The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660: Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of His TimeMasson, David
History
The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660: Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of His Time
Masson, David
Milton, John, 1608-1674; Poets, English -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Biography
This examination of the testimonials is begun in the first or main
part of Milton's _Pro Se Defensio_; but, as Morus had only
entered on his testimonials in the _Fides Publica_ as originally
published, and presented most of them in his _Supplementum_ to
that book, so Milton prolongs this branch of his criticism into an
appendix entitled separately _Authoris ad Aleasandri Mori
Supplementum Responsio_ ("The Author's Answer to Alexander More's
Supplement.") Prom the first sentences of this Appendix we learn that
the preceding part of Milton's book had been written two months
before the _Supplementum_ had come into his hands.
Morus's published Testimonials divide themselves chronologically, it
may have been observed, into three sets--(1) those given him at
Geneva early in the year 1648, and brought by him into Holland on his
removal thither, (2) those given him at Middleburg between Nov. 1649
and Aug. 1652, and (3) the three given him at Amsterdam in July 1654,
after Milton's _Defensio Secunda_ had appeared, and in
contradiction of statements made in that book.--On the Genevese set
of Testimonials, including that from the venerable Diodati, Milton's
criticism, in substance, is that they were vitiated by their date.
They had been given, or obtained by hard begging, not perhaps before
the Pelletta scandal had been heard of, but before it had been
sufficiently notorious, and while it still seemed credible to many
that Morus was innocent, and others were good-naturedly willing to
stop the investigation by speeding him off to another scene, Theodore
Tronchin, pastor and Professor of Theology, and Mermilliod and
Pittet, two other pastors, had been the first movers, among the
Genevese clergy, for an inquiry into Morus's conduct; the elder
Spanheim had, as Milton believed, been one of those that even then
would have nothing to do with the Testimonials; the aged Diodati had
then for some time ceased to attend the meetings of his brethren, and
might not know all. But, in any case, nearly a year had elapsed
between the date of the last of those Genevese Testimonials which
Morus had published and Morus's actual departure from Geneva. During
that interval there had been a progress of Genevese opinion on the
subject of his character and conduct, and he had been furnished with
fresh papers in the nature of farewell Testimonials. Morus had
suppressed those. Would he venture to produce them?--On the
Middleburg Testimonials the criticism is that they do not matter much
one way or another, but that they show Morus on the whole to have
soon been found a troublesome person in Holland also, some business
about whom was always coming up in the Walloon Synods. In Middleburg
too there had been a progress of opinion about him with farther
experience. His co-pastor there. M. Jean Long, who had been his firm
friend for a while, and had signed some of the testimonials, was now
understood to speak of him with absolute detestation. Morus having
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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