MILTON EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY CHARLES WALLACE FRENCH New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. 1898 All rights reserved PREFATORY NOTE THE essay contained in this volume forms a part of the course prescribed by the Joint Committee on English Requirements for admission to college. While it can hardly be rated as the greatest of Macaulay's essays, there are few, if any, which present a richer field for investigation and study. The student will need to have encyclopædia and dictionaries constantly at hand, and even then he will probably find some allusions and references which will baffle his most patient effort. In the preparation of the notes the fact has been recognized that many students must take up this work without the necessary reference books; therefore the allusions have been explained much more fully than would otherwise be necessary. Where it is possible, the student should not depend on the notes for his information, but should look up the references for himself. Much interesting information will be secured, and valuable habits of investigation will be formed by a careful, independent, and exhaustive study of this masterpiece. V |