Editing Cato's Letters

{{Short description|Essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon}}
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'''''Cato's Letters''''' were essays by British writers [[John Trenchard (writer)|John Trenchard]] and [[Thomas Gordon (writer)|Thomas Gordon]], first published from 1720 to 1723 under the pseudonym of [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] (95–46 [[Before Christ|BC]]), the implacable foe of [[Julius Caesar]] and a famously stalwart champion of Roman traditionalism (''[[mos maiorum]]'').

== Purpose ==

The ''Letters'' are considered a seminal work in the tradition of the [[Commonwealth men]]. 

They condemned corruption and lack of morality within the British political system and warned against tyrannical rule and abuse of power. For instance "all History affords but few Instances of Men trusted with great Power without abusing it, when with Security they could.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch17s6.html|title=Constitutional Government: John Trenchard, Cato's Letters, no. 60|website=press-pubs.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

== Publication ==
The 144 essays were published originally beginning in 1720 within the ''London Journal'', later in the ''[[British Journal]]''. The ''Letters'' were collected and printed as ''Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious''.<ref>John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. ''Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects''. ed. and annotated by Ronald Hamowy. 2 vols. (Indianapolis, Liberty Fund, 1995). The standard modern edition.</ref> A measure of their influence is attested by six editions printed by 1755. 

== Influence ==
A generation later their arguments immensely influenced the ideals of the [[American Revolution]]. According to Peter Karsten's ''Patriot-Heroes in England and America'', ''Cato's Letters'' were the most common holdings on the bookcases of the founding fathers.<ref>Karsten, Peter. 1978. ''Patriot-Heroes in England and America''. The University of Wisconsin Press. Pages 34-5.</ref>

These letters also provided inspiration and ideals for the [[American Revolution]]ary generation. The essays were distributed widely across the [[Thirteen Colonies]], and frequently quoted in newspapers from [[Boston]] to [[Savannah, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Annie|title=A Liberal Republican "Cato"|journal=American Journal of Political Science|date=July 2004|volume=48|issue=3 |pages=588–603 |doi=10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00089.x }}<!--|accessdate=3 May 2012--></ref>  Renowned historian [[Clinton Rossiter]] stated "no one can spend any time on the newspapers, library inventories, and pamphlets of colonial America without realizing that Cato's Letters rather than [[John Locke]]'s [[Two Treatises of Government#Second Treatise|Civil Government]] was the most popular, quotable, esteemed source for political ideas in the colonial period."<ref>{{cite book|last=Rossiter|first=Clinton|title=Seedtime of the Republic: the origin of the American tradition of political liberty|url=https://archive.org/details/seedtimeofrepubl0000ross|url-access=registration|year=1953|publisher=Harcourt, Brace|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/seedtimeofrepubl0000ross/page/141 141]}}</ref>

The [[Cato Institute]], a [[Washington, D.C.]], [[think tank]] founded by [[Edward H. Crane]] in 1977, takes its name from ''Cato's Letters''.<ref name="About Us">Cato Institute, [http://www.cato.org/about.php "About Cato"], undated, accessed January 2008.</ref>

== Other pseudonymous "Cato letters" ==

Unrelated to the Trenchard and Gordon letters, two different letter-writers in eighteenth-century America also used Cato as a pseudonym in writing political letters for publication.

One "Cato" wrote a series of essays arguing against American independence in the [[Pennsylvania Gazette]], which were published in April 1776. According to [[Thomas Paine]] biographer [[Moncure D. Conway]], this "Cato" was [[Dr. William Smith|Reverend Dr. William Smith]], an influential [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] minister in [[Philadelphia]]. His views were opposed in letters signed by "The Forester," apparently Paine.<ref>[https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/343#lf0548-01_label_083 ''The Writings of Thomas Paine'', Collected and Edited by Moncure Daniel Conway (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894). Vol. 1 (XVII.: THE FORESTER’S LETTERS). Available at ''Online Library of Liberty''] "'Cato' was the Rev. Dr. William Smith, a Scotch clergyman of the English Church, Provost of the College of Philadelphia, and the most influential preacher in that city until his fall with the royalist cause which he had espoused. The letters of these disputants were widely copied in the country, and the controversy was the most exciting and important immediately preceding the Declaration of Independence. The proposal of such a Declaration was really the issue. It was vehemently opposed by the wealth and aristocracy of Philadelphia, headed by Dr Smith, and the discussion was almost a battle. This may explain its acrimony, on which neither writer, probably, reflected with satisfaction in after years. The 'Cato' letters are not included in the collected Works of Dr. Smith (Philadelphia, 1803), nor have the letters of 'The Forester' appeared hitherto in any edition of Paine’s Writings." (editor's note)</ref>

Cato was later used as a pseudonym in a series of letters to the ''New York Journal'' in 1787 and 1788 opposing [[James Madison]]'s views and urging against ratification of the [[United States Constitution]] (the view known as [[Anti-Federalism]]). Many historians attribute these letters to [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]], though their authorship has not been definitively proven.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-anti-federalists-and-their-important-role-during-the-ratification-fight|title=The Anti-Federalists and their important role during the Ratification fight - National Constitution Center|website=National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> [[Alexander Hamilton]] published responses to these letters under the pseudonym "Caesar."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Sculpture_22_00004.htm|title=U.S. Senate: George Clinton|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Politics}}
*{{commons category-inline}}
*{{wikisource-inline}}
* [https://archive.org/details/catoslettersore00trengoog ''Cato's Letters'' (Volume I)]
* [https://archive.org/details/catosletters01tren ''Cato's Letters'' (Volume II)]
* [https://archive.org/details/catosletters02tren ''Cato's Letters'' (Volume III)]
* [https://archive.org/details/catosletters04tren ''Cato's Letters'' (Volume IV)]

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[[Category:1720s essays]]
[[Category:American Enlightenment]]
[[Category:British essays]]
[[Category:Essay collections]]
[[Category:Essays about politics]]
[[Category:Republicanism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Works about British politics]]
[[Category:Cato the Younger]]