Temptation and all guile on him to try;
So to subvert whom he suspected rais'd
To end his reign on earth, so long enjoy'd:
But, contrary, unweeting he fulfill'd

The purpos'd counsel, pre-ordain'd and fix'd,
Of the Most High; who, in full frequence bright
Of Angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake :

Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, Thou and all Angels conversant on earth With man or men's affairs, how I begin To verify that solemn message, late On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure In Galilee, that she should bear a son, Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God; Then told'st her, doubting how these things could be To her a virgin, that on her should come The Holy Ghost, and the power of the highest O'ershadow her. This Man, born and now upgrown, To show him worthy of his birth divine And high prediction, henceforth I expose To Satan; let him tempt, and now assay His utmost subtlety, because he boasts And-vaunts of his great cunning to the throng Of his apostasy: he might have learnt Less over-weening, since he fail'd in Job, Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. He now shall know I can produce a Man, Of female seed, far abler to resist

All his solicitations, and at length

All his vast force, and drive him back to Hell;
Winning, by conquest, what the first man lost,
By fallacy surpris'd. But first I mean

To exercise him in the wilderness;

There he shall first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth
To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes,
By humiliation and strong sufferance:

His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength,
And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh,
That all the Angels and ethereal Powers,
They now, and men hereafter, may discern,
From what consummate virtue I have chose
This perfect Man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn salvation for the sons of men.'

So spake th' Eternal Father, and all Heaven
Admiring stood a space, then into hymns
Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd,
Circling the throne and singing, while the hand
Sung with the voice, and this the argument:

'Victory and triumph to the Son of God,
Now entering his great duel, not of arms,
But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles!
The Father knows the Son; therefore secure
Ventures his filial virtue, though untried,
Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce,
Allure, or terrify, or undermine.

Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell,
And, devilish machinations, come to nought!'

So they in Heaven their odes and vigils tun'd:
Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet some days
Lodg'd in Bethabara, where John baptiz'd,
Musing, and much revolving in his breast,
How best the mighty work he might begin
Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first
Publish his godlike office, now mature,
One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading
And his deep thoughts, the better to converse

With solitude, till, far from track of men,

Thought following thought, and step by step led on;
He enter❜d now the bordering desert wild,
And, with dark shades and rocks environ'd round,
His holy meditations thus pursued:

'O, what a multitude of thoughts at once
Awaken'd in me swarm, while I consider
What from within I feel myself, and hear
What from without comes often to my ears,
Ill sorting with my present state compar'd!
When I was yet a child, no childish play
To me was pleasing; all my mind was set
Serious to learn and know, and thence to do
What might be public good; myself I thought
Born to that end, born to promote all truth,
All righteous things: therefore, above my years,
The law of God I read, and found it sweet,
Made it my whole delight, and in it grew
To such perfection, that, ere yet my age
Had measur❜d twice six years, at our great feast
I went into the temple, there to hear
The teachers of our law, and to propose
What might improve my knowledge or their own;
And was admir'd by all: yet this not all
To which my spirit aspir'd; victorious deeds
Flam'd in my heart, heroic acts; one while
To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke,
Then to subdue and quell, o'er all the earth,
Brute violence and proud tyrannic power,
Till truth were freed, and equity restor❜d:
Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first
By winning words to conquer willing hearts,
And make persuasion do the work of fear;
At least to try, and teach the erring soul,

VOL. VII.

Not wilfully misdoing, but unaware

Misled; the stubborn only to subdue.

These growing thoughts my mother soon perceiving,
By words at times cast forth, inly rejoic'd,
And said to me apart, "High are thy thoughts,
O Son! but nourish them, and let them soar
To what height sacred virtue and true worth
Can raise them, though above example high;
By matchless deeds express thy matchless sire,
For know, thou art no son of mortal man;
Though men esteem thee low of parentage,
Thy father is th' Eternal King, who rules
All Heaven and earth, Angels and sons of men;
A messenger from God foretold thy birth
Conceiv'd in me a virgin; he foretold,

Thou should'st be great, and sit on David's throne,
And of thy kingdom there should be no end.

At thy nativity, a glorious quire

Of Angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, sung
To shepherds, watching at their folds by night,
And told them the Messiah now was born;

Where they might see him; and to thee they came,
Directed to the manger where thou lay'st,
For in the inn was left no better room:
A star, not seen before, in Heaven appearing,
Guided the wise men thither from the east,

To honour thee with incense, myrrh, and gold;
By whose bright course led on they found the place,
Affirming it thy star, new-graven in Heaven,
By which they knew the King of Israel born.
Just Simeon and prophetic Anna, warn'd
By vision, found thee in the temple, and spake,
Before the altar and the vested priest,

Like things of thee to all that present stood."

This having heard, straight I again revolv'd

The Law and Prophets, searching what was writ
Concerning the Messiah, to our scribes

Known partly, and soon found, of whom they spake am; this chiefly, that my way must lie

I

Through many a hard assay, ev'n to the death,
Ere I the promis'd kingdom can attain,

Or work redemption for mankind, whose sins
Full weight must be transfer'd upon my head.
Yet, neither thus dishearten'd or dismay'd,
The time prefix'd I waited; when behold
The Baptist, (of whose birth I oft had heard,
Not knew by sight,) now come, who was to come
Before Messiah, and his way prepare!

I, as all others, to his baptism came,
Which I believ'd was from above; but he
Straight knew me, and with loudest voice proclaim'd
Me him, (for it was shown him so from Heaven,)
Me him, whose harbinger he was; and first
Refus'd on me his baptism to confer,

As much his greater, and was hardly won:
But, as I rose out of the laving stream,
Heaven open'd her eternal doors, from whence
The Spirit descended on me like a dove;
And last, the sum of all, my Father's voice,
Audibly heard from Heaven, pronounc'd me His,
Me His beloved Son, in whom alone

He was well pleas'd;' by which I knew the time
Now full, that I no more should live obscure,
But openly begin, as best becomes

Th' authority which I deriv'd from Heav'n.
And now by some strong motion I am led
Into this wilderness, to what intent

I learn not yet; perhaps I need not know,
For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.'