Areopagitica: A Speech to the Parliament of England, for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (Classic Reprint)

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1kg Limited, 2015 M07 13 - 480 pages
Excerpt from Areopagitica: A Speech to the Parliament of England, for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing

Greeks. He had learnt the memorable efficacy with which Panegyries, or festal conventions of the citizens, had co-operated with their popular form of Government on the ingenious and illuminated inhabitants of Attica in the formation of the Athenian character he therefore allowed to his fancy somewhat more than an imaginary range, when he intimated a wish to occupy by festive Observances of a similar description the anniversary intervals our ancestors gave up to pleasurable relaxation, and thus to turn their festivities and diversions to moral advantage. It was in the exordial Section to the second Book on Church Government, that he pointed out to those who then guided the public councels this course for the Improvement of the occasion which Offered itself.

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About the author (2015)

John Milton, English scholar and classical poet, is one of the major figures of Western literature. He was born in 1608 into a prosperous London family. By the age of 17, he was proficient in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Milton attended Cambridge University, earning a B.A. and an M.A. before secluding himself for five years to read, write and study on his own. It is believed that Milton read everything that had been published in Latin, Greek, and English. He was considered one of the most educated men of his time. Milton also had a reputation as a radical. After his own wife left him early in their marriage, Milton published an unpopular treatise supporting divorce in the case of incompatibility. Milton was also a vocal supporter of Oliver Cromwell and worked for him. Milton's first work, Lycidas, an elegy on the death of a classmate, was published in 1632, and he had numerous works published in the ensuing years, including Pastoral and Areopagitica. His Christian epic poem, Paradise Lost, which traced humanity's fall from divine grace, appeared in 1667, assuring his place as one of the finest non-dramatic poet of the Renaissance Age. Milton went blind at the age of 43 from the incredible strain he placed on his eyes. Amazingly, Paradise Lost and his other major works, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, were composed after the lost of his sight. These major works were painstakingly and slowly dictated to secretaries. John Milton died in 1674.

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