John Trenchard (writer)

John Trenchard (writer)

John Trenchard (1662-1723), English writer and Commonwealthman, belonged to the same Dorset family as the Secretary of State Sir John Trenchard.

Trenchard was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. As he inherited considerable wealth, Trenchard was able to devote the greater part of his life to writing on political subjects, his approach being that of a Whig and an opponent of the High Church party. His works include "A Short History of Standing Armies in England" 1698 and 1731 and "The Natural History of Superstition" 1709. Along with Thomas Gordon he published "The Independent Whig", a weekly periodical. From 1720 to 1723, Trenchard, again with Thomas Gordon, wrote a series of 144 essays entitled "Cato's Letters", condemning corruption and lack of morality within the British political system and warning against tyranny. The essays were published as "Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious", first in the "London Journal" and then in the "British Journal". These essays became a cornerstone of the Commonwealthmen tradition. From 1722 until his death in 1723 Trenchard was also a member of Parliament for Taunton.

John Trenchard died on 17 December 1723.

Further Reading

* Jonathan Harris, 'The Grecian coffee house and political debate in London, 1688-1714', "The London Journal" 25 (2000), 1-13
* Margaret C. Jacob, "The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans" (London, 1981)
* Caroline Robbins, "The Eighteenth Century Commonwealthman. Studies in the Transmission, Development and Circumstance of English Liberal Thought from the Restoration of Charles II until the War with the Thirteen Colonies" (Cambridge MA, 1959)
* Lois G. Schwoerer, "'No Standing Armies!' The Antiarmy Ideology in Seventeenth-Century England" (Baltimore and London, 1974)
* Lois G. Schwoerer, 'The Literature of the Standing Army Controversy', "Huntington Library Quarterly", 28 (1965), 189-212

ee also

*republicanism
*Liberalism
*Contributions to liberal theory


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Trenchard — is the name of several people.* For the Secretary of State Sir John Trenchard (1640 1695), see John Trenchard (Secretary of State). * For the writer John Trenchard (1662 1723), see John Trenchard (writer) …   Wikipedia

  • Trenchard — is the name of:* Hon. Alexander Thomas Trenchard * Brian Trenchard Smith, English film and television director, producer, writer, consultant and actor * Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, founder of the Royal Air Force * Thomas Trenchard,… …   Wikipedia

  • Trenchard — This rare and interesting name is an occupational surname derived from the Old French trenchier , to cut, with the additional grammatical element ard . The French trenchier was to give rise to a series of related words involving the knife with… …   Surnames reference

  • Thomas Gordon (writer) — Thomas Gordon (c. 1692–1750) was a British writer and Commonwealthman. He was a Scot who attended the University of Aberdeen.Along with John Trenchard, he published The Independent Whig , which was a weekly periodical. From 1720 to 1723,… …   Wikipedia

  • Country Party (Britain) — In Britain in the era 1680 1740, especially in the days of Robert Walpole (1720s to 1740s), the Country Party was a coalition of Tories and disaffected Whigs. It was a movement rather than an organized party and had no formal structure or leaders …   Wikipedia

  • List of liberal theorists — Liberalism …   Wikipedia

  • April 27 — Events*1124 David I becomes King of Scotland. *1296 Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England. *1509 Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict. *1521 Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is… …   Wikipedia

  • James Harrington — James Harrington. Ölgemälde eines unbekannten Künstlers (um 1635) James Harrington (* 3. Januar 1611 in Upton, Northamptonshire; † 11. September 1677 in Westminster) war ein englischer Philosoph. In einigen Quellen wird der 7. Januar 1611 als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • March 30 — << March 2011 >> Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 …   Wikipedia

  • 1695 — Year 1695 (MDCXCV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10 day slower Julian calendar). Events of 1695 January June * January 27… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”