JOHN MILTON 61 
a “Defence of the King,” was answered by Milton’s 
Latin treatise, called a “ Defence of the English Peo- 
ple,’ which was probably read by every educated man 
and woman in every corner of Europe. It was a de- 
fence of the people for executing their king for treason. 
The question is one on which conflicting views are 
still maintained; but the number of those who would 
hold the king guiltless and call him a martyr has 
greatly diminished and is still diminishing, since we 
know that he was capable of allying himself with any 
party whatever for the sake of his personal ends. In 
these days we find no difficulty in realizing that a king 
who uses military force to overthrow the constitutional 
liberties of the people is guilty of treason and amenable 
to its consequences. The chief criticism now brought 
against the execution of Charles I. is that it instantly 
gave his son a claim to the throne and thus created 
further disturbance. Cromwell and his party were 
not ignorant of this danger, but they had to choose 
between it and the other danger of making further 
compacts with a king upon whose plighted word no 
man could fora moment rely. They believed that the 
latter danger was the greater, and they slew the king, 
not in vindictiveness, but as a measure of public safety. 
In Milton’s book, however, we catch yet another note, 
a stern and grim one: let it be a warning to tyrants 
all over the world. One can fancy the shiver with 
which royalists everywhere must have read such star- 
tling doctrines. 
Milton’s love and admiration for the mighty Oliver 
were never shaken. The two men were much alike 
for downright honesty and unsullied patriotism, also 
for breadth of mind and disdain of petty considera- 
