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sepultum certe constat. Nimirum qui armis tantopere delectabatur, inter arma sepeliri voluit. Hunc casum accidisse mihi non valde lugubren fateor, non quod miros hominis edentulos timerem, sed quod tranquillitatem animi unice amem, quam ille mihi propriam ac perpetuam haud quaquam reliquisset. Erat etiam eâ ætate, ut nihil solidi aut eruditi ab eo amplius sperari posset.

P. 595. Liber Miltoni heri huc est allatus. Exemplar meum petiit a me regina. Ipse non nisi cursim dum perlustravi. Nihil tale ab Anglo expectaram, et certe nisi me fallit animus, placuit quoque, uno tantum excepto, incomparabili nostræ Dominæ. Dicit tamen Salmasius se perditurum auctorem cum toto parlamento.

P. 596. Miltoni apologiam pro parlamento suo, priori accepimus hebdomade. Legit istud scriptum incomparabilis nostra domina, et, nisi fallor, valde ei placuit. Certe et ingenium istius viri, et scribendi genus, multis præsentibus collaudavit. Salmasius jam sese ad respondendum accingit quamvis necdum a diuturno morbo convaluerit, ira tamen satis ei suppeditabit roboris et armorum.

P. 600. Virulentum Miltoni librum jamdudum ad vos perlatum confido, ejus editiones quinque jam hic vidimus. Belgicam etiam versionem, Gallicam nunc adornari ferunt.

P. 603. Ex Miltoniano libro unicum tantum exemplar Holmiam perlatum miror, cum tria uno eodemque tempore, fuisse missa sciam. Est hic liber in omnium hic manibus ob argumenti nobilitatem, et jam quatuor, præter Anglicanam, editiones vidimus, unam in quartâ ut vocant formâ Gouda editum, tres in duodecima, quarum primam L. Elzevirius, secundam J. Jansenius, tertiam Trajentensis nescio quis edidit, quinta in octava forma editis. Hagæ sub prælo sudat ut monet Elzevirius. Belgicam versionem video etiam circumferri, Gallicam expectari ferunt. Miltonus ille quis sit non satis constat. Vidi qui adfirmarint, infimo loco natum: eruditum tamen, et plebeiorum factione ad maximam dignitatem promotum. L. Elzevirius adfirmat, certo sibi constare hominem esse et nobili loco natum, et opulentum, a reipublicæ muniis negotiisque omnibus remotum, ac sibi in rure suo viventem. Refutavit Anglico sermone Iconem Basilicam, qui liber inter Parlamentarios maximo est in pretio. Poemata etiam Latina edidit, sed quæ in manus meas hactenus non pervenerunt. Si certiora cognovero, faciam ut ex me intelligas.

P. 605. Valde quoque gratum erit, si porro significaveris, quis et qualis sit iste Miltonus, Iconoclastem si habeas, rogo ut transmittas.

P. 606. Salmasius situs est in meditatione operis contra Miltonum. Lepidum est, quod de Graswinchelio narras, male mulctabitur, si Miltonum adtigerit.

P. 601. Gronovii adversam valetudinem ægre admodum fero. At vero plus ægrotat Graswinchelius, si cum Anglo isto Molosso, Miltono dico,

sese commiserit.-Ipse (Salmasius) totus nunc est in confutando Scripto Miltoni, cui totidem reddit convitia nec patietur, ut a minore, vel hâc in parte saperetur.

P. 621. Graswinchelio interdictum esse, ne pergat in Miltono confutando, ægre fert Salmasius. Verum idem ex animo gaudet librum Miltoni, Lutetiæ publice a carnifice esse combustum. Non opus, ut meum de noc scripto interponam judicium, interim hoc scio, fatum esse bonorum fere librorum, ut hoc modo vel pereant vel periclitentur. Homines plerumque propter scelera et pravitatem manus carnificum subeunt, libri vero virtutis et præstantiæ ergo. Soli fatuorum labores tales non metuunt casus. Sed sane frustra sunt, qui se hoc modo exstirpare posse existimant Miltoni et aliorum Scripta, cum potius flammis istis, mirum quantum clarescant et illustrentur. Qua autem de Miltoni conditione, ad me scribis, illa convenire puto cum iis, quæ tibi ante hebdomades aliquot significavi.

P. 643. De motibus Anglicanis certiora procul dubio ex illo intelligere possis. Ego quippe raro in publicum prodeo, et non me multum immisceo publicis rumoribus. Miltonum cæcum esse factum, jam tibi significavi, addunt alii etiam mortuum.

P. 647. De Ethiope (Moro) et Anglâ (Pontiâ famulâ Salmasii) lepida sunt et festiva quæ reponis. Sed nunc negant ea vera esse, et sparsa esse ab Malevolis quibusdam. Sane constant mihi Anglam istam omnes Ethiopi (Moro), reddidisse amatorias suas. Inter ipsum et Salmasium lis forte orietur (quænam inter tales possit esse diuturna Concordia), propter librum hic excusum, cui titulus "Clamor Sanguinis Regii in Cœlum." Scriptus ille videtur a quovis Anonymo Anglo transmissus vero Salmasio, divulgatus vero ab Ethiope (Moro). Propter sexaginta exemplaria, quæ permisit typographus, inter ipsos est contentio.

venusta.

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P. 649. De Moro' vero quæ scribis, quam sunt ea lepida, quam Auctor sane ei sim, ut nummum det cum hâc inscriptione, "Subacta Britannia" verum vide quam ingratus sit iste heros erga Æthiopem, cujus tamen clave istam debet victoriam, quoniam is non cupit eam uxorem ducere, acerrime nunc illum persequitur. Mihi sane Ethiops multo rectius facturus fuisse videtur, si ex Ovidii tui præcepto a Domina incipisset. Minor quidem voluptas ista fuissit, sed longe majorem inivisset gratiam, divulgata est passim hæc fabella etiam in gazettis publicis Londinensibus addita etiam Epigrammata.

P. 651. De Salmasio nihil omnino habeo, quod tibi significem. Credo enim etiamnum cum solito suo malo conflictari. Rettulit tamen non nemo, eum nunc meliuscule valere. Lis ipsi est cum Moro. Cupit enim ut is Anglicanam suam in uxorem ducat, quod alter recusat. Verum isti duo boni amantes, qui nuper tam suaviter et amice oscula jungebant, valde

nunc sibi invicem sunt infensi. Ante quatriduum siquidem, cum forte Maurus huic nostræ occurreret in vastâ ista areá, quæ ædibus Salmasii adjacet, statim illa capillitium ejus invasit, pluribusque adfecit verberibus. Neque eo contenta, etiam fuste in illum sævire conabatur, nisi bonus ille socius in horreum confugisset, super struicem quandam, jactuque se vindicasset cæspitum. Huic spectaculo non defuit ingens spectatorum numerus, qui ex vicinia passim eo confluxerant, vides quam omnes in iis ædibus sunt yvvaizozoαтovμɛvoi, facile hinc possis conjicere, falsos fuisse rumores qui de 'Subacta Britannia' passim fuere sparsi, cum illa potius Maurum subegerit, vel, si verus sit rumor, adparet non satis fuisse subac

tam.

P. 662. Salmasius totus est in responso ad Miltonum. Cœptus est jam excudi, qui mole non erit minor priori. Miltonum passim Catamitum vocat, aitque cum in Italiâ vilissimum fuisse scortum, et passim nummis nates prostituisse, examinat quoque passim Carmina ejus Latina. Dissidium vero quod exercet cum Moro, indies crescit, presertim postquam in jus vocavit Anglicam, infensus quoque est alio nomine, nempe quod ipsum Morus Cornigerum vocarit.

P. 669. Miltonum mortuum credideram, sic certe nunciaras, sed præstat in vivis illum esse, ut Sycophantæ cum Sycophantis committantur. Poemata ejus mihi ostendit Holstenius, nihil illa ad elegantiam apologia. In prosodiam peccavit frequenter. Magnus igitur Salmasianæ crisi campus hic est assertus, sed quâ fronte alienos iste versus notabit, cujus musis nihil est cacatius? quod ait adversarium (Miltonum) nates Italis vendidisse, mira est calumnia. Utinam ejus male tam tutæ fuissent a pugnis uxoriis, quam posticum Miltoni os a sicariis Hetruscis! Imo invisus est Italis Anglus iste, inter quos multo vixit tempore, ob mores nimium severos, cum et de religione liberte disputaret, ac multa in Pontificem Romanum acerbe effutiret, quavis occasione.

EXTRACT FROM GENERAL MURRAY'S DIARY, (UNPUBLISHED.)

24th August, 1790. "I dined yesterday at Sir Gilbert's. As soon as the cloth was removed, Mr. Thornton gave the company an account of the violation of Milton's tomb; a circumstance which created in our minds a feeling of horror and disgust. He had been one of the visitors to the hallowed spot, and obtained his information from a person who

had been a witness to the whole sacrilegious transaction. He related the event nearly in the following manner :—

"The church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, being in a somewhat dilapidated state, the parish resolved to commence repairing it, and this was deemed a favourable opportunity to raise a subscription for the purpose of erecting a monument to the memory of our immortal bard, Milton, who, it was known, had been buried in this church. The parish register book bore the following entry :- 12 November, 1674, John Milton, gentleman, consump con, chancell.' Mr. Ascough, whose grandfather died in 1759, aged 84, had been often heard to say, that Milton was buried under the desk in the chancel. Messrs. Strong, Cole, and other parishioners, determined to search for the remains; and orders were given to the workmen, on the first of this month, to dig for the coffin. On the third, in the afternoon, it was discovered: the soil in which it had been deposited was of a calcareous nature, and it rested upon another coffin, which, there can be no doubt, was that of Milton's father, report having stated that the poet was buried, at his request, near the remains of his parent; and the same register book contained the entry, 'John Milton, gentleman, 15th March, 1646.' No other coffin being found in the chancel, which was entirely dug over, there can be no uncertainty as to their identity. Messrs. Strong and Cole having carefully cleansed the coffin with a brush and wet sponge, they ascertained that the exterior wooden case, in which the leaden one had been enclosed, was entirely mouldered away, and the leaden coffin contained no inscription or date. At the period when Milton died, it was customary to paint the name, age, &c. of the deceased, on the wooden covering, no plates or inscription being then in use; but all had long since crumbled into dust. The leaden coffin was much corroded: its length was five feet ten inches. The above gentlemen, satisfied as to the identity of the precious remains, and having drawn up a statement to that effect, gave orders, on Tuesday, the 3d, to the workmen to fill up the grave; but they neglected to do so, intending to perform that labour on the Saturday following. On the next day, the 4th, a party of parishioners, Messrs. Cole, Laming, Taylor, and Holmes, having met to dine at the residence of Mr. Fountain, the overseer, the discovery of Milton's remains became the subject of conversation; and it was agreed upon that they should disinter the body, and examine it more minutely. At eight o'clock at night, heated with drink, and accompanied by a man named Hawkesworth, who carried a flambeau, they sallied forth, and proceeded to the church. The sacrilegious work now commences. The coffin is dragged from its gloomy resting-place. Holmes made use of a mallet and chisel, and cut open the coffin slantways from the head to the breast. The lead being doubled up, the corpse became visible: it was enveloped in a thick white shroud; the ribs were standing

up regularly; but the instant the shroud was removed, they fell. The features of the countenance could not be traced, but the hair was in an astonishingly perfect state; its colour a light brown, its length six inches and a half, and, although somewhat clotted, it appeared, after having been well washed, as strong as the hair of a living being. The short locks growing towards the forehead, and the long ones flowing from the same place down the sides of the face, it became obvious that these were most certainly the remains of Milton. The 4to. print of the poet, by Faithorne, taken from life in 1670, four years before he died, represents him as wearing his hair exactly in the above manner. Fountain said he was determined to have two of the teeth; but, as they resisted the pressure of his fingers, he struck the jaw with a paving-stone, and several teeth then fell out. There were only five in the upper jaw, and these were taken by Fountain; the four that were in the lower jaw were seized upon by Taylor, Hawkesworth, and the sexton's man. The hair, which had been carefully combed and tied together before the interment, was forcibly pulled off the skull by Taylor and another; but Ellis the player, who had now joined the party, told the former, that, being a good hairworker, if he would let him have it, he would pay a guinea bowl of punch; adding, that such a relic would be of great service, by bringing his name into notice. Ellis, therefore, became possessed of all the hair: he likewise took a part of the shroud, and a bit of the skin of the skull: indeed, he was only prevented carrying off the head by the sextons, Hoppy and Grant, who said that they intended to exhibit the remains, which was afterwards done, each person paying 6d. to view the body. These fellows, I am told, gained near 1001. by the exhibition. Laming put one of the leg bones in his pocket. My informant assured me, continued Mr. Thornton, that, while the work of profanation was proceeding, the gibes and jokes of these vulgar fellows made his heart sick, and he retreated from the scene, feeling as if he had witnessed the repast of a vampire. Viscount C., who sat near me, said to Sir G., "This reminds me of the words of one of the fathers of the church, And little boys have played with the bones of great kings.'"-London Monthly Magazine, August, 1833.

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