FOR SUCH:  EDWARD PHILLIPS’S LONDON EDITION OF THE POEMS OF DRUMMOND
OF HAWTHORNDEN:  MILTON’S COGNISANCE OF THE SAME.—­HENRY OLDENBURG AND
MR. RICHARD JONES AT OXFORD:  LETTERS OF MILTON TO JONES AND
OLDENBURG.—­THIRTEEN MORE STATE-LETTERS OF THE MILTON SERIES (NOS. 
LXXVIII.—­XC.):  IMPORTANCE OF SOME OF THEM.

Oliver had just entered on his period of Arbitrariness, or Government without a Parliament, when Milton received the following letter in Latin from Leo de Aitzema, or Lieuwe van Aitzema, formerly known to him as agent for Hamburg and the Hanse Towns in London, but now residing at the Hague in the same capacity (IV. 378-379).  Aitzema, we may now mention, was a Frieslander by birth, eight years older than Milton, and is remembered still, it is said, for a voluminous and valuable History of the United Provinces, consisting of a great collection of documents, with commentaries by himself in Dutch.[1] This had not yet been published.

[Footnote 1:  See Article Aitzema in Bayle’s Dictionary.]

  “To the honourable and highly esteemed Mr. John Milton, Secretary
  to the Council of State, London.

“Partly because Morus, in his book, has made some aspersions on you for your English Book on Divorce, partly because many have been inquiring eagerly about the arguments with which you support your opinion, I have, most honoured and esteemed Sir, given your little work entire to a friend of mine to be translated into Dutch, with a desire to have it printed soon.  Not knowing, however, whether you would like anything corrected therein or added, I take the liberty to give you this notice, and to request you to let me know your mind on the subject.  Best wishes and greetings from

  “Your very obedient

  “LEO AITZEMA[1]

  “Hague:  Jan. 29, 1654-5.”

[Footnote 1:  Communicated by the late Mr. Thomas Watts of the British Museum, and published by the late Rev. John Mitford in Appendix to Life of Milton prefixed to Pickering’s Edition of Milton’s Works (1851).]

Milton’s answer, rather unusually for him, was immediate.

  TO LEO VAN AITZEMA.

It is very gratifying to me that you retain the same amount of recollection of me as you very politely showed of good will by once and again visiting me while you resided among us.  As regards the Book on Divorce which you tell me you have given to some one to be turned into Dutch, I would rather you had given it to be turned into Latin.  For my experience in those books of mine has now been that the vulgar still receive according to their wont opinions not already common.  I wrote a good while ago, I may mention, three treatises on the subject:—­the first, in two books, in which The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (for that is the title of the book) is contained at large; a second, which is called Tetrachordon, and in which the four chief passages of Scripture