Chartæque largus apparat papyrinos "Ye herrings, and ye fish, who glide P. W. v. 212. Scarcely had Morus taken the rash step of editing Du Moulin's abuse than, conscious of the offence which he had given and hearing that Milton was preparing to resent it, he endeavoured by every means, which he could command, to avert or to lighten the vengeance which was trembling over his head. By some influence which he story of the whipping is too long, and, though shaded with the veil of a learned language, too indelicate for me to extract: but it may be found in Burman's Sylloge, tom. iii. 669, in a letter of N. Heinsius to Isaac Vossius; from which we have already quoted the writer's defence of Milton's morality, and attack of his Latin poetry. possessed, he prevailed on the Dutch embassador to mediate for the intervention of Cromwell's authority in his behalf; and, when this object could not be obtained, to try, with the of the embassador's own request power and with Morus's assurances of his not being the author of the injurious composition, to soften the resentment and to withdraw the pen from the hand of Milton. Nor were the attempts of Morus to suppress this dreaded publication confined to the period preceding its birth, or to the assistance which he sought from one of the diplomatic body. A letter to him from Bourdeaux," the French embas A curious letter (says Mr. Warton,) in Thurloe's State Papers, (vol. ii. p. 529,) relating to this business, has been overlooked, from Bourdeaux, the French Ambassador in England, to Morus, Aug. 7, 1654. Sir, At my arrival here, I found Milton's book so public, that I perceived it was impossible to suppress it. This man (Milton) hath been told that you were not the author of the book, which he refuted; to which he answered, that he was at least assured that you had caused it to be imprinted: that you had writ the preface, and he believes some of the verses that are in it, and that, that is enough to justify him for setting upon you. He doth also add, he is very angry that he did not know several things, which he hath heard since, being far worse, as he says, than any he put forth in his book; but he doth reserve them for another, if so be you answer this. I am very sorry for this quarrel which will have a long sequence, as I perceive; for after you have answered this, you may be sure he will reply sador in London, preserved among Thurloe's State Papers and first cited by Mr. Warton, demonstrates the activity of his apprehensions and his efforts at this interesting crisis of his fame. But Milton was unmoved by any applications, and, contenting himself with saying that nothing indecorous should escape from him in the controversy, published the work which is now before us; and it was soon in a circulation too vigorous to admit of its being suppressed. Its effects on the public opinion seem to have been great, and the delicate character of Morus gave way before the weighty impression. He struggled however to support himself by a reply,* containing testimonies in favour of his moral character from some colleges and universities, and from the magistrates and synods of the towns in which he had resided. This defence drew another answer from Milton, in which he produced additional authorities for his former with a more bloody one: for your adversary hath met with somebody here, who hath told him strange stories of you." (Milton's Juv. Poems by Warton, 2d ed. p. 486.) * Morus's answer was entitled, "Alexandri Mori Ecclesiasta et sacrarum literarum Professoris, Fides Publica contra calumnias J. M."-Milton called his reply to it, "Authoris pro se Defensio contra Alexandrum Morum Ecclesiasten, Libelli famosi cui titulus, "Regii sanguinis clamor ad cœlum adversus Parricidas Anglicanos," authorem rectè dictum. assertions against his adversary. To this work Morus was again tempted to publish a reply; a short refutation of which by Milton terminated the controversy. During the course of it, the alarm and, indeed the sufferings of Morus' had induced y The caution of "audi alteram partem" is never more necessary to be observed than when we are reading, in the pages of an able writer, the character of his adversary. The morals of Morus were certainly not unimpeachable; but he passed through life with numerous friends among the religious, the learned, and the great. His preaching drew crowded audiences, and obtained him a numerous following. Though in more than one instance he was made the subject of a legal prosecution, the result was uniformly in his favour; and his life, which was never depressed by disgrace, was concluded by a religious and exemplary death. He might therefore have been a little irregular, and deviating, in consequence of human frailty, from the strict line of Christian morality: but we cannot conceive that Eis conduct was flagitious or stained with deep crimes. He died at the house of the duchess of Rohan in Paris, in 1670. By one of his contemporaries and friends, he is represented as anbitious, restless, changeable, bold, and presumptuous: he is stated also to have been a profound and extensive scholar, accurately acquainted with the Greek, Hebrew and Arabic lan guages. [See Bayle-Article Morus.] It may be remarked that in the letters of Sarrau, Morus is more than once introduced under the name of Paris, in allusion, as it must be inferred, to his amorous propensities, and his favour with women. This frailty of his is generally made the subject of allusion wherever he is mentioned in the correspondence of his contemporary scholars: by whom also his intercourse with the servant girl of Salmasius is related without any reserve or intimation of doubt. The fact indeed, divested of the more atrocious circumstances imputed to it, seems to be indisputable-for it was him to give up the author of that publication, for which he had exposed himself to such unpleasant consequences, and Du Moulin, who was at that time in England, felt himself to be in danger: but he was saved, as he says, by the pride of Milton, who, refusing to acknowledge himself in an error and persisting in his attack upon Morus, induced the one of the causes of the quarrel between Salmasius and Morus; and he was pressed by his former friend and patron to marry the girl: but her character was much too light to admit of the idea of her having been seduced, or of her being made, (in the vulgar phrase,) an honest woman. Of the temper of this confidante of Madame de Saumaise's, a whimsical instance is related by Vossius, in a letter to N. Heinsius, dated from Amsterdam on the 24th of November 1654. For the entertainment of my readers, I will transcribe the whole, passage: Lis ipsi (Salmasio) cum Moro. Cupit enim ut is Anglicanam suam in uxorem ducat, quod alter recusat. Verùm isti duo boni amantes, qui nuper tam suaviter et amicè oscula jungebant, valdè nunc sibi invicem sunt infensi. Ante quatriduum siquidem, cum forte Maurus huic nostræ occurrerat in vastâ istâ areâ, quæ ædibus Salmasii adjacet, statim capillitium ejus invasit, pluribusque adfecit verberibus: neque eo contenta etiam fuste in illum sævire conabatur, nisi bonus ille socius in horreum confugisset super struicem quandam, jactuque se vindicasset cespitum. Huic spectaculo non defuit ingens, spectatorum numerus, qui ex viciniâ passim eo confluxerant. Vides quam omnes iis in ædibus sint yuvainoxgatáμevoi. Facile hinc possis conjicere falsos fuisse rumores qui de subactâ Britannica passim fuere sparsi, cum illa potius Maurum subegerit. Vel si verus sit rumor, adparet non satis fuisse subactam. [Burman. Syllo. iii. 651.] Our women, as it appears by this anecdote, can on someoccasions fight with the spirit of our men. |