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religious liberty. The attitude of James I. towards them was a keen disappointment, as they had great hopes in a King from Presbyterian Scotland. The Enunciation of the Doctrine of Divine Right by the Hampton Court Conference, in 1604, annoyed them still more, and from that time till the Civil War they were always bitterly opposed to the Church, and watchful of the King.

The war of pamphlets did not die out with the Marprelate Controversy, but was continued throughout the whole of the reign of James I., Charles I., and the Commonwealth. No less than 30,000 pamphlets appeared between 1640 and 1660. The best known of these are the Smectymnuus series, a series of pamphlets against Prelacy, which were named by putting together the initials of the writers.* Bishop Hall, of Norwich, who had made himself famous by his Satires, and his book Mundus alter et idem, took the Prelate's side in the controversy, and received a virulent reply from Milton in his Apology for Smectymnuus, 1641.

The Long Parliament.-These are the Acts for which Milton praises the Long Parliament in his exordium :

1641. The impeachment of Strafford and Laud.

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The impeachment of six judges for their conduct with regard to Ship Money.

The release of Prynne, Burton, Bastwick, Leighton and Lilburne (Osbaldiston had escaped before punishment.)

The grant of a subsidy to the Scots-£25,000 per month and a lump sum of £300,000.

The Triennial Act, ordering Parliament to be summoned before September 3 every third year. No future Parliament to be dissolved, prorogued, or adjourned within fifty days, except by its own consent.

Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, William Spurstow.

The granting of Tonnage and Poundage for two months only.

The denunciation of Ship Money as illegal.

The abolition of the Star Chamber, Court of High
Commission, Court of President and Council of the
North, Court of President and Council of the Welsh
Marshes, Palatine Courts of Lancaster and Cheshire.
Resisting the Extension of Royal Forests.

The Restriction of Purveyance.

The abolition of Compulsory Knighthood.

Long Parliament not to be dissolved without its own

consent.

Clergy disabled from holding temporal power.

On their measures Hailam remarks :

(1) "They made scarce any material change in our constitution such as it had been established and recognized under the House of Plantagenet."

(2) "By these salutary restrictions, and some new retrenchments of pernicious or abused prerogative, the Long Parliament formed our constitution such, nearly, as it now exists."

The Civil War.-The events of the Civil War bear but slightly on the book, the only reference occurring being to the time of the King's threatened advance on London, which is described in the notes.

Examination Questions.

1. What reasons does Milton give for writing in defence of the liberty of the Press?

2. Name a few of the prose works which Milton wrote (a) before, (b) after the Areopagitica, stating briefly the objects of each.

3. Discuss Milton's position on religious toleration, illustrating your answer from the Areopagitica.

4. Write down at least six lines of the passage beginning "Lords and Commons of England," or, "Methinks I see before me."

5 Milton's prose is sometimes blamed for (a) coarse invective, (b) coarse humour. Do these faults appear in the Areopagitica?

6. Give the main divisions of Milton's arguments.

7. What was the direct cause of Milton's writing?

8. What do you consider the chief peculiarities and difficulties of Milton's style?

9. What does Areopagitica mean, and how does the name fit in with the contents of the book?

10. Milton's style is freely criticised. Mention a few of the criticisms and discuss them.

11. How does Milton's spelling differ from modern spelling? 12. Give the substance of (a) The Star Chamber Decree,

(b) The Parliamentary Ordinance.

13. Give the history of Press restrictions in England. What is the present state of the law?

14. On what class of poetic work was Milton engaged about the same time (1644)?

15. What references to (a) current events, (b) Milton himself, occur in the book?

16. To which of his contemporaries or predecessors in English literature does Milton refer?

17. Write an essay on “Reading in General,” using Milton's matter as the substance of the essay.

18. What are the precedents for press restrictions which Milton quotes, and what conclusion does he derive from them? 19." Restriction is a direct evil." What instances does Milton give?

20. Give an account of (a) the Star Chamber, (b) the Council of Trent, (c) the Jesuits, stating their connection with the book.

21. Explain the phrases: "cloistered virtue," "in the eye,” "potency of life," "linen decency," "mewing her mighty youth," "twelve tables," "quadragesimal," "check that Moses gave, 99 66 private orator," "Persian wisdom."

22. Paraphrase p. 78, ll. 1550 to 1560; p. 74, ll. 1451 to 1468.

23. How does Milton's language compare with that of (a) the Bible, (b) Modern English?

24. What change in meaning have the words success, event, altered, prevent, let, undergone since Milton's time?

25. How does Milton appeal to the Long Parliament? 26. What were the main acts of the Long Parliament up to the writing of the book?

27. Give a brief history of the religious controversies of the period.

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28 Upon what model is the book founded?

29. Give a brief analysis of the arguments brought forward by Milton.

30. What are Milton's references to Wiklef and Huss?

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