The Tenure Of Kings And Magistrates

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This book is a political treatise that defends the execution of Charles I and advocates for the replacement of the monarchy with a republic. It was written by John Milton, who is also known for his epic poem 'Paradise Lost'. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates is a book by John Milton, in which he defends the right of people to execute a guilty sovereign, whether tyrannical or not. In the text, Milton conjectures about the formation of commonwealths. He comes up with a kind of constitutionalism but not an outright anti-monarchical argument. He gives a theory of how people come into commonwealths and come to elect kings. He explains what the role of a king should be, and conversely what a tyrant is, and why it is necessary to limit a ruler's power through laws and oaths. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates was one of the "key republican texts" during the 17th century. However, Milton gave up parts of his Republican views to support Parliament, especially when he called for the people to support the government. " more properly termed a regicide tract, justifying the killing of King Charles I, rather than a republican tract, justifying the establishment of a new kind of government." The argument in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates is complicated, and Milton attempts to reexplain his views in Eikonoklastes. With both pieces Milton attempted to disrupt the popular image of Charles I as innocent (Eikonoklastes means "image breaker"). The work is unique compared to other works during its time because Milton emphasises the deeds of individuals as the only way for there to be justice. The work also emphasises the freedom of the individual, and only through such freedom is an individual able to develop properly. Citing classical and biblical references, this emphasis refutes Hobbes's divine right of kings. Milton argues that no man is better than another, having all been created in God's image, free and equal, and that all have a right to dispose of themselves. Further, he argues that their freedom and equality entitles them to inflict the same treatment upon the king they would receive at the hands of the law, that magistrates are empowered by the people: It being thus manifest that the power of Kings and Magistrates is nothing else, but what is only derivative, transferr'd and committed to them in trust from the People, to the Common good of them all, in whom the power yet remains fundamentally, and cannot be tak'n from them, without a violation of thir natural birthright.

Excerpt from The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates To George Thomason, bookseller of the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church Yard, friend of Rushworth, Calamy, and Milton, and keen Observer of religious and political affairs, we owe the British Museum col lection of tracts which bears his name. From 1640 to 1661 Thomason collected each day's output of tracts, broadsides, newspapers, books, even fly-leaves of doggerel verse, and stored them away for the cd ification Of future ages. Few of the publications rela ting to the Civil War, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration eluded his vigilance. As the flood of this voluminous period bore in Upon him, he carefully noted the exact date of each publication in his cata logue, and often wrote out the full name of the author where the treatise or book gave only the initials. On this account, Thomason is the sole authority for the dates of first and second editions of many books now regarded as classics of English literature. Among eight publications which came into Thoma son's hands from the presses of London on Feb. 13, 1649, one small quarto, the work of a friend, must have been noted by him with Special pleasure. The entry was as follows The Tenure Of Kings and Magistrates: proving that it is Lawfull for any who have the Power to call to account a Tyrant or wicked King and after due conviction to depose, and put him to death. The Author, J. M. [i. E. John Milton.] Prin ted by Matthew Simmons (13 A year later. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.