thed, who had been stricken by the plague; but the gates would not
open for such an offering. She then carried up the repentant tear of an
old man converted by the prayers of a little child. All heaven rejoiced,
the gates were flung open, and the peri was received with a joyous
welcome.--T. Moore, _Lalla Rookh_ ("Second Tale," 1817).

=Paradise Lost.= Satan and his crew, still suffering from their violent
expulsion out of heaven, are roused by Satan's telling them about a "new
creation;" and he calls a general council to deliberate upon their
future operations (bk. i.). The council meet in the Pandemonium hall,
and it is resolved that Satan shall go on a voyage of discovery to this
"new world" (bk. ii.). The Almighty sees Satan, and confers with His Son
about man. He foretells the Fall, and arranges the scheme of man's
redemption. Meantime, Satan enters the orb of the sun, and there learns
the route to the "new world" (bk. iii.). On entering Paradise, he
overhears Adam and Eve talking of the one prohibition (bk. iv.). Raphael
is now sent down to warn Adam of his danger, and he tells him who Satan
is (bk. v.); describes the war in heaven, and expulsion of the rebel
angels (bk. vi.). The angel visitant goes on to tell Adam why and how
this world was made (bk. vii.); and Adam tells Raphael his own
experience (bk. viii.) After the departure of Raphael, Satan enters into
a serpent, and, seeing Eve alone, speaks to her. Eve is astonished to
hear the serpent talk, but is informed that it had tasted of "the tree
of knowledge," and had become instantly endowed with both speech and
wisdom. Curiosity induces Eve to taste the same fruit, and she persuades
Adam to taste it also (bk. ix.). Satan now returns to hell, to tell of
his success (bk. x.). Michael is sent to expel Adam and Eve from the
garden (bk. xi.); and the poem concludes with the expulsion, and Eve's
lamentation (bk. xii.).--Milton (1665).

_Paradise Lost_ was first published by Matthias Walker, of St.
Dunstan's. He gave for it [pounds]5 down; on the sale of 1300 copies, he
gave another [pounds]5. On the next two impressions, he gave other like
sums. For the four editions, he therefore paid [pounds]20. The agreement
between Walker and Milton is preserved in the British Museum.

It must be remembered that the wages of an ordinary workman was at that
time about 3_d._ a day, and now we give 3_s._; so that the price given
was equal to about [pounds]250, according to the