"Was like a star, and dwelt apart, It had a voice whose suund was like the sea, Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free."
There is neither need nor room here for any criticism of this noble masterpiece. It is nearly perfect in sub- ject, plan, impersonations, sentiments, moral aim, lan- guage, decoration, episodes, and rhythm. It is un- equalled in grandeur, sublimity, verisimilitude of inven- tion, and pathos. The blemishes indicated by Addison and other censors are less failures of the poet than weaknesses of the theologian, as may be seen from his treatise De Doctrina Christiana. Even the blank verse, ■which was adopted by him on an erroneous theory, and would liave failed utterly in feebler hands, becomes with him " the Dorian mood of flutes and soft recorders." All the lavish rhetoric of praise of Macaulay, in the spark- ling essaj"- which his matured judgment disapproved throughout, may be bestowed on the Paradise Lost.
Four years after the completion of this signal work, Milton brought forth his Paradise Regained and Samson Afjordsles. The former was preferred by the poet to its greater predecessor, was its natural counterpart, and probably was designed in its opening lines. The au- thor's partiality for this smaller work doubtless rested on theological caprices; but, as a work of art, it has striking excellences of its own. It is more quiet, more smooth, more uniform, and more symmetrical. Its ra- diance has a gentler glow than the fierce splendor of the more imposing poem. Its habitual depreciation may be due to the same cause which secured the pa- rental preference — the mistake in determining the su- preme moment of the Saviour's life, as the subject of the tale. The tem])tation was more significant to Mil- ton than the crucifixion. By the temptation Christ's divinity was earned; it was scarcely attested by the crucifixion, according to his views. The Samson Ago- nistes is Greek in form and expression ; Hebrew in con- ception and spi.'it ; EngUsh and personal in aim. It is a martyr's death-song— the agonizing wail of Milton's crushed, mangled, writhing, but triumphant soul ; ex- postulating, like Job with the Almighty and the Om- niscient, who
" Now hath cast me off as never known. And to those ciuel enemies, Whom 1 by his appointment had provoked, Left me, with the irreparable loss Of sight, reserved alive to be repeated The subject of their cruelty and scorn. Nor am I in the list of them that hope ; Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless ; This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard. No long petition : speedy death, The close of all my miseries, and the balm."
The death invoked came soon. He sank rapidly under attacks of gout, which became both more frequent and more violent; yet in his paroxj'sms " he would be very cheerful, and sing." He expired placidly in his own house on Sunday, Nov. 8, 1674, and the seer of things ce- lestial was buried near his father, who had so sanguinely cherished his young genius.
It would be presumptuous to close this concise notice of John Milton with any summarj' estimate of ours upon his character and genius. He may be admired by all — he can be judged only by his peers. '"It may be doubted," says ^V'alter S. Landor, " whether the Cre- ator ever created one altogether so great as IMilton — taking into one view at once his manly virtues, his su- perhuman genius, his zeal for truth, for true piety, true freedom, his eloquence in displaying it, his contempt of personal power, his glory and exultation in his coun- try's." " Milton," says Macaulay, " did not strictly be- long to axvy of the classes which we have described. He was not a Puritan. He was not a Freethinker. He was not a Cavalier. In his character the noblest qualities of every party were combined in harmoniou.s union. . . . We are not much in the habit of idol- izing either the living or the dead; but there are a few characters which have stood the closest scrutiny and the severest tests, which have been tried in the fur- nace and have proved pure, which have been declared sterling by the general consent of mankind, and which are visibly stamped with the image and superscription of the Most High. These great men vre trust we know how to prize; and of these was Milton. . . . His thoughts are powerful not only to delight, but to ele- vate and purify. Nor do we envy the man who can study either the life or the writings of the great poet and patriot without aspiring to emulate, not indeed the sublime works with which his genius has enriched our literature, but the zeal with which he labored for the public good, the fortitude with which he endured every private calamity, the lofty disdain with which he looked down on temptation and dangers, the deadly hatred which he bore to bigots and tyrants, and the faith which he so sternly kept with his country and with his fame" (Essay on Milton).
Literature. — Miltonic bibliography is so extensive that it woidd be ridiculous to enumerate even the most important works. A general reference to Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer, Authors, will answer a better pur- pose than any copious list presented here. It may then suffice to mention a few authorities of special interest for the assistance they afford for the appreciation of the poet and his labors. Masson, Life and Times of Milton, narrated in connection tcith the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time (Lond. 3 vols. 8vo; 1859 sq. ; still unfinished); Keightley, Account of the Life, Opinions, and Writings of John Milton (Lond. 18.55, 8vo),- Brydges, The Poetical Works of John Mil- ton (Lond. 183o,'6 vols. 12mo) ; St. John, The ProseWorks of John Milton (Lond. 5 vols. 12mo); Prendergast, ^ complete Concordance to the Poetical Works of John Mil- ton (Madras, 1857-59) : Hamilron. Oi/i/!iiiil Papers illus- trative of the Life ofJohnMiltmi (Camden Society); Dwnst&r, Considerations on Mlt/ni/'.-! JOir/// Reading, and onthe Prima Stamniaofthe Paradkir I.nst \ Lmid. 1800); Coleridge, Lectures on Shakespeare and Mil/mi (Lond. 1857) ; Channing, Remarks on the ChuriuUr and Ceniui of Milton; De Quince}', Milton, in Theological Essay; Skeats, Hist, of the Free Churches of England, p. 61 ; Perry, Ch. Hist. vol. ii ; Tulloch, Puritan Leaders, ch. v ; Hunter, Rdigious Thought in England (see Index, voL iii ) ; Hallam, Hist, of Lit. (Harper's edition), ii, 375 sq. ; Hume, Hist, of England, ch. Ixii ; Kitto. Journal of Sac. Lit. i, 236 sq. ; vol. xxiii ; Chri.-:tian K.nn.iinrr, ii, 423 sq. ; iii, 29 sq.; vol. Ivii; Retrosp,,-tin /,'.;■. 1.S25, vol. xiv; Emerson, in the North A mer. Rev. Ixxxii, 388 sq. ; Bib- lioth. Sac. 1859, p. 857 ; 1860, p. 1 ; 3Ieth. Qu. Rev. 1859, p. 495 sq. ; North British Rev. Jlay, 1859 ; Edinb. Rev. April, 1860 ; Lond. Qu. Rev. April, 1872 ; Prescott, Bioff.