Thomas Gordon (1691-1750)
[Created: 28 April, 2024]
[Updated:
4 May, 2024]
About the Author
See the entry on this author in the Cato Institute's Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008) - Ronald Hamowy, "Cato's Letters" <https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/catos-letters>.
And essay at <libertarianism.org>: Paul Meany, "The Legacy and the Ideas Behind Cato's Letters" (1 November, 2019) <https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/legacy-ideas-behind-catos-letters>.
See also the list of works by John Trenchard (1662-1723) with whom Thomas Gordon collaborated in several projects such as "The Independent Whig" (1720) and "Cato's Letters" (1722-23).
About the Texts
Not all texts are available in all formats. The "foundation text" is the facsimile PDF of the original book. Many of these are available in HTML, the early version of which was fairly simple. Current versions are available in "enhanced HTML" which includes the original page numbers and the "citation tool" and is in a more readable format for viewing online. A selection of the more important texts are part of the "Guillaumin Collection" of the great books about liberty and are also available in a variety of eBook formats, such as HTML, PDF, and ePub.
Clicking on the headings "DATE", and "TITLE" will sort the table accordingly. A second click will reverse the order.
My brief bio
Thomas Gordon (1684 or 1692-1750) was a radical Whig and Commonwealthman who, along with his collaborator John Trenchard (1662-1723), were important voices defending constitutionalism and individual liberty in the 1720s in England. Little is known of Gordon’s early life but was possibly admitted to the Scottish Bar before moving to London to clerk for Trenchard. He came to prominence by co-writing The Independent Whig (1720-21) and Cato’s Letters (1720-23) with Trenchard. He was a defender of the idea of liberty against political corruption, imperialism and militarism in the early 18th century. He alos wrote works critical of the established church, some of which were translated into Freanch by Baron D'Holbach. Their writings, especially Cato’s Letters, were also much read in the American colonies. After the death of Trenchard, Gordon translated the works of Tacitus (1728) and Sallust (1744) which included very lengthy political and historical commentaries. Under Horace Walpole he was appointed First Commissioner of the Wine Licences.
Gordon wrote a poem or "monument" on the life of his companion and colleague John Trenchard which appeared in the Independent Whig, extracts of which we reproduce below. The full poem can be seen here (in Latin and English) [PDF 169 KB]:
Of Encroachments and Domination of every kind,
A constant and a formidable Foe;
Of public Liberty and primitive Institututions
A rigid Assertor, a powerful Champion.
From observation he knew, from a just Principle he suspected
The Frailty of human Nature, and the Pravity of Men,
With the Ambitions and Artifices of Men in Power:
Between their avowed Pretences and real Pursuits he could well distinguish,
As between the worthy Magistrate and the lawless Ruler;
Ever resolute to encounter every publick Violence,
And the Insolence of Power,
With consummate Eloquence.
The disbanding of the Army after the French War ,
In the Reign of King WILLIAM,
By an Argument written and published,
Even in his Youth he undertook to procure,
Urged it with great Force,
And even succeeded,
In opposition to the Efforts and Rage of the Courtiers.
To the highest Affairs his Abilities were equal:
But deserving publick Honours,
And despising them
He shone in the Accomplishments of private Life.
To the wild Fury of all Visionaries and Mystists,
To the direful Fooleries of all Bigots,
His Enmity was bent and perpetual,
As Men ever ravening against the Liberty, against the Possessions
Of their Fellow Citizens.
Eloquently he exposed, zealously he restrained
The petulant Spirit and Avarice of such Men.
Dictionary of National Biography Entry
Source: Leslie Stephen, “Gordon, Thomas (d.1750),” Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 22.
GORDON, THOMAS (d. 1750), miscellaneous writer, was born in Kirkcudbright about the end of the seventeenth century. He is said to have been educated at some Scottish university. If a 'disputatio juridica' be rightly attributed to him in the catalogue of the British Museum, he became an advocate at the Scottish bar in 1716. He came to London as a young man and taught languages. Two pamphlets on the Bangorian controversy commended him to John Trenchard [q. v.], a whig politician. One was probably 'A Letter to the Lord Archbishop' (Wake) in 1719, who had written a Latin letter reflecting upon Hoadly, addressed to the church of Zurich. Gordon became Trenchard's amanuensis. A tract called the 'Independent Whig,' published at the time of the rejection of the Peerage Bill (December 1719), of which there is no copy in the British Museum, was followed by a second part in January 1720, on the peace with Spain and the value of Gibraltar to England, several editions of which were issued. A weekly paper of the same name was then started, and carried on through the year, the articles by Trenchard, Gordon, and a third contributor, 'C.,' being distinguished in the fifth edition. It was first collected in one volume in 1721. To the fifth edition (1732) were appended 'The Craftsman,' a sermon, 'in the style of the late Daniel Burgess,' also published separately, a letter to a 'Gentleman of Edinburgh,' and an epitaph on Trenchard. To a sixth edition (1735) was added a third volume containing the letter to Wake (see above) and other tracts; a seventh edition appeared in 1743, and a fourth volume was added in 1747 containing tracts written during the rebellion of 1745. The book was chiefly an attack upon the high-church party, and on the title-page of later editions is called 'A Defence of Primitive Christianity … against the exorbitant claims of fanatical and disaffected clergymen.' Thomas Wilson [q. v.], bishop of Sodor and Man, tried to exclude it from his diocese, and got into trouble in consequence. It was translated into French by the Baron d'Holbach. In 1720 Gordon and Trenchard began the publication of 'Cato's Letters.' They appeared in the 'London' and afterwards in the 'British Journal' till Trenchard's death in 1723, and were reprinted in 4 vols. in 1724. Walpole took Gordon into his pay, and made him first commissioner of the wine licenses, a post which he held till his death on 28 July 1750, and which, it is said, 'much diminished his patriotism.' Gordon was twice married, his second wife being Trenchard's widow.
Gordon published, by subscription, a translation of 'Tacitus,' in 2 vols. fol. 1728 (dedications to the Prince of Whales and Walpole), which went through several editions, and, in spite of an affected style, seems to have been the standard translation till the end of the century. Gibbon read it in his youth (Misc. Works, i. 41). In 1744 he published 'The Works of Sallust, with Political Discourses upon that author; to which is added a translation of Cicero's "Four Orations against Cateline."' He published an 'Essay on Government' in 1747, and a 'Collection of Papers' by him appeared in 1748. Richard Baron [q. v.] also published two collections of tracts by Gordon, 'A Cordial for Low Spirits,' 3 vols. 8vo, 1751, and another by Gordon and others called 'The Pillars of Priestcraft and Orthodoxy Shaken,' 1752. Gordon also wrote a preface to a translation from Barbeyrac called 'The Spirit of Ecclesiastics in all Ages,' 1722. Gordon was 'large and corpulent,' and supposed to be the Silenus of Pope's line in the 'Dunciad,'
Where Tindal dictates, and Silenus snores.
Bolingbroke observed, upon hearing of Conyers Middleton's death at the same time as Gordon's, 'Then there is the best writer in England gone and the worst.'
[Nichols's Anecdotes, i. 709 (notes by J. Whiston), v. 419, viii. 101, 494, 512; Biog. Brit. Supplement (1766), art. 'Trenchard;' Collinson's Somersetshire, iii. 153 (his residence with Trenchard at Abbotsleigh).]
Texts in the Collection
| DATE | FACS. PDF | TITLE | EBOOK | |
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| 1719 |  |
Character of an Independent Whig (1719) Thomas Gordon, The Character of an Independent Whig (London: Printed for J. Roberts, at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane, 1719). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text; it is reprinted in A Collection of Tracts (1751), vol. 1, pp. 311-34 [HTML] |
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| 1720 |  |
Creed of an Independent Whig (1720) Thomas Gordon, The Creed of an Independent Whig: with an orthodox introduction, concerning canons, councils, mysteries, miracles, and church-authority. (London: Printed for J. Roberts near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick Lane, 1720). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text; it is reprinted in A Collection of Tracts (1751), vol. 2, pp. 370-85 [HTML] |
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| 1720 |  |
Considerations offered upon the approaching Peace (1720) Thomas Gordon, Considerations offered upon the approaching Peace, and upon the Importance of Gibraltar to the British Empire, being the second part of The independent Whig. (London : Printed for J. Roberts, near the Oxford Arms in Warwick Lane, 1720). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text; it uis reprinted in A Collection of Tracts (1751), vol. 1, pp. 268-83 [HTML] |
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| 1720 |  |
Priestianity (1720) Thomas Gordon, Priestianity: or, a View of the Disparity between the Apostles and the modern inferior Clergy. By the Author of the Creed of an Independent Whig (London : Printed for A. Moore, near St. Paul's, 1720). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text; - reprinted in A Collection of Tracts (1751), vol. 2, pp. 386-416 [HTML] |
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| 1720 |  |
Independent Whig (1720) Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, The Independent Whig (1720). The collected pamphlets. This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 1721 |  |
Three Political Letters (1721) Thomas Gordon, Three Political Letters to a Noble Lord, concerning Liberty and the Constitution (London : Printed for J. Roberts, 1721). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 1721 |  |
Supplemental Letter to Three Political Letters (1721) Thomas Gordon, A Supplemental Letter to Three Political Letters to a Noble Lord, concerning Liberty and the Constitution: with a Political Dissertation on the Act of Settlement (London : Printed for J. Roberts, 1721). This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 1721 |  |
Independent Whig (1721, 1st ed.) Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, The Independent Whig. (London : Printed for J. Peele, at Locke's Head, 1721). Nos. 1 - 53 and Index. The first edition in one volume. This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 1722 |  |
Independent Whig (1722, 2nd ed.) Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, The Independent Whig. (London : Printed for J. Peele, 1722). 2nd edition. John Trenchard, Thomas Gordon, editors. The second edition in one volume. This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 1722 |  |
Discourse of Standing Armies (1722) Thomas Gordon, A Discourse of Standing Armies; Shewing the Folly, Uselesness, and Danger of Standing Armies in Great Britain. By CATO. The Third Edition (London: Printed for T. Warner, at the Black Boy in Pater-noster Row. 1722). This book is available in various formats:
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| 1724 |  |
Cato's Letters (1724) 1st ed. of 1724 with the short title and no author names on the title page, and no dates of publication or author's initial for each letter: [John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon], Cato's Letters (London: W. Wilkins, T. Woodward, J. Walthoe, J. Peele, 1724). With a preface, pp. iii-xlvii. This work is available in facs. PDF - vol1 and vol2 and vol3 and vol4 |
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| 1728 |  |
Works of Tacitus (2nd ed. 1737) Thomas Gordon, The Works of Tacitus. In Four Volumes. To which are prefixed, Political Discourses upon that Author by Thomas Gordon. The Second Edition, corrected. (London: T. Woodward and J. Peele, 1737). Four volumes. 1st ed. 1728-31.
Note: Gordon's "The Poltiical Discourses upon Tacitus" are available separately in facs. PDF [vol1 and vol2] and enhanced HTML. They are also part of Gordon's combined "Political Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust" available in enhanced HTML and eBook HTML, PDF, and ePub. See below. |
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| 1737 |  |
Cato’s Letters, or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious (1737 4th ed.) John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters, or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects. In Four Volumes. The Fourth Correc ted Edition (London: W. Wilkins, T. Woodward, J. Walthoe, J. Peele, 1737). With a dedication to John Milner, signed by Gordon but no names on the title page. And a Preface and Table of Contents. Letters are dated, signed with an initial, and have a title. This work is available in fac. PDF; |
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| 1741 |  |
Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, vol. 3 (1741) Beginning with the 4th edition of 1728 the title of the series was expanded to "The Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, And of Our Ecclesiastical Establishment, against The Exorbitant Claims and Encroachments of Fanatical and Disaffected Clergymen". Thomas Gordon, The Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, And of Our Ecclesiastical Establishment, against The Exorbitant Claims and Encroachments of Fanatical and Disaffected Clergymen. Vol. III. The Second Edition. (London: J. Peele, 1741). This book is available in various formats:
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| 1743 |  |
Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, vol1. 1 & 2 (1743) Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, The Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, And of Our Ecclesiastical Establishment, against The Exorbitant Claims and Encroachments of Fanatical and Disaffected Clergymen. The Seventh Edition, with Additions and Amendments (London: J. Peele, 1743). Two volumes. Vol. 1. , vol. 2. This book is available in various formats:
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| 1744 |  |
Works of Sallust (1744) Thomas Gordon, The Works of Sallust, Translated into English with Political Discourses upon that Author. To which is added, a Translation of Cicero’s Four Orations against Cataline (London: R. Ware, 1744). This book is available in various formats:
See also just his "Political Discourses upon Sallust", pp. 1-202 in facs PDF and enhanced HTML, and eBook HTML, PDF, and ePub And Gordon's combined "The Political Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust" in enhanced HTML. |
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| 1747 |  |
Independent Whig. Being a Collection of Papers (1747) Thomas Gordon, The Independent Whig. Being a Collection of Papers. All written, some of them published, During the Late Rebellion. Vol. IV. (London: J. Peele, 1747). This book is available in various formats:
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| 1747 |  |
Essay on Government (1747) Thomas Gordon, An Essay on Government (London: J. Roberts, 1747). This book is available in various formats:
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| 1751 |  |
Collection of Tracts (1751) John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, A Collection of Tracts. By the late John Trenchard, Esq; and Thomas Gordon, Esq; The First Volume. (London: Printed for F. Cogan, at the Middle Temple Gate, in Fleet-street, 1751). 22 Tracts. John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, A Collection of Tracts. By the Late John Trenchard, Esq; and Thomas Gordon, Esq; Vol. II. (London: Printed for F. Cogan, at the Middle Temple Gate, in Fleet-street; and T. Harris, in the Minories, 1751). 18 Tracts. There are a total of 40 tracts dated from 1697 to 1750, with 2 with no author given, 11 by Trenchard, and 27 by Gordon. See the sortable table of contents. These books are available in various formats:
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| 1755 |  |
Cato’s Letters: or, Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious (1755 6th ed.) John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato’s Letters: or, Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects. In Four Volumes. The Sixth Edition, corrected. (London : Printed for J. Walthoe, T. and T. Longman, C. Hitch and L. Hawes, J. Hodges, A. Millar, J. and J. Rivington, and M. Cooper. MDCCLV (1755)). This work is available in various formats:
See also the sortable Table of Contents of the 4 volumes. |
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| 1816 |  |
Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity (1816) 1816 American edition: The Independent Whig: or, a Defence of Primitive Christianity, And of Our Ecclesiastical Establishment, against The Exorbitant Claims and Encroachments of Fanatical and Disaffected Clergymen. Four volumes in One. Vols. I & II. First American from the Sixth London Edition (Hartford: William S. March, 1816). [106 articles]. 512 pp. This book is available in a facs. PDF version of the original text |
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| 2024 | |
Collected Independent Whig (1720-1747) Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard, The Collected Independent Whig (1720-1747). Edited by David M. Hart (The Pittwater Free Press, 2024). I have compiled an edition of "The Collected Independent Whig" (1720-1747) using the available volumes from diffferent editions (1741, 1743, 1747). The "4vols-in-1" edition is available in various formats:
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| 2021 | Political Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust (1728-1744) Thomas Gordon, Tyranny, Empire, War, and Corruption: The Political Discourses on Tacitus and Sallust (1728-1744). Edited by David M. Hart (Pittwater Free Press, 2021). This is a compilation of Thomas Gordon's "Political Discourses" which he wrote as introductions to his translations of the works of Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c. AD 56 – c.120) and Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) (86 – c. 35 BC): in enhanced HTML and eBook HTML, PDF, and ePub. The component parts are: The "The Political Discourses upon Tactitus" (1728, 1738):
"The Political Discourses on Sallust" (1744)
For the original complete volumes see above. |
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