As Brian Walton had, at one time, been
curate of Allhallows, Bread Street, Milton may have known him, and it
has been inferred that by Twells' expression--"The Council of
state, before whom _some_, having _relation to them_, brought this
business"--Milton is meant.
Not with John Hales, Cudworth, Whichcote, Nicholas Bernard, Meric
Casaubon, nor with any of the men of letters who were churchmen, do
we find Milton in correspondence. The interest of religion was
more powerful than the interest of knowledge; and the author of
_Eikonoklastes_ must have been held in special abhorrence by the loyal
clergy. The general sentiment of this party is expressed in Hacket's
tirade, for which the reader is referred to his Life of Archbishop
Williams.
From Presbyterians, such as Theophilus Gale or Baxter, Milton was
equally separated by party. Of Hobbes, Milton's widow told Aubrey
"that he was not of his acquaintance; that her husband did not like
him at all, but would acknowledge him to be a man of great parts."
Owing to these circumstances, the circle of Milton's intimates
contains few, and those undistinguished names.
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