Algernon Sidney
Algernon Sidney
Algernon Sidney or Sydneywas an English politician and member of the Long Parliament. A republican political theorist, colonel, and commissioner of the trial of King Charles I of England, he opposed the king's execution. Sidney was later charged with plotting against Charles II, in part based on his work, Discourses Concerning Government, used by the prosecution as a witness at his trial. He was executed for treason. After his death, Sidney was revered as a "Whig patriot–hero and martyr"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth14 January 1653
We cannot distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong, or know what obedience we owe to the magistrate, or what we may justly expect from him, unless we know what he is, why he is, and by whom he is made to be what he is.... I cannot know how to obey unless I know in what, and to whom; nor in what unless I know what ought to be commanded; nor what ought to be commanded unless I understand the original right of the commander, which is the great arcanum.
God leaves to Man the choice of Forms in Government; and those who constitute one Form, may abrogate it.
If his Majesty is resolved to have my head, he may make a whistle of my arse if he pleases.
All the nations they had to deal with, had the same fate.
The truth is, man is hereunto led by reason which is his nature.
This submission is a restraint of liberty, but could be of no effect as to the good intended, unless it were general; nor general, unless it were natural.
A general presumption that Icings will govern well, is not a sufficient security to the People... those who subjected themselves to the will of a man were governed by a beast.
'Tis hard to comprehend how one man can come to be master of many, equal to himself in right, unless it be by consent or by force.
To depend upon the Will of a Man is Slavery.
If vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.
The common Notions of Liberty are not from School Divines, but from Nature.
The general revolt of a Nation cannot be called a Rebellion.
The best Governments of the World have bin composed of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy.
Such as have reason, understanding, or common sense, will, and ought to make use of it in those things that concern themselves and their posterity, and suspect the words of such as are interested in deceiving or persuading them not to see with their own eyes.