Early in 1659, following Oliver Cromwell’s death and under the leadership of his son Richard, the English Protectorate fell to pieces. By May the Rump Parliament had restored a measure of order to the Republic, but by then the damage had been done. In the teeth of the returning monarchy,

Milton published The readie & easie vvay to establish a free Commonwealth in March of 1660. It was Milton’s last-ditch attempt to warn the country of what its title page calls ‘the inconveniences and dangers of readmitting kingship in this nation’.

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