38 PARADISE REGAIN'D. Book III.
Of glory, as thou wilt, faid he, so deem,
Worth or not worth their feeking, let it pass:
But to a Kingdom thou art born, ordain'd
To fit upon thy Father David's Throne,
By Mother's fide thy Father, though thy right
Be now in pow'rful hands, that will not part
Eafily from poffeffion won with arms.
Judaa now and all the promis'd land,
Reduc'd a Province under Roman yoke,
Obeys Tiberius: nor is always rul'd
With temp'rate sway; oft have they violated
The Temple, oft the Law with foul affronts,
Abominations rather, as did once
Antiochus: and think'st thou to regain
Thy right by fitting still, or thus retiring?
So did not Machabæus: he indeed
Retir'd unto the Desert, but with arms;
And o'er a mighty King so oft prevail'd,
That by ftrong hand his Family obtain'd,
Tho' Priefts, the Crown, and David's Throne ufurp'd,
With Modin and her fuburbs once content.
If Kingdom move thee not, let move thee Zeal
And Duty; Zeal and Duty are not flow,
But on Occafion's forelock watchful wait:
They themselves rather are occafion beft;
Zeal of thy Father's house, Duty to free
Thy Country from her Heathen servitude;
So fhalt thou best fulfil, best verify
The Prophets old, who sung thy endless reign,
The happier reign the fooner it begins:
Reign then; what canft thou better do the while?
To whom our Saviour answer thus return'd. All things are beft fulfill'd in their due time,
And time there is for all things, Truth hath faid:
If of my reign prophetic Writ hath told,
That it shall never end, so when begin
The Father in his purpose hath decreed,
He in whose hand all times and seasons roll:
What if he hath decreed that I shall first
Be try'd in humble state, and things adverse,
By tribulations, injuries, infults,
Contempts, and scorns, and snares, and violence,
Suffering, abstaining, quietly expecting,
Without diftrust or doubt, that he may know
What I can fuffer, how obey? Who best
Can fuffer, best can do; best reign, who first
Well hath obey'd; just trial ere I merit
My exaltation without change or end.
But what concerns it thee when I begin
My everlasting Kingdom, why art thou
Solicitous, what moves thy inquifition ?
Know'st thou not that my rifing is thy fall,
And my promotion will be thy deftruction?
To whom the Tempter inly rack'd reply'd:
Let that come when it comes; all hope is loft
Of my reception into grace; what worse?
For where no hope is left, is left no fear;
If there be worse, the expectation more
Of worse torments me than the feeling can.
I would be at the worst; worst is my Port,
My harbour and my ultimate repofe,
The end I would attain, my final good.
My error was my error, and my crime
My crime: whatever, for it self condemn'd,
And will alike be punish'd; whether thou
Reign or reign not; though to that gentle brow
Willingly I could fly, and hope thy reign,
From that placid aspect and meek regard,
Rather than aggravate my evil ftate,
Would Rand between me and thy Father's ire,
(Whose ire I dread more than the Fire of Hell)
A fhelter, and a kind of shading cool
Interpofiion, as a fummer's cloud.
If I then to the worst that can be hafte,
Why move thy feet fo flow to what is best,
Happiest both to thyself and all the world,
That thou who worthiest art should'st be their King?
Perhaps thou lingrest, in deep thoughts detain'd
Of th' enterprize so hazardous and high;
No wonder; for though in thee be united
What of perfection can in man be found,
Or human nature can receive, confider,
Thy life hath yet been private, most part spent
At home, scarce view'd the Galilean Towns,
And once a-year Jerufalem, few days
Short fojourn; and what thence could'ft thou observe?
The world thou hast not seen, much less her glory,
Empires, and Monarchs, and their radiant Courts,
Best school of best experience, quickest in fight
In all things that to greatest Actions lead.
The wifeft, unexperienc'd, will be ever
Tim'rous and loth, with novice modesty,
(As he who feeking Affes found a Kingdom)
Irrefolute, unhardy, unadvent'rous:
But I will bring thee where thou foon shalt quit
Those rudiments, and fee before thine eyes
The Monarchies of th'Earth, their pomp and flate,
Sufficient introduction to inform
Thee, of thy felf so apt, in regal Arts,
And regal Mysteries, that thou may'it know
How beft their oppofition to withstand.
With that (fuch pow'r was giv'n him then) he took The Son of God up to a Mountain high. It was a Mountain, at whose verdant feet A spacious plain, out-ftretch'd in circuit wide, Lay pleasant; from his fide two rivers flow'd, 'Th' one winding, the other straight, and left between
Fair Champain with less rivers intervein'd,
Then meeting join'd their Tribute to the Sea;
Fertil of corn the glebe, of oil and wine,
With herds the pastures throng'd, with flocks the hills;
Huge Cities and high-tower'd, that well might seem
The feats of mightiest Monarchs, and so large
The Prospect was, that here and there was room
For barren defert fountainless and dry.
To this high mountain's top the Tempter brought 265
Our Saviour, and new train of words began.
Well have we speeded, and o'er hill and dale,
Foreft and field, and flood, temples and tow'rs
Cut shorter many a league; here thou behold'st
Affyria and her Empire's ancient bounds,
Araxes and the Caspian lake, thence on
As far as Indus Ealt, Euphrates West,
And oft beyond; to South the Perfian Bay,
And inacceffible th' Arabian drought:
Here Nineveh, of length within her wall
Sev'ral days journey, built by Ninus old,
Of that first golden Monarchy the feat,
And feat of Salmanaffar, whofse success
Ifrael in long captivity still mourns;
There Babylon the wonder of all tongues,
As ancient, but rebuilt by him who twice
Judah and all thy Father David's house
Led captive, and Jerufalem laid waste,
Till Cyrus fet them free; Persepolis,
His City, there thou seest, and Battra there;
Ecbatana her structure vast there shews,
And Hecatompylos her hundred gates;
There Sufa by Choaspes, amber stream,
The drink of none but Kings; of later fame
Built by Emathian or by Parthian hands,
The great Seleucia, Nicibis, and there
Artaxata, Teredon, Ctesiphon,
Turning with easy eye thou may'st behold.
All these the Parthian, now fome Ages paft,
By great Arfaces led, who founded first
That Empire, under his dominion holds,
From the luxurious Kings of Antioch won.
And just in time thou com'ft to have a view
Of his great Pow'r; for now the Parthian King
In Ctefiphon hath gather'd all his Hoft.
Against the Scythian, whose Incurfions wild
Have wasted Sogdiana; to her aid
He marches now in haste; fee, though from far,
His thousands, in what Martial-equipage
They issue forth! steel bows, and shafts their arms, 205
Of equal dread in flight, or in pursuit;
All Horsemen, in which fight they most excel:
See how in warlike Muster they appear,
In rhombs and wedges, and half-moons and wings!
He lookt and faw what numbers numberless
The City-gates out-pour'd, light-armed Troops
In coats of Mail and Military pride;
In Mail their horfes clad, yet fleet and strong,
Prauncing their riders bore, the flow'r and choice
Of many Provinces from bound to bound;
From Arachofia, from Gandaor East,
And Margiana to the Hircanian cliffs
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