Thomas Gordon
Scottish Whig writer, co-author of Cato's Letters, author of the Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust.
Ask Thomas Gordon a question
Answers come only from his own recorded words, with every quotation checked against its source.
Who he was
Thomas Gordon was a Scottish Whig writer and the co-author, with John Trenchard, of Cato's Letters.
His own later writings include the Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust (1728-44) and An Essay on Government (1747), as well as A Discourse of Standing Armies (1722).
Why he is at the Seat
Gordon's separate engine answers only from writing that is certainly his; Cato's Letters stay with the joint voice.
What we hold
- Editions
- Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust (1728-44)
- An Essay on Government (1747); A Discourse of Standing Armies (1722); The Independent Whig, vol. 4 (1747); later tracts
- Size
- About 410,000 words. Word counts are whole files, so they include editors' headnotes and footnotes.
Known limits
- Cato's Letters are not in his separate engine, because the 1724 printing does not mark which letters are his.
Questions he answers well
The questions his engine was tested on before it opened.
- What makes government legitimate, and what does tyranny do to a people?
Published answers
- Can luxury ruin a free state?
- What is the difference between a free government and an arbitrary one?
- Why is freedom of speech essential to free government?
- How should a free people guard against ambitious men?
- What do the histories of Sallust show about corruption?
- What did Tacitus teach about the loss of Roman liberty?
- Is a standing army in time of peace consistent with a free government?
- What makes government legitimate, and what does tyranny do to a people?
More in Prior Questions.