7378 YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH ALBERT S. COOK, EDITOR. LIV OF REFORMATION TOUCHING BY JOHN MILTON Edited with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary BY WILL TALIAFERRO HALE, Ph.D., DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH IN INDIANA UNIVERSITY. A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXVI S+ PREFACE The text of this edition is that of the first edition (1641), which was the only issue of the pamphlet during Milton's lifetime. This I have followed verbatim et literatim.1 There are, however, a few variations in the spelling and punctuation of the extant copies, and in these instances I have had to exercise a certain amount of discrimination. The variations, together with the misprints, are indicated in the footnotes. The Introduction is intended to furnish the information necessary for an understanding, not only of the pamphlet itself, but of the author's mind as revealed in it. Special emphasis, therefore, has been put upon the personal element underlying the various details of the argument. Only a brief statement concerning the authorship and date has been necessary, since there has never been any question as to the Miltonic authorship, and the date has been approximately determined. The second chapter describes Milton's life immediately preceding the composition of this work, and points out the motives that led him into the conflict with Episcopacy. These facts, as well as the philosophic basis of these motives, which are given in the fourth chapter, are essential for a sympathetic appreciation of his position. To understand the pamphlet, and grasp its significance, it is necessary also to be acquainted with the history of the ecclesiastical controversy which occasioned it. I have, therefore, included an epitome of the development in England of the Presbyterian system of church-government, and an account of the religious conflict at the time Of Reformation ap 1 The modern s has been substituted for the archaic form. iii |