrain die;
Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss,
And all his people; thunder mix'd with hail,
Hail mix'd with fire, must rend th' Egyptian sky,
And wheel on th' earth, devouring where it rolls;
What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain,
A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down
Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green:
Darkness must overshadow all his bounds,
Palpable darkness, and blot out three days;
Last, with one midnight stroke, all the first-born
Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds 190
The river-dragon tamed, at length submits

To let his sojourners depart, and oft

Humbles his stubborn heart, but still as ice
More harden'd after thaw, till in his rage
Pursuing whom he late dismiss'd, the sea
Swallows him with his host; but them lets pass
As on dry land, between two crystal walls,
Awed by the rod of Moses so to stand
Divided, till his rescued gain'd their shore.
Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend,
Though present in his Angel, who shall go
Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire
(By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire),
To guide them in their journey, and remove

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195

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Behind them, while th' obdurate king pursues. 205
All night he will pursue; but his approach
Darkness defends between till morning watch:

.88. The Vulgate translation of Exodus x. 21. has tam densa vi palpari queant. Our English has, darkness that may be felt 207. Defends, forbids.

Then through the fiery pillar and the cloud

God, looking forth, will trouble all his host,

And craze their chariot-wheels: when by command

Moses once more his potent rod extends

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On their embattled ranks the waves return,

Over the sea; the sea his rod obeys;

And overwhelm their war. the race elect
Safe towards Canaan from the shore advance
Through the wild desert, not the readiest way,
Lest, ent'ring on the Canaanite, alarm'd,
War terrify them inexpert, and fear

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Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather
Inglorious life with servitude; for life

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To noble and ignoble is more sweet

Untrain'd in arms, where rashness leads not on.
This also shall they gain by their delay

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In the wide wilderness; there they shall found
Their government, and their great senate choose 225
Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordain'd.
God from the mount of Sinai, whose grey top
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself
In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets sound,
Ordain them laws; part such as appertain
To civil justice, part religious rites
Of sacrifice, informing them, by types
And shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise
The Serpent, by what means he shall achieve
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God
To mortal ear is dreadful! They beseech
That Moses might report to them his will,
And terror cease. He grants what they besought,
Instructed that to God is no access

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Without Mediator, whose high office now

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Moses in figure bears, to introduce

One greater, of whose day he shall foretell;

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210. Craze, bruise or shatter, from the French ecraser. Exodus xiv. 25. our translation has taken off, but Milton is nearer the original.

230. Milton has not made any particular mention of the moral law in this passage. The reason I imagine is, that the sole object he had in view was to shew the progress of events towards the appearance of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom. He had, therefore, only so far to introduce the Jewish dispensation as it typified the Messiah's kingdom or illustrated his character and actions. The moral law was unchanged and unchangeable, and belonged to no one time or system. The objections, there Zore, of Warburton and others are without foundation

And all the prophets in their age the times

Of great Messiah shall sing. The laws and rites

245

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Establish'd, such delight hath God in men
Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes
Among them to set up his tabernacle,
The Holy One with mortal men to dwell.
By his prescript a sanctuary is framed
Of cedar, overlaid with gold, therein
An ark, and in the ark his testimony,
The records of his covenant; over these
A mercy-seat of gold between the wings
Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn
Seven lamps, as in a zodiac, representing
The heav'nly fires; over the tent a cloud
Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night,
Save when they journey; and at length they come,
Conducted by his Angel, to the land

255

Promised to Abraham and his seed. The rest 260
Were long to tell, how many battles fought,

How many kings destroy'd, and kingdoms won,
Or how the sun shall in mid Heav'n stand still

A day entire, and night's due course adjourn,

Man's voice commanding, Sun in Gibeon stand, 265 And thou moon in the vale of Aijalon,

Till Israel overcome; so call the third

From Abraham, son of Isaac, and from him

His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win.
Here Adam interposed: O sent from Heav'n, 270
Enlight'ner of my darkness, gracious things
Thou hast reveal'd, those chiefly which concern
Just Abraham and his seed: now first I find
Mine eyes true opening, and my heart much eased,
Erewhile perplex'd with thoughts what would become
Of me and all mankind; but now I see
His day, in whom all nations shall be blest,
Favour unmerited by me, who sought

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Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means.

This yet I apprehend not, why to those

280

Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth,
So many and so various laws are given?
So many laws argue so many sins

256. The heav'nly fires, the seven lamps, signifying the
277. John viii. 56.

seven planets.

283. Gal. iii. 19. Rom. vii.", 8. iii. 20. Heb. ix. 13. x. 4, 5 &c.

Among them. How can God with such reside?

To whom thus Michael: Doubt not but that sin Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was law given them to evince Their natural pravity, by stirring up

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Sin against law to fight: that when they see
Law can discover sin, but not remove,
Save by those shadowy expiations weak,

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The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude

Some blood more precious must be paid for man,
Just for unjust, that in such righteousness
To them by faith imputed, they may find
Justification towards God, and peace

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Of conscience, which the law by ceremonies
Cannot appease, nor man the moral part
Perform, and, not performing, cannot live.
So law appears imperfect, and but given
With purpose to resign them in full time
Up to a better covenant, disciplined

From shadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit,
From imposition of strict laws to free

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Acceptance of large grace, from servile fear

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To filial, works of law to works of faith.

And therefore shall not Moses, though of God
Highly beloved, being but the minister

Of law, his people into Canaan lead;

But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call,

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His name and office bearing, who shall quell
The adversary Serpent, and bring back,
Thro' the world's wilderness long wander'd, man
Safe, to eternal Paradise of rest.

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Mean while they in their earthly Canaan placed,
Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sins
National interrupt their public peace,
Provoking God to raise them enemies;
From whom as oft he saves them penitent

By judges first, then under kings; of whom
The second, both for piety renown'd
And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive

320

310. Jesus and Joshua are the same name, the former being the Greek and the latter the Hebrew form. Jesus is used for Joshua, Acts vii. 45. Heb. iv. 8. As the whole of this part of the poem is taken from Scripture, the reader will do well to consult the marginal references of his Bible, if he be curious to see how the author has converted his scriptural knowledge to his use in this narrative, mixing with great skill history and prophecy

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