SELECT E ID .
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LITERARY STATISTICS. la the library Of
Mr. Rogers, the poet at his house III 1T.
James, Place, London, is the original agree
ment between Milton and his publisher,
Samuel Symons, in 1860, for the copyright
of " Paradise Lost" 1t is written on one
page of ioolscap, signed by the contracting
parties, and witnessed by John Fisher"
and " benjamin. Greene, servant to MI Mil
ton" The autograph of the great poet, not
withs,anding his blindness, Is remarkable
regular and distinct. This interesting relic,
we need hardly say, is carefully preserved
by its distinguished owner: it is framed and
glazed, and occupies a prominent place on
the walls OF the classical and hospitable man
sion of the Poet Of Memory. Alr Rogers,
we believe. gave seventy guineas for this
relic! For the poem itself Milton received
ten pounds, five being paid in advance, and
the other five at the expiration Of two years,
when 1900 copies had been sold. For each
edition, not exceeding 1900 copies, five
pounds were to be paid; but in seven years
the poet died, and the widow disposed Of ali


her Fright, title, and interest in the work,
for all additional sum OF seven pounds Thus
the whole copyright of Paradise Lost "
brought to the author and his family seven
teen pOuUuS, dHu tDc Dit vi pdpcI vi NHiCh
the agreement was written was sold and ca
gerly purchased for seventy guineas! Mil
ton was more than fifty years of age, blind
infirm and solitary, when he began the com
position of his great epic. AT a similar ad-
vanced period Of life, Sir Walter Scott
struck with misfortune entered into an en-
gagement to liquidato by his literary exer-
tions, a debt Of fl-O,OOO. Milton rested
his long cherished hopes of lasting fame upon
the work thus late begun; Scott staked his
character and reputation upon the tulfillnent
of MS last engagement. Both entered with
characteristic ardor upon their tasks, and,
amid the pressure of increasing age and in
trinity, never lost sight of their antIci patcd
reward In seven years, Milton had com
pleted his divine poem, and held in his hand
his passport to Immortality. In seven years,
Scott had paid all but one-siXth of his enor-
nous load of debt The piile was within
view; independence seemed almost in his
grasp; but he had overiasked his strength,
and disease, soon to be followed by death,
came like an armed man, and closed the s,l-
perhuman struggle When will the annals
of literature record again two such instances
of heroic determination, under such adverse
circumstances, united to the highest creative
genius, and crowned with such marvellous
results !-[ Inverness Courier.