Life Of John Milton by Richard Garnett (free children's online books TXT) 📕

The Mountain To Jericho,  Into The Wilderness,  To The Sea?  No,  Not

Flight.  Of His Own Free Will He Is To Appear Before The Judges In

Order To Stand By What He Said.  Ah! But This Surrender To The Powers

He Had Offended Means Death.  He Sank Down On The Ground So That His

Head Touched The Grass,  As If He Would Draw The Earth To Him With Eager

Arms.  "Must It Be,  O Father?  Fain Would I Stay With Men In Order To

Bring Them Nearer To Me.  Who Will Guide My Disciples,  Still So Weak?

Guard Them From Evil,  But Do Not Take Them From The World.  Let Them

Live And Spread Thy Name.  If It Is Possible,  Let Me Stay With Them.

But If It Must Be,  Take This Agony Of Soul From Me And Stand By Me.

But I Must Not Demand Aught,  My God,  Only Humbly Entreat.  If It Is Thy

Will That I Shall Suffer All Human Sorrow And Pain,  Then Thy Will Be

Done.  Accept This Sacrifice For All Who Have Provoked Thee.  If Thou

Desirest It,  I Will Take The Sins Of The World Upon Me,  And Atone For

Them That Thou Mayest Pardon.  But If It May Be Avoided,  Father,  My

Father Who Art In Heaven,  Have Mercy OHoughts Than To Devise Practical Schemes For Human Improvement. As An

Ode Or Poem On Education,  Milton's Tract,  Doubtless,  Has Delivered Many

A Teacher And Scholar From Bondage To Routine; And No Man's Aims Are So

High Or His Thoughts So Generous That He Might Not Be Further Profited

And Stimulated By Reading It. As A Practical Treatise It Is Only

Valuable For Its Emphatic Denunciation Of The Folly Of Teasing Youth,

Whose Element Is The Concrete,  With Grammatical Abstractions,  And The

Advice To Proceed To Translation As Soon As Possible,  And To Keep It Up

Steadily Throughout The Whole Course. Neglect Of This Precept Is The

Principal Reason Why So Many Youths Not Wanting In Capacity,  And

Assiduously Taught,  Leave School With Hardly Any Knowledge Of

Languages. Milton's Scheme Is Also Remarkable For Its Bold Dealing With

Day Schools And Universities,  Which It Would Have Entirely Superseded.

The Next Publication Of Milton's Is Another Instance Of The Dependence

Of His Intellectual Workings Upon The Course Of Events Outside Him. We

Owe The "Areopagitica," Not To The Lonely Overflowings Of His Soul,  Or

Even To The Disinterested Observation Of Public Affairs,  But To The Real

Jeopardy He Had Incurred By His Neglect To Get His Books Licensed. The

Long Parliament Had Found Itself,  In 1643,  With Respect To The Press,

Very Much In The Position Of Lord Canning's Government In India At The

Time Of The Mutiny. It Marks The Progress Of Public Opinion That,

Whereas The Indian Government Only Ventured To Take Power To Prevent

Inopportune Publication With Many Apologies,  And As A Temporary Measure,

The Parliament Assumed It As Self-Evident That "Forged,  Scandalous,

Seditious,  Libellous,  And Unlicensed Papers,  Pamphlets,  And Books" Had

No Right To Exist,  And Should Be Nipped In The Bud By The Appointment Of

Licensers. Twelve London Ministers,  Therefore,  Were Nominated To License

Books In Divinity,  Which Was Equivalent To Enacting That Nothing

Contrary To Presbyterian Orthodoxy Should Be Published In England.[2]

Other Departments,  Not Forgetting Poetry And Fiction,  Were Similarly

Provided For. The Ordinance Is Dated June 14,  1643. Milton Had Always

Contemned The Licensing Regulations Previously Existing,  And Within A

Month His Brain Was Busy With Speculations Which No Reverend Licenser

Could Have Been Expected To Confirm With An Imprimatur. About August 1st

The "Doctrine And Discipline Of Divorce" Appeared,  With No Recognition

Of Or From A Licenser; And The Second Edition,  Published In The

Following February,  Equally Infringed The Parliamentary Ordinance. No

Notice Appears To Have Been Taken Until The Election Of A New Master Of

The Stationers' Company,  About The Middle Of 1644. The Company Had An

Interest In The Enforcement Of The Ordinance,  Which Was Aimed At Piracy

As Well As Sedition And Heresy; And Whether For This Reason,  Or At The

Instigation Of Milton's Adversaries,  They (August 24th) Petitioned

Parliament To Call Him To Account. The Matter Was Referred To A

Committee,  But More Urgent Business Thrust It Out Of Sight. Milton,

Nevertheless,  Had Received His Marching Orders,  And On November 24,

1644,  Appeared "Areopagitica; A Speech For The Liberty Of Unlicensed

Printing": Itself Unlicensed.

The "Areopagitica" Is By Far The Best Known Of Milton's Prose Writings,

Being The Only One Whose Topic Is Not Obsolete. It Is Also Composed With

More Care And Art Than The Others. Elsewhere He Seeks To Overwhelm,  But

Here To Persuade. He Could Without Insincerity Profess Veneration For

The Lords And Commons To Whom His Discourse Is Addressed,  And He Spares

No Pains To Give Them A Favourable Opinion Both Of His Dutifulness And

His Reasonableness. More Than Anywhere Else He Affects The Character Of

A Practical Man,  Pressing Home Arguments Addressed To The Understanding

Rather Than To The Pure Reason. He Points Out Sensibly,  And For Him

Calmly,  That The Censorship Is A Papal Invention,  Contrary To The

Precedents Of Antiquity; That While It Cannot Prevent The Circulation Of

Bad Books,  It Is A On The Cheek,  And Thought In Tremulous Expectation: Messiah

King,  Now Reveal Thyself!

Then The Soldiers Rushed Up.  They Had Been Joined By A Mob Armed With

Sticks And Cudgels,  Just As When Notorious Criminals Are Taken.  Jesus

Went Forward A Few Steps To Meet Them And Offered His Hands To Them To

Be Bound.  John Threw Himself Between,  But He Was Dashed To The Ground.

James Struggled With Two Of The Soldiers; Peter Snatched The Sword Of A

Third,  And Hacked At One Of The Temple Guards So That His Ear Flew From

His Body.

"What Are You Doing?" Jesus Called To The Disciple.  "If You Interfere

They Will Kill You.  You Will Conquer Not With The Sword,  But With The

Word.  But You,  O People Of Jerusalem; You Treat Me As Shamefully As If

I Were A Murderer.  And Only Five Days Ago You Led Me Into The City

With Palms And Psalms.  What Have I Done Since Then?  I Sat In The

Temple Among You.  Why Did You Not Take Me Then?"

They Mocked At Him.  "Isn't To-Day Soon Enough For You?  Can't You Wait

Any Longer For Your Ladder To Heaven?  Patience,  It Is Set Up Already."

When The Disciples Heard Such Allusions,  And Saw The Master Calmly

Surrendering Himself,  They Drew Back.  The Sticks And Spears Clashed

Together,  The Crowd Jogged Along,  The Torches Flickered,  And So The

Procession Went Up To The City.

Judas Stood Behind The Trunk Of A Tree,  Looking Through The Branches At

The Dread Procession,  And His Eyes Started From His Head In Terror.

The Judges Were Awakened At Midnight; The Jewish High Priests That They

Might Accuse Him,  The Heathen Judges That They Might Condemn Him.  The

High Priest Caiaphas Left His Couch Right Gladly; He Was Delighted That

They Had Caught Him At Last,  But He Thought That The High Priest Annas

Should Frame The Accusation; He Was Younger,  Better Acquainted With The

Roman Laws,  And Would Carry Through The Ticklish Business Most

Effectively.  He,  Caiaphas,  Would Hold Himself Ready For Bearing

Testimony Or Sealing Documents At Any Minute.  Annas,  Too,  Was

Delighted That The Galilean,  Who Had Insulted The Pharisees In The

Temple In So Unheard-Of A Fashion,  Was Caught At Last.  He Would Settle

The Matter This Very Night,  Before The People,  On Whom No Reliance Was

To Be Placed,  Could Interfere.  With Respect To The Accusation,  The

Whole High Priesthood Of Jerusalem Must Meet In Order To Take Counsel

Over This Knotty Case.  As A Matter Of Fact There Was Nothing They

Could Legally Bring Against The Fellow.  His Speeches To The People.

His Proceedings In The Temple Were,  Unfortunately,  Not Sufficient.

Some Crime--A Political One If Possible--Must Be Proved Against Him,  If

That Heathen,  The Roman Governor,  Was To Condemn Him.

So They Met At The House Of Caiaphas To Take Counsel.  They Carried

Innumerable Scrolls Under Their Arms,  In Which Were Written All Manner

Of Things That Had Occurred Since The First Appearance Of The Nazarene.

The Galilean Rabbis Especially Had Sent Volumes In Order To Discredit

And Expose Him.  Yet All This Would Not Be Sufficient For The Governor.

Some Definite Point Must Be Clearly Worked Up.

Then Jesus Was Brought In.  His Hands Were Bound,  His Dress Was Soiled

And Torn.  His Countenance Very Sad.  The Crowd Had Already Had Proof

Of His Courage.  He Stood There Quietly.  Terror He No Longer Felt,

Sadness Alone Lay In His Eyes.  They Turned Over The Scrolls And Spoke

Together In Whispers.  It Was Made Known That They Would Be Glad To

Hear Anyone Who Could Bring Any Evidence Against Him.  But No One

Offered.  The Priests Looked At Each Other In Bewilderment.  Those Who

Struck Him And Insulted Him Must Surely Know Why They Did It!

At Length A Deformed Man Came Forward.  He Was Certainly Only A Poor

Camel-Dealer,  But He Knew Something.  The Story Of The Whale!  The

Galilean Said That,  Just As The Whale Cast Up Jonah After Three Days,

So Would He Come Forth From His Grave Three Days After His Death.  The

Man Had Also Said That He Would Destroy Solomon's Temple,  Which Had

Taken Forty-Seven Years To BuilS," We Have Left His Mortal

Part In Its Suburban Dwelling In Aldersgate Street,  Which He Seems To

Have First Inhabited Shortly Before The Convocation Of The Long

Parliament In November,  1640. His Visible Occupations Are Study And The

Instruction Of His Nephews; By And By He Becomes