ent, in Cocklane, not far from
Shoreditch-church."

That this relation is true cannot be questioned: but, surely, the honour
of letters, the dignity of sacred poetry, the spirit of the English
nation, and the glory of human nature, require--that it should be true
no longer. In an age, in which statues are erected to the honour of this
great writer, in which his effigy has been diffused on medals, and his
work propagated by translations, and illustrated by commentaries; in an
age, which amidst all its vices, and all its follies, has not become
infamous for want of charity: it may be, surely, allowed to hope, that
the living remains of Milton will be no longer suffered to languish in
distress. It is yet in the power of a great people, to reward the poet
whose name they boast, and from their alliance to whose genius, they
claim some kind of superiority to every other nation of the earth; that
poet, whose works may possibly be read when every other monument of
British greatness shall be obliterated; to reward him--not with
pictures, or with medals, which, if he sees, he sees with contempt, but
--with tokens of gratitude, which he, perhaps, may even now consider as
not unworthy the regard of an immortal spirit. And, surely, to those,
who refuse their names to no other scheme of expense, it will not be
unwelcome, that a subscription is proposed, for relieving, in the
languor of age, the pains of disease, and the contempt of poverty, the
granddaughter of the author of Paradise Lost. Nor can it be questioned,
that if I, who have been marked out as the Zoilus of Milton, think this
regard due to his posterity, the design will be warmly seconded by
those, whose lives have been employed, in discovering his excellencies,
and extending his reputation.

Subscriptions for the relief of Mrs. ELIZABETH FOSTER, granddaughter to
JOHN MILTON, are taken in by Mr. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall; Messrs. Cox and
Collings, under the Royal Exchange; Mr. Cave, at St. John's Gate,
Clerkenwell; and Messrs. Payne and Bouquet, in Paternoster-Row.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The history of Lauder's imposition is now almost forgotten, and is,
certainly, not worth revival. It is fully detailed in Dr. Drake's
Literary Life of Johnson, and in Boswell's Life, i. The conflicting
inferences drawn from Johnson's connexion with Lauder, by Hayley,
Dr. Symonds and Boswell, may easily be settled by those who have
leisure for, or take interest in, such inquiri