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more favorable opinion of Arminius. Some have inclined to believe that he was an Arian; but there are more exprefs paffages in his works to overthrow this opinion, than any there are to confirm it. For in the conclufion of his treatise of Reformation he thus folemnly invokes the Trinity; "Thou there"fore that fitteft in light and glory unapproachable, "Parent of Angels and Men! next thee I implore Omnipotent King, Redeemer of that loft remnant "whofe nature thou didst affume, ineffable and ever

lafting Love! And thou the third fubfiftence of "divine infinitude illumining Spirit, the joy and fo"lace of created things! one Tri-perfonal God"head! look upon this thy poor, and almost spent "and expiring Church &c." And in his tract of

Prelatical Epifcopacy he endeavours to prove the fpurioufness of fome epiftles attributed to Ignatius, because they contained in them herefies, one of which herefies is, that "he condemns them for ministers "of Satan, who say that Chrift is God above all.” And a little after in the fame tract he objects to the "authority of Tertullian, because he went about to prove "animparity between God the Father, and God "the Son." And in the Paradife Loft we shall find nothing upon this head, that is not perfectly agreeable to Scripture. The learned Dr. Trap, who was as likely to cry out upon herefy as any man, afferts that the poem is orthodox in every part of it; or otherwife he would not have been at the pains of tranf lating it. Neque alienum videtur a ftudiis viri theologi poema magna ex parte theologicum; omni ex parte (rideant, per me licet, atque ringantur a hei et infideles)

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infideles) orthodoxum. Milton was indeed a diffenter from the Church of England, in which he had been educated, and was by his parents defigned for holy orders, as we related before; but he was led away by early prejudices against the doctrin and difciplin of the Church; and in his younger years was a favorer of the Prefbyterians; in his middle age he was beft pleased with the Independents and Anabaptifts, as allowing greater liberty of confcience than others, and coming nearest in his opinion to the primitive practice; and in the latter part of his life he was not a profeffed member of any particular fect of Chriftians, he frequented no public worship, nor used any religious rite in his family. Whether fo many different forms of worship as he had feen, had made him indifferent to all forms; or whether he thought that all Chriftians had in fome things corrupted the purity and fimplicity of the Gofpel; or whether he difliked their endlefs and uncharitable difputes, and that love of dominion and inclination to perfecution, which he faid was a piece of Popery infeparable from all Churches; or whether he believed that a man might be a good Chriftian without joining in any communion; or whether he did not look upon himfelf as infpired, as wrapt up in God, and above all forms and ceremonies, it is not eafy to determin: to his own mafter he ftandeth or falleth: but if he was of any denomination, he was a fort of a Quietift, and was full of the interior of religion tho' he fo little regarded the exterior; and it is certain was to the laft an enthufiaft rather than an infidel. As enthusiasin made Norris a poet, fo poetry might make Milton an enthusiast.

His circumftances were never very mean, nor very great; for he lived above want, and was not intent upon accumulating wealth; his ambition was more to enrich and adorn his mind. His father fupported him in his travels, and for fome time after. Then his pupils must have been of fome advantage to him, and brought him either a certain ftipend or confide- · rable prefents at leaft; and he had fcarcely any other. method of improving his fortune, as he was of no profeffion. When his father died, he inherited an elder fon's fhare of his eftate, the principal part of which I believe was his houfe in Bread-ftreet: And not long after, he was appointed Latin Secretary with a falary of 200 1. a year; fo that he was now in opulent circumstances for a man, who had always led a frugal and temperate life, and was at little unneceffary expenfe befides buying of books. Tho' he was of the victorious party, yet he was far from fharing in the fpoils of his country. On the contrary (as we learn from his fecond Defenfe) he fuftained great loffes during the civil war, and was not at all favored in the impofition of taxes, but fometimes paid beyond his due proportion. And upon a turn of affairs he was not only deprived of his place, but alfo loft 2000 l. which he had for fecurity and improvement put into the Excife Office. He loft likewife another confiderable fum for want of proper care and management, as perfons of Milton's genius are feldom expert in money matters. And in the fire of London his house in Bread-street was burnt, before which accident foreigners have gone out of devotion (fays Wood) to fee the house and chamber where he was born. His' gains were inconfiderable in proportion to his loffes;

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for excepting the thousand pounds that were given him by the government for writing his Defenfe of the people against Salmafius, we may conclude that he get very little by the copies of his works, when it doth not appear that he received any more than ten pounds for Paradife Loft. Some time before he died he fold the greateft part of his library, as his heirs. were not qualified to make a proper ufe of it, and as he thought that he could difpofe of it to greater adpantage than they could after his deceafe. Finally by one means or other he died worth one thousand five hundred pounds, befides his houfhold goods, which was no incompetent fubfiftence for him, who was as great a philofopher as a poet.

To this account of Milton it may be proper to add fomething concerning his family. We faid before, that he had a younger brother and a fifter. His brother Chriftopher Milton was a man of totally oppofit principles; was a strong royalift, and after the civil war made his compofition thro' his brother's intereft; had been entered young a ftudent in the Inner Temple, of which he lived to be an ancient bencher; and being a profeffed papift, was in the reign of James II. made a judge and knighted; but foon obtained his quictus by reafon of his age and infirmities, and retired to Ipfwich, where he lived all the latter part of his life. His fifter Anne Milton had a confiderable fortune given her by her father in marriage with Mr. Edward Philips (fon of Mr. Edward Philips of Shrewsbury) who coming young to London was bred up in the Crown Office in Chancety, and at length became fecondary of the office under Mr. Bembo. By him he had, befides other

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children, who died infants, two fons Edward and John, whom we have had frequent occafion to mention before. Among our author's juvenile poems there is a copy of verfes on the death of a fair infant, a nephew, or rather niece of his, dying of a cough; and this being written in his 17th year, as it is faid in the title, it may be naturally inferred that Mrs. Philips was elder than either of her brothers. She had likewise two daughters, Mary who died very young, and Anne who was living in 1694, by a fe cond husband Mr. Thomas Agar, who fucceeded his intimate friend Mr. Philips in his place in the Crown Office, which he enjoyed many years, and left to Mr. Thomas Milton, fon of Sir Chriftopher before mentioned. As for Milton himself he appears to have been no enemy to the fair fex by having had three wives. What fortune he had with any of them is no where faid, but they were gentlemen's daughters; and it is remarkable that he married them all maidens, for (as he fays in his Apology for Smedtymnuus, which was written before he married at all) he thought with them, who both in prudence and elegance of fpirit would choose a virgin of mean "fortunes honeftly bred before the wealthieft widow." But yet he seemeth not to have been very happy in any of his marriages; for his first wife had juftly offended him by her long abfence and feparation from him; the fecond, whofe love, fweetnefs, and goodnefs he commends, lived not a twelvemonth with him; and his third wife is faid to have been a woman of a moft violent fpirit, and a hard mother in law to his children. She died very old, about twenty years ago, at Nantwich in Chefhire: and from the

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accounts

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