The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

rilE POETICAL WORKS OP JOHN MILTON.
l'ir-41) BY 611 BOERTON ZRYIWBS, BART. WITH IMAGINATIVE

ILLUSTRATIONS ST TURNER.
In Six Vols. Vol. I. London : Macrons, 1833.
Before we offer any remark on the beauty, the ele-
i4ltee, the correctness, and the portability of this edi-
:4 of Milton's works, we must be allowed to say a few
on Sir Egerton Brydges's life of the Great
r, Which forms the subject of the first Volume.
ti,1.10 poet have we so many lives as Milton ; and yet
life of him, such as we ought to possess of all great
Poets, philosophers, and benefactors of their species,
'gains to be written. Milton has had for biogra•
Philips, Toland, Fenton, Dr. Birch, Bishop
b'ewtoo Dr. Johnson, Wartsn, Dr. Symmons,
ha
Y.eY, Todd, Mitford, and Villemaine ; to which is
N., added Sir Egerton Brydges—one of the most
9 thusiastic of Milton's admirers, and who entered
4 41)w' the laborious task of a biographer, in order to
Leminteract the poison" instilled into the public mind
the perusal of Johnson's life of him, which, in Sir
gertun's opinion, " is flagrantly derogatory to the
4 4rivalled Bard's fame, both as a poet and a man."
h 41, e adds in another paragraph that " Johnson's poli-
-111,41 hatred of Milton was neither rational nor moral."
'llislast sentence is—like several to be met with in this
h:lome—eapable of a double interpretation, and yet
414 interpretations are alike unsatisfactory. We
ht'llot fairly presume that the author meant to give
ression to a general proposition ; for every person
lLastL be-aware that hatred of every kind is necessarily
®floral and irrational, except when it has vice in the
Leaning
for its object. And yet the next most obvious
aning is still less creditable to his ethical discrimi-
4eation, inasmuch as all hatreds arc alike immoral. We
Merely refer to this as an instance of how much over-
l'ettial views are apt to warp the judgment. Perhaps
teething ought to be allowed to the terseness and
abruptness of the style, which has a tendency to ob-
kurity.
tilWe certainly should have liked this work better, if
,e author had troubled himself less about the criti-
Znls of Johnson—and which, after all, are penned
2 spirit quite as impartial as the praises be-
40wed on the poet by Sir Egerton Brydges, for
4te verses which the public has lost little in con-
-ligiling to the exclusive perusal of critics and bioora-
el's. The author may possibly think that everything
ti4ll4Trating from such a source must be invaluable ;
14 greatly as we honour, and deeply as we revere, the
Leilios of Milton, we deny the correctness of this esti-
te applied to the literary labours of any man that
11,4 lived. That Dr. Johnson was, from the peculiar
ititts of his great mind, and the nature of his studies,
Pable of appreciating the highest flights of Mil-
Cll'a muse, is a proposition now generally admitted ;
4 never before now have we heard it gravely and
deliberately asserted that " there is not a particle of
benevolence or candour in the furious and bitter piece
tt
biography of the celebrated critic." Surely there
It 84 candour in concluding a criticism of " Paradise
rat," by stating that the work " was not the greatest
44. heroic poems, only because it was not the first."
Igher praise than this no scholar, such as Johnson
J4IIY Was, could concede to the writings of a modern.
h°4oson, be it remembered, had been imposed upon
by
Lauder—at least we believe so—with regard to
e originality of some of Milton's finest conceptions.
That the critic's prejudices might have rendered this
:14, easy task, we can readily believe—prejudices have
the same effect every day, even on the strongest minds
unquestionably he was sincere in his, convictions.
'Johnson was honest man—a ma:ii who had la
con-
kience in all that he did. He was never willingly
the slave of his prejudices, nor did he ever willingly
dhow them to bias his judgment. This, we think,
I:::authors
to screen his ashes from the splenetic spurnings
tailors, who are themselves the nurses of prejudices
hot
more amiable than those of the author of the
rambler."

bin some of his strictures on the critical opinions o.
r• Johnson, Sir Egerton Brydges is equally un.
~,.41)PY. We shall quote one, and only one, as an in.
nee
fro: No part of L'Allegro' " says Johnson, is made to arise
tc;,4 the pleasures of the bottle.' What sad vulgarity 1 Who
Suspect that Milton would write a Bacchanalian song ?"
llere the vulgarity of which Johnson was guilty
id 8 in making use of the phrase bottle ; for as to the
a' we contend it was anything rather than vulgar.
critic without Johnson's great discernment, would
i°t have missed all allusion to the enjoyments derived
wine-bibing in this exquisite little poem ; but he
7* it at a glance, and, seeing it, paid the highest corn-
ritnent'to the poet in calling attention to it. For the
:4) We should have no difficulty in proving that it
°llld not have derogated from the dignity of Milton
the he entwined his minor poems with the branches of
vine. The great Prophets in the Old Testament
doubted not the reality of such pleasures, and dis-
dained not the aids of such illustration, and yet we be-
:re the most erudite infidels have never taxed Isaiah
be-
:re vulgarity.
The author elsewhere observes, that " all the labour
t,11,c1 all the art in the world will do nothing for poetry."
A
the labour and all the art in the world will not
!ite a poetical genius where nature has previously de-
j'ed one ; but that they will improve it where given,
besides Sir Egerton Brvdges, will venture to deny.
ih
if fact they are the tools with which genius must work,
she work successfully. The finest conceptions may
lae 40 expressed as to lose half their value. Style of
precious
is to poetry what cutting and setting is to a
stone, or dress to the human body.-4lorace,
e believe, was of the same way of thinking.
With the exception of these passages, and a few
trltical opinions hastily delivered, we are highly pleased
pith
Sir Egerton Brydges' Life of Milton. It is un-
questionably a work of sterling merit, and, in a very
eat degree, places the author of " Paradise Lost" in
hew position before his admiring countrymen. But
the whole it is the biography of the mind, if we
aY use the expression, rather than the body. We
re told what Milton thought, where we are most
anxiousl: to learn how he acted, and in what way he
7 accustomed to entertain his friends, and spend his
iilsure hours. We do not require to be told that he
ved, and thought, and wrote ; we want to know how
we fared, and the certain hours which he devoted to
Writing and study. In fact we want what we
never slow can obtain—the anatomy of his private
lif
we* Sir Egerton Brydges tells us all that is
te„°"tb telling of the very little that is known—and he
ja:lti, it with the air of a gentleman and a scholar. He
we think, s sometimes partial, but his partiality (if
toch it may be called) arises out of a chivalrous desire
avenge the unmerited injuries that have been heaped
Illlon the memory of the greatest poet that the world
ever saw.

So much for Milton's Life prefixed to this beautiful
edition of his poetical works. The pictorial embellish-
j7nts of the first 'volume are, a " Portrait of Milton,"
Edwards, from a painting by Vertue, and the " Mus-
t Y
ring of the Warrior Angels," by Brandard, from a de-
sign by Turner. Both are carefully finished. The
to expressive countenance of Milton beams with in-
-1111-ikelice,. as he rooks at yon with the eye of a man
re intent upon what is passing in his own mind,
thyear2er to diseoveT f-1111/ mystcry in t'our's. Of the
„ agiiiative illustrations it is unnecessary to say more
"lan that they are finished after Turner's most careful