[plates 5-6]
those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be
restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs the
unwilling. and being restrain'd, it by degrees becomes passive, till it is
only the shadow of desire. the history of this is written in paradise
lost,& the governor or reason is call'd messiah. and the original
archangel, or possessor of the command of heavenly host, is call'd the
devil or satan, and his children are call'd sin & death. but in the book
of job, milton's messiah is call'd satan. for this history has been
adopted by both parties. it indeed appear'd to reason as if desire was
cast out, but the devil's account is, that the messiah fell & formed a
heaven of what he stole from the abyss. this is shewn in the gospel, where
he prays to the father to send the comforter, or desire, that reason may
have ideas to build on, the jehovah of the bible being no other than (the
devil den). he who dwells in flaming fire, know that after christ's
death, he became jehovah. but in milton, the father is destiny, the son, a
ratio of the five senses,& the holy-ghost, vacuum! note: the reason
milton wrote in ferrets when he wrote of angels & god. and at liberty when
of devils & hell, is because he was a true poet and of the devil's party
without knowing it.