MILTON’S PROSE.  Of Milton’s prose works there are many divergent opinions, ranging from Macaulay’s unbounded praise to the condemnation of some of our modern critics.  From a literary view point Milton’s prose would be stronger if less violent, and a modern writer would hardly be excused for using his language or his methods; but we must remember the times and the methods of his opponents.  In his fiery zeal against injustice the poet is suddenly dominated by the soldier’s spirit.  He first musters his facts in battalions, and charges upon the enemy to crush and overpower without mercy.  For Milton hates injustice and, because it is an enemy of his people, he cannot and will not spare it.  When the victory is won, he exults in a paean of victory as soul-stirring as the Song of Deborah.  He is the poet again, spite of himself, and his mind fills with magnificent images.  Even with a subject so dull, so barren of the bare possibilities of poetry, as his “Animadversions upon the Remonstrants’ Defense,” he breaks out into an invocation, “Oh, Thou that sittest in light and glory unapproachable, parent of angels and men,” which is like a chapter from the Apocalypse.  In such passages Milton’s prose is, as Taine suggests, “an outpouring of splendors,” which suggests the noblest poetry.

On account of their controversial character these prose works are seldom read, and it is probable that Milton never thought of them as worthy of a place in literature.  Of them all Areopagitica has perhaps the most permanent interest and is best worth reading.  In Milton’s time there was a law forbidding the publication of books until they were indorsed by the official censor.  Needless to say, the censor, holding his office and salary by favor, was naturally more concerned with the divine right of kings and bishops than with the delights of literature, and many books were suppressed for no better reason than that they were displeasing to the authorities.  Milton protested against this, as against every other form of tyranny, and his Areopagitica—­so called from the Areopagus or Forum of Athens, the place of public appeal, and the Mars Hill of St. Paul’s address—­is the most famous plea in English for the freedom of the press.

MILTON’S LATER POETRY.  Undoubtedly the noblest of Milton’s works, written when he was blind and suffering, are Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.  The first is the greatest, indeed the only generally acknowledged epic in our literature since Beowulf; the last is the most perfect specimen of a drama after the Greek method in our language.