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THE

STATE of INNOCENCE:

Thom AND Price 1750

FALL of MAN.

Described in

MILTON'S PARADISE LOST.

Render'd into PROS E.

With Historical, Philofophical and Explanatory
NOTES.

From the French of the Learned

RAYMOND DE ST. MAUR.

By a GENTLEMAN of OXFORD.

LONDON:

Printed for T. OSBORNE, in Gray's-Inn, and
J. HILDYARD, at York.

M DCC XLY.

Dir. Pekering 11-7-47 40349

PREFACE.

N

O Poem has had greater, or juster Praise from the most eminent Judges of Literature, than PARADISE LOST, as well for the Sublimity of the Subject and Sentiments, as the profound and extenfive Learning it is enrich'd with. It comprehends almost every Thing within the Extent of human Knowledge; but being wrote in the bigbeft Stile of heroick Poetry, and the Thoughts, many of them express'd by Figures of Grammar and Rhetoric, being full of Digreffions and Sentences tranfpofed, as well as difficult Terms in the Mathematicks, History, Aftronomy, Aftrology, Geography, Architecture, Navigation, Anatomy, Alchymy, Divinity, and all other buman Arts and Sciences, it hath fo bappened, that many Readers have been unable to fee the Beauties of the Poem, for Want of being able to come at the proper Explication of thofe Things," which have been out of their Reach; and this must happen to a great many; for how few are there who have bad Leifure or Opportunity to be Mafter of all the Sciences? befides which it is neceffary they should understand the Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, Syriac, Phoenician, and Egyptian, and all the dead Languages, with the living and modern ones, in all their different Dialects: So that it has been a frequent Complaint of the Readers of MILTON, that he has not calculated his Poem for common Eyes, who paling by the most inftructive Paffages, or elfe uncertainly gueffing at their Meaning and Reading altogether doubtfully, lofe the Pleafure and Benefit which might a rife from the thorough Understanding of the improving Lecture, and the moral and philofophical Instructions

which

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