with the idea of a true commonwealth, he had not blended any exclusive form of government. What he required was substantial liberty, and he hated the tyranny of Cromwell, whom he condemned as the Sylla of his country, even worse than the despotism of the Stuarts; to kings, as such, he had no antipathy :—

"If I write against tyrants," he exclaims, "what is that to kings, whom I am far from associating with tyrants? As much as an honest man differs from a rogue, so much I contend that a king differs from a tyrant. Whence it is clear that a tyrant is so far from being a king, that he is always in direct opposition to a king; and he who peruses the records of history will find that more kings have been subverted by tyrants than by subjects. He, therefore, that would authorize the destruction of tyrants, does not authorize the destruction of kings, but of the most inveterate enemies of kings."

As a proof of his levelling propensities take the following,-the eloquence of the quotation will constitute the richest gem in our miscellany :

"He that hath read with judgment of nations and commonwealths, of cities and camps, of peace and war, sea and land, will readily agree that the flourishing and decaying of all civil societies, all the moments and turnings of human occasions, are moved to and fro upon the axle of discipline. So that, whatever power or sway in mortal things weaker men have attributed to fortune, I durst, with some confidence, (the honour of divine Providence ever saved,) ascribe either to the vigour or the slackness of discipline. Nor is there any sociable perfection in this life, civil or sacred, that can be above discipline; but she is that which, with her musical chords, preserves and holds all the parts thereof together. And certainly discipline is not only the removal of disorder, but, if any visible shape can be given to divine things, the very visible shape and image of virtue, whereby she is not only seen in the regular gestures and motions of her heavenly paces as she walks, but also makes the harmony of her voice audible to mortal ears. Yea, the angels themselves, in whom no disorder is feared, as the Apostle that saw them in his rapture describes, are distinguished and quarternioned into these celestial princedoms and satrapies, according as God himself has writ his imperial decrees through the great provinces of heaven.”

That Milton was a devout believer in the Christian millennium cannot be doubted; but that he indulged in any fanatical or enthusiastic ideas on the subject, such as had the least tendency to subvert civil government, or to substitute the visible monarchy of the Son of God in the place of earthly thrones, we have no evidence. Indeed the contrary is apparent from the whole strain of his eloquent discoursings on this high and mysterious theme.

Thus, on one occasion, he pours forth a nation's supplicatory thanksgivings and grateful rapture. We quote only the last few sentences of this inimitable piece of patriotic devotion, unequalled, we are persuaded, in any other language under heaven. After enumerating the deliverances which the omnipotent king Redeemer had wrought as the God of Providence in England's behoof, he breaks out in almost superhuman strains :

"And now we know, O thou, our most certain hope and defence! that thine enemies have been consulting all the sorceries of the great whore, and have joined their plots with that sad intelligencing tyrant that mischiefs the world with his mines of Ophir, and lies thirsting to revenge his

naval ruins that have larded our seas; let them all take counsel together, and let it come to nought; let them decree, and do thou cancel it; let them gather themselves and be scattered; let them embattle themselves and be broken;-let them embattle themselves and be broken, for thou art with us. "Then amidst the hymns and hallelujahs of saints, some one may per haps be heard offering up high strains in new and lofty measure, to sing and celebrate thy divine mercies and marvellous judgments in this land through out all ages; whereby this great and warlike nation, instructed and enured to the fervent and continual practice of truth and righteousness, and casting far from her the rags of her old vices, may press on hard to that high and happy emulation to be found the soberest, wisest, and most Christian people, at that day, when thou, the eternal and shortly-expected king, shalt open the clouds to judge the several kingdoms of the world, and distributing national honours and rewards to religious and just commonwealths, shall put an end to all earthly tyrannies, proclaiming thy universal and mild monarchy through heaven and earth; where they undoubtedly that, by their labours, counsel, and prayers, have been earnest for the common good of religion and their country, shall receive, above the inferior orders of the blessed, the regal addition of principalities, legions, and thrones, into their glorious titles, and in supereminence of beatific vision, progressing the dateless and irrevoluble circle of eternity, shall clasp inseparable hands with joy and bliss, in overmeasure for ever."

But that charge which, more than any other, has weighed down the merits of our great countryman, as an expounder of political science and the principles of a generous and noble freedom, is that which arraigns him as a Regicide and a Puritan, and a Puritan belonging to a sect the most virulent, through whose agency Charles the First was brought to the scaffold. This foul calumny, the readers of his Two Defences of the People of England are able to refute. Regicide he was not. All that can be urged against him is, that he was the eloquent advocate of tyrannicide, and the whole question of his guilt turns upon this single point. His reasonings on this question amount to little more than arguments in favour of the principle of the Revolution of 1688, which involved the whole nation in its responsibility. It is foreign to our purpose to discuss the merits or demerits of that catastrophe which many enlightened patriots condemn and all deplore. It can be excused only on the plea of necessity. But that it was not the act of a sect, and that the Independents are not specially charged with it, those who are acquainted with the history of the time need not to be informed. Doctor Lewis du Moulin, à Royalist, who lived through that eventful period, says, that "no party of men, as a religious body, were the actors of this tragedy, but it was the contrivance of an army, which was a medley and collection of all parties that were discontented; some courtiers, some Presbyterians, some Epis copalians; few of any sect, but most of none, or else of the religion of Hobbes; not to mention the Papists, who had the greatest hand in it of all." After producing the most decisive evidence, Towgood concludes his admirable essay, by observing, "Hence it is plain that the King's death is not to be charged upon any religious party, or sect of Christians as such; nor upon the people of England assembled in Parliament, but upon the council of officers and agitators; who, having been deeply engaged in the transactions of those times, and fearing the King's vindictive temper, thought, it is probable, their own safety could no other way be provided for but by this bold and illegal stroke."

For the Puritans, on whom it was long the fashion to cast the whole

odium of this questionable procedure, it is not now necessary for us to offer an apology. Even Hume, whose prejudices were all against them, has been constrained to acknowledge, when speaking of the authority of the crown in the days of Elizabeth," that the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans alone;" and it was to this sect, he adds, "whose principles appeared so frivolous and habits so ridiculous, that THE ENGLISH OWE THE WHOLE FREEDOM OF THEIR CONSTITUTION." In our days, one of the most eloquent of our statesmen has vindicated from reproach these upholders of their country's glory. We refer to Mr. Macaulay and his fine article in the "Edinburgh Review," which will be read with delight as long as England continues to be a nation. It was the lot of these men to "fall upon evil times,”—times which they were destined to instruct and to warn. It was their high honour to maintain freedom against tyranny, and religion against superstition. They feared not the despot's power, they were unmoved by the scorner's frown. Considerations which sway the minds of men in general, had little influence in their hearts; they had a mighty task to perform, which demanded the most entire self-devotement. They were summoned to achieve the most glorious deeds, and to endure unparalleled sufferings, without any earthly hope or reward; not only without the sympathy and plaudits of the world, but amidst its hatred and derision. Never did a body of men, in any age or country, give

"Such heroes to earth, such martyrs to heaven."

That Milton should commit himself to their principles and their cause, without assuming their distinctive peculiarities, was to be expected from the grandeur and loftiness of his mind. That he was an Independent, only proves that he could not be shackled by the trammels of ecclesiastical domination, and that he was resolved to breathe the air of freedom.

If sects are dangerous to government-and they are only so when oppressed and persecuted-the very tenets of the Independents exonerate them from the imputation. Mr. Fletcher well and truly observes, "the Independents could not, as such, act in political opposition to the king of England;" they sought only their emancipation from religious tyranny-" herein they acted as Englishmen upon the common ground of liberty, on which alone the Protestant reformers, as against their Papist rulers, could be justified; and on which alone the members of the Church of England could be justified in expelling Pope James the Second from the English throne." But, whatever be the notions entertained of this basely misrepresented section of the Christian commonwealth, Milton is not to be classed with them. He never communed with any church, and therefore stands or falls by his own individual merits, and these his ungrateful countrymen are now beginning to appreciate.

Many have been deterred from studying his prose writings, under the apprehension that they belonged only to the feuds of the troubled period in which he lived, and that they are coarse, violent, and acrimonious. But this, too, is a gross delusion. He was, in this respect, a model to his opponents. His invectives, indeed, often transgress the bounds of modern courtesy, and may offend the fastidious taste of some in this age of verbal decorum. But in this we are bound to hear him in his own defence.

ས

"In times of opposition, when either against new heresies arising, or old corruptions to be reformed, this cool unpassioned mildness of positive wisdom is not enough to damp and astonish the proud resistance of carnal and false doctors; then (that I may have leave to soar awhile, as the poet's use,) Zeal, whose substance is ethereal, arming in complete diamond, ascends his fiery chariot, drawn with two blazing meteors, figured like beasts, but of a higher breed than any the Zodiac yields, resembling two of those four which Ezekiel and St. John saw; the one visaged like a lion, to express power, high authority, and indignation; the other, of countenance like a man, to cast derision and scorn upon perverse and fraudulent seducers; with these, the invincible warrior Zeal, shaking loosely the slack reins, drives over the heads of scarlet prelates, and such as are insolent to maintain traditions, bruising their stiff necks under his flaming wheels."

This is, at least, in better taste, and in a better spirit than his assailants displayed; one of whom, a meek and mitred saint, wrote, “You that love Christ, and know this miscreant wretch, stone him to death, lest you smart for his impunity."

In spite of all their characteristic vehemence, "These polemical tracts of Milton," says Dr. Symmons, "though, perhaps, some of the least valuable of his works, (he is speaking of his tracts on the doctrine and discipline of divorce,) are so illumined with knowledge and with fancy, and open to us such occasional glimpses of a great and sublime mind, that they must always be regarded as affording an ample compensation for any harshness of manner with which they may sometimes offend."

Perhaps the greatest injustice that Milton ever sustained from literary baseness were the attempts made and abetted by Dr. Johnson, in his life of the poet, and in his patronage of Lauder, whose mean and unprincipled forgeries to sully his high reputation, the lexicographer sanctioned with all the weight of his authority in the republic of letters. We are not surprised, that Godwin and Dr. Symmons, and lastly, Mr. Fletcher, approach this disgusting topic with loathing indignation. It is a foul blot on a deservedly great name, and will remain its inexcusable reproach through all generations. But the mists which so long have clouded the fair fame of our immortal author are now fast rolling away; the sun has dispelled them all; and, we ask ourselves, now that he is shining in his meridian, what will be the effect of this mighty tome, which the liberality of its publishers has bequeathed as a precious legacy to posterity? What will be its immediate influence in these stirring times, when we have become a nation of readers, and when, with an earnest spirit, the people are seeking for instruction rather than amusement? The great subjects which form the materials of this volume are precisely those which at the present juncture most agitate the public mind. But there must be a great moral change wrought in the hearts of those who hold our destiny in their hands, before the works of Milton can yield them real and permanent advantage.

The religious world, as it is called, must get rid of its cant about the sinfulness of meddling with politics, and must feel that they are Britons as well as saints;-they must cease from their pusillanimous abstinence from those discussions which involve the liberty of their country;-they must sympathize in the sublime emotions of Robert Hall, and cherish the love of liberty as a civil and holy principle;-they must not imagine

that their duties as citizens interfere with their devotions in the most hallowed moments of their existence. Patriotism is not incompatible with religion; on the contrary, it derives from piety its noblest sanctions. In those solemn moments, when the spirit holds communion with its God, "factious passions," says Mr. Hall, "cannot, indeed, be too much hushed; but that warmth which animates the patriot, which glowed in the heart of a Sydney or a Hampden, was never chilled or diminished, we may venture to affirm, in its nearest approaches to the uncreated splendour; and, if it mingled with their devotion at all, could not fail to infuse into it a fresh force and vigour, by drawing them into a closer assimilation to that Great Being, who appears under the character of an avenger of the oppressed, and the friend and protector of the human

race.

Mere worldly motives can never form a genuine patriot. That spirit of earnest sincerity which will not rest till the institutions of our country are purified from the corrupt influences of a sordid selfishness, can alone be inspired by those lofty principles which are not of earth, but which have their origin in the sublime regions of sentiment, where Truth reveals her transcendent worth, and commands the homage of her faithful worshippers. The mere politician can never be a patriot; the sectarian devotee of the purest church that was ever established cannot be a patriot. The love of country, which seeks the well-being of all whom that country encircles, knows not the name of party or sect. It is itself a religion-a religion which breathes only peace on earth and good-will to men. Its ultimatum is "just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty." The objects of its supreme abhorrence are tyranny in rulers and licentiousness in subjects. Its only aim is to form a state where righteousness is the sceptre of the magistrate, and happiness is the inheritance of the people-where authority and obedience rest on the same basis-the relative virtues which reciprocate and sustain each other.

The political world must also undergo a transformation before Milton's patriotic genius can transfuse its ardour and its purity into their spirit and pursuits. The sceptical atheism, which a very large portion of modern Reformers are not ashamed to avow, may qualify them to be demagogues and radicals; and, disavowing all rule in heaven, they may labour to destroy it on earth; but the substantial liberty of a people awakened to a sense of their power can never be achieved by those who hold the doctrines of an ever-shifting expediency. No political reform can possibly stand which is not based upon the morals of a nation, and there can be no public virtue where a Deity is not reverenced and adored. We are the enemies of all cant; but we fearlessly avow our conviction that an atheistical philosophy can never bring forth the fruits of social prosperity.

That a wonderful change has taken place, and especially in reference to our present subject, must be evident from the fact that a Bishop of Winchester and the author of "Political Justice" concur in recommending those very works which, in other times, they would scarcely have ventured to notice. The passages to which we refer are too characteristic not to be introduced at the close of an article of which Milton is the theme.

“There is much reason for regretting," says Dr. Charles Sumner, Jan.-VOL. XL. NO. CLVII.

E