To whom the great Creator thus replied.
O Son, in whom my foul hath chief delight,
Son of my bofom, Son who art alone
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might, 170
All haft thou spoken as my thoughts are, all
As my eternal purpose hath decreed ;

Man fhall not quite be loft, but fav'd who will;
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchsaf'd; once more I will renew 175
His lapfed powers, though forfeit, and enthrall'd
By fin to foul exorbitant defires;

Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand
On even ground against his mortal foe ;
By me upheld, that he may know how frail 180
His fallen condition is, and to me owe
All his deliverance, and to none but me.
Some I have chosen of peculiar grace,
Elect above the reft; fo is my will:

Ver. 168. O Son, &c.] The Son is here addreffed by feveral titles and appellations borrowed from the following texts of Scripture, St. Matt. iii. 17, John i. 18, Rev. xix. 13, and 1. Cor. i. 24. NEWTON.

Ver. 180. By me upheld,] It was before, ver. 178. Upheld by me. The turn of the words is remarkable. And we have the oftener taken notice of these turns of the words, because it has been objected by Dryden and others, that there were no turns of the words in Milton. NEWTON.

Ver. 183. Some I have chofen &c.] Our author did not hold the doctrine of rigid predeftination; he was of the fentiments of the more moderate Calvinifts, and thought that fome indeed were elected of peculiar grace, the reft might be saved complying with the terms and conditions of the Gofpel. NEWTON.

The reft shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd 185
Their finful ftate, and to appease betimes
The incenfed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites; for I will clear their fenfes dark,
What may fuffice, and foften ftony hearts
Το pray, repent, and bring obedience due. 190
To prayer, repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavour'd with fincere intent,
Mine ear shall not be flow, mine eye not shut.
And I will place within them as a guide,
My umpire Confcience; whom if they will hear,
Light after light, well us'd, they shall attain, 196
And to the end, perfisting, safe arrive.
This my long fufferance, and my day of grace,
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more, 200
That they may ftumble on, and deeper fall;
And none but fuch from mercy I exclude.

Ver. 189.

and foften ftony hearts] Ezek. xxxvi. 26. "I will take away the ftony heart out of your fleth." GILLIES.

Ver. 197. And to the end, perfifling, fafe arrive.] Matt. x. 22. "He that endureth to the end, fhall be faved." HUME.

Ver. 198. This my long fufferance, and my day of grace, They who neglect and fcorn, shall never tafte;] It is a great pity that our author fhould have thus debafed the dignity of the Deity, by putting in his mouth this horrid doctrine of a day of grace, after which it is not poffible for a man to repent; and there can be no fort of excufe for him, except the candid reader will make fome allowance for the prejudices, which he might poffibly receive from the gloomy divinity of that enthufiaftick age in which he lived. THYER.

205

But yet all is not done; Man disobeying,
Difloyal, breaks his feälty, and fins
Against the high fupremacy of Heaven,
Affecting God-head, and, fo lofing all,
To expiate his treafon hath nought left,
But to deftruction facred and devote,
He, with his whole pofterity, must die,
Die he or justice muft; unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid fatisfaction, death for death.
Say, heavenly Powers, where fhall we find fuch
love?

210

Which of you will be mortal, to redeem Man's mortal crime, and just the unjust to save? Dwells in all Heaven charity fo dear?

216

Heask'd, but all the heavenly quire food mute,

Ver. 215. and just the unjust to fave ?] That is, Which of ye will be fo juft as to fave the unjuft? Which of ye will be righteous enough to fupply the defects of others righteousnefs? It is plainly an allufion to 1 Pet. 318. "For Chrift alfo hath once fuffered for fins, the just for the unjust."

NEWTON.

This paffage is given with an obscurity of involution not uncommon to Milton. His meaning, I have no doubt, was merely "Which of you will fubmit to be mortal to redeem man, and to fave him by suffering in his stead, the just for the unjust ?

DUNSTER.

Ver. 217. all the heavenly quire ftood mute,] This beautiful circumftance is raised upon Rev. viii. 1, where, upon a certain occafion, it is faid, "There was filence in Heaven." And so, as there was filence in Hell, when it was proposed who should be fent on the dangerous expédition to destroy mankind, there is likewife filence in Heaven, when it is afked who would be willing to pay the price of their redemption. Satan alone was

And filence was in Heaven: On Man's behalf Patron or interceffour none appear'd,

221

Much less that durft upon his own head draw
The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.
And now without redemption all mankind
Must have been loft, adjudg'd to Death and Hell
By doom severe, had not the Son of God,
In whom the fulness dwells of love divine, 225.
His deareft mediation thus renew'd.

Father, thy word is paft, Man fhall find grace;
And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,
The speedieft of thy winged meffengers,
To vifit all thy creatures, and to all
Comes unprevented, unimplor'd, unfought?

230

fit to undertake the one, as the Son of God the other. But though the filence is the fame in both places, the difference of the expreffion is remarkable. In Hell it is faid all fat mute, B. ii. 420, as there the infernal peers were fitting in council; but here it is faid they stood mute, as the good Angels were standing round about the throne of God. NEWTON.

Ver. 219. Patron or interceffour none] Ifaiah lix. 16. "He faw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no interceffour." GREENWOOD.

The poet alludes alfo, in ufing the word patron, to the character given of our Lord by St. John, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous." And fee Archbishop Cranmer's Defence of the True and Catholick Doctrine of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Chrift, &c. 4to. 1550. fol. ult. "Who is before us entered into heaven, and fitteth at the right hand of his father, as patrone, mediator, &c." TODD.

Ver. 225. In whom the fulness dwells] Col. ii. 9. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." TODD.

Ver. 231. Comes unprevented,] Prevent from prævenire, to come before. This grace is not preceded by merit or fupplication:

Happy for Man, fo coming; he her aid
Can never seek, once dead in fins, and loft;
Atonement for himself, or offering meet,
Indebted and undone, hath none to bring; 235
Behold me then: me for him, life for life
I offer; on me let thine anger fall;
Account me Man; I for his fake will leave
Thy bofom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off, and for him laftly die
Well pleas'd; on me let Death wreak all his
rage;
Under his gloomy power I fhall not long
Lie vanquish'd; thou haft given me to poffefs

240

Itfelf prevents, or goes before; it is a free gift, as B. xi. 3. “Prevenient grace defcending, &c." See II Tim. i. 9. And Pfalm 1xxxviii. 13 "Unto thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning fhall my prayer prevent thee." Here the favour, if it comes, comes not unprevented; prayer prevents, or goes before, God's goodness. RICHARDSON.

Ver. 238.

once dead &c.]

The word

Thus our
Septuag.

once is here very emphatical, fignifying once for all.
tranflators, Ps. lxxxix. 35. "Once have I fworn, &c."
'Azaz wwexa. See alfo Ps. Ixii. 11. This, Suidas interprets
azeQartixwg xai xarreλws, once for all, peremptorily. Homer uses
the word zag in the fame fenfe. CALLANDER.

Ver. 236. Behold me then; me for him, life for life
I offer; on me let thine anger fall;

Account me Man ;] The frequent and vehement repetition of me, is very like Virgil, En. ix. 427.

"Me, me: adfum qui feci: in me convertite ferrum :" and, a little afterwards,

Figite me, fi qua eft pietas: in me omnia tela
"Conjicite & Rutuli; me primum, &c." NEWTON.