Who from the terror of this arm fo late 115 Doubted his empire; that were low indeed, 120 Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy and by obferving this punctuation, this whole paffage, which has perplex'd and confounded fo many readers and writers, is render'd plain and easy to be understood. 116. fince by fate, &c.] For Satan fuppofes the Angels to fubfift by fate and neceffity, and he reprefents them of an empyreal, that is a fiery fubftance, as the Scripture itself doth; He maketh his Angels fpirits, and his minifters a flame of fire. Pfal. CIV. 4. Heb. I. 7. Satan difdains to fubmit, fince the Angels (as he fays) are neceffarily immortal and cannot be deftroy'd, and fince too they are now improved in experience, and may hope to And him thus anfwer'd foon his bold compeer. Whether upheld by ftrength, or chance, or fate; 130 That with fad overthrow and foul defeat 135 Can perish for the mind and fpi'rit remains 140 Here fhould remark here the propriety of the word prpetual. Beelzerub doth not fay eternal king, for then he could not have boafted of indangering his kingdom: but he endevors to detract as much as he can from God's everlafting dominion, and calls him only perpetual king, king from time immemorial or without interruption, as Ovid fays perpetuum carmen, Met. I. 4. primaque ab origine mundi Ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen. What Here fwallow'd up in endless mifery. But what if he our conqu'ror (whom I now 144 Than fuch could have o'cr-power'd fuch force as ours) By right of war, whate'er his business be, 150 155 To undergo eternal punishment? Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend reply'd. Fall'n Cherub, to be weak is miferable Doing or fuffering: but of this be fure, 157. — to be weak is miferable Doing or Juffering:] Satan having in his fpeech boafted that the ftrength of Gods could not fail, ver. 116. and Peelzebub having faid, ver. 146. if God has left us this our ftrength entire to fuffer pain ftrongly, or to do him mightier Jervice as his thralls, what then can our strength avail us? Satan here replies very properly, whether we are to fuffer or to work, yet ftill it is fome comfort to have our ftrength undiminish'd; for it is a miferable thing, (fays he) to be weak and without ftrength, whether we are doing or fuffering. This is the fenfe of the place; and this is farther confirm'd by what Belial fays in II. 199. To fuffer as to do 159. To do ought good never will be our task,] Dr. Bentley would read it thus, To do ought good will never be our task, as of a smoother and ftronger accent: but I conceive that Milton 160 Our intended to vary the accent of never and ever in the next verse. 169. But fee the angry victor bath recall'd &c.] Dr. Bentley hath really made a very material objection to this and fome other paffages of the poem, wherein the good Angels are reprefented, as pursuing the rebel hoft with fire and thunderbolts down through Chaos even to the gates of Hell ; as being contrary to the account, which the Angel Raphael gives to Adam in the 6th book. And it is certain that there the good Angels are order'd to ftand fill only and behold, and the Meffiah alone expels them out of Heaven, and after he has expell'd them, and Hell has clos'd upon them, VI. 880. Our labor must be to pervert that end, 165 170 Back perhaps they might think that a numerous hoft were really purfu Chaos fpeaking thus, II. 996. and Heav'n gates Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands Pursuing; But what a condition was Chaos in Nine days they fell; confounded Thefe accounts are plainly contrary the one to the other: but the author doth not therefore contradicting. In one place indeed we have himfelf, nor is one part of his fcheme inconfiftent with another. For it should be confidered, who are the perfons that give these different accounts. In book the 6th the Angel Raphael is the speaker, and therefore his account may be depended upon as the genuin and exact truth of the matter. But in the other paffages Satan himself or fome of his Angels are the speakers; and they were too proud and obftinate ever to acknowledge the Meffiah for their conqueror; as their rebellion was rais'd on his account, they would never own his fuperiority; they would rather afcribe their defeat to the whole host of Heaven than to him alone; or if they did indeed imagin their purfuers to be fo many in number, their fears multiplied them, and it ferves admirably to exprefs how much they were terrified and confounded. In book the 6th 830. the noise of his chariot is compared to the found of a numerous hoft; and And felt tenfold confufion in their fall Through his wild anarchy, fo huge a rout Incumber'd him with ruin. We muft fuppofe him therefore Ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, could |