"Servant of God, well done; well hast thou fought The better fight, who single hast maintain'd Against revolted multitudes the cause Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms; Than violence; for this was all thy care To stand approv'd in sight of God, though worlds Book vi. 25–37. ON RATIONAL LIBERTY. "Let me serve, In Heav'n God ever blest, and his divine Book vi. 183-185. ON THE ENTRANCE OF SIN INTO THE WORLD. "So saying, her rash hand in evil hour ON NEGRO COLONIAL SLAVERY. "O execrable son so to aspire Book xii. 64-72 ON BAPTISM. "To his disciples, men who in his life Still follow'd him; to them shall leave in charge Book xii. 438-450. His negociation with the bookseller to publish this most admirable poem, is now considered a subject of astonishment! Let it, however, be recollected, that the subject of copyright was but imperfectly understood, and that literary property was not, as now, so inviolably secured. In addition to this, MILTON's republicanism could not have been forgotten, as the anecdote of the learned licenser fully proves! There were many, doubtless, who would have thought, that to describe "the sun new risen," and "shorn of its beams by misty air," must have been an overt act of treason! and who would therefore be afraid * i. Cor. 15. “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not." المرسال to purchase a book, respecting which, doubtless, it would be both said and sung, that the learned licenser had at first refused, and at last had, with great hesitation, consented to place his imprimatur upon a manuscript poem of poor old blind MILTON, who had written the "Tenure of Kings,"* &c. &c.! His contract for the copyright of "Paradise Lost," with Samuel Simmons the bookseller, is dated April 27th, 1667. It was printed in that year, without the name of the purchaser as its -printer; but in the next year it received a new title-page, when the name of S. Simmonds ap * His respectable biographer, Simmons, has recorded an anecdote which is certainly very characteristic of the parties to whom it relates, though not supported by any authority. "The Duke of York, as it is reported, expressed one day to the king his brother, a wish to see old MILTON, of whom he had heard so much. The king replied, that he felt no objection to the Duke satisfying his curiosity; and soon after James went privately to MILTON's house, where, after an introduction, which explained to the old republican the rank of his guest, a free conversation ensued between these very dissimilar and discordant characters. In the course, however, of the conversation, the Duke asked MILTON whether he did not regard the loss of his eye-sight as a judgment inflicted upon him for what he had written against the late king. MILTON's reply was to this effect: If your Highness thinks that the calamities which befall us here are indications of the wrath of Heaven, in what manner are we to account for the fate of the king your father? The displea peared in its proper place. The copyright was sold for the actual payment of five pounds, and the contingent payment, on the sale of two thousand six hundred copies, of two other equal sums. At the end of two years, thirteen hundred copies had been circulated. In five years after this period a second edition was published, and in four years after this, a third was demanded by the public. Before the end of twenty years, it had passed through twenty editions. It is said that he produced his other poem, "Paradise Regained," in about ten months after the idea first struck his mind; which is by no means sure of Heaven must, upon this supposition, have been much greater against him than against me; for I have lost only my eyes, but he lost his head.' Much discomposed by this answer, the Duke soon took his leave and went away. On his return to court, the first words which he spoke to the king were, 'Brother, you are greatly to blame, that you don't have that old rogue, MILTON, hanged.' Why, what is the matter, James?' said the king: 'you seem in a heat. What! have you seen MILTON?' 'Yes,' answered the Duke, 'I have seen him.' 'Well,' said the king, in what condition did you find him?' 'Condition! why, he is old, and very poor.' 'Old and poor! Well, he is blind too, is he not? Yes, blind as a beetle.' Why, then,' observed the king, you are a fool, James, to have him hanged as a punishment: to hang him will be doing him a service; it will be taking him out of his miseries. No, if he be old, poor, and blind, he is miserable enough: in all conscience, let him live."" 6 incredible, even when it is considered how great an inconvenience his blindness must have occasioned in regard to his being under the necessity of employing an amanuensis. At the same time, it must have been favourable to that mental abstraction which the study of so glorious a subject required. The serious, contemplative person, who reads attentively this strictly religious poem, will soon form an idea, from its contents, how happy and pure must have been the mind of MILTON, at the time when he wrote his "Paradise Regained." This was published in 1670. Of this poem, in four books only, Todd says: "It is generally esteemed much inferior to Paradise Lost; which he could not endure to hear, being quite of another mind. This occasioned some one to say wittily enough, that MILTON might be seen in Paradise Lost, but not in Paradise Regained!" And this is the estimate still put upon the work, which, if it were surpassed by its own author, has never been equalled by any other. I suspect that its decidedly religious and evangelical character has procured for it less attention from mere critics, than it would have otherwise received: I need not mention names of persons who have written of MILTON, who, by their irreligious character, or their infidel principles, were disqualified for giving a correct opinion of the excellencies of "Paradise Re |