"This, though it cannot but stand with plain reason, shall be made good also by Scripture (Deut. XVII,14):'When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations about me.' These words confirm us that the right of choosing, yea of changing their own government, is by the grant of God himself in the people. And therefore when they desire a king, though then under another form of government and though their changing displeased him, yet he that was himself their king and rejected by them would not be a hindrance to what they intended further than by persuasion, but that they might do therein as they saw good (I Sam. VII),only he reserved to himself the nomination of who should reign over them."
John Milton
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates
1649
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