Section 1015

and died there in 1C24. Among Jlariana's works we notice J)e rerje et reyis {nstitutio)ie (Toledo, 1598), writ- ten at tlie request of Garcia de Loayso, and deilicated to Pliilip III. In this work he expresses his views on royaltv with the greatest freedom, even going so far as to maintain that, under certain circumstances, it may be legitimate to put a king to death. The sixth chap- ter of the tirst book is entirely taken up with the ques- tion whether it is allowable to assassinate a tyrant, and he concludes affirmatively. Mariana begins by an ac- count of the murder of Henry III, and quotes the divers opinions expressed by others on this event, but it is easy to perceive that he approves of the deed. From this individual fact he passes to the general theory, which he bases on the principle that regal power is intrusted to a king by his peoi)le under certain conditions, and that the nation therefore retains the supreme right of making kings accountable for their conduct, and revok- ing tliem if need be. From this principle, that sover- eignty resides essentially in the nation, he deduces the following consequences : 1, according to theologians and philosophers, every citizen has a right to kill a' prince who has usurped sovereign authority without the con- sent of the nation (" perimi a quoconque, vita et princi- patu spoliari posse") ; 2, if a prince regularly elected, or who has regularly come on the throne by succession, seeks to overthrow religion or the laws, and refuses to listen to the remonstrances of the nation, he is to be got rid of by the surest possible means ; 3, the surest waj' is to assemble the states-general, who will depose him, and, should he resist, proclaim him an enemy of the country, and treat him accordingly ; 4, the states-gen- eral have the right to condemn to death a prince de- clared the enemy of the country, and every citizen has then a right to kill him ; 5, if it is impossible to assem- ble the states-general, and yet it is the wish of the na- tion that the tyrant perish, then a citizen is not guilty who accomplishes this general wish (" (jui votis publicis favens eum perimere tentavit haudquaquam inique eum fecisse existimabo"). jNIariana, however, puts one re- striction to the exercise of this terrible right : he de- clares that the judgment of one or several citizens is not sufficient; that the general wish of the nation must have been clearly expressed, and that the advice of se- rious and well-informed men should also be taken. After thus justifying the assassination of kings under certain circumstances, Mariana examines the means by which it may be accomplished. All means, he thinks, are allowable, but such as will be least likely to commit the nation or the individual are to be preferred. He shows some partiality for poison, yet maintains that it should not be administered in the food, but rather placed in tilings of daily use, such as the clothes, etc. The ap- pearance of this work created quite a sensation in France. The Sorbonne and Parliament informed against his book; the Jesuits' congregation of the province of France con- demned Mariana, and the condemnation was approved by general Aquaviva (Mariana had formerly opposed him in Spain) until the book should be revised. See Jesuits. After the nmrder of Henry IV the Parlia- ment condemned the book to be publicly burned, July 8, 10 10, and his treasonable doctrines, as they were called, continued during the whole of that age of loyalty and part of the following to furnish a common subject of animadversion, and a chief ground of accusation against the Jesuits. It is, however, but just to add here that like doctrines were taught also by Protestant con- temporaries of Mariana, and that by no means should the Society of Jesus be held accountable for the propa- gation of such views (Compare Hallam, Literary His- torji, iii, 130-140). The Jesuits have, indeed, occasion- ally supported the claims of the people against their riders, but always with a view to the interests of their own body only. Mariana, on the contrary, discussed this subject on better and higher grounds! Mankind occupied his thoughts, and liad a much stronger hold on his affections than the interests and plans of his order.