dk. YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH ALBERT S. COOK, EDITOR. XL THE TENURE OF KINGS AND MAGISTRATES BY JOHN_TON EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY WILLIAM TALBOT ALLISON, B.D., P_D., PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH_ WESLEY COLLEGE,_ UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA_ WINNIPEG A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate Sohool of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 19II WEIMAR: PRINTED BY R. WA_R SOl-IN. PREFACE It is not a little surprising, when one considers the amount of attention that has been bestowed on Milton's poetry, that his prose tracts, with a very few excep- tions, have lain so neglected in recent times. The present edition is an attempt to remedy this neglect, so far as one of these treatises is concerned. Others, it is hoped, will follow: indeed, The Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free Commonwealth has already been taken in band. A portion of the expense of printing this book has been borne by the Modern Language Club of Yale University, from funds placed at its disposal by the generosity of Mr. George E. Dimock, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, a graduate of Yale in the Class of i874. ALBERTS. COOK. ¥'ALE UNIVERSITY_ yanuar'e, I9II, CONTENTS INTRODUCTION i I. DATE AND AUTHORSHIP i II. HISTORICAI, SITUATION vi III. PURPOSE xii IV. LEADIhG IDEAS xiv V. THE COVENANT xix VI. THE PRESBYTERIAN DIVINES . xxiii VII. USE OV SCRIPTURE xxvi VIII. BACKGROUND OF I°OLITICAL THOUGH'I xxx 1X. SGURCES Xxxviii X. STYLE . xlvi XI. ORTHOGRAPHY xlix XlI. A CONTEMPORARY CRITICISM lii THE TENURE OF KINGS AND MAGISTRATES 3 NOTES 59 THE HISTORY OF TYRANNICIDE _56 BIBLIOGRAPHY _73 INDEX TO TEXT i8z "k i: I. DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. To George Thomason, bookseller of the Rose and l_- 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 ed- ting to the Civil W'ar, the Commonwealth, and the Restoration eluded his vigilance. As the flood of this ificationvoluminousof futureperiod ages.bore Fewin upofonthe him,publicatiheonscarefullyrela- i 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 !i_! _' 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. t3, 1649, one small quarto, the work of a friend, must 2. 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 Feb).' A year later, _:{ b , . 4 :! ii Introductio_ on Feb. i5, i650, he notes the arrival at the Rose and Crown of a copy of the second edition :--' The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, proving that it is Lawfull to call to account a Tyrant, or wicked King, and put him to death. Published now the second time with some additions. The author J. M. [i. e. John Milton] pp. 60. Printed by Matthew Simmons (i5 Feb.).' We are thus certain of the exact date of publication of this treatise, the first apology for the Commonwealth. Thanks to another contemporary witness, we have most interesting information as to the place of compo- sition, the author's motive, his political sympathies, and the effect of the publication on his own personal fortunes. Our authority is Milton's nephew, Edward Philips, who gives a more extended reference to this pamphlet than might have been expected in the brief compass of his charming sketch of the life of the poet. ' It was not long after the march of Fairfax and Crom- well through the city of London with the whole army, to quell the insurrections, Brown and Massey, now malecontents also, were endeavoring to raise in the city against the armies proceedings, ere he left his great house in Barbican, and betook himself to a smaller in High Holbourn, among those that open backward into Lincolns-Inn Fields. Here he liv'd a private and quiet life, still prosecuting his studies and curious search into knowledge, the grand affair per- petually of his life; till such time as, the war being now at an end, with compleat victory to the Parlia- ment's side, as the Parliament then stood purg'd of all its dissenting members, and the king after some trea- ties with the army re infecta, brought to his tryal; the form of government being now chang'd into a free state, he was hereupon oblig'd to write a treatise, call'd The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.' Date and Authorship iii 'After which his thoughts were bent upon retiring again to his own private studies, and falling upon such subjects as his proper genius prompted him to write of, among which was the history of our own nation from the beginning till the Norman Conquest, wherein he had made some progress. When (for this his last treatise, reviving the fame of some other things he had formerly published) being more and more taken notice of for the excellency of his stile, and depth of judgement, he was courted into the service of this new Commonwealth, and at last prevail'd with (for he never hunted after preferment, nor affected the tintimar and hurry of publick business) to take upon him the office of Latin secretary to the Counsel of State.' 1 According to this statement, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates was written subsequent to the exe- cution of Charles I and the proclamation of the Repub- lic. The book was published, it is true, exactly a fortnight after the king's death, and a week after the official setting-up of the republican form of govern- ment, but Philips is in error as to the date of compo- sition. Milton himself, in an autobiographical passage in the Second Defence, distinctly states that he wrote this pamphlet when the House of Commons was arranging for the trial of the king : ' On the last species of civil liberty, I said nothing, because I saw that suf- ficient attention was paid to it by the magistrates : nor did I write anything on the prerogative of the crown, till the king, voted an enemy by the parliament, and vanquished in the field, was summoned before the tribunal which condemned him to lose his head. But when at length, some Presbyterian ministers, who had formerly been the most bitter enemies to Charles_ be- a Godwi/l, Lives of _'dw. and John Phi[iris,app. p. 371. b2 iv Introduction came jealous of the growth of the Independents, and of their ascendancy in the parliament, most tumul- tuously clamoured against the sentence, and did all in their power to prevent the execution, though they were not angry so much on account of the act it- self, as because it was not the act of their party ; and when they dared to affirm, that the doctrine of the Protestants, and of all the reformed churches was ab- horrent to such an atrocious proceeding against kings, I thought that it became me to oppose such a glaring falsehood; and accordingly, without any immediate or personal application to Charles, I shewed, in an ab- stract consideration of the question, what might law- fully be done against tyrants: and in support of what I advanced, produced the opinions of the most cele- brated divines; while I vehemently inveighed against the egregious ignorance or effrontery of men, who professed better things, and from whom better things might have been expected. That book did not make its appearance till after the death of Charles; and was written rather to reconcile the minds of the people to the event, than to discuss the legitimacy of that partic- ular sentence which concerned the magistrates, and which was already executed' (Bohn I. 259). Aside from this direct evidence, a careful reading of the trea- tise itself might have convinced Philips of his mistake. Milton refers to the trial of the king (5. 12 ft.) as a matter still under discussion: 'They plead for him, pity him, extoll him, protest against those that talke of bringing him to the tryall of Justice, etc.' He al- ludes to those Independents who hesitate to take such a course, who 'begin to swerve, and almost shiver at the Majesty and grandeur of som noble deed' (6. 10). The king is spoken of as one still alive (8. 20), 'the Sword of Justice is above him' (8.84), a prisoner, he Date and Authorship v should not'think to scape unquestionable' (21.21). He also speaks of ' the proceedings now in Parlament against the King' (27. 31). In 88. t6ff. the Presby- terians are denounced, ' who now, to the stirring up of new discord, acquitt him : ... absolve him, uncon- found him, though unconverted, unrepentant,' etc.