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Anglicani. It is not known who was the author of this piece. Some attributed it to one Janus a lawyer of Gray's inn, and others to Dr. John Bramhall, then Bishop of Derry, and after the restoration Pri. mate of Ireland. But it is utterly improbable, that fo mean a performance, written in fuch barbarous Latin, and fo full of folecifms, fhould come from the hands of a prelate of such distinguished abilities and learning. But whoever was the author of it, Milton did not think it worth his while to animadvert upon it himself, but employed the younger of his nephews to answer it; only as he supervised and corrected the answer before it went to the press, it may in a manner be called his own. It came forth in 1652 under this title, Johannis Philippi Angli refponfio ad apologiam anonymi cujufdam tenebrionis pro rege et populo Anglicano infantiffimiam. It is printed with Milton's works. Throughout the whole Mr. Philips treats Bp. Bramhall with great severity, as the author of the Apology, thinking probably that fo confiderable an adversary would make the answer more confiderable.

Sir Robert Filmer likewife published some animadverfions upon Milton's Defense of the People, in a piece printed in 1652, intitled, Obfervations concerning the original of government, upon Mr. Hobbes's Leviathan, Mr. Milton againft Salmafius, and Huge Grotius de jure belli. But I do not find, that Milton or any of his friends took notice of it. But Milton's quarrel was afterwards fufficiently avenged by Mr. Locke, who wrote against Sir Robert Filmer's principles of government, more I fuppofe in condefcenfion to the prejudices of the age, than out of any regard to the weight or importance of Filmer's arguments.

Milton foon after he was made Latin Secretary, removed from his houfe in High Holburn, to an apart ment appointed for him in Scotland-yard. There his third child, a fon, was born, and named John; but, through the ill ufage or bad conftitution of the nurse, he died an infant. His own health too was greatly impaired. This made him remove from Scotlandyard to a house in Petty France, Westminster, for

the

the benefit of the air; and there he remained eight years, from 1652 till within a few weeks of the King's restoration. In this house he had not been fettled long, before his first wife died in childbed.. But af ter a proper interval of time, he married a fecond. wife, Katharine daughter of Captain Woodcock of Hackney. She too died in childbed within a year after their marriage; and her child, a daughter, died a month after. Her husband has done honour to her memory in one of his fonnets.

Two or three years before his fecond marriage he had totally loft his fight. And his enemies triumph ed in his blindness, and imputed it as a judgment upon him for writing against the King. But his fight. had been decaying feveral years before, through his clofe application to ftudy, and the frequent headachs to which he had been subject from his childhood, and his continual tampering with phyfic, which perhaps was more pernicious than all the reft. Milton himfelf informs us in his Second Defence, that when he was appointed by authority to write his defence of the people against Salmafius, he had almost loft the fight of one eye, and the phyficians declared to him, that if he undertook that work, he would also lofe the fight of the other. But he was nothing difcouraged, and chofe rather to lose both his eyes, than defert what he thought his duty. His blindness however did not difable him entirely from performing the bufinefs of his office. An affiftant was allowed him, and his falary as Secretary ftill continued.

And there was farther occafion for his fervice befides dictating of letters. For the controverfy with Salmafius did not die with him. There was published at the Hague in 1652, a book, intitled, The cry of the King's blood, &c. Regii fanguinis clamor ad cœlum, adverfus parricidas Anglicanos. The true author of this book was Peter du Moulin the younger, afterwards Prebendary of Canterbury. He tranfmitted his papers to Salmafius; Salmafius intrufted them to the care of Alexander Morus, a French minifter; and Morus published them with a dedication to King

Charles

Charles II. in the name of Adrian Ulac the printer, from whence he came to be reputed the author of the whole. Morus was the fon of a learned Scotfman, Prefident of the college which the Protestants had for-merly at Caftres in Languedoc. He is faid to have been a man of a moft haughty difpofition, immoderately addicted to women, hafty, ambitious, full of himself and his own performances, and fatirical upon all others. He was however efteemed one of the most eminent preachers of that age among the Proteftants: But, as M. Bayle obferves, his chief talent muft have confifted in the gracefulness of his delivery, or in thofe fallies of imagination, and quaint turns and allufions, whereof his fermons are full; for they retain not thofe charms in reading, which they were faid to have formerly in the pulpit. Against this. man therefore, as the reputed author of Regii fanguinis clamor, &c. Milton publifhed by authority his Second defence of the people of England, &c. Defenfio fecunda pro populo Anglicano, in 1654. He treats Morus with fuch feverity as nothing could have excufed, if he had not been provoked to it by fo much abufe poured upon himself. He had wrote a piece of wit, which had been publish- ed before in the news papers at London, a diftich upon Morus for getting Pontia the maid-fervant of his friend Salmafius with child..

Galli ex concubitu gravidam te, Pontia, Mori

Quis bene moratam morigeramque neget ?

Upon this Morus publifhed his Fides Publica, in an fwer to Milton; in which he inferted feveral testimonies of his orthodoxy and morals, figned by the confiftories, academies, fynods, and magiftrates of the places where he had lived; and difowned his being the author of the book imputed to him, and appealed to two gentlemen of great credit with the parliamentparty, who knew the real author. This brought Du Moulin, then in England, into great danger: Burt the government fuffered him to escape with impunity, rather than publicly contradict the great patron of their caufe. For Milton ftill perfifted in his accufa

tion,

tion, and endeavoured to make it good in his Defence of himself, &c. Autoris pro fe defenfio, published in 1655; wherein he opposed to the teftimonies in favour of Morus other teftimonies against him; and Morus replied no more.

This controverfy being ended, he was at leifure again to purfue his own private studies, viz. the history of England before mentioned, and a new thefaurus of the Latin tongue, intended as an improvement upon that by Robert Stephens; a work, which he had been long collecting from the beft and pureft Latin authors, and continued at times almoft to his dying day: But his papers were left fo confufed and imperfect, that they could not be fitted for the prefs, though great ufe was made of them by the compilers. of the Cambridge dictionary, printed in 1693. These papers are said to have confifted of three large vo lumes in folio; and it is a great pity that they are loft, and no account is given what is become of the manufcript. It is commonly faid too, that at this time he began his famous poem of Paradife Loft; and it is certain, that he was glad to be releafed from those controverfies, which detained him fo long from following things more agreeable to his natural genius and inclination, though he was far from ever repenting of his writings in defence of liberty, but gloried in them to the last.

The only interruption now of his private ftudies. was the bufinefs of his office. In 1655 there was pu blished in Latin a writing in name of the Lord Protector, fetting forth the reasons of the war with Spain. This piece is rightly adjudged to our author, both on account of the peculiar elegance of the ftyle, and because it was his province to write fuch things, as Latin Secretary; and it is printed among his other profe works in the last edition. For the fame reafons

I am inclined to think, that the famous Latin verfes to Christina Queen of Sweden in the name of Cromwell, were made by Milton, rather than Andrew Marvel. In those days they had admirable intelligence in the Secretary's office; and Mr. Philips relates a me

morable

morable instance or two upon his own knowledge. The Dutch were fending a plenipotentiary to England to treat of peace; but the emiffaries of the government had the art to procure a copy of his inftructions in Holland; which being delivered by Milton to his kinfinan, then with him, to be tranflated for the ufe of the council, before the plenipotentiary had tak- · en thipping for England, an answer to all that he had in charge was prepared, and lay ready for him before he made his public entry into London. Another time a person came to London with a very fumptuous train, pretending himself an agent from the Prince of Conde, then in arms againft Card. Mazarine: But the government fufpe&ting him, fet their inftruments to work fo fuccefsfully, that in a few days they re- · ceived intelligence from Paris, that he was a fpy em-ployed by Charles II. Whereupon the very next morning Milton's kinfinan was fent to him with an order of council, commanding him to depart the kingdom within three days, or expect the punishment of a fpy. This kinfman was probably Mr. Philips or his bro-ther; and one or both of them were affiftant to him. in his office. His blindness no doubt was a great hin-drance and inconvenience. to him in his business, though fometimes a political ufe might be made of it; as men's natural infirmities are often pleaded in excufe for not doing what they have no great inclina- tion to do. Thus when Cromwell for fome reafons delayed artfully to fign the treaty with Sweden, and the Swedish ambalader made frequent complaints of it, the excufe was, that Mr. Milton, on account of his blindnefs, proceeded flower in bulinefs, and had not yet put the articles of the treaty into Latin. The ambaffador was greatly furprifed, that things of fuch confequence fhould be intruded to a blind man, for he mult neceffarily employ an amanuenfis, and that amanuenfis might divulge the articles; and faid it was very wonderful, that there fhould be only one man in England who could write Latin, and he a blind one. But his blindness had not diminished, but rather increated the vigour of his mind. His ftate-let

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