beautiful EVE: Heaven is too high for thee to know what paffes there; be humbly wife; think only of what concerns thee and thy Being; don't dream about other Worlds, what Creatures may live there, or if living there, what may be their State, Condition, or Degree: Reft contented, that thus much hath been reveal'd to thee, not only Things belonging to this Earth, but many concerning the highest Heaven.

Adam affents to the Advice of Raphael, and being fill defirous to detain him, relates what he remember'd fince his own Creation.

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Y the Speech of the Angel, ADAM being clear'd of all Doubts, made this Reply:

SERENE Angel! pure Intelligence of Heaven! how fully haft thou fatisfied, freed from Intricacies, and taught me to live the beft and eafieft Way! not. to interrupt the Sweets of Life with perplexing Thoughts, which GOD hath bid to keep far off from us, and not moleft us; unless we ourfelves, with wandering Minds and vain Motions, feek them out: But the Soul or the Fancy is apt to rove uncheck'd, to which there is no Bound; 'till advis'd or taught by Experience, she learn, that not to know at large of obfcure Things, full of Subtilty, and remote from Ufe, but to know that which lies before us in daily Life, is the firft Wisdom; what is more is but a Vapour, Emptiness, or trifling, and renders us unpractis'd, unprepar'd, and ftill to feek in Things that moft concern us. Therefore let us defcend from these high Subjects to thofe of a lower Nature, and fpeak of Things which are near to us, and of Ufe; whence Mention

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Mention may perhaps be made of fomething, which by thy Permiffion and wonted Condefcenfion may not be unfeasonable to enquire about.

I HAVE heard thee relate what was done before my Remembrance: Now hear me relate my Story, which perhaps thou haft never yet heard, and the Day is not yet spent; 'till then thou feeft how I contrive to detain thee, inviting thee to give Audience while I fpeak; which I can only excufe by faying, that I do it, only hoping to hear thy Reply. For I feem in Heaven while I fit with thee, and thy Difcourse is sweeter to my Ear, than the Fruit of the Palm-Tree (at the Hour of fweet Repaft) is to the Tafte, though pleasant both to Hunger and Thirst; that fatiates foon and fills, but thy Words, endu’d with divine Grace, bring no Surfeit with their Sweetnefs. To whom thus RAPHAEL anfwer'd, with heavenly Meeknefs:

FATHER of MANKIND! think not that thy Lips are incapable of speaking Things pleasant to hear, or that thy Tongue is without Eloquence; for God hath alfo pour'd his Gifts abundantly on thee, and made thee both inwardly and outwardly his own fair Image: All Comlinefs and Grace attend thee, and form each Word or Motion; nor do we in Heaven think lefs of thee upon Earth, than of our own Fellow-Servant, and we gladly enquire into the Ways of GOD with MAN; for GoD we fee hath honour'd thee, and set his Love upon MAN equal with the Angels: Therefore fpeak on, for on the Day of MAN's Creation it befell that I was abfent, bound upon an obfcure and uncouth Voyage, out upon Excurfion towards the Gates of Hell, with many Legions of Angels, (for we had fuch a Command) to fee that none iffu'd forth from thence, either as an Enemy or a Spy, while GOD was in his great Work; left he (incens'd

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if fuch bold Eruption had been made) might have mix'd Destruction with Creation: Not that they durft attempt any fuch Thing, without his Permiffion; but he fends us to execute his high Commands, (as being the Sovereign King) to exercise his Power, and inure us to ready Obedience: We found the difmal Gates. faft fhut, and strongly barricaded; but long before we approach'd them, we heard a Noife far different from the Voice of Joy, loud Lamentations and furious Rage, the Effect of Torment: We return'd gladly up to Heaven before the Evening of the Sabbath, for fo we had in Charge to do. But now begin thy Relation, for I attend, as much pleas'd with thy Words as thou art with mine.

So spoke the Angel, and thus in Reply ADAM: It is hard for MAN to tell how human Life began; for who knew himself Beginning? But Defire ftill to converse longer with thee, firft induc'd me to fpeak.

I found myself lying upon the Grafs, as if new wak'd from found Sleep, and in a gentle Sweat, which the Sun foon dry'd with his Beams. Strait I turn'd my wond'ring Eyes towards Heaven, and gazed a-while at the spacious Sky; 'till rais'd by quick Motion, I fprung upward, (as naturally defirous, and endeavouring to go thither) and ftood upright upon my Feet: Round about me I faw Hills, Dales, Woods, and running Streams, and by thefe, Creatures that liv'd and mov'd, and walk'd or elfe flew; Birds were finging on the Branches, all Things look'd pleafant and full of Sweetness, and my own Heart overflow'd with Joy. Then I confider'd myself, and furvey'd me, Limb by Limb; fometimes I walk'd, fometimes, as lively Vigour prompted me, I ran; but I knew not who I was, or where, or from what Caufe: I try'd to speak, and immediately I fpoke; my Tongue could readily name whatever I faw. Thou Sun, faid I, fair Light! and Thou, the enlighten'd

Earth! fo fresh and fine! ye Hills, and Vallies! ye Plains, Woods, and Rivers! and ye that live and move, all ye fair Creatures! tell me (if ye faw) how I came here? ---- Not of myself. Then by fome great Maker, pre-eminent in Goodness, and in Power: Tell me, how I may know him, how adore him, from whom I have this Power of Motion and this Life, and feel that I am happier than I yet know. While I call'd thus and wander'd, I did not know whither, from the Place where I firft drew Breath, and first beheld this happy Light, and none returning Anfwer, I fat me down penfive on a green fhady Bank, cover'd with Flowers; there gentle Sleep firft came upon me, and with foft Oppreffion feiz'd my drowzy untroubled Senfes, (though I then thought I was paffing to my former State, that I was going to become again infenfible, and forthwith be in a State of Diffolution) when fuddenly there appear'd to me a Dream, which gently mov'd my Fancy to believe, that I yet had Being, and liv'd. Methought there came one of divine Shape, and faid to me," ADAM! thy Habitation wants thee; rife, firft MAN, and "ordain'd firft Father of innumerable MEN! I come "(call'd by thee) to be thy Guide to thy prepar'd "Seat, which is the Garden of PARADISE.' Saying this, he took and rais'd me by the Hand, and over Fields and Waters, in the Air, as it were wafting me along, without ftopping, at laft led me up to a woody Mountain, upon whofe high Top was a Plain; a wide Circuit inclos'd, planted with all Manner of goodly Trees, having many Walks and Bowers, in Comparison of which what I faw upon Earth before fcarcely feem'd pleafant: Every Tree was loaded with the faireft Fruit, that hung tempting to the Eye, and mov'd in me a certain Appetite to gather of it and eat; whereon I wak'd, and found all real before my Eyes, as the Dream had in a lively Manner reprefented to me. Here I had began to wander

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again, had not he, who was my Guide up hither, appear'd from among the Trees; it was GOD himself. ----Rejoicing, but with great Awe and Submiffion, I fell down in Adoration at his Feet: He rais'd me up gently, and mildly faid; "Whom thou fought'ft I am, the Author of all this thou feeft, above, or "beneath, or round about thee. I give thee this "PARADISE, account it thine, to till and keep it, "and eat the Fruits of it with chearful Heart; eat "freely of every Tree that grows in the Garden; "fear no Scarcity here: But of the Tree, whofe O"peration brings the Knowledge of Good and Evil, "which I have fet as the Pledge of thy Faith and O"bedience in the Middle of the Garden, and close by "the Tree of Life, (remember what I warn thee!) fhun "to tafte it, and fhun the bitter Confequence; for "know, the Day that thou eateft thereof, tranfgreffing

my fole Command, thou fhalt affuredly die: From "that Day take Mortality; lofe this happy State, "and be expell'd from hence into a World of Woe "and Mifery."-----He pronounc'd the fevere Prohibition fternly, which yet refounds dreadfully in mine Ear, though it be in mine own Choice, not to incur the Penalty of Difobedience: But foon again clearing his Afpect, he thus renew'd his gracious Purpofe, and faid; "Not only this PARADISE, but to thee and "thy Race I give all the Earth; poffefs it as Lords, "and alfo all the Things that live therein, or in Sea, "or Air: In Sign of which, behold every Bird and "Beaft after their Kinds: I bring them to thee, that they may from thee receive their Names, and pay "thee Homage with low Subjection: Thou may'it "understand the fame of Fish, that refide in the Wa"ters, and are not brought hither, feeing they can"not change their Element, nor live in the thin "Air." As he fpake thus, every Bird and Beaft came towards me in Pairs; the Beafts creeping near the Ground and fawning, and the Birds flying low:

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