f importance had been regarded as the special charge of Milton in
his Secretaryship, to which routine duty must give way; and, as his
_Defensio Secunda_ in reply to the _Regii Sanguinis Clamor_
had been, like several of his preceding writings, a task performed by
him on actual commission from the Rump Government, though not
finished till the Protectorate had begun, Oliver and his Council may
have thought it but fair that another pamphlet of the same series in
reply to the _Fides Publica_ of Morus should count also to the
credit of Milton's official services, even though it must necessarily
be more a pamphlet of mere personal concern than any of its
predecessors. But, indeed, by this time, Mr. Milton was a privileged
man, who might regulate matters very much for himself, and drop in on
Thurloe and Meadows at the office only when he liked.

SECTION II: FROM JANUARY 1654-5 TO SEPTEMBER 1656, OR THROUGH THE
PERIOD OF ARBITRARINESS.

LETTER TO MILTON FROM LEO DE AITZEMA: MILTON'S REPLY: LETTER TO
EZEKIEL SPANHEIM AT GENEVA: MILTON'S GENEVESE RECOLLECTIONS AND
ACQUAINTANCES: TWO MORE OF MILTON'S LATIN STATE-LETTERS (NOS. LII.,
LIII.): SMALL AMOUNT OF MILTON'S DESPATCH-WRITING FOR CROMWELL
HITHERTO.--REDUCTION OF OFFICIAL SALARIES, AND PROPOSAL TO REDUCE
MILTON'S TO L150 A YEAR: ACTUAL COMMUTATION OF HIS L288 A YEAR AT
PLEASURE INTO L200 FOR LIFE: ORDERS OF THE PROTECTOR AND COUNCIL
RELATING TO THE PIEDMONTESE MASSACRE, MAY 1655: SUDDEN DEMAND ON
MILTON'S PEN IN THAT BUSINESS: HIS LETTER OF REMONSTRANCE FROM THE
PROTECTOR TO THE DUKE OF SAVOY, WITH TEN OTHER LETTERS TO FOREIGN
STATES AND PRINCES ON THE SAME SUBJECT (NOS. LIV.--LXIV.): HIS SONNET
ON THE SUBJECT.--PUBLICATION OF THE SUPPLEMENTUM TO MORE'S _FIDES
PUBLICA_: ACCOUNT OF THE SUPPLEMENTUM, WITH EXTRACTS: MILTON'S
ANSWER TO THE _FIDES PUBLICA_ AND THE SUPPLEMENTUM TOGETHER IN
HIS _PRO SE DEFENSIO_, AUG. 1655: ACCOUNT OF THAT BOOK, WITH
SPECIMENS: MILTON'S DISBELIEF IN MORUS'S DENIALS OF THE AUTHORSHIP OF
THE _REGII SANGUINIS CLAMOR_: HIS REASONS, AND HIS REASSERTIONS
OF THE CHARGE IN A MODIFIED FORM: HIS NOTICES OF DR. CRANTZIUS AND
ULAC: HIS RENEWED ONSLAUGHTS ON MORUS: HIS REPETITION OF THE BONTIA
ACCUSATION AND OTHERS: HIS EXAMINATION OF MORUS'S PRINTED
TESTIMONIALS: FEROCITY OF THE BOOK TO THE LAST: ITS EFFECTS ON
MORUS.--QUESTION OF THE REAL AUTHORSHIP OF THE _REGII SANGUINIS
CLAMOR_ AND OF THE AMOUNT OF MORUS'S CONCERN IN IT: THE DU MOULIN
FAMILY: DR. PE