BOOK I.

JULY 1643—MARCH 1643-4.

HISTORY:—FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY: CIVIL WAR AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT CONTINUED.

BIOGRAPHY:—MILTON STILL IN ALDERSGATE STREET: HIS MARRIAGE MISFORTUNE: HIS FIRST DIVORCE TREATISE.

CHAP.

I. The Westminster Assembly in Session—The Solemn League and Covenant: Scottish Commissioners in the Assembly—Debates on Church-Government: Apologetical Narration of the Independents—Parliamentary Proceedings—Scottish Auxiliary Army in England

II. Milton unhappy in his Marriage: His First Divorce Tract: Two Editions of it

BOOK II.

MARCH 1644-MARCH 1645.

HISTORY:—THE YEAR OF MARSTON MOOR: CIVIL WAR, LONG PARLIAMENT, AND WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY CONTINUED—STRUGGLE OF INDEPENDENCY WITH PRESBYTERIANISM: TOLERATION CONTROVERSY: ENGLISH SECTS AND SECTARIES— PRESBYTERIAN SETTLEMENT VOTED—NEW MODEL OF THE ARMY.

BIOGRAPHY:—MILTON AMONG THE SECTARIES: HIS SECOND DIVORCE PAMPHLET, TRACT ON EDUCATION, AREOPAGITICA, TETRACHORDON, AND COLISTERION.

CHAP.

I. Inactivity of the Scottish Auxiliaries—Spread of Independency and Multiplication of Sects—Visitation of the University of Cambridge— Battle of Marston Moor—Fortnight's Vacation of the Westminster Assembly (July 23-August 7, 1644),—Principle of Toleration and State of the Toleration Controversy: Synopsis of English Sects and Sectaries in 1644.- -Resumption of Assembly's Proceedings: Denunciation of Picked Sectaries and Heretics—Cromwell's Interference for Independency: Accommodation Order of Parliament—Presbyterian Settlement voted—Essex beaten and the War flagging: Self-denying Ordinance and New Model of the Army— Parliamentary Vengeances: Death of Laud

II. Milton among the Sectaries, and in a "World of Disesteem": Story of Mrs. Attaway—Samuel Hantlib, John Durie, and John Amos Comenius: Schemes of a Reformed Education, and Project of a London University—Milton's Tract on Education, and Method with his Pupils—His Second Divorce Tract, or Compilation from Bucer—Mr. Herbert Palmer's Attack on Milton from the Pulpit—Milton and the Stationers' Company: Their Accusation of him in a Petition to the Commons—His Areopagitica, or Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing—Anger of the Stationers, and their Complaint against Milton to the Lords: Consequence of the Complaint—The Divorce Question continued: Publication of Mr. Herbert Palmer's Sermon, and farther Attacks on Milton by Prynne, Dr. Featley, and an Anonymous Pamphleteer—Tetrachordon and Colasterion: Their Replies to the Assailants.

BOOK III.

APRIL 1645-AUGUST 1646.

HISTORY:—SIXTEEN MONTHS OF THE NEW MODEL, AND OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT AND WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY CONTINUED.—BATTLE OF NASEBY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES: EPISODE OF MONTROSE IN SCOTLAND: FLIGHT OF THE KING TO THE SCOTS AND CONCLUSION OF THE CIVIL WAR.—PROGRESS OF THE TOLERATION CONTROVERSY AND OF THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIANS AND THE INDEPENDENTS.—LONDON AND LANCASHIRE PRESBYTERIANIZED.

BIOGRAPHY:—RETURN OF MILTON'S WIFE: HIS REMOVAL FROM ALDERSGATE STREET TO BARBICAN: FIRST EDITION OF HIS POEMS: THREE MORE SONNETS: CONTINUED PRESBYTERIAN ATTACKS ON MILTON: HIS RETALIATION: TROUBLES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.

CHAP.

I. Composition of the New Model, and View of the Work lying before it— First Actions of the New Model—Cromwell retained in Command: Battle of Naseby: Other Successes of the New Model—Poor Performance of the Scottish Auxiliary Army—Episode of Montrose in Scotland—Fag-end of the War in England, and Flight of the King to the Scots—Fallen and Risen Stars.

II. Work in Parliament and the Westminster Assembly during the Sixteen Months of the New Model—The two continued Church Controversies— Independency and Sectarianism in the New Model: Toleration Controversy continued: Cromwell's part in it: Lilburne and other Pamphleteers: Sion College and the Corporation of London: Success of the Presbyterians in Parliament—Presbyterian Frame of Church Government completed: Details of the Arrangement—The Recruiting of the Commons: Eminent Recruiters— Effects of the Recruiting: Alliance of Independency and Erastianism: Check given to the Presbyterians: Westminster Assembly rebuked and curbed—Negotiations round the King at Newcastle—Threatened Rupture between the Scots and the English: Argyle's Visit to London: The Nineteen Propositions—Parliament and the Assembly reconciled: Presbyterianizing of London and Lancashire: Death of Alexander Henderson.

III. Effects of Milton's Areopagitica—His Intention of another Marriage: His Wife's Return and Reconciliation with him—Removal from Aldersgate Street to Barbican—First Edition of Milton's Collected Poems: Humphrey Moseley the Bookseller—Two Divorce Sonnets and Sonnet to Henry Lawes—Continued Presbyterian Attacks on Milton: His Anti-Presbyterian Sonnet of Reply—Surrender of Oxford: Condition of the Powell Family—The Powells in London: More Family Perplexities: Birth of Milton's first Child.

BOOK IV.

AUGUST 1646—JANUARY 1648-9.

HISTORY:—THE LAST TWO YEARS AND A HALF OF THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.:—

I. HIS CONTINUED CAPTIVITY WITH THE SCOTS AT NEWCASTLE, AND FAILURE OF HIS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PRESBYTERIANS;

II. HIS CAPTIVITY AT HOLMBY HOUSE, AND THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT AND THE ENGLISH ARMY;

III. HIS CAPTIVITY WITH THE ENGLISH ARMY, AND THEIR PROPOSALS TO HIM;

IV. HIS CAPTIVITY IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT, AND THE SECOND CIVIL WAR;

V. HIS TRIAL AND DOOM.

BIOGRAPHY:—MILTON IN BARBICAN AND IN HIGH HOLBORN.—PRIVATE AND PUBLIC ANXIETIES: ODE TO ROUS, TWO MORE SONNETS, AND TRANSLATION OF NINE PSALMS: OTHER WORKS IN PROGRESS: LETTERS TO AND FROM CARLO DATI.

CHAP.

I. Charles in his Captivity First Stage of the Captivity: Still with the Scots at Newcastle: Aug. 1646—Jan. 1646-7.—Balancings of Charles between the Presbyterians and the Independents—His Negotiations in the Presbyterian direction: The Hamiltons his Agents among the Scots—His Attempt to negotiate with the Independents: Will Murray in London— Interferences of the Queen from France: Davenant's Mission to Newcastle— The Nineteen Propositions unanswered: A Personal Treaty offered— Difficulties between the Scots and the English Parliament—Their Adjustment: Departure of the Scots from England, and Cession of Charles to the English—Westminster Assembly Business, and Progress of the Presbyterian Settlement

Second Stage of the Captivity: At Holmby House: Feb. 1646-7—June 1647.— The King's Manner of Life at Holmby—New Omens in his favour from the Relations of Parliament to its own Army—Proposals to disband the Army and reconstruct part of it for service in Ireland—Summary of Irish Affairs since 1641—Army's Anger at the Proposal to disband it—View of the State of the Army: Medley of Religious Opinions in it. Passion for Toleration: Prevalence of Democratic Tendencies: The Levellers— Determination of the Presbyterians for the Policy of Disbandment, and Votes in Parliament to that effect—Resistance of the Army: Petitions and Remonstrances from the Officers and Men: Regimental Agitators—Cromwell's Efforts at Accommodation: Fairfax's Order for a General Rendezvous— Cromwell's Adhesion to the Army—The Rendezvous at Newmarket, and Joyce's Abduction of the King from Holmby—Westminster Assembly Business: First Provincial Synod of London: Proceedings for the Purgation of Oxford University

Third Stage of the Captivity: The King with the Army: June-Nov. 1647.— Effects of Joyce's Abduction of the King—Movements of the Army: their Denunciation of Eleven of the Presbyterian Leaders: Parliamentary Alarms and Concessions—Presbyterian Phrenzy of the London Populace: Parliament mobbed, and Presbyterian Votes carried by Mob-law: Flight of the two Speakers and their Adherents: Restoration of the Eleven—March of the Army upon London: Military Occupation of the City: The Mob quelled, Parliament reinstated, and the Eleven expelled—Generous Treatment of the King by the Army: His Conferences with Fairfax, Cromwell, and Ireton—The Army's Heads of Proposals, and Comparison of the same with the Nineteen Propositions of the Parliament—The King at Hampton Court, still demurring privately over the Heads of Proposals, but playing them off publicly against the Nineteen Propositions: Army at Putney— Cromwell's Motion for a Recast of the Nineteen Propositions and Re- application to the King on that Basis: Consequences of the Compromise—

Intrigues at Hampton Court: Influence of the Scottish Commissioners there: King immoveable—Impatience of the Army at Putney: Cromwell under Suspicion: New Activity of the Agitatorships: Growth of Levelling Doctrines among the Soldiers: Agreement of the People—Cromwell breaks utterly with the King: Meetings of the Army Officers at Putney: Proposed Concordat between the Army and Parliament—The King's Escape to the Isle of Wight

Fourth Stage of the Captivity: In the Isle of Wight: Nov. 1647-Nov. 1648.—Carisbrooke Castle, and the King's Letters thence—Parliament's New Method of the Four Bills—Indignation of the Scots: their Complaints of Breach of the Covenant—Army Rendezvous at Ware: Suppression of a Mutiny of Levellers by Cromwell, and Establishment of the Concordat with Parliament—Parliamentary Commissioners in the Isle of Wight: Scottish Commissioners also there: the King's Rejection of the Four Bills—Firmness of Parliament: their Resolutions of No Farther Addresses to the King: Severance of the Scottish Alliance—The Engagement, or Secret Treaty between Charles and the Scots in the Isle of Wight—Stricter guard of the King in Carisbrooke Castle: His Habits in his Imprisonment—First Rumours of The Scottish Engagement: Royalist Programme of a SECOND CIVIL WAR—Beginnings of THE SECOND CIVIL WAR: Royalist Risings: Cromwell in Wales: Fairfax in the Southeast: Siege of Colchester—Revolt of the Fleet: Commotion among the Royalist Exiles

abroad: Holland's attempted Rising in Surrey—Invasion of England by Hamilton's Scottish Army: Arrival of the Prince of Wales off the Southeast Coast: Blockade of the Thames—Consternation of the Londoners: Faintheartedness of Parliament: New Hopes of the Presbyterians: their Ordinance against Heresies and Blasphemies: their Leanings to the King: Independents in a struggling minority: Charge of Treason against Cromwell in his absence—The Three Days' Battle of Preston and utter Defeat of the Scots by Cromwell: Surrender of Colchester to Fairfax: Return of the Prince of Wales to Holland: Virtual End of THE SECOND CIVIL WAR— Parliamentary Treaty with the King at Newport: Unsatisfactory Results— Protests against the Treaty by the Independents—Disgust of the Army with the Treaty: Revocation of their Concordat with Parliament, and Resolution to seize the Political Mastery: Formation of a Republican Party— Petitions for Justice on the King: The Grand Army Remonstrance— Cromwell in Scotland: Restoration of the Argyle Government there:

Cromwell at Pontefract: His Letter to Hammond—The King removed from the Isle of Wight to Hurst Castle—The Army again in possession of London

II. Troubles in the Barbican Household: Christopher Milton's Composition Suit: Mr. Powell's Composition Suit: Death of Mr. Powell: His Will: Death of Milton's Father—Sonnet XIV. and Ode to John Rous—Italian Reminiscences: Lost Letters from Carlo Dati of Florence: Milton's Reply to the last of them—Pedagogy in the Barbican: List of Milton's known Pupils: Lady Ranelagh—Educational Reform still a Question: Hartlib again: The Invisible College: Young Robert Boyle and William Petty— Removal from Barbican to High Holborn—Meditations and Occupations in the House in High Holborn: Milton's Sympathies with the Army Chiefs and the Expectant Republicans—Still under the Ban of the Presbyterians: Testimony of the London Ministers against Heresies and Blasphemies: Milton in the Black List—Another Letter from Carlo Dati: Translation of Nine Psalms from the Hebrew—Milton through the Second Civil War: His personal Interest in it, and Delight in the Army's Triumph: His Sonnet to Fairfax—Birth of Milton's Second Child: Another Letter from Carlo Dati

III. The Two Houses in the Grasp of the Army: Final Efforts for the King: Pride's Purge and its Consequences—The King brought from Hurst Castle to Windsor: Ordinance for his Trial passed by the Commons alone: Constitution of the Court—The Trial in Westminster Hall: Incidents of the Seven successive Days: The Sentence—Last Three Days of Charles's Life: His Execution and Burial

BOOK I.

JULY 1643—MARCH 1643-4.

HISTORY:—FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY: CIVIL WAR AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT CONTINUED.

BIOGRAPHY:—MILTON STILL IN ALDERSGATE STREET: HIS MARRIAGE MISFORTUNE: HIS FIRST DIVORCE TREATISE.

CHAPTER I

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY IN SESSION—THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT: SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS IN THE ASSEMBLY—DEBATES ON CHURCH-GOVERNMENT: APOLOGETICAL NARRATION OF THE INDEPENDENTS—PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS—SCOTTISH AUXILIARY ARMY IN ENGLAND.

The Westminster Assembly held its first formal meeting in Henry the Seventh's Chapel on Saturday, July 1, 1643, after the impressive opening ceremonial of a sermon preached before a great congregation in the Abbey Church by the appointed Prolocutor, Dr. Twisse, on the text John xiv. 18, "I will not leave you comfortless!" About 69 of the members were present at that first meeting, many who attended afterwards not having yet come up from the country. Among the 69 were the few of "the Episcopal persuasion" who afterwards dropped off; and these were conspicuous by their canonical dresses among the bulk of the members in all sorts of plain Puritan suits. The average attendance subsequently seems to have been from 60 to 80. The place of meeting for some time continued to be King Henry the Seventh's Chapel; but this was changed, when the weather grew colder, for the celebrated Jerusalem Chamber, also in the close vicinity of the Houses of Parliament. [Footnote: The Ordinance of Parliament authorizing the change of the place of meeting to the

Jerusalem Chamber is dated Sept. 23, 1643 see Lords Journals for that day] None but members of the Assembly were allowed to be present, and there was no deviation from this rule except on the very rarest occasions and by special authority from Parliament. The Assembly sat commonly from nine in the morning till one or two P.M. The Prolocutor sat at one end of the room on a raised chair; his two Assessors were near him; and a table ran through the whole length of the room, at one end of which sat the Scribes, close to the Prolocutor, while the members were seated in tiers at the sides and other end. The forms of debate and voting were very much those of the House of Commons. Besides the meetings of the Assembly as such, there were afternoon meetings of Committees for the preparation of business for the Assembly. There were three such chief Standing Committees, to one or other of which every member belonged. [Footnote: Lightfoot's Notes of Assembly Works (ed. 1824), Vol. XIII, pp. 4, 5; and Baillie, II. 107-109]

FIRST BUSINESS OF THE ASSEMBLY: REVISION OF THE ARTICLES.

Not till Thursday, July 6, or indeed Saturday, July 8, was the Assembly constituted for actual business. On the first of these days the Regulations which had been drawn up by the two Houses of Parliament for the procedure of the Assembly were duly received; and on the second all the members of Assembly present took the solemn Protestation which had been settled for them by the Commons with the concurrence of the Lords. It was in these terms: "I, A. B., do seriously and solemnly protest, in the presence of Almighty God, that in this Assembly, wherein I am a member, I will not maintain anything in matters of Doctrine but what I think in my conscience to be truth, or in point of Discipline but what I shall conceive to conduce most to the glory of God and the good and peace of His Church." So sworn, the members were ready for their first work. That also had been rigidly prescribed for them by Parliament. On July 5 the Commons had ruled and the Lords had agreed "that the Assembly, in their beginning, in the first place shall take the ten first Articles of

the Church of England into their consideration, to vindicate them from all false doctrine and heresy." In other words, it was the pleasure of Parliament that the first business of the Assembly should consist in a revision and amendment of the Thirty-nine Articles, and that, by way of a commencement in this business, or specimen to Parliament of the manner in which it might be done, they were to confine themselves at first to the first Ten of the Articles. Accordingly, the Assembly at once addressed themselves to this business. It was with a view to it that they first adopted that machinery of Committees which was to be employed subsequently, with so much effect, in all the deliberations. The Divines of the Assembly were distributed, in the order in which their names stood in the Ordinance calling the Assembly, into three Committees for preparatory revision of the said Articles in such a manner that the whole Assembly might more clearly exercise its final judgment on them; while a fourth Committee, in which the lay-members were included, was to assist

the others by procuring the most correct copies of the text of the Articles. To the first revising Committee, of which Dr. Burges was appointed chairman, were entrusted the first four Articles; to the second, of which Dr. Stanton was chairman, the fifth, sixth, and seventh Articles; and to the third, which had Mr. Gibbon for chairman, the eighth, ninth, and tenth.

Imagine the Assembly collectively in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, and its Committees distributively there or in other places of meeting, busy day after day, through the rest of the hot month of July, and then into August, over its appointed revision of the Articles. "I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity; II. Of the Word, or Son of God, which was made very Man; III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell; IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ; V. Of the Holy Ghost; VI. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation; VII. Of the Old Testament; VIII. Of the Three Creeds; IX. Of Original or Birth Sin; X. Of Free Will;" imagine the Articles under these headings discussed successively, sentence by sentence and clause by clause, most of the sentences and clauses allowed to pass without change as perfectly satisfactory, but here and there at intervals a phrase modified or omitted, or a slight addition made, so as to bring the meaning more sharply into accord with the letter of Scripture or the Calvinistic system of doctrine. Such mere imagination of

the general process will suffice, and it is unnecessary to take account of the actual changes proposed in the phraseology of particular Articles. For, in fact, these first weeks of the Assembly's pains over the Articles of the Church were to be labour wasted. Before the end of August, and while they were still probing through the first Ten Articles, events had taken such a course that the Assembly was called upon to co-operate with the Parliament in matters of greater urgency.

THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT: SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS TO THE ASSEMBLY.