Left only in those written records pure,
Though not but by the Spirit understood.
Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names,
Places, and titles, and with these to join
Secular power, though feigning still to act
By spiritual, to themselves appropriating
The Spirit of God, promised alike and given
To all believers; and from that pretence
Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force
On every conscience; laws which none shall find
Left them inrolled, or what the Spirit within
Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then
But force the Spirit of grace itself, and bind
His consort Liberty? What, but unbuild
His living temples, built by faith to stand,
Their own faith, not another's? for on earth
Who against faith and conscience can be heard
Infallible? yet many will presume:
Whence heavy persecution shall arise
On all who in the worship persevere
Of spirit and truth; the rest, far greater part,
Will deem in outward rites and specious forms
Religion satisfied; Truth shall retire
Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works of faith
So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign,
Under her own weight groaning, till the day
Appear of respiration to the just
And vengeance to the wicked, at return
518. spiritual, spiritual power. 523. them, to them.inrolled in the Scriptures, which were formerly written and kept in rolls.what, such as.
526. Liberty. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians iii. 17.
527. His living temples. 1 Corinthians iii. 16, 17.
533. spirit and truth. See John iv. 23, 24.
538. To good, to good men. 540. respiration, breathing again; relief or restitution. See Acts iii. 21.
541. return. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then shall he reward every man
Of him so lately promised to thy aid,
The woman's seed, obscurely then foretold,
Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord;
Last in the clouds from Heaven to be revealed
In glory of the Father, to dissolve
Satan with his perverted world, then raise
From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date,
Founded in righteousness and peace and love,
To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss."
He ended and thus Adam last replied:
"How soon hath thy prediction, seer blest,
Measured this transient world, the race of time,
Till time stand fixed! beyond is all abyss,
Eternity, whose end no eye can reach.
Greatly instructed I shall hence depart,
Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill
Of knowledge, what this vessel can contain ;
Beyond which was my folly to aspire.
Henceforth I learn that to obey is best,
And love with fear the only God, to walk
As in his presence, ever to observe
His providence, and on him sole depend,
Merciful over all his works, with good
Still overcoming evil, and by small
Accomplishing great things, by things deemed weak
according to his works." Mat. beyond is abyss, immeasurable thew xvi. 27.
544. amplier, more fully.
known, known as.
545. in the clouds. See Matthew xxiv. 30.
548. conflagrant, burning together, with a common flame. 549. New heavens, new earth. See 2 Peter iii. 10-13.
552. last replied, replied for the
555. beyond is all abyss, all
559. what, all of knowledge which.
560. was, it was.
561. to obey is best. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." 1 Samuel xv. 22.
565. "The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalm cxlv. 9. 566-569. See 1 Corinthians i. 26-29.
Subverting worldly strong and worldly wise.
By simply meek; that suffering for truth's sake
Is fortitude to highest victory,
And, to the faithful, death the gate of life;
Taught this by his example, whom I now
Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest."
To whom thus also the angel last replied:
"This having learned, thou hast attained the sum 575
Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars
Thou knew'st by name, and all the ethereal powers,
All secrets of the deep, all Nature's works,
Or works of God in heaven, air, earth, or sea,
And all the riches of this world enjoyedst,
And all the rule, one empire: only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love,
By name to come called charity, the soul
Of all the rest; then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.
Let us descend now therefore from this top
Of speculation, for the hour precise
Exacts our parting hence; and see, the guards
By me encamped on yonder hill expect
Their motion, at whose front a flaming sword,
In signal of remove, waves fiercely round:
We may no longer stay. Go, waken Eve;
Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed,
Portending good, and all her spirits composed
To meek submission; thou at season fit
lation, view.-precise, fixed; ap
576. hope no higher, hope for pointed. no higher attainment.
590. Exacts, requires.
591, 592. expect their motion, await the signal to move. — a flaming sword. See Genesis iii.
581-585. See 2 Peter i. 5-7. — charity. See 1 Corinthians xiii. 588, 589. this top of speculation. See XI. 376-384. specu- 24.
Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard,
Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,
The great deliverance by her seed to come
(For by the woman's seed) on all mankind;
That ye may live, which may be many days,
Both in one faith unanimous, though sad
With cause for evils past, yet much more cheered
With meditation on the happy end."
He ended, and they both descend the hill;
Descended, Adam to the bower where Eve
Lay sleeping ran before, but found her waked;
And thus with words not sad she him received:
"Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I
For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,
Which he hath sent propitious, some great good
Presaging, since with sorrow and heart's distress
Wearied I fell asleep. But now lead on;
In me is no delay; with thee to go
Is to stay here; without thee here to stay
Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me
Art all things under heaven, all places thou,
Who for my wilful crime art banished hence.
This further consolation yet secure
I carry hence; though all by me is lost,
Such favor I unworthy am vouchsafed,
By me the promised Seed shall all restore."
So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard Well pleased, but answered not; for now too nigh 625 The Archangel stood, and from the other hill To their fixed station, all in bright array,
601. For by, for it shall come by. See Galatians iv. 4, 5.
603. unanimous, agreeing.
627. fixed, appointed.
The Cherubim descended; on the ground
Gliding metéorous, as evening mist
Risen from a river o'er the marish glides,
And gathers ground fast at the laborer's heel
Homeward returning. High in front advanced
The brandished sword of God before them blazed
Fierce as a comet, which with torrid heat,
And vapor as the Libyan air adust,
Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat
In either hand the hastening angel caught
Our lingering parents, and to the eastern gate
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain; then disappeared.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate
With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms.
Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them
The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow Through Eden took their solitary way.
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