Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/42

36 From faction; for none sure will claim in Hell Precedence, none whose portion is so small Of present pain that with ambitious mind Will covet more. With this advantage then To union and firm faith and firm accord, More than can be in Heaven, we now return To claim our just inheritance of old, Surer to prosper than prosperity Could have assured us; and by what best way Whether of open war or covert guile, We now debate; who can advise may speak."
 * He ceased, and next him Moloch, sceptred king,

Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest Spirit That fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair. His trust was with the Eternal to be deemed Equal in strength, and rather than be less Cared not to be at all. With that care lost Went all his fear; of God, or Hell, or worse He recked not, and these words thereafter spake:
 * "My sentence is for open war. Of wiles,

More unexpert, I boast not; them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, not now. For, while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait The signal to ascend, sit lingering here, Heaven's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame,