“For the Sake of Liberty” 1652–1654[N]othing is more natural, nothing more just, nothing more useful or more advanta-
geous to the human race than that the lesser obey the greater, not the lesser number
the greater number but the lesser virtue the greater virtue, the lesser wisdom the
greater wisdom. Those whose power lies in wisdom, experience, industry, and virtue
will, in my opinion, however small their number, be a majority and prove more
powerful... than any mere number, however great. (636)He still regards England as a republic (561, 673), but his view of the English
populace is far darker than in the Defensio, and he makes a still sharper divide
between the virtuous citizens who “freed the state from grievous tyranny and the
church from unworthy servitude,” and the mob that “venomously attacked” their
heroic achievements (549). The true “people” are that multitude of liberators, not
“this mob of ours” that still idolizes tyrants (551–2). Accordingly, the worthy,
liberty-loving minority has the right and duty to act for the whole people, and the
majority – if it has become a mob – does not have the right Milton accorded the
people in Tenure, of reclaiming their inherent sovereign power from their del-
egates:
If, after receiving supreme power to decide on the gravest matters, they were forced
once more to refer those questions, which especially exceed the comprehension of
the masses, I do not say to the people (for with this power they are themselves now
the people) but to the mob, which, conscious of its own inexperience, had originally
referred all things to them, what would be the end of this referring back and forth?...
Who denies that times may often come when a majority of the citizens are wanton,
preferring to follow Catiline or Antony rather than the sounder party of the Senate?
Nor for that reason ought the upright citizens to fail in striving against the disaffected
and acting bravely, having regard rather for their duty than for their small number.
(634–5, 648)On these terms England is an aristocratic republic whose true citizens are dedicated
to the noblest ends of government, “the restoration of liberty both to civil life and
to divine worship” (550). If the Protector and his government will set policies that
assure such liberty they will have achieved the best form of a republic possible at
this time, albeit a form Milton thinks imperfect and hopes will be temporary: “a
people torn by so many factions (as after a storm, when the waves have not yet
subsided) does not permit that condition in public affairs which is ideal and perfect”
(680).
He still equates absolute monarchy with tyranny (561–2), but in this tract he
does not repeat (though he still believes) his earlier arguments for the inherent
superiority of an aristocratic republic. Rather, since he is addressing the nations of
Europe, most of them monarchies, he insists that his tracts distinguish sharply be-
tween kings and tyrants and that Queen Christina’s praises of his Defensio prove
“that I had uttered no word against kings, but only against tyrants – the pests and