Mine both in heav'n and earth to do thy will
Supreme, that thou in me thy Son belov'd
May'st ever rest well pleas'd. I go to judge
On earth these thy transgressors, but thou know'st,
Whoever judg'd, the worst on me must light,
When time shall be, for so I undertook
Before thee'; and not repenting, this obtain.
Of right, that I may mitigate their doom
On me deriv'd, yet I shall temper so

Justice with mercy', as may illustrate most
Them fully satisfied, and thee appease.

Attendance none shall need, nor train, where none
Are to behold the judgment, but the judg'd,
Those two; the third best absent is condemn'd,
Convict by flight, and rebel to all law;
Conviction to the serpent none belongs.

71.
-I go to judge &c.]
The same divine Person, who in
the foregoing parts of this poem
interceded for our first parents
before their fall, overthrew the
rebel angels, and created the
world, is now represented as
descending to Paradise, and pro-
nouncing sentence upon the three
offenders. The cool of the even-
ing being a circumstance with
which holy writ introduces this
great scene, it is poetically de-
scribed by our author, who has
also kept religiously to the form
of words, in which the three
several sentences were passed
upon Adam, Eve, and the Ser-
pent. He has rather chosen to
neglect the numerousness of his
verse, than to deviate from those
speeches which are recorded on
this great occasion. The guilt

.70

75

80

and confusion of our first parents, standing naked before their Judge, is touched with great beauty. Addison.

74. for so I undertook] See book iii. 236. &c.

80. Attendance none shall need,] This is either an elliptical way of speaking for I shall need no attendance or rather the word need, though commonly used as a verb active, is here used as a verb neuter, and means no attendance shall be wanting; and so it is used likewise in iii. 340.

Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by,

For regal sceptre then no more shall need,

God shall be all in all.

84. Conviction to the serpent none belongs.] No proof is needful against the serpent, com

Thus saying, from his radiant seat he rose
Of high collateral glory': him thrones and powers,
Princedoms, and dominations ministrant
Accompanied to heaven gate, from whence

Eden and all the coast in prospect lay.

Down he descended straight; the speed of Gods

85

90

Time counts not, though with swiftest minutes wing'd. Now was the sun in western cadence low

From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour

To fan the earth now wak'd, and usher in

The evening cool, when he from wrath more cool 95
Came the mild judge and intercessor both

To sentence man: the voice of God they heard
Now walking in the garden, by soft winds

100

Brought to their ears, while day declin'd; they heard,
And from his presence hid themselves among
The thickest trees, both man and wife, till God
Approaching, thus to Adam call'd aloud.

pelled by Satan to be the ignorant instrument of his malice against mankind, now mute and unable to answer for himself. Hume.

86. Of high collateral glory:] He uses collateral, as he does most other words, in a sense agreeable to the etymology, side by side. The Son sat at the right hand of the Father, and rising from thence he may properly be said to rise from his seat of high collateral glory, or as it is elsewhere expressed, vi. 747. from the right hand of glory where he sat. The word was used before in viii. 426.

Collateral love, and dearest amity,

that is, in other words, iv. 485.

-to have thee by my side Henceforth an individual solace dear.

92. Now was the sun in western cadence low

From noon, and gentle airs &c.] This beautiful description is founded upon this verse, Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

102. to Adam call'd aloud. Where art thou Adam ?] Gen. iii. 9. And the Lord God

105

Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet
My coming seen far off? I miss thee here,
Not pleas'd, thus entertain'd with solitude,
Where obvious duty' ere while appear'd unsought:
Or come I less conspicuous, or what change
Absents thee, or what chance detains? Come forth.
He came, and with him Eve, more loath, though first
To' offend, discount'nanc'd both, and discompos'd; 110
Love was not in their looks, either to God
Or to each other, but apparent guilt,
And shame, and perturbation, and despair,
Anger, and obstinacy', and hate, and guile.
Whence Adam falt'ring long, thus answer'd brief. 115
I heard thee in the gard'n, and of thy voice
Afraid, being naked, hid myself. To whom
The gracious Judge without revile replied.
My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not fear'd,
But still rejoic'd; how is it now become
So dreadful to thee? that thou' art naked, who
Hath told thee? hast thou eaten of the tree,
Whereof I gave thee charge thou should'st not eat?
To whom thus Adam sore beset replied.

called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? It is curious to observe how the poet paraphrases and enlarges upon the divine historian.

116. I heard thee in the gard'n,

and of thy voice

Afraid, being naked, hid myself.] Gen. iii. 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

120

121. that thou art naked,
who

Hath told thee? hast thou eaten
of the tree,
Whereof 1 gave thee charge

thou should'st not eat?] Gen. iii. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

O heav'n! in evil strait this day I stand
Before my Judge, either to undergo
-Myself the total crime, or to accuse

My other self, the partner of my life;
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains,
I should conceal, and not expose to blame

By my complaint; but strict necessity
Subdues me, and calamitous constraint,
Lest on my head both sin and punishment,
However insupportable, be all

125

130

Devolv'd; though should I hold my peace, yet thou 135
Would'st easily detect what I conceal.

This Woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help,
And gav'st me as thy perfect gift, so good,

So fit, so acceptable, so divine,

That from her hand I could suspect no ill,
And what she did, whatever in itself,
Her doing seem'd to justify the deed;
She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

To whom the sovran Presence thus replied.
Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey
Before his voice, or was she made thy guide,

137. This Woman, whom thou

mad'st to be my help, And gav'st me as thy perfect gift

She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.]

Gen. iii. 12. And the man said, The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. We see that he still preserves all that is Scripture, though he intermixes

140

145

other things which were likely enough to have been said and done. Adam speaks of Eve much in the same strain as he had done before to the angel, viii. 549.

-what she wills to do or say Seems wisest &c.

And his unwillingness to accuse his wife, and yet the necessity of his doing it, are finely imagined.

Superior, or but equal, that to her

Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place
Wherein God sat thee' above her made of thee,
And for thee, whose perfection far excell'd
Hers in all real dignity? Adorn'd
She was indeed, and lovely to attract
Thy love, not thy subjection; and her gifts
Were such as under government well seem'd,
Unseemly to bear rule, which was thy part
And person, hadst thou known thyself aright.
So having said, he thus to Eve in few.

Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done?
To whom sad Eve with shame nigh overwhelm'd,
Confessing soon, yet not before her Judge
Bold or loquacious, thus abash'd replied,
The Serpent me beguil'd, and I did eat.

Which when the Lord God heard, without delay
To judgment he proceeded on th' accus'd

150

155

160

c. 2. Has partes lenitatis et mi

She was indeed, and lovely to sericordiæ, quas me natura ipsa

attract

Thy love, not thy subjection;] The same sort of sentiment as the angel had inculcated, viii. 568.

-fair no doubt, and worthy well Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love, Not thy subjection. And in other parts of his works our author seems to have been a strenuous advocate for keeping ·up the authority of the husband. 155. thy part And person,]

A pure Latinism. The personæ dramatis. So Cicero, pro Muren.

docuit, semper ago libenter, illam vero gravitatis, severitatis personam non appetivi. Milton in his History of England, p. 37. edit. Tol. uses the word thus, "If it were an honour to that "person which he sustained." Richardson.

158. Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done?] Gen. iii. 13. And the Lord God said unto the Woman, What is this that thou hast done?

162. The Serpent me beguil'd, and I did eat.] And the Woman said, The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.