Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute
Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute
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MURRAY N. ROTHBARD VS. THE PHILOSPHERS: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS<br />
88 ON HAYEK, MISES, STRAUSS, AND POLYANI<br />
Thomas Bradbury, 34 who celebrated publicly at <strong>the</strong> death of<br />
Queen Anne, and of Sylas Neville, who always feasted and<br />
celebrated at <strong>the</strong> anniversary of <strong>the</strong> execution of Charles I,<br />
and denounced that “dog, George III.” 35 And we are touched<br />
to find that William Pitt <strong>the</strong> Elder, a fair-wea<strong>the</strong>r friend of<br />
many of <strong>the</strong> true liberals, was snubbed by <strong>the</strong>m for years for<br />
“selling out” by accepting <strong>the</strong> title of Earl of Chatham. 36<br />
And we also find that many leading literary figures of <strong>the</strong><br />
eighteenth century were quite close to <strong>the</strong> liberals, including<br />
Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, William Hazlitt, and<br />
James Boswell. 37<br />
Locke justified rebelling against <strong>the</strong> government when <strong>the</strong> latter violated<br />
<strong>the</strong> natural rights of individuals, <strong>the</strong> two authors maintained<br />
that <strong>the</strong> government always tended to destroy individual rights ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than protect <strong>the</strong>m. According to Cato’s Letters, <strong>the</strong> history of<br />
mankind was none o<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> history of conflict between power<br />
and freedom. Power, i.e., <strong>the</strong> state, was always ready to violate <strong>the</strong><br />
rights of its citizens and take away <strong>the</strong>ir freedom; <strong>the</strong>refore <strong>the</strong> state<br />
should be reduced to <strong>the</strong> minimum and be constantly controlled. See<br />
John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters, in The English<br />
Libertarian Heritage: From <strong>the</strong> Writings of John Trenchard and<br />
Thomas Gordon in <strong>the</strong> Independent Whig and Cato’s Letters, ed.<br />
David L. Jacobson (San Francisco, Calif.: Fox and Wilkes, 1994).<br />
Gordon and Trenchard also published The Character of an Independent<br />
Whig (London: J. Roberts, 1719–1720).<br />
34Thomas Bradbury (1677–1759) congregationalist dissenter,<br />
known for <strong>the</strong> polemic content of his political writings.<br />
35Sylas Neville (1741–1840) kept a diary that is useful in understanding<br />
<strong>the</strong> thought and politics of <strong>the</strong> republicans in <strong>the</strong> first<br />
twenty years of <strong>the</strong> reign of George III. See The Diary of Sylas<br />
Neville, 1767–1788.<br />
36William Pitt (1708–1778) was a famous English statesman<br />
and, from 1766, <strong>the</strong> first Earl of Chatham. He played a frontline<br />
role in <strong>the</strong> Seven Years War (1756–63), which ensured <strong>the</strong> transformation<br />
of England into an imperial power. He opposed <strong>the</strong> Treaty<br />
of Paris (1763), which concluded <strong>the</strong> war.<br />
37Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Irish writer and politician,<br />
first politically on <strong>the</strong> side of <strong>the</strong> Whigs and <strong>the</strong>n of <strong>the</strong> Tories.<br />
In reality, he was more of an Old Whig, defending traditional English<br />
freedoms and rights although he feared democratic and egalitarian<br />
offshoots. In Gulliver’s Travels (1726), he described <strong>the</strong>