Marvell was famous for his brilliant prose interventions in the major issues of the Restoration, religious toleration and what he called "arbitrary" as distinct from parliamentary government. This is a modern edition of all Marvell's prose pamphlets, complete with introductions and annotation explaining the historical context. From the "Rehearsal Transpros'd", a serio-comic best-seller which appeared with tacit permission from Charles II himself to the documentary "Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government", Marvell established himself not only as a model of liberal thought for the 18th century but also as an irresistible new voice in political polemic - and he was wittier, more literary and hence more readable than his contemporaries.

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