Milton and His Vision for Liberty
Pity Parker
Introduction
The accommodation of liberty into
the system is cherished by the progressive world and the issue still stands
before us and it will stand as long as the human race continues to exist. When
we look at 16-18 centuries John Milton, a renaissance poet and scholar appears
as a canonical figure for the fight for liberty. He Excelled in languages and
wrote poems in Greek, Latin, Italian, and English. He was the Polemical writer
of the political prose and the champion of Liberty of the times. He actively
engaged in political work and pamphleteering, participating actively on the
side of parliament against monarchy and portrayed the three – fold passion he had
in him namely patriotism, poetry and religion. His thoughts on liberty seem to
be ripe when the thoughts of progressiveness were in infancy. His polemical
questions for progressiveness still stand pertinent and needs to be answered by
the modern world. This paper attempts to put before the readers the vision of
Milton for liberty in a progressive infant world.
Against all Odds – Conditions
Favourable
The debate on freedom of thought and
expression goes on. There is an imperative need for us to have a keener eye on
problems of freedom so that we aspire to have a freer society for ourselves
where the development of an each individual contributes to the well being of
all. Cracking Milton’s views on liberty is a needed discussion for
understanding what the notion of liberty to a renaissance man is.
Before getting into the main discussion it is necessary to know the causes which led Milton to which made the man Milton and it is known beyond doubt that these causes acted like a driving impetus in the course of making Milton. The Puritanism movement, the series of censorship acts and the unhappy marriage can be discussed as the causes and shall be discussed in detail.
The
rise of Puritanism
Puritanism seems to be the prime cause that made Milton a polemical man. Puritanism was the religious movement that began in 1500. These Puritans were a sect of people who believed that the reformation is not up to the mark and the process of purifying the church cannot be put an end mark. The religious movement to reform the unhappy reformation had a huge impact on Milton’s thinking. Milton (like any other Puritan) was against the episcopacy or the rule by the bishops. Lycidas is a clear example of his dissent towards the clergy. They wanted the church to be managed by a group of ‘Presbyters’ or elders. Milton has supported Cromwell in this regard. Cromwell also ‘personally believed in religious toleration, Puritans did not’[1]. His cry for Religious liberty led is visible in the Sonnet XVI ‘On The New Forcers Of Conscience Under The Long Parliament’. It is a poem written during a time where there is a huge tension between the royalists and Presbyterians. Milton actively wrote from the Presbyterian side criticizing each and every aspect that has been endangering the individual liberty. Later when the Presbyterian’s started to rule, he came to discover the hardest fact that the Presbyterian regime had turned authoritative. Individual liberty and the right to speech were threatened to a great degree under commonwealth. Losing hope in Cromwell ‘thereafter it 'has Vane, and not Cromwell, whom Milton praised as the statesman who knew the true bounds of religious discipline and civil government, and who learned long ago what separated spiritual power from civil power’[2] which led to writing Sonnet XVII To Sr Henry Vane the younger The Puritanism movement seems to had nurtured Milton’s liberal thoughts but Milton was not absolutely carried away by it.
The government’s series of censorship acted as a driving impetus that made Milton voice his opinion strongly on the freedom of expression and freedom of press. Books, chronicles, pamphlets are the only source information and even recreation to the people in during the time and Puritans were capable to rise the revolutionary quest in the crowd by printing and distributing the pamphlets which bear a clear explanation of the oppressive, dictator and lavish nature of the papal authority. However, it is not only the Protestants that started these. Either it’s Catholicism in power or Protestantism or Presbyterians, each of them tried to take over the liberty of individuals. Having a look at the series of censorship acts would give a picture of how this issue that entered was responsible in creating a liberal storm in Milton’s mind.
The
series of censorship acts
1524 - This year the state experienced the earliest record of censorship.
Bishop of London prohibited
the book sellers from handling Lutheran works and was ordered that no person shall print anything
without authorization
1538 - A proclamation of Henry VIII ordered
that “no person or persons in this realm shall from henceforth print any book
in the English tongue, unless upon examination made by some of his
Grace's Privy Council, or other such as his Highness shall appoint, they
shall have licence so to do; and yet so having, not to put these words, cum
privilegio regali, without adding ad imprimenduin solum, and that the
whole copy or else at the least the effect of his licence and privilege be
therewith printed and plainly declared and expressed in the English
tongue underneath them”[3]
1542 - A
proclamation was drafted in 1542 against the possession of books by Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Coverdale
who were the figures of reformation.
1546 - Another
act was proclaimed in 1546 that no printer can print any manner of English book, unless it bears the
name of the author, day of the print, and shall present the first copy to the mayor.
1549 - King
Edward ordered that no printer can print unless examine by Secretaries.
1551 - A
proclamation ordered the prohibition to not publish any English books unless examined by Privy council
signed with Majesty’s gracious hand which was formerly done by the secretaries
1553 - Queen
Mary prohibited printing unless attained Grace’s special Licensing
1557 - These series of Licensing led to the decision to grant a charter to the Stationers' Company on May 4, 1557 giving them rights to punish against illicit literature and printing.
1566
- When Puritans
revolution was t at the peak, the Privy Council made six recommendations which a publisher
should abide with to publish their works.
“The
six recommendations approved by the Privy Council
1.
No person shall imprint or
import unlawful books.
3.
No person shall bind,
stitch, sew or sell illicit books upon pain of forfeiture and a fine for every
book
4.
All unlawful books shall be
brought to Stationers' Hall and there destroyed and the fines shall be divided
between the Queen and the person who informed the authorities or who seized the
books
5.
Wardens shall be empowered
to search for offenders in any suspected places within this realm and to bring them
before the Court of High Commission
6. All Stationers shall enter into recognisances to observe the above said ordinances.”[4]
These
all led to the shifting of printing authorization to the Star Chamber. An
organization that aims against, perjury, riots, maintenance, fraud, libel, and
conspiracy abused its powers, using torture to obtain confessions and crushed
oppositions.
1643 - Finally
the Printing Ordinance of 1643 is made. It Abolished Star Chamber and started
to regulate printing by an obligation to get the text pre-licensed with the London
Stationers Company which led Milton to write his eloquent plea for Liberty in Areopagitica in 1644.
We’ve encountered throughout several readings in the History that when Governments try to suppress individual liberties of people the thirst for liberty grows very high and make them resent and revolt finding new ways. The same happened in the case of Milton.
The Unhappy Marriage
Milton’s personal life also seems to spark
the liberal thoughts in Milton. Walter Raleigh says that Milton ‘was a Citizen
first, a poet and an unhappy man afterwards’[5] The
reason for him being called an unhappy man may be should be because of his
marriage. He married Mary Powell in
May 1642. Powell's family
was a strong Royalist family. He being a Presbyterian seems to
have ruptured their relation as he
was actively engaged in the ideological war with Royalist forces.
Powell
had gone for to her father during summer and actually never came back. She eventually deserted Milton and returned to live with her Mother. The laws then didn’t allow Milton
apply divorce. Sources say that he
has experienced mental trauma for having deserted him but couldn’t leave his
activism. His inability of getting divorce led him to pen a “Tract on Divorce” for
which he suffered severe criticism from the Church.
This too led Milton to introspect on Domestic liberty and an ideal Christian Society
Vision for liberty
In this ‘complex cultural
environment of early modern Europe, a number of prestigious humanists assumed
the task of defenders of liberty, putting
their pens at the service of their communities in order to ensure that the
citizens’ rights and liberties’[6] and
Milton was the most important of them. He ‘perceived that there were three
species of liberty which are essential to the happiness of social life -
Religious, domestic, and Civil’[7]. Hence
we shall also discuss it in detail under these three heads
Vision for liberty - Religious
Milton was a mixture of rationale and
religiosity. Having lived in an era where there had been a strong tension
between the royalists and roundheads, he propagated the secularization of the
government. He believed that truths (Christian faith) need to be directly acquired by the individual but
cannot be forced on them. He strongly dreamt for the tolerance between the
sects and schisms. He sees
not as a problem of ‘Catholics versus Protestants, but rather the perennial
problem of how a free society should behave when faced by groups in its midst
intent on destroying it precisely because it is a free society.’[8] He not
only propagated to practice these but was courageous in voicing for liberty in
uncanny parallels. Knowing Thomas More
ended up by being beheaded by Henry VIII for defending his liberty to
remain in Roman Catholic church, he did not stop himself questioning the
parliament in Areopagitica. He had waged a war on clergy with his pamphlets
voicing his dissent.
He argues in Areopagitica,
“Truth is compared in scripture to a muddy pool: if her waters flow not in a
perpetual progression, they sicken into a muddy pool of conformity and
tradition”[9]. His
statement thus makes us understand that he believes that a truth is not
constant but the change is the only constant. It indicated us to debate and
discuss the values of religion and mend them according to the contemporary. He
strongly says that blind faith is heresy. It may make faith a dead tradition.
To quote from the book, “A man may be heretic in the truth; and if he believe
things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without
knowing another reason, though his belief is true, yet the very truth he holds
is a heresy”.[10]
He goes to the extent to say that the knowledge of evil is also necessary to
eschew it and assert his virtue. He argues that when reading is restricted, all
learning should be removed because, ‘the Bible itself; for that oft times
relates blasphemy not nicely, it describes the carnal sense of wicked man’.[11]
In his famous work Paradise
lost, Book IX when Eve is at the risk of Satan’s temptation, he puts forth the
argument of the same he put in Areopagitica that ‘evil has to be challenged. It
has to be confronted. It has to be tasted before it can be conquered. It can’t
be simply avoided’.[12] When
the Presbyterians whom he has supported before hoping that they would save
liberty turned monarchical, he did not hesitate to voice against the diluting
values. He writes in Sonnet XVI voicing against the Cromwell proposal for
propagation of gospel. This makes us understand the views of Milton regarding
the religious freedom. He states in his
poem that ‘New presbyter is but old priest writ’[13] and
compared ministers as ‘hireling wolves’[14] who
have been trying to impose religion. Liberal and Christian views of him are
definitely the idea of free Christian society where Christians are free of
impositions and has free conscience.
Vision for liberty – Domestic
Milton sees Domestic liberty as an important
part of liberty and the reform of the divorce law as utmost priority in this
regard but his vision for domestic liberty is nothing but the outrage of his
inability to get a divorce. He considers reform of divorce law as an important
part of religious reformation too. His divorce tract is so progressive but has
received huge criticism from the church but he was able to come out with
rationale of why Divorce is meant to be progressive.
Through
the Divorce tract he says ‘calling marriage a sacrament is a way of scaring
people away from divorce. But the Christian virtue must be freely chosen, not
rooted in the fear of law’.[15]
He not only views marriage as a holy thing but also makes people understand the
material aspects in the relation. He clearly views that marriage is contract
between both man and woman but not the church and the state. He finds “ ‘no
ground in the scripture’ for the church to ‘meddle’ with ‘marriages’; rather,
marriage is a household contract, a thing indifferent and free to the whole
race of mankind”.[16]
He
wants the contract of marriage to be truly democratic institution entered by
two equals. His divorce tract was even criticized in a sermon before
parliament; the preacher, Herbert Palmer who linked it to Anabaptism. Since
Milton voiced for the Tract of divorce, we cannot come to a conclusion that he
is a feminist. During Milton time, divorce is seen as ‘freedom from the tyranny
of enslavement to any woman, monarch, or the way of thought that would constrict
masculine self determination’[17].
Biberman opines that ‘his masculinity
emerges repeatedly’[18].
While talking about this tract, Hobson comments quotes Milton’s view which says
that ‘we must be free to make mistakes, to abuse our freedom.’[19]
Vision for liberty – Civil
Milton’s vision for civil liberty occupies a
greater chunk than the aspects discussed. The vision for his civil liberty
shall be discussed under three aspects. The first, view of Milton for the
division of parliament from the state, the second, about his views on the
freedom of conscience, the third and the most important, ‘freedom of press’.
Division of Parliament from the state
Milton is of high regard for the civil
liberty. He views criticism as the most important to be extant to make a good
society and emphasized the idea of debate and discussion between the people and
the parliament.
In
Areopagitica Milton says, “When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered,
and speedily reformed: then it of the utmost bound of civil liberty attained
that wise men look for”.[20]
He views that the parliament has the right only to defend but not humiliate. He
preaches that the state has no right to humiliate the non-protestant sects even
though they have been leading a non political life. We can completely relate
Milton to Francis Bacon in this regard. Bacon, being brought up in a Puritan
family condemns the humiliation given to the other sects and schisms but
however it came into light posthumously but Milton opined this in his long
address to parliament. He firmly
believed in the division of the parliament from the church. “Milton recommends
that the members of this parliament only concern themselves with civil matters
and they leave ecclesiastical matters to the church”[21]
Freedom of Conscience
“AGAINST HIS WILL HE CAN RECIEVE NO HARM.
BUT GOD LEFT THE FREE WILL; FOR WHAT OBEYS
REASON, IS FREE, AND REASON HE MADE RIGHT”[22]
Milton
through Adam in the Paradise lost says that God granted is free will and man
has the ability to develop reason. Though he later says that we may mistake god
to evil, the stance doesn’t change because as discussed before, he believes
that evil knowledge is also needed.
In
Areopagitica he strongly opines that, ‘to the pure, all things are pure; not
only meats and drinks, but all knowledge whether good or bad.’[23]
Milton links the freedom of press to conscience saying that the government
can’t be too strict than the god but should let the people read and decide what
books are good and what books are bad. He sarcastically comments that Eve and
Adam got the knowledge by tasting the rind of apple which means that the
knowledge of evil needed to assert virtue and freedom of conscience is
essential for it. He diplomatically blends this with religion saying that truth
will not be fully reconstructed until the second coming.
Freedom of Press
Milton’s fight for the freedom of press is
discussed in detail in Areopagitica, his eloquent plea to the parliament. He
laments that censorship ended with the prelates but again reintroducing makes
him feel that protestant rule is nothing different from the Catholicism. He writes in Areopagitica,
“AND YET ON THE OTHER HAND, UNLESS WARINESS
BE USED, AS ALMOST KILL A MAN AS KILL A AGOOD BOOK. WHO KILLS A MAN KILLS A
REASONABLE CREATURE, GOD’S IMAGE; BUT HE WHO DESTROYS A GOOD BOOK, KILLS REASON
ITSELF, KILLS THE IMAGE OF GOD AS IT WERE IN THE EYE.”[24]
By the above quoted
one can understand that he puts freedom on the highest pedestal above the god.
He rules out that if man’s stomach is vitiated the wholesome meat turns
unwholesome to body likewise the best books to naughty might turn dangerous. It
depends on how the author takes sit because the books that are labelled bad
gives a judicious reader a discreet power to discover and to forewarn.
‘If the author is given freedom to publish his discoveries based on his research they offer opponents a scope to prove its falsehood.’[25] So, we can say that Milton strongly says in this regard that licensing is a bad idea and points out that the government should not be stricter than god as it violated civil liberty. Since the ‘Printing ordinance of 1643’ that passed formed a censor council to authorize publication, Milton questions the ability of the so called censor council to distinguish the good and the bad books. He even says that a world ‘with too many restrictions in life, the world would be a boring place to live in.’[26] He compares the prohibition of books to shutting a park gate to pound crows from entering into the park.
Conclusion
Decoding all the
elements we have considered so far, we can conclude by stating that Milton
isn’t a pure rationale which the modern communism, atheism and Humanism teach.
He seems to be trying to announce a new liberal direction within Protestantism.
His idea of the Christian society can be considered as a ‘secularized’ one
beyond doubt.
Milton wants the society to get secularized
but the notion of rationality is not absolute. Some ambiguity creeps in his
argument when the topic of tolerance is discussed. Milton on one hand teaches
people tolerance as discussed in his vision for religious liberty but he
supported the prohibition of the books from other sects.
Many mistake that
Milton is against censorship which is absolutely a loose argument. He is only against
the pre-licensing. He wants a book to get banned only after it gets circulated
and if it is found to be heretical, he deems censorship mandatory. This
arguments on the freedom of press seems not so great to the people in the
contemporary but its quite interesting that he was able to make out these and
foresee the political journalism when it was in infancy.
By his tract on
Divorce, We cannot call him a feminist since his masculinity emerged repeatedly
as Biberman discussed. He cannot also be called as a misogynist because he got
married later and had children. The Divorce tract was more a personal thing but
the arguments he makes in this regard are quite modern and rational.
Milton
Vision for liberty can be looked still relevant of the fact that still nations
like Myanmar has been in a tussle between the authoritarian and liberty and
these thoughts can again rejuvenate enthusiasm in the crowd as the USA had
Areopagitica of Milton on its table while drafting the constitution
“A
person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction,
and
In
either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” - JS Mill
Notes
[1]
Ashok, Padmaja, “The Social History of
England”, Orient Blackswan, 2018
p.38 3
[2] Scott, Allen Herbert, "John Milton : religious independent" (1957). Master's Theses. Paper 949 . P.59,60
[3] Hughes and Larkin, “Tudor Royal Proclamations...”, I p. 270; see also W. W. Greg, "Ad Impriinendimi Solum," The Library, 5th Series, IX, 1954, pp. 242 - 247.
[4] Calderwood, William, " The Elizabethan protestant press: a study of the printing and publishing of protestant religious literature in English, excluding bibles and liturgies, 1558-1603. " Vol.2, Ph.d Theses, Bible London University, p.270
[5] Raleigh, Walter, “Milton”,
New York and London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1900. p. 48
[6] Ghatti, Hilary “The Making of the Humanities From Early Modern
to Modern Disciplines”, Volume 2, Amsterdam University Press, p.167,188
[7] Hanford, James H, “Mition
Handbook”, Third Edition, New York, F. 8. Crofts and Co, 1939, p.43
[8] Ghatti, Hilary, p.71
[9] Milton, John, Areopagitica
, Arc Manor, Rockville, 2018., p.43
[10] Ibid,
p.43
[11] Ibid,p.24
[12]Areopagitica, Youtube,
Yalecourses, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7zq31I1wEE, 21 November 2008
[13] Milton, John, “On The New Forcers Of Conscience Under The Long Parliament”, All Poetry,
https://allpoetry.com/On-The-New-Forcers-Of-
Conscience-Under-The-Long-Parliament
[14] Milton, John, “The
annotated Milton”, Sonnet XVI, Bantam Classics,2008 p.40
[15] Hobson, Theo, “Milton’s vision”,
Continuum International Publishing group, Cornwall, 2008, p.82
[16] Biberman, Matthew, “Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 39, No.
1, The English Renaissance”, 1999,
p.138
[17] Olga Lucia Valbuena, “Milton’s ‘Divorsive’ Interpretation and the gendered raeder”, Milton
S27, 1992, p.115
[18] Biberman, Matthew, p.139
[19] Hobson, Theo, p.85
[20] Milton, John, p.8
[21] Nathan, Clark, “Liberalism,
Republicanism and John Milton’s Late Political Thought", Master's Theses, University of
Canterbury, 2000, p.23
[22] Milton, John, “Paradise
Lost”, Fingerprint Classics,
p.229
[23] Ibid,
p.21
[24] Ibid, p.12
[25] Gandhi A, “On
Liberty”, Peacock Classics, 2003, p.43
[26] Ibid,p.25
Works Consulted
Print Sources:
1. Ashok, Padmaja, “The Social History of England”, Orient Blackswan, 2018
2. Biberman, Matthew, “Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 39, No. 1, The English Renaissance”, 1999
3. Ferry, Annie Murray, "Milton's thought on divorce.", Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Paper 1788, 1999
4. Gandhi A, “On Liberty”, Peacock Classics, 2003.
5. Ghatti, Hilary “The Making of the Humanities From Early Modern to Modern Disciplines”, Volume 2, Amsterdam University Press
6. Hanford, James H, “Milton Handbook”, Third Edition, New York, Crofts and Co, 1939
7. Hobson, Theo, “Milton’s vision”, Cornwall, Continuum International Publishing group, 2008
8. Milton, John, “Paradise Lost”, Fingerprint Classics, 2001
9. Milton, John, “The annotated Milton”, Sonnet XVI, Bantam Classics, 2008
10. Nathan, Clark “Liberalism, Republicanism and John Milton’s Late Political Thought" , Master's Theses, University of Canterbury, 2000
11. Olga Lucia Valbuena, “Milton’s ‘Divorsive’ Interpretation and the gendered reader”, Milton S, 1992
12. Raleigh, Walter A, “Milton”, New York and London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1900 
14. Scott, Allen Herbert, "John Milton : religious independent" , Master's Theses, Paper 949, 1957
William, Calderwood , "The Elizabethan protestant press: a study of the printing and publishing of protestant religious literature in English, excluding bibles and liturgies,1558-1603”, Vol 1 & 2, University College, Ph.D Theses.
Electronic sources:
1. Areopagitica. Youtube,Yalecourses, 21 November 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7zq31I1wEE
3. Kevin R. Davis, Printing Ordinance of 1643, The First ammendment Encyclopedia https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1033/printing-ordinance-of-1643 , 12 December, 2020
4. Kevin R. Davis, John Milton, The First ammendment Encyclopedia https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1259/john-milton , 12 December, 2020
5. Kevin R. Davis, Star Chamber, The First ammendment Encyclopedia https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/820/star-chamber , 12 December, 2020
6. Milton, John Areopagitica, A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing to the Parliament of England with a Commentary by Sir Richard C. Jebb and with Supplementary Material. Cambridge: University Press. , 12 December 2020 via Online library of Liberty
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