ABSTRACT

Scholars agree that Milton offers primarily a negative view of Russia in A Brief History of Moscovia, yet some have also identified positive descriptions of Russian czars, people, and church. Negative and positive descriptions work together in relation to Milton’s view of the past and his focus on one state, offering a “Pattern or Example” that emerges from his distinctive political philosophy and represents his ethical concerns. Milton demonstrates that sovereigns and subjects must exercise their reason and liberty of choice to choose the common good over private interest; the church must reject superstition and formality to liberate the mind; and a Protestant tradition cultivates independence. These are realized by Aristotelian kings, a vigilant regenerate, and liberty of choice in liturgy and conscience. These ethical concerns offer at once a reproach to leaders and events and also ideas and rhetoric for framing late seventeenth-century political discourse that represents Russia.

摘要

学者们一致认为，弥尔顿在《莫斯科简史》中主要提供了对俄罗斯的负面看法，但有些人也确定了对俄罗斯沙皇、人民和教堂的正面描述。消极和积极的描述结合了弥尔顿对过去的看法和他对一个国家的关注，提供了一个从他独特的政治哲学中出现并代表他的伦理问题的“模式或例子”。弥尔顿证明，主权者和臣民必须行使他们的理性和选择自由来选择公共利益而不是私人利益；教会必须摒弃迷信和形式来解放思想；新教传统培养独立性。这些都是由亚里士多德的国王实现的，他们是一个警惕的重生者，以及在礼仪和良心上的选择自由。