The Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1843-1852, 1849-06-28

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fabric A"!..e ..--Ge his safety, on ,hc res
to'at'on he concealed himself ia friends house
IN bartholomew close but though his sentiments
and bis active cOnduc, he'd marked him out at FIRST
'o' destruction, yet by the interest and influence
o: ms friends, especially 81; Andre~ Maxwell;
DaVenant' and others, who respected his .earning
and his abilities, while they detestcd his principles
he was incltded in the act of amnesty, and per.
m'tted to appear In public: Though reduced in
ms circumstances by the restoration, he refused to
accept the Latin secretarysIlip which was honora-
bly offered him by Charles H.; and he devoted
himself earnestly to the completion Of his great
poem, on which he had already bestowed much
labor. lie was assisted in his literary pursuits by
Thomas Ellwood, quaker, who acted as an
amanuenss, and daily visited him. In 1865, dur.
ing the plague, the poet retired TO small house
at st. Giles. Chalfont, Bucking nghamshre and while
IN this place, he was visited by his friend, into
whose hands he put his Paradise Lost, now 6nish-
ed, and n,odestly requested his opinion. E!lwood
| read the work with appreciation, and in returning
It to the poet, told him he had read much about
Paradise Lost, but added he, what has, thou to
say Of Paradise Found p The hint was not lost ;
Paradise Regained begun. and afterwards
when visited by Ellwood, Milton presented him
the poem which originated Ia his conversation. 1t
is singular that the poet considered Paradise Re-
gained as superior performance to Paradise Lost,
but poeterty have decided otherwise and this
matcheso poem; which long remained unknown
from the prejudice entertained against the author
gradually to notice. to fame, and Immortality.
The critique opened the eyes OF the nation, and
in banlshing prejudice, literally proved that how
ever violent the publications OF Milton were, how.
ever biased in his love OF republican principles
and however bameable in some parts Of his polit-
ical life, yet his merits as poet cannot be affected
he must shine as the creates, ornament Of the
British Isles. and in the ranks of immortality, b.
placed by the side of Homer, Of Virgil and o.
Tasso. Milton died in the beginning of Novem
Der, 1874. 1t is supposed that Milton drew hi:
idea Of his great work from an Italian tragedy OF
the Loss of Paradise, on which he originally in
tended to compose tragedy but as his mattel
enlarged, his genius gave it the form of an cpi'
poem. HIS Samson Agonistes was written a!ie
the Greek model, but is unfit for represcnato
the Comus was first acted for the benefit OF hi
grand daughter. Mrs Clark. a widow ia ind gen
circumstances, aid the public support was earnest
'y solicited by prologue from the nervous pei
, of DIR. johnson. The prose works of Milton arr
numerous and highly respectable. Besides hi
political tracts, he wrote History of Eng land
6 (quarto), down to the cop9uest--Areopagitica o
, the Liberty OF Unlicensed Prinling-Lct,ers-
History Of Muscovy, Treatise Christian Doc
| trine, and come other works. The person q
! Milton was fair, so tha, he was called at Cam
bridge, the lady of Christ.colege his hair wa
light-brown. and his features exact aud pleasing
He was of the middle size. well propor,ionec
nervous, and active but his constitution was tc,
1 der, and his health consequently weak. Thoug
he DID not inherit much from his father, yet fft
gality maintained him in a respectable manner, IN
, at his death he left about fifteen hundred pound
. besides the value OF his household goods.