On "The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates" by Milton

Here is an excerpt from Milton on ‘Free Nations’ written in old English (and it might need rereading):

“And surely they that shall boast, as we do, to be a free Nation, and not have in themselves the power to remove, or to abolish any governor supreme, or subordinat, with the government it self upon urgent causes, may please thir fancy with a ridiculous and painted freedom, fit to coz’n babies; but are indeed under tyranny and servitude; as wanting that power, which is the root and source of all liberty, to dispose and economize in the Land which God hath giv’n them, as Maisters of Family in thir own house and free inheritance. Without which natural and essential power of a free Nation, though bearing high thir heads, they can in due esteem be thought no better then slaves and vassals born, in the tenure and occupation of another inheriting Lord. Whose government, though not illegal, or intolerable, hangs over them as a Lordly scourge, not as a free government; and therefore to be abrogated.”

John Milton’s, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, was first published in 1649, less than two weeks after the execution of Charles I. Milton wrote about liberty, the people’s right to resist tyranny and the need for political trust, among other things.