ABSTRACT
The statement in The Second Part of Miscellany Poems that an A was begun 'in the year 1680' has been accepted by some scholars, but is unlikely. Malone took it to mean before 25 March 1681, which would be before the dissolution of the Oxford Parliament. It is more probable that the dissolution prompted D. to begin the poem, and that he worked at it over the summer of 1681, Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem was published by Tonson in 1681. In the late 1670s there was growing anxiety about the succession to Charles II, who had no legitimate children. His heir, his brother James, Duke of York, was a Roman Catholic, and the prospect of a Catholic king made many Englishmen fear for their political and religious liberties. Fears were accentuated by the allegations made by Titus Oates in October 1678 that there was a Popish Plot to assassinate Charles and establish Catholicism.
