That way betwixt them none appeares in

fight;

The engin, fiercely flying forth, doth teare Th' one from the earth, and through the aire doth beare;

The other it with force doth overthrow

Uppon one fide, and from his rootes doth

reare:

So did the Championeffe those two there ftrow,

And to their fire their carcaffes left to bestow.

XL. 7.

and Tonfon's edition in third folio," the rots."

-from his rootes] The fecond folia 1758 read, "from the roots." The TODD.

CANTO VII.

Britomart comes to Ifis Church,
Where fhee ftrange vifions fees:
She fights with Radigund, her flaies,
And Artegall thence frees.

I.

NOUGHT is on earth more facred or divine,
That gods and men doe equally adore,
Then this fame Vertue that doth right define:
For th' hevens themfelves, whence mortal
men implore

Right in their wrongs, are rul'd by righteous lore

Of highest Iove, who doth true iuftice deale To his inferiour gods, and evermore Therewith containes his heavenly commonweale:

The skill whereof to princes hearts he doth

reveale.

II.

Well therefore did the antique world invent
That Iuftice was a god of foveraine grace,

I. 3. Then this fame vertue that doth right define:] Cicero, De Off. i. 5, De Fin. Bonor. et Malor. v. 23, De Nat. Deor. iii. 15. "Suum cuique tribuens." UPTON.

And altars unto him and temples lent,
And heavenly honours in the highest place;
Calling him great Ofyris, of the race

Of th' old Ægyptian kings that whylome

were;

With fayned colours fhading a true case; For that Ofyris, whileft he lived here, The iufteft man alive and trueft did appeare.

III.

His wife was Ifis; whom they likewife made A goddeffe of great powre and foverainty, And in her perfon cunningly did shade That part of Iuftice which is Equity, Whereof I have to treat here presently: Unto whofe Temple whenas Britomart Arrived, fhee with great humility

Did enter in, ne would that night depart ; But Talus mote not be admitted to her part.

IV.

There the received was in goodly wize
Of many priests, which duely did attend
Uppon the rites and daily facrifize,

All clad in linnen robes with filver hemd;
And on their heads with long locks comely
kemd

II. 5. Calling him great Ofyris, &c.] In Plutarch De Ifid. p. 355, Ofiris is called péyas Bacheùs vegyétas, and in p. 356. ἀγαθοποιός. JORTIN.

IV. 4. All clad in linnen robes with silver hemd;

And on their heads with long locks &c.] Spenfer never thinks himself tyed down to exactness ip minute defcrip

They wore rich mitres shaped like the moone, To fhew that Ifis doth the moone portend; Like as Ofyris fignifies the funne :

For that they both like race in equall iuftice

runne.

V.

The Championeffe them greeting, as she could, Was thence by them into the Temple led ; Whofe goodly building when the did behould Borne uppon ftately pillours, all difpred

tions: he has an allegory and a mythology of his own, and takes from others just as suits his scheme. "Tis very well known that the Ægyptian priests wore linnen robes, and were bald, quite contrary to what Spenfer fays. See Juven. Sat. vi. 533. " Qui grege linigero circumdatus, et grege CALVO." But Spenser does not carry you to Egypt; you ftand upon allegorical and Fairy ground. He will drefs therefore the priests of Justice, like the priests of Him, the affeffors of whose throne Justice and Judgment are. See Pfal. lxxxix. 14. 97. 2. In the prophet Ezekiel though 'tis faid, "the priests fhall be clothed with linnen garments:" yet 'tis ordered, they shall not have their heads." The original command feems to intend that a diftinction should be kept up between the Jewish and Ægyptian priests even in their drefs. See Levit. xxi. 5. UPTON.

66

IV. 7. To fhew that Ifis doth the moone portend;

Like us Ofyris fignifies the funne:] Compare Plutarch De Ind. et Ofir. p. 131, 132. Edit. Squire. Thefe two deities were looked on as the principals of all things good and beautiful; He the parent and giver of forms, She the receiver. Even the facred vestments of these deities had a hidden meaning; He, one, unmixed, prior to all other beings, allowed only vestments of one colour, viz. white linnen robes: She, like matter recipient of all forms and various natures, had vestments of various colours. The old Ægyptian religion feems a confufed and fabulous jargon of phyfical, moral, and metaphyfical learning. UPTON.

V. 1. 51. CHURCH.

as fhe could,] See F, Q. v. iv.

With fhining gold, and arched over hed, She wondred at the workmans paffing skill, Whofe like before fhe never faw nor red; And thereuppon long while ftood gazing still, But thought that the thereon could never gaze her fill.

VI.

Thenceforth unto the Idoll they her brought; The which was framed all of filver fine,

So well as could with cunning hand be
wrought,

And clothed all in garments made of line,
Hemd all about with fringe of filver twine:
Uppon her head fhe wore a crowne of gold
To fhew that she had powre in things divine:
And at her feete a crocodile was rold,

That with her wreathed taile her middle did

enfold.

VII.

One foote was fet uppon the crocodile,

And on the ground the other fast did stand;
So meaning to fuppreffe both forged guile
And open force and in her other hand
She stretched forth a long white fclender
wand.

Such was the goddeffe: whom when Brito

.VI. 9.

mart

her wreathed &c.] So all the editions. It should be " his wreathed &c." See ft. 15, 16. CHURCH.