The Prose Works of John Milton

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: OF DIVORCE; UBTOB1D TO THE GOOD OF BOTH SEXES, FROM THE BONDAGE OF CANON LAW, AND OTHBft MISTAKES. 10 THE TBUE MEANING OF 8CBIPTBBS IN THE LAV AND GOSPEL COMPARED. WHKBKIH ALSO ABB SET DOWN THE BAD CONSEQUENCES OF ABOLISHING, OB CONDEMNING A3 BIN, THAT WHICH THB LAW OF GOD ALLOWS, AND CHEIST ABOLISHED NOT. NOW THE SECOND TIME REVISED AND MUCH AUGMENTED. IN TWO BOOKS: TO THB PARLIAMENT OP ENGLAND WITH THE ASSEMBLY. Matth. xiii. 52. Every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of m house, which bringeth out of his treasury things new and old. Pbov. xviii. 13. Hethat answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame onto him. Editor's Preliminary Remarks This great work on Divorce, with the three parasitical treatises, Tetrachor- don, The Opinions of Martin Bucer, and Colasterion, may he said nearly to exhaust all the philosophy and learning of the subject. Still it produced no sensible effect on the laws or manners of the country, the Roman catholic theory of marriage, namely, that it is a sacrament, having in reality prevailed ever since, though now at length repudiated by perhaps a majority of those who are able to think for themselves. Well, however, might Milton inveigh against custom. That which has been long established is usually invested by us with a sacred character; on which account we continue to submit to it, though conscious of the innumerable evils of which it may be the cause to us and others. In combating the received doctrines on divorce, he had to encounter more difficulties than at present beset us, since we generally content ourselves with investigating the reason of the matter, and trouble ourselves very little about authority. We have the advantage, however, of witnessing among our ne...