Milton's History of Britain in its historical context

The prologue studies the Tory publication of Milton's Character of the Long Parliament (1681). It argues that the provenance of this tract is best explained if Milton did in fact attempt to include the Digression in his History of Britain. Further ambiguities in Milton's early reputation are discussed in a review of the History's reception. Chapter I surveys Milton's response to the long­ standing demand for a national history and briefly reconsiders his ideas on history and historiography. Chapter II proposes that his political sympathies led Milton to look to the British legends for his historical subject. The strong Protestant and Tudor associations of such native myth have been largely overlooked, and yet they bear strongly on Milton's proposals for a British historical poem. His reappraisal of the myths in the History indicates his disillusionment with his original historical project: and reflects his changing opinion of the national character. Chapter III charts Milton's response to the legends surrounding Lucius, Constantine and the early British church, and traces conflicts between his need to deny church history and his desire to rewrite it. It then turns to his curiously muted views on the Saxon church. Chapter IV compares the use of Gildas's De Excidio in the History with Milton's relative silence on Arthur. Milton's regard for this ancient British jeremiad recalls that of the Reformers and suggests the instability of his commitment to purely classical styles of historiography in his time. Chapter V surveys the conflicting ideological and religious pressures on the history of the Saxons and the Conquest and compares Milton's shifting response to these in his political tracts with his views in the History. The Epilogue returns to Milton's view of the national character, with special reference to the Digression. Presenting his references to climate theory in a wider context, it argues that in moving from a loosely predestinarian position to a belief in free will, Milton first sought some determining natural force to explain England's conduct through the ages.</p

Marvell’s Aviary: The Cassowary

Marvell’s shrewd references to birds in his poetry and prose come in ‘Last Instructions’ to include that most exotic of fowl, the cassowary. By way of simile the voracious cassowary there serves to comment on the voracious Excise tax. Editors have overlooked how near to hand cassowaries might be for Marvell, who seems to have enjoyed them among the sights of St James’s Park, where the royal aviary was being newly improved in the 1660s and included such tribute from the East India Company. In the cassowary Marvell had met with a wonder that plainly caught his eye, leaving him with a lasting metaphor for courtly excess and for the all-devouring Excise to which that might lead

Andrew Marvell’s Paper Work: The Earl of Carlisle’s Baltic Embassy (1664)

The discovery of a dozen ‘new’ documents in Marvell’s hand from the Carlisle embassy discloses much about his role in Sweden and Denmark late in 1664. The forms and contents of the letters themselves, and the further diplomatic correspondence with which they are bound, confirm how the demands first of language (owing to a preference for diplomacy in native tongues in Muscovy and Sweden) and then of secrecy (owing to extremes of caution in Denmark) worked against Marvell having more of a part in the negotiations in those countries. Even so, the documents show him in service as diplomatic secretary on matters great and small. They also shed new light on Marvell’s ventriloquial function, whether it is Carlisle speaking in Marvell’s writing or whether the secretary more nearly writes in his own person. When we find Carlisle, ship-bound with his secretary for a week off Elsinore, writing his friends for the sake of writing, and curveting rhetorically as never before, we sense something nearer minds melding at the end of their 18 months abroad together. Marvell learned a lot from hearing Carlisle speak and from speaking for Carlisle

Synthetic glycans control gut microbiome structure and mitigate colitis in mice.

Relative abundances of bacterial species in the gut microbiome have been linked to many diseases. Species of gut bacteria are ecologically differentiated by their abilities to metabolize different glycans, making glycan delivery a powerful way to alter the microbiome to promote health. Here, we study the properties and therapeutic potential of chemically diverse synthetic glycans (SGs). Fermentation of SGs by gut microbiome cultures results in compound-specific shifts in taxonomic and metabolite profiles not observed with reference glycans, including prebiotics. Model enteric pathogens grow poorly on most SGs, potentially increasing their safety for at-risk populations. SGs increase survival, reduce weight loss, and improve clinical scores in mouse models of colitis. Synthetic glycans are thus a promising modality to improve health through selective changes to the gut microbiome