The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660: Narrated in Connexion with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of His Time

In Short

David Masson’s fifth volume of The Life of John Milton examines the crucial six-year period from September 1654 to May 1660. It traces the final years of Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate, the brief and uncertain rule of his son Richard, and the eventual collapse of the Commonwealth that paved the way for the Stuart Restoration. Masson presents a dual narrative that moves between national history and private biography. He details parliamentary debates, religious schisms, foreign diplomacy, and military maneuvers alongside Milton’s internal world: his official state correspondence for the Council of State, his personal losses, his polemical treatises on religious liberty, and his initial work on Paradise Lost. The volume endures because of its thorough use of state papers and primary documents, offering a comprehensive look at the intersection of political power and intellectual life during one of Britain's most transformative eras.

The Story

The chronicle opens in September 1654 with the assembly of Oliver Cromwell’s First Protectorate Parliament. Cromwell faces an immediate challenge from a vocal Anti-Oliverian faction within the House of Commons that questions the legal authority of his governance. To secure his position, the Protector demands that members sign "The Recognition," a pledge of loyalty to the government by a Single Person and successive Parliaments. Many refuse and walk out, while those who remain spend four months debating constitutional limits, religious toleration, and the suppression of heresy. Frustrated by their unwillingness to pass his legislation, Cromwell dissolves the Parliament in January 1655 without a single bill being enacted.

Beyond Parliament, religious and social fractioning accelerates across England, Scotland, and Ireland. Masson documents the rise of radical theological movements, including the Fifth-Monarchy Men, the Ranters, the Muggletonians, and the Quakers under George Fox. The limits of state-sanctioned toleration are tested by high-profile heresy cases. John Biddle, an Anti-Trinitarian, is prosecuted under the Blasphemy Ordinance of 1648, forcing Cromwell to intervene directly by removing him to island confinement to prevent his execution by orthodox Presbyterians. Later, in late 1656, the Quaker James Nayler enters Bristol in a theatrical re-enactment of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. Parliament subjects Nayler to a lengthy trial, sentencing him to the pillory, severe whippings, tongue-boring, and solitary confinement, despite Cromwell's queries regarding the legal boundaries of parliamentary punishment.

Concurrently, Milton carries out his duties as Latin Secretary Extraordinary to the Council of State. Though completely blind, he drafts foreign correspondence for the regime. When Duke Carlo Emanuele II of Savoy orchestrates a violent persecution of the Vaudois (Waldensian) Protestants in the Alpine valleys of Piedmont in 1655, Milton pens state letters to European sovereigns—including Louis XIV of France, Charles Gustavus of Sweden, and the Swiss Cantons—demanding diplomatic intervention and relief for the survivors. On the domestic front, Milton continues his fierce literary feuds, publishing his Pro Se Defensio against Alexander Morus. Amid these state duties and public polemics, his home life is marked by personal grief: his second wife, Katharine Woodcock, and their infant daughter die in early 1658, events commemorated in his sonnet "Methought I saw my late espoused saint."

Political stability fractures upon Oliver Cromwell’s death in September 1658. His eldest son, Richard Cromwell, succeeds him as Protector, but lacks his father's authority over the army. Richard summons a Parliament in early 1659, elected under the old borough system rather than Oliver's reformed constituencies. Tensions between the parliamentary leadership and the army officers at Wallingford House escalate rapidly. Forced by military commanders to dissolve Parliament in April 1659, Richard abdicates, bringing the Protectorate to an end.

The military officers restore the remnant of the Long Parliament—the "Rump"—which had been forcibly expelled by Oliver Cromwell in 1653. The restored Rump struggles to establish control over a divided nation. General John Lambert suppresses a Royalist insurrection led by Sir George Booth in Cheshire, but the victory deepens the rift between Parliament and the military. In October 1659, Lambert's troops forcefully bar the Rumpers from Westminster, establishing a Military Committee of Safety to govern the realm.

During this anarchy, theoretical proposals for a new constitution multiply. Milton enters the fray with aggressive pamphlets advocating radical church reform and political restructurings, arguing in A Treatise of Civil Power and Considerations touching the Likeliest Means to remove Hirelings out of the church for the absolute separation of church and state, the abolition of tithes, and a purely voluntary clergy. As the regime crumbles around him, he publishes The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, proposing a perpetual Supreme Council to prevent a return to monarchy.

The political deadlock is broken by General George Monk, commander of the army in Scotland. Monk marches his forces south to London in early 1660, maintaining an enigmatic silence regarding his intentions. After initially obeying the Rump's orders to suppress civic unrest in London—unhinging city gates and removing street chains—Monk turns against the Rump and demands the recall of the Presbyterian members excluded during Pride's Purge in 1648. The reassembled Long Parliament enacts its own final dissolution and issues writs for a new "Convention Parliament."

Behind the scenes, Monk establishes secret communications with the exiled Charles II at Breda. The King issues the Declaration of Breda, promising general amnesties, liberty of conscience, and the settlement of land disputes. The newly elected Convention Parliament convenes in April 1660 and accepts the King's terms. In May 1660, Charles II returns to London in triumph, ending the Republican experiment and restoring the Stuart monarchy, leaving Milton's political aspirations shattered as he turns his remaining energies toward the completion of Paradise Lost.

How It Unfolds

Oliver breaks his first Parliament The Protectorate's new legislative body meets in September 1654, but immediately challenges Cromwell’s constitutional authority. Cromwell forces members to sign a pledge of recognition, excludes recalcitrant republicans, and ultimately dissolves the assembly after four months of gridlock over religious toleration and executive power.

Religious radicalism tests the Commonwealth Sects like the Fifth-Monarchy Men and the Quakers expand rapidly, challenging orthodox religious structures. The prosecution of the Socinian John Biddle and the brutal parliamentary trial and punishment of James Nayler expose deep fractures between conservative Puritans seeking religious uniformity and Cromwell's policy of limited toleration.

Milton rallies Europe for the Vaudois Following the 1655 massacre of the Protestant Waldenses by the forces of the Duke of Savoy, Milton drafts Latin state letters to foreign monarchs and Protestant states. His official writings demand international intervention while he continues personal polemical disputes with continental critics like Alexander Morus.

Domestic sorrow meets literary transition Milton suffers personal tragedy with the deaths of his second wife, Katharine Woodcock, and their child in early 1658. Supported by amanuenses and novel assistants like Andrew Marvell, he balances his official Latin secretarial duties with the initial composition of Paradise Lost, shifting his long-planned poetic work from a dramatic structure to an epic poem.

The Protectorate falls apart Oliver Cromwell dies in September 1658, leaving his son Richard as successor. Richard's inability to reconcile the demands of the newly summoned Parliament with the ambitions of the army officers leads to his forced abdication in spring 1659 and the collapse of the Cromwellian single-person executive.

The Rump returns and fractures Army leaders reinstate the surviving members of the Long Parliament ousted in 1653. However, victorious military commanders like John Lambert soon clash with the civilian leaders of the Rump, leading to the military expulsion of Parliament and months of constitutional chaos and rival political proposals.

Milton’s final desperate appeals As the republic disintegrates, Milton publishes a series of urgent tracts calling for the total abolition of state-supported tithes, complete liberty of conscience, and a perpetual national council to avert a return to monarchy, holding his ground despite rising Royalist opposition and public ridicule.

Monk marches and the King returns General George Monk leads his Scottish garrison into London, turns on the Rump, and forces the readmission of secluded Presbyterian members. Monk secretively negotiates with the exiled Charles II, leading to the Declaration of Breda and the formal restoration of the Stuart monarchy in May 1660.

The People

• John Milton: The blind Latin Secretary to the Council of State and radical pamphleteer. He wants an unyielding, tithe-free Protestant republic governed by an enlightened perpetual council, alongside complete liberty of conscience. He is hindered by his total loss of sight, personal bereavements, domestic instability, and the political collapse of the republican cause. By 1660, he is left politically defeated, publicly mocked, and forced into hiding, yet deeply committed to his epic poetical labor, Paradise Lost.
• Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. He seeks to maintain political stability, preserve the unity of the army, and enforce a degree of godly religious toleration without allowing parliamentary anarchy or radical extremism. Standing in his way are recalcitrant republican MPs, religious zealots, royalist plotters, and financial strain. He ends his life in September 1658 exhausted by governance, leaving an fragile political structure to his son.
• Richard Cromwell: Oliver’s eldest surviving son and successor as Lord Protector. He desires a peaceful, legally sound civil administration supported by Parliament. He is thwarted by his lack of military prestige, his financial debts, and the hostility of army generals who refuse to submit to civilian control. He is forced to resign the Protectorship after eight months, retiring into private civilian life.
• General George Monk: Commander of the Commonwealth forces in Scotland. He seeks the restoration of civil order, the payment of his soldiers, and a stable, lawful government, while keeping his ultimate political intentions secret from all parties. Opposed by rival generals like Lambert and the stubborn leaders of the Rump Parliament, he skillfully maneuvers his troops into London, engineers the return of excluded members, and facilitates the peaceful restoration of Charles II, securing immense personal favor and peerage under the restored Crown.
• General John Lambert: Prominent officer in the Parliamentary army and leader of the military faction. He wants a dominant role for the army council in shaping the government and a select senate to control civilian politicians. Standing in his way are the civilian Rumpers who demand absolute parliamentary supremacy over the military. His forcible shutdown of Parliament fails to establish lasting rule, and he is ultimately deserted by his troops, arrested, and imprisoned.
• Alexander Morus: Franco-Scottish Protestant minister and scholar. He wants to clear his name of moral scandals and intellectual attacks launched against him across Europe. Stymied by Milton’s persistent literary assaults in Pro Se Defensio, he moves between academic posts in Italy and the Netherlands, constantly defending his reputation before ecclesiastical synods.

In Its Own Voice

When news of the violent expulsion of the Vaudois Protestants reaches London, Milton drafts an urgent state letter on behalf of Cromwell to the Evangelical Swiss Cantons, expressing deep solidarity with the displaced refugees.

"If, however, he should determine otherwise, we are prepared to exchange counsels with you on the subject of the means by which we may be able most effectively to relieve, re-establish, and save from certain and undeserved ruin, an innocent people oppressed and tormented by so many injuries, they being also our dearest brothers in Christ."

Addressing his scholar friend Peter Heimbach, Milton reflects on his blindness and the absurdities of the London book market, where costly illustrated atlases offer little value to a visually impaired reader.

"Since to me at least, on account of my blindness, painted maps can hardly be of use, vainly surveying as I do with blind eyes the actual globe of the earth, I am afraid that the bigger the price at which I should buy that book the greater would seem to be my grief over my deprivation."

In his final, desperate appeal for a permanent republican assembly in early 1660, Milton rejects the popular proposal for a rotating Senate, warning against the instability of constant elections during a national crisis.

"For it appears not how this can be done without danger and mischance of putting out a great number of the best and ablest; in whose stead new elections may bring in as many raw, unexperienced, and otherwise affected, to the weakening and much altering for the worse of public transactions."

What It's Really About

At its core, this volume examines the fundamental conflict between revolutionary idealism and the practical demands of political governance. Masson investigates how an ideological movement, having successfully dismantled a traditional monarchy, struggles to construct a lasting, legitimate substitute when its own constituent factions hold irreconcilable visions of liberty.

The book explores several interconnected themes:

• The Limits of Religious Toleration: The narrative continually tests how much dissent a state can allow before its social fabric dissolves. The cases of Biddle and Nayler demonstrate the tension between Cromwell’s desire for broad Protestant unity and the orthodox Puritan majority’s insistence on punishing heresy.
• Civil Supremacy vs. Military Dictatorship: Masson details the struggle for ultimate authority in a post-monarchical state. The repeated clashes between the civilian politicians of the Rump Parliament and the army generals at Wallingford House reveal the vulnerability of a republic dependent on military force for its existence.
• State Authority and Private Conscience: Through Milton’s political treatises, the narrative argues for an absolute separation of church and state. Milton insists that state-enforced tithes and official church establishments corrupt true Christianity, asserting that spiritual matters belong exclusively to individual conscience and voluntary assemblies.
• The Intellectual's Role in National Collapse: Masson documents the tragic position of the scholar-statesman who remains unwavering in his principles while the political reality around him disintegrates, illustrating how high-minded political theory can become detached from popular sentiment.

Why Read It Today

David Masson’s Life of Milton is a monumental achievement of nineteenth-century scholarship, offering an immersive, document-driven history of the Interregnum. Rather than isolating the poet in a vacuum, Masson places Milton directly within the cabinet rooms, diplomatic networks, and pamphlets of his era. For readers interested in the English Civil War, the Cromwellian Protectorate, or the intellectual origins of modern civil liberties, this volume remains an indispensable narrative source.

The experience of reading Masson is one of expansive archival immersion. His style combines rigorous Victorian narrative thoroughness with deep historical empathy. He presents complete state papers, parliamentary division lists, legal transcripts, and private letters, allowing the reader to observe history through its original records. Rather than offering summarized judgments, Masson reconstructs day-by-day debates in the Council of State and the House of Commons, capturing the confusion, urgency, and theoretical passion of the era.

The book does present distinct challenges for a contemporary reader. Masson writes on an exhaustive scale, devoting hundreds of pages to intricate institutional history, ecclesiastical debates among Scottish presbyteries, and forgotten foreign diplomacy. Long passages of untranslated Latin correspondence and archaic political terminology require patient reading. Furthermore, Masson’s nineteenth-century prose style is deliberate and dense, demanding sustained concentration.

What stays with the reader, however, is the poignant contrast between Milton's grand vision for a free, enlightened English republic and the pragmatic reality of its collapse. Watching a blind scholar stubbornly write tracts defending civil and religious liberty while royalist mobs celebrate in the streets of London creates a memorable portrait of intellectual fortitude. Masson provides a deep understanding of the personal and political sacrifices that shaped one of the English language's greatest poets during his most turbulent years.