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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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spring : Caleb , who , according to Sir James Mackintosh , became Parish Clerk at Madras , where he had two sons , whose history cannot he traced ; and Elizabeth , who married Thomas Foster , by whom she had three sons and four daughters , who all died young , without issue . In penury and
age she was discovered in a little chandler ' s shop in Shoreditch . April 5 th , 1750 , Comus was acted for her benefit , with a prologue by Dr , Johnson , and produced 5 n 3 O . She died 9 th of May , 1754 , at Islington : with her expired the last of the Miltonian generation in this country .
Such was the domestic character of John Milton ; his family is extinct , but his name lives for ever . He was not deficient in natural affection ; he exercised no domestic tyranny . That he " thought woman made only for obedience , and man for rebellion , " is a foul and wicked slander . Dr .
Johnson dared to record it , but had no means of substantiating it . The more we investigate the private history of our great poet , the more we shall admire it . His description of Eve in his Paradise Lost , is a faithful transcript of his estimation of the female character , destined to adorn and bless society :
To the nuptial bower I led her blushing like the morn ; all heaven And happy constellations on that hour Shed their selectest influence ; the earth Gave sign of gratulation , and each hill : Joyous the birds ; fresh gales and gentler
Whisper'd it to the woods , and from their wings Flung rose , flung odours from the spicy shrub , Disporting , till the amorous bird of night Sung spousal , and bid haste the ev ' ning star
On his hill-top to light the bridal lamp ! Book viii . line 510 . Milton yielded a practical proof of the truth and excellence of these lines , by entering thrice into the holy state of matrimony . From the endearment of virtuous love he never estranged himself . Accustomed from his
earliest youth to cherish the finest feelings of our nature , he had a perception of the charms , and an irresistible passion for the blandishments of female society .
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It is well known that Milton was concealed for some weeks in Bartholomew Close from the vengeance of his enemies , who at the Restoration were rampant with a revengeful fury . Indeed , he was included in the Act of inaeea , ne was inciuaea in the Act of
Amnesty only by the interposition of Sir W . D'Avenant , Poet Laureat , whose life he had saved during the civil wars . Poets have it seldom in their power to render one another such signal service on any occasion . But the condition to which our poet was reduced on the return of the
Stuarts , is attested by the tallowing statement , which speaks volumes : — " The Duke of York ( afterwards James the Second ) expressed one day to the King , his brother , a great desire to see old Milton , as he contemptu * ouslv styled him , of whom he had
heard so much . The King replied , that he felt no objection to the Duke gratifying his curiosity ; and accordingly , 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
befal 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 displeasure of Heaven upon this supposition must have been much greater against him than me , for I have lost only my eyes , but he has lost his head ! ' Much
discomposed by this answer , the Duke soon took his leave and went away . On his return to court , he thus spoke to the King : « Brother , you are greatly to blame that you don ' t have that old rogue Milton hanged . ' * Why , what is the matter ? ' said the King . ' You seemJamesin a heat . What ! have
, , you seeu Milton V * Yes , ' answered the Duke , 'I have seen him / ' Well / said the King , ' in what condition did you find him ? ' * Condition I why he is old and very poor / * Well , and he is blind too , is he not ?* ' Yes , blind as a beetle : < Why , then / ob-
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660 Domestic Character of Milton *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1826, page 660, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2554/page/24/
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