Milton was certainly not one of them; he had only justified what they
had done.' Johnson's _Works_, vii. 95.
[149]
'Though fall'n on evil days,
On evil days though fall'n and evil tongues,
In darkness, and with dangers compast round.'
_Paradise Lost_, vii. 26.
[150] Johnson's _Works_, vii. 105.
[151] 'His political notions were those of an acrimonious and surly
republican.' _Ib_. p. 116.
[152] 'What we know of Milton's character in domestick relations is,
that he was severe and arbitrary.' _Ib._ p. 116.
[153] 'His theological opinions are said to have been first,
Calvinistical; and afterwards, perhaps when he began to hate the
Presbyterians, to have tended towards Arminianism.... He appears to have
been untainted by any heretical peculiarity of opinion.' _Ib._ p. 115.
[154] Mr. Malone things it is rather a proof that he felt nothing of
those cheerful sensations which he has described: that on these topicks
it is the _poet_, and not the _man_, that writes. BOSWELL.
[155] See _ante_, i. 427, ii. 124, and iv. 20, for Johnson's
condemnation of blank verse.
Pages:
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617