Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.

All these are spirits of air, and woods, and springs,
Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay

Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord;
What doubt'st thou, Son of God? sit down and eat.
To whom thus Jesus temp'rately replied:
'Said'st thou not that to all things I had right?
And who withholds my power that right to use:
Shall I receive by gift what of my own,
When and where likes me best, I can command?
I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou,
Command a table in this wilderness,
And call swift flights of angels ministrant,
Array'd in glory, on my cup t'attend:
Why shouldst thou then obtrude this diligence,
In vain, where no acceptance it can find?
And with my hunger what hast thou to do?
Thy pompous delicacies I contemn,

And count thy specious gifts no gifts, but guile.

To whom thus answer'd Satan malcontent:
That I have also power to give thou seest;
If of that power I bring thee voluntary
What I might have bestow'd on whom I pleas'd,
And rather opportunely in this place
Chose to impart to thy apparent need,
Why shouldst thou not accept it? But I see
What I can do or offer is suspect;

Of these things others quickly will dispose,
Whose pains have earn'd the far fetcht spoil.
With that both table and provision vanish'd quite,
With sound of harpies' wings, and talons heard:
Only th' importune Tempter sill remain'd,
And with these words his temptation pursu'd :
By hunger, that each other creature tames,
Thou art not to be harm'd, therefore not mov'd:
Thy temperance invincible besides,

For no allurement yields to appetite,
And all thy heart is set on high designs,
High actions; but wherewith to be achiev'd?

Great acts require great means of enterprize;
Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,
A carpenter thy father known, thyself
Bred up in poverty and straits at home,
Lost in a desert here, and hunger-bit ;
Which way or from what hope dost thou aspire
To greatness? whence authority deriv'st?
What followers, what retinue canst thou gain,
Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude,

Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost?
Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms.
What rais'd Antipater, the Edomite,

And his son Herod plac'd on Juda's throne,
(Thy throne) but gold, that got him puissant friends?
Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive,
Get riches first, get wealth and treasure heap,
Not difficult, if thou hearken to me :
Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand;
They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain,
While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want.
To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:
Yet wealth without these three is impotent
To gain dominion, or to keep it gain'd.
Witness those ancient empires of the earth,
In height of all their flowing wealth dissolv'd:
But men endu'd with these have oft attain'd
In lowest poverty to highest deeds;
Gideon and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad,
Whose offspring on the throne of Judah sat
So many ages, and shall yet regain

That seat, and reign in Israel without end.
Among the Heathen, (for throughout the world
To me is not unknown what hath been done
Worthy of memorial,) canst thou not remember
Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?
For I esteem those names of men so poor
Who could do mighty things, and could contemn
Riches, though offer'd from the hand of kings.
And what in me seems wanting but that I

May also in this poverty as soon

Accomplish what they did perhaps, and more?
Extol not riches then, the toil of fools,

The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare, more apt
To slacken virtue, and abate her edge,

Than prompt her to do aught may merit praise.
What if with like aversion I reject

Riches and realms; yet not for that, a crown
Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns,
Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights
To him who wears the regal diadem,
When on his shoulders each man's burden lies;
For therein stands the office of a king,
His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise,
That for the public all this weight he bears,
Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king;
Which every wise and virtuous man attains;
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule
Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes,
Subject himself to anarchy within,

Or lawless passions in him which he serves.
But to guide nations in the way of truth
By saving doctrine, and from error lead
To know, and knowing, worship God aright,
Is yet more kingly: this attracts the soul,
Governs the inner man, the nobler part;
That other o'er the body only reigns,
And oft by force, which to a generous mind
So reigning, can be no sincere delight.
Besides, to give a kingdom hath been thought
Greater and nobler done, and to lay down
Far more magnanimous than to assume.
Riches are needless then, both for themselves,
And for thy reason why they should be sought,
To gain a sceptre, oftest better miss'd.

END OF BOOK SECOND.

PARADISE REGAINED.

BOOK III.

So spake 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 serpent wiles,
With soothing words renew'd, him thus accosts:
I see thou know'st what is of use to know,
What best to say canst say, to do canst do;
Thy actions to thy words accord, thy words
To thy large heart give utterance due, thy heart
Contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape.
Should kings and nations from thy mouth consult,
Thy counsel would be as the oracle

Urim and Thummim, those oraculous gems
On Aaron's breast; or tongue of seers old,
Infallible or wert thou sought to deeds
That might require th' array of war, thy skill
Of conduct would be such, that all the world
Could not sustain thy prowess, or subsist
In battle, though against thy few in arms.
These godlike virtues wherefore dost thou hide,
Affecting private life, or more obscure
In savage wilderness? wherefore deprive
All earth her wonder at thy acts, thyself
The fame and glory, glory the reward