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terians; in his middle age he was best 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 lat ter part of his life he was not a profeffed member of any particular fect of Chriftians, frequented no public worship, nor ufed 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 endless and uncharitable dif putes, and that love of dominion and inclination to perfecution, which he said 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 himself as infpired, as wrapt up in God, and above all forms and ceremonies, it is not eafy to determine. To his own mafter he ftandeth or falleth. But if he was of any denomination, he was a fort of a Quietist, and was full of the interior of religion, though he fo little regarded the exterior; and it is certain was to the aft an enthusiast rather than an infidel. As enthusiasm 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 confiderable prefents at leaft; and he had scarcely 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 Breadftreet. Not long after he was appointed Latin Secretary, with a falary of 200 l. a-year: So that he was now in opulent circumftances for a man, who had always led a frugal and temperate

temperate life, and was at little unneceffary expence befides buying of books. Though he was of the victorious party, yet he was far from fharing in the spoils of his country. On the contrary, he fustained great loffes during the civil war, and was not at all favoured in the impofition of taxes, but fometimes paid beyond his due proportion. Upon a turn of affairs he was not only deprived of his place, but also loft 2000 1. which he had for fecurity and improvement put into the excife-office. He loft likewise another confiderable fum for want of proper care and management, as perfons of Milton's genius are feldom expert in moneymatters. In the fire of London his house in Breadfreet 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: For excepting the thoufand pounds which were given him by the government for writing his defence of the people against Salmafrus, we may conclude that he got very little by the copies of his works, when it doth not appear that he received any more than 101. for Paradife Loft. Some time before he died, he fold the greatest part of his library, as his heirs were not qualified to make a pro per ufe of it, and as he thought that he could difpofe of it to greater advantage than they could after his decease. Finally, by one means or other, he died worth 1500 1. befides his household-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 young brother and a filter. His brother Christopher Milton was a man of totally oppofite prin

* Whoever confiders (fays Mr. Fenton) the pots to which Milton was advanced, and the times in which he enjoyed them, will, I believe, confefs he might have accumulated a much more plentiful fortune: In a difpaflionate mind it will not require any extraordinary measure of candour to conclude, that though he abode in the heritage of oppreffors, and the spoils of his country lay at his feet, neither his conícience, nor his honcur, could ftoop to gather them.

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ciples; was a ftrong royalift, and after the civil war made his compofition through his brother's interest ; had been entered young a student in the Inner Temple, of which house he lived to be an ancient bencher; and being a professed Papist, was in the reign of K. James II. made a judge and knighted; but foor obtained his quietus by reason 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 chancery, and at length became fecondary of the office under Mr. Bembo. By him she had, befides other children who had died infants, two fons, Edward and John, whom we have had frequent occafion to mention before. She had likewife two daughters, Mary, who died very young; and Anne, who was living in 1694, by a fecond husband Mr. Thomas Agar, who fucceeded Mr. Philips in his place in the crown-office, which he enjoyed many years, and left to Mr. Thomas Milton, fon of Sir Christopher 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 gentlemens daughters: and it is remarkable that he married them all maidens; for (as he says himself) he "thought with them, who both in prudence and ele66 gance of fpirit would chufe a virgin of mean for"tunes, honeftly bred, before the wealthiest widow." But yet he feemeth not to have been very happy in any of his marriages: For his first wife had justly of. fended 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, above thirty years ago Ei. e. about the year 1729], at Nantwich in Cheshire. From the accounts of thofe who had feen her, I have learned

learned, that she confirmed feveral things which have been related before; particularly that her husband ufed to compofe his poetry chiefly in winter, and on his waking in a morning would make her write down fometimes twenty or thirty verfes. Being asked whether he did not often read Homer and Virgil? fhe understood it as an imputation upon him for stealing from thofe authors, and anfwered with eagernefs, that he tole from no body but the Mufe who infpired him; and being asked by a lady present, who the Muse was? replied it was God's Grace, and the Holy Spirit that vifited him nightly. She was likewife asked whom he approved most of our English poets? and anfwered, Spenfer, Shakespear, and Cowley. Being asked, what he thought of Dryden? the faid Dryden used fometimes to vifit him, but he thought him no poet, but a good rhymift: But this was before Dryden had compofed his best poems, which made his name fo famous afterwards. She was wont moreover to fay, that her husband was applied to by meffage from the King, and invited to write for the Court; but his answer was, that fuch a behaviour would be very inconfiftent with his former conduct, for he had never yet employed his pen against his confcience, By his firft wife he had three daughters, who furvived him. They were not fent to fchool, but were inftructed by a mistress kept at home for that purpose: And he himself, excufing the eldest on account of an impediment in her speech, taught the two others to read and pronounce Greek and Latin, and feveral other languages, without un derstanding any but Englith; for he ufed to fay that one tongue was enough for a woman. But this employment was very irksome to them; and this, toge ther with the fharpnefs and feverity of their motherin-law, made them very uneafy at home: and therefore they were all fent abroad to learn things more proper for them, and particularly embroidery in gold: and filver. As Milton at his death left his affairs very much in the power of his widow, though fhe acknowledged that he died worth 1500 1. yet the allowed but 11. to each of his three daughters. Anne the eldest

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was decrepit and deformed, but had a very handfome face: She married a master-builder, and died in childbed of her first child, who died with her. Mary the fecond lived and died fingle. Deborah the youngest, in her father's lifetime, went over to Ireland with a lady, and afterwards was married to Mr. Abraham Clarke, a weaver in Spittlefields, and died in Auguft 1727, in the 76th year of her age. She is faid to have been a woman of good understanding and genteel behaviour, though in low circumftances. As fhe had been often called upon to read Homer and Ovid's Metamorphofes to her father, she could have repeated a confiderable number of verfes from the beginning of both thofe poets; and fhe has been heard to repeat feveral verfes likewife out of Euripides. Mr. Addifon, and other gentlemen, who had opportunities of feeing her, knew her immediately to be Milton's daughter by the fimilitude of her countenance to her father's picture. Mr. Addifon made her a handfome prefent of a purfe of guineas, with a promife of procuring for her fome annual provifion for her life: but his death happening foon after, the loft the benefit of his gênerous defign. She received prefents likewife from feveral other gentleman, and Q. Caroline fent her 501. by the hands of Dr. Freind the phyfician. She had ten children, feven fons, and three daughters; but none of them had any children, except her fon Caleb, and her daughter Elizabeth. Caleb went to Fort St. George in the Eaft-Indies; where he married, and had two fons, Abraham and Ifaac; the elder of whom came to England with the late Gov. Harrison, but returned upon advice of his father's death; and whether he or his brother be now living, is uncertain. Elizabeth, the youngest child of Mrs. Clarke, was married to Mr. Thomas Fofter a weaver in Spittlefields, and had feven children, who are all dead; and the herself is aged about fixty, and weak and infirm. She feemeth to be a good plain fenfible woman, and has confirmed feveral particulars related above, and informed me of fome others, which the had often heard from her mother: That her grandfather loft 20co 1.

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