THE DEFINITION OF A TYRANT

I don’t know what made me think about this the other day, but I was wondering to myself what the definition of a tyrant is. So I looked up the word in the Websters 1828 Dictionary. Right there, after the word “Tyranny,” and before the word “Tyro,” which means a “beginner,” I found that a “tyrant” is someone who is:

1. A monarch or other ruler or master, who uses his power to oppress his subjects, a person who exercises unlawful authority, or lawful authority in an unlawful manner; one who by taxation, injustice or cruel punishment, or the demand of unreasonable services, imposes burdens and hardships on those under his control, which law and humanity do not authorize, or which the purposes of government do not require.

2. A despotic ruler; a cruel master; an oppressor.

As I looked at that definition, I began to think if I'd ever known a tyrant personally, or if I'd ever remembered of reading of one in history. This lead me eventually to the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE of the United States of America, and I read exactly what our founding fathers thought about tyrants and tyranny. For in the Declaration of Independence, they call the king of England a tyrant for the following reasons:

He has refused to Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good...

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers...

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance...

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation...

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent...

Those were all well and good, and almost sound like what's happening today in our country today! But I was floored when I read this one:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering "FUNDAMENTALLY" the Forms of our Governments.

Hmm, seems like I've heard that word used lately in the context of "Fundamentally changing" something. Don't seem to remember where though. Where was it?

Anyway, the Declaration ends by saying, "A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free people."

So this is how the founding fathers defined a TYRANT. Wow!

Have I ever known a tyrant or seen one personally? Nope! But I do see them in history. And now I know what to look out for according to the definition.

I only hope I'll never see one in my lifetime, and not have to be affected by one!