ADAM! there is no Need to make any Preamble: to the Command of Heaven, let it be fufficient that thy Prayers are heard, and DEATH (which was due by Sentence, at the Time of thy Tranfgreffion) not permitted to make the Seizure for yet many Days; which are given thee through Grace, wherein thou mayeft repent, and with many Deeds well done, cover and blot out one bad Act: It is poffible GoD, upon thy Repentance, (being appeased) may not only defer but quite remit the mortal Sentence, and redeem thee from the rapacious Claim of DEATH. But he does not permit thee to dwell longer in this PARADISE: I am come to remove thee, and fend thee out of the Garden to till the Ground, whence thou waft taken, which is a Soil much fitter for thee.

THE Arch-Angel faid no more; for ADAM was ftruck to the very Heart with fuch Sorrow, as fufpended all his Senies; and Eve, who though unfeen, had overheard all, with loud Lamentation foon discovered the Place where fhe had concealed herself:

O UNEXPECTED Stroke, much worse than DEATH! PARADISE! muft I leave thee thus? Thus leave thee, dear native Soil! these pleasant Shades and happy Walks, worthy to be vifited by Gods? Where I had Hope to spend quiet, though fad, the Time that Heaven had granted us, 'till the Day come that must be mortal to us both! O Flowers! that never will grow in any other Climate; that were my early Visitation in the Morning, and my laft in the Evening; which I bred up with tender Hand, from the very first opening Bud, and gave ye all Names! Who now fhall range ye up to the Sun, or range in your several Claffes, and water ye from the living Springs? And laftly, O nuptial Bower! adorned by me with every Thing that was sweet, either to the Smell or Sight

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How fhall I part with thee, and whither wander down into a lower World; wild, darkfome, and defolate, in Comparison of this? How fhall we breath in other Air lefs pure than this, or feed on groffer Food, being accustomed to immortal Fruits?

WHOм the Angel thus mildly interrupted: Eva! don't lament, but refign with Patience that, which with the greatest Juftice is taken from thee: Nor thus over-fondly fet thy Heart upon that, which is not thine. Thou doft not leave PARADISE alone; thy Hufband goes along with thee, and thou art bound to follow him: Wherever he abides, do thou look the fame upon that Place, as if it were thy native Soil.

ADAM, by this Time recovering from the fudden cold Damp which had feized him, and his fcattered Spirits being returned; thus, with great Humility, addreffed himfelf to MICHAEL :

CELESTIAL Being! whether among the THRONES of Heaven, or perhaps of them one of the highest Names, for a Prince of Princes may have fuch an Appearance! thou haft gently delivered thy Meffage, which might elfe, in telling, have wounded us, and in performing have ended us: But, bating the Mildnefs with which thou haft tempered them, thy Tidings bring as much of Sorrow, Dejection, and Defpair, as the Frailty of our Nature can fuftain: We must depart from this happy Place, our fweet Recefs, and the only Confolation left us; which is familiar to our Eyes! and all other Places appear inhofpitable and defolate; not knowing us, nor being known to us: And if by inceffant Prayer I could hope to alter the Will of him who can do all Things, I would not cease to weary him with my continual Cries: But, Prayers avail no more againft his abfolute Decree, than Breath does against the Wind; blown fti

fling back upon him that breaths it forth: Therefore I fubmit myself entirely to his great Command.! What most afflicts me is, that when I depart from hence I shall be, as it were, hid from his Face, deprived of the bleffed Light of his Countenance! Here I could frequent, with Worfhip and Adoration, every Place, where he had vouchfafed to appear to me in his divine Prefence; and could relate to my Sons, " Up"on this Mountain he appeared to me; under this "Tree he ftood vifible; among these Pines I heard "his Voice; here at this Fountain did I talk with "him." So many grateful Altars I would raife up of graffy Turf, and pile up every bright Stone from the Brook, in Remembrance, or to be a Monument to future Generations: And upon these Altars would I offer sweet-fmelling Gums, and Fruits, and Flowers. In yonder lower World where fhall I feek his bright Appearances, or trace his Footsteps? For though I fled from him, when he was angry; yet being recalled to prolonged Life, and promifed Offfpring, I now gladly behold, though but the utmost Skirts of Glory, and afar off adore his Steps.

To whom MICHAEL, with great Benignity, thus answered: ADAM! thou knoweft, that Heaven and all the Earth are his; not only this Rock, but his Omniprefence fills Land, Sea, and Air, and every Kind that lives, warmed and cherished by his quickning and fuftaining Power. He gave thee the whole Earth to poffefs, and rule; nor was it a defpicable Gift! do not furmise then, or think that his Prefence is confined to these narrow Bounds of PARADISE, or to EDEN: This, perhaps, had been thy capital Seat, from whence all Generations might have spread; and hither might have come from all the Ends of the Earth, to celebrate and reverence thee, their great Progenitor. But thou haft loft this Pre-eminence; being now brought down to dwell upon lower Ground, Y y 2

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even with thy Sons. Yet do not doubt, but in the Valley and in the Plain, Gop is, even as he is here; and will be found alike prefent; ftill following thee with many a Sign of his Prefence, ftill compaffing thee round with Goodness and paternal Love; he will not hide his Face from thee, and thou fhalt see the Tract of his divine Steps. Which that thou mayest believe, and be fully confirmed in before thou depart from hence; know, that I am fent to fhew thee what fhall come to pass hereafter to thee and to thy Pofterity: Expect to hear bad mixed with good, Grace from above contending with the Sinfulness of MEN; and thereby endeavour to learn true Patience, and to temper thy greatest Joy with fear and holy Sorrow; to be equally inured by Moderation, to bear either the profperous or adverfe State: So fhalt thou lead thy Life in greater Safety, and be beft prepared to endure thy mortal Paffage when it comes.----Afcend this Hill; let Eve (for I have clofed her Eyes) fleep here below; whilft thou awakeft to Forefight, as once thou flepteft while fhe was formed to Life:

To whom ADAM replied in this grateful Manner: Afcend, fafe Guide! I follow thee, the Path thou leadeft me; and entirely fubmit to the Hand of Heaven, however it may chaften me! willingly offering myfelf to bear the Evil; arming myself to overcome by Suffering, and to obtain Reft through Labour; if it may be permitted fo to be.

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CHA P. III.

The Angel fets before Adam in a Vifion, what Shall happen till the Flood.

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O, both the Arch-Angel MICHAEL and ADAM afcended in the Vifions of GOD. It was the

higheft Hill of PARADISE, which they went up; from whofe Top, the Hemisphere of the Earth, on the clearest View, lay ftretched out to the largest Profpect of A DA M's Reach. Nor was that Hill higher nor wider looking round, whereon (for a different Caufe) the Devil set our fecond ADAM, CHRIST JESUS, in the Wilderness; to show him all the Kingdoms of the Earth, and the Glory of them. The Eye of ADAM might there command, wherever flood City of antient or modern Fame; the Seats of the mightiest Empires: From what was to be in future, the Walls of CAM BALU (9), the Seat of CATHIAN CHAM (r), and SAMARCAND (s) by Oxus

(9) Cambalu, Camphala, or Cambala, Tat. i. e. The City of the Great Lord. A van City in the North of Tartary, the Capital of Cathai or China, and the fame as Pekin; the Refidence of. the Emperors of China, fince A. D. 1404. It is about 25 or 28 Miles in Compafs, very popu lous, containing (as they report) 2,000,000 Souls, rich and of a vaft Trade; fo that 1000 Waggon, loaded with Silk only, are imported every Day. It hath 12 Gates, divers Royal Palaces and ftately Temples. Geographers turn their Face to the North, to find the Elevation of the Pole; and begin at the Nor