THE ARGUMENTS OF THE TWELVE BOOKS: THE ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST BOOK. TH I S firft book propofes, firft in brief, the whole fubjeti, man's difobedience, and the lofs thereupon of Paradife wherein he was placed. Then touches the prime caufe of his fall, the ferpenr, or rather Satan( In the ferpent ; who revolting from God, and drawing to his fide many legions of Angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven with all his crew into the great deep. Which aEtion paired over, the poem haftes into the rnidft of things, prefenting Satan with his Angels now fallen into Hell, defcribed here, not in the center (for Heaven and earth may be fuppofed as yet not made, certainly not yet accurfed) but in a place of utter darknefs, fitlieft call'd chaos : Here Satan with his Angels lying on the burning lake, thunder-ftruck and aftonifh'd, after a certain fpace recovers, as from confufion, calls uji him who next in order and dignity lay by him ; they confer of their miferable fall. Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the fame manner confounded ; They rife, their numbers, array of battel, their chief leaders nam'd, according to the idols known afterwards ht Canaan and the countries adjoining. To there Satan dire6ls his fpeech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven,, but tells them lafily of a new world and new kind of creature to be created, according to an antient prophecy or report in Heaven ; for that Angels were long before this vifible creation, was the opinion of many antient Fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to deter mine thereon, he refers to a full council. What his alrociates thence attempt. Pandemonium the palace of Satan rifes, fuddenly built out of the deep : The infernal peers there fit in council. THE
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