Ur of Chaldæa, paffing now the ford
To Haran, after him a cumbrous train Of herds and flocks, and numerous fervitude; Not wand'ring poor, but trufting all his wealth With God, who call'd him, in a land unknown. Canaan he now attains; I fee his tents Pitch'd about Sechem, and the neighb'ring plain Of Moreh there by promife he receives Gift to his progeny of all that land,
From Hamath northward to the defert fouth," (Things by their names I call, though yet unnam'd), From Hermon eaft to the great western sea; Mount Hermon, yonder fea, each place behold In profpect, as I point them; on the fhore Mount Carmel; here the double-founted ftream, Jordan, true limit eastward; but his fons Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills. This ponder, that all nations of the earth Shall in his feed be bleffed: by that feed Is meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruise The ferpent's head; whereof to thee anon Plainlier fhall be reveal'd. This patriarch blefs'd, Whom faithful Abraham due time fhall call, A fon, and of his fon a grandchild leaves,- Like him in faith, in wifdom and renown.
The grandchild with twelve fons increas'd departs From Canaan, to a land hereafter call'd
Egypt, divided by the river Nile:
See where it flows, difgorging at seven mouths Into the fea. To fojourn in that land
He comes, invited by a younger fon
In time of dearth; a fon whofe worthy deeds
Raife him to be the fecond in that realm
Of Pharaoh there he dies, and leaves his race Growing into a nation, and now grown
Subjected to a fequent king, who feeks
To ftop their overgrowth, as inmate guests
Too numerous; whence of guests he makes them flaves Inhofpitably', and kills their infant-males:
Till by two brethren (thofe two brethren call Mofes and Aaron) fent from God to claim His people from inthralment, they return
With glory' and spoil back to their promis'd land. But first the lawless tyrant, who denies
To know their God, or meffage to regard,
Must be compell'd by figns and judgements dire; 175 To blood unfhed the rivers must be turn'd; Frogs, lice, and flies must all his palace fill With loath'd intrufion, and fill all the land; His cattle muft of rot and murrain die ; Botches and blains must all his flefh imbofs, And all his people; thunder mix'd with hail, Hail mix'd with fire, muft rend th' Egyptian sky, And wheel on th' earth, devouring where it rolls; What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain, A darkfome cloud of locufts fwarming down Muft eat, and on the ground leave nothing green; Darkness muft overfhadow all his bounds, Palpable darkness, and blot out three days; Laft, with one midnight-ftroke, all the firft-born Of Egypt muft lic dead. Thus with ten wounds 190 The river-dragon tam'd at length fubmits
To let his fojourners depart, and oft
Humbles his ftubborn heart; but ftill as ice More harden'd after thaw; till in his rage Purfuing whom he late difmifs'd, the fea Swallows him with his hoft; but them lets pafs As on dry land between two cryftal walls, Aw'd by the rod of Mofes fo to stand Divided, till his refcu'd gain their fhore:
Such wond'rous power God to his faint will lend, 200
Though present in his angel, who fhall go Before them in a cloud, and pill'ar of fire, By day a cloud, by night a pill'ar of fire, To guide them in their journey, and remove. Behind them, while th' obdurate king pursues: 205 All night he will purfue; but his approach Darkness defends between till morning watch; Then through the fiery pillar and the cloud. God looking forth will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot-wheels; when by command Mofes once more his potent rod extends Over the fea; the fea his rod obeys; On their imbattled ranks the waves return, And overwhelm their war. The race elect Safe towards Canaan from their fhore advance
Thro' the wild defert, not the readiest way, Left ent'ring on the Canaanite alarm'd, War terrify them inexpert, and fear Return them back to Egypt, chufing rather Inglorious life with fervitude; for life To noble and ignoble is more fweet
Untrain'd in arms, where rafhnefs leads not on. This alfo fhall they gain by their delay
In the wild wilderness; there they shall found Their government, and their great fenate chufe 225 Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordain'd. God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top. Shall tremble, he defcending, will himself In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets found, Ordain them laws; part fuch as appertain To civil justice, part religious rites Of facrifice, informing them, by types And shadows, of that deftin'd seed to bruise The ferpent, by what means he fhall achieve
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God To mortal ear is dreadful; they befeech That Mofes might report to them his will, And terrour ceafe; he grants what they befought, Inftructed that to God is no accefs Without mediator, whose high office now Mofes in figure bears, to introduce One greater, of whofe day he fhall foretel, And all the prophets in their age the times Of great Meffi'ah fhall fing. Thus laws and rites Establish'd, fuch delight hath God in men Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes Among them to fet up his tabernacle, The Holy One with mortal men to dwell. By his prefcript a fanctuary is fram'd Of cedar, overlaid with gold; therein An ark, and in the ark his teftimony, The records of his covenant; over thefe A mercy-feat of gold, between the wings Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn Seven lamps, as in a zodiac representing The heavenly fires; over the tent a cloud Shall reft by day, a fiery gleam by night, Save when they journey, and at length they come, Conducted by his angel, to the land
Promis'd to Abraham and his feed.
Were long to tell, how many battles fought,
How many kings deftroy'd, and kingdoms won;
Or how the fun fhall in mid-heaven ftand still
A day entire, a night's due courfe adjourn, Man's voice commanding, Sun in Gibeon ftand, 265 And thou moon in the vale of Ajalon,
Till Ifrael overcome: fo call the third From Abraham, fon of Ifaac, and from him
His whole descent, who thus fhall Canaan win,
Here Adam interpos'd. O fent from heaven, 270 Inlightner of my darkness, gracious things Thou haft reveal'd, those chiefly which concern Juft Abraham and his feed: now first I find Mine eyes true op'ning, and my heart much eas'd, Erewhile perplex'd with thoughts what would become Of me and all mankind; but now I fee
His day, in whom all nations fhall be bless'd, Favour unmerited by me, who fought Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means. This yet I apprehend not, why to those
Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth, So many and fo various laws are giv'n;
Among them: how can God with fuch refide?
To whom thus Michael. Doubt not but that fin
Will reign among them, as of thee begot;
And therefore was law given them to evince
Their natural pravity, by ftirring up
Sin against law to fight: that when they fee Law can difcover fin, but not remove,
Save by thofe fhadowy expiations weak,
The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude Some blood more precious must be paid for man, Just for unjuft; that in fuch righteousness To them by faith imputed, they may find Juftification towards God, and peace Of confcience; which the law by ceremonies Cannot appeafe, nor man the moral part Perform, and not performing cannot live. So law appears imperfect, and but given With purpose to refign them in full time Up to a better covenant, difciplin'd
From fhadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit, From impofition of ftrict laws to free
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