THE LIFE or MILTON. an accufation,againft the King, as he was himfelf particularly fond of reading romances, and has Made the of them in fome of the belt and lateft of his Writings. But his molt celebrated work in profe is hit Defenfe of the people of England againft Salmafius, Defenflo prd populo Anglicano contra Claudii Ananymi; alias Salniafii, Defen= fionem Regiam. Salmafius, by birth a Frenchman, fucceeded the famous Scaliger, as honorary Profeffor of the univerfity of Ley den, and had gained great reputation by his Plinian Exercitations ad Solinus, and by his critical remarks on feveral Latin and Greek au- thors, and was generally efteemed one of the greatest and molt con- fummate fcholars of that age t and is Commended by Milton hinifelf in hiSReafon of Church Goverfichent, and called the learned Salmafius. Beficies his great learning he had extraordinary talents in rail- : " This prince of fcholars; as fame body faid of him. feemed " to have mated his throne upon a heap of flones; that he might have them at hand to throw at every one's head who patted by." He was therefore courted by Charles II, as the limit able man to write a defenfe of the late King his father and to traduce his adver.; faries, and a hundred jacobtifes Were giVeh him for that purpofei and the book was publifhed in 1.649 with this title DeferifiO Regia pro Carolo I, ad Carolum if. No foorier did this book appear id England, bat the Council of State unanimoully appointed Milton; who was then prefent; to anfwer it : and he perfornied the talk with amazing fpirit and vigor; tho' his health at that time was fuch, that he could hardly iodure the fatigue of writing, and being weak in body he was forced to write by piece-meal; and to break off' alma& every honr, as he Pays hinifelf in the introdnCtion. This necelfarilY occafioned fome delay, to that his Defenfe of the people of England Was not made public till the beginning of the year 1651 m and they who cannot read the original, may yet have the pleafure of reading the Englifh Tranflation by Mr. Walhington of the Temple, which was printed in 1692, and is inferted among Milton's Works in the two laft editions. It was fomewhat extraordinary, that Salmafius, penfioner to a republic, fhould pretend to write a defenfe ofmonarchy; but the States Mowed their difapprobation by publicly condemning his book; and ordering it to be fuppreffed. On the other hand 0 o a as f t
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