That Milton was _rusticated_ from Cambridge, and besides flogged by Dr. Chappell, there seems little reason to doubt, but it is equally clear that the punishment was only a temporary one, as he again went into residence, and took the degrees of bachelor and master of arts in due course. Whence, then, this sweeping accusation of the great and good Bramhall's, whose character is a sufficient safeguard that he at all events _believed_ what he said? Aubrey relates the story of Milton's being whipped by Dr. Chappell, and afterwards being "transferred to the tuition of one Dr. Tovell, who dyed parson of Lutterworth."[2] Milton himself (_Elegiarum Liber, Eleg. I. ad Carolum Deodatum_) speaks of his residence in London, and alludes, rather gratefully, to his "exilium" from Cambridge, which he heartily disliked. He also alludes to his being flogged, as there seems a whole world of meaning in _Cæteraque_: "Nec duri libet usque minas perferre magistri, _Cæteraque ingenio non subeunda meo_. Si sit hoc _exilium_ patrios adiisse penates, Et vacuum curis otia grata sequi, Non ego vel _profugi_ nomen, sortemve recuso, Lætus et _exilii_ conditione fruor."--Ver. 15. &c. [Footnote 2: Dr. Warton has given a long note on the word _Cæteraque_ in his edition of Milton's _Poems_, 1791, p. 421. He suggests that probably "Dr. Tovell" should read "Dr. _Tovey_, parson of _Kegworth_, in Leicestershire."] We then get a short sketch of his employments and amusements in London; and his return to Cambridge is mentioned in the palinode to the last of his elegies: "Donec Socraticos umbrosa academia rivos Præbuit, admissum dedocuitque jugum. Protinus extinctis ex illo tempore flammis, Cincta rigent multo pectora nostra gelu." Having now cleared my way in as brief a manner as possible, I must profess my utter disbelief in the enormities of Milton's life at Cambridge. He was certainly flogged, but then he was only eighteen years old at the time, and we know that flogging was permitted by the statutes of many colleges, and was a favorite recreation amongst the deans, tutors, and censors of the day. Bramhall's letter has indeed been a marvellous stumbling-block in my way, ever since the appearance of the last edition of his works; but I do hope that some of your learned correspondents will dispel the clouds and shadows that surround me, and prove that, at all events, Milton was not worse than his neighbours. Dr. South and Cowley were never flogged at college, but certainly they were often flogged at school, or they could not speak so feelingly on the subject: