But Milton was born to confute established opinions.

Among other divergencies from usage, he was at this time a rare example of an English poet whose faculty was, in large measure, to be estimated by his essays in Latin verse.

England had up to this time produced no distinguished Latin poet, though Scotland had: and had Milton's Latin poems been accessible, they would certainly have occupied a larger place in the estimation of his contemporaries than his English compositions.

Even now they contribute no trifling addition to his fame, though they cannot, even as exercises, be placed in the highest rank.

There are two roads to excellence in Latin verse--to write it as a scholar, or to write it as a Roman.