A Letter from Edmund Waller to Thomas Hobbes

Abstract

P HE FOLLOWING LETTER, addressed by Edmund Waller to 1 Thomas Hobbes, is not dated, but was probably written late in i 656 or early in i657.1 An approximate quo terminal date is furnished by the allusion to Lucy's Examinations, which appeared in July i656. Waller's remark, general voyse att present goes for selected (not an elected) Parliament . seems to furnish basis for dating the letter prior tO 25 May i657, when the Humble Petition and Advice was accepted, which provided that Parliament should consist of an elected House of Commons and nominated other House. Little is known of Waller's life during the eight years preceding the Restoration. He had returned from exile, with the permission of Parliament, in i652. His Panegyric to Cromwell appeared in i655. This letter is primarily of importance as showing how the Leviathan was received, but is also of interest in reflecting the poet's opinion of the Protectorate. The description of the rule of the Major Generals as a perfect foundation of government comes as something of surprise from one who had suffered imprisonment, heavy fine, and long exile for his royalism. The letter is printed from the autograph manuscript in the Huntington Library (HM 2264), but contractions have been expanded and superior letters have been lowered. PAUL H. HARDACRE