816 Hath honoured me according to his will: Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned! That they may have their wish, to try with me Compare the following, which, by its perverse punctuation, transfers line 817 to the following sentence, while it is manifestly the closing line of the previous one. It is printed thus in every edition, except that Keightley puts a semicolon at "assigned": Hath honoured me according to his will. Lines 820 to 823-the treatment of these lines, expressing the stern declaration of war by the Son (not to speak of the disastrous mutilation in line 823), in all the editions, is alone calculated to overthrow all confidence in their punctuation. I give here the lines as they are printed in every copy, which compare with my text:Or I alone against them; since by strength They measure all, of other excellence Not emulous, nor care who them excels; Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe. So spake the Son, and into terror changed The received reading is this: His countenance, too severe to be beheld, 821 The profound importance of a correct application of the principles of punctuation, and of the just introduction of parentheses, could hardly be better illustrated than in the passage embraced in lines 838 to 852. The punctuation in all the editions is irritating to the reader and pernicious to the sense. Compare also down to line 866; and the rest, to the end of the Book, will also, I think, repay the trouble of comparison. PARENTHETICAL CLAUSES. THE specific instances of faulty punctuation which I have in previous pages collected together, do not embrace all which I have detected and corrected; the more serious, however, are to be found. there, I believe. But there is another class of emendations which require separate notice, some of which are of vital importance to the true rendering of the subject or the unfolding of a passage, while others are only secondary in their action-I refer to the introduction of parentheses. Some instances, where I have adopted them, I have called attention to elsewhere, as being intimately connected with certain other emendations, or as being of such importance of themselves (hardly less important than some of the verbal restorations) as to claim that notice. The Poem has seriously suffered from the absence of these arbitrary and convenient signs where their presence is indispensable to the proper marking off an independent clause, or where it supplies a detailed explanation; for this reason I have found it necessary to introduce a considerable number. As they are so numerous, and, what is of more concern, are so essential for the purpose named, I have thought it desirable, as it may prove interesting, to tabulate them for reference :--Book I.-4, 5; 29, 30; 53, 54 (of importance); 98; 138-141 (ditto); 149, 150; 196—209 (one of special interest); 199, 200; 201, 202; 228-230; 296, 297; 301-313 (high interest); 320, 321; 366 (of interest); 376 and 378 (should be examined); 417 (the clause elevated); 459; 462, 463; 508-510; 527, 528; 539, 540; 551; 559; 606-611 (of importance); 682; 690-692; 734-737 (ditto). Book II.-5, 6; 97, 98; 109-117 (of interest); 146-148 (important); 156 (irony indicated); 200, 201; 250, 251 (important and elevating); 254, 255 (important); 299, 300; 438; 458; 482-485; 508-510 (the passage ele vated); 516, 517; 533-535 (important); 592-595; 639, 640; 641; 645-647 (very important); 663 (of interest); 678, 679; 690, 691; 757; 779; 818-821 (the passage elevated); 859, 860; 872 (ditto); 875, 876; 931, 932 (important); 972-974 (of great interest); 983; 999, 1000 (ditto); 1023-1025 (ditto); 1027, 1028; 1039, 1040 (the passage elevated); 1050 (ditto). Book III.-34 (of interest); 60-64 (ditto); 65, 66; 123–128 (highly important); 366, 367; 379 (of interest); 385, 386; 422-429; 432; 438, 439; 448-450; 456; 459-462 (of interest); 530; 531; 552; 588-590; 599; 615-619; 623; 639; 657 (of interest); 664, 665 (ditto); 682-689 (ditto). Book IV.-3, 4; 8 (the passage elevated); 10 (ditto); 13, 14; 20-24; 27, 28; 47; 94; 98, 99; 121-123 (ditto); 140; 148; 175; 195; 201-204; 262, 263 (of interest); 270 (indispensable); 271, 272; 277; 289 (elevating); 294; 307; 341, 342; 379; 390, 391 (ditto); 394; 428—430; 510; 553; 596, 597 (indispensable and elevating); 627; 663, 664 (ditto); 687 (of interest); 706; 715, 716 (ditto); 726-729 (indispensable); 738; 739, 740; 751, 752; 779 ; 803; 806 (the passage elevated); 811-813 (ditto); 816, 817; 937, 938; 991-995 (indispensable). Book V.-7, 8; 56, 57 (indispensable); 186, 187 (the passage elevated); 333-336 (of interest); 345; 347, 348; 366, 367; 383-385 (indispensable); 435; 454; 456–459 (ditto); 469-471 (the passage elevated); 634; 638-640 (indispensable); 750-754. Book VI.-13; 42; 64-66 (indispensable); 91-97 (important); 119; 187 (ditto); 201; 327-331 (indispensable); 333; 366, 367 (the clause elevated); 545; 574, 575 (of interest); 578 (ditto); 603–606 (indispensable); 631, 632 (ditto); 656–658 (of singular importance); 671 -673; 691-692 (indispensable); 753—756 (ditto); 776; 848, 849 (ditto). The previous references indicate the exact locality where I have introduced parentheses; the following references indicate the clause or passage which I have treated semi-parenthetically, that is, embraced within dashes. For instance, Giving to death and dying to redeem So dearly to redeem !-what hellish hate PARENTHETICAL CLAUSES. CXXV My introductory remarks on pp. lxi. and lxii. equally Book I.-84-87; 128-133; 151; 259, 260; 274-278 (bril- Book VI.-62, 63; 79-84 (important); 156, 157; 168; 223, SUGGESTED ORIGIN OF MUTILATIONS. ALL who are familiar with the operations of printing know too well how "errors of the press" easily occur even at the present day, and in the time of Milton we may fairly presume that there were no such expedients for safeguarding against mutilations and misplacement as are now adopted. We have, first, no means of knowing what kind of paper Milton's amanuenses found at hand-whether good and suitable, or whether scraps picked up anyhow at each moment he secured his indispensable helps in the person of a casual visitor, or an errand boy (such he had often), or the one daughter whose reluctance to act in this capacity could not have been conducive to accuracy in the work, or his wife. Bad or discoloured paper would conduce to errors, especially if the writing were faint or indifferent. Further, may we not reasonably suppose that the handwriting of these individuals was not such as to make the task of the printers easy or even tolerable? This alone would be a fruitful cause of mistakes, for ignorant printers would not waste time. in the effort to discover the sense of a clause for the purpose of solving unintelligible words or puzzling caligraphy. The printers of Milton's day occupied, I conceive, about the same elevation as the better class of those now to be found in India (of whom I have had considerable experience)—they make the best they can of their "copy" when mechanically transferring it to type, drawing upon their limited understanding very slightly to help them in a verbal difficulty or possible dislocation of clauses. In this way |