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tion of his having been thus deluded, inspired the poet with his admirable apology for Uriel deceived by Satan.

For neither man nor angel can discern
Hypocrisy, the only evil, that walks
Invisible, except to God alone,

By his permissive will, thro' heav'n and earth;
And oft, tho' wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps
At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity

Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill Where no ill seems.

That sublime religious enthusiasm, which was the predominant characteristic of the poet, exposed him particularly to be duped by the prime artifice of the political impostor, who was indeed so consummate in the art of deception, that he occasionally deceived the prudent unheated Ludlow and the penetrating inflexible Bradshaw; nay, who carried habitual deception to such a length, that he is supposed, by some acute judges of human nature, to have been ultimately the dupe of his own hypocritical fervor, and to have thought himself, what he induced many to think him, the selected

servant of God, expressly chosen to accomplish wonders, not only for the good of his nation, but for the true interest of Christendom.

Though Cromwell had assumed the title of Protector, when Milton in his second defence sketched a masterly portrait of him (as we have seen he did of Bradshaw in the same production) yet the new potentate had not, at this period, completely unveiled his domineering and oppressive character; on the contrary, he affected, with the greatest art, such a tender concern for the people; he represented himself, both in his public and private protestations, so perfectly free from all ambitious desires, that many persons, who possessed not the noble unsuspecting simplicity of Milton, believed the Protector sincere in declaring, that he reluctantly submitted to the cares of government, merely for the settlement and security of the nation. With a mind full of fervid admiration for his marvellous atchievments, and generally disposed to give him credit for every upright intention, Milton hailed

him as the father of his country, and delineated his character; if there were some particles of flattery in his panegyric, which, if we adhere to our author's just definition of flattery, we cannot allow, it was completely purified from every cloud or speck of servility by the most splendid and sublime admonition, that was ever given to a man possessed of great talents and great power by a genuine and dauntless friend, to whom talents and power were only objects of reverence, when under the real or fancied direction of piety and virtue.

"Revere (says Milton to the Pro

* Reverere tantam de te expectationem, spem patriæ de te unicam; reverere vultus et vulnera tot fortium virorum, quotquot, te duce, pro libertate tam strenuè, decertarunt; manes etiam eorum qui in ipso certamine occubuerunt; reverere exterarum quoque civitatum existimationem de nobis atque sermones, quantas res de libertate nostra tam fortiter parta, de nostra republica tam gloriose exorta sibi polliceantur, quæ si tam cito quasi aborta evanuerit, profecto nihil æque dedecorosum huic genti, atque pudendum fuerit; teipsum denique reverere, ut pro qua adipiscenda libertate tot ærumnas pertulisti, tot pericula adiisti, cam adeptus violatam per

tector) the great expectation, the only hope, which our country now rests upon yourevere the sight and the sufferings of so

te, aut ulla in parte imminutam aliis ne sinas esse. Profecto tu ipse liber sine nobis esse non potes, sic enim naturâ comparatum est, ut qui aliorum libertatem occupat, suam ipse primum omnium amittat; seque primum omnium intelligat servire; atque id quidem non injuria. At vero, si patronus ipse libertatis, et quasi tutelaris deus, si is, quo nemo justior, nemo sanctior est habitus, nemo vir melior, quam vindicavit ipse, cam postmodum invaserit, id non ipsi tantum sed universæ virtutis ac pietatis rationi perniciosum ac lethale propemodum sit necesse est: ipsa honestas ipsa virtus decoxisse videbitur religionis augusta fides, existimatio perexigua in posterum erit, quo gravius generi homano vulnus, post illud primum, infligi nullum poterit. Onus longe gravissimum suscepisti, quod te penitus explorabit totum te atque intimum perscrutabitur atque ostendet, quid tibi animi, quid virium insit, quid ponderis; vivatue in te vere illa pietas, fides, justitia, animique moderatio, ob quas evectum te pro cæteris Dei numine ad hanc summam dignitatem credimus. Tres nationes validissimas consilio regere, populos ab institutis pravis ad meliorem, quam antehac, frugem ac disciplinam velle perducere, remotissimas in partes, sollicitam mentem, cogitationes immittere, vigilare, prævidere, nullum laborem recusare, nulla voluptatum blandimenta non spernere, divitiarum atque potentiæ

many brave men, who, under your guidance, have fought so strenuously for freedomrevere the credit we have gained in foreign. nations-reflect on the great things they. promise themselves from our liberty, so acquired; from our republic, so gloriously. founded, which, should it perish like an abortion, must expose our country to the utmost contempt and dishonor.

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Finally, revere yourself; and having sought and sustained every hardship and danger for the acquisition of this liberty, let it not be violated by yourself, or impaired by others, in the smallest degree. In truth, it is impossible for you to be free yourself unless we are so; for it is the ordinance of nature, that the man who first invades the

ostentationem fugere, hæc sunt illa ardua, præ quibus bellum ludus est; hæc te ventilabunt atque excutient, hæc virum poscunt divino fultum auxilio, divino pene colloquio monitum atque edoctum. Quæ tu, et plura, æpenumero quin tecum reputes atque animo revolvas non dubito; uti et illud, quibus potissimum queas modis. et illa maxima perficere et libertatem salvam nobis reddere et auctiorem.-Prose Works, Vol. II. p. 399.

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