February 29, 2008

A Middle Name

I received the following from one of my most eloquent readers, who often emails me fantastic and wonderfully-written pieces only to ask me not to publish them. This one arrived under the subject line Appalling ignorance in the MSM!, and the writer gave me permission to share it with you.

Sadly, if predictably, hACK, over at Nashville's Channel 2, and Blake Fontenay, at the Commercial Appeal, find themselves, again, historically challenged.

Algernon Sidney was a magnificent champion of liberty, martyred for his courage and his cause. Our Founders ranked his intellectual contributions to liberty alongside those of John Locke.

John and Samuel Adams, George Mason, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin all acknowledged Sidney's influence on American political thought. A group of Virginians (Patrick Henry included) founded Hampden-Sydney College in 1776 and named it in his honor (and John Hampden's). And in 1825, as founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson issued this statement: "Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Board that as to the general principles of liberty and the rights of man, in nature and in society, the doctrines of Locke, in his 'Essay concerning the true original extent and end of civil government,' and of Sidney in his 'Discourses on government,' may be considered as those generally approved by our fellow citizens of this, and the United States." [LINK]

Read the entire article on Sidney at the link immediately above. Also, it is informative to consult the last will and testament of Josiah Quincy who, together with John Adams, Robert Auchmuty, and Sampson Salter Blowers, defended the British Captain Thomas Preston and his Redcoats when they were accused of killing Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr at the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770), winning the soldiers' acquittal.

I give my son, when he shall arrive at the age of fifteen years, Algernon Sidney's works, John Locke's works, Lord Bacon's works, Gordon's Tacitus, and Cato's Letters. May the spirit of liberty rest upon him! - Last Will and Testament of Josiah Quincy, Jr., 1774

Algernon Sidney's Discourses Concerning Government, written in response to Sir Robert Filmer's Patriacha (1680) which was an apology for royal absolutism and the divine right of kings, remains one of the most powerful classical defenses of republicanism and popular government ever published. It was the evidence which cost Sidney his head, which he gave to his cause without flinching. The entire work is found online here.

The historical ignorance of our contemporary press is unforgivable. John Sidney McCain III is possessed of a middle name worthy of his own self-sacrifice in the cause of liberty.

- By An Old Whig or classical liberal like Sidney, Madison, and Hayek

The second is this: Many journalists don't pay much attention to history - they are too busy writing the first rough draft of future history, a task that suffers greatly from their failure to know much about or the past. A great weakness in traditional college journalism programs is that they teach students the basic skills of journalism - interviewing, story structure, editing, headline writing, and such - but rarely require them to get an education in something substantive such as history, economics, poli-sci or science that might give their writing more weight.

I studied American history twice as long as it took me to complete me journalism degree requirements. Frankly, it's made writing about politics and government much more interesting and fun.

Here's the Wikipedia page for Algernon Sidney.