LETTER FROM WILLIAM LAUDER TO DOCTOR

BIRCH;

In which he states his Reasons for interpolating the Authors which MILTON had studied.

E Mus. Brit. Bibl. Birch, 4312..

REVEREND SIR,

ON Wednesday morning last I had the honour to wait on his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to receive his Lordship's answer to a letter I had left for his Lordship the day before; his Grace was pleased to forgive my offence, receive me into favour, to continue his allowance to publish Professor Ramsay's Sacred Poems under the patronage of his illustrious and venerable name, and even to promise to use his interest with others to promote the undertaking, so as to redound to my advantage. I wish all the rest of my illustrious and honourable patrons may follow his Grace's laudable and amiable example, and treat me with equal placability and mercy, as it is the property of great minds to be merciful, of which all men some time or other stand in need. For where is the man, I say, who does not at some time or other deviate from his duty? And God

forbid that one offence, not of a capital kind, should be deemed sufficient to devote a man to destruction, whose life was formerly virtuous and innocent, for which I am content to appeal not only to the testimony of friends and acquaintance, but even to that of my most inveterate enemies, numbers of whom I still have the miffortune to grapple with.

I called for you at your house some time ago, but had the mortification to be told, you were resolved not to see me, but I might communicate what I had to say by a letter, which I confess shocked me as much as any thing I ever met with in my lifetime.

I informed you what friendly and honourable mention I had made of you to my Lord Chancellor, when I had the honour to wait upon him; you was conscious with what respect I treated you in my Essay, and the Rev. Dr. Cuming can inform you how favourably I mentioned you to him. So that all these testimonies of respect, on my part, merited, I thought, other kind of usage at your hand. In short, I fancied I was entitled to a fair hearing, face to face, when I could have told you, that you was the cause, the innocent cause I mean, of my offence, more than any man alive. I mean your Appendix to Milton's Life, where you relate an unparalleled scene of villany, as acted by Milton

against

against King Charles I. who, in order to blast the reputation of that prince, the undoubted author of Eikon Basilike, stole a prayer out of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, and obliged the printer of the King's book, under severe penalties and threatenings, to subjoin it to his Majesty's performance, and then made a hideous outcry against his own action, merely to create a jealousy, as was observed just now, that if his Majesty was not the author of the prayers in that Treatise, he was far less the author of the Treatise itself, which thing is believed by thousands to this day, solely on the credit of Milton's affirmation, when he was the architect of the imposture himself. Now, if that action, when committed by Milton, is without malignity, why should it be deemed so criminal in me? And if it is culpable in me, as I deny not, it is also equally culpable in Milton, or more so, as he was the first transgressor, and as I only transcribed his worthy pattern, to give people a just idea of the nature of the action Milton was guilty of against the King, which they would never have been so sensible of, had I not acted so by him; as it is natural for people to be more affected where they are interested themselves, than when they are not concerned, and with present things more than things long since passed, and out of their reach. The fairness of which proceeding against Mil

ton

ton (though I pretend not thereby to exculpate myself) is sufficiently justified by the approved maxim of the poet,

"Sua quisque exempla debet æquo animo pati."

For, allow me to tell you, it will not be Toland's opinion or testimony. that will invalidate the evidence, which, I believe, would be admitted as competent in any court of judicature in the kingdom, whereas all the world knows what kind of a man Toland was.

Now, if this be the case, as you very well know it is, do you think I deserved so much to be reproached as I have been, only for acting by Milton as he acted by the King, and that with an express view to paint forth the horridness of the action, though at the expense of my character for a time, till the true design was unravelled?

And on this topic I intended first to have defended myself, where I must have alleged your authority, as from you alone I derived the information, had I not reflected, that his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, my Lord Chancellor, and several other great men, gave me a permission to make a new edition of some authors, whom it is certain in the opinion of some, and probably in the opinion of others, as the judgments of men are various, that Milton consulted

in composing his poem, and to inscribe them to their illustrious names; but upon this express condition, that I was not to pursue his steps any farther, with respect to his imitation of these authors, but leave every reader to judge for himself, as also to forbear from all further acrimony against this great writer.

Now, do you think it just or reasonable that I should be so severely reflected upon for fulfilling my engagement given to these great men, by de riving the whole blame upon myself, rather than by disclosing Milton's vile forgery against the King, to become the author of any public disturb ance, by sowing the seed of jealousy between the friends and enemies of Milton, both which, you know, are numerous; and consequently administering fuel to inflame the animosity of contending parties?

I declare, therefore, sincerely, that had not Milton acted so by the King, as I am convinced in my conscience he did, and for which we have indisputable evidence given us, I would have submitted to any punishment sooner than either to have offered such violence to truth, or put such an imposition on Milton or the public.

For what is the vast reputation that Milton enjoys as a poet, to me? as I have no intention or ambition, far less ability, to rival him in that glory.

My