THE

THIRD BOOK

O F

PARADISE REGAIN'D.

H 2

O fpake the Son of God, and Satan stood

A while as mute confounded what to say,
What to reply, confuted and convinc'd

Of his weak arguing, and fallacious drift;
At length collecting all his ferpent wiles,
With foothing words renew'd, him thus accofts.
I fee thou know'ft what is of use to know,
What beft to fay canft fay, to do canft do;
Thy actions to thy words accord, thy words

To thy large heart give utterance due, thy heart 10

Contains

word fpecies with as little fuccefs in my opinion as Milton has done here by his English shape. Thyer. Of good, wife, juft, the perfect shape. I should rather think it exprefs'd from the perfecta forma honeftatis, and the forma ipfa honefti of Cicero. De Fin. II. 15. Habes undique expletam et perfectam, Torquate, formam honeftatis, &c. De Off. I. 5. Formam quidem ipfam, Marce fili, et tanquam faciem bo nefti vides; quæ, fi oculis cernere tur &c. And the more, because H 3

Contains of good, wife, juft, the perfect shape.
Should kings and nations from thy mouth confult,
Thy counsel would be as the oracle

Urim and Thummim, thofe oraculous gems
On Aaron's breaft; or tongue of seers old
Infallible: or wert thou fought to deeds
That might require th' array of war, thy skill
Of conduct would be fuch, that all the world
Could not sustain thy prowefs, or subsist

15

In

he renders forma by shape in the given to the breaft-plate in its conParadife Loft. IV. 848.

lous gems

On Aaron's breaft; &c] Aaron's breaft-plate was a piece of cloth doubled, of a fpan fquare, in which were fet in fockets of gold twelve precious ftones bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Ifrael ingraven on them, which being fixed to the ephod, or upper veftment of the high-prieft's robes, was worn by him on his breaft on all folemn occafions. In this breaftplate the Urim and Thummim, fay the Scriptures, were put. And the learned Prideaux, after giving fome account of the various opinions concerning Urim and Thummim, fays it will be fafeft to hold, that the words Urim and Thummim meant only the divine virtue and power,

fecration, of obtaining an oraculous anfwer from God, whenever counsel was asked of him by the high-prieft with it on, in fuch manner as his word did direct; and that the names of Urim and Thummim were given hereto only to denote the clearness and perfection, which thefe oracular anfwers always carried with them. For Urim fignifieth light, and Thummim perfection. But Milton by adding