POSTS CRIP T.

WHEN this Effay was almost finished, the splen

did Edition of PARADISE LOST, fo long pro

mised by the reverend Dr. Newton, fell into my hands; of which I had, however, fo little ufe, that as it would be injuftice to cenfure, it would be flattery to commend it and I fhould have totally forborn the mention of a book that I have not read, had not one paffage, at the conclufion of the life of MILTON, excited in me too much pity and indignation to be fuppreffed in filence.

"Deborah, MILTON's youngest daughter," fays the Editor," was married to Mr. Abraham Clarke, a wea"yer, in Spitalfields, and died in August 1727, in the "76th year of her age. She had ten children. Eli"zabeth, the youngeft, was married to Mr. Thomas

Fofter, a weaver, in Spitalfields, and had feven chil"dren, who are all dead; and fhe herself is aged about fixty, and weak and infirm. She feemeth to be a good plain fenfible woman, and has confirmed several parti"culars related above, and informed me of fome others, " which fhe had often heard from her mother." Thefe the Doctor enumerates, and then adds, " In all probat bility MILTON's whole family will be extinct with her,

" and he can live only in his writings. And fuch is the caprice of fortune, this grand-daughter of a man, "who will be an everlasting glory to the nation, has "now for fome years, with her husband, kept a little "chandler's or grocer's fhop, for their fubfiftence, lately "at the lower Holloway, in the road between Highgate and London, and at prefent in Cock-lane, not "far from Shoreditch church."

That this relation is true cannot be queftioned: but, furely, the honour of letters, the dignity of facred poetry, the fpirit of the English nation, and the glory of human nature, require—that it fhould be true no longer. -In an age, in which ftatues are erected to the honour of this great writer, in which his effigy has been diffused on medals, and his work propagated by tranflations, and illustrated by commentaries; in an age, which amidst all its vices, and all its follies, has not become infamous for want of charity: it may be, furely, allowed to hope, that the living remains of MILTON will be no longer fuffered to languish in diftrefs. It is yet in the power of a great people, to reward the poet whofe name they boast, and from their alliance to whofe genius, they claim fome kind of fuperiority to every other nation of the earth; that poet, whofe works may poffibly be read when every other monument of British greatness shall be obliterated; to reward him-not with pictures, or with medals, which, if he sees, he fees with contempt, but-with tokens of gratitude, which he, perhaps, may even now confider as not unworthy the regard of an immortal fpirit. And furely, to thofe, who refufe their names to no other scheme of expence, it will not be

un

unwelcome, that a SUBSCRIPTION is propofed, for relieving, in the languor of age, the pains of disease, and the contempt of poverty, the grand daughter of the author of PARADISE LOST. Nor can it be queftioned, that if I, who have been marked out as the ZOILUS of MILTON, think this regard due to his pofterity, the defign will be warmly feconded by thofe, whofe lives have been employed, in discovering his excellencies, and extending his reputation.

Subscriptions

For the Relief of

Mrs. ELIZABETH FOSTER, Grand-daughter to JOHN MILTON, are taken in by

Mr. Dodfley, in Pall-Mall;

Meffrs. Cox and Collings, under the Royal Exchange; Mr. Cave, at St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell; and, Meffrs. Payne and Bouquet, in Pater-nofter-Row.

LE T

LET TE R

Ο Ν

MILTON's GRAND-DAUGHTER *.

SIR,

THAT a certain degree of reputation is acquired merely by approving the works of genius, and. testifying a regard to the memory of authors, is a truth too evident to be denied; and therefore to enfure a participation of fame with a celebrated poet, many who would perhaps have contributed to ftarve him, when alive, have heaped expenfive pageants upon his grave.

It must indeed be confeffed, that this method of becoming known to pofterity with honour, is peculiar to the great, or at leaft to the wealthy; but an opportunity now offers for almost every individual to fecure the praise of paying a juft regard to the illuftrious dead, united with the pleasure of doing good to the living. To affist industrious indigence, ftruggling with distress,

• This letter is printed from the European Magazine, January 1785. The writer of the article in that work from whence it is taken, fays, that it originally appeared in The General Advertiser of the 4th of April, 1750.

and

and debilitated by age, is a display of virtue, and an acquifition of happiness and honour.

Whoever, then, would be thought capable of pleafure in reading the works of our incomparable MILTON, and not fo deftitute of gratitude as to refufe to lay out a trifle in a rational and elegant entertainment for the benefit of his living remains, for the exercise of their own virtue, the increase of their reputation, and the pleafing consciousness of doing good, fhould appear at Drury-lane Theatre to-morrow, April 5, when Comus will be performed for the benefit of Mrs. Elizabeth Fofter, grand-daughter to the author, and the only furviving branch of his family.

N. B. There will be a new prologue on the occasion, written by the author of Irene, and fpoken by Mr. Garrick; and by particular defire, there will be added to the Mafque, a dramatic fatire called Lethe, in which Mr. Garrick will perform.

A LET