Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART I THE FOUNDATIONS OF LIBERAL REPUBLICANISM
- PART II THE FORMATION OF THE SYNTHESIS
- 3 Marchamont Nedham and the Beginnings of a Liberal Republicanism
- 4 The Distinctive Modern Republicanism of James Harrington
- 5 Henry Neville's Proposal for a Republic under the Form of Monarchy
- 6 Algernon Sidney as Anticipator of Locke and Secret Admirer of Machiavelli
- 7 Cato's Thought as the Reconciliation of Machiavellian Republicanism and Lockean Liberalism
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
- Index
5 - Henry Neville's Proposal for a Republic under the Form of Monarchy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART I THE FOUNDATIONS OF LIBERAL REPUBLICANISM
- PART II THE FORMATION OF THE SYNTHESIS
- 3 Marchamont Nedham and the Beginnings of a Liberal Republicanism
- 4 The Distinctive Modern Republicanism of James Harrington
- 5 Henry Neville's Proposal for a Republic under the Form of Monarchy
- 6 Algernon Sidney as Anticipator of Locke and Secret Admirer of Machiavelli
- 7 Cato's Thought as the Reconciliation of Machiavellian Republicanism and Lockean Liberalism
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Before the Restoration, Henry Neville had been an active republican. He was first elected to Parliament in April 1649, only a few months after the execution of Charles I, and was elected to serve on the Council of State in 1651. At that time he was “a favourite of Oliver [Cromwell],” but when Neville saw that the general “gaped after the government by a single person, he left him.” So far was Neville from being a favorite of Cromwell at this point that, when Cromwell expelled the Rump Parliament in April 1653, he included Neville among the members whom he criticized. Neville was back in Parliament immediately before the Restoration and brought forward for consideration “The Humble Petition,” which offered a proposal for an English republic modeled on Harrington's Oceana.
That futile petition was far from Neville's only association with Harrington, of course. In addition to Aubrey's report that Hobbes credited him with having helped Harrington compose Oceana, Aubrey claims that he helped Harrington to win converts to his cause: Harrington's and “H. Nevill's smart discourses and inculcations, dayly at coffee-houses, made many proselytes.” A friend to Harrington to the last, he “never forsooke him to his dyeing day.”
After the Restoration, Neville was careful to keep a low profile, at least for a time. Jailed in 1663 under suspicion of conspiracy, he traveled to Italy after his release. He published Plato Redivivus: Or, A Dialogue Concerning Government in 1681.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004