Southern telegraph., 1837-08-22
PORTRAIT or MILTON.
BY cuArEAUnRIAND

BY CHATEAUNRIAND,
The bard Of Eden said TINT poet Sought
To be himself a trne plem;" that is, mo-
del Of the best and most honorable quail
ties.
Milton rose at four in the morning durin
summer, and at five in the winter. He
wore almost invariably dress Of course
grey cloth; studied ill noon, dnad frugally,
walked with guide, aud, in the evening
sung, nccomplnying hinsclfon some ins'ru-
nent. He understood harm my, and had n
! fiue voice. He for long time addicted
hinsalf to the practice of fencing. TO
Judge hy Paradise Lost, he mlst have been
pAssionately fond Of masc and tho perfume
offlowers. lie snppcl OF five or six olives
and little water, retired to rest II nine,
aud composed a night in he'd. When he
had made some verses, he sung, and dictai-
cd II bis wife OF daughters On sunny days
he sat on bench at hs door; he lived in
Artillery Walk, leading TO B1nhill FIELDS.
From without, insuls were heaped on
tbs, the sick and forsaken lion. These
lines were addressed to him, headed "Upon
John Millions not suffering for his traitorous
Book, when the Tigers were executed,
1885,"
''That thou eicap'dst that vengeance which
o'erto0k,
Milton, thy rcgicides, and thy own book,
Was cemcncy in Charles hey ond complre,
Aud yet thy doom doth prove more grevous
ftr
Old, sickly, poor, star-blind, thou wrist for
bread:
So, for TO live, thoud'st call Salmasius from the
dead"
They reproachcd him with his age, his ugli
ness, his small stature, aud ap llie To him this
language of Virgil: "Monstrum hor rendunl,
forme, ingens, chi lunon ademp.nm"
serving thlt the word Sin ems" was the on
" one which did not apply to his person.
He had the simplicity to reply, (Dasensio
Autoris) that he was poor because he had
never enriched himself; that he was nei-
ther large nor small; that at no age had he
been considered ugly; that in youth, with
sword by his side, lac had never feared the
bravest.
In fact, he had been very handsome, and
was so even in his age. The portrait of
Adam is his own. His hair was admirable,
his eye Of extraordinary clearness, M de-
lCCl CDuiu we ptitttf CI III tictui u NOutu
have been impossible to guess that he was
blind. If we were not aware of what party
rage can do, could we believe that il would
make it a crime for msn 20 be blind? Bat
let us thank this ahominable hate--we owe
to it some exquisite lines. Milton first re-
plies that be lost his sight in defence of
Iiherly--then adds these passages, full of
suhlmity and tenderness:
ain the night that surrounds me, the
light of the Divine Presence shines more
brightly for me. God beholds me With
greater tenderness and compassion because
can see nought but him The Divine
law ought not only TO shield me from injury,
but to render me more sacred; not on ac-
count of the loss of sigh, but because am
under the shadow of the Divine wings,
which seem TO produce this darkness in me
To this attribute the aflsctionate assid nty
of my friends, their soothing attentions,
their kind visits, and their peaceful beha-
viour."
We sec to what shifts he was reduced in
writing by passage in one of his letters to
Peter Hiembach.
"That virtue of mine which you call my
political virtue, and which would rather
YOU had called devotion 20 my country
patriotism, enchanting INC with her
captivating name, almost, If may so say,