Notes to Chapter 146 See E. A. J. Honigmann, ed., Milton’s Sonnets (London, 1966), 147. The phrase is
biblical in origin: “For there shall be peace and truth in my days” (Isaiah 39:8). Signifi-
cantly, Milton refers only to the battles in Scotland (against the Presbyterians), not to
those in England or Ireland. Roger Williams’s Bloody Tenent and Bloody Tenent yet More
Bloody were also set forth as dialogues between Truth and Peace.
47 Cicero, De Officiis I, xxii, 74: “Vere autem si volumus judicare, multae res exstiterunt
urbanae maiores clarioresque quam bellicae.” Cicero, vol. 21, trans. Walter Miller (Cam-
bridge, Mass., 1918), 76.
48 The sonnet bears this title in TM. Since Vane’s father (also in parliament) was named
Henry, the son’s usual style was “The Younger.” The sonnet was first printed anony-
mously in [George Sikes], The Life and Death of Sir Henry Vane (London, 1662), 93–4,
just after Vane’s execution. Sikes introduces the sonnet with the comment, “the Char-
acter of this deceased Statesman... I shall exhibite to you in a paper of Verses, com-
posed by a learned Gentleman, and sent him [Vane], July 3, 1652.” Sikes’s brief description
of Vane’s character and accomplishments simply expands upon the terms supplied by
Milton’s sonnet. The sonnet was reprinted in Letters of State (1694). My citations follow
the version in TM.
49 His style, “The Younger,” is the basis for the paradox. In 1652 he was about 40 but he
had a long string of accomplishments to his credit at a very young age.
50 Edmund Ludlow also commended Vane’s discernment in the matter of proposed trea-
ties with Charles I, when he “so evidently discovered the design and deceit of the
King’s answer” (Memoirs, I, 208).
51 CPW IV.2, 851–3. Philaras, known in France as Villeré, had first sent greetings to
Milton through René Augier, a naturalized English citizen sometimes employed by the
council to do French translations. Milton’s letter is dated by the month only, from
London, not his house in Petty France (Westminster). He may have been staying with
family or friends during his time of troubles.
52 Walton had the encouragement of Ussher and Selden for his grand project, and it
would naturally interest Milton. The council praised it but referred his request to parlia-
ment, and on July 20 sent a copy of that order to Milton, as one who had supported or
perhaps presented Walton’s petition. On July 9, 1653 the council decided “upon the
reading of the Letter written from Mr. Milton to Sir Gilbert Pickering” to discover
how much paper Walton needed, and on July 15 issued the permit (LR III, 231–2,
335–6; Masson, IV, 447, 524).
53 Davenant had been apprehended at sea transporting weavers from France to Virginia,
and in 1651 was under sentence in the Tower. On October 9, 1652 he wrote to
Bulstrode Whitelocke thanking him for his release. Jonathan Richardson reports infor-
mation from Davenant’s son that Milton was instrumental in working his rescue. See
chapter 12, n. 7, and EL 272.
54 The date is indicated by a reference in the preface to the outbreak of the Dutch war.
Adriaan Vlacq published three editions in the Hague in 1652, two duodecimos and a
quarto. In his preface Vlacq claims that the unknown author sent Salmasius a manu-
script of the work several months before it was published. English quotations are from
the sections translated by Paul M. Blackford (CPW IV.2, 1,042–81).
55 Filmer, Observations concerning the Originall of Government (London, 1652), 17, 23.
56 Du Moulin, Parerga, Poematum libelli tres (Cambridge, 1670), III, 141. English trans.
Notes to Chapter 9