turned his eyes upon Milton as the man from whofe fpirit and eloquence his country might expect the most able vindication. In 1651, he published his defence of the people, the most elaborate of all his Latin compofitions; the merits and defects of this fingular performance might be most properly dif cuffed in a preliminary difcourfe to the profe works of Milton; here I fhall only remark, that in the compofition of it, he gave the most singular proof of genuine public fpirit that ever patriot had occafion to difplay; fince, at the time of his engaging in this work, the infirmity in his eyes was fo alarming, that his physicians affured him he must inevitably lofe them if he perfifted in his labour. " On this "occafion," (fays Milton to a favage antagonist, who had reproached him with blindness) " *I re * Unde fic mecum reputabam, multos graviore malo minus bonum morte gloriam, redemiffe; mihi contra majus bonum minore, cum malo proponi; ut poffem cum cæcitate fola vel ho-、 neftiffimum officii munus implere quod ut ipfa gloria per fe eft folidius, ita cuique optatius atque antiquius debet effe. Hac igitur tam brevi luminum ufurâ, quanta maxima quivi cum utilitate publica, quoad liceret, fruendum effe ftatui. Videtis quid prætulerim, quid amiferim, quâ inductus ratione: definant, ergo judiciorum Dei calumniatores maledicere, deque me fomnia fibi fingere: fic denique habento me fortis meæ neque pigere neque pœnitere; immotum atque fixum in fententiâ perftare; Deum iratum neque fentire, neque habere, imo maximis in rebus clementiam ejus et benignitatem erga me paternam experiri atque agnofcere; in hoc præfertim, quòd folante ipfo atque animum confirmante in ejus divina voluntate acquiefcam; quid is largitus mihi fit quam quid negaverit fæpius cogitans; poftremo nolle me cum fuo quovis rectiffime facto, facti mei confcientiam permútare, aut recordationem ejus gratam mihi femper atque tranquillam deponere.-Profe Works, vol. 2. p. 376. "flected 66 "flected that many had purchased with a fuperior " evil a lighter good, glory with death; to me, on "the contrary, greater good was propofed with an "inferior evil; fo that, by incurring blindness "alone, I might fulfil the most honourable of all "duties, which, as it is a more folid advantage than cc glory itself, ought to be more eligible in the estima❝tion of every man ; I refolved therefore to make "what fhort ufe I might yet have of my eyes as "conducive as poffible to public utility: you fee "what I preferred, and what I loft, with the prin"ciple on which I acted; let flanderers therefore ❝cease to talk irreverently on the judgment of "God, and to make me the fubject of their fictions; "let them know that I am far from confidering. my lot with forrow or repentance; that I perfift "immovable in my sentiment; that I neither fancy nor feel the anger of God, but, on the contrary,, experience and acknowledge his paternal clemency and kindness in my most important con66 cerns, in this especially, that, by the comfort and "confirmation which he himself infuses into my "fpirit, I acquiefce in his divine pleasure, continually confidering rather what he has bestowed 66 66 upon me, than what he has denied. Finally, "that I would not exchange the confciousness of 66 my own conduct for their merit, whatever it may "be, or part with a remembrance, which is to my "own mind a perpetual fource of tranquillity and "fatisfaction." Whenever he is induced to mention himself, the purity and vigour of Milton's mind appear in full luftre, luftre, whether he speaks in verse or in profe: the preceding paffage from his Second Defence is confonant to the fonnet on his blindness, addreffed to Syriac Skinner, which, though different critics have denied the author to excel in this minute fpecies of compofition, has hardly been surpaffed; it deferves double praise for energy of expreffion and heroifm of fentiment. Cyriac, this three-years day these eyes, tho' clear Against Heav'n's hand or will, nor bate one jot, Of which all Europe talks from fide to fide: This thought might lead me thro' the world's vain mask The ambition of Milton was as pure as his genius was fublime; his first object on every occafion was to merit the approbation of his confcience and his God; when this most important point was secured, he feems to have indulged the predominant paffion of great minds, and to have exulted, with a triumph proportioned to his toil, in the celebrity he acquired: he must have been infenfible indeed to public applause, had he not felt elated by the fignal honours which were paid to his name in various coun tries, as the eloquent defender of the English nation. "This I can truly affirm," (fays Milton, in mentioning the reception of his great political performance)" that as foon as my defence of the peo ple was published, and read with avidity, there *was not, in our metropolis, any ambaffador from any ftate or fovereign, who did not either con"gratulate me if we met by chance, or exprefs a "defire to receive me at his houfe, or vifit me at "mine." Toland relates, that he received from the parliament a present of a thousand pounds for the defence. The author does not include this circumstance among the many particulars he mentions of himself; and if fuch a reward was ever beftowed upon him, it must have been after the publication of his Second Defence, in which he affirms, that he was content with having discharged what he confidered as an honourable public duty, without aiming at a pecuniary recompence; and that inftead of having acquired the opulence with which his adverfary reproached him, he received not the flightest gratuity for that production t. Yet he appears to t have *Hoc etiam vere poffum dicere, quo primùm tempore noftra defenfio eft edita, et legentium ftudia incaluere, nullum vel principis vel civitatis legatum in urbe tum fuiffe, qui non vel fortè obvio mihi gratuleretur, vel conventum apud fe cuperet vel domi inviferit.-Profe Works, vol. 2. p. 394. + Contentus quæ honefta factu funt, ea propter fe `solum appetiffe, et gratis perfequi: id alii viderint tuque fcito me illas opimitates," atque "opes," quas mihi exprobas, non attigiffe 46 neque have been perfectly fatisfied with the kindness of his affociates; for, in fpeaking of his blindness, he fays, that "far from being neglected on this account by the highest characters in the republic, they conftantly regarded him with indulgence " and favour, not seeking to deprive him either of "distinction or emolument, though his powers of "being ufeful were diminished;" hence he com. pares himself to an ancient Athenian, fupported by a decree of honour at the expence of the public *. Among the foreign compliments he received, the applause of Chriftina afforded him the highest gratification; for he regarded it as an honourable proof of what he had ever affirmed, that he was a friend to good fovereigns, though an enemy to ty rants he understood that the queen of Sweden had made this distinction in commending his book, and in the warmth of his gratitude he bestowed on the northern princess a very fplendid panegyric, of which the fubfequent conduct of that fingular and fantaf neque eo nomine quo maxime accufas obolo factum ditiorem.. Profe Works, vol. ii. p. 378. * Quin et fummi quoque in republica viri quandoquidem non otio torpentem me, fed impigrum et fumma difcrimina pro libertate inter primos adeuntem oculi deferuerunt, ipfi non deferunt; verum humana qualia fint fecum reputantes, tanquam emerito favent, indulgent vacationem atque otium faciles concedunt; fi quid publici muneris, non adimunt; fi quid ex ea re commodi, non minuunt; et quamvis non æquè nunc utili præbendum ni hilo minus benignè cenfent; eodem plane honore, ac fi, ut olim Athenienfibus mos erat, in Prytanéo alendum decreviffent. -Profe Works, vol. ii. p. 376. |