indignation with which his admirers may now regard this fact, it is to the honour of his countrymen that, in defiance of his numerous enemies, its sale was rapid, and the admiration it excited almost universal. Some of the most eminent men of his time addressed to him the highest 5 eulogies; and its first announcement to the world was worthy of its pre-eminent worth. Sir John Denman, a man distinguished as a soldier, a senator, and a poet, entered the House of Commons with a proof-sheet of Milton's work wet from the press, and exclaimed, "This is part of the noblest poem that ever was written in any language or in any age." And Dryden's exclamation on first seeing it was no less pithy: "This man cuts us all out, and the ancients too!" Ere the first edition of the poem had been sold, its author was "numbered with the mighty dead." With a dissolution so easy that it was unperceived by those attending him, he closed a life, clouded indeed by uncommon and various calamities, yet ennobled by the constant exercise of great virtues and rare endowments. In the Church of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, in the presence of a large assemblage of his countrymen, England's noblest poet was committed to the dust, calm in the Christian's " sure and certain hope of a blessed immortality." 2 'pamphlet, a small book consisting of a few sheets not bound. epic, a great poem treating of some heroic deed or deeds in a lofty and noble style. 3 alleviate, to make light; relieve; soften. 4 5 1recur, to come back; return, eulogies, praises. SHORT PASSAGES FROM MILTON. DESCRIPTION OF SATAN. He, above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminent, Paradise Lost, Book I. 1Perplexes monarchs. It was formerly thought that eclipses were forerunners of some dreadful event, as the destruction of kingdoms, change of rulers, pestilence, etc. MILTON ON HIS BLINDNESS. Thus with the year Seasons return; but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, Of nature's works, to me expunged and rased, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers 2 Irradiate; there plant eyes, all mist from thence Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell Of things invisible to mortal sight. Paradise Lost, Book III. 1 vernal, of spring. irradiate, illuminate; enlighten. GOD PRAISED BY THE ANGELS. No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but all Loud as from numbers without number, sweet The eternal regions: lowly reverent Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground, In Paradise fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows, And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven Rolls o'er 'Elysian flowers her amber stream; With these, that never fade, the spirits elect Bind their resplendent locks, enwreathed with beams : Then, crowned again, their golden harps they took, Of charming symphony they introduce Paradise Lost, Book III. 1 amarant, a never-fading flower, only existing in the imagination of poets. 2 Elysian, heavenly. The Elysian fields were the heaven of the ancients. jasper, a mineral of the flint kind, but harder, and of various colours. When polished it is very smooth and beautiful. EVENING IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. Now came still evening on, and twilight gray 3 5 Paradise Lost, Book IV. 1 descant, a song divided into parts, or modulations. 2 sapphire, a precious stone of various colours-blue, red, green, yellow, white, etc. Hesperus, the evening star. apparent, evident; manifest. peerless, having no equal; unequalled. 5 EVE'S LAMENTATION. "O unexpected stroke, worse than of death! My early visitation, and my last At even, which I bred up with tender hand Your tribes, and water from the 2 ambrosial fount? Thee, lastly, nuptial bower, by me adorn'd And wild? how shall we breathe in other air Paradise Lost, Book XI. Spoken by Eve when she learned that she and her husband were to be expelled from the garden of Eden. 2ambrosial, of ambrosia, a name given by the poets to the food of the gods. ADAM AND EVE'S DEPARTURE FROM PARADISE. 2 Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon ; Paradise Lost, Book XII. 1 subjected, lying beneath. flaming brand, the "flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.” SAMSON BEWAILS HIS BLINDNESS. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, O first-created beam, and Thou great Word, |