"Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever: their memorial is perished with them." And Rev. iii. 5. :—“ I will not blot his name out of the book of life."-GILLIES.

52 Ver. 367. By falsities and lies. That is, as Mr. Upton observes, by false idols, under a corporeal representation belying the true God. The poet plainly alludes to Rom. i. 22.-NEWTON.

Glory of him that made them to transform, &c. Alluding to Rom. i. 23.-NEWTON.

54 Ver. 373. And devils to adore for deities. Levit. xvii. 7 : 66 They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils.” And see also Ps. cvi. 37.-TODD.

55 Ver. 376. Say, Muse, their names then known. For the enumeration of the Syrian and Arabian deities, it may be observed, that Milton has comprised in one hundred and thirty very beautiful lines, the two learned syntagmas, which Selden had composed on that abstruse subject.— Gibbon, Rom. Emp. vol. i. p. 539. note, 4to. edit. The exordium to this enumeration, "who first, who last," is from Homer, Il. v. 703:

Ενθα τίνα πρῶτον, τίνα δ ̓ ὕστατον.

TODD.

56 Ver. 392. First, Moloch, horrid king. First, after Satan and Beelzebub. Moloch signifies king, and he is called "horrid king," because of the human sacrifices which were made to him: the expression, "pass'd through fire," is taken from Leviticus xviii. 21. or 2 Kings, xxiii. 10. His idol was of brass, sitting on a throne, and wearing a crown ; having the head of a calf, and his arms extended to receive the miserable victims which were to be sacrificed; and therefore it is here probably styled "his grim idol." He

was the god of the Ammonites, 1 Kings xi. 7, and was worshipped in Rabba, their capital city, called the "city of waters," 2 Sam. xi. 27; and in the neighbouring countries as far as to the river Arnon, the boundary of their country on the south.-NEWTON.

Dr. Newton also says that Moloch was supposed to be the same as Saturn: but Milton did not suppose it, or at least did not attend to the supposition; as Saturn himself is afterwards mentioned, verse 519. But Moloch has also been supposed to be Mars; with a view to which, Milton seems to have drawn his character in the second book. That the planet Mars was named Moloch by the Egyptians is mentioned by Beyer, in his 'Additamenta to Selden's Syntagma de Diis Syr.'-DUNSTer.

The part of Moloch is, in all its circumstances, full of that fire and fury which distinguish this spirit from the rest of the fallen angels. He is described in the first book as besmeared with the blood of human sacrifices, and delighted with the tears of parents and the cries of children: in the second book, he is marked out as the fiercest spirit that fought in heaven: and if we consider the figure which he makes in the sixth book, where the battle of the angels is, described, we find it every way answerable to the same furious, enraged character.

It may be worth while to observe, that Milton has represented this violent impetuous spirit, who is hurried on by such precipitate passions, as the first that rises in that assembly to give his opinion on their present posture of affairs accordingly, he declares himself abruptly for war; and appears incensed at his companions for losing so much time as even to deliberate upon it. All his sentiments are rash, audacious, and desperate: such is that of arming themselves with their tortures, and turning their punishments upon him who inflicted them. His preferring annihilation to shame or misery, is also highly suitable to his character; as the comfort he draws from disturbing the

peace of heaven, that, if it be not victory, it is revenge, is a sentiment truly diabolical, and becoming the bitterness of this implacable spirit.—ADDISON.

Solomon built a temple to Moloch in the Mount of Olives, 1 Kings xi. 7, which is therefore called "that opprobrious hill."—Newton.

58 Ver. 404. The pleasant valley of Hinnom. See Jer. vii. 31. It was called also Tophet, from the Hebrew toph, a drum ; drums and such like noisy instruments being used to drown the cries of the miserable children who were offered to this idol and Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, is, in several places of the New Testament, and by our Saviour himself, made the name and type of hell.-NEWTON.

59 Ver. 406. Next, Chemos. Moloch and Chemos are joined together, 1 Kings xi. 7. And it was a natural transition from the god of the Ammonites to the god of their neighbours the Moabites. See a long geographical note by

NEWTON.

60 Ver. 417. Lust hard by hate. What a fine moral sentiment has Milton here introduced and couched in half a verse! He might perhaps have in view Spenser's 'Mask of Cupid,' where anger, strife, &c. are represented as immediately following Cupid in the procession.-THYER.

The poet's moral is exactly verified in the incestuous and cruel conduct of Amnon towards Tamar, 2 Sam. xiii. 15:"Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred, wherewith he hated her, was greater than the love, wherewith he had loved her." The hemistich is a fine commentary on the passage.-TODD.

61 Ver. 420. Old Euphrates. Gen. ii. 14. It bordered eastward on the Promised Land. See NEWTON.

62 Ver. 422. Bäalim and Ashtaroth. They are frequently named together in Scripture. They were the general names of the gods and goddesses of Syria and Palestine: they are supposed to mean the sun and the host of heaven.— NEWTON.

63 Ver. 423. For spirits, when they please. See Michael Psellus's Dialogue, published in Greek and Latin, at Paris, in 1615, concerning the Operations of Demons. See also Wierus, 'De Præstigiis Dæmonum,' 1582.-Newton and TODD.

The passage in the catalogue, explaining the manner how spirits transform themselves by contraction or enlargement of their dimensions, is introduced with great judgment, to make way for several accidents in the sequel of the poem. -ADDISON.

64 Ver. 437.

Came Astoreth.

With these in troop

The goddess of the Phoenicians, under which name the moon was adored. Solomon built her a temple on the Mount of Olives.-NEWTON.

66 Ver. 444. Whose heart, though large. 1 Kings, iv. 29 :— "And God gave Solomon largeness of heart."-TODD.

66 Ver. 446. Thammuz. He was the god of the Syrians, the same with Adonis.-NEWTON.

67 Ver. 455. Ezekiel saw. See Ezekiel, viii. 12.-TODD.

68 Ver. 462. Dagon his name. See 1 Sam. v. 4.-NEWTON.

69 Ver. 467. Rimmon. Rimmon was a god of the Syrians. -NEWTON.

70 Ver. 473. God's altar to disparage. See 2 Kings xvi. 10; and 2 Chron. xxviii. 23.-NEWTON.

71 Ver.478. Orus, &c. Orus was the son of Osiris and Isis.-NEWTON.

72 Ver. 482.

The infection.

Nor did Israel 'scape

The Israelites, by dwelling so long in Egypt, were infected with the superstitions of the Egyptians.-NEWTON.

73 Ver. 487. Who in one night, when he pass'd. See Exod. xii. 12. and Numb. xxxiii. 3, 4. See also Virg. Æn. viii. 698:

Omnigenûmque Deûm monstra, et latrator Anubis.

NEWTON.

74 Ver. 490. Belial came last. Belial is described in the first book as the idol of the lewd and the luxurious: he is in the second book, pursuant to that description, characterised as timorous and slothful; and, if we look into the sixth book, we find him celebrated in the battle of angels, for nothing but that scoffing speech which he makes to Satan, on their supposed advantage over the enemy. As his appearance is uniform, and of a piece, in these three several views, we find his sentiments in the infernal assembly every way conformable to his character. Such are his apprehensions of a second battle, his horrors of annihilation, his preferring to be miserable rather than not to be. I need not observe, that the contrast of thought in this speech, and that which precedes it, gives an agreeable variety to the debate.

Mammon's character is so fully drawn in the first book,