the second, indeed, seems to have been more a favourite, but her
life was short. The third, as Philips relates, oppressed his
children in his lifetime, and cheated them at his death.

Soon after his marriage, according to an obscure story, he was
offered the continuance of his employment, and, being pressed by his
wife to accept it, answered, "You, like other women, want to ride in
your coach; my wish is to live and die an honest man." If he
considered the Latin secretary as exercising any of the powers of
government, he that had shared authority, either with the Parliament
or Cromwell, might have forborne to talk very loudly of his honesty;
and if he thought the office purely ministerial, he certainly might
have honestly retained it under the King. But this tale has too
little evidence to deserve a disquisition; large offers and sturdy
rejections are among the most common topics of falsehood.

He had so much either of prudence or gratitude, that he forbore to
disturb the new settlement with any of his political or
ecclesiastical opinions, and from this time devoted himself to
poetry and literature. Of his zeal for learning in all its parts,
he gave a proof by publishing, the next year (1661), "Accidence
commenced Grammar;" a little book which has nothing remarkable, but
that its author, who had been lately defending the supreme powers of
his country, and was then writing "Paradise Lost," could descend
from his elevation to rescue children from the perplexity of
grammatical confusion, and the trouble of lessons unnecessarily
repeated.

About this time, Elwood the Quaker, being recommended to him as one
who would read Latin to him for the advantage of his conversation,