Lives Of The Poets, Vol. 1 (fiscle part-III) - Samuel Johnson (classic books to read txt) 📗

Want Of Vehemence Or Eloquence,

Nor Does He Forget His Wonted wit: "Morus Est? An Momus? An Uterque Idem

Est?" He Then Remembers That Morus Is Latin For A Mulberry-Tree, And

Hints At The Known Transformation:

 

 

 

  "Poma Alba Ferebat

  Quae Post Nigra Tulit Morus."

 

 

 

With This Piece Ended his Controversies; And He, From This Time, Gave

Himself Up To His Private Studies And His Civil Employment.

 

 

 

As Secretary To The Protector, He Is Supposed to Have Written The

Declaration Of The Reasons For A War With Spain. His Agency Was

Considered as Of Great Importance; For, When A Treaty With Sweden Was

Artfully Suspended, The Delay Was Publickly Imputed to Mr. Milton'S

Indisposition; And The Swedish Agent Was Provoked to Express His Wonder,

That Only One Man In england Could Write Latin, And That Man Blind.

 

 

 

Being now Forty-Seven Years Old, And Seeing himself Disencumbered

From External Interruptions, He Seems To Have Recollected his Former

Purposes, And To Have Resumed three Great Works, Which He Had Planned

For His Future Employment; An Epick Poem, The History Of His Country,

And A Dictionary Of The Latin Tongue.

 

 

 

To Collect A Dictionary, Seems A Work Of All Others Least Practicable

In A State Of Blindness, Because It Depends Upon Perpetual And Minute

Inspection And Collation. Nor Would Milton Probably Have Begun It, After

He Had Lost His Eyes; But, Having had It Always Before Him, He Continued

It, Says Philips, "Almost To His Dying-Day; But The Papers Were So

Discomposed and Deficient, That They Could Not Be Fitted for The Press."

The Compilers Of The Latin Dictionary, Printed at Cambridge, Had The Use

Of Those Collections In three Folios; But What Was Their Fate Afterwards

Is Not Known[39].

 

 

 

To Compile A History From Various Authors, When They Can Only Be

Consulted by Other Eyes, Is Not Easy, Nor Possible, But With More

Skilful And Attentive Help Than Can Be Commonly Obtained; And It Was

Probably The Difficulty Of Consulting and Comparing that Stopped

Milton'S Narrative At The Conquest; A Period At Which Affairs Were Not

Yet Very Intricate, Nor Authors Very Numerous.

 

 

 

For The Subject Of His Epick Poem, After Much Deliberation, Long

Choosing, And Beginning late, He Fixed upon Paradise Lost; A Design So

Comprehensive, That It Could Be Justified only By Success. He Had Once

Designed to Celebrate King arthur, As He Hints In his Verses To Mansus;

But "Arthur Was Reserved," Says Fenton, "To Another Destiny[40]."

 

 

 

It Appears, By Some Sketches Of Poetical Projects Left In manuscript,

And To Be Seen In a Library[41] At Cambridge, That He Had Digested his

Thoughts On This Subject Into One Of Those Wild Dramas Which Were

Anciently Called mysteries[42]; And Philips Had Seen What He Terms Part

Of A Tragedy, Beginning with The First Ten Lines Of Satan'S Address To

The Sun. These Mysteries Consist Of Allegorical Persons; Such As

Justice, Mercy, Faith. Of The Tragedy Or Mystery Of Paradise Lost,

There Are Two Plans:

 

 

 

The Persons.

 

 

 

  Michael.

  Chorus Of Angels.

  Heavenly Love.

  Lucifer.

  Adam,  }

  Eve,   } With The Serpent.

  Conscience.

  Death.

  Labour,      }

  Sickness,    }

  Discontent,  } Mutes.

  Ignorance,   }

  With Others; }

  Faith.

  Hope.

  Charity.

 

 

 

The Persons.

 

 

 

  Moses.

  Divine Justice, Wisdom, Heavenly Love.

  The Evening star, Hesperus.

  Chorus Of Angels.

  Lucifer.

  Adam.

 

 

 

  Eve.

  Conscience.

  Labour,      }

  Sickness,    }

  Discontent,  }  Mutes.

  Ignorance,   }

  Fear,        }

  Death,       }

  Faith.

  Hope.

  Charity.

 

 

 

Paradise Lost.

 

 

 

The Persons.

 

 

 

Moses [Greek: Prologizei], Recounting how He Assumed his True Body; That

It Corrupts Not, Because It Is With God In the Mount: Declares The Like

Of Enoch And Elijah; Besides The Purity Of The Place, That Certain Pure

Winds, Dews, And Clouds, Preserve It From Corruption; Whence Exhorts To

The Sight Of God; Tells They Cannot See Adam In the State Of Innocence,

By Reason Of Their Sin.

 

 

 

  Justice, } Debating what Should Become Of Man, If He Fall.

  Mercy,   }

  Wisdom,  }

 

 

 

Chorus Of Angels Singing a Hymn Of The Creation.

 

 

 

Act Ii.

 

 

 

Heavenly Love.

 

 

 

Evening star.

 

 

 

Chorus Sings The Marriage Song, And Describes Paradise.

 

 

 

Act Iii.

 

 

 

Lucifer Contriving adam'S Ruin.

 

 

 

Chorus Fears For Adam, And Relates Lucifer'S Rebellion And Fall.

 

 

 

Act Iv.

 

 

 

  Adam,  } Fallen.

  Eve,   }

 

 

 

Conscience Cites Them To God'S Examination.

 

 

 

Chorus Bewails, And Tells The Good Adam Has Lost.

 

 

 

Act V.

 

 

 

  Adam And Eve Driven Out Of Paradise.

  ------Presented by An Angel With

  Labour, Grief, Hatred, Envy, War, Famine,    }

  Pestilence, Sickness, Discontent, Ignorance, } Mutes.

  Fear, Death,                                 }

  To Whom He Gives Their Names. Likewise Winter, Heat,

  Tempest, &C.

  Faith,    }

  Hope,     }Comfort Him, And Instruct Him.

  Charity,  }

  Chorus Briefly Concludes.

 

 

 

Such Was His First Design, Which Could Have Produced only An Allegory,

Or Mystery. The Following sketch Seems To Have Attained more Maturity.

 

 

 

Adam Unparadised:

 

 

 

The Angel Gabriel, Either Descending or Entering; Showing, Since

This Globe Was Created, His Frequency As Much On Earth As In heaven;

Describes Paradise. Next, The Chorus, Showing the Reason Of His Coming

To Keep His Watch In paradise, After Lucifer'S Rebellion, By Command

From God; And Withal Expressing his Desire To See And Know More

Concerning this Excellent New Creature, Man. The Angel Gabriel, As By

His Name Signifying a Prince Of Power, Tracing paradise With, A More

Free Office, Passes By The Station Of The Chorus, And, Desired by Them,

Relates What He Knew Of Man; As The Creation Of Eve, With Their Love

And Marriage. After This, Lucifer Appears; After His Overthrow, Bemoans

Himself, Seeks Revenge On Man. The Chorus Prepares Resistance At His

First Approach. At Last, After Discourse Of Enmity On Either Side, He

Departs: Whereat The Chorus Sings Of The Battle And Victory In heaven,

Against Him And His Accomplices: As Before, After The First Act, Was

Sung A Hymn Of The Creation. Here Again May Appear Lucifer, Relating and

Exulting in what He Had Done To The Destruction Of Man. Man Next, And

Eve, Having by This Time Been Seduced by The Serpent, Appears Confusedly

Covered with Leaves. Conscience, In a Shape, Accuses Him; Justice Cites

Him To The Place Whither Jehovah Called for Him. In the Mean While, The

Chorus Entertains The Stage, And Is Informed by Some Angel The Manner Of

The Fall. Here The Chorus Bewails Adam'S Fall; Adam Then And Eve Return;

Accuse One Another; But Especially Adam Lays The Blame To His Wife; Is

Stubborn In his Offence. Justice Appears, Reasons With Him, Convinces

Him. The Chorus Admonisheth Adam, And Bids Him Beware Lucifer'S Example

Of Impenitence. The Angel Is Sent To Banish Them Out Of Paradise; But

Before, Causes To Pass Before His Eyes, In shapes, A Mask Of All The

Evils Of This Life And World. He Is Humbled, Relents, Despairs; At Last

Appears Mercy, Comforts Him, Promises The Messiah; Then Calls In faith,

Hope, And Charity; Instructs Him; He Repents, Gives God The Glory,

Submits To His Penalty. The Chorus Briefly Concludes. Compare This With

The Former Draught.

 

 

 

These Are Very Imperfect Rudiments Of Paradise Lost; But It Is Pleasant

To See Great Works In their Seminal State, Pregnant With Latent

Possibilities Of Excellence; Nor Could There Be Any More Delightful

Entertainment Than To Trace Their Gradual Growth And Expansion, And To

Observe How They Are Sometimes Suddenly Advanced by Accidental Hints,

And Sometimes Slowly Improved by Steady Meditation.

 

 

 

Invention Is Almost The Only Literary Labour Which Blindness Cannot

Obstruct, And, Therefore, He Naturally Solaced his Solitude By The

Indulgence Of His Fancy, And The Melody Of His Numbers. He Had Done What

He Knew To Be Necessary Previous To Poetical Excellence; He Had Made

Himself Acquainted with "Seemly Arts And Affairs;" His Comprehension Was

Extended by Various Knowledge, And His Memory Stored with Intellectual

Treasures. He Was Skilful In many Languages, And Had, By Reading and

Composition, Attained the Full Mastery Of His Own. He Would Have Wanted

Little Help From Books, Had He Retained the Power Of Perusing them.

 

 

 

But While His Greater Designs Were Advancing, Having now, Like Many

Other Authors, Caught The Love Of Publication, He Amused himself, As He

Could, With Little Productions. He Sent To The Press, 1658, A Manuscript

Of Raleigh, Called, The Cabinet Council; And Next Year Gratified

His Malevolence To The Clergy, By A Treatise Of Civil Power In

Ecclesiastical Cases, And The Means Of Removing hirelings Out Of The

Church.

 

 

 

Oliver Was Now Dead; Richard Was Constrained to Resign: The System Of

Extemporary Government, Which Had Been Held Together Only By Force,

Naturally Fell Into Fragments, When That Force Was Taken Away; And

Milton Saw Himself And His Cause In equal Danger. But He Had Still Hope

Of Doing something. He Wrote Letters, Which Toland Has Published, To

Such Men As He Thought Friends To The New Commonwealth; And, Even In the

Year Of The Restoration, He "Bated no Jot Of Heart Or Hope," But Was

Fantastical Enough To Think That The Nation, Agitated as It Was, Might

Be Settled by A Pamphlet, Called, A Ready And Easy Way To Establish A

Free Commonwealth: Which Was, However, Enough Considered to Be Both

Seriously And Ludicrously Answered.

 

 

 

The Obstinate Enthusiasm Of The Commonwealth-Men Was Very Remarkable.

When The King was Apparently Returning, Harrington, With A Few

Associates As Fanatical As Himself, Used to Meet, With All The Gravity

Of Political Importance, To Settle An Equal Government By Rotation; And

Milton, Kicking when He Could Strike No Longer, Was Foolish Enough

To Publish, A Few Weeks Before The Restoration, Notes Upon A Sermon

Preached by One Griffiths, Entitled, The Fear Of God And The King.

To These Notes An Answer Was Written By L'Estrange, In a Pamphlet,

Petulantly Called, No Blind Guides.

 

 

 

But Whatever Milton Could Write, Or Men Of Greater Activity Could Do,

The King was Now About To Be Restored with The Irresistible Approbation

Of The People. He Was, Therefore, No Longer Secretary, And Was,

Consequently, Obliged to Quit The House Which He Held By His Office;

And, Proportioning his Sense Of Danger To His Opinion Of The Importance

Of His Writings, Thought It Convenient To Seek Some Shelter, And Hid

Himself, For A Time, In bartholomew Close, By West Smithfield.

 

 

 

I Cannot But Remark A Kind Of Respect, Perhaps Unconsciously, Paid To

This Great Man By His Biographers: Every House In which He Resided is

Historically Mentioned, As If It Were An Injury To Neglect Naming any

Place That He Honoured by His Presence.

 

 

 

The King, With Lenity Of Which The World Has Had, Perhaps, No Other

Example, Declined to Be The Judge Or Avenger Of His Own Or His Father'S

Wrongs; And Promised to Admit Into The Act Of Oblivion All, Except Those

Whom The Parliament Should Except; And The Parliament Doomed none To

Capital Punishment, But The Wretches Who Had Immediately Cooperated in

The Murder Of The King. Milton Was Certainly Not One Of Them; He Had

Only Justified what They Had Done.

 

 

 

This Justification Was, Indeed, Sufficiently Offensive; And, June 16, An

Order Was Issued to Seize Milton'S Defence, And Goodwin'S Obstructers Of

Justice, Another Book Of The Same Tendency, And Burn Them By The Common

Hangman. The Attorney-General Was Ordered to Prosecute The Authors; But

Milton Was Not Seized, Nor, Perhaps, Very Diligently Pursued.

 

 

 

Not Long After, August 19, The Flutter Of Innumerable Bosoms Was Stilled

By An Act, Which The King, That His Mercy Might Want No Recommendation

Of Elegance, Rather Called an Act Of Oblivion, Than Of Grace. Goodwin

Was Named, With Nineteen More, As Incapacitated for Any Publick Trust;

But Of Milton There Was No Exception[43].

 

 

 

Of This Tenderness Shown To Milton, The Curiosity Of Mankind Has Not

Forborne To Inquire The Reason. Burnet Thinks He Was Forgotten; But This

Is Another Instance Which May Confirm Dalrymple'S Observation, Who

Says, "That Whenever Burnet'S Narrations Are Examined, He Appears To Be

Mistaken."

 

 

 

Forgotten He Was Not; For His Prosecution Was Ordered; It Must Be,

Therefore, By Design That He Was Included in the General Oblivion. He Is

Said To Have Had Friends In the House, Such As Marvel, Morrice, And

Sir Thomas Clarges: And, Undoubtedly, A Man Like Him Must Have

Had Influence. A Very Particular Story Of His Escape Is Told By

Richardson[44] In his Memoirs, Which He Received from Pope, As Delivered

By Betterton, Who Might Have Heard It From Davenant. In the War Between

The King and Parliament, Davenant Was Made Prisoner And Condemned to

Die; But Was Spared at The Request Of Milton. When The Turn Of Success

Brought Milton Into The Like Danger, Davenant Repayed the Benefit By

Appearing in his Favour. Here Is A Reciprocation Of Generosity And

Gratitude So Pleasing, That The Tale Makes Its Own Way To Credit. But,

If Help Were Wanted, I Know Not Where To Find It. The Danger Of Davenant

Is Certain, From His Own Relation; But Of His Escape There Is No

Account[45]. Betterton'S Narration Can Be Traced no Higher; It Is

Not Known That He Had It From Davenant. We Are Told That The Benefit

Exchanged was Life For Life; But It Seems Not Certain That Milton'S Life

Ever Was In danger. Goodwin, Who Had Committed the Same Kind Of Crime,

Escaped with Incapacitation; And, As Exclusion From Publick Trust