So should thy goodness and thy greatness both
Be question'd and blasphemed without defence.
To whom the great Creator thus reply'd:
O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight,
Son of my bosom, Son who art alone
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might,
All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are; all
As

my eternal purpose hath decreed.

Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchsafed. Once more I will renew
His lapsed pow'rs, though forfeit and enthrall'd
By sin to foul exorbitant desires:

165

170

175

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 fall'n condition is, and to me owe

All his deliv'rance, and to none but me
Some I have chosen of peculiar grace

Elect above the rest; so is my will:

The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd
Their sinful state, and to appease betimes
Th' incensed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites ;
for I will clear their senses dark,
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.
To pray'r, repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavour'd with sincere intent,
Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.
And I will place within them as a guide

185

190

My umpire Conscience; whom if they will hear, 195
Light after light well used they shall attain,
And, to the end persisting, safe arrive.
This my long suff'rance and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall:
And none but such from mercy I exclude.
But yet all is not done: Man disobeying,
Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins

Against the High Supremacy of Heav'n,

168. The reader will find Jesus Christ addressed by these
titles in different parts of Scripture.

200

205

E

Affecting Godhead, and so losing all,
To expiate his treason hath nought left,
But to destruction sacred and devote,
He, with his whole posterity, must die;
Die he or justice must, unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death.

210

Say, heav'nly Pow'rs, where shall we find such love? Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save? 215 Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear?

He ask'd; but all the heav'nly choir stood mute, And silence was in Heav'n: on Man's behalf

Patron or intercessor none appear'd,

Much less that durst upon his own head draw 220

The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.

And now without redemption all mankind

Must have been lost, adjudged to Death and Hell

By doom severe, had not the Son of God,

In whom the fulness dwells of love divine,
His dearest meditation thus renew'd:

Father, thy word is past, Man shall find grace;

225

And shall grace not find means, that finds her way, The speediest of thy winged messengers,

To visit all thy creatures, and to all

230

Comes unprevented, unimplored, unsought?
Happy for man, so coming: he her aid

Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost:

Atonement for himself or off'ring 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 sake will leave

Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee

Freely put off, and for him lastly die

240

Well pleased on me let Death wreck all his rage: Under his gloomy pow'r I shall not long

Lie vanquish'd: thou hast given me to possess

215. See Peter iii. 18.

217. See Rev. viii. 1.

231 Unprevented; prevent is here used according to its sense In the Latin prævenire, to come before; not preceded by any thing else, It is used in this manner in one of the prayers of our Liturgy, Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings,' &c. that is, Let thy grace I ticipate us in our designs, and so make them just and holy.

Life in myself for ever; by thee I live,

Though now to Death I yield, and am his due
All that of me can die; yet that debt paid,
Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave
His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul
For ever with corruption there to dwell;
But I shall rise victorious, and subdue

245

250

My Vanquisher, spoil'd of his vaunted spoil;
Death his death's wound shall then receive, and stoop
Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarm'd.

I through the ample air in triumph high

260

Shall lead Hell captive maugre Hell, and shew 255
The Pow'rs of darkness bound. Thou at the sight
Pleased, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,
While by thee raised I ruin all my foes,
Death last, and with his carcase glut the grave:
Then with the multitude of my redeem'd
Shall enter Heav'n long absent, and return,
Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud
Of anger shall remain, but peace assured
And reconcilement; wrath shall be no more
Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire.

His words here ended, but his meek aspéct
Silent yet spake, and breath'd immortal love
To mortal men, above which only shone
Filial obedience: as a sacrifice

Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will
Of his great Father. Admiration seized

265

270

All Heav'n, what this might mean, and whither tend, Wond'ring; but soon th' Almighty thus reply'd:

275

O thou in Heav'n and Earth the only peace Found out for mankind under wrath! O thou My sole complacence! well thou know'st how dear To me are all my works, nor Man the least, Though last created; that for him I spare Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save, By losing thee a while, the whole race lost.

244. See John v. 26.

249. See Ps. xvi. 10. and Acts ii. 20, 21.

280

252. The punning character of this line has been justly repro

bated as unworthy of the subject.

254. Ps. Ixviii. 18. and Col. ii. 15.

259. 1 Cor. xv. 26.

206. If the reader compare this picture of the Son of God with that in the sixth book, he will be awed and delighted with the grandeur of Milton's conception of the Messiah's character

Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeem,
Their nature also to thy nature join;
And be thyself Man among men on earth,
Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed,
By wondrous birth: be ou in Adam's room
The Head of all mankind, though Adam's son.
As in him perish all men, so in thee,

As from a second root, shall be restored
As many' as are restored; without thee none.

285

His crime makes guilty all his sons; thy merit 290 Imputed shall absolve them who renounce

Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,
And live in thee transplanted, and from thee
Receive new life. So Man, as is most just,

Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die,

295

In those who, when they may, accept not grace.

Nor shalt thou, by descending to assume

Man's nature, lessen or degrade thine own.

Because thou hast, though throned in highest bliss 305 Equal to God, and equally enjoying

God-like fruition, quitted all to save

A world from utter loss, and hast been found

By merit more than birthright, Son of God,
Found worthiest to be so by being good,
Far more than great or high; because in thee
Love hath abounded more than glory 'bounds,
Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt
With thee thy manhood also to this throne:
Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt reign

310

315

Both God and Man, Son both of God and Man,
Anointed Universal King: all pow'r

I give thee; reign for ever, and assume

Thy merits; under thee as Head Supreme

287. See 1 Cor. xv. 22.

301. The language is here accommodated to the eternity of the speaker, to whom past, present, and future, are one.

317. Matt. xxviii. 8.

321

Thrones, Princedoms, Pow'rs, Dominions I reduce :
All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide
In Heav'n, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell.
When thou attended gloriously from Heav'n
Shalt in the sky appear, and from thee send
The summoning Arch Angels to proclaim
Thy dread tribunal, forthwith from all winds
The living, and forthwith the cited dead
Of all past ages, to the gen'ral doom

325

Shall hasten; such a peal shall rouse their sleep. Then all thy saints assembled, thou shalt judge 330 Bad men and Angels; they arraign'd shall sink Beneath thy sentence: Hell, her numbers full, Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring New Heav'n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell, And after all their tribulations long

See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,

With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.
Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by,
For regal sceptre then no more shall need,
God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,
Adore him, who to compass all this dies:
Adore the Son, and honour him as me.

336

340

No sooner had th' Almighty ceased, but all The multitude of Angels, with a shout

345

Loud as from numbers without number, sweet

As from blest voices, utt'ring joy, Heav'n rung
With jubilee, and loud Hosannas fill'd

Th' eternal regions: lowly reverent

Tow'rds either throne they bow, and to the ground

With solemn adoration down they cast

351

Their crowns, inwove with amarant and gold;
Immortal amarant; a flow'r which once

In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,

Began to bloom; but soon, for man's offence,

355

321. Philip. ii. 10.

334. 2 Pet. iii. 12, 13.

335. I cannot do better than here recommend to the reader, the perusal of Dr. Chalmers' powerfully interesting sermon on the subject of a new Heaven and a new Earth.

341. 1 Cor. xv. 28. and Ps. xcvii. 7. and Heb. 1. 6.

343. John v. 23.

351. Rev. iv. 10.

353. Amarant, a flower whose beauty never fades. Allusion 14 made here to 1 Pet. i. 4. and 1 Pet. v. 4.