New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-03-14

daughter by reason OF her bodily nfrmity ana OH
fcut uitcrance OF speech (which 10 say the trntn'
doubt was the nr,ncipal cause Of excusing herr.
the other two condemned 10 the performance
of reading and exactly pT0nOuneing OF an lbe lau-
guages Of whatever book he should at one tllne OF
other think fit 10 peTuse VIZ. THO hebrew anu
think the Svriacl the Greek, tue Latin the ltaah'
Spanish and French" The method so described was
TO continue for wears. and can by no means nave
reached such extraordinary effect in 1862 Even
then however remembering Millions notions OF the
rapidity with which Languages might he taught,
one can imagine the second daughter, Mary, read
ing French Latin and Italian texts fairly for her
father. and the pretty little Deborah in her first
prat:le toward being pOlyclot. There were girls
then and there have been girls since, who cOuid
have turned such training 10 account, however
sterny given. and emerged from i as high-minded
and unusually learned women For. whatever may
have been Millions notions Of the capacity OF women
or Of the proper education for them. Phlllpss 1ar-
Their account TO the effect that he trained MS dahRn-
tiers merely TO read alOud 10 him in any Latin'
Greek or foreign book, as he had occasion, Wltn-
ont understanding one word" Themselves credlDe
only in the sense that il roughly describes INC actai
result. 1t had been happy indeed" as fminp auus,
" If the daughters OF such person had beeh ~
some measure iuheritTXes fther fathers learning
lat that they were not such nhertnXes NAV nave
lain more with Their reception OF ms dIlli llan WIN
his intention in il. They found IT lrhsoWc; tney
fonnd their lives in Jewin-st. irksoIne the poor
things we're in dumb rebellion. One knows not H0w
many mixtures and engravings there nave Deen ny
artists or how many more there VIII pc, represent
ng The blind Milton seated IN state. debating faia,
disc Lost TO one other of his three daughters, an
reVcIeuflV grouped TOund MN, or knttilHH Dtrluc
him. with looks of affection and admiration. Inc
sad fact Is far otherwise. Already, at our present
date we repeat. they were. all three, IN dnmO re-
belhon. The crippled eldest whose dc!ect III speech
excused her from reading and who could not write
al all. was IN secret league with the second, WHO
bore Tor the present the chief burden Of the drnery
Of reading but can have been Of small use rs an
amanuensls; aud these two bcguiled the innocent
little Deborah.
The third marriage Of Milton took place in Feb
ruary. 1868 HIS bride was Elizab beth Minshul, a
Young woman Of twenty four, and never before mar
ried. Things had been going on from bad to worse
under the management of his three daughters and
the maid-servants and by the advice of judicous
friends Milton consented 10 a third marriage rs the
best thing possible under the circumstances IL was
no marriage of romance, but 1t gave Milton an ex-
ccllcnt wife, who was to do her duty by him most
cOnscicntOusy for the remaining years OF his ille'
She is described by Aubry, who knew her alter
ward as a gent. SIC gu quiet person, a peace
hl and agreeable humor." There is tradition that
her hair was of fair gold color fact of less in'cr-
est to the sightcss Milton than to his jealous daugh-
tcrs who were never recODciod TO a stcp-mother so
nearly of their own age. She was. however, better
educated than any Of them and could write well.
Soon after the marriage, Milton removed from jew
in-street TO house in what was known as Bunhlll
or Artillery Walk, where he passed the ten eleven
wears Oh tie rest Oh his ne, II was p"oO ~
an questionable quarter. but in an airy situation.
In one of these rooms or in the garden outside, Mil
ton sat in his blindness, or was led about daily i'll
the fields and purlieus the obscure suburb. Hssur
roundings are the same as in Jewin-stree his books.
his PAPERS and the organ aud bass-viol, for the re-
creation in which he most delighted. " The voices
about him are those of his wife and his three dauGh
ters, little Deborah, old enough TO take her turn
with Mary oftencr in reading to him. In and out
come. one or other mt a time, his volunteer readers
and amanucnses from the neighbOrhOod. the young
men who were glad to serve him in this way for the
benefit of his conversation and lessons Steadily.
by perscvering labor with regular distribution of
his time the works he has in hand advanced, and
among them Paradise Lost. which, begun before
the Restoration was completed in the first year and
a half of his present residence"
In the Spring of 1868 the great plague broke ont
in London, and in the month of June Milton made
for residing out Of town long it
lasted. His agent for this purpose was his young
Quaker friend homas EllwOod. q" was desired by
my quondam master Milton" says Ellwood, to
take an house for him in tho neighborhood where
dwell. that he might go out of the city, for the safety
of himself and his family the pestilenco then grow
ing hot in London. took pretty box for him in
Getes-C halfort. mile from me, of which gave him
notice " -
The "prettv box (" which Ellwood took for Milton
in Chalfont still exists, and is known 10 all the VII
laoers rs Millions Cottage" Ii Is the last house in
The village on the lett side of the end pointing to-
ward Beaconsiied, and is about halfway up the
sope AT that end 1t is small irregular cottage, OF
brick aud wooden beams dlvlGed now INTO two IN
hoMtable tenements, each with its own door The
door of the poorer tenement IS 10 the slope OF the
village road. and admits to two or three small ana
very uninvlting rooms; the other tenement, re-
Ia pric rptfa Il
hit of garden off the road at right angles with ls
door and latced easements looking mp the slope to-
ward BeacOnsileld over TINS Dlt OF garden If0DaDly
The two tenements were one IN Mlton's time, and
NOT too much even then for the accommodation of
a family such as his. The present humble inmates
can count. in the two tenements together. -FOUR SIT
ting.ro0ms and five bedrooms; but no visitor Judg
ing by the modern standard OF what room IL.
would allow that name to some OF the very tiny and
dark closets that are shoTh me Pest part 4 inc
Garden off the road lOOkingup the slope. Here on
the qround-hoOr level with the garden, are two toll
erahly pleasant small sittlng-roOns, with very low
ceilings while above, mp snort wooden star, are
small and low bedrooms to correspond. These are
the rooms that Milton and his family must have
chiefly inhabited One notes the lattlceS IN these
rooms, both on the Ground-noOr and above, opening
INTO the garden. To all appearance the snoll lOz-
onqes glass set nlead which one now sees are those
,yL,ch were there when Milton sat i'm the rooms
and some of the bolts about the lattices and doors
also remain unchanged. Millions fIvOrlte seat
within doors at first must have been NJ one OF these
latticed easements where, knowing only At second
hand of the somewhat limited view thence of which
others might complain, he could feel the Summer
air blowing in upon him from he garden, with the
mum 0i bees and the odor OF honeysuciiies. W acre
there IS merely a door now TO the garden, with an
old rrapc-vine traed over that part of the front
wall there was once porch, forming kind OF in
Gen.ndert projecting room, in which Milton NAV
haye also liked to SIT Nightmares plentiful
about Challont. and he may have heard them from
this porch in the evenings
After The publication of Paradise Rcgaiued in
1870. Milton began to show the signs OF advancing
age and cnfeeblcd health. His spare figure might
have been seen led about by some friend, Generally
in 4 gray overcoat in the neghborhoOd of his house
in Artillery Walk. There was still tinge OF healthy
red in his fair complexion; his hight auburn hair
hnunl ecarcrlr trnce of rraY but he was BEGINNING