A short history of England . te from timeto time sonnets and other shorterpoetic pieces called forth by thegreat events in the struggle thenin progress. He held also an official posi-tion, serving as correspondingsecretary to the council of stateand later to the government ofthe Protector. His duties wereprincipally to translate into Latinand sometimes to draw up lettersor treaties with foreign governments. He had no actual respon-sibility under the Commonwealth and was therefore allowed atthe Restoration to go into an undisturbed retirement. At thistime he became totally blind, and all his la
A short history of England . te from timeto time sonnets and other shorterpoetic pieces called forth by thegreat events in the struggle thenin progress. He held also an official posi-tion, serving as correspondingsecretary to the council of stateand later to the government ofthe Protector. His duties wereprincipally to translate into Latinand sometimes to draw up lettersor treaties with foreign governments. He had no actual respon-sibility under the Commonwealth and was therefore allowed atthe Restoration to go into an undisturbed retirement. At thistime he became totally blind, and all his later productions werepreserved by dictation. Composed in this way, he published in1667 Paradise Lost, his greatest poem and one of the greatestin the English language. Its biblical subject, its sense of realityof divine things, its high tone of earnestness, and the sonorouseloquence of the blank verse in which it is written are all char-acteristic of the best of Puritanism and represent in literature1 Greek for Image John Milton 492 A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND much the same spirit as Cromwell expressed in the practical tasksof government. 438. Bunyan.—John Bunvan was a wandering tinker whobecame a soldier in the parliamentary army and was later anearnest Baptist preacher. After the Restoration he attempted tocontinue his preaching, notwithstanding the laws against Dis-senters, and as a result was imprisoned for a long time in Bed-ford jail. From his prison he sent out a series of religious tractsand other works. In 1678 appeared his Pilgrims Progress, themost popular allegorical work ever written. Looked upon simply as a story, the reality of its characters,the simplicity and clearness of the narrative, the quaintness ofthe observations have delighted millions of readers. It has beentranslated into all the languages of Europe and has been pub-lished in every form of which the printing press is capable. Ithas also given religious teaching to many hundreds of thousands.
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