Corn wine and oil; and from the herd or flock, 395 Vith large wine-offerings pour'd, and facred feaft, hall spend their days in joy unblam'd, and dwell ong time in peace by families and tribes Under paternal rule: till one shall rife of proud ambitious heart, who not content 20 25 With s not doing it must be imputed for fo doing. The Scripturé fays - his mind's being fo unhappily of Nimrod, Gen. X. 9. that he was bitter'd, at the time of his writ- a mighty hunter before the Lord: And g, against our government both this our author understands in the church and ftate; fo that to the worft fenfe, of hunting men and any other mischiefs flowing from not beafts and men not beafts e grand rebellion we may add fhall be his game. But feveral comis of its depriving Britain of the mentators understand it in the fame eft panegyric it is ever likely to manner, and the Scripture applies ave. Thyer. the word to hunting of men by perfecution, oppreffion, and tỷ. ranny. Jer. XVI. 16. Lam. IV. 18. Ezek. XIII. 18, 20. And fo 16. With fome regard to what is juft and right] This anfwers the filver age of the poets, the aradifiacal state is the golden one. hat of iron begins foon, ver. 24. Richardfon. 24. till one shall rise &c.] It = generally agreed that the firft overnments in the world were paiarchal, by families and tribes, and hat Nimrod was the firft who laid The foundations of kingly government among mankind. Our author herefore (who was no friend to tingly government at the best) reprefents him in a very bad light as moft wicked and infolent tyrant, Out he has great authorities, both Jewish and Chriftian, to justify him the Jerufalem Targum here ex- Lord. With fair equality, fraternal state," Will arrogate dominion undeferv'd Over his brethren, and quite difpoffefs Concord and law of nature from the earth, A mighty hunter thence he shall be stil'd 35 H: Lord. Our author, in conformity clame, proclame, &c. being derived to this opinion, fays Before the Lord, as in defpite of but then takes in the other inter pretation of Vatablus and others, that before the Lord is the fame as under the Lord, ufurping all authority to himself next under God, and claming it Jure divino, as was done in Milton's own time; Or from Heav'n claming fecond Jovranty; claming, fo Milton fpells the word in this place, and fo he fpells reclame in VI. 791. and fo all of that family fhould be spelt, declame, ex from the Latin clamo and the Fresa clamer. And from rebellion fhall derive in name, for the name Nimrod, tho' favorable etymologies are gives yet commonly is derived from the Hebrew word marad which figi fies to rebel; and this probably a the principal occafion of thole jurious reports which have prevaile in the world concerning him. Though of rebellion others be accuk This was added by our author p bably not without a view to h own time, when himself and the He with a crew, whom like ambition joins Marching from Eden tow'ards the west, shall find 40 A city' and tow'r, whose top may reach to Heaven; n foreign lands their memory be lost, But God who oft defcends to vifit men 45 To f his party were ftigmatiz'd as near Babylon, that it fwam upon he worst of rebels. 40. Marching from Eden towards the weft, &c.] Gen. XI. 2 c. And it came to pass as they joureyed from the east, that they found a And lain in the land of Shinar hey had brick for ftone, and flime had bey for morter. And they faid, Go o, let us build us a city and a tower, whofe top may reach unto Heaven, and et us make us a name, left we be fcatered abroad upon the face of the whole arth. The Hebrew chemar which ve tranflate flime is what the Greeks call afphaltus and the Latins bitunen, a kind of pitch; and that it abounded very much in the plain the waters, that there was a cave and fountain continually emitting it, and that this famous tower at this time, and the no less famous walls of Babylon afterwards were built with this kind of cement, is confirm'd by the teftimony of feveral profane authors. This black bituminous gurge, this pitchy pool the poet calls the mouth of Hell, not strictly speaking, but by the fame fort of figure by which the ancient poets call Tænarus or Avernus the jaws and gate of Hell, Tænarias etiam fauces, alta oftia Ditis. Virg. Georg. IV. 467. 51. Comes To mark their doings, them beholding foon, Not understood, till hoarfe, and all in age, 55 55 As mock'd they ftorm; great laughter was in Heaven And looking down, to see the hubbub strange And has made fome alterations hert, and the context confider'd I know not whether they are not for the better; -great laughter is in Heaven All looking down thus is the building left: but afterwards I find the author varying the tenfe in feveral places and fpeaking of things future a 51. Comes down to fee their city, &c.] Gen. XI. 5 &c. And the Lord came down to fee the city and the tower, which the children of men builded &c. The Scripture fpeaketh here after the manner of men: And thus the Heathen Gods are often reprefented as coming down to obferve the actions of men, as in the ftories of Lycaon, Baucis and Philemon&c. 53. — a various fpirit] 2 Chron. XVIII. 22. 'Tis faid the Lord had paft, future with regard to the time when the Angel is fpeaking put a lying spirit in the mouth of but paft with regard to the time the prophets; here he puts a va- which he is fpeaking of. Great rious Spirit in the mouth of thefe laughter was in Heaven &c. And builders, a fpirit varying the founds thus Homer reprefents the Gods by which they would exprefs their laughing at the aukward limping thoughts one to another, and bring- carriage of Vulcan in waiting, Iliad ing confequently confufion, whence I. 599. the work is fo call'd. Richardfon. great laughter was in Heaven &c.] Dr. Bentley 59. nd hear the din; thus was the building left bove his brethren, to himself affuming Ως ιδον Ηφαισον δια δώματα Vulcan with aukward grace his the skies. Pope. But as Mr. Thyer adds, it is rather 00 comic for the grave character of Milton's Gods to be reprefented peeping down and laughing like a parcel of mere mortals, to fee the workmen puzled and fquabbling about their work: tho' there are Euch expreffions even in Scripture, Pfal. II. 4. He that fitteth in the Heavens fhall laugh; the Lord fhall have them in derifion. See too Pfal. XXXVII. 13. LIX. 8. Prov. I. 26. I alfo will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. 62. 65 70 But and the work Confufion nam'd.] For Babel in Hebrew fignifies Confufion. Therefore is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth. Gen. XI. 9. Ås the poet represents this confufion among the builders as an object of ridicule, fo he makes ufe of fome ridiculous words, fuch as are not very ufual in poetry, to highten that ridicule, as jangling noise, hideous gabble, firange hubbub. 71.. human left from buman free.] Every reader must be pleafed with the fpirit of liberty. that breathes in this fpeech of our firft ancestor: And it is not improbable that the author had in mind a paffage of St. Auftin, as I find it quoted by Mr. Hume. Rationalem factum ad imaginem fuam, noluit nift |