In more induring history to live

An endless life is alfo thine to give ;

And thou haft given it them; and deigned to teach

The manners, fortunes, lives, and gifts of each,
Rival to him, whofe pen, to nature true,

The life of Homer eloquently drew!

If the two Latin verses, in which this amiable old man expressed his admiration of the young English bard, deserve the name of a (C sorry distich,” which Johnson bestows upon them, they ftill present Milton to our fancy in a most favourable light. A traveller, fo little distinguished by birth or opulence, would hardly have obtained fuch a compliment from a nobleman of Manso's experience, age, and dignity, had he not been peculiarly formed to engage the good opinion and courtesy of ftrangers, by the expreffive comeliness of his person, the elegance of his manners, and the charm of his converfation.

In Manfo, fays Milton, I found a most friendly guide, who fhewed me himself the curiofities of Naples, and the palace of the Viceroy. He came more than once to vifit me, while I continued in that city; and when I left it, he earnestly excused himself, that although he greatly wished to render me more good offices, he was unable to do fo in Naples, because in my religion I had disdained all disguise *.

* Neapolim perrexi: illic per eremitam quendam, quîcum Româ iter feceram, ad Joannem Baptiftam Manfum, Marchionem Villenfem, virum nobiliffimum atque graviffimum (ad quem Torquatus Taflus, infignis poeta Italus, de amicitia fcripfit) sum introductus; eodemque ufus, quamdiu illic fui, fane amiciffimo;

qui et ipfe me per urbis loca et proregis aulam circumduxit, et visendi gratiâ haud femel ipse ad hofpitium venit: difcedenti feriò excufavit fe, tametfi multò plura detuliffe mihi officia maxime cupiebat, non potuiffe illâ in urbe, propterea quod nolebam in religione effe tectior.-Defenfio Secunda.

Pleafing

Pleafing and honourable as the civilities were that our young countryman received from this Neftor of Italy, he has amply repaid them in a poem, which, to the honour of English gratitude and English genius, we may juftly pronounce fuperior to the compliments bestowed on this engaging character by the two celebrated poets, who wrote in his own language, and were peculiarly attached to him.

Of the five fonnets, indeed, that Taffo addreffed to his courteous and liberal friend, two are very beautiful; but even these are surpassed, both in energy and tenderness, by the following conclufion of a poem, infcribed to Manfo, by Milton.

Diis dilecte fenex, te Jupiter æquus oportet
Nafcentem, et miti luftrarit lumine Phoebus,
Atlantifque nepos; neque enim, nifi charus ab ortu

Diis fuperis, poterit magno faviffe poeta:

;

Hinc longæva tibi lento fub flore fenectus
Vernat, et Æfonios lucratur vivida fufos
Nondum deciduos fervans tibi frontis honores,
Ingeniumque vigens, et adultum mentis acumen.
O mihi fic mea fors talem concedat amicum,
Phœbæos decoraffe viros qui tam bene norit,
Siquando indigenas revocabo in carmina reges,.
Arturumque etiam fub terris bella moventem!
Aut dicam invicta fociali fœdere menfæ

Magnanimos heroas; et O modo fpiritus adfit,
Frangam Saxonicas Britonum fub marte phalanges!
Tandem ubi,non tacitæ permenfus tempora vitæ,

4

Annorumque

Annorumque fatur, cineri sua jura relinquam,
Ille mihi lecto madidis aftaret ocellis,

Aftanti fat erit fi dicam fim tibi curæ:
Ille meos artus, liventi morte folutos,

Curaret parva componi molliter urna ;
Forfitan et noftros ducat de marmore vultus,

Nectens aut Paphia myrti aut Parnaffide lauri

Tum quoque, fi qua fides, fi præmia certa bonorum,
Ipfe ego cœlicolum femotus in æthera divum,
Quo labor et mens pura vehunt, atque ignea virtus,
Secreti hæc aliquâ mundi de parte videbo,

Quantum fata finunt: et tota mente serenum
Ridens, purpureo fuffundar lumine vultus,
Et fimul ætherio plaudam mihi lætus olympo.

Well may we think, O dear to all above,
Thy birth distinguish'd by the fmile of Jove,
And that Apollo fhed his kindliest power,
And Maia's fon, on that propitious hour;
Since only minds fo born can comprehend
A poet's worth, or yield that worth a friend:
Hence on thy yet unfaded cheek appears
The lingering freshness of thy greener years;
Hence in thy front and features we admire
Nature unwither'd, and a mind entire.
O might fo true a friend to me belong,
So skill'd to grace the votaries of song,
Should I recall hereafter into rhyme
The kings and heroes of my native clime,

Arthur

Arthur the chief, who even now prepares
In fubterraneous being future wars,

With all his martial knights to be restor❜d,
Each to his feat around the fed'ral board ;
And O! if spirit fail me not, difperfe
Our Saxon plunderers in triumphant verse ;
Then after all, when with the past content,
A life I finish, not in filence spent,

Should he, kind mourner, o'er my death bed bend,
I fhall but need to fay "be still my friend!"
He, faithful to my duft, with kind concern,
Shall place it gently in a modeft urn;

He too, perhaps, fhall bid the marble breathe

To honour me, and with the graceful wreath,
Or of Parnaffus, or the Paphian Isle,

Shall bind my brows-but I shall reft the while.

Then alfo, if the fruits of faith endure,

And virtue's promis'd recompence be sure,

Borne to thofe feats, to which the bleft afpire,

By purity of foul and virtuous fire,

Thefe rites, as fate permits, I fhall survey

With eyes illumin'd by celeftial day,

And, every cloud from my pure fpirit driven,

Joy in the bright beatitude of heaven.

The preceding verses have various claims to attention; they exhibit a lively picture of the literary project that oc- . cupied the mind of Milton at this period; they forcibly prove with what vehemence of defire he panted for poetical

immortality,

immortality, and for the fuperior rewards of a laborious life, devoted to piety and virtue.

His acquaintance with Manfo may be regarded as the most fortunate incident of his foreign excurfion. Nothing could have a greater tendency to preserve and strengthen the feeds of poetic enterprize in the mind of the young traveller, than his familiarity with this eminent and engaging perfonage, the bosom friend of Taffo; the friend who had cherifhed that great and afflicted poet under his roof in a feason of his mental calamity, had restored his health, re-animated his fancy, and given a religious turn to the latest efforts of his majestic mufe. The very life of Taffo, which this noble biographer had written with the copious and minute fidelity of perfonal knowledge, and with the ardour of affectionate enthusiasm, might be fufficient to give new energy to Milton's early paffion for poetical renown: his converfation had, probably, a still greater tendency to produce this effect. Circumftances remote, and apparently of little moment, have often a marvellous influence on the works of imagination; nor is it too wild a conjecture to suppose, that the zeal of Manso, in speaking to Milton of his departed friend, might give force and permanence to that literary ambition, which ultimately rendered his afpiring guest the great rival of Taffo, and, in the estimation of Englishmen, his fuperior.

From Naples it was the defign of Milton to pass into Sicily and Greece; but receiving intelligence of the civil war in England, he felt it inconfiftent with his principles to wander