Drink fhe fqueezes Grapes, and many Sorts of Berries and makes new Wine; though new, yet not offenfive And preffing of fweet Kernels, prepares Creams of an agreeable Tafte; nor did fhe want pure and fit Veffels to hold fuch Liquors: She then ftrews the Ground with Rofes, and fweet Odours from the Shrubs Mean while our firft great Father walks forth to meet his Godlike Gueft, accompanied by no other Train than his own complete Perfections; all his State was in himself; much more folemn than the tedious Pomp that waits on Princes, when their rich and long Retinue of led Horfes, and Grooms whofe Habits fhine with Gold, dazzles and fets all the Crowd a gazing. ADAM coming nearer to the Angel, though. he was not awed, yet approaching with Submiffion and meek Reverence, and bowing low, as to a fuperior Nature, fpoke thus:

NATIVE of Heaven, (for no other Place can contain fo glorious a Shape, fince by defcending down from the Thrones above, thou haft been pleafed to leave thofe Places, and honour thefe with thy Prefence, vouchsafe to remain a while with us in yonder fhady Bower, as being as yet but two, who by the Gift of GoD poffefs this fpacious Ground; please there to rest and tafte the choiceft Fruit the Garden bears, 'till this Noon-Heat be over, and the Sun in his Decline grow cool.

To whom the Angel RAPHAEL gave this mild Anfwer: ADAM! therefore I came; nor art thou created fuch, or dwelleft in fuch a Place, as may not often invite even the Spirits of Heaven to vifit thee: Lead on, where thy Bower overfhades, for all the Hours, 'till the Evening arife, I have Liberty to ftay with thee. So they came to the fylvan Lodge, that looked like the Arbour of PoмON A, ornamented with Flowers, and filled with Variety of Fragrance; but

EVE, without Onrament, except what was in herself, ftood to entertain her Gueft from Heaven; (more lovely than any Wood-Nymph, or the faireft of the three feigned Goddeffes (0), that contended for the golden Prize upon Mount IDA) fhe needed no Veil, for fhe was Virtue-proof; no impure Thought altered her Cheek. On whom the Angel bestowed the holy Salutation, ufed long after to the bleffed Virgin MARY (p), who was the fecond EVE: "Hail! Mother of Mankind! whofe fruitful Womb shall hereafter fill the World, more numerous with Sons than the Trees of GoD have heaped this Table with these various Fruits." Their Table was raifed with Turfs of Grafs, and had round it Seats of Mois; and on the Top of it, from Side to Side, was piled all the Fruits of Autumn, though Spring and Autumn were here at the fame Time. They held Difcourfe a while before they eat, when thus ADAM began to 1peak :

HEAVENLY Stranger! be pleased to taste these Bounties, which he who nourishes us (and from whom all perfect Good comes without Measure to us, for

(0) Three Goddeffes; Juno, Pallas, and Venus, who trove for the Golden Apple, with this Motto, Let it be given to the Faireft. They chose Paris for their Umpire, and promifed him great Rewards to bring him over to their Intereft. Venus promif. ed him Helena the fairest Woman in the World, &c. He, gave it and the Pre-eminence of . Beauty to her, which was the original Caufe of the Deftruction of Troy, himself and his Family.

(p) Mari, or Mary; Heb. Miriam, Lat. and Gr. Maria,

i. e. Bitter, or very fad. Miriam the Sifter of Mofes, was the first of that Name; becaule fhe was born in the Time of a bitter Affliction and Slavery in Egypt. See Exod. xiii. 20. and Rubi. 23. Here the bleffed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord, who had a real Salutation, from the Archangel Gabriel, four thousand Years after this. "And the Angel came in unto "her, and faid, Hail, thou art

highly favoured, the Lord is "with thee; bleffed art thou among Women."

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Delight and Food) hath caufed the Earth to yield, perhaps it may not be proper Food for fpiritual Nature; however, this I know, that it is only one celefal Father that gives to all. To whom the Angel replied, Therefore what he (whofe Praise be for ever fung) gives to MAN in Part fpiritual, may not be found difagreeable Food for pureft Spirits; and these pure intelligential Subftances require fome Sort of Food, as well as doth your rational, and both contain within them every lower Faculty of Senfe, by which they hear, fee, fmell, touch and tafte; and tafting, concoct, digeft, and turn corporeal to incorporeal : For know thou, that whatever was created, wants to be fuftained and fed; of the Elements the groffer feeds the purer, the Earth feeds the Sea, the Earth and Sea feed the Air, the Air feeds thofe etherial Fires, and as lowest, first the Moon, whence are in her round Visage thofe Spots; being unpurged Vapours, not yet turned into her Substance: Nor is it fo, that the Moon exhales no Nourishment from her moift Continent to higher Orbs. The Sun, that imparts Light to all, in moift Exhalations; and at Evening drinks of the Ocean. Though the Trees of Life in Heaven bear ambrofial Fruit, and the Vines yield Nectar, and though we brush Manna each Morning from off the Boughs, and find the Ground covered with fineft Grain; yet God hath varied his Bounty here with fuch new Delight as may be compared with Heaven, and think not I fhall be backward to taste.

So down they fat, and began to eat; the Angel not feemingly, nor in a Mift, (the common Glofs of Theologifts) but with keen Difpatch of real Hunger, and concocting Heat, to digeft Food: What redounds tranfpires with Eafe through Spirits; nor is it a Wonder, if it be true, that by Fire the Alchymift can turn, or holds it poffible to turn, the bafeft and droffieft of Metals to Gold, perfect as from the Mine,

Mean

Mean while Eve served naked at the Table, and filled their flowing Cups with pleafant Liquors. Oh Innocence, truly deferving of PARADISE! then, if ever, had the Sons of GOD (q) an Excufe to have been enamoured at their Sight; but in thofe Hearts reigned pureft and chastest Love, nor was Jealousy (the Hell of the injured Lover) understood.

THUS when they had fufficed, not burthened Nature, with Meats and Drinks, a fudden Thought arofe in the Head of ADAM, not to let the Opportunity flip given him by this great Conference, to know fomething of Things that were above the World he was placed in, and of their Being who dwell in Hea-. ven; whofe Excellence he faw fo far to tranfcend his own; the divine Effulgence of whofe radiant Forms, and whofe high Power fo far exceeded human Nature; and thus he addreffed his wary Speech to the Meffenger from Heaven:

INHABITANT with God! now I perceive thy great Favour, in this Honour done to MAN, under whofe lowly Roof thou haft not difdained to enter, nor to taste these earthly Fruits, which though not the Food of Angels, thou haft accepted in fuch a Manner, as that thou couldft not feem to have eat more willing at the Feafts of Heaven; yet what Comparifon can be made?

To whom the Angel made this Reply: Oh ADAM! there is but one ALMIGHTY, from whom all Things proceed, and to whom all Things return, if not de

praved from good, all created fuch to Perfection, one firft Matter cloathed all with various Forms, various Degrees of Substance, and Life in Things that live; but as nearer placed to GoD, or nearer tending to him, more refined, fpirituous, and pure, each affigned in their feveral active Spheres; 'till Body work up to Spirit, in the Bounds proportioned to each Kind: So from the Root the green Stalk fprings lighter, and from thence the Leaves more airy, laft the bright and full-blown Flower breathes sweetest Perfumes; MAN'S Nourishment, Flowers and their Fruit, fublimed by Degrees afpire to vital Spirits, and fo to animal and intellectual; giving both Life, Senfe, Fancy, and Understanding, whence the Soul receives Reafon, and Reafon difcourfive or intuitive is her Being; Difcourfe is ofteneft yours, and Intuition moitly ours; differing but in Degree, and being of the fame Kind. Make no Wonder then, that I don't refufe to eat what GOD faw good for you, but convert it as you do to proper Subftance. The Time may come, when MEN may partake with Angels, and find no Inconvenience in the Diet, nor the Fare too light; and from thefe corporal Nutriments, improved by Length of Time, perhaps your Bodies at last may turn all to Spirit, and you may afcend with Wings to Heaven, like us, or dwell at your Choice here, or in heavenly PARADISES; if ye be found obedient, and unalterably keep his Love firm and intire, whofe Progeny you are. Mean while enjoy your Fill of what Happiness this happy State can afford, and know that you are incapable of more.

To whom the Father of MANKIND made Anfwer: Favourable Spirit! my gentle and kind Guest! thou haft well taught the Way that might direct our Knowledge, and fet before us the Compafs of the whole Creation; whereby we may, in Contemplation of Things created, afcend to GOD. But tell me, I

pray