Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/187

Our being ordained to govern, not to serve.'
"Thus far his bold discourse without control
Had audience, when among the Seraphim
Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored
The Deity, and divine commands obeyed,
Stood up, and, in a flame of zeal severe,
The current of his fury thus opposed:
"'O argument blasphémous, false, and proud!
Words which no ear ever to hear in Heaven810
Expected! least of all from thee, ingrate,
In place thyself so high above thy peers.
Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn
The just decree of God? pronounced and sworn,
That to his only Son, by right indued
With regal sceptre, every soul in Heaven
Shall bend the knee, and in that honor due
Confess him rightful King. Unjust, thou sayest,
Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,
And equal over equals to let reign,820
One over all with unsucceeded power.
Shalt thou give law to God? shalt thou dispute
With him the points of liberty? who made
Thee what thou art, and formed the Powers of Heaven
Such as he pleased, and circumscribed their being.
Yet, by experience taught, we know how good,
And of our good and of our dignity
How provident he is, how far from thought