To Mr. John Milton of London
A youth eminent from his country and his virtues,
Who in his travels has made himself acquainted with many nations, and in his studies, with all; that, like another Ulysses, he might learn all that all could teach him;
Skilful in many tongues, on whose lips languages now mute so live again, that the idioms of all are insufficient to his praise; happy acquisition by which he understands the universal admiration and applause his talents have excited;
Whose endowments of mind and person move us to wonder, but at the same time fix us immoveable; whose works prompt us to extol him, but by their beauty strike us mute;
In whose memory the whole world is treasured; in whose intellect, wisdom; in whose heart, the ardent desire of glory; and in whose mouth, eloquence. Who with Astronomy for his conductor, hears the music of the spheres; with Philosophy for his teacher, decyphers the handwriting of God, in those wonders of creation which proclaim his greatness; and with the most unwearied literary Industry for his associate,
Examines, restores, penetrates with ease the obscurities of antiquity, the desolations of ages, and the labyrinths of learning;
“But wherefore toil to reach these arduous heights?”
To him, in short, whose virtues the mouths of Fame are too few to celebrate, and whom astonishment forbids us to praise as he deserves, this tribute due to his merits, and the offering of reverence and affection, is paid by
C ARLO D ATI ,
A P ATRICIAN F LORENTINE ,
This great man's servant, and this good man's friend.
Who in his travels has made himself acquainted with many nations, and in his studies, with all; that, like another Ulysses, he might learn all that all could teach him;
Skilful in many tongues, on whose lips languages now mute so live again, that the idioms of all are insufficient to his praise; happy acquisition by which he understands the universal admiration and applause his talents have excited;
Whose endowments of mind and person move us to wonder, but at the same time fix us immoveable; whose works prompt us to extol him, but by their beauty strike us mute;
In whose memory the whole world is treasured; in whose intellect, wisdom; in whose heart, the ardent desire of glory; and in whose mouth, eloquence. Who with Astronomy for his conductor, hears the music of the spheres; with Philosophy for his teacher, decyphers the handwriting of God, in those wonders of creation which proclaim his greatness; and with the most unwearied literary Industry for his associate,
Examines, restores, penetrates with ease the obscurities of antiquity, the desolations of ages, and the labyrinths of learning;
“But wherefore toil to reach these arduous heights?”
To him, in short, whose virtues the mouths of Fame are too few to celebrate, and whom astonishment forbids us to praise as he deserves, this tribute due to his merits, and the offering of reverence and affection, is paid by
C ARLO D ATI ,
A P ATRICIAN F LORENTINE ,
This great man's servant, and this good man's friend.
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