THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. WITH The Life of the Author. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY R. & W. A. BARTOW, 250 PEARL-ST. AND BY W. A. BARTOW, RICHMOND, (VIR.) Gray & Bunce, Printers. THE LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. FROM a family and town of his name in Oxfordshire, our author derived his descent; but he was born at London, in the year 1608. His father, John Milton, by profession a scrivener, lived in a reputable manner on a competent estate, entirely his own acquisition, having been early disinherited by his parents for renouncing the communion of the church of Rome, to which they were zealously devoted. Our author was the favourite of his father's hopes, who, to cultivate the great genius which early displayed itself, was at the expense of a domestic tutor, whose care and capacity his pupil hath gratefully celebrated in an excellent Latin elegy. At his initiation he is said to have applied himself to letters with such indefatigable industry, that he rarely was prevailed upon to quit his studies be. fore midnight; which not only made him frequently subject to severe pains in his head, but likewise occasioned that weakness in his eyes, which terminated in a total privation of sight. From a domestic education he was removed to St. Paul's school, to complete his acquaintance with the classics, under the care of Dr. Gill; and, after a short stay there, was transplanted to Christ's College, in Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in all kinds of academical exercises. Of this society he con B |