NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM MSS. IN THE STATE PAPER OFFICE. WITH AN APPENDIX OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO HIS CONNECTION WITH THE POWELL FAMILY. COLLECTED AND EDITED, WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS, BY W. DOUGLAS HAMILTON, OF H.M. STATE PAPER OFFICE, AND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, AUTHOR OF " OUTLINES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND," &c. COUNCIL OF THE CAMDEN SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1859-60. President, THE MARQUESS OF BRISTOL, V.P.S.A.. WILLIAM HENRY BLAAUW, ESQ. M.A., F.S.A. JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, ESQ. F.S.A. Treasurer. JAMES CROSBY, ESQ. F.S.A. JOHN FORSTER, ESQ. EDWARD FOSS, ESQ. F.S.A. THOMAS W. KING, ESQ. F.S.A., York Herald. WILLIAM J. THOMS, ESQ. F.S.A. Secretary. ALBERT WAY, ESQ. M.A. F.S.A. HIS EXCELLENCY M. SYLVAIN VAN DE WEYER, F.S.A. The COUNCIL of the CAMDEN SOCIETY desire it to be understood that they are not answerable for any opinions or observations that may appear in the Society's publications; the Editors of the several works being alone responsible for the same. PREFACE. THE following documents, now published for the first time, from the originals in the State Paper Office, will be found to contain much new information, illustrative both of the public and private history of Milton; while, in particular, the sixteen Letters of State, never before printed, are absolutely requisite to complete that noble series of Diplomatic Correspondence which the Secretary for Foreign Tongues to the Commonwealth has left, at once as a monument of his political genius, and of the elegance of his classical acquirements. In addition to the papers comprised in the body of this work, there are a number which it was found requisite to throw into an Appendix, for, although many of these are invaluable to the biography of the poet, yet, on account of their length and legal phraseology, it was found impossible to embody them in a readable narrative; reference has, however, been made to these docu |