To doubt the equivocation of the fiend,

That lies like truth: Fear not, till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane ;-and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out!
If this, which he avouches, does appear,
There is nor flying hence, nor tarrying here.
I'gin to be a-weary of the sun,

And wish the estate o' the world were now undone.
Ring the alarum bell:-Blow wind! come wrack!
At least we'll die with harness on our back.

1. What was the character of Dunean whom Macbeth slew ?

2. Who invaded Scotland during Duncan's reign?

3. Where did Macbeth fall in with the three old women?

4. What did the first say to him? and the second? and the third ?

5. What part of their words seemed to be immediately fulfilled?

6. Who urged Macbeth to kill Duncan and make himself king ?

[Exeunt. Shakspere.

7. When and how did he accomplish that wicked deed?

8. How long did this tyrant reign? 9. Who obtained assistance against him from the English king?

10. Where is the castle of Dunsinane? 11. What did the old women say would happen before Macbeth would be killed? 12. In what were their words apparently fulfilled?

13. By whom was Macbeth slain?

He scarce had ceased when the superior fiend'

Was moving towards the shore; his ponderous shield,

Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,

Behind him cast: the broad circumference

Hung on his shoulders, like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views

1 Superior fiend,-arch-fiend; Satan.

2 Like the moon,-Milton represents the shield of Satan as large as the moon seen through a telescope, an instrument first applied to observations by Galileo, a native of Tuscany, born 1564, whom he means here by the "Tuscan artist." Milton had visited this truly great man, Galileo, as he himself informs us.

At evening from the top of Fesolé,'
Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,
Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.
His spear-to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of some great ammiral' were but a wand-
He walked with, to support uneasy steps
Over the burning marle;3 not like those steps
On heaven's azure: and the torrid clime
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire:
Nathless he so endured, till on the beach
Of that inflamed sea he stood, and called
His legions, angel forms, who lay entranced,
Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa,' where the Etrurian shades
High overarched embower: or scattered sedge
Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed s

8

Hath vexed the Red-sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
Busiris and his Memphian" chivalry,

9

While with perfidious hatred they pursued
The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore" their floating carcasses

And broken chariot wheels; so thick bestrewn,
Abject and lost, lay these covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He called so loud, that all the hollow deep
Of Hell resounded:-

"Princes, potentates,

Warriors, the flower of Heaven, once yours, now lost,
If such astonishment as this can seize

Eternal spirits ;-or have ye chosen this place

1 Fesole, (anciently Faesulae) a city of Tuscany;-and Vald' Arno, that is (vale of

the Arno), both these places are near Pisa, the birth-place of Galileo.

2 Ammiral is a German word, and means any great ship.

3 Marle, soil;-properly a calcareous or chalky earth, much used for manure.

4 Heavens,-this word must be pronounced here in two syllables.

5 Nathless, not the less, nevertheless, -a Saxon word.

6

Strow, overspread, now generally written strew.

7 Vallombrosa, that is shady vale, from the Latin vallis a valley, and umbra, a shade,-it is in Etruria or Tuscany.

8 Ori'on,-is a constellation represented in the figure of an armed man, and supposed to be attended with stormy weather.

9 Busiris,-Milton thus styles Pharaoh (and not without authority) who perfidiously pursued the Israelites, since he had previously agreed to allow them to depart unmolested.

10 Memphian, from Memphis, an ancient city on the left side of the Nile, famous for the pyramids.

11 From the safe shore,-see Exodus xiv. 23, to the end.

After the toil of battle to repose

Your wearied virtue,1 for the ease you find
To slumber here, as in the vales of heaven?
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
To adore the Conqueror? who now beholds
Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood
With scattered arms and ensigns, till anon
His swift pursuers from Heaven's gates discern
The advantage, and, descending, tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf.
Awake!-arise!—or be for ever fallen!

1. By what name is Satan called here?
2. Who is the Tuscan artist ?

3. When and where was he born? 4. To what does the poet liken Satan's shield?

5. To what is his spear compared ? 6. Describe his journey to the beach of the burning lake.

7. How numerous were the angels scattered over the lake?

8. What is Vallombrosa ?

9. Why is the constellation introduced here?

10. Who is meant by Busiris ?

MILTON.

11. Who were the sojourners in Goshen? 12. How does Satan call on the fallen spirits ?

13. Does he not appeal to their pride in his address ?

14. Show me that he does so.
15. By what sin fell the angels?
16. By what sin fell man?

17. Is there hope of forgiveness for these fallen spirits?

18. Is there hope for us?

19. Who will quote the words of John iii. 16. ?

XLI.-OVERTHROW OF THE REBEL ANGELS.

So spake the Son, and into terror chang'd
His countenance too severe to be beheld,
And full of wrath bent on his enemies.

At once the four2 spread out their starry wings
With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs
Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound
Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.
He on his impious foes right onward drove,
Gloomy as night; under his burning wheels
The steadfast empyréan shook throughout,
All but the throne itself of God. Full soon
Among them he arriv'd, in his right hand
Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent
Before him, such as in their souls infix'd
Plagues they, astonish'd, all resistance lost,

1 Virtue, here means courage, strength, as virtus did in Latin. 2 Four, that is, the cherubic shapes,-see Ezekiel i, 9-19, 24. 3 Burning wheels,-see Dan. vii, 9.

4 Empyrean, that is, the highest heaven.

All courage; down their idle weapons dropt;
O'er shields and helms and helmed heads he rode
Of thrones and mighty seraphim prostrate1
That wish'd the mountains now might be again
Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire.
Nor less on either side tempestuous fell
His arrows, from the fourfold-visag'd four
Distinct with eyes,3 and from the living wheels
Distinct alike with multitude of eyes;
One spirit in them rul'd, and every eye
Glar'd lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire
Among th' accurs'd, that wither'd all their strength,
And of their wonted vigour left them drain'd,
Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall'n.

Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd
His thunder in mid volley; for he meant
Not to destroy, but root them out of heaven:
The overthrown he rais'd, and as a herd
Of goats or timorous flock together throng'd
Drove them before him thunder-struck, pursued
With terrors and with furies 5 to the bounds
And crystal wall of heav'n, which opening wide,
Roll'd inward, and a spacious gap disclos'd
Into the wasteful deep; the monstrous sight
Struck them with horror backward, but far worse
Urg'd them behind; headlong themselves they threw
Down from the verge of heav'n; eternal wrath
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.

MILTON.

XLII. PRIDE AND HUMILITY.'

THE self-applauding bird, the peacock, see-
Mark what a sumptuous Pharisee is he!
Meridian sun-beams tempt him to unfold

His radiant glories, azure, green, and gold:

1 Prostrate, notice the accent here,—this word is usually accented on the first syllable. 2 Mountains, see Rev. vi, 16.

3 Distinct with eyes,-that is, punctured, thick set, or studded with eyes.

4 As a herd of goats,-Our Saviour represents the wicked as goats and the good as sheep. See Matt. xxv, 33.

5 With terrors and with furies,-see Job vi. 4,—and Isaiah ii. 20.

6 Wasteful deep,-that is, desolate abyss.

7 "The comparison of the proud and humble believer to the peacock and the pheasant, and the parallel between Voltaire and the poor cottager. are exquisite pieces of eloquence and poetry."-Campbell.

He treads as if, some solemn music near,
His measured step were governed by his ear;
And seems to say-ye meaner fowl give place,
I am all splendour, dignity, and grace!

Not so the pheasant on his charms presumes,
Though he too has a glory in his plumes.
He, Christian like, retreats with modest mien
To the close copse, or far-sequestered green,
And shines without desiring to be seen.

Cowper.

XLIII-THE COTTAGER.

YON Cottager, who weaves' at her own door-
Pillow and bobbins, all her little store-
Content, though mean, and cheerful, if not gay,*
Shuffling her threads about the live-long day,
Just earns a scanty pittance, and at night
Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light:
She, for her humble sphere by nature fit,
Has little understanding, and no wit,

Receives no praise; but though her lot be such,
(Toilsome and indigent,) she renders much ;3
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true-
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew;
And in that charter reads, with sparkling eyes,
Her title to a treasure in the skies.
O happy peasant! O unhappy bard!
His the mere tinsel, hers the rich reward;
He, praised perhaps for ages yet to come,
She, never heard of half a mile from home:
He, lost in errors his vain heart prefers,
She, safe in the simplicity of hers.

1 Weaves-i. e. weaves lace with bobbins upon a pillow.

Cowper.

2 Cheerful, gay-He is cheerful, who is habitually lively; gay, who is occasionally or accidentally so. Cheerfulness is an evergreen; gaiety a passing flower, more brilliant for a time, but not permanent.

3 Much-much praise, to God.

4 Frenchman-Voltaire, who was a scoffer at religion.