Berkeley and Jefferson intelligencer. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1802-1810, 1807-05-22

tnak Vc uaNSeuoS PoWSIsNO YIStta1h IUAAA
trying IT,. But the chaste. the sublime
Milton. il, ike his own Eden,
" A happy rural seat Of various view.
And his work is that fertile ground, out
Of WHICH - - III s y
"---------he caus'd to grow
All trees Of noble kind !, for sight, SMELL
- taste -
And all amid them stood the. .rer efEis,
High, eminsnt, blooming, ambrosial
! fruit, w.. r -
ofvegesable gold" ~.~.f
Nature Is sc ARRANGED byhiua, as to re-
ceive an additional l0stre from art; and
the exuberance Of the earth appears more
than the labor Of the cuitivator.
Shakespeare, when he scars, Is borne
BY Muse Of ere beyond human sight /:
but Milton, in his grandest moments,
rstaius the light ofreason. His eesta-
cies are the ecstacies of philosopher
Shakespeare are the fights Of an in-
visible being. Notwithstanding this,
their spirits are somewhat tcongenialS
for allowing the variation Of the epic
from the dramatic they move Us BY. the
same golden springs Of pathos. In the art
Of exciting terror, I am not sure but
that Shakespeare 10 superior; for in.
stanee-the dream Of Eve 10 painted
rather tamely, though in just and beau-
.iful colours while Clarence's vision
displays the Utmost fecesses Of horror,
apprehension, pity, Judgment, and adj
mirable fancy. The characterized Satan
and Macbeth are both, indeed, extreme
" well managed, and in my opinion,
extreme, y alike they have the sams
courage, the same undaunted ambition,
uncurbed freedom of,will, and spirited
fortitude in the hour Of destfustion.
They both are conscious Of their :nErati.
tude and wickedness, both stubborn and
relentless, and even In the midst OF
their success, they seem to feel boding
T Of die eonss quenecs. - The addTess OF
the arch inadel to the san, Is 4 noble de.
!. scription Of the rernorse attendants. on
conscience it shews that even LIenet
himself could not but End its sting.
Macbeth ia almost every. situation, con.
fesses bis guilt, yet planges into deeds
oftenfoId horror. Lady Macbeth might
be also introduced here, but female ten-
, dsrp.ss denies her savsge temper. The
| most apparent touch that distinguishes
Macbeth from Satan, is in his cowardiee
and mean prerarieation; he exelaims,
! "Thou ean'st not say ] didit,"
to Banquo. ghost, because he pnly CON.
nlanded bis assassination = Milton's he.
I 70 glorikd in his undoing and, re-
"------ fierce his grasped arms,
! Clash d on his sounding shield the din
r of war : f'.f;>- :,ts7T's.T :
Hurting dekstee.o the vault of heaven"
Shakespeare i. like "a cataract: At one
time rushing through rocks and eaverns,
foaming and terrifying then sinking in-,
to sluesiSh calm, with nothing but the
bubbles ol his formet subtimity. Milton
is full, not OVERLOOKING river /; and,
like the river to the sea, fastening to-
wards his illus trious design, never Paus-
ing, and seldom dangerous to the passen-
gers. The very foibles Of one are de-
lusive and charming but the other, if
eyer he should descend, l. fat, and La.
bic to inferioriy from the nature Of his
performance. The wild scenery. of
Shakespeare il the uneonnec,ed magic
OF Merlin. variously diverting: that of
Milton j. like Plato's Elysium enchant-
ing, yet built on the basis Of an opinion
which bears the air Of probability. :,
Ia word, the former was man of
many faults and lnanyvirtueS; the latter
nearly a pattern Of perfeetion--Perfec-
ton attained by study and dint Of learn
ing.-Sbakespears Was the child Of fam
ey: Milton the child ofjudgment. Mil
ton was the poet and critic too Shakes
peare the poet only but such one as
.We ne'er shalllook upon his like again"
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