The Poetics of Milton
Part 13 - Milton the Pamphleteer
Milton became settled into his new life as a teacher, which also gave him time for further study - like work for a History of Britain. In the auto-biographical section of his ‘Second Defence of the English People’, Milton would write:
“I turned to the task of tracing in unbroken sequence, if I could, the history of my country, from the earliest origins even to the present day.”
[from ‘Second Defence of the English People’, (translated by Helen North) pg. 94]
After his Italian journey, perhaps he wished to find in a history of his native country, something that could give himself (and others) a sense of pride in its destiny. Or perhaps, he could find a story among the tragedies of ancient Briton, that he could use to compose a grand epic, that would make his name remembered for all time. Perhaps. But more and more, he also was being drawn into ‘a troubled sea of noises and hoarse disputes’, into the great religious debate for church reform against Episcopacy – the ‘divine’ appointment of bishops.
“Meanwhile, as Parliament acted with vigor, the haughtiness of the bishops began to deflate. As soon as freedom of speech (at the very least) became possible, all mouths were opened against them. Some complained of the personal defects of the bishops, others of the defectiveness of the episcopal rank itself. It was wrong, they said, that their church alone should differ from all other reformed churches. It was proper for the church to be governed by the example of the brethren, but first of all by the word of God. Now, thoroughly aroused to these concerns, I perceived that men were following the true path to liberty and that from these beginnings, these first steps, they were making the most direct progress towards the liberation of all human life from slavery – provided that the discipline arising from religion should overflow into the morals and institutions of the state. Since, moreover, I had so practiced myself from youth that I was above all things unable to disregard the laws of God and man, and since I had asked myself whether I should be of any future use if I now failed my country (or rather the church and so many of my brothers who were exposing themselves to danger for the sake of the Gospel) I decided, although at that time occupied with certain other matters, to devote to this conflict all my talents and all my active powers.” [ibid, pgs 88-89]
And so, he jumped into the debate, and within a year he would write five religious tracts against episcopacy.
a portrait of Milton (from the British Museum)
May 1641 – ‘Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: and the Causes that hitherto have hindred it’ (90 pgs)
June 1641 – ‘Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whether it may be deduc’d from the Apostolical times by virtue of those Testimonies which are alledg’d to that purpose in some late Treatises: One whereof goes under the Name of James Archbishop of Armagh’ (24 pgs)
July 1641 – ‘Animadversions upon the Remonstrants Defence against Smectymnuus’ (68 pgs)
January 1642 – ‘The Reason of Church-government urg’d against Prelaty’, (65pgs)
April 1642 – ‘An Apology against a Pamphlet Call’d A Modest Confutation of the Animadversions upon the Remonstrant against Smectymnuus’, (59 pgs)
“First, therefore, I addressed to a certain friend two books on the reformation of the English church. Then, since two bishops of particularly high repute were asserting their prerogatives against certain eminent ministers, and I concluded that on those subjects which I had mastered solely for love of truth and out of regard for Christian duty, I could express myself at least as well as those who were wrangling for their own profit and unjust authority, I replied to one of the bishops in two books of which the first was entitled ‘Of Prelatical Episcopacy’ and the second ‘The Reason of Church-Government’, while to the other bishop I made reply in certain ‘Animadversions’ and later in an ‘Apology’.” [ibid, pg 89]
Note: Milton was defending those ministers known as ‘Smectymnuus’ (Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young (Milton’s former tutor) Matthew Newcomen, William Spurstow – whose initials formed the name ‘Smectymnuus’), against two opposing bishops – James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, and Joseph Hall, bishop of Norwich.
Bishop James Ussher, with a literalist reading of the bible, had calculated that the earth was created the night of October 22nd 4004 BC.
Following these anti-episcopacy tracts, Milton then turned his thoughts to write a tract concerning his views on marriage and divorce, that he would then have to defend in two subsequent tracts.
August 1643 – ‘The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: Restor’d to the Good of Both Sexes, from the bondage of Canon Law, and other mistakes, to Christian freedom, guided by the Rule of Charity’, (82 pgs)
March 1645 – ‘Tetrachordon: Expositions upon the four chief places in Scripture which treat of Marriage, or nullities in Marriage’, (98 pgs)
March 1645 – ‘Colasterion: a Reply to a Nameless Answer against The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce’, (27 pgs)
“I brought succor to the ministers, who were, as it was said, scarcely able to withstand the eloquence of this bishop, and from that time onward, if the bishops made any response, I took a hand. When they, having become a target for the weapons of all men, had at fallen and troubled us no more, I directed my attention elsewhere, asking myself whether I could in any way advance the cause of true and substantial liberty, which must be sought, not without, but within, and which is best achieved, not by the sword, but by a life rightly undertaken and rightly conducted.
Since, then, I observed that there are, in all, three varieties of liberty without which civilized life is scarcely possible, namely ecclesiastical liberty, domestic or personal liberty, and civil liberty, and since I had already written about the first, while I saw that the magistrates were vigorously attending to the third, I took as my province the remaining one, the second or domestic kind. This too seemed to be concerned with three problems: the nature of marriage itself, the education of children, and finally the existence of freedom to express oneself.
Hence I set forth my views on marriage, not only its proper contraction, but also, if need be, its dissolution. My explanation was in accordance with divine law, which Christ did not revoke; much less did He give approval in civil life to any other law more weighty than the law of Moses.” [ibid, pgs 89-90]
Milton had been making a living from his small academy, but largely on payments from investments (loans) made by his father. On a business visit to meet with one of his father’s debtors in June 1642, he fell in love with his daughter, Mary Powell, and they were soon married. But so soon, as the civil war was erupting, Milton, a devoted Parliamentarian, would see his wife leave him and return to live with her father, an ardent Royalist. Although Milton championed the reform of divorce, he himself never applied for one against his estranged young wife.
After thus expressing his views of church reform and of marriage, Milton now turned his pen to his thoughts on education and on freedom of the press.
[next week - part 14 - on Education]