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Towards the conclusion of the preceding detail , he , under his deprivation of the precious blessing of sight , indicates his consciousness of possessing those superior gifts with which he was endowed , and which the gods by way of compensation have bestowed on mankind . It is supposed that Milton lost his sight about the year 1652 , irl penning his defence of liberty . This is his own account , most poetically expressed :
< c Ctriac ! this three-years' day these eyes , though clear , To outward view , of blemish or of spot , Bereft-of light their seeing have forgot ; Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear , Of sun , or moon , or star throughout the year ,
Or man or woman ! Yet I argue not Against heavVs high hand or will , nor bate a jot Of heart or hope , but still bear up and steer Kight onward . What supports me , dost thou ask—The conscience , friend ! to have lost
them overplied In Liberty ' s defence—my noble task , Of which all Europe rings from side to side ! This thought might lead me through the world ' s vain mask , Content though blind , had I no better
guide \" There is somewhat of tenderness and heroism in this effusion of Milton ' s muse that overwhelms us with admiration . Nor can we cease to wonder that even amidst total blind * ness , the first and noblest poem of Paradise Lost could have emanated
from such a mind . There is a sort of inspiration under which his soul labours which elevates him far above the rest of mankind . His powers were vast , his attainments surpassingly multifarious , and his energies were not
to be subdued . He was " fallen , " indeed , " on evil days and evil tongues !" But , actuated by the best and most honourable motives , he was intent to the last on promoting the political and religious interests of his country . It is deeply to be regFetted that he did not survive the Revolution of 1688—an event which would have consummated his choicest hopes and expectations . The seed he had sown , and which by the restoration of a profligate and unprincipled monarch Lad seeming ] y perished , then sprang
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up into a golden harvest . The ty , rant family was for ever fle 4 , and ifa its room carne William of immortal memory . The British Constitution was defined and adjusted by the sacred boundaries of law , hallowed by the Protestant religion I These bles sings have descended to \\ s and will I trust , descend to latest posterity * The manner after which Milton recreated himself , when disengaged from literary labours , is worthy * of , atteo , tion . A subject fit for the pencil , \ % must not be suppressed . Fuseli drew it to the life with his usual felicity .
It seems that" Dr . Wright , an ancient clergyman of Dorsetshire , found Milton at a small house , one room on a floor , and up one pair of stairs , in u chamber hung with rusty green , sitting in an elbow chair and drest neatly in black—pale , but not cadaverous , his hands and fingers gouty and with chalk stones . He used to
sit in a grey coarse cloth coat at the door of his house near Bunhill Fields , in warm sunny weather , to enjoy the fresh air , and so , as well as in his room , received the visits of people t of distinguished parts as well as quality i "
I close this my first paper with the character of John Milton , drawn by his masterly biographer the late Dr . Charles Syrnmons , a respectable clergyman of the Church of England : lie was a man in whom were illustriously combined all the qualities that could adorn and elevate the
nature to which he belonged , a man who at once possessed beauty of countenance , symmetry of form , elegance of manners , benevolence of temper , magnanimity and loftiness of soul , the brightest illumination of intellect , knowledge the most various and
extended , virtue that never loitered in her career , nor deviated from her course , a man who , if he had been delegated as the representative of life worlds
species to one of the superior , would have suggested a grand idea ot the human race as of beings affluent with moral and intellectual treasure , who were raised and distinguished m the universe as the favourites and
heirs of heaven . " J . EVANS .
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594 The Person anil Blindness of John Mil fort .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1826, page 594, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2553/page/22/
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