“… and with necessity,
The tyrant’s plea, excused his devilish deeds.”
—John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 4, Lines 393-394.

Sources:
http://www.bartleby.com/4/404.html
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/paradise-lost-book-iv-argument
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/does-miltons-satan-character-deserve-sympathy-320182
https://www.quora.com/profile/Michael-Rodney-Osborne/World-Views/Against-Tyranny