Princes, and the natural Curiosity we have to see Achilles in Action, after so long Repose; all these Causes carry on the Reader, and produce a sufficient Unity in the Subject.
It may be objected to Milton, that he has trac'd up his Causes to too great a Distance, and that the Rebellion of the Angels produces the Fall of Man by a Train of Events, which is both very long and very casual. Not to mention that the Creation of the World, which he has related at Length, is no more the Cause of that Catastrophe, than of the Battle of Pharsalia, or any other Event, that has ever happen'd. But if we consider, on the other hand, that all these Events, the Rebellion of the Angels, the Creation of the World, and the Fall of Man, resemble each other, in being miraculous and out of the common Course of Nature; that they are suppos'd to be contiguous in Time; and that being detach'd from all other Events, and being the only original Facts, which Revelation discovers, they strike the Eye at once, and naturally recall each other to the Thought or Imagination: If we consider all these Circumstances, I say, we shall find, that these Parts of the Action have a sufficient Unity to make them be comprehended in one Fable or Narration. To which we may add, that the Rebellion of the Angels and the Fall of Man have a peculiar Resemblance as being Counterparts to each other, and presenting to the Reader, the same Moral, of Obedience to our Creator.
These
