What is liberty?

OCR: 7 cited passage(s) are machine-read (OCR) text of old printings; quotations reproduce the stored OCR text, misreadings included.

1. WHAT THEY SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (1721): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that the Commonwealth is of greater importance than family and friends, and that individuals should be protected in their property and rights. They condemned those who enrich themselves at the expense of the country. "Our Parents, Children, Friends, are all dear to us; but our single Country is more than all the rest; and every honest Man is ready to lay down his Life for the Advantage of that sacred Interest." [1]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believe that civil government is a partial restraint on natural liberty, while tyranny is an unlimited restraint by one or a few. They argue that free government protects people's liberties by stated rules, whereas tyranny is a struggle for unlimited liberty by a few who rob others of their liberty and act without rules. (key quote above) [2]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believe that liberty has both benefits and mischiefs, and that it is a contested concept depending on who holds power. They argue that liberty, particularly in speech and writing, serves as a check on powerful individuals and allows people to express grievances, but it can also lead to discontent and rebellion. They conclude that while abuses of liberty must be prevented, the advantages of liberty of speech and writing should be preserved as far as possible. "it is certain, there are Benefits and Mifchiefs on both Sides the QuelKon." [3]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that true and impartial liberty is the right of every man to pursue the natural, reasonable, and religious dictates of his own mind; to think what he will, and act as he thinks, provided he acts not to the prejudice of another; to spend his own money himself, and lay out the Produce of his Labour his own Way; and to labour for his own Pleasure. [4]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty is the source of property, which in turn leads to independency and happiness. They argued that liberty is secured through laws made by consent and that without liberty, all the advantages of it are lost. "And as Happinefs is the Effect of Independency, and Independency the EfTecl: of Property, fb certain Property is the Effect of Liberty alone, and can only be fecured by the Laws of Liberty ; Laws which are made by Confent, and cannot be repealed without it." [5]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty leads to encouragement of labor, economic growth, and security for individuals, as people labor for themselves and retain the fruits of their labor. They contrast liberty with tyranny, where life and property depend on the whims of rulers. "Where there is Liberty, there are Encou- ragements to Labour, becaufe People labour for themfelves ; and no one can take from them the Acquisitions they make by their Labour" [6]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty produces civil virtue, happiness, moral excellence, politeness, and good arts and sciences, while tyranny produces wickedness, baseness, and misery. They argued that liberty establishes a due and equal distribution of property and justice, with justice being the offspring of liberty and its guardian. [7]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty requires equal indulgence of all opinions and the opportunity for all parties to speak their minds. They argued that allowing only one side to express itself while denying the other the opportunity to defend itself leads to the extinction of religion, liberty, virtue, and knowledge. [8]
• BELIEF (undated): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty was incompatible with absolute rule and tyranny, as shown by their condemnation of Caesar's actions and their assertion that the dominion of one was detestable and accursed by Roman law. "Liberty and the Republic were a jest to Cæsar; he treated the very name with ridicule and contempt... By the Laws of Rome the Dominion of one, and consequently the dominion of Cæsar, was detestable and accursed, and any man was warranted to slay the Tyrant." [9]
• BELIEF (undated): Trenchard and Gordon ('Cato') believed that liberty is the right of the British people to be free from illegal treatment or insults by their governors, and that it is best secured under a monarchy limited by laws. They argued that liberty allows subjects to have all the protection and freedom they need from government, and that it becomes insecure when turned into licentiousness. (key quote above) [10]

What cuts against it

• ACTION (undated): They also recognized that liberty, when abused, can lead to licentiousness and even tyranny. (key quote above) [10]

• ACTION (undated): Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") warned that unbounded liberty is as dangerous as unbounded power, and that both can lead to tyranny. "Unbounded Liberty is as dangerous as unbounded Power; dangerous to the People, as well as to the Prince;" [11]

• ACTION (undated): They noted that liberty must be bounded to be safe, and that the surest way to lose liberty is to abuse it. "Let me add another Observation equally true and important, that 'the surest Way to lose Liberty is to abuse it.'" [12]

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") defined liberty as the right of individuals to act according to their own will, provided they do not harm others. "True and impartial Liberty is therefore the Right of every Man to purfue the natural, reafbnable, and religious Dilates of his own Iviind ; to think what he will, and adl as he thinks, provided he acls not to the Prejudice of another ;" [4]

2. They contrasted liberty with tyranny, which they described as an unlimited restraint on natural liberty by the will of one or a few. (key quote above) [2]

3. Liberty, in their view, is secured through laws made by consent and is essential for the protection of property and the promotion of virtue. "And as Happinefs is the Effect of Independency, and Independency the EfTecl: of Property, fb certain Property is the Effect of Liberty alone, and can only be fecured by the Laws of Liberty ; Laws which are made by Confent, and cannot be repealed without it." [5]

4. They also emphasized that liberty must be bounded to prevent it from becoming licentious and leading to tyranny. "Liberty is Power in the Hands of the People; Power is Liberty in the Hands of the Prince. Unbounded Liberty is as dangerous as unbounded Power; dangerous to the People, as well as to the Prince;" [11] (inference)

5. Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") warned that the surest way to lose liberty is to abuse it, implying that liberty must be exercised with responsibility and restraint to be preserved. "Let me add another Observation equally true and important, that 'the surest Way to lose Liberty is to abuse it.'" [12] (inference)

3. THEIR TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Extrapolation: Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") defined liberty as the right of individuals to act according to their own will, provided they do not harm others. They contrasted liberty with tyranny, which they described as an unlimited restraint on natural liberty by the will of one or a few. They emphasized that liberty is secured through laws made by consent and is essential for the protection of property and the promotion of virtue. They also warned that liberty must be bounded to prevent it from becoming licentious and leading to tyranny.

Competing readings: The record supports the view that Trenchard and Gordon ("Cato") believed in the importance of bounded liberty to prevent tyranny and the dangers of unbounded liberty.

Confidence: High, based on direct statements and consistent themes across multiple passages.