Sir John Eliot - 1865 Author:John Forster Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 1590-1619. Eliot's Generous Nature. 7 17- ' But Eliot's was one of thefe rare exceptional natures. He feems ever to have held himfelf the willing debtor of... more » the man he had fo unwillingly offended. " I am forrie," he fays in one of his letters, after granting Moyle what he had afked, " this returne is not better to the occafion " you have given me. It may ferve for an expreffion of " my power, though my affection be beyond it. I cann " command corruption out of noe man, but in myne own " hart have a cleere will to ferve you, and mall faithfullie " remaine your true friend." In the other, written fome months after,f in anfwer to an interceffion by Moyle for an offending tenant of Sir John's, the following paflage occurs: " In anfweare to your love, I will geve order " to my fervante Hill, at his returne into the countrie, " to repaie him the money that's receav'd; and foe to " leave him to his old intereft for the tenemente. In which " he muft acknowledge your curtefie and favor, for " whofe fatisfaction it is done by your moft affectionate "freind." Let me remark further, that this incident of Eliot's opening manhood is in no refpect to be judged by the p. 513 (in reference to the "apologie"), "I perfeftly agree that this "extraordinary apology was not written by a man who had ftabbed his "companion in the back; nor can I imagine, that after fuch a revolting " incident, any approximation at a reneival of intercourfe ivould have been "poj/tble." He then proceeds, with amufing pertinacity, to fhift the grounds of the charge. His argument, however, on his own admiffion, is exploded by the letters to Mr. Moyle cited in my text. No perverfity, however foolifh or recklefs, can again revive it. I cannot leave the fubjeft of this firft of the calumnies reiterated by Mr. D'Ifrael...« less