Excellencie of a Free State: Or, the Right Constitution of a Commonwealth

First published in 1656, and compiled from previously written editorials in the parliamentarian news book Mercurius Politicus, The Excellencie of a Free State addressed a dilemma in English politics, namely, what kind of government should the Commonwealth adopt? One possibility was to revert to the ancient constitution and create a Cromwellian monarchy. The alternative was the creation of parliamentary sovereignty, in which there would be a due and orderly succession of supreme authority in the hands of the people’s representatives . Nedham was convinced that only the latter would best secure the liberties and freedoms of the people from the encroachments and usurpations of tyranny.