Gna g 
| Feb. 
Extrads from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. 
BUKE of SHREWSBURY fo DR. TALBOT, 
BiSHOP of OXFORD.—HEx. MUS. BRIT. 
HAR. 
“© Rome, 27 Sept. 1704, N.S. 
“* MY LORD, 
CT 1s fome time that F am indebted to 
your Lordthip for the favour of a 
Fetter, but having not king to write but ili- 
Hiews of my health, I was weary of the 
febject. IT ann now, praifed be God, 
wruch better, and, in two or three months, 
di fion for Venice, and fo, by wat and 
fittle, to get home-agaiatt {pi ing; being 
willing, when I retura into Eng! and, to 
fiave the fummer before me, hoping, by 
thet means , better to accultom mylelf. to 
he change of climate, than if I ee ar- 
rived before the winter. IF muft defire 
you will give yourfelt tne trouble, once 
again, of diftributing a little say for 
fie, as formerly. His this po& I have di- 
Fecied Arden (o pay oe to your Lord- 
Hivio’s own order. 
6s fn the letters of-fome of my friends, 
have obferved it hinted, as, if my fo 
ong rehding in th’s place had caufda 
oufy that ¥ was betrer inclined to the 
opith religion than ] formerly was. Af- 
Wh bese” 
th 
‘ys 
We 
Seed Sones 
1 
fet what I have done for the opinion I pro- 
ee ae again that Tf iert, I hoped “1 
had beea cae hable to that fufpicion than 
Zoy roan aliy How ever, in y conde ict 
are difcour t, ti have confantly here en- 
leaqvoured to ccavince every bedy of abl 
aah never go to jany ot their 
anlefs ake. fome tim:<s for a 
In cafe I 
fent at ‘the 
time they elevate. the Holt, T have never 
ent a knee 3 athing waich many Rrangers 
Hever (cruple todo 5 the contrary being, 
fomeiimes, not without danger, irom the 
ytidenefs of the people. 
aii intimacy with Prelates or Cardinals, 
pafiing my life much alone, either -at 
home, or taking the airabroad. 1 have 
never been with the Pope, though folicit- 
ed toit, by the offer of a ‘reatment equal, 
¥f not more, than any of my rank ever 
had. In my difcourfe among my coun- 
trymen, Ihave never omitted to expole 
the iolly and fuperfition of their religion, 
infinit ely more ridiculous here than it 41s 
eiher in England or Franée. . And to the 
T-alians themfelves I have done the fame, 
as much as-good-breeding and the Eaquis 
{ition allowed me to do. And whoever is 
to itupid, as to confider no further ia reli. 
pion. ce outward thew, will bein danger 
Ys) BS charmed by. this tales here 5 
ther cnurche:, the mufe, ilumiaations, 
4 
to ce ata picture. 
Brit Ors] Ent, 
have, accide otally, been pre 
I have de clined, 
and fcenes, delight the ear and eye be- 
yond our operas; but whoever refleéts, 
that religion was intended for fomething 
more folid, will never be fatished by the 
bigotry and fuperftition, calculated only 
for outward appearance, ahd not in the 
Jeaft to correct human paffions, and make: 
a man better. I hope fuch an occafion 
will never again offer to fhew my zeal for 
the maintenance of the Proteftant  reli- 
gion, as that Fdid not decline, in King 
James’s reign; but if ever it fhould, A 
affure you, I,fhall be as forward to expofe 
my fortune and life, in its defence, as I 
was in the year 1623. 
«Tt may be objected, why, of all 
places, I have cholen Rome to ‘fiay fo 
ee in? My aniwer is (Venice excepted, 
where I fear the moift air would not agree 
with me), that the Pope’s dominion is the 
leafi. Pop:th of any place ia Italy. In 
moft other towns, I know by experience 
and enquiry, that, knowing my particu. 
dar circumftances; they would make a dif- 
ficulty to converfe with me: here they 
are lefs {crupulous in that paint, theush 
ver; m rany, Tam fure, have declined it 
upon that acceunt. 
‘Ji Portugal, byreafon of the long 
voyage by fea, and France and Spaia, 
had not been impracticable for the war, 
T had never come into Italy and, “imlet- 
ters and difcourle, l have often tan nted, 
there is no where in Europe a Protefaat 
country favoured with the warm fun—a 
blefling the cireumfiances of my health fo 
much want. Iam not without hopes of 
having {0 much bettered my health, that 
I may, at myreturn, be able to endure 
the air of my own country; and I would 
not fpvil what I have taken fo much pains 
toecablith, by expefing mylelf to a cold 
climate in the rigorous pare of the year: 
fo that Irefolve-to tee the worlt part of . 
the wiater over before I a Italy. 
«< ¥ ‘ztk your Lorcfhip’s pardon for fo 
Jong a trouble, wiich i fhou!d net have 
dore, but that, tranfperted by the fub- 
ject. I write upon, I bave faid move than 
I defigsed ; and it you find any, body that 
this malicicus infinuation has had any m= 
fluence upon, ;ou will oblige me, cither 
by thy w ing ibem what 1 here. write, or an- 
{wering for me, that I am incapable of 
fs such balenels; and be afiured, that 
the wnole courte of my life fhall thew me, 
if not a goud Protettan:, at Jealt a true 
one.—And your Lordfhip’s moft faithful, 
‘* And obedient fervant, 
‘+ SHREWSBURY.” 
