defcriptions of the preceding three hundred lines. Thefe had been particularly relieved, and their beauty had been rendered more eminently confpicuous, from the ftudied equality and fcriptural plainnefs of the exordium of this Book; which has the effect defcribed by Cicero to the fubordinate and lefs fhining parts of any writing, "quò magis id, quod erit illuminatum, extare atque eminere videatur," De Orator. iii. 101. Ed. Prouft. -But the conclufion of this Book, though excellent in its kind, unfortunately, from its loco-pofition, appears to confiderable difadvantage. Writers of Didactick Poetry, to fecure the continuance of their reader's attention, must be careful not only to diverfify, but as much as poffible gradually to elevate, their ftrain. Accordingly, they generally open their feveral divisions with their dryer precepts, proceed then to more pleafing illuftrations, and are particularly ftudious to clofe each Book with fome defcription, or epifode, of the most embellished and attractive kind.-

Among the various beauties, which adorn this truly divine Poem, the most distinguishable and captivating feature of excellence is the character of Chrift. This is fo finely drawn, that we can scarcely forbear applying to it the language of Quintilian, refpecting the Olympian Jupiter of the famous fculptor Phidias; "cujus pulchritudo adjeciffe aliquid etiam receptæ religioni videatur, adeò majeftas operis Deum æquavit.” L. xii. C. 10. It is obferved by Mr. Hayley, that as in the Paradife Loft the poet feems to emulate the fublimity of Mofes and the Prophets, it appears to have been his with in the Paradife Regained to copy the fweetnefs and fimplicity of the Evangelifts. The great object of this fecond Poem feems indeed to be the exemplification of true Evangelical Virtue, in the perfon and fentiments of our Bleffed Lord. From the beginning of the THIRD BOOK to ver. 363 of the next, practical Chriftianity, thus perfonified, is contrafted with the boafted pretentions of the Heathen world, in its zenith of power, fplendour, civilization, and knowledge; the feveral claims. of which are fully ftated, with much ornament of language and poetick decoration. After an exordium of flattering commendation addreffed to our Lord, the Tempter opens his progreffive difplay of Heathen excellence with an eulogy on Glory (ver. 25.), which is fo intrinfically beautiful, that it may be

queftioned whether any Roman orator or poet ever fo eloquently and concifely defended the ambition of heroifm: The judgement of the Author inay alfo be noticed (ver. 31, &c.) in the felection of his heroes, two of whom, Alexander and Scipio, he has before introduced (B. ii. 196, 199,) as examples of continency and felfdenial-In fhort, the firft fpeech of Satan opens the caufe, for which he pleads, with all the art becoming his character.-In our Lord's reply, the falfe glory of worldly fame is stated with energetick briefnefs, and is opposed by the true glory of obedi. ence to the Divine commands. The ufual modes of acquiring glory in the Heathen world, and the intolerable vanity and prida with which it was claimed and enjoyed, are next moft forcibly depicted; and are finely contrasted with thofe means of acquiring honour and reputation, which are innocent and beneficial:

"But, if there be in glory aught of good,
"It may by means far different be obtain'd,
"Without ambition, war, or violence;

By deeds of peace, by wifdom eminent,
By patience, temperance."

Thefe lines are marked with that peculiar fpecies of beauty, which diftinguishes Virgil's defcription of the amiable heroes of benevolence and peace, whom he places in Elyfium, together with his blamclefs warriours, the virtuous defenders of their country, Æn. vi. 660-—665.

In the conclufion of the speech an heroical character of another kind is oppofed to the warlike heroes of antiquity;-one who, though a Heathen, furpafled them all in true wisdom and true fortitude. Such indeed was the character of Socrates, fuch his reliance on Divine Providence and his refignation thereto, that he feems to have imbibed his fentiments from a fource "above the famed Caftalian fpring," and while his demeanour eminently difplays the peaceable, patient, Chriftian-like virtues, his language often approaches nearer than could be imagined, to that of the holy penmen, “ Εν ταύτη Θεῳ φιλον," fays he, “ ταυτη γενέσθω. Epictet. AIATPIB. L. i. C. 29.- -The artful fophiftry of the Tempter's further defence of glory, and our Lord's majestically plain confutation of his arguments in the clear explanation given of the true ground on which glory and honour are due to the great Creator of all things, and required by him,—are both

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admirable. The reft of the Dialogue is well fupported; and it is wound up, with the best effect, in the concluding fpeech, where Satan offers a vindicatory explanation of his conduct, in which the dignity of the Arch-angel, (for, though "ruined," the Satan of Milton feldom "appears lefs than an Arch-angel,") is happily combined with the infinuating art and "flecked tongue" of this grand Deceiver. The first nineteen lines are peculiarly illuftrative of this double character: The transition that follows to the immediate Temptation then going on, and which paves the way for the enfuing change of fcene, is managed with the happiest addrefs.-The poet now quits mere Dialogue for that "union of the narrative and dramatick powers," which Dr. Johnson, speaking of this Poem, obferves "muft ever be more pleafing than a dialogue without action."-The defcription of the "fpecular mount," where our Lord is placed to view at once the whole Parthian empire, at the fame time that it is truly poetical, is fo accurately given, that we are enabled to ascertain the exact part of Mount Taurus, which the poet had in his mind. The geographical fcene, from ver. 268 to 292, is delineated with a precision that brings each place immediately before our eyes, and, as Dr. Newton remarks, far furpaffes the profpect of the kingdoms of the world from "the mount of vifion," in the eleventh Book of the Paradife Loft. The military expedition of the Parthians, from ver. 300 to 336, is a picture in the boldest and most masterly ftyle. It is fo perfectly unique in its kind, that I know not where in Poetry, ancient or modern, to go for any thing materially refembling it. The fifteenth Book of Taffo's Jerufalem, &c, (where the two Chriftian Knights, who are fent in fearch of Rinaldo, fee a great part of the habitable world, and are shown a numerous camp of their enemies,) does not appear to have furnished a single idea to our Author, either in his geographical, or his military, fcene. The fpeech of Satan, (ver. 346.) profeffing the purpose why he fhowed all this to Jefus, judiciously reverts to the immediate fubject of the Temptation; and, by urging our Lord to avail himself of the Parthian power, that he might gain poffefsion of David's throne, and free his countrymen from the Roman yoke, it applies to thofe patriotick feelings which he had expreffed in the First Book of this Poem, where he . declares that one of his earliest fentiments of virtue, more than human, was marked with a wifh "To refcue Ifrael from the

Roman yoke." Our Lord's reply is clofe and pointed, and ferves further to unfold the character of our great pattern of every virtue. The fame objection ftill lies against the conclufion of this Book, as against that of the preceding one;-by coming immediately after a part fo highly finished, as the view of the Parthian power in all the fplendour of a military expedition, it has not the effect it would otherwife have. It is however a neceffary conclufion, and one that materially carries on the business of the Poem. An effential teft of its merit is, that, however we might wish it shortened, it would fcarcely have been poffible to comprefs the matter it contains.

It has been obferved of almost all the great epick poems, that they fall off, and become languid, in the conclufion. The fix laft books of the Eneid, and the twelve laft of the Odyssey, have been thought inferiour to the preceding parts of those poems. In the Paradife Loft the two last books fall short of the majesty and fublimity of the reft: and fo, observes Dr. Newton, do the two last books of the Iliad. "With the fall of our first parents,” fays Dr. Blair," Milton's genius feems to decline:" and though he admits the Angel's fhowing Adam the fate of his pofterity to be happily imagined, "the execution," he adds, is "languid," Addifon, in pointing out the particular beauties of the two last books of the Paradife Loft, obferves that, though these were not looked upon as the moft fhining books of the poem, they ought not to be confidered as unequal parts of it.-Perhaps the two concluding books of the Paradife Loft might be defended by other arguments, and justified in a more effectual manner, than has been done by Addison; but it is certainly fortunate when the fubject and plan of an epick poem are fuch, that in the conclusion it may rife in dignity and fublimity, fo as to excite to the very last the attention and admiration of the reader,This laft Book of the Paradife Regained is one of the fineft conclufions of a poem, that can be produced. The Book of Job, which I have fuppofed to have been our Author's model, materially refembles it in this refpect, and is perhaps the only inftance that can be put in competition with it. It has been remarked that there is not a fingle fimile in the First Iliad : neither do we meet with one in the three first Books of the Paradife Regained. In the beginning of the FOURTH BOOK the

[See M1. Dunfter's defence of them in the concluding note on Par. Loft.]

poet introduces an Homerick cluster of fimilies; which feems to mark an intention of beftowing more poetical decoration on the conclufion of the Poem, than on the preceding parts of it.

They who talk of our Author's genius being in the decline when he wrote his fecond Poem, and who therefore turn from it, as from a dry profaick compofition, are, I will venture to fay, no judges of poetry. With a fancy, fuch as Milton's, it must have been more difficult to forbear poetick decorations, than to furnish them; and a glaring profufion of ornament would, I conceive, have more decidedly betrayed the poeta fenefcens, than a want of it. The first book of the Paradife Loft abounds in fimilies, and is, in other refpects, as elevated and fublime as any in the whole poem. But here the poet's plan was totally different. Though it may be faid of the Paradife Regained, as Longinus has faid of the Odyfey, that it is the epilogue of the preceding poem, ftill the defign and conduct of it is as different, as that of the Georgicks from the Eneid. The Paradife Regained has fomething of the didactick character; it teaches not merely by the general moral, and by the character and conduct of its hero, but has also many pofitive precepts every where interfperfed. It is written for the moft part in a ftyle admirably condenfed, and with a studied re ferve of ornament: it is neverthelefs illuminated with beauties of the moft captivating kind. Its leading feature throughout is that "excellence of compofition," which, as Lord Monboddo justly obferves, fo eminently diftinguished the writings of the ancients; and in which, of all modern authors, Milton moft refembles them.

At the commencement of this Book the argument of the Poem is confiderably advanced. Satan appears hopeless of fuccefs, but ftill perfifting in his enterprife. The defperate folly, and vain pertinacity, of this conduct, are perfectly well exemplified and illuftrated by three appofite fimilies, each fucceffively rifing in beauty above the other. The bufinefs of the Temptation being thus refumed, the Tempter takes our Lord to the western fide of the mountain, and fhows to him Italy; the fituation of which the poet marks with fingular accuracy, and, having traced the Tiber from its fource in the Appennines to Rome, he briefly enumerates the moft confpicuous objects that may be fuppofed at firft to ftrike the eye on a diftant view of this celebrated city. Satan now becomes the Speaker, and, in an admirably defcriptive