Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-12

caSm none who has seen the very rare
print in question and compared it
with the authentic portraits will be in
clined to deny. The most humorous
part Of the story is that subsequent re-
producers of the print solemnly added
the condemnatory epigram in ignor-
anCe of it's meaning!
The two later portraits. one known
as the "Bayfordbury," owing to its
being kept us Bayfordbury, near Hart
ford, England and the other the en-
craving which appeared with the au-
thor's consent as the frontispiece to
his History of Britain, in 1870, are
both probably by the same artist, VIII.
liam Faithorne, and by the lines about
the eyes and mouth give eloquent tes-
timony to the sorrows which fell to
Milton as he grew older. We see the
Milton of the three wives, of whom
the first, Mary Powell, deserted him
through boredom, after month of
marriage, and returned to, bear him
three daughters and to die after the
birth of the youngest: while the sec
ond wife, Katherine Woodcock, died
after less than two years of married
life. We see the Milton of the three
motherless daughters VINO put up so
i'll with his training, and of whom the
second, Mary, made the celebrated re-
mark when she learned of his third
wedding: THAT is nothing new. If you
had told me he was dead it would
have been" We see, too, the Milton
whose eyesisht failed and who had to
rely on the same unwilling daughters
for the reading Of "the Hebrew, the
Syriac, the Greek, the Latin, the Ital-
ian, Spanish and French" while they
neglected his comfort, conspired with
his servants to cheat his tradespeopie,
and sold a large number OF his books
PICTURES OF THE MAN.
No one, perhaps, would take up serl-
ously a defense of Milton's daughters;
but that he was hard to live with, like
many another geat man of letters, Is
not to be denied. AS with his looks.
SO with his character we have enough
material to picture fairly the man as
he actually was. We have his own evil
dence as to the existence in his youth
OF certain niceness of ature, an
honest haughtiness and self-esteen
either of what l was or what might
be- which kept him from ..low de-
scents of mind" After this it Is not
surprising to hear that in the eyes OF
his contemporaries he appeared not ig-
norant OF his own parts. or that at
Cambridge he was not popular, being
on very bad terms, for instance, with
his first tutor, William Chappell. after
ward Bishop of Cork. He took HIM
in one who wrote Paradise Lost" and
vas a thorough egotist. 1T is a sense
of his intense egotEm," says Coleridge,
that gives me the greatest pleasure in
reading Milton's works. The egotisn
of such a man is a revelation OF spirit
The quality, however, which was neces-
sary to the poet, might well be blot
in the character of the man. ana the
conduct of his first wife and of their
daughters points strongly to his being
much less personally lorable than he
was great The wife found him bore,
While in the will which he dictated 10
his brother Christopher. in 1914, he left
the money due to him from Mr.. Powell,
his first wife's father, to 1.-THE unkind
children had by her. adding, NV
meaning Is that they shall have no
other benefit to my estate than the said
portion and what I have besides done
for them. they having been Very un-
dutifui to me- The picture OF the
blind poet debating Paradise Lost 10
his admiring daughters is but an effort
of the imagination.s,Ha Had that picture.
been true we should not have the Mil
ton OF the Faithorne portraits, with the
bitter lines marked on the face-the
face of one who conquers. perhaps, hut
who pays the price for his conquest.
PAID HIM TEN POUNDS.
The extent of Aiilton's pecuniary sue
cess in the case of Paradise Lost,
well known. Ten pounds went to the