The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-08-30

L ii
Solyma." The opinions, the catch
| phrases, the personal idiosyncrasies, the
style of the newly-revealed romance with
It's treasure of poetry, bear the strongest
resemblance to the acknowledged work
IN prose and verse of the illustrious Mil
| ten. Did any one else purposely copy
| his style and adopt his ideas and princi-
pies? That alone would have been as
gigantic task as to have rlvalled honest
ly the great Puritan. 1t is not conceiv-
| able. Either Milton wrote the Nova
| Solyma or there was, most probably in
| England and in London city-a writer of
| Utoplan romance and elevated poetry-a
scholar OF vast and distinguished power
| heretofore and hereafter unrevealed for
| two hundred and fifty years, and whose
identity remains a secret, writer and a
scholar every whit the equal of the most
| majestic figure In English literature au-
| thor then OF the Hymn on Christ's Natl
witty, OF Lycldas, of Comus, of L'Allegro
| or Ii Penseroso, author yet to be of
| Paradise Lost, of Paradise Regained, of
Samson 'AgonH>ses-the noblest minor
works, the grandest epics in the language
| and as to the latter probably IN any
modern language.
But truce to generalities. Disclaim,
| ing any pretensons of scholarship suff-
Gent to judge of the value of Mr.. Beg
leys averments as to the respective Lat
unity of Milton and the Unknown l will
| first examine what is seen in the trans
lation given Of the resemblance between
the author of Paradise Lost and the au-
thor Of Nova Solyma, 1 as to views, 2
as to poetical powers; concluding, 8 with
some independent considerations of the
politics and government of the rehabili-
tated Jewish republic
The theology of the new Utopia is the
Hebraistic-Genevan theology of Milton 5
day. to which is added the peculiar Mil
tonic touch. If the author was not Mil
ton he held similar opinions The only
suppression is that in marriage and di-
vorce which may be due to the desire
10 assist IN the presumption of the
writer's anonymity. Yet everywhere in
the beautiful, too stately but not too
cold love story, the familiar doctrine of
Milton, the subsection of women, the
prostration before the father as patriarch
Of the children of the family is made
prominent. We see constantly the Orient
al restraint imposed on the various her
Dimes. All this appears in Paradise Lost.
Eve repents, kneeling, of her temptation
OF Adam and the first man forgives her
graciously. The peculiar religious doc
trine of Milton, his Arianism, is taught
indistinctly in the great epic and plainly
in Nova Solyma, supposing he wrote the
latter. Milton was not a reflector of any
part of Bible narrative. He accepted the
doctrine as he understood and explained
| it of Father, Son and Holy Spirit-he be-
lieved in the Apostles creed. But
he became less and less orthodox as he
grew older in belief in Church dogmas.
His language was always carefully ex-
anime for ourselves" This was the
spirit of his acknowledged work and the
spirit of Nova Solyma In the latter, if
he wrote it, Milton draws himself in the
great character of young Joseph. The
father is named Jacob, and bears strong
resemblance to John Milton. senior.
Apollos is the character drawn exactly
to the life of Milton's favorite preceptor.
Thomas Young. The opinion on philoso-
ply and religion and education advanced
by these characters in the romance are
the views held by their supposed originF.
ais other views and doctrines are com
pared with those entertained by friends.
The similarity is wonderful. But there
is no room for quotation. Milton and
the Unknown both believe in the theory
that souls as well as bodies are propagated,
and that God does not create human
soul every time child is born. All pro-
coed in painful progress from Adam and
Eve to the present day-two souls Great
ed, all the rest generated with the body
70 Eaf
Milton and the Unknown both also be-
lieve, even more strongly. IN the sleep OF
the soul with the body from death to the
resurrection. In Nova Solyma it is dis
tirctly stated that the person, body, soul
and spirit, dies all at once. But else
where he teaches the doctrine of the i'm
mortality of the soul. Either, as sug-
gested by Mr.. Begley, he forgot to change
this passage after he had left the Pres
byterian Church and become a hereto"
or as seems possible to me, he held to
both doctrines In his own peculiar man
ner, differing from all other noted men
in any time OF the history of the world
Milton was poetical In temperament, and
while rigidly modelling his politics and
religion on the religion and politics OF the
ancient Hebrews, he was so much man
OF culture lnSll MS views were TGIQeQ III
by his breeding as a gentleman and his
training as a scholar. AT moments the
Cavalier element has it's innings il l may
so say: at other moments the bold and
sour tempered Puritan But he never was
wholly under the influence OF the austeri-
ties of Puritanism. Going back here,
for space is lacking. the author of Nova
Solyma and the Acknowledged John Mil
ton taught the divinity OF Christ.
have not read the admittedly last great
work discovered and known to be Mil
tons, The Treatise on the Christian
Doctrine" But l know that DR.. Claiming
and others who wrote on 1T early IN the
Nineteenth Century when 1t was found
(it was brought out in 1929, claimed that
Milton was what they called Unitarian.
This does not distinctly appear IN Nova
Solyma There he seems IN the Armada
epic, ''Philipica," and perhaps elsewhere
to hold merely to primacy IN the person
of the Father. He denies the doctrine
of the eternal generation of the Son. But
1T appears, after all. that he regards the
God-head as triune. l may be wrong, but