T The LIFE of MILTON. HE family of Milton came originally from Milton near Halton and Thame, Oxfordshire; where it flourished several years, till at last the estate was sequestered, one of the family having taken the unfortunate fide in the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster. John Milton, the poet's grandfather, was an under-ranger or keeper of the forest of Shotover near Halton, Oxfordshire He was of the religion of Rome, and such a bigot, that he disinherited his fon only for being a Protestant. Upon this the fon, our Poet's father, named likewife John Milton, settled in London, and became a fcrivener. He had a taste for the politer arts, and was particularly skilled in music, in which he was a fine performer; and is alfo celebrated for several pieces of his compofition. By his diligence and economy he acquired a competent estate, which enabled him afterwards to retire, and live in the country. He was a very worthy man; and married Sarah Caston, of a family originally derived from Wales. She was a woman of incomparable virtue and goodness, and by her husband had two fons and a daughter. The elder of the fons was our famous poet, who was born in Breadstreet, London, Dec. 9. 1608. Не was named John, as his father and grandfather had been before him. From the beginning discovering the marks of an uncommon genius, he was designed for a fcholar, and had his education partly under private tutors, and partly at a public school. When he had made good progress in his studies at home, he was fent to St. Paul's school, to be fitted for the univerfity. In this early time of life, such was his love of learning, and so great his ambition to surpass his equals, that from his twelfth year he commonly continued his studies till midnight, which (as he fays himself) was the first ruin of his eyes. to whose natural debility were added too frequent headachs: But A 2 all all could not extinguish or abate his laudable paffion for letters. It is very feldom seen, that fuch application and fuch a genius meet in the fame perfon. The force of either is great, but both together must perform wonders. He was now in the ryth year of his age, and was a very good claffical scholar, and master of several languages, when he was fent to the university of Cam bridge, and admitted at Christ's College Feb. 2. 1624-5. He continued above seven years at the university, and took two degrees, that of Bachelor of Arts in 1628-9, and that of Mater in 1632. He had given early proofs of his poetic genius before he went to the university; and there he excelled more and more, and diftinguished himself by several copies of verses upon occafional subjects, as well as by all his academical exercises, many of which are printed among his other works, and show him to have had a capacity above his years; and by his obliging behaviour, added to his great learning and ingenuity, he defervedly gained the affection of many, and admiration of all. He did not however obtain any preferment in the university. This, together with fome Latin verses of his to a friend, reflecting upon the u niversity seemingly on this account, might probably have given occafion to the reproach afterwards caft upon him by his adverfaries, that he was expelled from the university for irregularities, and forced to Ay to Italy. But he fufficiently refutes this calumny in more places than one of his works. And indeed it is no wonder that a person, so engaged in religious and, political controverfiesas he was, thould be ca lumniated by the contrary party." He was defigned by his parents for holy orders, but it appears, that he had conceived early prejudices against the doctrine and difcipline of the church; and fubfcribing to the articles was, in his opinion, fubfcribing flave. This no doubt was a difappointment to his friends, who, though in comfortable, were yet by no means in great circumstances. Neither doth he feera to have had any inclination to any other profeffion: : feffion: He had too free a spirit to be limited and confined, and was for comprehending all sciences, bnt profeffing none. Therefore, after he had left the univerfity in 1632, he went to his father's house in the country; for his father had by this time retired to live at an estate which he had purchased at Horton, near Colebrooke, Buckinghamshire. Here he refided with his parents for five years, and read over all the Greek and Latin authors, particularly the historians. But now and then he made an excursion to London; fometimes to buy books, or to meet his friends from Cambridge; and at other times to learn something new in the mathematics or music, with which he was extremely delighted. His retirement therefore was a learned retirement; and it was not long before the world reaped the fruits of it. His Masque was presented at Ludlow-castle in 1634. There was formerly a prefident of Wales, and a fort of court kept at Ludlow, which has fince been abolished. The prefident at that time was the Earl of Bridgewater, before whom Milton's Masque was presented on Michaelmas night; and the principal parts, those of the two Brothers were performed by his Lordship's fons the Lord Brackly and Mr. Thomas Egerton, and that of the Lady by his Lordship's daughter Lady Alice. The occafion of this poem seemeth to have been merely an accident of the two Brothers and the Lady having lost one another in their way to the castle. It is written very much in imitas tion of Shakespear's Tempest, and the Faithful Shepherdefs of Beaumont and Fletcher; and, though one of the first, is yet one of the most beautiful of Milton's compofitions. It was for some time banded about only in manuscript; but afterwards, to fatisfy the im portunity of friends, and to save the trouble of tranfcribing, it was printed at London, though without the author's name, in 1637, with a dedication to the Lord Brackly, by Mr. H. Lawes, who composed the mufic, and played the part of the Attendant Spirit. It was printed likewife at Oxford, at the end of Mr. R.'s poems; but who that Mr. R. was, whether Ran dolph dolph the poet, or who else, is uncertain. It has lately, though with additions and alterations, been exhibited on the stage feveral times; and we hope the fine poetry and morality have recommended it to the audience, and not barely the authority of Milton's name; and we wish, for the honour of the nation, that the like good taste prevailed in every thing. In 1637 he wrote another excellent piece, his Lycidas; wherein he laments the untimely fate of a friend, who was drowned on the Irisk seas in his paffage from Chester. This friend was Mr. Edward King, fon of Sir John King, fecretary of Ireland, and a fellow of Christ's College. He was so well beloved and esteemed at Cambridge, that fome of the greatest names in the university have united in celebrating his obfequies, and published a collection of poems, Greek, Latin, and English, facred to his memory; the Greek by H. More, &c.; the Latin by T Farnaby, J. Pearson, &c.; the English by H King, J. Beaumont, J. Cleaveland, with several others; and judicioufly the last of all, as the best of all, is Milton's Lycidas., " On fuch facrifices the gods themselves "strow incense;" and one would almost with so to have died for the fake of having been so lamented. But this poem is not all made up of forrow and tenderness; there is a mixture of fatire and indignation; for in part of it the poet taketh occafion to inveigh against the corruptions of the clergy, and seemeth to have first discovered his acrimony against Abp. Laud, and to have threatened him with the loss of his head, which afterwards happened to him through the fury of his enemies. At least, I can think of no sense so proper to be given to the following verses in Lyci das. Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw 2 い About this time he had some thoughts of taking chambers at one of the inns of court, for he was not .. very very well pleased with living so obfcurely in the country; but, his mother dying, he prevailed with his father to let him indulge a defire, which he had long entertained, of feeing foreign countries, and particu larly Italy. Having communicated his design to Sir Henry Wotton, who had formerly been ambaffador at Venice, and was then provost of Eton College, and having also fent him his Masque, of which he had not yet publicly acknowledged himself the author, he received from him the following friendly letter, dated, From the College, the 13th of April 1638. "SIR, 1. IT was a special favour, when you lately bestowed upon me here the first taste of your acquaintance, though no longer than to make me know that I wanted more time to value it, and to enjoy it rightly; and in truth, if I could then have imagined your farther flay in these parts, which I understood afterwards by Mr.H I would have been bold, in our vulgar phrafe, to mend my draught, (for you left me with an extreme thirst,) and to have begged your conversation again, jointly with your faid learned friend, at a meal or two, that we might have banded together fome good authors of the ancient time; among which observed you to have been familiar... poor Since your going, you have charged me with new obligations both for a very kind letter from you, dated the fixth of this month, and for a dainty piece of entertainment that came therewith; wherein I should much commend the tragical part, if the lyrical did not ravish me with a certain Doric delicacy in your fongs and odes, whereunto I must plainly confess to have seen yet nothing parallel in our language, iofa mollities. But I must not omit to tell you, that I now only owe you thanks for intimating unto me (how modelly foever) the true artificer: for the work it felt I had viewed fome good while before with fingu. lar delight, having received it from our common |