rubric "-the Fiend bears him back to the wilderness, and the terrors of that night of tempest follow. The high-wrought description-rain and fire commingling, winds from the four hinges of the world, oak and pine bending and rending in the blast-is a Miltonic contrast with the enchanting banquetscene of an earlier book, and the Satanic mastery of the elements is demonstrated by both at the opposite extremes. But when the pilgrim Morning comes forth" in amice gray," the nerves of Jesus, though still he is fasting, are unshaken; he is no 66 worse than wet." The last temptation comes suddenly and as suddenly is ended. Satan, concealing his despairing hope that Jesus may be seduced to sin, declares boldly the other part of his design:

"I collect

Thou art to be my fatal enemy.

Good reason then if I beforehand seek

To understand my adversary, who

And what he is."

Milton was capable, had he thought fit, of stretching out to a profound debate the final as he did the earlier temptations. The pinnacle of the temple might have been contrived as well as any height or hollow of the wilderness to serve as a place for discussion. But it is the old gambler's last throw; he is eager with mad despite for the issue. The crisis and culmination have arrived. The last bout of the duel is to be played, and the decisive thrust must be swift. It may be admitted, however, that the critics and commentators have raised a doubt as to the precise nature of that thrust.

"It

is written tempt not the Lord thy God." Does Jesus mean that to throw himself from the pinnacle would be to tempt the Almighty, in whose disposal he stood? Such would seem the most natural sense of the words. Or can it be that at this tremendous moment a sense of his Divinity-for in the Miltonic theology the Saviour is Divine, and God, though inferior to his creator, the Father-comes upon Jesus, and by heavenly permission and prompting he declares to Satan that the man whom he sought to tempt is his Lord, the first-begotten Son who had overwhelmed the rebel crew? / Assuredly Milton intends that, whether by the words of Jesus or by the miracle of his unfaltering stand on the pinnacle, where no human foot could remain poised, Satan at length should recognise his adversary and read his own doom :/.

"But Satan, smitten with amazement, fell;"

and the fall is such that only by comparing small things with great can any parallel be found.

The amazing event is followed by infinite gentleness in the angelic ministry, and perfect refreshment for the long-tried champion of God. Nor does the heavenly chaunt which celebrates the victory of the queller of Satan close the poem. It must end, like 'Paradise Lost' and each of Milton's greater poems, with a soft dying fall, a word of calm and perfect appeasement:

"He unobserved

Home to his mother's house private return'd."

We are left to imagine, if we will, the sweet humanities of the home of Mary.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE

AND THE STUDY OF MILTON.

BY SIR EDWARD BRABROOK, C.B.

WHEN this series of lectures was first arranged, it was intended that I should have the honour of opening them with a few remarks on the association of the Royal Society of Literature with Milton; but my absence from England on the opening day prevented my doing so, and it was then arranged that my observations should be made at the close of the course. It is not surprising that a Society incorporated for the purposes of the advancement of literature, and of endeavouring to preserve the purity of the English language, should have devoted early and continuous attention to the works of so great a master of the English tongue in prose and in poetry, as John Milton; and that has been the case. Among the ten Royal Associates, elected in 1823, to each of whom a Royal Pension of 100 guineas was granted, was the Rev. Henry John Todd, F.S.A., afterwards Archdeacon of Cleveland, whose edition of Milton's works was described by Hallam as a monument of indefatigable diligence.

To Henry Hallam himself, the great historian of English literature, and therein of Milton, the

Society's gold medal was adjudged in 1830, and he was President of the Society from 1844 to 1849.

Meanwhile, in the year 1823, an important literary discovery had been made, which engaged much of the attention of the Society. In the State Paper Office, among documents deposited there either by Secretary Sir Joseph Williamson or Secretary Sir Leoline Jenkins, who held their offices from 1674 to 1684, was found a Latin manuscript, filling 735 pages of small quarto letter paper, entitled "Joannis Miltoni Angli de Doctrina Christiana, ex sacris duntaxat Libris petita (which we may translate as 'sought out of the Sacred Books alone') Disquisitionum libri duo posthumi." It was suggested that this manuscript had come to the Secretary of State as part of a result of the search and seizure of papers in the possession of Cyriac Skinner. So important was the discovery considered that it was brought under the attention of the Royal Patron of this Society, King George the Fourth, and he gave orders that a translation of the manuscript should be prepared and published. He selected for this work a Fellow of our Society, who was Chaplain-inOrdinary, Deputy Clerk of the Closet, and Librarian to His Majesty, the Rev. Charles Richard Sumner, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, whose brother afterwards became Archbishop of Canterbury. As to the manner in which he accomplished the work, we may take the testimony of Macaulay. "Mr.

Sumner, who was commanded by His Majesty to edit and translate the treatise, has acquitted himself of his task in a manner honourable to his talents and his character. His version, indeed, is not very

easy or elegant, but it is entitled to the praise of clearness and fidelity. His notes abound with interesting quotations, and have the rare merit of really elucidating the text. The preface is evidently the work of a sensible and of a candid man, firm in his own religious opinions, and tolerant towards those of others." The book appeared in two quarto volumes, one containing the Latin text, the other the preface, translation, and notes.

At the first General Anniversary Meeting of our Society after the grant of its charter, held on 27th April, 1826, the Right Rev. Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St. David's, our founder and first President, whose connection with the Society is commemorated by the statuette before us, enlarged in his Presidential Address upon the authenticity of this Treatise, which had been, in his Lordship's opinion, erroneously imputed to Milton. At the next Annual General Meeting, on 26th April, 1827, Bishop Burgess referred to the discovery at His Majesty's State Paper Office of some additional Latin State letters of Milton, and continued his inquiry into the authenticity of the treatise on Christian doctrine, expressing the opinion that, whilst this Society is bound to promote every authentic literary discovery, it ought not, without the most satisfactory evidence, derived from a scrupulous examination, to sanction the ascribing of any manuscripts to those great writers who have impressed a character upon the literature of their age and country. His Lordship then stated some further arguments in evidence of the foreign origin of the work. Again, at the next year's meeting, on 24th April, 1828, he commented,