LECTURE, &c.

PART II.

THE remainder of Milton's Prose works, to which I have not in the former Lecture directed your attention (with the exception of a "History of England" from the earliest times to the Conquest, and a few others of great merit relating to the state of public affairs, especially the approaching Restoration, to which I have not time particularly to refer), consist of his letters and despatches, written in Latin, and his "Defences of the People of England" against the hired advocates of Charles II., for the establishment of the Commonwealth, and the dethronement of Charles I. And indeed this naturally brings us to the second view in which I proposed to regard Milton, viz. as a Statesman; on which I must claim your indulgent attention, because of the difficulties besetting the inquiry, and the necessity of entering into it, to do justice to the distinguished subject of the Lecture.

The works to which I have just referred (though they received the especial thanks of the Council, and were circulated and admired, not only in this Island, but on the Continent) have been justly blamed for the occasional asperity and intemperance of their style, and the wretched personalities and jests to which their author sometimes descends. "Tis true-pity 'tis, 'tis true," but not so "passing strange," considering the provocation given by the insults of his opponent, Salmasius, and remembering also (what I am certainly inclined to believe) that Milton laboured under infirmity of temper, which, however he exerted his utmost efforts to repress it, sometimes got the better of him. The doctrine which he advocated may, also, be objected to by a great many, doubtless the majority, but before Milton is condemned by those who know him not, let his object be distinctly understood. It was not to excite

And

the nation to destroy the king, (mark that !) but it was, as he himself says, "rather to reconcile the minds of men to the event, than to discuss the legitimacy of that particular sentence, which was already executed." The abstract principles contained in these different treatises are no more than those by which the Revolution of 1688 was, and is, justified; and to condemn him, therefore, on that account, is to surrender the propriety of that glorious event. what said the great Lord Chatham (speaking of the Rebellion)?"There were mixed with the public cause in that "struggle, ambition, sedition, and violence; but no man "shall persuade me that it was not the cause of liberty on "one side and of tyranny on the other." The successor and rival of his genius, Lord Brougham, too, says—“ those "were troubles in which the cradle of English liberty "was rocked."*

The extract which I read from his Second Defence of the People of England, at the opening of my former Lecture, will convince you that there are passages in that work at least, as beautiful in style, as they are unobjectionable for matter. And I shall now call your attention to others, that the mighty poet of England may be understood and appreciated, as he should be, in all points of his greatness. He thus replies to the charge which had been brought against him, by oue More, the author of the work he is answering, viz. of his blindness! Hear the proud and noble vindication thus forced upon him

"I wish that I could with equal facility refute what this barbarous opponent has said of my blindness; but I cannot do it; and I must submit to the affliction. It is not so wretched to be blind, as it is not to be capable of enduring blindness. But why should I not endure a misfortune, which it behoves every one to be prepared to endure if it should happen; which may, in the common course of things, happen to any man; and which has been known to happen to the most distinguished and virtuous persons in history. Shall I mention those wise and ancient bards, whose misfortunes the gods are said to have compensated by superior endowments, and whom men so much revered that they chose rather to impute their want of sight to the injustice of heaven than to their own want of innocence or virtue ? But God himself is

* Introduction to the Speech on the Missionary Smith's case, vol. 2 of that magnificent work, " His Speeches,"

truth; in propagating which, as men display a greater integrity and
zeal, they approach nearer to the similitude of God, and possess a
greater portion of his love. We cannot suppose the Deity en-
vious of truth, or unwilling that it should be freely communi-
cated to mankind. This loss of sight, therefore, which in-
spired sages, who were so eager in promoting knowledge among
men, sustained, cannot be considered as a judicial punishment.
Or shall I mention those worthies who were as distinguished for
their wisdom in the cabinet, as for valour in the field? What has
happened to great and good men I can hardly place in the catalogue
of misfortunes. For it is evident that the Patriarch Isaac, than
whom no man ever enjoyed more of the divine regard, lived blind
for many years; and perhaps also his son Jacob, who was equally
an object of divine benevolence. And in short, did not our Saviour
himself clearly declare that that poor man whom he restored to
sight, had not been born blind, either on account of his own sins
or those of his progenitors? And with respect to myself, though
I have accurately examined my conduct, and scrutinized my soul,
I call thee, O God, the searcher of hearts, to witness that I am
not conscious, either in the more early or in the later periods of
my life, of having committed any enormity which might deservedly
have marked me out as a fit object for such a calamitous visitation.
But since my enemies boast that this affliction is only a retribution
for the transgressions of my pen; I again invoke the Almighty to
witness that I never at any time wrote any thing which I did not
think agreeable to truth, to justice, and to piety. This was my
persuasion then, and I have the same persuasion now. Nor was I
ever prompted to such exertions by the influence of ambition, by
the lust of lucre or of praise; it was only by the conviction of duty
and the feeling of patriotism, and a disinterested passion for the
extension of civil and religious liberty. Thus, therefore, when I
was publickly solicited to write a reply to the Defence of the Royal
Cause, when I had to contend with the pressure of sickness, and
with the apprehension of soon losing the sight of my remaining
eye, and when my medical attendants clearly announced, that if
I did engage in the work, it would be irreparably lost, their
premonitions caused no hesitation and inspired no dismay. I
would not have listened to the voice even of Esculapius himself
from the shrine of Epidauris, in preference to the suggestions of
the heavenly monitor within my breast; my resolution was un-
shaken, though the alternative was either the loss of my sight or
the desertion of my duty; and I called to mind those destinies,
which the oracle of Delphi announced to the son of Thetis :

"Two fates may lead me to the realms of night;
"If staying here, around Troy's wall I fight,
"To my dear home no more must I return;
"But lasting glory will adorn my urn.
"But, if I withdraw from the martial strife,
"Short is my fame, but long will be my life."

I considered that many had purchased less good by a greater evil, the meed of glory by the loss of life, great good by little suffering; that though I am blind, I might still discharge the most honourable duties, the performance of which, as it is something more durable than glory, ought to be an object of superior admiration and esteem; I resolved, therefore, to make the short interval of sight, which was left me to enjoy, as beneficial as possible to the public interest. Thus it is clear by what motives I was governed in the measures which I took, and the losses which I sustained. Let then the calumniators of the divine goodness cease to revile, or to make me the object of their superstitious imaginations. Let them consider, that my situation, such as it is, is neither an object of my shame or my regret, that my resolutions are too firm to be shaken, that I am not depressed by any sense of the divine displeasure; that, on the other hand, in the most momentous periods, have had full experience of the divine favour and protection; and that, in the solace and the strength which have been infused into me from above, I have been enabled to do the will of God, that I may oftener think on what he has bestowed than on what he has withheld; that in short I am unwilling to exchange my consciousness of rectitude with that of any other person; and that I feel the recollection a treasured store of tranquillity and delight. But if the choice were necessary, I would prefer my blindness to yours; yours is a cloud spread over the mind, which darkened both the light of reason and of conscience; mine keeps from my view only the coloured surfaces of things, while it leaves me at liberty to contemplate the beauty and stability of virtue and of truth. How many things are there besides, which I would not willingly see; how many which I must see against my will, and how few which I feel any anxiety to see! There is, as the apostle has remarked, "a way to strength through weakness." Let me then be the most feeble creature alive, as long as that feebleness serves to invigorate the energies of my rational and immortal spirit; as long as in that obscurity, in which I am enveloped, the light of the divine presence more clearly shines; then, in the proportion as I am weak, I shall be invincibly strong, and in proportion as 1 am blind, I shall more clearly see. O! that I may thus be perfected by feebleness, and irradiated by obscurity !"*

Now listen to Milton's real principles and views of Liberty

"For it is of no little consequence, O citizens, by what principles you are governed, either in acquiring liberty, or in retaining it when acquired. And unless that liberty, which is of such a kind as arms can neither procure nor take away, which alone is the fruit of piety, of justice, of temperance, and an unadulterated virtue, shall have taken deep roots in your minds and hearts, there will not long be wanting one who will snatch from you by

* Second Defence of the People of England. P. 926, 7.

treachery, what you have acquired by arms. War has made many great whom peace makes small. .. Unless by the means of

piety, not frothy and loquacious, but operative, unadulterated, and sincere, you clear the horizon of the mind from the mists of superstition, which arise from the ignorance of true religion, you will always have those who will bend your necks to the yoke as if you were brutes; who, notwithstanding all your triumphs, will put you up to the highest bidder, as if you were mere booty made in war, and will find an exurberant source of wealth in your ignorance and superstition. Unless you will subjugate the propensity to avarice, to ambition, and sensuality, and expel all luxury from yourselves and from your families, you will find that you have cherished a more stubborn and intractable despot at home, than you ever encountered in the field, and even your very bowels will be continually teeming with an intolerable progeny of tyrants. Let those be the first enemies whom you subdue; this constitutes the campaign of peace; these are triumphs, difficult indeed, but bloodless; and far more honourable than those trophies which are purchased only by slaughter and by rapine. Unless you are virtuous in this service, it is in vain that you have been virtuous over the despotic enemy in the field."* "For instead

of fretting with vexation, or thinking how that you can lay the blame on any one else but yourselves, know that to be free is the same thing as to be pious, to be wise, to be temperate and just, to be frugal and abstinent, and, lastly, to be magnanimous and brave; so to be the opposite of all these is the same as to be a slave; and it usually happens by the appointment, and as it were retributive justice of the Deity, that that people which cannot govern themselves, and moderate their passions, but crouch under the slavery of their lusts, should be delivered up to the sway of those whom they abhor, and made to submit to an involuntary servitude. If you think slavery an intolerable evil, learn obedience to reason, and the government of yourselves; and, finally, bid adieu to your dissensions, your jealousies, your superstitions, your outrages, your rapine, and your lusts. Unless you will spare no pains to effect this, you must be judged unfit, both by God and mankind, to be entrusted with the possession of liberty and administration of the government; but will rather, like a nation in a state of pupilage, want some active and courageous guardian to undertake the management of your affairs."+

I really cannot help appealing to any impartial person in this intelligent assembly, who may entertain a strong objection to Milton on the score of his political views, whether this prophecy of the consequences of deserting the high principles of Liberty was not verified within the short space of twenty years, in the reign of Charles II.? Let