himself ascribes it a little before. See lines 211, 12. LINE 257, All but less than he. The construction perhaps is not very obvious, but seems to be this: What matter where I am, so I still be the same, and what I should be in every respect, this one particular excepted, that I am less than he, whom thunder hath made greater? LINE 298. Smote on him sore besides. "The poet in other passages expresses the effect of violent heat by the verb smite. Thus in Book 4. 1. 244, he says→→→→ of it, but it is at their astonishment, which, though he sees is, he can hardly believe. Next, affecting ignorance of the real cause of their inactivity, he imputes it to sloth and indolence, as if to stimulate them by derision. In the third place, to provoke and rouse them still more, that they may be at that moment he pretends to suppose it possible employed in worshipping and doing homage to the conqueror. Lastly, he uses solid argument, reminding expose themselves by such supinethem of the danger to which they ness, and finishes his exhortation with a line detached from the rest, Both where the morning sun first warmly and therefore so emphatical, that smote Per certo i bei vostr' occhi, Donna mia, Esser non puo che non sian lo mio sole, Si mi percuoton forte. • Milton sometimes cuts off the last-syllable of the participle in ed, and sometimes, as here, allows its complete pronunciation. It were to be wished that the practice of incorporating it with the preceding syllable by the absorption of the intermediate eas in thrash'd, advanc'd, wreck'd, and other words of the like kind, had not so universally obtained as it has. For the consequence is often a clutter of consonants with only a single vowel to assist their utterance, which has a barbarous effect, both in the sound and in the appearance. LINES15. "Of all the harangues that either history or poetry has invented for cominanders rallying their routed armies, none was ever better conceived than this. Satan seems himself astonished in the beginning while he utters it we seem to hear the vaults of hell re-echo. LINE 835. Nor did they not perceive. "A Græcism, and taken from the oud' and the neque non paruit of Homer. that were on high above them, he cut down, and the groves and carved images, and the molten images he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them, that had sacrificed unto them. LINE 455. Ezekiel saw. "See Ezekiel, ch. 8. v. 16. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five-and-twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, and they worshipp'd the sun toward the east. LINE 499. Ascends above their loftiest tow'rs. "So Homer makes Eumæus, speaking of the riotous deeds of the suitors, say Τῶν υβρις τε, βιη τι, ειδήριον ωρανονικά. LINE 516. Ruled the middle air. "A portion which the poet seems to allot to Jupiter on the authority of Homer-Iliad 15. 192. Ζεὺς δ' ελαχ ̓ οὐρανὸν ευζων εν αιθέρι και νεφέλησις. LINE 537. Shone like a meteor. "Mr. Gray had doubtless this line in his eye, when, in the second stanza of his ode entitled the Bard, he said Loose his beard, and hoary hair Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air. LINE 542. A shout that tore, &c. "Homer's is a noble shout, of which he says in the last line of the Iliad 13. 'Hyn d' aμpstigwv ixer' abiga, sa Aos aryas. But this as far surpasses it, as the fallen angels were more terrible than the Greeks and the Trojans, and the LINE 580. -and what resounds In fable or romance. Perhaps there are readers of Milton, not altogether destitute of taste, who feel themselves, when they meet with a passage in him like the present, disposed to be more merciful to it than some of his severer judges. Allusions to ancient story, whether false or true, and to customs and practices long since ob. solete, affect a contemplative mind agreeably, and to such persons, perhaps, the very sound of names like these is not unpleasing. LINE 589. Their dread commander. "Milton's divine subject afforded him opportunities of surpassing in sublime description all the poets his predecessors, and his talents were such as enabled him to use those op. portunities to the best advantage. Homer's representation of Agamem non in the second Iliad, where he says, that in his eyes and countenance he reseinbled Jove the Thunderer, that he was like Mars in girth, and had the port of Neptune, is indeed magnificent, but when he finishes his picture by likening him to a buil, how far short does he fall of Milton, who, when he compares his lost archangel to the sun new risen in a misty morning, or eclipsed by the moon, their multitude is to be noticed. They are not thousands, but millions; and they are millions not of puny mortals, but of mighty cherubim. Their swords flame not metaphorically, but they are swords of fire; they flash not by reflection of the sun-beams like the swords of Homer, but their own light, and that light plays not idly in the broad day, but far round illumines hell. being like themselves, but the AlAnd lastly, they defy not a created mighty. "It was doubtless a happiness to have fallen on a subject that fusnished such scenery and such characters to act in it, but a happiness it would not have been to a genius inferior to Milton's; such a one, on the contrary, would have been depressed by it, and in what Milton reaches with a graceful ease, would have fallen short after much and fruitless labour. LINE 670, whose grisly top. "Grisly seems to signify rough or hideous, but perhaps answers more exactly in its import to the Latin word hispidus. LINE 689. Open'd into the hill a spaci ous wound. "This is a beautiful expression, and may serve to shew how an act or image, vulgar and ordinary in itself, may be dignified by mere force of diction. LINE 718. where pilasters round, &c. "Milton has been censured by Addison, as well as Dr. Newton, here, for his use of technical expres sions, and the point, enforced as it has been by such great authority, seems to be given up. But perhaps it may even now be permitted to an annotator to ask two simple questions on the present occasion.-Was it law ful ful to the poet to give a minute description of this wonderful structure? Surely it was. Ovid has minutely described the palace of the sun, and Homer that of Alcinous.-If, then, there was no fault in describing it minutely, it should seem that there could be none in particularizing the several members of it by such terms, as could alone express them. Milton, in fact, had no other means of making his account intelligible. LINE 772-3. that may match the most extravagant. But extravagant it cannot seem, if we allow ourselves to recollect who are in question, and what the Scripture says concerning them. All that we know of invisible agents, whether good or evil, we learn from Scripture, which tells us that a sin gle demoniac was possessed by a legion. Scripture, therefore, asc ibes to the devils this power of self-contraction, and if Scripture gives it them, it would be difficult to assign a good reason why Milton should not have imagined them to employ on this occasion. The ascending pile Stood fixt her stately highth. "The expression is elliptical,and requires two words to supply the defi-it ciency, when it would stand thus The ascending pile Stood fixt through all her stately highth. LINE 777. Behold a wonder! "This contrivance has been censured by some, and particularly by Voltaire, who, having stated his objections to it, calls it an idle tale, འ "It may be observed, also, that this poetical artifice, instead of depriving us of the idea of their natural bulk and stature, much enlarges it, representing them as not to be contained at their full size within walls of any dimensions, and at the same time gives us a most magnificent impression of their numbers.” ON DUELLING.. [From DIALOGUES on VARIOUS SUBJECTS, by the LATE REV. W. GILPIN, A. M.] "AS S Sir Charles and his friend were sitting on a bench, one evening, in an elevated part of a wood, which closed upon them behind, and left all the front open to a beautiful prospect, they were joined by Baron Brett, as he was commonly called a gentleman much esteemed in the country; and with whom they were on terms of the freest communication. Mr. Brett had served with great reputation in the Swedish army; and had received from the king a title of honour, which is more respected in Sweden than in England. For that reason, therefore, and because his estate was but moderate, he chose, like a sensible man, to decline the honour, and take the title of Colonel only, which he had bore in the Swedish army. He was a man rather serious in his disposition, had read much, and conversed more; was perfectly well bred, and what was commonly called, a man of strict honour. "On his sitting down with the two gentlemen, he asked them if they had seen the papers that morn ing? As they had not, he gave them a few particulars of foreign news; and among domestic articles, mentioned a singular duel, which had had just been fought. As they had not heard of it, the Colonel related the circumstances. "A grave gentleman was standing by a coffee-house fire, and calling a waiter, gave him bis snuffbox, which he bade him fill. As the waiter returned, a flippant young officer, in one of the boxes, called out, My good lad, let me take toll as you go past; on which he thrust his finger and thumb into the box, and served himself. The gentleman, on receiving his box, opened it carelessly, and throwing the contents into the fire, bade the waiter fill it again. The young officer (Ingram, I think, his name was) considering this as a gross affront, inquired who the gentleman was; and finding his name was Forbes, he sent him a challenge. Forbes told him, he had no inclination to fight on so trifling an occasionthat he meant him no insult-but that he owned, he felt himself rather hurt by such a piece of intrusive fa miliarity from a perfect stranger. Nothing, however, could satisfy Ingram; and his behaviour was so insulting, that Forbes, at length, thought himself under a necessity to meet him. They fired together. Forbes's ball took place; and Ingram fell dead on the spot. "This story introduced a conversation, on duelling. Mr. Willis observed, he had heard of duels, on very ridiculous occasions; but he never before heard of two lives staked on any thing so trifling, as a pinch of snuff. "No doubt (said the Colonel), the occasion of the quarrel was trifling enough; and I should have thought the affair might easily have been made up by the intervention of friends. However, in these cases, the occasion is only the spark; it is the point of honour which blows up the flame. "Mr. Willis desired the Colonel to inform him, what he meant by the point of honour? "Why perhaps (said the Colonel), it may not be easy to make the point of honour a visible point to a gentleman of your profession; but we soldiers see it like the disk of thesun. "You do not mean, I suppose (replied Mr. Willis), that the soldier should not hold any motive of action which religion will not warrant ? "No, no (said the Colonel); I mean only that gentlemen of your profession may not always see things in the same light, in which we soldiers see them. "I understand you then to mean (answered Mr Willis), that duelling may be maintained on Christian principles, when they are rightly understood. "Why, yes (said the Colonel), that is what I mean.-I understand, that all divines allow war to be lawful; and I see not why duelling may not be defended on the same ground. Wars often, like duels, may be very unjustifiable. wish to say is, that the same principle guides both; and on that principle either may be right, or wrong. All Í "I do not see that, (said Mr. Willis). It appears to me, that war, and duelling are maintained on very opposite principles. The breast of the gallant soldier glows with true honour. He draws his sword without animosity to any one; and could take to his heart the man he strikes. His affections are all public. The breast of the duellist, on the other hand, is a dark gloomy chamber, full of deadly hate, malice, and revenge.-Then, again, how different is the cause in which they fight? The public cause, it is true, may either be right or wrong; but of that the soldier is no judge. His country is his cause For |