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was beft pleas'd with the independents and anabaptifts, as allowing of more liberty than others, and coming nearest in his opinion to the primitive practice: but in the latter part of his life, he was not a profest member of any particular fect among Christians, he frequented none of their affemblies, nor made ufe of their peculiar rites in his family. Whether this proceded from a diflike of their uncharitable and endless disputes, and that love of dominion, or inclination to perfecution, which, he said, was a piece of popery infeparable from all churches; or whether he thought one might be a good man, without fubfcribing to any party; and that they had all in fom things corrupted the inftitutions of JESUS CHRIST, I will by no means adventure to determin for conjectures on fuch occafions are very uncertain, and I never met with any of his acquaintance who could be pofitive in affigning the true reasons of his conduct.

I SHALL NOW conclude this difcourfe with a character given of him by a man of unparallel'd diligence and induftry, who has difoblig'd all fides merely for telling the truth either intirely, or without difguife; and who, fince most men have the frailty of ingaging in factions, cannot be fufpected of partiality in favor of MILTON. He was a perfon, fays ANTHONY WOOD in the first volume of his Athene Oxonienjes, of wonderful parts, of a very sharp, biting, and fatyrical wit; he was a good philofopher and historian; an excellent poet, Latinift, Grecian, and Hebrician; a good mathematician and musician; and fo rarely endow'd by nature, that had he bin but honestly principled,

he

he might have bin highly useful to that party, against which he all along appear'd with much malice and bitterness.

AND now, Sir, I end with you, with whom I begun, not doubting but this small prefent, both from the dignity of the subject and your favor to the writer, will be kindly accepted. It may indeed be the more plain and unpolish'd, but not the lefs useful or fincere for coming out of a country retirement. The moft knowing perfons acknowlege that divine philofophy her felf was begot in the woods, where agreably paffing her infancy, and growing up in the neighboring fields, fhe became gentle in time, and so ventur'd to com into towns and cities; but being quickly weary'd there with the tumult of bufinefs or faction, and longing for her former tranquillity, she ftraight retir'd into gardens or groves, to her fields and woods again. 'Tis probable that you (as well as I or any other) may disapprove of MILTON's fentiments in feveral cafes, but, I'm fure, you are far from being difpleas'd to find'em particulariz'd in the history of his life; for we fhould have no true account of things, if authors related nothing but what they lik'd themfelves one party would never fuffer the lives of TARQUIN, or PHALARIS, or SYLLA, or

CESAR,

CESAR, to appear; while another would be as ready to fupprefs thofe of CICERO, of CATO, of TRAJAN, or BRUTUS. But a hiftorian ought to conceal or disguise nothing, and the reader is to be left judg of the virtues he should imitat, or the vices he ought to deteft and avoid, without ever loving his book the lefs for (as the lord BACON truly faid) a forbidden writing is thought to be a certain spark of truth that flies up in the faces of them who seek to tread it out. But your extraordinary judgment and candor, join'd to the best learning, and an exact knowlege of men and affairs, render my further inculcating of these maxims very needlefs; and therfore I fhall only put you in mind, Sir, that my defire of gratifying your curiofity conquer'd my averfion to write any thing during this pleasantest season of the year.

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Al Signor Gio. Miltoni Nobile Inglefe.

OD E.

RGIMI all' Etra o Clio

ER

Perche di ftelle intrecciero corona

Non piu del Biondo Dio

La Fronde eterna in Pindo, e in Elicona,
Dienfi a merto maggior, maggiori i fregi,
A celefte virtu celefti pregi.

Non puo del tempo edace

Rimaner preda, eterno alto valore

Non puo l'oblio rapace

Furar dalle memorie eccelfo onore,
Su l'arco di mia cetra un dardo forte
Virtu m'addatti, e feriro la morte..
Del Ocean profondo

Cinta dagli ampi gorghi Anglia refiede
Separata dal mondo,

Pero che il fuo valor l'umano eccede:
Questa feconda fa produrre Eroi,

Ch' banno a ragion del fovruman tra noi.

Alla

Alla virtu fbandita

Danno ne i petti lor fido ricetto,
Quella gli e fol gradita,

Perche in lei fan trovar gioia, e diletto
Ridillo tu, Giovanni, e moftra in tanto
Con tua vera virtu, vero il mio Canto.
Lungi dal Patrio lido

Spinfe Zeufi l' induftre ardente brama;
Ch' udio d' Helena il grido

Con aurea tromba rimbombar la fama,
E per poterla effigiare al paro
Dalle piu belle Idee traffe il piu raro.

Cofi l' Ape Ingegnofa

Trae con induftria il fuo liquor pregiato
Dal giglio e dalla rofa,

E quanti vaghi fiori ornano il prato;
Formano un dolce fuon diverfe Chorde,
Fan varie voci melodia concorde.

Di bella gloria amante

Milton dal Ciel natio per varie parti
Le peregrini piante

Volgefti a ricercar scienze, ed arti
Del Gallo regnator vedefti i regni,
E dell' Italia ancor gl' Eroi piu degni.

Fabro quafi divino

Sol virtu rintracciando il tuo penfiero.
Vide in ogni confino

Chi di nobil valor calca il fentiero ;
L'ottimo dal miglior dopo Scegliea
Per fabbricar d' ogni virtu l' Idea.

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