Nor can
such an usurper, or any deriving from him, ever have a title till
the people are both at liberty to consent, and have actually
consented, to allow and confirm in him the power he hath till then
usurped.
Chapter XVIII
Of Tyranny
199. As usurpation is the exercise of power which another hath a
right to, so tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which
nobody can have a right to; and this is making use of the power any
one has in his hands, not for the good of those who are under it,
but for his own private, separate advantage. When the governor,
however entitled, makes not the law, but his will, the rule, and his
commands and actions are not directed to the preservation of the
properties of his people, but the satisfaction of his own ambition,
revenge, covetousness, or any other irregular passion.
200. If one can doubt this to be truth or reason because it comes
from the obscure hand of a subject, I hope the authority of a king
will make it pass with him. King James, in his speech to the
Parliament, 16O3, tells them thus: "I will ever prefer the weal of the
public and of the whole commonwealth, in making of good laws and
constitutions, to any particular and private ends of mine, thinking
ever the wealth and weal of the commonwealth to be my greatest weal
and worldly felicity- a point wherein a lawful king doth directly
differ from a tyrant; for I do acknowledge that the special and
greatest point of difference that is between a rightful king and an
usurping tyrant is this- that whereas the proud and ambitious tyrant
doth think his kingdom and people are only ordained for satisfaction
of his desires and unreasonable appetites, the righteous and just king
doth, by the contrary, acknowledge himself to be ordained for the
procuring of the wealth and property of his people.
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