Page images
PDF
EPUB

Know therefore when my season comes to sit
On David's throne, it shall be like a tree
Spreading and overshadowing all the earth,
Or as a stone that shall to pieces dash
All monarchies besides throughout the world,
And of my kingdom there shall be no end:
Means there shall be to this, but what the means,

Licence they mean when they cry
Liberty;

For who loves that must first be wise
and good.

No one had ever more refined notions of true liberty than Milton, and I have often thought that there never was a greater proof of the weakness of human nature, than that he with a head so clear, and a heart I really believe perfectly honest and disinterested, should concur in supporting such a tyrant and professed trampler upon the liberties of his country as Cromwell was. Thyer.

There is a passage in a truly philosophical work, (Ferguson on Civil Society, p. 6. s. 5.) which is a good comment on this and the two preceding lines; "the project of bestowing liberty on a people who are actually servile, is perhaps of all others the most difficult. Men are qualified to receive this blessing; only in proportion as they are made to apprehend their own rights, and to respect the just pretensions of mankind; in proportion as they are willing to sustain in their own persons the burthen of government and of national defence, and to prefer the engagements of a liberal mind to the enjoyments of sloth, and the

150

delusive hopes of a safety purchased by submission and fear." Dunster.

146. Know therefore when my season comes to sit &c.] A particular manner of expression, but frequent in Milton; as if he had said, Know therefore when the season comes for me to sit on David's throne, it shall be like a It refers to throne. tree, &c. The throne of David shall then be like a tree, &c; alluding to the parable of the mustard-seed grown into a tree, so that the birds lodge in the branches thereof, Matt. xiii. 32. and to (what that parable also respects) Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great tree whose height reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth, Dan. iv. 11. Tertullian also compares the kingdom of Christ to that of Nebuchadnezzar. See Grotius in Matt. Or as a stone, &c; alluding to the stone in another of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, which brake the image in pieces, and so this kingdom shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Dan. ii. 44. And of my kingdom there shall be no end: the very words of Luke i. 33. with only the necessary change of the person; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell.
To whom the Tempter impudent replied.
I see all offers made by me how slight
Thou valuest, because offer'd, and reject'st:
Nothing will please the difficult and nice,
Or nothing more than still to contradict:
On th' other side know also thou, that I
On what I offer set as high esteem,
Nor what I part with mean to give for nought;
All these which in a moment thou behold'st,
The kingdoms of the world to thee I give ;
For giv'n to me, I give to whom I please,
No trifle; yet with this reserve, not else,
On this condition, if thou wilt fall down,

162. All these, which in a mo

ment thou behold'st, The kingdoms of the world &c.] And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give unto thee, and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me; and unto whomsoever I will, I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Luke iv. 5, 6, 7. Dunster.

[ocr errors]

166. On this condition, if thou wilt fall down, &c.] In my opinion (and Mr. Thyer concurs with me in the same observation) there is not any thing in the disposition and conduct of the whole poem so justly liable to censure as the aukward and preposterous introduction of this incident in this place. The Tempter should have proposed

VOL. III.

155

160

165

the condition at the same time that he offered the gifts; as he doth likewise in Scripture: but after his gifts had been absolutely refused, to what purpose was it to propose the impious condition? Could he imagine that our Saviour would accept the kingdoms of the world upon the abominable terms of falling down and worshipping him, just after he had rejected them unclogged with any terms at all? Well might the author say that Satan impudent replied: but I think that doth not entirely solve the objection.

166. I conceive this passage to be, on the contrary, a striking instance of the great judgment of the poet, in arranging his work, as well as of his great skill in decorating it. The conduct of Satan had hitherto been artfully plausible, and such as

N

And worship me as thy superior lord,
Easily done, and hold them all of me;

For what can less so great a gift deserve?

Whom thus our Saviour answer'd with disdain.
I never lik'd thy talk, thy offers less,
Now both abhor, since thou hast dar'd to utter
Th' abominable terms, impious condition;
But I indure the time, till which expir'd,
Thou hast permission on me. It is written

[ocr errors]

170

175

The first of all commandments, Thou shalt worship.
The Lord thy God, and only him shalt serve;***
And dar'st thou to the Son of God propound

To worship thee accurs'd, now more accurs'd

For this attempt bolder than that on Eve, 180

seemed most likely to forward
his designs. At the beginning
of this book, after repeated de-
feats he is described as flung
from his hope; but still he pro-
ceeds. Upon his next attack
failing, the paroxysm of his des-
peration rises to such a height,
that, thrown off his guard, he
intemperately betrays himself
and his purpose by bringing
forward those abominable terms,
which, could it have been pos-
sible for his temptations to have
succeeded, we may imagine were
intended in the end to have been
proposed to our Lord. This then
is the avayagis, or full discovery
who Satan really was; for though
Jesus in the first book (v. 356.)
had declared that he knew the
Tempter through his disguise,
still the temptation proceeds as
if he had not known him.
to proposing the condition together
with the gifts, this I conceive could

As

It

not be done without changing the whole plan of the poem; as by pushing the question immediately to a point, it must have precluded the gradually progressive temptations which the poet so finely brings forward. might perhaps have been wished that the circumstance of Satan's thus betraying himself and his purpose had been kept back till the subsequent temptation had been tried, and had also failed. But the apologetic speech of Satan, (v. 196.) in which he so far recovers himself, and repairs the indiscretion of his present irritation, as to pave the way for another temptation, is not only marked with such admirable art and address, but gives likewise such material variety and relief to this part of the poem, that I cannot wish it to have been in any respect different from what it is. Dunster.

And more blasphemous? which expect to rue.
The kingdoms of the world to thee were given,
Permitted rather, and by thee usurp'd ;
Other donation none thou canst produce:
If giv'n, by whom but by the King of kings,
God over all supreme? if giv'n to thee,

185

By thee how fairly is the giver now

Repaid? But gratitude in thee is lost

Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame,
As offer them to me the Son of God,
To me my own, on such abhorred pact,
That I fall down and worship thee as God?
Get thee behind me; plain thou now appear'st
That evil one, Satan for ever damn'd.

To whom the Fiend with fear abash'd replied.
Be not so sore offended, Son of God,
Though sons of God both angels are and men,
If I to try whether in higher sort

Than these thou bear'st that title, have propos'd

190

195

188. But gratitude in thee is being the Son of God, he must

lost

[blocks in formation]

of course be like him whose son he is; and being like him, it necessarily follows, that he is lord and king. S. Athanas. Or. 3. contra Arianos. Op. vol. i. p. 387. edit. Col. Calton.

191.abhorred pact,] He uses the word pact, as it is the technical term for the contracts of sorcerers with the devil. Warburton.

199. -have propos'd What both from men and angels I receive, &c.] The terms of worship and vassalage. See v. 166. supra. Dun

ster.

What both from men and angels I receive,
Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the earth
Nations besides from all the quarter'd winds,
God of this world invok'd and world beneath ;
Who then thou art, whose coming is foretold
To me so fatal, me it most concerns.
The trial hath indamag'd thee no way,
Rather more honour left and more esteem;
Me nought advantag'd, missing what I aim'd.
Therefore let pass, as they are transitory,
The kingdoms of this world; I shall no more
Advise thee; gain them as thou canst, or not.
And thou thyself seem'st otherwise inclin'd
Than to a worldly crown, addicted more
To contemplation and profound dispute,
As by that early action may be judg’d,
When slipping from thy mother's eye thou went'st
Alone into the temple, there wast found
Amongst the gravest Rabbies disputant
On points and questions fitting Moses' chair

201. Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the earth]

See Mr. Warton's note, Par. Reg. ii. 122. E.

203. God of this world invok'd] Milton pursues the same notion, which he had adopted in his Paradise Lost, of the gods of the Gentiles being the fallen angels, and he is supported in it by the authority of the primitive fathers, who are very unanimous in accusing the heathens of worshipping devils for deities. Thyer.

The devil, in Scripture, is termed the god of this world, 2 Cor. iv. 4. Dunster.

213.

200

205

210

215

-addicted more

To contemplation] Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 297. describes Adam in his state of innocence for contemplation formed. Dunster.

217. there wast found] In Milton's own edition, and in most of the following ones, it was printed by mistake was found; but the syntax plainly requires wast, as there is thou went'st in the verse preceding.

219. fitting Moses' chair,] Moses' chair was the chair in which the doctors sitting expounded the law either publicly

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »