Giles, near Cripplegate, where he lies
buried in the Chancel; and where the Piety of his Admirers will
shortly erect a Monument becoming his worth, and the incouragement
of Letters in King William's Reign." {19} It appears that his body
was laid next to that of his father. A plain stone only was placed
over the spot; and this, if Aubrey's account be trustworthy, was
removed in 1679, when the two steps were raised which lead to the
altar. The remains, however, were undisturbed for nearly sixteen
years. On the 4th of August, 1790, according to a small volume
written by Philip Neve, Esq. (of which two editions were published
in the same year), Milton's coffin was removed, and his remains
exhibited to the public on the 4th and 5th of that month. Mr.
George Steevens, the great editor of Shakespeare, who justly
denounced the indignity INTENDED, not offered, to the great Puritan
poet's remains by Royalist landsharks, satisfied himself that the
corpse was that of a woman of fewer years than Milton. Thus did
good Providence, or good fortune, defeat the better half of their
nefarious project: and I doubt not their gains were spent as money
is which has been "gotten over the devil's back." Steevens'
assurance gives us good reason for believing that Mr. Philip Neve's
indignant protest is only good in the general, and that Milton's
"hallowed reliques" still "rest undisturb'd within their peaceful
shrine.
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