"Behold! the rev'rend shade of Bartas stands
Before my thought, and in thy right commands,
That to the world I publish for him this,
'Bartas doth wish thy English now were his.'
So well in that are his inventions wrought,
As his will now be the translation thought;
Thine the original; and France shall boast
No more the maiden glories she has lost."[655:A]
The greatest compliment, however, which Sylvester has received, is the imitation of Milton.
The virtues of Sylvester were superior to his talents; he was, in fact, to adopt the language of one of his intimate friends, a poet