To which my fpirit afpir'd; victorious deeds 215
Flam'd in my heart, heroick acts; one while
To refcue Ifrael from the Roman yoke;
Then to fubdue and quell, o'er all the earth,
Brute violence and proud tyrannick power,
Till truth were freed, and equity restor❜d:
Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first
By winning words to conquer willing hearts,

220

him were aftonifhed at his underftanding and anfwers," Luke
ii. 47. NEWTON.

Ver. 218. Then to fubdue and quell, o'er all the carth,

Brute violence and proud tyrannick power,] Milton here carries his republican principles to the greatest height, in fuppofing the overthrow of all monarchy to have been one of the objects of our Lord's early contemplations. We may compare his Samfon Agonistes, v. 1268, &c. DUNSTER.

It follows, then according to Dunster, that "all "monarity" is "Brute violence de,
Ver. 221. Yet held it more humane, more heavenly, first] The

true fpirit of toleration breathes in thefe lines, and the sentiment
is very fitly put into the mouth of him, who came not to destroy
men's lives, but to face them. NEWTON.

Ver. 222. By winning words to conquer willing hearts,] Virgil
Georg. iv. 561.

"victorque volentes.

"Per populos dat jura".

which expreffion of Virgil feems to be taken from Xenophon,
Oeconomic, xxi. 12. Οὐ γὰρ πάνυ μοι δοκει ὅλον τῦλι τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἀνθρώς
πινον εἶναι, ἀλλὰ θεῖον, τὸ ἐθέλοντων ἀρχεῖν. JORTIN.

Dr. Newton has commended the alliteration of w's in this
line. Alliteration, not too frequently repeated, undoubtedly
gives fometimes force and energy to a line; but furely feveral of
our late writers carry it to a naufeous and unwarrantable length.
Of all writers, Dryden feems to be moft happy in the temperate
and proper ufe of alliteration; but he has fcarcely ever more
than three words in a line that begin with the fame letter.

Jos. WARTON.

And make perfuafion do the work of fear;
At least to try, and teach the erring foul,
Not wilfully misdoing, but unware

225

Mifled; the ftubborn only to fubdue. Thefe growing thoughts my mother foon perceiving,

By words at times caft forth, inly rejoic'd, And faid to me apart; "High are thy thoughts, "O Son, but nourish them, and let them foar 230 "To what highth facred virtue and true worth

Ver. 226.

the ftubborn only to fubdue.] In all the editions we read "the ftubborn only to destroy." And this being good fenfe, the mistake is not easily detected: but in the first edition the reader is defired, in the table of Errata, for deftroy to read fubdue; and, if we confider it, this is the more proper word, more fuitable to the humane and heavenly character of the speaker; and befides it anfwers to the subdue and quell in ver. 218. "The Son of Man came not to destroy men's lives, &c." Luke ix. 56.

In Tonfon's 12mo. edit.

NEWTON.
1747, it is rightly printed,

ftubborn only to fubdue." TODD.

Ver. 228.

En. i. 502.

"The

inly rejoic'd,] Virgil,

"Latonæ tacitum pertentant gaudia pectus." JORTIN. The reader fhould recollect, that the occafion of the above verfe, which is finely defcriptive of maternal delight, was the diftinguishing perfonal grace and divine appearance of Diana on the banks of Eurotas, furrounded by her nymphs; among whom "illa pharetram

"Fert humero, gradiénfque Deas fupereminet omnes."

Ver. 231.

DUNSTER.

true worth] Hor.

Od. III. v.

"Nec vera virtus, cum femel excidit,

"Curat reponi deterioribus." DUNSTER.

66

66

Can raise them, though above example high;

By matchlefs deeds exprefs thy matchlefs Sire, "For know, thou art no fon of mortal man; Though men efteem thee low of parentage, 235 Thy Father is the Eternal King who rules "All Heaven and Earth, Angels and fons of 66 men;

66

"A meffenger from God foretold thy birth
"Conceiv'd in me a virgin; he foretold,
“Thou should'st be great, and fit on David's
"throne,

240

"And of thy kingdom there fhould be no end.
"At thy nativity, a glorious quire

"Of Angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, fung
"To thepherds, watching at their folds by night,

Ver. 233. By matchless deeds exprefs thy matchless Sire,] Milton, in one place of his Par. Loft, ufes the verb to express, in the fame fenfe as he has done here. It is one of the speeches of the Deity to Adam after his creation.

"Thus far to try thee, Adam, I was -pleas'd,
"And find thee knowing, not in beafts alone
"Which thou haft rightly nam'd, but of thyfelf,
Expreffing well the fpirit within thee free,

My image, not imparted to the brute." DUNSTER.
he foretold,

Ver. 239.

Luke i. 32, 33.

Ver. 241.

Thou should't be great, and fit on David's throne,
And of thy kingdom there should be no end.] Sce
DUNSTER.

there fhould be no end.] Tickell and Fenton, after Tonfon, corruptly read, " there fhall be no end.”

Dr. Newton reftored the true reading. TODD.

Ver. 242. At thy nativity, a glorious quire

Of Angels, in the fields of Bethlehem, fung

+ Christ is here represented

To fhepherds, watching at their folds by night, &c.] as having had no knowlege of his miraculous birth & the events said to have attended it, until now first communicated to him by his mother.

these were

"And told them the Meffiah now was born, 245 "Where they might fee him, and to thee they

"came,

"Directed to the manger where thou lay'ft, "For in the inn was left no better room:

"A ftar, not seen before, in Heaven appearing, "Guided the wife men thither from the eaft, 250 "To honour thee with incenfe, myrrh, and gold; By whofe bright courfe led on they found the

66

"Affirming it thy ftar, new-graven in Heaven, "By which they knew the King of Ifrael born. "Juft Simeon and prophetick Anna, warn'd 255

See Par. Loft, B. xii. 364.

"His place of birth a folemn Angel tells

"To fimple shepherds, keeping watch by night;

"They gladly thither hafte, and by a quire

Of Squadron'd angels hear his carol fung." DUNSTER.

Ver. 249. Aftar, not feen before, in Heaven appearing,
Guided the wife men thither from the east,

To honour thee with incenfe, myrrh, and gold;]

So, in Par. Loft, B. xii. 360.

"Unfeen before in Heaven, proclaims him come,
"And guides the Eaftern fages, who inquire
"His place, to offer incenfe, myrrh, and gold."

DUNSTER.

Ver. 255. Just Simeon and prophetick Anna,] It may not be improper to remark how ftrictly our author adheres to the Scripture hiftory, not only in the particulars which he relates, but alfo in the very epithets which he affixes to the perfons; as here Juft Simeon, because it is faid, Luke ii. 25. and the fame man was just and prophetick Anna, because it is faid, Luke ii. 36.

By vifion, 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, ftraight I again revolv'd

The Law and Prophets, fearching what was writ

Concerning the Meffiah, to our scribes

261

Known partly, and foon found, of whom they
fpake

I am; this chiefly, that my way must lie

Through many a hard affay, even to the death,

Ere I the promis'd kingdom can aṭtain,

265

and there was one Anna a prophetess. The like accuracy may be
obferved in all the reft of this speech. NEWTON.

Ver. 257.
the vefted priest,] The epithet
refted is fingularly proper, because the vestments of the Jewish
priest were enjoined, and particularly defcribed, by God him-
felf; and, unlefs habited in them, the miniftration of the priest
at the altar was illegal, and exprefsly forbidden under the
penalty of "bearing his iniquity," Exod. xxviii. 43. HURD.

Ver. 262.

and foon found, of whom they fpake

I am;] The Jews thought that the Meffiah, when he came, would be without all power and distinction, and unknown even to himff, till Elias had anointed and declared him. Χρισὸς δὲ ἐι καὶ γεγένηται, καὶ ἐςὶ πυ, ἄγνωςθ. ἐςὶ, καὶ ἐδὲ ἀυτὸ πω ἑαυτὸν ἐπίσαται, ἐδὲ ἔχει δύναμιν τίνα, μέχρις ἂν ἐλθὼν Ἠλίας χρίση αυτὸν, καὶ φανερὸν πᾶσι ποίηση. Juft. Mart. Dial. cum Tryph. p. 266. Ed. Col. CALTON.

Ver. 264. Through many a hard affay, even to the death,] See note on Comus, v. 972. Unto the death, as Mr. Dunfter obferves, is an expreffion ufed in our tranflation of the Scriptures. See Acts xxii. 4. See alfo Judges v. 18, and Revel. xii. 11. It is alfo an old poetical phrafe, being used by Chaucer and Shakfpeare; and is fuppofed by Mr. Tyrwhitt to have been originally a mistaken tranflation of the French la mort. TODD.

+ Jesus now, having been led by what his Mother had just insparted to linn to search the Scriptines relative to the Messiah, is confirmed in the conviction that He himself is the Christ predicted in them.