  No. V.—THE REV. P. MORANT TO A. FARLEY, ESQ. South Lambeth, Oct. 17, 1769. Sir,—In one of the Petitions which I am preparing for the press, there is an extract out of Domesday-book, written so badly that I cannot possibly make out a word in it near the end. I inclose a transcript of it, and, if it is not too much trouble, humbly (sic) the Favor of You to fill in up that word, and send this Letter back to Mr. Astle at the Paper Office. I am obliged to print that Extract as it is in the Petition, and therefore you will be so good as not to give yourself the Trouble to write out the whole Extract. Begging of You to excuse this Trouble, I remain, To [This letter was written by the Rev. P. Morant, the historian of Essex, while residing at Lambeth, whither he had removed early in this year, as being appointed to succeed Mr. Blyke in the work of preparing for the press a copy of the “Rolls of Parliament.” The “Mr. Astle” to whom it refers was Thomas Astle, Esq., Keeper of the Records, who married Morant’s daughter. It was in crossing over from Lambeth to his work that Morant caught the chill from which he died. “Milton’s Bible,” which the trustees of the British Museum have purchased, is, strictly speaking, the first Mrs. Milton’s Bible. “I am the book of Mary Milton,”—so runs the inscription in the lady’s own handwriting. The poet, himself, however, has entered the dates of the birth of his children, which are given with commendable precision. Thus—“Anne, my daughter, was born July 29, the day of the monthly Fast, between six and seven, or about half an hour after six in the morning, 1646.” Another entry records a fact not often remembered: “My son John was born on Sunday, March 16, at half-past nine at night, 1650.” This child, Milton’s only son, died an infant—“through the ill-usage or bad constitution of an ill-chosen nurse,” says Phillips. The fates and fortunes of Milton’s remaining children, and even of his grandchildren, are well-known; we read also of great-grandchildren who lived, but (it is to be feared) did not flourish, at Madras down to the commencement of George II.’s reign. Then one loses sight of them altogether. Possibly the heir of the poet’s body is a Eurasian, and a writer of Baboo English. Perhaps he is identical with the judicious author who boasted that “he had studied the Shakespeare and the Milton, and had avoided the imperfections of either.”—St. James’s Gazette. |
|
