Milton and the People Milton and the People PAUL HAMMOND 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OXDP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©PaulHammond Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin Impression: Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber: ISBN –––– Printedandboundby CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CRYY LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. To The Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge CONTENTS Acknowledgements ix NoteonTextsandAbbreviations xi  Whoare‘ThePeople’?   TheYoungMiltonandtheWriter’sVocation   TheAnti-PrelaticalTracts   TheWritingsonDivorce   Areopagitica   TheEnglishPoliticalWritings  Excursus:HobbesandthePeople   TheLatinPoliticalWritings   TheRestorationProseWritings   TheMajorPoems:ParadiseLost,ParadiseRegain’d, andSamsonAgonistes  Epilogue   Bibliography  Index ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work for this book was begun whilst I was Visiting Fellow Commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge, for the Michaelmas Term,andLeverhulmeSeniorResearchFellowfortheacademic year –. I am grateful to the College and to the Trust for their generosityinsupportingmywork.IamalsogratefultotheLibrarian of Trinity, Professor David McKitterick FBA, for allowing me free accesstothetreasuresoftheWrenLibrary,includingthemanuscript ofMilton’sshorterpoems.ImustalsothanktheBritishAcademyfor aresearchgrantwhichenabledmetoreadintheBritishLibrary.The SchoolofEnglishattheUniversityofLeedshascontinuedtosupport my research in various ways, notably through generous study leave; andtheUniversity’sBrothertonLibraryhasbeenanessentialresource. Papers derived from this work were read at the International Milton Symposium in London in , at the Conference of the Centre for Seventeenth-Century Studies at Durham in the same year, and subsequently to seminars in Leeds and Oxford. I thank the audiences in these various venues for their kind encouragement. AnearlydraftwasreadbyProfessorMichaelBrennanandProfessor BlairWordenFBA,whoseobservationshavemateriallyhelpedmeto improve the book, as have the reports by the readers for Oxford UniversityPress. Aboveall,thisbookisdue,onceagain,toNick.