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And I know no other way of accounting for his conduct, but by prefuming (as I think we may rea fonably prefume) that he was far from entirely approving of Cromwell's proceedings, but confidered him as the only perfon who could refcue the nation from the tyranny of the Prefbyterians, who he faw were erecting a worfe dominion of their own upon the ruins of prelatical epifcopacy; and of all things he dreaded fpiritual flavery, and therefore clofed with Cromwell and the Independents, as he expected under them greater liberty of confcience. And tho' he ferved Cromwell, yet it must be faid for him, that he ferved a great master, and ferved him ably, and was not wanting from time to time in giving him excellent good advice, especially in his fecond Defense: and fo little being faid of him in all Secretary Thurloe's ftate-papers, it appears that he had no great fhare in the fecrets and intrigues of government; what he dispatched was little more than matters of neceffary form, letters and answers to foreign ftates; and he may be juftified for acting in fuch a ftation, upon the fame principle as Sir Matthew Hale for holding a Judge's commiffion under the ufurper: and in the latter part of his life he frequently expreffed to his friends his entire fatisfaction of mind, that he had constantly employed his ftrength and faculties in the defenfe of liberty, and in oppofition to flavery.

In matters of religion too he has given as great offenfe, or even greater, than by his political principles. But ftill let not the infidel glory: no fuch man was ever of that party. He had the advantage of a pious education, and ever expreffed the VOL. I. G

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profoundest reverence of the Deity in his words and actions, was both a Chriftian and a Proteftant, and ftudied and admired the Holy Scriptures above all other books whatsoever; and in all his writings he plainly fhoweth a religious turn of mind, as well in verse as in profe, as well in his works of an earlier date as in thofe of later compofition. When he wrote the Doctrin and Disciplin of Divorce, he appears to have been a Calvinift; but afterwards he entertained a 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 therefore that fitteft in light and glory "unapproachable, Parent of Angels and Men! "next thee I implore Omnipotent King, Re"deemer of that loft remnant whofe nature thou "didft affume, ineffable and everlasting Love! "And thou the third fubfiftence of divine infini"tude, illumining Spirit, the joy and folace of

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created things! one Tri-perfonal Godhead! look <c upon this thy poor, and almost spent and expiring Church &c." And in his tract of Prelatical Epifcopacy he endevors to prove the fpurioufnefs of fome epiftles attributed to Ignatius, becaufe they contained in them herefies, one of which herefies is, that he condemns them for minifters of "Satan, who fay that Chrift is God above all.” And a little after in the fame tract he objects to the authority of Tertullian, becaufe he went about to prove an imparity between God the Father, and

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"God the Son." And in 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 otherwise he would not have been at the pains of tranflating it. Neque alienum videtur a ftudiis viri theologi poema magna ex parte theologicum; omni ex parte (rideant, per me licet, atque ringantur athei et infideles) orthodoxum. Milton was in

deed 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 disciplin of the Church; and in his younger years was a favorer of the Prefbyterians; 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 latter part of his life he was not a profeffed member of any particular fect of Chriftians, he 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 Christians had in fome things corrupted the purity and fimplicity of the Gofpel; or whether he difliked their endless 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

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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 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 last 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 estate, 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 200l. 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 spoils of his country. On the contrary (as we learn from his fecond Defenfe) he sustained great loffes during the civil war, and was not at all favored in the impofition of taxes, but fometimes paid beyond his due propor

tion. And upon a turn of affairs he was not only deprived of his place, but also loft 2000l. 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 money matters. And in the fire of London his house in Bread ftreet 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 thousand pounds, which were given him by the government for writing his Defense of the people against Salmafius, 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 ten pounds 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 proper ufe of it, and as he thought that he could dispose of it to greater advantage than they could after his decease. And finally by one means or other he died worth one thoufand 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 student in

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