“Freedom is the English subject’s Prerogative.”

Today marks the 256th anniversary of the publication of the 45th issue of The North Briton by John Wilkes. In it, he criticized several public ministers, including the king, thus sparking both outrage and acclamation. Those who supported him and those who supported the sacred cause of liberty were heard to shout “Wilkes and Liberty!” and “45!”

Today, our liberties are threatened. Not from a foreign invader, but from the inside. We’ve ceased to be virtuous, thus allowing corruption to fester and grow. We’ve ceased to be valiant; we’re too afraid to stand up on our own. We’ve ceased to be vigilant, causing us to become ignorant. We’ve allowed ourselves to become distracted. The media, celebrities, politicians all demand our attention, and what do we do? We practically drown them in it.

Now is the time to rise up and be vigilant, valiant, and virtuous. Now is the time to spread Freedom’s Fire. Now is the time to join the inexorable cause of freedom.

To Wilkes, and that forever sacred cause

Pharos

“Freedom is the English subject’s Prerogative.”

Today marks the 256th anniversary of the publication of the 45th issue of The North Briton by John Wilkes. In it, he criticized several public ministers, including the king, thus sparking both outrage and acclamation. Those who supported him and those who supported the sacred cause of liberty were heard to shout “Wilkes and Liberty!” and “45!”

Today, our liberties are threatened. Not from a foreign invader, but from the inside. We’ve ceased to be virtuous, thus allowing corruption to fester and grow. We’ve ceased to be valiant; we’re too afraid to stand up on our own. We’ve ceased to be vigilant, causing us to become ignorant. We’ve allowed ourselves to become distracted. The media, celebrities, politicians all demand our attention, and what do we do? We practically drown them in it.

Now is the time to rise up and be vigilant, valiant, and virtuous. Now is the time to spread Freedom’s Fire. Now is the time to join the inexorable cause of freedom.

To Wilkes, and that forever sacred cause

Pharos

In Cicero’s On Duty, he writes to his son about the duties of a man in the world. One of the many actions he describes is to remain courteous at all times. Cicero writes, “there is a demand for courtesy, and for a soul superior to petty causes of vexation, lest if we suffer ourselves to be angry with those who intrude upon us inopportunely, we fall into irritable habits equally harmful and hateful.” Every human being deserves our respect and courtesy in every situation, especially if they are our enemy. If we let ourselves be quick to judgment and anger, we will follow a path very hard to depart from. Anger corrupts the soul. It makes us irritable and quick-tempered. We lose rationality when we are angry. Emotions take over, and when emotions run wild, reason seems to fall behind. Instead we must act calmly. We must be level-headed at all times and not let those whom we are at odds with anger us. This is especially important when dealing with people of different political opinions. Cicero explains this by stating, “Nor are they to be listened to who think that anger is to be cherished toward those who are unfriendly to us on political grounds, and imagine that this betokens a large-minded and brave man; for nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more befitting a great and eminent man, than placability and clemency.” It is not admirable to be defensive or combative in political discussions. The people looked up to the most are those who maintain a calm temper in the most trying of situations. They keep their heading and therefor keep their reason in all issues. We must strive to handle ourselves in this way. Avoid anger at all costs and keep our emotions in check. If we abandon reason for temperament, we can never hope to have discussions in the appropriate manner. 

Yours Truly,

Publius

I’ve come to realize that in today’s society, ‘tyrant’ is not as foreign of a word as I originally thought. However, people seem to use it to describe only the person who is opposing their political party. Something many choose to ignore is that there are many people who classify as a tyrant, not just a single ruler. A tyrant is any one being who takes power that is not theirs, or anyone who crosses the line of power that was given them. And I know I have written about it before, but as Trenchard and Gordon say, “the subject of liberty and tyranny [is] a noble subject, superior to all others… it concerns the whole earth, and children ought to be instructed in it as soon as they are capable of instruction.” This is a lesson that continually needs to be taught.

So, why are tyrants so bad? What’s wrong with living under a tyrant if you are “happy”? The answer is one that should be shouted over and over: because we need liberty! Robert Ingersoll said that “what is light to the eyes- what air is to the lungs- what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of men.” Liberty is not just a convenience, it is a necessity, and tyranny destroys that. Nothing can be more cruel than someone who slowly deprives a people of something as glorious as liberty and does so in a way they don’t even realize it. Trenchard and Gordon even go so far as to say that if the devil himself had one way to get ahold of man, it would be through tyrants. Without your liberty, you are not free to do what you know is right and will therefore not live up to your true potential. Tyranny should be feared and avoided at all costs. Part of treasuring and restoring liberty is protecting ourselves from those who seek to take it away. Educate yourself on this “noble subject” and do everything in your power to bring down tyranny so liberty can rise up.

Yours truly,

Publius