eet; married a wife
and advocated divorce; printed a pamphlet to compose the minds of
those disturbed by the murder of Charles I.; as also a defence of his
murderers, justifying the monarch's execution, for which the author was
awarded a thousand pounds; had become secretary to Cromwell, whom he
stooped to flatter; and had even, on the advent of his majesty's
return, written and set forth "A Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free
Commonwealth." ["To your virtue," writes John Milton to Oliver Cromwell,
"overpowering and resistless, every man gives way, except some who,
without equal qualifications, aspire to equal honours, who envy the
distinctions of merit greater than their own, and who have yet to learn
that, in the coalition of human society, nothing is more pleasing to
God, or more agreeable to reason, than that the highest mind should have
the sovereign power. Such, sir, are you, by general confession: such
are the things achieved by you, the greatest and most glorious of
our countrymen, the director of our public councils, the leader of
unconquered armies the father of your country; for by that title does
every good man hail you with sincere and voluntary praise."]

On the landing of Charles II. Milton withdrew to the privacy afforded
by a residence in Bartholomew Close, near West Smithfield. For a time he
was apprehensive of punishment. His pamphlet justifying the late king's
execution was, with others of a like kind, burned by the common hangman;
but though parliament ordered the attorney-general would prosecute the
authors of these works, Milton was neither seized nor brought to trial.
Soon after his arrival, Charles published an act of grace promising free
pardon to those instrumental in overthrowing his father's government,
with the exception of such as had contrived his death; and inasmuch as
Milton had but justified that monstrous act after it had taken place,
he escaped condemnation. Moreover, he received a special pardon, which
passed the privy seal in December, 1660. His escape has been attributed
to his friend Davenant. This loyal soldier had, when taken by Cromwell's
troopers in the civil war, been condemned to speedy death; from which,
by Milton's intercession, he escaped; an act of mercy Davenant
now repaid in kind, by appealing to his friends in behalf of the
republican's safety.

Having secured his freedom, Milton lived in peace and obscurity in Jewin
Street, near Aldersgate Street. During the com