412 TIlE LIFE OF MILTON. Du Moulin, who was then in England, into great danger ; but the government tuffered him to efcape with impunity, lather than they would publicly contradict the great patron of their caufe. For he trill petrified in his acrufation and endeavored to make it good in his Detente of hirtifelf, Autoris pro fe Defenfio, which was pnblifhed in 1655, wherein he oppofed to the teftimonies in favot of Moms' other teftimonies against him ; and Moms replied no more. After this controverfy was ended, he was at leifure again to plague his own private fludies, which were the Fliftory 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 belt and pureft Latin authors, and Continued at times almoft to his dying day : but his papers were left fo confuted and imperfect, that they could not be fitted for the prefs, tho' great tale was made of them by thecompilers of the Cam, bridge Dictionary printed in '693. Thefe papers are faid to have col-Ailed of three large volumes in folio : and it is a great pity that they are loft, and no account is given what is become of the mane- fcript. 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 re- leafed from thole controverfies, which detained him fo long from fol- lowing things more agreeable to his natural genius and inclination, tho' he was far from ever repenting of his writings in defence of liberty, but gloried in them to the laft. The only interruption now of his private ftudies was the bufinefs of his office. In 1655 there was publifhed in Latin a writing in the name of the Lord Protector, Petting forth the reafons of the war with Spain : and this piece is rightly adjudged to our author, both on ac- count of the peculiar eleganceof the He, and becaufe it was his pto- vince to write fuchthings as Latin Secretary; and it is printed among his other profe.works in the laft edition. And for the fame reafons I am inclined to think, that the famous Latin verfes to Chriftina Qtleen of Sweden in the name of Cromwell were made by our author rather' than Andrew Marvel. In thofe days they had admirable in- telligence in the Secretary's office ; and Mr. Philips relates a me morable
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