You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door read more

You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbour.

Th' oppressive, sturdy, man-destroying villains,
Who ravag'd kingdoms, and laid empires waste,
And in a cruel wantonness read more

Th' oppressive, sturdy, man-destroying villains,
Who ravag'd kingdoms, and laid empires waste,
And in a cruel wantonness of power,
Thinn'd states of half their people, and gave up
To want the rest.

The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy

His demand
Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,
Bur from deceit, bred by necessity;
read more

His demand
Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,
Bur from deceit, bred by necessity;
For how can tyrants safely govern home
Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?

Tyranny
Absolves all faith; and who invades our rights,
Howe'er his own commence, can never be
read more

Tyranny
Absolves all faith; and who invades our rights,
Howe'er his own commence, can never be
But an usurper.

O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
read more

O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accursed
And does blaspheme his breed?

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.