although they possessed not the commanding genius, and the wonderful creative powers of the Bards of the Elizabethan age,-" for there were Giants on the earth in those days,"-were yet among the most polished and elegant writers which the nation has produced. The sweetness of their versification was not of that tame and cloying nature, which the imitators of Pope afterwards introduced into our Literature; smooth to the exclusion of every bold and original thought.

The writings of Carew, Crashaw, Waller, Herrick, and Suckling, sparkling with the most brilliant and original ideas, expressed in the most elegant versification, shine out like precious gems richly cased. The favourite amusement of this period was the Dramatic entertainments called Masques. These were got up at Court with an extraordinary magnificence, which, we are told, modern splendour never reached even in thought; and that the taste in which they were produced was equal to the splendour, we may rest assured, when we know that Ben Jonson commonly wrote the Poetry, Lawes composed the Music, and Inigo Jones designed the decorations. Had Charles long continued to sway the English sceptre, there is no doubt that Literature and the Arts, but especially the latter, would have been materially ad

vanced. To them the establishment of a Commonwealth, whatever it may have effected for the civil and religious liberties of the country, gave a blow from which they have scarcely yet recovered. The Theatres were kept closed; Stage Plays were considered impious and profane; the Altar-pieces were torn down, and the statues broken in our Cathedrals, as idolatrous and encouraging the image-worship of the Papists. Music, which was wont to give so solemn and impressive an effect to the service of the Church, was abolished as one of the most odious among the abominations of Popery; and Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakspeare, were exiled from the libraries of the orthodox to make way for Withers, Quarles, and Herbert! Nay, if we are literally to believe the assertion of an old Author, every thing which bore the slightest resemblance to the popish symbol of the Crucifix was held in such detestation, that even tailors were forbidden to sit cross-legged! The King's Paintings, we are told by Whitelocke, were sold at very low prices, and enriched all the collections in Europe; and, but for the tact and management of Selden, the library and medals of Saint James's would have been put up to auction, in order to pay the arrears of some regiments of Cavalry, quar

tered near London. Poets, and other literary men were not only disturbed in their studies by the clang of arms, but many of them exchanged the pen for the sword, and mingled actively in the contest which raged around them.

Still, the most stirring and turbulent times are not the most unfavourable to the productions of Poetry. The Muse catches inspiration from the storm, and Genius rides upon the whirlwind, while perhaps it would only slumber during the calm. Chaucer wrote amidst all the irritation and fury excited by the progress of the Reformation; Spenser and Shakspeare, while the nation was contending for it's very existence against the colossal power of Spain; and it was during the political and religious frenzy of the times of which we are now speaking, that Milton stored his mind with those sublime imaginings, which afterwards expanded into that vast masterpiece of human genius, the "Paradise Lost." There can be but little doubt that when this illustrious Poet, a man so accomplished in mind and manners, joined the Parliamentary party, he made many sacrifices of taste and feeling, for what he considered-whether correctly or not, it is not now my province to enquire, the cause of civil and religious liberty.

Neither, vulgar and tastless as was the mass of that party, was he without associates of whom even he had reason to be proud :

"Great men have been among us, hands that penn'd,
And tongues that utter'd wisdom: better none;
The later Sydney, Marvell, Harrington,

Young Vane, and others, who call'd Milton friend."

In early life he published his charming “Comus,” L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Lycidas," and others of his minor Poems. During the war, his active engagements, as Latin Secretary to the Protector, and, generally, as a political partisan, occupied him almost exclusively; although, he has himself told us, that, even then his mind was brooding over the production of something "which the world should not willingly let die." It was not, however, until "fallen on evil days, and evil tongues," when the once celebrated Latin Secretary, and the future Poet of "all time," was only known as the blind old Schoolmaster of Artillery-walk, that he produced his immortal Epic.

The present Introductory Lecture being, as I have already stated, rather historical than critical, I shall not here enter into any examination of the merits of "Paradise Lost." I would, however, say a few words as to it's effects upon the Literature

of the time. It is a very common error to suppose that it fell almost still-born from the press; or, at least, that it was generally received with extraordinary coolness and neglect. That it was not at first acknowledged to be entitled to occupy that proud station on the British Parnassus, which is now universally conceded to it, is unquestionable; but it is equally certain, that when first published, it was hailed with admiration and delight, by men of the highest talent; and that even throughout the nation at large, the circumstances of the Author, and the spirit of the times considered, it was far more successful than could have been reasonably expected. The Author was a democrat and a dissenter, and the age was ultra-loyal and ultraorthodox: the Poem was thoroughly imbued with a religious feeling and sentiment, and the public to which it was addressed, was more profligate and irreligious than it had been known to have ever been before. "Paradise Lost" was moreover written in blank verse; a new, and strange, and, to many ears, an unpleasing style of metre, and, the purity and severity of taste which reigned throughout it, was opposed to the popular admiration of the far-fetched conceits and the tawdry ornaments of Cowley, and the Metaphysical School. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the Poem