A king desires to be the guardian of his people, that those
who have property may be secure in the possession of it, and that the
people in general meet with no injury; but a tyrant, as has been often
said, has no regard to the common good, except for his own advantage;
his only object is pleasure, but a king's is virtue: what a tyrant
therefore is ambitious of engrossing is wealth, but a king rather
honour. The guards too of a king are citizens, a tyrant's foreigners.
That a tyranny contains all that is bad both in a democracy and an
oligarchy is evident; with an oligarchy it has for its end gain, as
the only means of providing the tyrant with guards and the luxuries of
life; like that it places no confidence in the people; and therefore
deprives them of the use of arms: it is also common to them both to
persecute the populace, to drive them out of the city and their own
habitations. With a democracy it quarrels with the nobles, and
destroys them both publicly and privately, or drives them into
banishment, as rivals and an impediment to the government; hence
naturally arise conspiracies both amongst those who desire to govern
and those who desire not to be slaves; hence arose Periander's advice
to Thrasybulus to take off the tallest stalks, hinting thereby, that
it was necessary to make away with the eminent citizens. We ought then
in reason, as has been already said, to account for the changes which
arise in a monarchy from the same causes which produce them in other
states: for, through injustice received, fear, and contempt, many of
those who are under a monarchical government conspire against it; but
of all species of injustice, injurious contempt has most influence on
them for that purpose: sometimes it is owing to their being deprived
of their private fortunes.
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