The Online Library of Liberty A Project Of Liberty Fund, Inc. John Trenchard, Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) [1724] The Online Library Of Liberty This E-Book (PDF format) is published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit, educational foundation established in 1960 to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. 2010 was the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Liberty Fund. It is part of the Online Library of Liberty web site http://oll.libertyfund.org, which was established in 2004 in order to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. To find out more about the author or title, to use the site's powerful search engine, to see other titles in other formats (HTML, facsimile PDF), or to make use of the hundreds of essays, educational aids, and study guides, please visit the OLL web site. This title is also part of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains over 1,000 books and quotes about liberty and power, and is available free of charge upon request. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books and web sites is the earliest-known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi), or “liberty.” It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash, in present day Iraq. To find out more about Liberty Fund, Inc., or the Online Library of Liberty Project, please contact the Director at [email protected]. LIBERTY FUND, INC. 8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684 Online Library of Liberty: Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) Edition Used: Cato’s Letters, or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects. Four volumes in Two, edited and annotated by Ronald Hamowy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1995). Vol. 2. Author: John Trenchard Author: Thomas Gordon About This Title: Volume 2 of a four volumes in 2 set. Almost a generation before Washington, Henry, and Jefferson were even born, two Englishmen, concealing their identities with the honored ancient name of Cato, wrote newspaper articles condemning tyranny and advancing principles of liberty that immensely influenced American colonists. The Englishmen were John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. Their prototype was Cato the Younger (95-46 B.C.), the implacable foe of Julius Caesar and a champion of liberty and republican principles. Their 144 essays were published from 1720 to 1723, originally in the London Journal, later in the British Journal. Subsequently collected as Cato’s Letters, these “Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious” became, as Clinton Rossiter has remarked, “the most popular, quotable, esteemed source of political ideas in the colonial period.” This new two-volume edition offers minimally modernized versions of the letters from the four-volume sixth edition printed in London in 1755. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 2 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1238 Online Library of Liberty: Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) About Liberty Fund: Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright Information: The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc. Fair Use Statement: This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 3 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1238 Online Library of Liberty: Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) Table Of Contents Volume Two No. 34. Saturday, June 24, 1721. of Flattery. (gordon) No. 35. Saturday, July 1, 1721. of Publick Spirit. (gordon) No. 36. Saturday, July 8, 1721. of Loyalty. (gordon) No. 37. Saturday, July 15, 1721. Character of a Good and of an Evil Magistrate, Quoted From Algernon Sidney, Esq. (gordon) No. 38. Saturday, July 22, 1721. the Right and Capacity of the People to Judge of Government. (gordon) No. 39. Saturday, July 29, 1721. of the Passions; That They Are All Alike Good Or All Alike Evil, According As They Are Applied. (gordon) No. 40. Saturday, August 5, 1721. Considerations On the Restless and Selfish Spirit of Man. (gordon) No. 41. Saturday, August 19, 1721. the Emperor Galba’s Speech to Piso, With an Introduction. (gordon) No. 42. Saturday, August 26, 1721. Considerations On the Nature of Laws. (gordon) No. 43. Saturday, September 2, 1721. the Natural Passion of Men For Superiority. (gordon) No. 44. Saturday, September 9, 1721. Men Not Ruled By Principle, But By Passion. (gordon) No. 45. Saturday, September 16, 1721. of the Equality and Inequality of Men. (gordon) No. 46. Saturday, September 23, 1721. of the False Guises Which Men Put On, and Their Ill Effect. (gordon) No. 47. Saturday, October 7, 1721. of the Frailty and Uncertainty of Human Judgment. (gordon) No. 48. Saturday, October 14, 1721. the General Unhappy State of the World, Ftom the Baseness and Iniquity of Its Governors In Most Countries . (gordon) No. 49. Saturday, October 21, 1721. of the Power of Prejudice. (gordon) No. 50. Saturday, October 28, 1721. an Idea of the Turkish Government, Taken From Sir Paul Ricaut. (gordon) No. 51. Saturday, November 4, 1721. Popularity No Proof of Merit. (gordon) No. 52. Saturday, November Ii, 1721. of Divine Judgments; the Wickedness and Absurdity of Applying Them to Men and Events. (gordon) No. 53. Saturday, November 18, 1721. Dr. Prideaux's Reasoning About the Death of Cambyses, Examined; Whether the Same Was a Judgment For His Killing the Egyptian God Apis. (gordon) No. 54. Saturday, November 25, 1721. the Reasoning of Dr. Prideaux About the Fate of Brennus the Gaul, and of His Followers, Examined; Whether the Same Was a Judgment For an Intention to Plunder the Temple of Delphos. (gordon) No. 55. Saturday, December 2, 1721. the Lawfulness of Killing Julius Caesar Considered, and Defended, Against Dr. Prideaux. (gordon) PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 4 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1238 Online Library of Liberty: Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) No. 56. Saturday, December 9, 1721. a Vindication of Brutus, For Having Killed Caesar. (gordon) No. 57. Saturday, December 16, 1721. of False Honour, Publick and Private. (gordon) No. 58. Saturday, December 23, 1721. Letter From a Lady, With an Answer, About Love, Marriage, and Settlements. (a Woman, Trenchard, and Gordon) No. 59. Saturday, December 30, 1721. Liberty Proved to Be the Unalienable Right of All Mankind. (trenchard) No. 60. Saturday, January 6, 1722. All Government Proved to Be Instituted By Men, and Only to Intend the General Good of Men. (trenchard) No. 61. Saturday, January 13, 1722. How Free Governments Are to Be Framed So As to Last, and How They Differ From Such As Are Arbitrary. (trenchard) No. 62. Saturday, January 20, 1722. an Enquiry Into the Nature and Extent of Liberty; With Its Loveliness and Advantages, and the Vile Effects of Slavery. (gordon) No. 63. Saturday, January 27, 1722. Civil Liberty Produces All Civil Blessings, and How; With the Baneful Nature of Tyranny. (gordon) No. 64. Saturday, February 3, 1722. Trade and Naval Power the Offspring of Civil Liberty Only, and Cannot Subsist Without It. (trenchard) No. 65. Saturday, February 10, 1722. Military Virtue Produced and Supported By Civil Liberty Only. (gordon) No. 66. Saturday, February 17, 1722. Arbitrary Government Proved Incompatible With True Religion, Whether Natural Or Revealed. (gordon) No. 67. Saturday, February 24, 1722. Arts and Sciences the Effects of Civil Liberty Only, and Ever Destroyed Or Oppressed By Tyranny. (gordon) No. 68. Saturday, March 3, 1722. Property and Commerce Secure In a Free Government Only; With the Consuming Miseries Under Simple Monarchies. (gordon) PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011) 5 http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/1238 Online Library of Liberty: Cato’s Letters, vol. 2 June 24, 1721 to March 3, 1722 (LF ed.) [Back to Table of Contents] VOLUME TWO NO. 34. SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1721. Of Flattery. (Gordon) Sir, Flattery is a poisonous and pernicious weed, which grows and prevails every where, but most where it does most harm; I mean in courts. If few dare speak the truth to their superiors, how shall he who has no superiors ever come to know the truth? Perhaps there never was an instance in the world, where a prince was told the sincere truth in every thing which concerned him to know, by any servant of his. Truth is of a plain, unalterable nature, and cannot be moulded into fashionable shapes; truth is therefore unfit to be a courtier: But falsehood, being the creature of the imagination, is capable of bearing all modish and pleasing forms; falsehood is therefore an agreeable guest in palaces. To illustrate this, endless examples might be brought; but unfortunate princes are the most pregnant examples. Galba, when he had lost all, and nothing remained to him but his life, which he was also soon to lose, had not one about him to tell him his condition and danger; so cruelly dishonest were his servants! Their flattery prevented the means of his preservation. They therefore were the first murderers of their master. Nothing more is necessary in order to be flattered, than to be uppermost.