FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150  
151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   >>   >|  
re are some inaccuracies and flaws in the translation which have been discerned by the superior excellence of modern learning. In the question now mooted of a revision of the English Bible, the correction of these should be the chief object. A version in the language of the present day, in the course of time would be as archaic as the existing version is now; and the private attempts which have been made, have shown us the great danger of conflicting sectarian views. In any event, it is to be hoped that those who authorize a new translation will emulate the good sense and judgment of King James, by placing it in the hands of the highest learning, most liberal scholarship, and most devoted piety. CHAPTER XVIII. JOHN MILTON, AND THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTH. Historical Facts. Charles I. Religious Extremes. Cromwell. Birth and Early Works. Views of Marriage. Other Prose Works. Effects of the Restoration. Estimate of his Prose. HISTORICAL FACTS. It is Charles Lamb who says "Milton almost requires a solemn service to be played before you enter upon him." Of Milton, the poet of _Paradise Lost_, this is true; but for Milton the statesman the politician, and polemic, this is neither necessary nor appropriate. John Milton and the Commonwealth! Until the present age, Milton has been regarded almost solely as a poet, and as the greatest imaginative poet England has produced; but the translation and publication of his prose works have identified him with the political history of England, and the discovery in 1823, of his _Treatise on Christian Doctrine_, has established him as one of the greatest religious polemics in an age when every theological sect was closely allied to a political party, and thus rendered the strife of contending factions more bitter and relentless. Thus it is that the name of John Milton, as an author, is fitly coupled with the commonwealth, as a political condition. It remains for us to show that in all his works he was the strongest literary type of history in the age in which he lived. Great as he would have been in any age, his greatness is mainly English and historical. In his literary works may be traced every cardinal event in the history of that period: he aided in the establishment of the Commonwealth, and of that Commonwealth he was one of the principal characters. His pen was as sharp and effective as the sabres of Cromwell's Ironsides. A few words of preliminary
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150  
151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Milton
 

political

 

history

 
translation
 

Commonwealth

 

Charles

 

literary

 

Cromwell

 

greatest

 

England


learning

 
version
 

present

 
English
 
established
 

polemics

 

religious

 

discerned

 

rendered

 

allied


closely

 

theological

 

Doctrine

 

inaccuracies

 

question

 
imaginative
 

produced

 

solely

 

regarded

 

revision


mooted

 

publication

 
strife
 

Treatise

 

discovery

 

superior

 

modern

 

identified

 

excellence

 

Christian


contending
 
period
 

establishment

 

principal

 

cardinal

 
traced
 

historical

 
characters
 
Ironsides
 

preliminary