Chapter 56

Liberty

Liberty and freedom: political, civil, religious and personal freedom; tyranny's opposite.

1058 passages · 421 principal · Covers the 49 volumes of primary texts

Liberty in these books covers the freedom of a city from a tyrant and of a slave from his master, the conscience’s freedom from compulsion in religion, the writer’s freedom from the licenser, and the individual’s freedom from the pressure of his neighbours. It also reaches inward, to the freedom of the will and the freedom of the soul from its own passions. It is a great idea for the Harvard Classics because almost no part of the collection leaves it untouched. The chorus of Aeschylus waits for freedom won once the tyrants fall¹. Lincoln asks that a nation “conceived in liberty” have “a new birth of freedom”². Between them Mill frames the whole of history as a struggle between liberty and authority³. One word gathers all these senses, and much of the argument consists in deciding which of them is primary.

The most economical definitions are the modern empiricists’. Hobbes calls liberty “the absence of external impediments,” and the right of nature the liberty to use one’s power to preserve one’s life⁴. Hume reduces liberty to the power to act or not act according to the will. So understood, he says, everyone agrees and the ancient dispute with necessity is merely verbal^5,6. Liberty opposed to necessity rather than to constraint would be mere chance, which does not exist⁷. Yet Hume insists that liberty in his sense is essential to morality, since acts done from external violence cannot be praised or blamed⁸. Others find this account too thin. Rousseau’s Savoyard Vicar declares man a free agent: there is no will without liberty, and “necessity” is the empty word⁹. Liberty gives human acts the merit of virtue, and restraining it would reduce man to a brute¹⁰. In the *Discourse on Inequality*, consciousness of freedom is what distinguishes man from beast¹¹. Milton had already rested merit and reward on free choice, since God set “a provoking object” before a free man¹².

Kant carries the question beyond both the empiricists and the sentimentalists. Negative freedom, independence of alien causes, leads to positive freedom: causality by laws of the will’s own giving, which is autonomy^13,14. On autonomy rests the dignity of rational beings¹⁵. Freedom cannot be proved from experience. It is an Idea of reason, necessarily presupposed by any being that acts under it^16,17. Kant admits an apparent circle between freedom and moral law¹⁸. He also dissolves the conflict with natural necessity by regarding man from two standpoints, as free and as part of nature¹⁹. Schiller, starting from Kant, places freedom neither in sense nor in reason alone. It arises from the mutual constraint of the two impulses²⁰, which the play instinct unites, setting man free physically and morally²¹. The aesthetic disposition “gives birth to liberty” and cannot itself be derived from moral liberty²². His diagnosis of the age is sober. Culture tightens physical fetters²³, and freedom should not be conceded to men whose will is anarchic, because liberty must first be earned in character²⁴.

An older and more persistent tradition locates freedom wholly within. For Epictetus, Diogenes was free not by birth but because he had cast away every handle by which slavery could grasp him²⁵. Whoever sets store by body, office or repute is subject to another²⁶. “Freedom is the name of virtue, slavery of vice”²⁷. Marcus Aurelius likewise holds that no man can hinder him from choosing²⁸. Montaigne turns the doctrine against death itself: “He who hath learned to die, hath unlearned to serve”²⁹. The poets give it lyric form. Lovelace writes that stone walls do not a prison make³⁰, and Byron hails Liberty as the “eternal spirit of the chainless mind,” brightest in dungeons³¹. The Christian writers accept the inwardness but alter its ground. Milton’s Michael teaches that true liberty dwells with right reason, and that when passion usurps reason man is enthralled outwardly as well³². Augustine names the sinner’s defiance “an unreal liberty” by which he forges his own chains³³. For Thomas à Kempis, perfect liberty comes only by denying oneself and giving up possession of oneself^34,35.

Luther gives this inward liberty its most famous paradox. The Christian is “free lord of all” and “dutiful servant of all”³⁶. Faith removes the need of law and works for salvation, though it does not license a bad life^37,38. The doctrine had immediate polemical edges. Ecclesiastical rules on vows, fasts and clerical celibacy are condemned as bonds where God has not bound^39,40,41. Yet Luther, following Paul’s counsel that all things are lawful but not all expedient⁴², would use liberty quietly before the weak and openly against tyrants⁴³. The fear that liberty will sink into licence recurs throughout. Calvin complains that many perverted the liberty of the spirit into licentiousness of the flesh⁴⁴, and Milton’s sonnet says those who “bawl for freedom” mean licence⁴⁵. Milton also stages the question cosmically. Satan argues that the angels are free and equal and owe no monarch, while Abdiel answers that to serve God is not servitude^46,47. Even Mammon’s preference of “hard liberty” to the “easy yoke” of Heaven is made to sound almost noble⁴⁸.

From liberty of conscience within the Church the argument passes to toleration within the state. More’s Utopus decreed that each man might follow and peacefully advocate his own religion⁴⁹. Vane defines religious freedom as the magistrate’s refraining from coercion in things God has exempted⁵⁰. Voltaire admires Penn’s universal toleration⁵¹ and the Englishman who “may go to heaven his own way”⁵². Defoe’s satire mimics the opposite case, treating liberty of conscience as dangerous indulgence⁵³. The principle is written into law, first in the Massachusetts Body of Liberties⁵⁴ and then in the American Constitution’s guarantee of religion, speech and press⁵⁵. Mill observes that religious liberty was historically the one field in which individual right against society was defended on principle⁵⁶.

On freedom of speech Milton and Mill are the twin authorities, and the shift between them is instructive. Milton argues largely from history and Christian dignity. Licensing comes from the Council of Trent and the Inquisition⁵⁷. God trusts man with reason “to be his own chooser”⁵⁸. Galileo’s imprisonment shows what licensing does to learning⁵⁹. He prizes “the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely” above all liberties⁶⁰. Mill argues from fallibility and utility. Even a government at one with the people has no right to silence dissent⁶¹, and complete liberty to contradict an opinion is the very condition that justifies acting on it as true⁶². Mill also sees a danger Milton scarcely names. Social intolerance, without fine or prison, stifles thought in England⁶³. Hume and Voltaire agree that philosophy and science require entire liberty^64,65. But the line between liberty and abuse remains disputed. Franklin refused to print libel despite pleas of press freedom⁶⁶, while Sydney Smith exposes “licentiousness” as the anti-reformer’s word for any bold exposure of abuse⁶⁷.

Mill’s larger principle is that society may interfere with the individual only for self-protection, and that over his own body and mind the individual is sovereign⁶⁸. The only freedom worth the name is pursuing our own good in our own way⁶⁹. Mill limits the principle to mature people capable of improvement by discussion⁷⁰. He grounds it in individuality, for genius flourishes only in an atmosphere of freedom⁷¹, and he calls the contest between liberty and custom the chief interest of history⁷². The hard cases test him. He condemns prohibition as usurpation⁷³ and voids any contract to sell oneself into slavery, since liberty cannot include its own alienation⁷⁴. On those who profit from gambling, however, he leaves the boundary undecided⁷⁵. Around him stand the ideals of independence. Emerson would leave each man to the rewards and penalties of his own constitution⁷⁶. Thoreau contrasts the “absolute freedom” of wildness with merely civil freedom⁷⁷. Burns honours one who will neither be nor have a slave⁷⁸. Cervantes’ Marcela, “born free,” refuses subjection to any suitor⁷⁹. Locke reminds us that the child’s liberty must grow with his years⁸⁰.

Civil liberty, by contrast, is generally conceived as something partly surrendered in order to be secured. Hobbes counsels being content with as much liberty against others as one allows them against oneself⁸¹. Rousseau says men offered their necks to the yoke to secure the rest of their liberty, and so destroyed natural liberty irretrievably^82,83. He nevertheless holds liberty an inalienable gift of nature⁸⁴. Burke accepts the surrender: the restraints of society are themselves among men’s rights⁸⁵. He claims English liberties as an inheritance, not as abstract rights of man⁸⁶. Voltaire, less reverent, notes how near to slavery Magna Charta’s “freemen” stood⁸⁷. For Burke liberty is no benefit unless combined with government, order and morality⁸⁸, and he refuses to congratulate escaped madmen on their freedom⁸⁹. The Federalist and Washington agree that vigorous government secures liberty^90,91. Dryden goes further and calls republican freedom mock liberty⁹². The concrete guarantees are habeas corpus⁹³ and consent to laws and taxes⁹⁴. Smith adds the striking claim that every tax is a badge of liberty⁹⁵. Mill warns that a free press and popular legislature would not make a country free if government controlled all enterprise⁹⁶.

Smith’s system of natural liberty extends the idea to labour and trade. Under perfect liberty the advantages of occupations would equalize⁹⁷. Property in one’s own labour is “most sacred”⁹⁸, and the settlement laws violate natural liberty⁹⁹. Yet Smith allows that liberty endangering society’s security may be restrained, as party walls prevent fire¹⁰⁰. Mill later separates the question: restraints on trade are evils, but liberty is truly at stake only where the buyer’s access is curtailed¹⁰¹.

National freedom against tyranny is the oldest theme of all. Aristides holds all earth’s treasure worth less than the liberty of Greece¹⁰². Plutarch warns that the first destroyer of a people’s liberties is he who first gave them largesses¹⁰³. Cicero mourns that liberty is lost and he must say nothing offensive¹⁰⁴. Pliny calls turning liberty into slavery ignominious¹⁰⁵. Machiavelli observes that a city used to freedom never forgets it¹⁰⁶, and Macaulay sees him at the last struggle for Florentine liberty¹⁰⁷. Schiller’s Swiss seek to keep ancient rights inviolate, not lawless innovation¹⁰⁸. Goethe’s Alva retorts that true freedom is only to do right¹⁰⁹. The American Declaration universalizes the claim as an unalienable right¹¹⁰, and Byron dies for Greece. Mazzini adds a modern doubt. Byron’s heroes are free but only free, wretched and isolated, and liberty must be harmonized with association^111,112.

Finally there is slavery, the plainest loss of liberty. Woolman asserts liberty to be the natural right of all men equally¹¹³. Don Quixote declares it rigorous to enslave those God and nature made free¹¹⁴, though the slaves he frees promptly rob travellers¹¹⁵. Darwin indicts those who boast of liberty and uphold slavery¹¹⁶. Lincoln proclaims emancipation¹¹⁷, and Lowell hears the slave feel his manhood rise¹¹⁸. The fables keep the plain truth before us. Aesop’s wolf prefers hunger to the dog’s chain¹¹⁹, and Andersen’s nightingale has liberty in name only¹²⁰. Shakespeare’s Ariel demands promised freedom¹²¹, while Caliban sings of freedom as he merely changes masters¹²².

Several questions remain open. Is liberty first an inward state or an outward condition? Does freedom need virtue to deserve it, or does it create virtue? Is the deepest danger the tyrant, or the majority? Milton’s Samson names the most troubling possibility, that corrupt nations love “bondage with ease” more than “strenuous liberty”¹²³. Goldsmith states it more bluntly: liberty itself may be bartered for gold¹²⁴.

Passages cited (124)

Aeschylus, The Libation-Bearers, Vol. 8, p. 110–111read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Vol. 43, p. 415read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 195read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan, Vol. 34, p. 391–392read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Vol. 37, p. 352read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Vol. 37, p. 363read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Vol. 37, p. 363–364read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Vol. 37, p. 366–367read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, Vol. 34, p. 259–260read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar, Vol. 34, p. 260–261read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind, Vol. 34, p. 175read · scan
John Milton, Areopagitica, Vol. 3, p. 206read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 354–356read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 356read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 346read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 357read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 369read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 360read · scan
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Vol. 32, p. 366read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man, Vol. 32, p. 263–264read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man, Vol. 32, p. 247–248read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man, Vol. 32, p. 283–284read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man, Vol. 32, p. 218read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of Man, Vol. 32, p. 227read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, Vol. 2, p. 168read · scan
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, Vol. 2, p. 169–170read · scan
Epictetus, Fragments Attributed to Epictetus, Vol. 2, p. 183–185read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Vol. 2, p. 230read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, That to Philosophise Is to Learne How to Die, Vol. 32, p. 15–16read · scan
Richard Lovelace, To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars; To Althea from Prison; To Lucasta, Going Beyond the Seas, Vol. 40, p. 354–356read · scan
George Gordon, Lord Byron, Poems, Vol. 41, p. 810–812read · scan
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Vol. 4, p. 342read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, Vol. 7, p. 40read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Vol. 7, p. 296–297read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Vol. 7, p. 302–303read · scan
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty, Vol. 36, p. 344–345read · scan
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty, Vol. 36, p. 350–351read · scan
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty, Vol. 36, p. 372read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Vol. 36, p. 301read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, Vol. 36, p. 303read · scan
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty, Vol. 36, p. 370–371read · scan
Paul, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Vol. 45, p. 503–504read · scan
Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty, Vol. 36, p. 375read · scan
John Calvin, Dedication of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 39, p. 43read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658, Vol. 4, p. 80–81read · scan
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Vol. 4, p. 180read · scan
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Vol. 4, p. 204read · scan
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Vol. 4, p. 108read · scan
Sir Thomas More, Utopia, Vol. 36, p. 224read · scan
Sir Henry Vane, A Healing Question, Vol. 43, p. 123read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the English, Vol. 34, p. 76–77read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the English, Vol. 34, p. 78–79read · scan
Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters, Vol. 27, p. 134read · scan
Nathaniel Ward, The Body of Liberties, Vol. 43, p. 81–83read · scan
Constitution of the United States, Vol. 43, p. 194–195read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 201read · scan
John Milton, Areopagitica, Vol. 3, p. 197read · scan
John Milton, Areopagitica, Vol. 3, p. 200read · scan
John Milton, Areopagitica, Vol. 3, p. 213–215read · scan
John Milton, Areopagitica, Vol. 3, p. 226–227read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 210read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 214read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 225read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Vol. 37, p. 393read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the English, Vol. 34, p. 110–111read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His Autobiography, Vol. 1, p. 92read · scan
Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-Reformers, Vol. 27, p. 245–246read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 203read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 206–207read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 204read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 258–259read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 265read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 284read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 298read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 294read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Politics, Vol. 5, p. 248–249read · scan
Henry David Thoreau, Walking, Vol. 28, p. 395read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and Songs, Vol. 6, p. 524–526read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part I, Vol. 14, p. 105read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Vol. 37, p. 14–15read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of Leviathan, Vol. 34, p. 392–393read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind, Vol. 34, p. 211–212read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind, Vol. 34, p. 212read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind, Vol. 34, p. 218–219read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. 24, p. 197read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. 24, p. 171read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the English, Vol. 34, p. 90–91read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. 24, p. 148read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Vol. 24, p. 147read · scan
Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist, Nos. I and II, Vol. 43, p. 201read · scan
George Washington, Washington's Farewell Address, Vol. 43, p. 240read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well Lost, Vol. 18, p. 7read · scan
Constitution of the United States, Vol. 43, p. 185–186read · scan
John Winthrop, Arbitrary Government Described and the Government of the Massachusetts Vindicated from That Aspersion, Vol. 43, p. 86read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 10, p. 503–504read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 307read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 10, p. 101–102read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 10, p. 124read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 10, p. 143–144read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Vol. 10, p. 251–252read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Vol. 25, p. 291read · scan
Plutarch, Aristides, Vol. 12, p. 87read · scan
Plutarch, Coriolanus, Vol. 12, p. 158read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of Cicero, Vol. 9, p. 155read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of Pliny, Vol. 9, p. 332–334read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Vol. 36, p. 18read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Machiavelli, Vol. 27, p. 400–401read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William Tell, Vol. 26, p. 423read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont, Vol. 19, p. 309–310read · scan
The Declaration of Independence, Vol. 43, p. 150–151read · scan
Giuseppe Mazzini, Byron and Goethe, Vol. 32, p. 382–383read · scan
Giuseppe Mazzini, Byron and Goethe, Vol. 32, p. 380read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John Woolman, Vol. 1, p. 203read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part I, Vol. 14, p. 182read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part I, Vol. 14, p. 277read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle, Vol. 29, p. 502–503read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, Vol. 43, p. 323read · scan
James Russell Lowell, Poems, Vol. 42, p. 1370–1371read · scan
Aesop, Fables, Vol. 17, p. 22–23read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, Tales, Vol. 17, p. 304–305read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Vol. 46, p. 399read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Vol. 46, p. 430–431read · scan
John Milton, Samson Agonistes, Vol. 4, p. 415read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, Poems, Vol. 41, p. 527–528read · scan

Introductory essay written by Claude Opus 5.5 from the outline and the notes on every passage below; quotations are checked against this edition.

1The nature and definition of liberty
2Inner freedom and the conquest of the self
3Christian liberty and the freedom of conscience
4Religious toleration and liberty of conscience in the state
5Freedom of speech, the press and inquiry
6Individual liberty against society and its limits
7Civil and political liberty, its foundations and dangers
8Economic liberty: natural liberty of labour and trade
9Tyranny, revolt and the defence of national freedom
10Slavery, captivity and emancipation

1.The nature and definition of liberty

1a.Liberty as the absence of external impediment

Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22

p. 97–98None of the Phaeacians will keep Odysseus against his will; he may stay only of his own accord.read · scan

Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8

p. 168Strength says none but Zeus can boast of true freedom.read · scan

Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2

p. 126He is free for whom all things happen as he wills; freedom is not madness.read · scan
p. 127Freedom is glorious, but wishing things to happen as one randomly desires is madness and base.read · scan
p. 166The free man lives as he wishes, unhindered, desires fulfilled; no wicked man is free.read · scan

Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32

p. 72–75Our freedom is best shown in voluntary affection and friendship, unlike bonds commanded by nature.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 5Reader's free will is absolute; he is lord in his own house and may judge the book freely.read · scan

Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34

p. 343Deliberation ends the liberty of doing or omitting according to appetite or aversion.read · scan
p. 391–392Right of nature is liberty to use one's power to preserve life; liberty is absence of external impediments.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4

p. 30Sweet Liberty personified, joining Mirth in unreproved pleasures.read · scan

David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37

p. 352Hume claims all men agree on liberty and necessity in any reasonable sense; the controversy is merely verbal.read · scan
p. 361Inquiry into liberty and necessity should begin with the operations of matter, not the will; then the dispute becomes verbal.read · scan
p. 363Hume argues liberty means only the power to act or not act according to the will; so understood, all agree and the dispute is verbal.read · scan
p. 363–364Liberty opposed to necessity rather than constraint is the same as chance, which does not exist; the feeling of liberty stems from a desire to show it.read · scan

1b.Freedom as autonomy of the rational will

See also: Will 1b · Knowledge 5d · Cause 6a · Duty 1a

Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsVol. 32

p. 339–340Kant's formula of humanity as end in itself grounds respect for persons; freedom is implicit but not discussed here, only suicide as duty to oneself.read · scan
p. 340–341Attacks on the freedom and property of others violate humanity by treating persons merely as means; respecting others' rights and rational ends is a strict duty.read · scan
p. 341The end-in-itself principle is the supreme limiting condition of every man's freedom of action.read · scan
p. 343Self-legislation by the will is the ground for autonomy as opposed to being constrained by external law.read · scan
p. 346Autonomy grounds dignity: the rational being is free of physical laws and obeys only laws he gives himself.read · scan
p. 354–356Freedom defined as causality efficient independent of foreign causes, contrasted with physical necessity of irrational beings.read · scan
p. 356Negative freedom leads to positive: freedom is causality by immutable laws of its own kind, i.e., autonomy of the will.read · scan
p. 357Freedom must be presupposed of all rational beings, since any being acting under the idea of freedom is practically free.read · scan
p. 358Morality reduces to idea of freedom, unprovable as fact but necessarily presupposed for any being with will and reason.read · scan
p. 359Moral law seems only presupposed in the idea of freedom, detaching us from empirical interests.read · scan
p. 360A circle: we assume freedom to conceive ourselves under moral laws, and vice versa; freedom and self-legislation are reciprocal.read · scan
p. 362Freedom is independence from determining causes of the sensible world, inseparable from autonomy and the moral law.read · scan
p. 363Reason contains the moral law in the idea of freedom.read · scan
p. 363–364The idea of freedom makes me a member of the intelligible world.read · scan
p. 365–366All men attribute freedom of will to themselves; freedom is an Idea of Reason that cannot be argued away.read · scan
p. 366Contradiction between freedom and natural law disappears when man is thought in different senses as free and as part of nature.read · scan
p. 367Common reason claims freedom of will as independence from sensibility.read · scan
p. 367–368Freedom as negative independence conjoined with positive causality of reason; needed for consciousness as rational cause.read · scan
p. 369Freedom is a mere Idea, not demonstrable in experience or comprehensible, held as necessary hypothesis of reason.read · scan
p. 369–370Impossibility of explaining freedom equals impossibility of explaining moral interest.read · scan
p. 371Freedom is the only hypothesis making the categorical imperative possible, though how freedom is possible cannot be discerned.read · scan
p. 371How freedom is possible as causality of a will cannot be solved.read · scan
p. 372–373Moral law is the supreme law of freedom; kingdom of ends demands conduct by maxims of freedom.read · scan

1c.Freedom of the will and moral merit

Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20

p. 297Had the will been perfect, as in Laurence or Scaevola, they would have returned when liberty was restored.read · scan
p. 310Whatever proceeds immediately from God is wholly free and uncontrollable by new things.read · scan

John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3

p. 206God left man free, setting a provoking object before him, so merit and reward rest on free choice.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 261Harm cannot come against the will; freedom of will depends on obedient reason.read · scan
p. 261Adam permits Eve to go, since a stay not free is worse.read · scan
p. 331Loss of freedom brings loss of virtue.read · scan

David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37

p. 366–367Liberty, as commonly defined, is essential to morality; actions from external violence cannot be praised or blamed.read · scan

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34

p. 175Consciousness of freedom to resist or acquiesce distinguishes man from beast.read · scan

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34

p. 248–249Regular universal motion lacks the liberty seen in spontaneous movements of men and animals.read · scan
p. 258–259Sentiment of liberty is effaced only by depravation; no material being is self-active.read · scan
p. 259–260Man is a free agent; there can be no will without liberty; necessity is the empty word.read · scan
p. 260–261Liberty gives human actions the merit of virtue; restraining it would reduce man to a brute.read · scan
p. 277–278Good use of liberty makes virtue man's merit.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 238–239Virtue cannot exist without liberty; better to leave much to free will than make men machines of political benevolence.read · scan

William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28

p. 331–332Man is free, not enslaved to nature or even to God, able to render or withhold service; liberty is political science's highest thought.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5

p. 244–245Wild liberty develops iron conscience, while want of liberty stupefies it; opposing forces develop each other.read · scan

1d.Aesthetic and human freedom in Schiller

See also: Beauty 9a · Education 1e · Opposition 3b · Nature 7c

Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32

p. 210–211True political freedom named as the great task of the age.read · scan
p. 211Art requires freedom and rises above necessity.read · scan
p. 212Prefers beauty to freedom as a topic yet holds beauty leads to freedom.read · scan
p. 212Man may reject a political condition forced by necessity and exchange thraldom for moral freedom.read · scan
p. 217–218The age demands its rights and true freedom as the basis of political union, but the moral capacity for it is lacking.read · scan
p. 218Culture far from freeing us develops new necessities, tightens physical fetters and makes passive obedience seem wisdom.read · scan
p. 221–222The complicated machine of state cannot trust the free will of man and chains free intelligence to formulas.read · scan
p. 227Freedom should not be conceded to those in anarchic will nor conformity imposed on the weak; liberty must be earned in character.read · scan
p. 228Liberty frightens men into convenient servitude or drives them into savage license; usurpation and insurrection clash over principles.read · scan
p. 237Taste and freedom everywhere avoid each other; refinement grows as liberties decline.read · scan
p. 238–239The person, having its principle of existence in itself, gives the idea of absolute being and freedom.read · scan
p. 244Perfecting the determining faculty means greatest autonomy and freedom of action, joined with fullness of existence.read · scan
p. 247–248The play instinct suppresses coercion and sets man free physically and morally by uniting the two impulsions.read · scan
p. 252True freedom issues from union of natural and moral necessity; gods freed from purpose and duty.read · scan
p. 254Notes that in refined ages 'liberal ways' degenerate into arbitrary caprice and that nature's force should serve 'free personality'; liberty only touched incidentally in discussing beauty.read · scan
p. 257–258Freedom exists only in cooperation of man's two natures; exclusive sway of either is compulsion.read · scan
p. 262–263Internal freedom rests on the will's balance between two necessities and cannot be destroyed by temptation.read · scan
p. 263–264Freedom arises from the mutual constraint of the sensuous and rational impulses; it is active, favoured by natural means, and historically follows sensuous priority.read · scan
p. 264–265Passage from passive to active freedom requires a state of free determinability where sensibility and reason balance each other.read · scan
p. 266–267Freedom is taken by nature's compulsion in feeling and reason's legislation in thinking; the aesthetic disposition restores it.read · scan
p. 271Aesthetic liberty is the necessary intermediary between sensuous passivity and the activity of thought and will.read · scan
p. 272The sensuous man, physically determined, lacks free determinability and must recover it through the aesthetic state.read · scan
p. 273–274Man rises from dependent situations to autonomy and liberty.read · scan
p. 274–275Rational liberty must advance beyond sense; the aesthetic state frees man from nature's power without forcing his will.read · scan
p. 276Freedom, not first appearance of reason, begins humanity; misapplied reason can plunge man into terrible slavery.read · scan
p. 280By giving form to the formless man proves his freedom and rises above natural terror and his gods.read · scan
p. 281Beauty proves physical dependence does not destroy moral liberty.read · scan
p. 281–282Beauty shows moral freedom coexists with feeling; man need not escape matter to show himself a spirit.read · scan
p. 283–284The aesthetic disposition gives birth to liberty; it is a gift of nature and cannot derive from moral liberty.read · scan
p. 284Interest in appearance proves outer liberty when want is satisfied and inner liberty in independent imaginative force.read · scan
p. 285–286Man uses unbridled liberty in the realm of appearance, bound only to respect the border of reality.read · scan
p. 289Animal movements show freedom from determinate external necessity, though not from want in general.read · scan
p. 290Physical play frees from constraint of necessity, approaching the supreme freedom of the beautiful.read · scan
p. 294–295Taste gives an illusion of freedom over physical necessity; in aesthetic state no one trenches on another's freedom.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, BeautyVol. 5

p. 300–301Some people seem ridden and unfree; thought lifts the mountain of necessity and beauty tells the prisoner that liberty and power await him.read · scan

1e.Liberty as faculty and natural gift, inalienable

Amerigo Vespucci, Amerigo Vespucci's Account of His First VoyageVol. 43

p. 28They have no king, lord or captain and obey no one; everyone lives in his own liberty.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48

p. 163The child loves the legitimate violence that procures its liberty and detests captors' tyranny.read · scan

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34

p. 213The poor, having only liberty, would not surrender it without consideration.read · scan
p. 215–216People gave themselves chiefs to defend liberty, not to be enslaved; liberty's value is known only to those who possess it.read · scan
p. 216Free peoples and wild animals sacrifice everything to preserve independence; slaves are unfit to judge liberty's worth.read · scan
p. 217Liberty is man's noblest faculty; renouncing it degrades human nature to the level of brutes.read · scan
p. 218–219Life and liberty are essential gifts of nature that cannot be alienated like property; no compensation can replace them.read · scan
p. 222Those who desire only independence cannot be subdued.read · scan

Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41

p. 527–528Liberty itself is bartered for gold; the needy sell it, the rich buy it.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 285–287Birds scorn to be man's slave and flee his invasion of their native right.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 597The child stands on heaven-born freedom, soon to bear the inevitable yoke.read · scan

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, PoemsVol. 41

p. 703–704Liberty counted among the joys of youth.read · scan

2.Inner freedom and the conquest of the self

2a.The Stoic doctrine that only the self-mastered man is free

Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2

p. 123The door is open; what the powerful can do does not concern us, so none can rule one thus minded.read · scan
p. 124If you choose, you are free and need blame no one; all accords with your mind and God's Mind.read · scan
p. 142–143Urges grasping Freedom and tranquillity, rising like one escaped from slavery.read · scan
p. 143The ideal student renounces all else to live as a free man, unhindered and untroubled.read · scan
p. 145The struggle is for kingship, liberty, happiness and tranquillity.read · scan
p. 148Freeing the Will from hindrance, resentment and slavery.read · scan
p. 155–156Freedom, tranquillity and serenity are the price's reward.read · scan
p. 159The Cynic is free and treats those men fear as slaves.read · scan
p. 164–165He lives as free and noble, made free from hindrance in what is his own.read · scan
p. 167–168A would-be free man still fears his masters and values his body, so is not free.read · scan
p. 168Diogenes was free by inner detachment, having cast away every handle slavery could grasp, not by birth.read · scan
p. 168–169True freedom is worth any price; without it one is a slave though consul.read · scan
p. 169Free man sets no store by body, possessions, office or repute.read · scan
p. 169–170Setting store by outward things makes one subject to another; freedom requires independence of them.read · scan
p. 171God grants each man inward freedom, which creates love in houses, concord in cities and peace among nations.read · scan
p. 171Freedom and tranquillity come from seeking good only in what is unhindered.read · scan

Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2

p. 230So long as nothing drives me out I remain free, and no man shall hinder me from choosing.read · scan
p. 252One may live free from compulsion in tranquillity of mind whatever the world says or does.read · scan
p. 272Use what is in thy power like a free man rather than desire abjectly.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3

p. 26–28It is strange to seek power and lose liberty, or power over others and lose power over oneself.read · scan

2b.Freedom through contempt of death

Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2

p. 165–166Only by conquering fear of death are men set free.read · scan

Michel de Montaigne, That to Philosophise Is to Learne How to DieVol. 32

p. 15–16Premeditation of death is forethinking of liberty; he who has learned to die has unlearned to serve.read · scan
p. 22True sovereign liberty lies in contempt of death, which lets one scorn force, injustice and imprisonment.read · scan

2c.Freedom of mind under bodily bondage

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9

p. 155–157Enslaved countries' wise men remained in a sense free by keeping their character intact.read · scan

Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2

p. 127Wherever a man is against his will is a prison; Socrates was not in prison since he was there consenting.read · scan
p. 131–132Banishment cannot bind a man who can depart where none forbids.read · scan

Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47

p. 740–742Philaster declares himself free as his thoughtsread · scan

John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4

p. 57–62The Lady says Comus cannot touch the freedom of her mind though her body is bound.read · scan

John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4

p. 415Samson asserts conscience and inner peace against servitude; his mind will not condescend to commands.read · scan

Richard Lovelace, To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars; To Althea from Prison; To Lucasta, Going Beyond the SeasVol. 40

p. 354–356Stone walls do not a prison make; a mind innocent and free in love has liberty like angels.read · scan

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 332–333They value liberty of the mind above that of the body.read · scan

Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41

p. 531Under tyranny reason, faith and conscience remain our own.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 655–656Toussaint, imprisoned, is urged to take comfort in nature and man's unconquerable mind.read · scan

George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41

p. 810–812The sonnet hails Liberty as the eternal spirit of the chainless mind, brightest in dungeons; prisoners appeal from tyranny to God.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, CharacterVol. 5

p. 186Inner strength of character can elude or break physical bondage.read · scan

Emily Brontë, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1110–1111Only prayer is for a heart unchanged and liberty, a chainless soul.read · scan

Sidney Lanier, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1391–1392His soul feels suddenly free from fate's weighing and the discussion of sin.read · scan

2d.Liberty with right reason against passion

The Book of PsalmsVol. 44

p. 296–297He will walk at liberty because he sought God's precepts.read · scan

Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of EpictetusVol. 2

p. 166The free man lives as he wishes, unhindered, desires fulfilled; no wicked man is free.read · scan

Epictetus, Fragments Attributed to EpictetusVol. 2

p. 183–185Freedom is the name of virtue, slavery of vice; no man is free who is not master of himself.read · scan

Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7

p. 28–29In stealing he mimicked a maimed liberty, doing the forbidden with impunity.read · scan
p. 32–33He loved a vagrant liberty, his own ways rather than God's.read · scan
p. 40Sinners lift 'the horns of an unreal liberty' against God and forge their own chains.read · scan

Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20

p. 145–146Virgil says Dante seeks liberty, dear to those who refused life for its sake, like Cato.read · scan
p. 255Virgil releases Dante to follow his own pleasure and free choice, no longer needing warning voice or sign.read · scan

Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20

p. 416–417Beatrice has brought Dante from slave to freedom, using every means for his deliverance.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4

p. 70–72Virtue alone is free.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 342True liberty dwells with right reason; when passions rule reason, man loses inward freedom and is enthralled outwardly.read · scan

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 340Wear none of your own chains; keep free while free.read · scan

William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 384Hard breeding preserves liberty of the mind from slavery to sensual delicacies.read · scan
p. 385Contrasts concern for civil rights with bondage to sin.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 90Virtue and industry make one 'free and easy', free from vice and debt.read · scan

Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25

p. 330–331Freedom lies in united labour that is also the victory over evil.read · scan

2e.Spiritual liberty through self-denial and God's service

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7

p. 219We resent others' freedom yet chafe at our own wishes being denied and restraints applied to us.read · scan
p. 226–227There is no true liberty or joy save in fear of God with a good conscience.read · scan
p. 261–262The truth makes one free, giving freedom of heart from evil and inordinate affection.read · scan
p. 263–264Love wills to be free of worldly affection and unhindered.read · scan
p. 270–272Service of God makes man truly free and gives liberty of spirit.read · scan
p. 283–284Asks for wings of true liberty; feels imprisoned and fettered until God's presence frees him.read · scan
p. 285–286God promises to teach the way of peace and true liberty.read · scan
p. 290–291Worldly cares and mortal miseries hinder the soul from liberty of spirit.read · scan
p. 291Pure, well-regulated love keeps one from captivity and preserves inward liberty.read · scan
p. 296–297Perfect liberty requires denying oneself; those who love riches and themselves are enslaved.read · scan
p. 301–302Only full resignation reaches the true liberty of a pure heart.read · scan
p. 302–303Inward liberty of heart comes from giving up possession of oneself; be master of one's actions, not slave or hireling.read · scan
p. 313–314Longs for true liberty free of burden, delivered from slavery to sin.read · scan
p. 322The spiritual man's liberty, free of attachment, unknown to the carnal man.read · scan
p. 348–349Only through self-surrender does one attain inward liberty and grace; few are made free because they cannot deny themselves.read · scan

George Herbert, PoemsVol. 40

p. 343–345Speaker cries for freedom, loose as the wind, then submits.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48

p. 172–173Soldier and Carthusian monk are equally dependent; differ only in hope of commanding.read · scan

3.Christian liberty and the freedom of conscience

3a.Luther's doctrine of Christian liberty

Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36

p. 319–320Baptism frees Christians to be subject only to God's word; quotes Paul to stand fast in Christ's liberty.read · scan

Martin Luther, Concerning Christian LibertyVol. 36

p. 344–345He states the paradox that a Christian is free lord of all and dutiful servant of all.read · scan
p. 345–346The Christian is free and servant at once, as Paul and Christ were; outward conditions do not affect the soul's liberty or slavery.read · scan
p. 346–347Christian liberty and justification come through the Gospel alone, not through works or speculation.read · scan
p. 349–350Faith brings the soul peace and liberty along with justification.read · scan
p. 350–351Christian liberty is that faith removes need of law or works for salvation, without licensing a bad life.read · scan
p. 355–356Christian is spiritual lord of all things, so nothing can harm him; this is the power and liberty of Christians.read · scan
p. 356–357A Christian is free from all things and needs no works; seeking justification by works loses faith.read · scan
p. 358–359Christian liberty from Christ frees the inner man from laws and works; faith alone justifies.read · scan
p. 359The Christian is free in spirit yet servant of all in outward works.read · scan
p. 362By faith the Christian is free from all law and acts freely, seeking only to please God.read · scan
p. 364Works done for justification lay a yoke of necessity and extinguish liberty along with faith.read · scan
p. 365–366Christian life is the freest servitude, serving others voluntarily and for nothing.read · scan
p. 367Though free from all works, the Christian empties himself of liberty to take a servant's form.read · scan
p. 368Love makes believers free, joyful and lords of all things while remaining servants of neighbour.read · scan
p. 369Christian is lord of all yet servant of all; Paul protects liberty of faith against hardened self-justifiers while sparing the weak.read · scan
p. 370Christ, free child of a King, voluntarily pays the tax; Christians serve others in liberty of spirit.read · scan
p. 373Faith frees us from belief in works, not from works themselves.read · scan
p. 377Nature cannot free herself from bondage to works and recognize liberty of faith.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 342Movement from strict laws to free acceptance of grace, servile fear to filial.read · scan

3b.Liberty from human ecclesiastical laws and rules

Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36

p. 272Christians should have courage and the spirit of liberty, judging popes by their own scriptural understanding.read · scan
p. 281–282Bishops and foundations lose their liberty and power, reduced to ciphers under Rome.read · scan
p. 291Hopes Germany may become a free people of Christians after papal misrule.read · scan
p. 301Convents should be free to enter and leave; vows have turned them into prisons and bound souls through human customs and laws.read · scan
p. 303Luther advises freedom for every man to marry or not; canon law binds priests where God has not.read · scan
p. 305Christ has freed Christians from human laws opposed to God; every Christian may dispense for the salvation of souls.read · scan
p. 306Monks should confess to whom they will, unbound by prelates' threats.read · scan
p. 309Fasts should be optional and food free, as the Gospel gives freedom; Rome robs people of this right.read · scan
p. 328The Germans lost their liberty, wealth and honour to the Pope.read · scan
p. 330Luther demands the Pope free Germany from taxes and restore its liberty, authority and wealth.read · scan

Martin Luther, Concerning Christian LibertyVol. 36

p. 342–343Luther refuses laws binding interpretation of God's word, which teaches liberty, and rejects papal claims to lordship over the world.read · scan
p. 357–358Christian liberty of believers has perished under bondage to human laws and decrees imposed by the ecclesiastical hierarchy.read · scan
p. 370–371Christian freeman obeys human commands voluntarily, without needing them for salvation; ecclesiastical rules destroy Christian liberty.read · scan
p. 371–372Ignorance crushes Christian liberty.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 342Forcing spiritual laws by carnal power binds the Spirit's consort, Liberty; no one is infallible against faith and conscience.read · scan

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15

p. 103–104By-ends protests that Christian must not lord it over his faith and asks liberty to go along.read · scan

Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21

p. 171Gertrude constantly recalls her lost liberty, feeling her vocation as a galling yoke.read · scan

3c.Scriptural and devotional freedom

Paul, The First Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45

p. 500The freedom of those with knowledge to eat idol-meat must yield to concern for the weak.read · scan
p. 501Though free from all men, Paul makes himself a servant to all to gain more converts.read · scan
p. 503–504All things are lawful but not expedient; liberty is restrained out of regard for another's conscience.read · scan

Paul, The Second Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45

p. 518–519'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty'; the veil is removed.read · scan

Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44

p. 362–364Isaiah passage proclaims release to captives and liberty for the bruised.read · scan

Martin Luther, Concerning Christian LibertyVol. 36

p. 369Christian is lord of all yet servant of all; Paul protects liberty of faith against hardened self-justifiers while sparing the weak.read · scan
p. 374Resist hardened ceremonialists boldly to defend liberty of faith; spare the weak whose pastors' traditions have bound them.read · scan
p. 375Use liberty secretly before the weak, openly against tyrants, until the captive recognize their freedom.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48

p. 223Christians, though servants, are free children.read · scan
p. 227–228Being free indeed shows the earlier freedom was only a type.read · scan
p. 271–272Christ, not Moses, leads out of captivity and makes truly free.read · scan

Hymns of the Christian Church: Modern HymnsVol. 45

p. 568–571Prays that God's truth make us free.read · scan

John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1

p. 292–293Owners attain 'the perfect law of liberty' by being doers of the Word.read · scan

3d.The danger of liberty degenerating into licence

Martin Luther, Concerning Christian LibertyVol. 36

p. 372Christian liberty is spiritual, freeing hearts from sin and law, surpassing external liberties; but must not become licence.read · scan

John Calvin, Dedication of the Institutes of the Christian ReligionVol. 39

p. 43Many perverted the liberty of the spirit into licentiousness of the flesh.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4

p. 80–81Those who bawl for freedom mean licence; only the wise and good truly love liberty and Truth sets men free.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise RegainedVol. 4

p. 384Freedom for the unrepentant is questioned; they would relapse into idolatry.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48

p. 125–126It is not good to have too much liberty or all one wants.read · scan

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15

p. 76Religion is said to restrain the hectoring liberty of brave spirits of the times.read · scan

John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37

p. 74–75Youth mistakes freedom of manhood for license to enjoy the forbidden, while flatterers really govern him.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 610–612He felt let loose from chains on reaching America, a license that turned to lawlessness.read · scan

4.Religious toleration and liberty of conscience in the state

4a.Arguments for toleration and against persecution

Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36

p. 224An ancient Utopian law: no man is blamed for reasoning in defence of his religion; intolerant convert exiled for sedition.read · scan
p. 224Utopus decreed each man may follow and peacefully advocate his religion; no violence or abusive contention.read · scan
p. 229–232Common worship avoids offending any sect, leaving each free to conceive God and sacrifice privately.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3

p. 12–13Forcing consciences by persecution is condemned.read · scan
p. 13–14Pressing consciences is condemned, and those who urge it are commonly serving their own ends.read · scan

Pierre Corneille, PolyeucteVol. 26

p. 128Severus grants each to keep his own gods and search for truth, protecting Christians while loyal; toleration of faiths.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4

p. 81–82Poet asks Cromwell to save free conscience from hireling ministers.read · scan

Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43

p. 118The tract expounds civil and religious liberty.read · scan
p. 119–120Supporters aimed to serve the Lord without fear and to be governed by their own elected councils.read · scan
p. 120Restored natural rights in civil things and freedom of conscience are the essence of the cause.read · scan
p. 121The civil quarrel arose because the king's prerogative and militia threatened the people's liberty; religious freedom is the second branch.read · scan
p. 122Bought by Christ's blood, freedom of conscience means no one is oppressed before human judgment-seats.read · scan
p. 123Religious freedom means the magistrate refrains from coercion in things God exempted, secured for people and ruler alike.read · scan
p. 124Adherents of the cause are lovers of true freedom in civil and spiritual matters, looking to its inward spirit beyond outward forms.read · scan

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 316Colony founded on religious toleration as refuge from persecution.read · scan

William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 392–393Excessive conformity in religion and government costs liberty; author recommends latitude in charity.read · scan

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 76–77Penn establishes universal toleration of conscience in America and refuses to compromise principles in Europe.read · scan
p. 77–78Toleration under William III gives Quakers privileges; liberty of conscience lets the established religion swallow the rest.read · scan
p. 78–79An Englishman, to whom liberty is natural, may go to heaven his own way; every one may serve God as he thinks proper.read · scan
p. 82–83The Exchange is a free, pacific assembly where all worship as they choose.read · scan
p. 84Clark leaves the reader liberty of forming a judgment; sects too few to be allowed public assemblies.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 8–9Peter Folger's verse pleaded liberty of conscience for Baptists and Quakers and urged repeal of persecuting laws.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Address Delivered before the Senior Class in Divinity CollegeVol. 5

p. 37Puritan piety was joined with longings for civil freedom.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 201Religious liberty is the one field where individual rights against society were defended on principle; freedom of conscience asserted.read · scan

Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32

p. 168Tolerant Christianity left the vanquished bards liberty of ill humour.read · scan

4b.Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom

Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43

p. 81–83Churches have free liberty in doctrine, worship and discipline, free from imposed injunctions.read · scan
p. 83No church may impose conclusions on another; only brotherly consultation.read · scan

The Instrument of GovernmentVol. 43

p. 115–116Freedom of religious profession is guaranteed to Christians, excluding Popery, Prelacy and licentiousness, and contrary laws are voided.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 138–139The militia bill leaves the Quakers at liberty regarding bearing arms.read · scan

John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1

p. 307–308Free exercise of the gospel gift uninterrupted by outward laws is a trust; remembers persecution.read · scan

Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27

p. 232Emancipation of Irish Catholics and extension of civil rights is at issue against the oath-bound Church defence.read · scan

Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43

p. 191–194Bars religious tests for office.read · scan
p. 194–195Guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition and security against unreasonable searches.read · scan

Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29

p. 162–163Praises the liberalism of these countries: toleration of foreign religions, freedom of the press, and welcome to foreigners and science.read · scan

Treaty with Spain (1898)Vol. 43

p. 447–448Free exercise of religion guaranteed to the inhabitants.read · scan

4c.The case against toleration of Dissenters

Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the DissentersVol. 27

p. 134Attacks the Act of Toleration and Dissenters' demands for liberty of conscience, citing oaths forced on consciences.read · scan
p. 136Kings' grants of liberty of conscience to Dissenters are portrayed as mistaken indulgence.read · scan
p. 140–141Toleration of Dissenters is portrayed as a promise that conflicts with the Church's safety and may be dispensed with.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 152Ironically calls religious freedom enforced on troops 'compulsory freedom', questioning its effect on national tranquillity.read · scan
p. 245–246True liberality forgave their evil principles, and they returned it with monopoly and intolerance.read · scan

4d.Persecution and the flight from it

Andrew Marvell, PoemsVol. 40

p. 376–377The exiles find refuge from prelate's rage, safe from religious persecution.read · scan

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 73–74Quakers persecuted for refusing tithes and oaths.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 467England shelters political exiles of every opinion, though coldly.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, DemocracyVol. 28

p. 457–458The long exclusion of Jews from a share in government is called a frenzy of exclusion.read · scan

5.Freedom of speech, the press and inquiry

5a.Milton's attack on licensing

See also: Censorship 2a · Knowledge 8b · Punishment 9c · Opinion 10a

Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44

p. 430–431The council tries to forbid teaching in Jesus's name; the apostles refuse to be silenced.read · scan

John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3

p. 189Milton defines civil liberty as complaints freely heard, considered and reformed, celebrating England's escape from tyranny and superstition.read · scan
p. 191–192Milton attacks the licensing order as suppressing printing and hindering discovery of truth.read · scan
p. 192–193Opposes licensing and persecution of books, surveying how ancient commonwealths restrained only blasphemous and libelous writings.read · scan
p. 193Greeks and Romans did not license books; Cato's attempt to banish philosophers was overruled by Scipio and other senators.read · scan
p. 194Romans punished only libel and impiety in writings; Lucretius, Catullus and others were left free.read · scan
p. 195–196Early church left reading to each one's conscience, unlike later prohibition.read · scan
p. 196–197English, the language of men famous in achieving liberty, should not spell servile Imprimaturs; licensing has a Roman, inquisitorial origin.read · scan
p. 197No ancient state or reformed church licensed books; licensing comes from the Council of Trent and the tyrannous Inquisition.read · scan
p. 200God trusts man with reason to be his own chooser rather than under perpetual childhood of prescription; compulsion would supplant exhortation.read · scan
p. 202Licensing cannot stop contagion of foreign books, which reach the people easily despite the licenser.read · scan
p. 210Requiring a free, knowing spirit to print only with an Imprimatur is the greatest indignity, leaving a man no better than a schoolboy.read · scan
p. 213Licensing imposes a servitude like the Philistines', treating a whole unoffending nation like delinquents needing a jailer.read · scan
p. 213–215Milton contrasts England's philosophic freedom with Italian learning enslaved by the Inquisition, where Galileo was imprisoned for his astronomy.read · scan
p. 215–216Freedom of writing should not be restrained by a discipline borrowed from prelates and the Inquisition.read · scan
p. 216–217Liberty of printing is the people's birthright and must not be enthralled again under a prelatical commission.read · scan
p. 219–220Open writing is more public and more open to refutation than private preaching; licensing hinders it.read · scan
p. 220–221Licensing obstructs seekers of truth, like the Turk prohibiting printing to uphold the Alcoran.read · scan
p. 222London called the mansion house of liberty, defended by pens as much as by arms.read · scan
p. 222Crowding free consciences into canons of men is condemned; all the Lord's people should be prophets.read · scan
p. 222–225A people freely disputing and inventing even in wartime shows confidence in government and guards its own freedom.read · scan
p. 225–226Milton argues liberty is the nurse of great wits and the cause of England's free writing; suppressing it would return the nation to slavishness.read · scan
p. 226–227Milton prizes liberty to know, utter and argue freely according to conscience above all other liberties.read · scan
p. 227Licensing by statute opposes Christian liberty, which Paul boasts of, in matters indifferent.read · scan
p. 227The iron yoke of enforced conformity has left a slavish print on the nation's neck.read · scan
p. 227–229No man with a truth to offer should be made to ask license for a worthy deed.read · scan
p. 231Presbyterian leaders who benefited from unlicensed books should not renew the bondage of licensing on the people.read · scan
p. 231–232Liberty of printing must not be reduced to the power of a few.read · scan

5b.Mill's case for liberty of thought and discussion

Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2

p. 237He tolerated freedom of speech in those who opposed his opinions.read · scan
p. 256Changing one's opinion when corrected is as consistent with freedom as persisting in error.read · scan

John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13

p. 19Dryden speaks his thoughts as a free-born subject, unlike Dutch or French commentators.read · scan

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34

p. 294–295Free arguments require Jews to have free schools, and free speech; suppression of opposing books makes Christians always right.read · scan

George Long, The Philosophy of AntoninusVol. 2

p. 329–330Long claims for himself and gives to others freedom to think as they please.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, HeroismVol. 5

p. 130–131Lovejoy died for free speech and opinion; more freedom for culture exists now.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 335–336Swedenborg says the English derive their light from liberty of speaking, writing and thinking.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 32Advance in liberty of discussion has changed the morality of concealing unpopular opinions on religion.read · scan
p. 69Confidence in complete freedom of discussion and freedom in relations between the sexes.read · scan
p. 103Mill hopes for unchecked liberty of thought and free individual action, joined with firm convictions.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 208Society's growing tendency to encroach on the individual; Mill proposes to begin with liberty of thought, speech and writing.read · scan
p. 210Liberty of the press and expression of opinion; even a government at one with the people has no right to silence dissent.read · scan
p. 210–211Free discussion is defended against authority's claim to exclude opinions.read · scan
p. 213Setting up the case for restraining the propagation of opinion against freedom of discussion.read · scan
p. 214Complete liberty to contradict and disprove an opinion is the condition justifying assuming its truth for action.read · scan
p. 216Free discussion arguments must hold in extreme cases or they hold in none.read · scan
p. 216–217Preventing an opinion from being heard in its defence is objectionable however immoral or impious it is called.read · scan
p. 220–221Enemies of religious freedom accept that persecutors of Christianity were right.read · scan
p. 227–229Great intellectual periods arose when the yoke of authority was broken; further progress requires asserting mental freedom again.read · scan
p. 232Free discussion and unrestrained publication are needed so that objections are stated and answered, even for teachers alone.read · scan
p. 241Opinions must be expressed with equal freedom for each element to obtain its due.read · scan
p. 242Christian doctrine teaches passive obedience and submission to established authorities, even in wrong.read · scan
p. 246–247Freedom of expression is necessary to mankind's mental well-being; law should not restrain intemperate controversy.read · scan
p. 247Law and authority have no business restraining either side of discussion.read · scan

5c.Social intolerance and the suppression of dissent

Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2

p. 25Exile would mean endless wandering, and silence is a demand he cannot accept.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3

p. 40Allowing grievances to evaporate freely is safer than suppressing them.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19

p. 92–95Altmayer toasts wine and freedom; Mephistopheles hesitates, fearing the landlord's offence.read · scan

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18

p. 130–131Lady Teazle asks whether Sir Peter would restrain freedom of speech.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 367The machine of mechanical organization threatens even freedom of thought.read · scan
p. 416Oxford burned Milton's and Hobbes's books, illustrating suppression of ideas.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 29–31The Reformation is presented as a contest against priestly tyranny for liberty of thought.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 198Individual independence needs protection against the prevailing opinion and feeling that impose ideas and practices as rules of conduct.read · scan
p. 201–202Individual liberty threatened by public opinion and, once the majority owns the government, by government too.read · scan
p. 225England lacks mental freedom because of social intolerance of those who disown accepted beliefs.read · scan
p. 225Without fining or imprisoning, social pressure still interdicts free inquiry and stifles fearless, consistent thinkers.read · scan
p. 225–227Free speculation on the highest subjects is needed to enlarge minds; an atmosphere of mental slavery yields no active people.read · scan

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42

p. 998–1000Freedom grows slowly, and banded unions that persecute opinion would make individual freedom mute.read · scan

5d.Free speech in assemblies and courts

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9

p. 120Cicero says he spoke with the greatest freedom and spirit against violence and abuses of power before Pompey.read · scan

Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9

p. 338Pliny claims the liberty of speech in the senate that was never refused to any member.read · scan

Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2

p. 195Equal freedom of speech and kingly government respecting the freedom of the governed.read · scan

William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36

p. 91Speaker asks that Commons be freed from fear of royal displeasure so they may speak their counsel freely in Parliament.read · scan
p. 91Petition for freedom of speech in the Commons, each man to discharge his conscience without fear of the King's displeasure.read · scan
p. 91More defends the ancient liberty of the House to answer only through its Speaker, resisting Wolsey's demand for a subsidy.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 208–209Sancho pleads for licence to speak freely or else go home; Don Quixote revokes the silence commandment while they are in the mountains.read · scan

Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43

p. 68–69Any man may petition or speak at public meetings; free movement out of the jurisdiction; no imprisonment before sentence.read · scan
p. 75–76Freemen have full freedom to give votes and verdicts according to their judgments and consciences.read · scan
p. 76–78Guarantees members of courts, jurors and freemen liberty to dissent, seek advice, or stay silent rather than be forced to vote.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 204–205The Assembly cannot inquire with any appearance of liberty or impartiality.read · scan

Articles of ConfederationVol. 43

p. 160Freedom of speech and debate in Congress protected, and members shielded from arrest.read · scan

Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43

p. 183Members are privileged from arrest and cannot be questioned elsewhere for speech or debate.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 178–179He helped defeat a Bill preventing public meetings in the Parks.read · scan

5e.Liberty of the press: praise, limits and abuse

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 140Every Englishman may publish his thoughts on public affairs, which spurs cultivation of mind.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 92Refuses to print libel despite pleas of liberty of the press, likening newspaper to a stage-coach open to all payers.read · scan

Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27

p. 239–240Free complaint in press and Parliament contrasted with silent despotic Turkey.read · scan
p. 245–246Anti-reformers praise 'liberty of the press' while condemning as 'licentiousness' any bold exposure of abuses; a sham approval of liberty masks opposition to free discussion.read · scan
p. 248Praises liberty of the press as palladium of the Constitution while abhorring its licentiousness.read · scan

Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43

p. 194–195Guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition and security against unreasonable searches.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 451Freedom of the press shows an air of freedom, even in advertisements, that impresses foreigners.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 58Mill writes letters defending free publication of all religious opinions, when freedom of discussion was not yet conceded.read · scan

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42

p. 996–998England is the land that freemen till, where a man may speak the thing he will.read · scan

5f.Freedom of thought in science, learning and art

Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32

p. 40He should not be bound to defend prescribed positions; freedom to repent and revise is not for sale.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Proœmium, Epistle Dedicatory, Preface, and Plan of the Instauratio MagnaVol. 39

p. 121Those loving liberty of search were weak, relaxing the severity of inquiry in a whirl of arguments.read · scan

William Harvey, On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in AnimalsVol. 38

p. 62Philosophers do not surrender their liberty by pinning faith to others' teaching.read · scan

Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3

p. 258–259Honest reason may range with security in many matters untouched by decrees.read · scan
p. 274–275Refuses to betray the liberty of his reason on non-essential scriptural assertions.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 87Blank verse is ancient liberty recovered for heroic poem from the bondage of riming.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48

p. 310–311Jesuits chafe at constraint and want liberty to follow their own imaginations.read · scan

Blaise Pascal, Minor WorksVol. 48

p. 439Pascal wants liberty to innovate in physics, and restraint in theology.read · scan

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 109–110Descartes fled society and country to study philosophy in full liberty.read · scan
p. 110–111Newton was fortunate to be born in a country of liberty; Descartes was persecuted, Galileo imprisoned.read · scan

Samuel Johnson, Preface to the English DictionaryVol. 39

p. 204He hopes English liberty will prevent an academy imposing dependence on style.read · scan

David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37

p. 393Philosophy needs entire liberty and free opposition of sentiments; it arose in an age of freedom and toleration unhampered by creeds or penal statutes.read · scan
p. 404–405The state ought to tolerate every philosophical principle; restraint of reasoning endangers science and paves the way for persecution.read · scan

Thomas Gray, PoemsVol. 40

p. 453–454The Muse's track is pursued by glory, shame, unconquerable mind and freedom's holy flame.read · scan

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, The Education of the Human RaceVol. 32

p. 202–203Blames the tyranny of checking speculation, not the speculation itself.read · scan

Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32

p. 209–210The reader's liberty of mind is held sacred; he must judge by own thought.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 680–681Self-chosen confinement is no prison; some souls find relief from the weight of too much liberty in the sonnet's bounds.read · scan

Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defence of PoetryVol. 27

p. 347Freedom of women is credited with giving rise to the poetry of love.read · scan
p. 358English literature accompanies free development of national will; poetry heralds struggles for civil and religious liberty.read · scan

Victor Hugo, Preface to CromwellVol. 39

p. 362–363Genius is confined by dogma and prejudice but breaks free like the Hebrew giant.read · scan
p. 364–365Freedom should reach the domain of thought and art as it naturally belongs there.read · scan
p. 375Freedom of art defended against systems and rules.read · scan
p. 379–380Political censorship and literary juries stand in the way of true drama, hindering freedom of the stage.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American ScholarVol. 5

p. 17The scholar must be free, defined as without hindrance save that arising from his own constitution.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The PoetVol. 5

p. 175Poetic forms bring a sense of emancipation, like coming out of a cave into open air.read · scan
p. 176Poets are free and make free; the magic of liberty puts the world like a ball in our hands.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 451–452English humorists of Punch's era have turned toward humanity and freedom.read · scan

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, What Is a Classic?Vol. 32

p. 129France, lacking early authorities, had less right to demand literary liberty and found it harder to stay classical.read · scan

Giuseppe Mazzini, Byron and GoetheVol. 32

p. 389–390Both poets aided intellectual emancipation and awakened the sentiment of liberty through resistance and sceptical irony.read · scan

Thomas Henry Huxley, Science and CultureVol. 28

p. 209–210Freedom of thought is both cause and consequence of intellectual progress.read · scan
p. 216–217Antiquity offered the unique example of perfect intellectual freedom, accepting reason as sole guide to truth.read · scan

6.Individual liberty against society and its limits

6a.Mill's principle of self-protection and self-regarding conduct

Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5

p. 247Self-control is legitimate, but ruling others oversteps the truth; only laws men make for themselves are not laughable.read · scan
p. 248–249Self-government leaves the individual to the rewards and penalties of his own constitution rather than artificial restraints.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 155The essay On Liberty was jointly composed and published as a memorial to her.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 195Mill states his subject as civil or social liberty, the limits of society's power over the individual, and traces the historic struggle between liberty and authority.read · scan
p. 195–196The limits on what government may do are neglected by European liberalism.read · scan
p. 197Limiting government power over individuals remains important even when rulers are accountable to the community.read · scan
p. 199The practical question is where to set the limit between individual independence and social control.read · scan
p. 203Mill's principle: society may interfere with individual liberty only for self-protection; the individual is sovereign over body and mind.read · scan
p. 204Liberty applies only to mature people capable of improvement by free discussion; children and backward societies excepted.read · scan
p. 205Individual spontaneity is subject to control only in actions concerning others' interests.read · scan
p. 205–206Defines the proper region of liberty: conscience, thought, opinion, its expression, tastes and pursuits, and freedom of combination.read · scan
p. 206–207Only freedom worth the name is pursuing our own good in our own way; no society is free without these liberties whatever its government.read · scan
p. 250Freedom to act on opinions at one's own risk, limited only by harm to others; opinions incite when spoken to a mob.read · scan
p. 270Individual has perfect freedom in conduct affecting only himself; society's authority begins where conduct concerns others.read · scan
p. 271Mill argues individuals are final judges of their own self-regarding conduct; society may not coerce a mature person for his own good.read · scan
p. 271–272A person's spontaneity deserves free exercise; others may advise but he is the final judge, and constraint is worse than error.read · scan
p. 274We allow others the liberty in their own affairs that we use in ours.read · scan
p. 276Where there is definite damage or risk to others the case passes from liberty to morality or law.read · scan
p. 277Society should bear constructive injury from self-regarding conduct for the sake of human freedom, not command obedience in personal concerns.read · scan
p. 279Strongest argument against public interference with personal conduct: it interferes wrongly and in the wrong place.read · scan
p. 279–280Moral police encroaching on legitimate individual liberty is a universal human propensity; public may not interfere with self-regarding concerns.read · scan
p. 290States the two maxims of the essay: the individual is not accountable for self-regarding actions, only for those harming others.read · scan

6b.Individuality, genius and variety of character

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 87Marcela's uncle respects her goodwill in the choice of a husband.read · scan
p. 87Marcela chooses freely to live as a shepherdess in the fields, unmoved by dissuasion, yet without dishonesty.read · scan
p. 87–89She rejects even honourable offers of matrimony, remaining independent and quietly triumphant.read · scan
p. 105Marcela was born free and chose solitude in the fields to live freely, refusing to subject herself to suitors.read · scan
p. 105Marcela asserts her free condition, refusing to love or be subjected, and living content among trees and goats.read · scan

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18

p. 145–146Maria resists compulsion into an unwanted marriage, refusing her guardian's authority when it would make her miserable.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, MannersVol. 5

p. 214–215Woman's Rights and the reform of laws and social forms are conceded, though woman herself must show how she is served.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 317–318Landor embodies English love of freak, a display of commanding freedom.read · scan
p. 368Personal eccentricity is freely allowed and no one remarks on it.read · scan
p. 398–399Englishmen prove sovereign freedom by freaks and refusing to yield an inch of land, even to the Queen Dowager.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 132The work stands as a warning against forgetting the value of Liberty and Individuality.read · scan
p. 156The Liberty is described as their most fully joint production, whose whole mode of thinking was hers.read · scan
p. 156Liberty teaches the importance of variety of character and full freedom for human nature to expand in many directions.read · scan
p. 157Traces the doctrine of individuality and self-development through Humboldt, Goethe, Maccall and Warren's sovereignty of the individual.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 250–251Free development of individuality is essential to well-being; adjusting liberty and social control is easy if this is felt.read · scan
p. 254–255Society has overcome individuality; the danger now is deficiency of personal impulses under a hostile censorship.read · scan
p. 257Individuality developed within others' rights makes persons valuable and life rich; different persons must lead different lives.read · scan
p. 258–259Genius and individual development can only flourish in an atmosphere of freedom; society must let individuals experiment without hindrance.read · scan
p. 259–260Genius must be allowed to unfold freely in thought and practice; society stigmatizes strong characters who break fetters.read · scan
p. 260Genius may point the way but must not compel others by seizing government; hero-worship rejected.read · scan
p. 260–262Each person's own mode of life is best because it is his own; diverse natures require diverse conditions.read · scan
p. 262–264Individuality suffers as people are compressed into a common mould.read · scan
p. 264Courts and juries cannot conceive that a sane person would want freedom to act as he pleases in indifferent matters.read · scan
p. 265The contest between liberty and custom is the chief interest of mankind's history.read · scan
p. 265–267Freedom and variety of situations are necessary conditions of human development.read · scan
p. 267–269Individuality must be defended now against enforced assimilation before it is too late.read · scan

6c.Applications and hard cases of the liberty principle

See also: Law 7c · State 3b · Tyranny 6c

René Descartes, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the SciencesVol. 34

p. 21–22He counts promises that abridge freedom as extremes, though laws permitting vows and contracts are not disapproved.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 275–276States the objection that no one's conduct is purely self-regarding and that society should repress vices like gambling and drunkenness.read · scan
p. 277Independent characters rebel against coercion into prudence; resisting usurped authority is a mark of spirit, as after Puritan intolerance.read · scan
p. 281–282Mill argues majority moral and religious feelings cannot justify suppressing others' harmless private conduct; Puritan and Spanish examples show the danger of enforced conformity.read · scan
p. 283Public claiming a veto over private spending and earning would justify oppression of individuals by majority opinion.read · scan
p. 284Prohibition of fermented drinks illustrates usurpation of private liberty; drinking is an individual act, not a social one.read · scan
p. 284–286The 'social rights' doctrine would justify any violation of liberty; Sabbatarian laws illegitimately restrain individual freedom of amusement.read · scan
p. 286–287Mill decries persecution of Mormons and Sunday restrictions as neglect of human liberty, even while condemning polygamy.read · scan
p. 287Mormons who withdrew to a remote desert may live under their own laws; forcing another community to be civilized is unjustified.read · scan
p. 291Restraints on trade are evils, but liberty is truly involved only where interference limits the buyer's access, as with the Maine Law or opium.read · scan
p. 292Limits of police functions: preventing crime or accident may override liberty only when danger is certain; otherwise a person should only be warned.read · scan
p. 292Labelling poisons or keeping registers respects liberty, while requiring medical certificates would burden legitimate buyers.read · scan
p. 294Mill limits the maxim of non-interference with self-regarding conduct: drunkenness, idleness and indecency become properly restrainable when they harm or offend others.read · scan
p. 294If people may act freely in self-regarding matters, they must be free to advise one another; the reasons for individual liberty extend to counsel.read · scan
p. 294Weighs toleration against restriction of those who profit from promoting gambling and fornication, without deciding the boundary between the two principles.read · scan
p. 294–297Buying and selling should not be interfered with; the State may not discourage self-regarding conduct by heavy taxes, since choice of pleasures is the individual's own concern.read · scan
p. 298Restricting the number of drink-houses to lessen temptation is unjustifiable, burdening all for the abuse of some, and treats laborers as children or savages.read · scan
p. 298Freedom cannot include alienating freedom: a contract to sell oneself into slavery is void, since it defeats the purpose of liberty of choice.read · scan
p. 298Parties bound by a contract concerning only themselves should be able to release one another, with retractation possible except in money matters.read · scan
p. 298–301Liberty in one's own concerns does not extend to acting for others; misapplied liberty and the love of power hinder State duty.read · scan
p. 301–302Individuality and diversity of opinion require diversity of education, so State schools should be only one competing experiment.read · scan
p. 303–305Prevailing notions of liberty wrongly resist restraining acts harming others, while readily infringing freedom in self-regarding matters.read · scan

6d.Independence and self-reliance as personal ideals

Traditional BalladsVol. 40

p. 173–175Outlaws live by the king's deer in the forest, beyond his reach for half a year.read · scan
p. 184–186Robin returns to the greenwood and lives free there twenty-two years, fearing no king.read · scan

Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36

p. 140–141Raphael prizes living at liberty by his own mind over wealth or power that few great men enjoy.read · scan

William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36

p. 91More dislikes the restraint of being constantly summoned to court away from his wife and children, and dissembles to regain freedom.read · scan

Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31

p. 26–27Cellini asserts he was born free and will live free, choosing his own master like a free journeyman.read · scan

Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32

p. 40Favors and pay from a master corrupt a courtier's freedom of judgment and speech.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 78Sancho values the freedom of eating alone without ceremony, which solitude and liberty bring.read · scan
p. 442–443Don Louis insists he is free and will return only if he pleases; no one shall constrain him.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3

p. 21Liberty is the commonest cause of single life for minds that feel every restraint as shackles.read · scan

John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47

p. 762–764The Duchess resolves to follow her own choice of marriage though all her royal kindred lay in her way.read · scan

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 333–334No friendship without freedom; it loves free air.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 71–73Franklin loved liberty since infancy.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 307The independent planter feels himself master and independent of all the world.read · scan

Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18

p. 220–221Hardcastle's 'Liberty-hall' claims guests may do as they please, yet he dictates what they get, ironically.read · scan
p. 268–269Tony, learning he has come of age, declares his first use of liberty is to refuse Constance and be his own man.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 187–189Burns stands independent on his own legs, content with humble fare, spurning patrons' protection.read · scan
p. 305–307Declares himself nobody's lord or slave, merry and free.read · scan
p. 506–507'My Freedom's my Lairdship nae monarch dare touch.'read · scan
p. 524–526Inscription honors one of independent mind who will neither be nor have a slave, and braves power's frown.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 631–633The freeborn mind unenthralled by public or private care enjoys a day of happy hours.read · scan

Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21

p. 232Renzo resists registration by authority, wishing to keep his identity private.read · scan

Lord Byron, ManfredVol. 18

p. 423He refuses to swear obedience to the Witch, unwilling to be slave of spirits he commands.read · scan
p. 431–432Manfred refuses to kneel to Arimanes, saying only the overruling Infinite Maker deserves worship.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American ScholarVol. 5

p. 22The American freeman's spirit is suspected timid and imitative; he must trust his instincts and defy Europe's courtly muses.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Address Delivered before the Senior Class in Divinity CollegeVol. 5

p. 30–31Man's right to live by the infinite law within is foreclosed by demands to subordinate his nature to Christ's.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5

p. 61The man is clapped into jail by consciousness, longing for godlike independence of youth.read · scan
p. 74Refuses to sell his liberty and power to spare others' sensibility.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, MannersVol. 5

p. 207–208Independence and the metaphysical isolation of man are taught by nature; the individual's sphere should be kept inviolate.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, GiftsVol. 5

p. 220–221We wish to be self-sustained; receiving a gift invades independence and breeds resentment of the giver.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5

p. 255Each individual claims to be a king of his own kingdom, demanding no control or interference.read · scan
p. 261Individual isolation and self-reliance, not stricter association, make men whole and free.read · scan
p. 269–270Obedience to one's genius is the only liberating influence, not self-denying ordinances.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 97Sterling was devoted to the cardinal points of Liberty and Duty.read · scan
p. 127–128The father exerted his power of influence to promote freedom.read · scan
p. 143Social problem: uniting greatest individual liberty with common ownership of the earth's raw material.read · scan

Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29

p. 76Praises the independence of Gaucho life, camping wherever one pleases under the open sky.read · scan

Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23

p. 149–151Comparative independence, with nobody to haze or find fault, reconciles the men to their hard work.read · scan

Henry David Thoreau, WalkingVol. 28

p. 395Contrasts absolute freedom of wildness with merely civil freedom; the walker must be free of ties.read · scan
p. 396–397Walking requires leisure, freedom and independence that no wealth can buy; walkers stand outside Church, State and People.read · scan
p. 401–403Fears land will be partitioned into private grounds, with walking construed as trespass; the walker now enjoys freedom.read · scan
p. 403Westward he goes free, where no business leads; eastward only by force.read · scan
p. 420Live free; knowledge and duty should liberate rather than bind us.read · scan

Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39

p. 388–389Common people's deathless attachment to freedom and lack of deference to superiors.read · scan

6e.Restraint of liberty for order, safety and education

Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36

p. 188Travel requires licence and the prince's letters; unlicensed wandering is punished, leaving citizens little liberty to loiter.read · scan

Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32

p. 36–37Subjection to others' authority extinguishes the mind's vigor and liberty.read · scan
p. 37Barring the pupil from acting on his own makes him servile and cowardly.read · scan
p. 45–47Pupil should know the difference between bondage and freedom, subjection and liberty.read · scan
p. 64He was brought up in mildness and liberty, learning by unforced will and free choice.read · scan

John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37

p. 14–15As a child grows, liberty must increase with the years and he must be trusted to his own conduct.read · scan
p. 32–33Indulgence does children no good, but grown men with reason must be treated with freedom, not severity.read · scan
p. 49Children should have age-suitable freedom, hindered only from doing ill.read · scan
p. 56Children like adults want to show their good actions come from themselves and resent tasks imposed as duty.read · scan
p. 57Play differs from learning only in that children act freely in play but are compelled in tasks.read · scan
p. 57–58Children balk at learning because they want their liberty; feeling free makes learning like sport.read · scan
p. 59Natural freedom gives play its delight; constraint intrenches on it and makes learning irksome.read · scan
p. 81–82Youth must have some liberty and outleaps, best taken under a father's eye.read · scan
p. 85Children love liberty and should be brought to do fit things without feeling restraint.read · scan
p. 109Only in seasons of perfect freedom, unwatched, does a child's true inclination show.read · scan
p. 128We love liberty from the cradle and dislike things merely because they are enjoined.read · scan
p. 179Youths see the tutor as an enemy to their freedom and resent control.read · scan

Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40

p. 428Each man's safety must restrain his liberty.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 497–498Inquisition into private circumstances would be vexation no people could supportread · scan
p. 498–499Severe inquisition into private persons' circumstances has been carefully avoided in all countriesread · scan
p. 501Inquisition into shop trade would be insupportable in a free countryread · scan

John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28

p. 151–152A girl cannot be hammered or fettered like a boy; she grows like a flower with virgin liberty.read · scan

7.Civil and political liberty, its foundations and dangers

7a.Natural liberty surrendered for civil society

Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34

p. 371–372Fear of oppression drives men to seek aid by society to secure life and liberty.read · scan
p. 392–393Man should be content with as much liberty against others as he allows others against himself.read · scan
p. 394Right to resist violence against one's life cannot be laid down.read · scan
p. 398Forgiveness restores liberty by retransferring the right in which the obligation consisted.read · scan
p. 408–409Men must lay down some natural rights to make peace yet retain those necessary to live well.read · scan

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 349–350Rule by consented laws is called freedom.read · scan

Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40

p. 427In early society love was liberty and nature law.read · scan

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34

p. 194A solitary man can simply flee into the forest and break his fetters.read · scan
p. 211–212Men offered necks to the yoke to secure liberty, sacrificing part to ensure the rest.read · scan
p. 212Natural liberty was irretrievably destroyed and mankind subjected to labour, servitude and misery.read · scan
p. 219Where the fundamental laws fail, people regain their natural liberty.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 197Entering civil society, man surrenders natural liberty and self-judgment to secure some liberty; restraints are themselves among his rights.read · scan

Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist, Nos. I and IIVol. 43

p. 203People must cede some natural rights to government to vest it with needed powers.read · scan

7b.Liberty as inherited franchise and English constitutional freedom

William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35

p. 363The English nation is free and haughty, refusing to be treated as villains and slaves with torment.read · scan

Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43

p. 126–127Vane says the army secures the true freedom fought for, yet the people are denied exercising their restored right to settle a righteous government.read · scan
p. 127–128True freedom must be practicable, not notional; delay in bringing it into exercise breeds jealousy after blood and treasure were spent.read · scan
p. 130Free natural access to government is interrupted when a part engrosses it, bringing bondage.read · scan

John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18

p. 7English government has all the advantages of liberty beyond a commonwealth and kingly sovereignty without tyranny.read · scan

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 85Roman civil wars ended in slavery, English in liberty; the English alone limited kings' power by resisting them.read · scan
p. 86English purchased liberty dearly; other nations' blood spilt in defence of liberties only enslaved them more; England's civil wars aimed at wise liberty.read · scan
p. 89–90English liberty sprang from the quarrels of tyrants; Magna Charta shows how little liberty was then known, granted by barons because they were powerful.read · scan
p. 90–91Magna Charta's 'freemen' still owed service to lords, liberty not far from slavery; the people took petty ordinances as real liberty.read · scan
p. 141–142The common people lack liberty, martyrs to the yoke that dominates them.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 161Laws of inestimable value to English liberties were passed under kings who did not owe their crown to election.read · scan
p. 163Experience shows liberties are best perpetuated through hereditary crown; succession is the healthy habit of the constitution.read · scan
p. 163–165Imported 'improved liberty' after the Paris fashion is counterfeit; hereditary succession is security for liberty, not a badge of servitude.read · scan
p. 167–168Burke sees loose talk of servant kings as evaporation of the spirit of liberty, tied to cashiering kings.read · scan
p. 170Ancient laws and liberties are secured by the inherited constitution, with a pedigree of liberties traced by Coke and Blackstone.read · scan
p. 171English liberties claimed as inherited franchises from forefathers, not as abstract rights of men, in Petition of Right and Declaration of Rightread · scan
p. 173Freedom viewed as inheritance is tempered with gravity and dignity, becoming a noble freedomread · scan
p. 236The English fear for their liberty from a clergy dependent on the crown.read · scan
p. 265–266Admits unlimited royal power over subjects was inconsistent with law and liberty though increasingly mitigated.read · scan
p. 335–336Burke thanks God England is still free and could devise its own correctives to executive power.read · scan

Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24

p. 402–403Burke claims to have upheld every right, privilege and franchise of all denominations, against a prince who left no liberty.read · scan
p. 419–420British and Dutch liberties were consolidated together; now the fountain of British liberty is in servitude to France.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 337English extend their arts and liberty; their laws are hospitable and slavery does not exist under them.read · scan
p. 352The Saxon endured, forced the baron to Saxon terms and secured civil liberty and charters.read · scan
p. 355Constitutional opposition as capital invention of freedom; independent judges and persistent plaintiffs.read · scan
p. 355–356Montesquieu calls England freest country; life and personal rights safe.read · scan
p. 385–386The English stand for liberty and resist their government's immoral actions; their stability secures the modern world.read · scan
p. 386–387English prize private independence, wishing neither to command nor obey, and it shapes laws, letters and manners.read · scan
p. 387–388Individual right is pushed to the uttermost; property is secure against even the king; freedom means doing as one pleases.read · scan
p. 397–398The passion for independence makes every owner's will absolute; the house is a castle the king cannot enter.read · scan
p. 406The peasant's degree of liberty combined with patricians' country residence makes the English hall safe.read · scan
p. 423Religious sentiment inspired resistance to tyrants, limited serfdom and slavery, and founded liberty.read · scan
p. 443–444Idle talk dismisses liberty as a thing gone by, no longer fashionable.read · scan
p. 468Saxon seed carries an instinct for liberty and law across the globe.read · scan
p. 470–471English sacredness of individuals evolved the principles of freedom, Magna Charta and immortal laws.read · scan

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42

p. 996–998England is the land that freemen till, where a man may speak the thing he will.read · scan

Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39

p. 407–408English tongue springs from a race never without the idea of political liberty.read · scan

7c.Liberty requires government, order and virtue

William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1

p. 350People are free by obedience.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 448Argues a standing army endangers liberty only when officers' interests are unconnected with the constitution; otherwise it permits tolerant freedom.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 144Burke wishes France animated by a spirit of rational liberty, with a permanent body for it to reside in.read · scan
p. 148Liberty is power when men act in bodies; it is no benefit unless combined with government, order, morality, property and manners.read · scan
p. 174Following wise examples would have made the cause of liberty venerableread · scan
p. 174–176Freedom well disciplined is auxiliary to law and would have shamed despotismread · scan
p. 192Burke holds liberty a treasure to guard vigilantly, and questions what cause of liberty France's example serves.read · scan
p. 200Excess provocation of the love of liberty is harmful.read · scan
p. 222Ideas of liberty were understood long ago; false feelings unfit men for rational liberty.read · scan
p. 267–268Prefers liberty with virtuous poverty to depraved wealthy servitude, but says liberty lacking wisdom and justice is equivocal.read · scan
p. 374–375Liberty without wisdom and virtue is the greatest evil; forming free government means tempering liberty and restraint.read · scan
p. 377Burke describes his public life as a struggle for the liberty of others.read · scan

Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24

p. 388His allies loved a liberty inseparable from order, virtue, morals and religion, whose perversion becomes the greatest curse.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19

p. 376Man should not prattle of self-government, since without restraint he becomes evil.read · scan

Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist, Nos. I and IIVol. 43

p. 201Vigor of government is essential to security of liberty; zeal for liberty can degenerate into narrow distrust.read · scan
p. 202Adoption is called the safest course for liberty, dignity and happiness, and security of liberty and property.read · scan
p. 205People attached to both Union and liberty saw danger to both in the defective government.read · scan

John Marshall, Opinion of Chief Justice Marshall in the Case of McCulloch vs. the State of MarylandVol. 43

p. 210The Constitution's purpose is to establish justice and secure the blessings of liberty.read · scan

William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28

p. 358–360Free institutions stimulate intellect, and the air of freedom expands the mind as despotism cannot, yet it needs trained thought to avoid excess.read · scan

George Washington, Washington's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43

p. 226He prays that the government consecrate the liberties and happiness of the people.read · scan
p. 226–227The sacred fire of liberty and republican government are staked on the American experiment.read · scan

George Washington, Washington's Farewell AddressVol. 43

p. 234He hopes the people's happiness under liberty may be preserved and recommended to other nations.read · scan
p. 235The union supports the liberty the people prize.read · scan
p. 237Union is a main prop of liberty; military establishments are hostile to republican liberty.read · scan
p. 239Respect for lawful authority is enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty.read · scan
p. 240Liberty needs a government vigorous enough to restrain faction and secure rights of person and property.read · scan
p. 241Parties may keep alive the spirit of liberty within limits, but excess destroys public liberty.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 469Only the English can be trusted with freedom, which is dangerous to any but the wise and robust.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25

p. 306Free constitutions cannot be preserved without local liberties and habits of self-government.read · scan
p. 307Press freedom and popular legislature would not make a country free if government controlled all enterprises.read · scan
p. 309A people able to improvise government, like Americans, will never be enslaved by those seizing central administration.read · scan
p. 310Absorbing all ability into government threatens human freedom and advancement.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, Abraham LincolnVol. 28

p. 430Asks whether fervor rested on a just feeling for constitutional liberty and government by law versus misrule.read · scan

Thomas Henry Huxley, Science and CultureVol. 28

p. 222–223Nations oscillate between anarchy and despotism; steady self-restraining freedom requires citizens to treat political questions scientifically.read · scan

Walter Bagehot, John MiltonVol. 28

p. 197–198Orders and degrees are said not to jar with liberty but to consist with it.read · scan

7d.Republican and abstract liberty criticised

See also: Tyranny 8b · Revolution 7a · Hypocrisy 7a

Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12

p. 41Ephialtes gave the people so strong a draught of liberty that they grew unruly like an unmanageable horse.read · scan

Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36

p. 160Riches and liberty make men unwilling to obey unjust commands, so poverty is thought to hold them down.read · scan

John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18

p. 7Republic is a mock liberty; English subjects have all the liberty possible, and more is licence.read · scan
p. 7Questions who made the rebels keepers of English liberty.read · scan

Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18

p. 247–248Drunken servant Jeremy cries 'liberty and Fleet-street for ever', claiming a servant is as good as another man.read · scan

Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41

p. 522–523Liberty is one of the competing blessings that undermine the others when excessive.read · scan
p. 528–529Britain's freedom makes men proud, but excessive independence breaks social ties; poet wishes to secure rather than repress freedom.read · scan
p. 530–531Factions call it freedom when only themselves are free; the poet prefers the throne to petty tyrants.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 147Burke professes love of regulated liberty but refuses to praise liberty in the abstract, mocking congratulation of escaped madmen and criminals on their freedom.read · scan
p. 150Some saw in France only a temperate exertion of freedom, consistent with morals and piety.read · scan
p. 190–191Burke mocks Dr. Price's claim that the present times favour exertions in the cause of liberty.read · scan
p. 200Speculative republicans abuse the cause of liberty.read · scan
p. 202Price hails nations panting for liberty and spurning slavery; Burke sees cheap bloodless liberty as flat to such tastes.read · scan
p. 205Liberty is estimated perfect as property is made insecure.read · scan
p. 211Mounier, a firm asserter of liberty, is forced into exile.read · scan
p. 216The French liberty is not liberal, and their science presumptuous ignorance.read · scan
p. 218Burke trembles for liberty from such an example to kings; Louis offered his people a share of freedom.read · scan
p. 249–250He does not deserve the name of a free man who will not express such horror.read · scan
p. 256–257Compulsory currency is an outrage upon credit, property and liberty.read · scan
p. 258Opponents of violent schemes of liberty are wrongly branded advocates of servitude.read · scan
p. 267Calls the new liberty 'Circean' and seductive, driving emigrants to the British despotism of Canada.read · scan
p. 271No attacks on commons' property or personal liberty by nobles, whom the laws would not have allowed such tyranny.read · scan
p. 285Asks what vestiges of liberty or property remain under such proceedings.read · scan
p. 294–296Property and liberty require toleration of foppery; violating property outrages liberty.read · scan
p. 306–307Natural rights supposedly given at birth are made purchasable.read · scan
p. 315France is made 'free' as Romans freed Greece, by destroying its bonds of union.read · scan
p. 317–318Securities for moderated freedom fail if the republic fails.read · scan
p. 341The new state judicature threatens the last sparks of liberty in France.read · scan
p. 350–352Revolution's proclaimed rights of man are contradicted by troops suppressing colonists, slaves and peasants.read · scan
p. 361Burke derides the 'juvenile pretenders to liberty' who copy despotic finance.read · scan
p. 363A true system of liberty would have strengthened credit; a pretended one, with debtors dictating terms at bayonet point, does not.read · scan
p. 370–372Law's fraud, unlike the Assembly's, involved no force and respected the freedom of men.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19

p. 376Freedom and the rights of men, righteous equality, seemed to loosen fetters and inspire courage and speech everywhere.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 130–132Beggars celebrate liberty as a feast and scorn law, courts for cowards, and churches built to please priests.read · scan
p. 133–134Chorus praises liberty as a glorious feast and scorns law and churches.read · scan
p. 496–499Epigram mocks a girl proclaiming liberty and equality while enchaining men's hearts.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 649–651Uncharter'd freedom tires the poet, who longs for a fixed repose.read · scan

Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27

p. 231Living men have a right to manage their own affairs and break the tyranny of those who breathed before them.read · scan

Giuseppe Mazzini, Byron and GoetheVol. 32

p. 380The epoch of individuality proclaimed liberty and equality but met anarchy; liberty must be harmonized with association.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, Abraham LincolnVol. 28

p. 444Demagogues confound liberty with lawlessness through the sound of words.read · scan

7e.Bills of rights and guarantees of personal liberty

See also: Citizen 2c · Religion 13c · Revolution 6c · Constitution 6e

Plato, CritoVol. 2

p. 39–40The laws grant every Athenian freedom to leave with his goods if displeased.read · scan
p. 40–41He was at liberty to leave if the covenants seemed unfair, and could have proposed banishment.read · scan

William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35

p. 373Townsmen encroach upon the students' liberties.read · scan

Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43

p. 66–67Declares free enjoyment of liberties and privileges due every man the stability of churches and commonwealths.read · scan
p. 67–68Protects individuals from compulsory service, seizure of goods, or oaths without authority of the General Court.read · scan
p. 68–69Any man may petition or speak at public meetings; free movement out of the jurisdiction; no imprisonment before sentence.read · scan
p. 69–70Party unfit to plead may employ a helper; summoned party free to ignore short-notice summons.read · scan
p. 70–71Parties may choose bench or jury, challenge jurors, withdraw actions and replevy goods.read · scan
p. 71–72Right of appeal and to record testimony; person not arrested if estate can satisfy.read · scan
p. 78–79Rights of children, servants and strangers framed as liberties.read · scan
p. 84–85Persons denied any liberty may sue in court.read · scan

John Winthrop, Arbitrary Government Described and the Government of the Massachusetts Vindicated from That AspersionVol. 43

p. 91–92Sentencing a man before his cause is heard is most prejudicial to liberty; juries' arbitrary damages touch liberties like fines.read · scan

First Charter of VirginiaVol. 43

p. 55–56Colonists and their children born in the colonies keep all liberties, franchises and immunities of Englishmen.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 150The Assembly resists instructions inconsistent with the privileges of the people.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 156Rights and liberties of the subject were declared together with the succession.read · scan

Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24

p. 384He claims reasonable freedom of defence, since no accused should plead in irons.read · scan

George Washington, Washington's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43

p. 227–228Congress should show reverence for the rights of freemen in deliberating on amendments.read · scan

Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43

p. 185–186Protects habeas corpus and bars bills of attainder and ex post facto laws against individuals.read · scan
p. 196–197No state may deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process.read · scan
p. 198Removes a sex-based bar on political participation.read · scan

Treaty with France (1803)Vol. 43

p. 251–252Inhabitants are to be protected in free enjoyment of their liberty, property and religion.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 175–176He opposed suspension of Habeas Corpus in Ireland.read · scan
p. 181–183The judge's charge settled the law in favour of liberty.read · scan
p. 184Mill helped defeat an Extradition Bill that would surrender political refugees, saving European freedom from foreign despotisms.read · scan

Andrew Johnson, Proclamation Declaring the Insurrection at an EndVol. 43

p. 427–428Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus is recalled as a wartime measure lasting for the rebellion's duration.read · scan
p. 428–429The policy of devastating the vanquished is called abhorrent to humanity and to freedom.read · scan
p. 429–430Standing armies, martial law, military tribunals and suspension of habeas corpus endanger public liberty and citizens' rights in peacetime.read · scan

Treaty with MexicoVol. 43

p. 295–296Former Mexicans are to be protected in free enjoyment of liberty, property and religion without restriction.read · scan

Treaty with RussiaVol. 43

p. 433–434Remaining inhabitants are protected in their liberty, property and religion.read · scan

7f.Liberty, taxation, consent and representation

See also: Constitution 2a · Taxation 2a · Government 3b

John Winthrop, Arbitrary Government Described and the Government of the Massachusetts Vindicated from That AspersionVol. 43

p. 85Non-arbitrary government lets people admit or reject governors and require the rule of judgment.read · scan
p. 86Freemen hold liberty to elect officers and to counsel; no laws or taxes without their consent.read · scan
p. 89Freemen's constant liberty yearly to choose general officers, discharge them by vote.read · scan
p. 95Posterity has the same freedom in estates and property as we have; we cannot bind them.read · scan
p. 99–100Freemen hold the liberty of the commonwealth, electing magistrates and acting in the General Court.read · scan
p. 101–102Reducing freemen to advising is said to take away their power and privileges.read · scan
p. 102–103Freemen's consulting and electing are called acts of liberty, not authority, under the Patent and Body of Liberties.read · scan

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 91No one is tyrannised over; peasants and commoners enjoy liberty because taxes are fixed and not arbitrary.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 151Franklin has the Assembly declare its rights, suspending their exercise only under force and protest.read · scan
p. 160Commons had refused to make instructions law, adored as friends of liberty, until 1765 suggested they reserved sovereignty for themselves.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 503–504Every tax is a badge of liberty, since one who has property cannot himself be a master's property.read · scan

Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24

p. 192–193Price holds liberty only partial where representation is partial.read · scan

Declaration of RightsVol. 43

p. 147–148Colonists claim the inherent rights and liberties of Englishmen, including trial by jury and freedom from taxation without consent.read · scan

The Declaration of IndependenceVol. 43

p. 151–152Representation is a right inestimable to the people; taxes without consent and cutting off trade violate it.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5

p. 388–389Chatham demands no taxation without representation for America yet forbids American manufacture, an insular inconsistency.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 120–122Roebuck's contest for colonial self-government; Radicals opposed coercion bills.read · scan
p. 133Recommendations gave complete internal self-government to colonies of European race.read · scan
p. 185–186Women's suffrage motion presented as a step toward equal civil and political freedom.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, DemocracyVol. 28

p. 465Denying the vote breeds a sense of wrong and illegitimate ways of making up for it.read · scan

8.Economic liberty: natural liberty of labour and trade

8a.Perfect liberty and the natural price of labour

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 56–57Natural price holds where there is perfect liberty to change one's trade at will.read · scan
p. 63Price returns to natural level where there is perfect liberty of employment.read · scan
p. 101–102Under perfect liberty to choose and change occupation, advantages would equalize; European policy nowhere leaves things free.read · scan
p. 116–117Equality of advantages among employments holds only where there is perfect freedom.read · scan
p. 121–122European policy departs from perfect liberty, creating inequalities by restraining competition and obstructing free circulation of labour and stock.read · scan

8b.Restrictions violating natural liberty

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 124Property in one's own labour is most sacred; hindering its use violates the just liberty of workman and employer.read · scan
p. 131–132Preventing tradesmen's assemblies would be inconsistent with liberty and justice.read · scan
p. 141–142Poor laborers are removable at the caprice of parish officers, restricting their freedom of movement.read · scan
p. 142–143Certificate discretion lets a parish officer imprison a man as it were for life in his parish.read · scan
p. 143–144Removing a blameless man from his chosen parish violates natural liberty; the common people do not understand liberty nor protest.read · scan
p. 157Laws restraining the free cultivation of the vine sustain the superior profit of old vineyards.read · scan
p. 251–252Regulating banknote issue violates natural liberty, but liberty endangering society's security is rightly restrained, like fire-preventing party walls.read · scan
p. 256Argues banking trade may safely be left perfectly free apart from minimal restraints on small notes and immediate payment.read · scan
p. 327–328Free commerce with colonies was more advantageous than monopolies and exclusive company privileges.read · scan
p. 349–351Calls for restoring natural liberty of industry by ending corporation privileges, apprenticeship statute and settlement law, as soldiers enjoy.read · scan
p. 423–424Smith notes regulations against artificers abroad sacrifice the boasted liberty of the subject to merchants' interests.read · scan
p. 426Colbert denied men pursuit of their own interest on the liberal plan of equality, liberty and justice.read · scan

8c.Freedom of trade as the source of prosperity

Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34

p. 92Trade raised English freedom, which in turn extended commerce and the state's grandeur.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 273–274Individual effort to better one's condition, protected by law and free to act, sustains progress toward opulence.read · scan
p. 345–346Holds people are best left free to direct their own capital and industry to their circumstances.read · scan
p. 433Perfect justice, liberty and equality is the simple secret securing highest prosperity to all three classes.read · scan
p. 434Perfect freedom of trade is the most effectual expedient for raising surplus produce and eventually supplying home manufacturers.read · scan
p. 435–436Granting perfect freedom of trade to all nations is the best way for a landed nation to raise its own manufacturers and merchants.read · scan
p. 436–437Freedom of trade is contrasted with oppressive restraint as the surer route to a nation's prosperity.read · scan
p. 437Perfect liberty is supposed to yield highest prosperity; restraint and regulation degrade the society's produce progressively.read · scan
p. 438–439Smith denies a nation needs perfect liberty and justice to prosper, or none ever would.read · scan
p. 445Once preferences and restraints are removed, the system of natural liberty leaves every man free to pursue his own interest within justice.read · scan
p. 483Landlord and farmer should pursue their own interest in their own way, with the most unbounded freedom of exportation.read · scan

9.Tyranny, revolt and the defence of national freedom

9a.The Swiss and Netherlands struggles

Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39

p. 86Netherlanders' privileges and customs are enthralled by Spanish rule, impositions and inquisition.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19

p. 255Princes must be joyous and free, letting people live and let live.read · scan
p. 256–257Burghers resent the Inquisition's meddling with conscience and singing of psalms; Flemings will not have their consciences tyrannized like Spaniards.read · scan
p. 257–258Jetter complains he is called heretic or rebel for humming a psalm or hearing a preacher; let everyone preach in his own fashion.read · scan
p. 258–259The citizens' toast joins 'Order and freedom' with safety and peace.read · scan
p. 270Recalls his schoolboy zeal reciting Brutus's speech for liberty, contrasting it with his present passivity.read · scan
p. 273–274Vansen extols ancestors who secured liberties and privileges, and the citizens eagerly demand to hear them.read · scan
p. 275–276Crowd clamours for freedom and privileges, and Vansen reads that the sovereign may not alter the country's constitution.read · scan
p. 296–297Citizens lament the loss of liberty and of free speech under Alva's decrees.read · scan
p. 297–298Carpenter laments lost privileges; nobles let the new yoke be laid on the people.read · scan
p. 309–310Egmont reports the Netherlanders' fear for their liberty; Alva says true freedom is only to do right and that the people need guidance.read · scan
p. 310–311Egmont says his countrymen may be crushed but not subdued, and wish to be governed by their own people.read · scan
p. 312–313Egmont protests that the king would violate the individuality of his subjects; a noble soul cannot stoop to the yoke.read · scan
p. 315–316Clara urges the citizens to rescue Egmont, who embodies their freedom, and call them to arms against tyranny.read · scan
p. 316Clara cries 'Egmont's liberty, or death!' as the wish of all hearts.read · scan
p. 316–318With Egmont dies the last breath of freedom; his imprisonment leaves the people without their protector.read · scan
p. 332–333Freedom appears in Clara's features; Egmont resolves to die for freedom and urges the people to sweep away tyranny.read · scan
p. 333Contrasts soldiers driven by their leader's word with those fighting freely for their homes.read · scan

Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26

p. 380–381Baumgarten says every free man would have enforced his household right against the wrongdoer.read · scan
p. 386–387Pfeiffer counsels Stauffacher to hold to the Empire and preserve ancient freedom, not swear to Austria.read · scan
p. 387Gertrude urges secret plotting to shake off thraldom; Stauffacher holds land free of all lords save the Emperor.read · scan
p. 387–391Fear of losing chartered liberties under pretext of lawful chastisement, yet resolve to fight for hearth and home.read · scan
p. 391–393Stauffacher laments seeing this in Uri, freedom's home; Tell says what hands have built, hands can destroy.read · scan
p. 393–394Workers say no freeborn man will stoop to such disgrace; God built the home of freedom.read · scan
p. 395–397Melchthal's father is hated by the Governor for standing up for right and liberty.read · scan
p. 397–398The new prison in Uri is 'the grave of freedom'; the Swiss were ever free and now suffer thraldom.read · scan
p. 399–401Hills are where men still feel as men, versus submission to the tyrant's yoke.read · scan
p. 404–406Three men pledge union of the cantons for freedom; Melchthal envisions Freedom's radiance for his blind father.read · scan
p. 406Attinghausen warns against bartering his free soul and taking land in fief from Austria.read · scan
p. 406–411Attinghausen: liberty is bought more cheaply than bondage; the shepherd race will not bear Austria's yoke.read · scan
p. 413–416Contrast between free men and serfs bound to cloister lands.read · scan
p. 416–418Conspirators must assert their clear rights by stealth under night.read · scan
p. 420Swiss claim to have kept their freedom from the first, never bowing to princes; a slave acknowledges more.read · scan
p. 420–422They refuse Austrian allegiance and vow to strip rights from anyone who proposes it.read · scan
p. 423Aim to keep ancient rights inviolate, not lawless innovation, while paying feudal dues.read · scan
p. 426–427They swear to be free as their sires and sooner die than live in slavery.read · scan
p. 432Bertha says Austrian rule would drive Freedom from her last stronghold.read · scan
p. 432–434Bertha urges Rudenz to battle for his people's sacred rights; she is free only when Switzerland is free.read · scan
p. 434–436The blow that frees one emancipates all; Bertha urges him to stand by his people against the foe.read · scan
p. 438–439Tell explains that lowland peasants till fields they cannot enjoy; Walter would rather live free beneath avalanches.read · scan
p. 445–447Rudenz asserts he is free, subject to the Emperor alone, not to Gessler.read · scan
p. 449–451Tell was the best hope to strike a blow for liberty; without liberty the land is worthless.read · scan
p. 453–456Tell sends word that he is free and bids the conspirators of the Rootli oath be resolute.read · scan
p. 457–458Hedwig says liberty is breath to Tell, who cannot live in a dungeon; the friends vow to free him.read · scan
p. 458–459The dying baron learns the Cantons have sworn a league to expel the tyrants, and foresees a new and better liberty.read · scan
p. 460–461He foresees Freedom waving her conquering banner and urges the freedom-lovers to stay united.read · scan
p. 461–462They resolve first to sweep out the foemen and end alien tyranny.read · scan
p. 468–470Harras notes the people have rights, which Gessler brushes aside.read · scan
p. 471–472Tell's shot frees homesteads from the tyrant.read · scan
p. 472–474The people proclaim themselves free men and refuse further violence, ending fear and obedience.read · scan
p. 474–475Ruodi hails freedom's glorious day; Uri must not be last to strike for liberty.read · scan
p. 475–477Children cry they are free; the tyrant's cap is preserved as a lasting sign of freedom.read · scan
p. 477The people stand on the wreck of tyranny, pledged to defend their freedom against the king's coming armies.read · scan
p. 477–480The assassinated emperor is called the direst foe of liberty; the peasants feel ransomed from their heaviest fear.read · scan
p. 481–482Tell is hailed as the founder of freedom and saviour of the country.read · scan
p. 488–489Bertha joins the league of the free, is received as citizen, and Rudenz frees all his serfs; Tell hailed as saviour.read · scan

9b.Greek and Roman liberty lost and defended

Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8

p. 107–109Hope that the house will look to the dawning light of liberty.read · scan
p. 110–111Chorus anticipates the commonwealth restored and freedom won once the tyrants fall.read · scan
p. 116–117Chorus greets freedom's light after the grim bit that held them dumb is rent away.read · scan

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9

p. 107–110The liberty of the Tenedians received short shrift in the senate, with few speaking for them.read · scan
p. 115Cicero refuses reconciliation with Pompey while he retains a shred of liberty.read · scan
p. 125–126Plato's maxim: argue politics only so far as you can persuade, never do violence to parent or fatherland.read · scan
p. 147Greeks regard deciding controversies by their own laws as a charter of liberty.read · scan
p. 155Cicero once spoke freely as liberty existed through his efforts; now it is lost and he must say nothing offensive.read · scan
p. 176–177Cicero recounts opposing Antony to free his country after Caesar's death.read · scan
p. 177–178Recovery of liberty depended on the young Caesar who shook off Antony.read · scan

Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13

p. 383The virgins give their lives for godlike freedom and their country's cause.read · scan

Plutarch, ThemistoclesVol. 12

p. 12–13Themistocles appeals to the Ionians to join the Greeks who are hazarding all for their liberties.read · scan
p. 13–15Refuses to become slaves for lifeless things; a free city can be founded elsewhere.read · scan
p. 28Greeks honor liberty and equality above all, unlike the Persians who worship the king.read · scan

Plutarch, AristidesVol. 12

p. 85Aristides exerted himself to encourage the Greeks in defence of their liberty.read · scan
p. 87Aristides declares all earth's treasure is worth less to Athens than the liberty of Greece.read · scan
p. 98Altar to Jupiter of freedom is dedicated for freed Greece after repelling the Persians.read · scan
p. 98–99Annual rites and Eleutheria games honor men who died for Greek freedom; no servile person may take part.read · scan

Plutarch, AlcibiadesVol. 12

p. 144Athenians lose empire and liberty, with thirty despotic rulers set over them by Lysander.read · scan

Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12

p. 158The first destroyer of a people's liberties is he who first gave them bounties and largesses.read · scan
p. 159Commons fear he would use office to deprive them of remaining liberty.read · scan

Plutarch, DemosthenesVol. 12

p. 192–193Both loved liberty in civil life and ended their lives with the liberty of their countrymen.read · scan
p. 205–206Fortune is said to bring an end to the liberty of Greece.read · scan
p. 213Greeks rise to shake off Macedonian domination, and Demosthenes is recalled by free good-will rather than constraint.read · scan

Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12

p. 232The conspirators promise the Allobroges liberty and urge Catiline to free the slaves.read · scan
p. 245Clodius builds a temple to Liberty on the site of Cicero's burned house, an ironic touch.read · scan
p. 255–256Brutus reproaches Cicero for seeking an indulgent master, not liberty for his country.read · scan
p. 256–257Cicero realizes that in helping young Caesar to the consulship he betrayed his country's liberty.read · scan

Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12

p. 291–292Pompey's edict says those who stay prefer tyranny to their country and liberty.read · scan
p. 303Caesar frees the Thessalians and enfranchises the Cnidians to commemorate victory.read · scan
p. 313Tribunes are called Bruti for defending against kingship, recalling Brutus who ended kings for senate and people.read · scan
p. 317–318The conspirators call on the people to resume their liberty after the murder.read · scan

Plutarch, AntonyVol. 12

p. 330Romans tolerate the fact of one-man rule yet dread the name as destroying their liberty.read · scan
p. 335–336Cicero's wishes for liberty lead Caesar to abandon him.read · scan

Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33

p. 99Extensive liberty causes slow assembling; the people meet as they wish, not commanded.read · scan
p. 106Freedmen's low status is a proof of public liberty; under arbitrary rule they rise above nobles.read · scan
p. 108Peoples on both banks lived alike poor and alike free, sharing evils and advantages.read · scan
p. 112–113German liberty is more invincible than the monarchy of the Arsacides.read · scan
p. 117Gothones' subjection is not so strict as to extinguish all liberty.read · scan
p. 118–119Rule by a woman among the Sitones is said to degrade them below liberty and even below bondage.read · scan

Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9

p. 197–199Corellius wished to die a free, unenslaved Roman after outliving the tyrant.read · scan
p. 236He used his freedom to remain in Campania, and the emperor did not resent it.read · scan
p. 244Writing now is more genial because of a fuller sense of individual freedom under the present emperor.read · scan
p. 319Liberty's return found Romans eager but untrained to act.read · scan
p. 331–332Urges the governor of Achaia to respect Greek cities' remaining liberty, which they maintained by courage and virtue; depriving them of it would be cruel.read · scan
p. 332–334Nothing is more precious than freedom; turning good government into anarchy and liberty into slavery is ignominious.read · scan

Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32

p. 72La Boétie's youthful essay on voluntary servitude was written in honour of liberty against tyrants.read · scan
p. 75Such loves were said to defend equity and liberty against tyrants, as Harmodius and Aristogiton.read · scan

Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3

p. 78–79Wars to free Greece or to deliver subjects from tyranny are questioned as justifications; sea command gives freedom to choose the war.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 297Xerxes' bridge is compared to yoke the liberty of Greece.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise RegainedVol. 4

p. 384Judaea under the Roman yoke; Maccabees regained freedom by armsread · scan

John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13

p. 15Marius and Sylla used liberty and reformation as pretenses; Greeks united to preserve their freedom.read · scan
p. 16–17Roman liberty was lost at Philippi; the people were repeatedly enslaved under pretenses of reformation.read · scan
p. 17Virgil judged entire liberty could not be retrieved.read · scan

Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27

p. 165–166Partisans thought liberty endangered and a stage-play able to preserve it, pressing Addison to finish Cato.read · scan
p. 166–167Whigs and Tories alike applaud every mention of Liberty in Cato as party satire; Bolingbroke rewards Booth for defending liberty against a perpetual dictator.read · scan

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 395Greek colonies were independent states making their own peace or war without the mother city's consent.read · scan

William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28

p. 333–334The idea of freedom in ancient and modern republics has triumphed over worldly interests.read · scan

John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25

p. 42Say, a republican who never bent the knee to Bonaparte; Mill acquires lasting interest in Continental Liberalism.read · scan
p. 64Rising Liberalism opposed the Holy Alliance's conspiracy against liberty and the oppression of the Continent.read · scan
p. 147Reaction after 1848 and the usurper of 1851 ended hopes of freedom in France.read · scan

9c.American independence and its declarations

First Charter of VirginiaVol. 43

p. 55–56Colonists and their children born in the colonies keep all liberties, franchises and immunities of Englishmen.read · scan

Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist, Nos. I and IIVol. 43

p. 204–205United people fought side by side to establish general liberty and independence.read · scan

James Monroe, The Monroe DoctrineVol. 43

p. 277The American continents, free and independent, are declared closed to future European colonization.read · scan
p. 277The United States sympathizes with liberty abroad and resists European oppression of independent New World governments.read · scan
p. 277–279The new governments' independence should be left alone, and Spain can never subdue them.read · scan

Declaration of RightsVol. 43

p. 147–148Colonists claim the inherent rights and liberties of Englishmen, including trial by jury and freedom from taxation without consent.read · scan
p. 148Stamp and admiralty acts are said to subvert colonists' rights, whose prosperity depends on free enjoyment of liberties.read · scan

The Mecklenburg Declaration of IndependenceVol. 43

p. 156Citizens dissolve ties with Britain and declare themselves a free, independent, self-governing people asserting inalienable rights.read · scan
p. 157Directs efforts to spread love of country and fire of freedom.read · scan

The Declaration of IndependenceVol. 43

p. 150–151All men have unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; the people may abolish destructive government.read · scan
p. 152–153Oppression is contrasted with the status of a free people; humble petitions for redress answered by injury.read · scan
p. 153–155The colonies declare themselves of right free and independent states, absolved from allegiance to the Crown.read · scan

Articles of ConfederationVol. 43

p. 158The league secures the states' liberties and independence.read · scan

Treaty with Great Britain (1783)Vol. 43

p. 175Independence and sovereignty of the American states are formally recognized by the crown.read · scan
p. 178–179Prisoners are set at liberty and Mississippi navigation remains forever free and open to both nations.read · scan

Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43

p. 180The preamble aims to secure the blessings of liberty to the people and their posterity.read · scan

Lord Byron, ManfredVol. 18

p. 429–430Nemesis notes mortals dared to speak of freedom, the forbidden fruit, and weigh kings.read · scan

William Cullen Bryant, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1217–1219They fight to drive the Briton forever from their shore.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5

p. 242A nation bent on freedom can confound calculation and achieve extravagant deeds, as Greeks, Swiss and Americans did.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1243–1246The farmers dared to die and leave their children free.read · scan

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1326In the new land no King George will drive settlers from their homesteads and burn their farms.read · scan

Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Gettysburg AddressVol. 43

p. 415The nation was conceived in liberty and must have a new birth of freedom.read · scan

Henry David Thoreau, WalkingVol. 28

p. 414Predicts American liberty may become a fiction, to be inspiration for future poets of American mythology.read · scan

Recognition of the Independence of CubaVol. 43

p. 440–441Resolution declares the Cuban people of right ought to be free and independent and demands Spain relinquish authority.read · scan

9d.Poets of liberty and the love of country

Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33

p. 354The old man sighs at the loss of his country and liberty to conquerors.read · scan

Francis Pretty, Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the WorldVol. 33

p. 208Islanders fled the Spaniards' cruel dealings to preserve their safety and liberty, and treat all strangers as Spaniards.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4

p. 84–85Milton consoled in his blindness by the conscience of having lost his sight in defending liberty.read · scan

James Thomson, Rule, Britannia; To FortuneVol. 40

p. 442–443Britain, blest and free, shall never be slaves, while nations less blessed fall to tyrants.read · scan

Sir William Jones, PoemsVol. 41

p. 579Men who dare maintain their rights, crush tyrants and break chains; Britons must not cease to be free.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19

p. 360Better resist on the border than await disaster and bondage under foreign rule.read · scan
p. 382–383Her lover, kindled by lofty resolve to fight for glorious freedom, went to Paris and met a terrible death.read · scan
p. 408His passion for freedom drew him to Paris, and he hoped to be transformed and free, no longer dependent on fortune.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 160–162Scotland's freeborn martial boys contrasted with slaves in warmer climes.read · scan
p. 162–164Freedom and whisky go together for Scotland.read · scan
p. 208–209Prays that freedom flourish under royal protection and corruption be dissectedread · scan
p. 260–262Prays that Scotland disdain the chain of tyranny and pleasure and stay self-dependent, unlike riot that usurps freedom's name.read · scan
p. 274–276Freedom's blossoms bloomed under the patriot, now laid low by fate.read · scan
p. 329–331Caledonia remains bold, independent, unconquered and free.read · scan
p. 374–375Bruce wrenched his country from ruin, drawing the sword against England.read · scan
p. 449–451Toast to liberty's success, freedom to read and write, and the fall of tyrants.read · scan
p. 459–461Prayers and toasts for freedom, cursing tyranny and anarchy, and the hope that slave and despot pass away.read · scan
p. 461–463Fight on till Freedom's spark is out, a satirical refrain.read · scan
p. 472–474Scots urged to fight so their sons are not in chains; liberty is in every blow.read · scan
p. 480–482The minstrel ghost's bonnet bears the word 'Liberty'.read · scan
p. 511–514Covenanters' sacred Freedom praised; sneer only if you're a slave.read · scan
p. 534–536The free Caledonian disdains the tyrant's and slave's spicy forests, wandering free save for love's chains.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 674–676Sonnets urge British freedom must not perish; Liberty driven from the Alps and Venice, first child of liberty.read · scan

James Hogg, PoemsVol. 41

p. 760–761She sees brows bearing the badge of freedom in the earthly land she loves.read · scan

Thomas Moore, PoemsVol. 41

p. 818–820Freedom in Ireland wakes seldom, only when an indignant heart breaks.read · scan

Allan Cunningham, PoemsVol. 41

p. 782–783Sea-faring song celebrates freedom: the ship flies free like the eagle, the sea a heritage.read · scan

George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41

p. 812–814The poet laments Greece enslaved and calls on her dead to rise again, asking whether the letters of Cadmus were meant for a slave.read · scan
p. 814–816Greece must trust native swords, not Franks, for freedom; the poet refuses to live in a land of slaves.read · scan

John Keats, PoemsVol. 41

p. 897–898Praise of poets with the chain for Freedom's sake.read · scan

John Greenleaf Whittier, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1344–1346Massachusetts recalls 'Liberty or Death' and refuses to bow as a slave and tool.read · scan
p. 1363–1364The flag is hailed as flag of Freedom, Union, light and law.read · scan

Giuseppe Mazzini, Byron and GoetheVol. 32

p. 378–379Byron is said to have died for new-born liberty in Greece, contrasted with idle critics.read · scan
p. 382–383Byron's heroes are free but only free; liberty alone leaves them wretched, isolated and tormented by nameless anguish.read · scan
p. 393Byron opposed the Holy Alliance and proclaimed faith in the rights of peoples and the triumph of liberty.read · scan
p. 393–395Byron's journal and verse: the spirit of liberty must be spread; like the ocean, it conquers though each wave breaks.read · scan
p. 395–396Byron gave fortune and life to Greece's rising for nationality and liberty, the rights ordained by God for all peoples.read · scan

Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29

p. 490–491The people are blessed with freedom, a right Darwin believes they fully value.read · scan

Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. BixbyVol. 43

p. 420Their sacrifice is laid on the altar of freedom.read · scan

Robert Browning, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1067–1069He breaks from the van of freemen and sinks to the slaves.read · scan

Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39

p. 390Free commerce, defiance of '76 and free workmen as themes.read · scan
p. 399Liberty is indispensable to great masters; poets are its voice, and it relies on itself and is the last to go despite repression.read · scan
p. 399The instinct of liberty departs only when martyrs are forgotten, servility goes unpunished and men accept masters.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1372–1374We betray our sires by smothering freedom's new fires.read · scan
p. 1384–1385Freedom is the promised land won by soldiers sword in hand, named among ideals worth serving.read · scan
p. 1388The nation lifts up the manhood of the poor and opens her door to all mankind.read · scan

9e.Machiavelli on free cities and their destruction

Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20

p. 391He is barred from Florence by its cruelty, an exile hoping for return.read · scan

Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36

p. 18A city used to freedom never forgets its liberty and ancient laws, so conquerors must destroy it or be destroyed by it.read · scan
p. 18Republics have fiercer vitality; memory of former freedom means they must be destroyed or lived in.read · scan
p. 33The clash of factions results in princedom, liberty or licence.read · scan
p. 36German towns enjoy great freedom, obeying the Emperor only when they choose, because their fortifications make attack difficult.read · scan
p. 41–42Rome, Sparta and the Swiss remained armed and free, while Philip of Macedon deprived Thebes of liberty.read · scan

Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31

p. 86Florentine nobility and youth unanimously desire to fight for the defence of their liberties.read · scan

Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27

p. 364Machiavelli, a zealous republican, was imprisoned and tortured for public liberty, making his supposed apostleship of tyranny puzzling.read · scan
p. 367Free municipal institutions gave Italian towns republican independence and fostered free opinions, defeating imperial power.read · scan
p. 369Liberty's return brought commerce, empire, science and taste.read · scan
p. 394Despairing of Florentine liberty, Machiavelli supported any government that preserved independence, as democracy and despotism seemed alike compared with foreign rule.read · scan
p. 397He grieves that liberty is extinguished in Italy and pines for Roman strength.read · scan
p. 400–401Machiavelli saw the last struggle for Florentine liberty; his wisdom offered an oppressed people their last chance of emancipation.read · scan

9f.Liberty in Milton's heaven and hell

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 90In Hell they will be free, not driven out by God's envy.read · scan
p. 108Mammon prefers hard liberty to the easy yoke of servile pomp in Heaven.read · scan
p. 170Gabriel calls Satan a hypocrite posing as patron of liberty who once servilely adored Heaven's monarch.read · scan
p. 180Satan argues angels are free and equal and owe no monarch; Abdiel replies liberty is disputed with the Creatorread · scan
p. 204Satan claims liberty and Heaven were one and calls the loyal angels slothful servantsread · scan
p. 204Satan contrasts servility with freedom; Abdiel says to serve God is not servituderead · scan

10.Slavery, captivity and emancipation

10a.The natural right of all men against slavery

Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9

p. 392–393Freeborn foundlings are allowed their freedom without purchasing it.read · scan
p. 395–396Claims of freedom by birthright raise the question of who may hear them.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 176Quixote is moved by people going perforce and not willingly.read · scan
p. 182Quixote holds it rigorous to enslave those God and nature created free, and demands the convicts' release.read · scan

John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1

p. 203Asserts liberty is the natural right of all men equally.read · scan
p. 204–205Believes liberty is the slaves' right and God will plead the cause of the oppressed.read · scan
p. 206–207Slaves made no agreement and have not forfeited liberty.read · scan
p. 225Many Friends declare liberty to be the negro's right, and no public opposition is made.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 204–205Satirizes landlords' claim that emigrating Highlanders are property with no right to freedomread · scan

Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29

p. 502–503Englishmen and Americans with their boastful cry of liberty are guilty of upholding slavery.read · scan

Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43

p. 314–315Asks for safeguards of liberty in jurisprudence so a free man is not surrendered as slave.read · scan

Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39

p. 408Tests all institutions by whether they acknowledge liberty absolutely and set slavery at nought.read · scan

10b.Emancipation and abolition

Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33

p. 64Mykerinos frees the people ground down by evil to return to their business and sacrifices.read · scan

Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35

p. 71–72Rebels seek freedom for themselves, heirs and lands; the king promises charters sealed with his seal.read · scan
p. 72The king pardons the rebels and issues letters patent granting their demands, appeasing the simple commons.read · scan
p. 75Leaders dismiss the liberties granted by the king as of small profit.read · scan

Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33

p. 134Drake releases the Negroes that they may join the Cimaroons and gain their liberty if they will.read · scan

John Milton, Poems Written at School and at College, 1624-1632Vol. 4

p. 13–16Israel wins liberty after long toil and passes to Canaan led by the Almighty's hand.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 492–494Ode hails America's freed people and their broken chain, and laments the lost soul of freedom in Caledonia.read · scan

Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1261–1264God commands emancipation of the slave, names Freedom his angel and king, and demands freedom of heart and handread · scan
p. 1264The long-oppressed dusky race is summoned up from darkness to strengthread · scan

John Greenleaf Whittier, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1342–1344Freedom's duty in his dying thought; Massachusetts asserts freedom against slavery.read · scan
p. 1346–1347The Bay State's free voice rises against tyranny in answer to fugitive hunts.read · scan
p. 1347–1349Vow for freedom and humanity registered in heaven: no slave-hunt in the Bay State.read · scan

Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation ProclamationVol. 43

p. 323Freedom of persons held as slaves is proclaimed and to be recognized and maintained.read · scan
p. 324–325The executive will recognize and maintain freedom of the liberated persons.read · scan

Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of AmnestyVol. 43

p. 418State provisions must recognize the permanent freedom of freed people.read · scan

James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1370–1371A deed done for freedom thrills all the earth; the slave feels his manhood rise.read · scan
p. 1390Emancipation brings release: even the poorest may lift an enfranchised brow to juster skies.read · scan

10c.Imprisonment and escape

Buddhist WritingsVol. 45

p. 608All those in bonds are freed from their chains.read · scan

Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44

p. 433The apostles are imprisoned and forbidden to teach, yet freed and continue preaching.read · scan

Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16

p. 275–277Sindbad's cunning with wine frees him from the old man's grip; he scarcely believes he has escaped.read · scan

Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36

p. 142Hope of restored freedom motivates convicts' good conduct.read · scan

William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36

p. 125Wife pleads that he might be at liberty instead of imprisoned; he values conscience more.read · scan

Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31

p. 214–215Cellini pleads to be set at liberty; the castellan instead has him locked up with a hundred keys.read · scan
p. 215The whole scheme aims at escaping imprisonment.read · scan
p. 216Cellini openly declares his resolve to escape while jailers inspect him nightly.read · scan
p. 218He thinks himself free upon reaching the ground, only to find further walls.read · scan
p. 224–225Cellini is told by the Governor that he is free.read · scan
p. 238–240The castellan resolves to give Cellini life and liberty and to cancel his prison debts.read · scan
p. 244–245The castellan requests his deliverance but Pier Luigi keeps him confined by force.read · scan
p. 245He is moved from the dungeon to his earlier spacious rooms.read · scan
p. 267–268Cellini stays out of gratitude to the Cardinal, who had procured his release from the Pope.read · scan
p. 273–274Cellini thanks the King for freeing him from prison, saying princes are obliged to free innocent men of talent.read · scan

Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38

p. 39–40As prisoner, Paré refuses to serve a foreign master even to gain freedom, though threatened with the galleys.read · scan
p. 41Paré bargains to shorten the wait for his freedom, promised release without ransom once the cure is done.read · scan
p. 43Paré is released and thankful to be free of captivity.read · scan

Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33

p. 163Drake frees the captured Spaniards as promised, and they acknowledge the liberty outweighs the loss of their ship.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 180–181Quixote defends a bound man's free tongue against the commissary.read · scan
p. 183Don Quixote attacks the guard and the galley slaves seize the chance to break their chain and recover liberty.read · scan
p. 277The curate recounts that the knight freed the galley-slaves, who then robbed the travellers.read · scan
p. 384–385Thousands of Christian galley slaves recover their desired liberty.read · scan
p. 389–390The Captive holds no earthly contentment comparable to recovering lost liberty.read · scan
p. 392–393Hope of liberty never leaves him; each failed escape scheme breeds a new hope to sustain him.read · scan
p. 397She seeks to depart to the Christian country with her riches.read · scan
p. 398He offers to risk his life to win the captives' freedom.read · scan
p. 399The gold redoubles their hope of attaining liberty; they plan escape to Christian lands.read · scan
p. 401The recovered liberty and fear of losing it cause ransomed men to forget their obligations.read · scan
p. 411The Christians give thanks to Zoraida as author of all their liberties.read · scan
p. 414Zoraida described as the file that cut the captives' chains, the liberty of their captivity.read · scan
p. 417–418Sight of Spain makes past griefs forgotten; great is the delight of recovering liberty.read · scan
p. 468He prays to be delivered from his prison.read · scan
p. 485–486Don Quixote is released from his cage on his knightly word; he argues enchanted bodies lack free will to dispose of themselves.read · scan
p. 505–506Don Quixote imagines Leandra restrained against her will in the monastery and would free her.read · scan
p. 507He demands liberty for the lady he believes carried away against her will.read · scan

Francis Bacon, The New AtlantisVol. 3

p. 162–163The strangers feel themselves free men once they are out of danger, and enjoy the city's humanity.read · scan

William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46

p. 413Ferdinand says he'd count prison space enough if he might see Miranda daily.read · scan

Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47

p. 744Philaster asks that the malicious woman be set free, and the king orders her liberty.read · scan

Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26

p. 23A brief flash of liberty followed by return to chains would redouble Segismund's anguish.read · scan

John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4

p. 297Sin says Satan has achieved their liberty from confinement in Hell.read · scan

John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4

p. 414Manoa plans to procure Samson's liberty by ransom.read · scan
p. 415Dalila wished to keep him from liberty's perilous enterprises.read · scan
p. 415Samson counts his gaol the house of liberty compared to Dalila's home and thraldom.read · scan
p. 415Samson's deed leaves freedom to Israel if they seize it.read · scan

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15

p. 120–121Christian realizes he may walk at liberty with the key of Promise.read · scan
p. 121–122The key of Promise opens dungeon, door and gate, freeing the pilgrims from Despair's castle.read · scan

Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1

p. 20–21Press censored by the Assembly; Franklin asserts his freedom from apprenticeship using the discharge.read · scan
p. 21–22He flees Boston secretly to escape his brother's control and the Assembly's arbitrary proceedings.read · scan

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19

p. 319He longs for the open field, man's natural element, where the warrior sweeps free of boundaries set by human hands; the dungeon stifles.read · scan
p. 320Egmont imagines the people freeing him; Clara laments that in her own freedom lies the anguish of impotence while he is captive.read · scan
p. 328–329Egmont pleads that Ferdinand free him from fetters and 'contrive the way to freedom'.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 396–398Queen imprisoned envies free birds and the meanest hind who may roam, while she lies in prison.read · scan

William Wordsworth, Preface to Poems (1815)Vol. 39

p. 309–310Toast to those restrained, who shall taste the air of liberty; the oppressed find security.read · scan

William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41

p. 655–656Toussaint, imprisoned, is urged to take comfort in nature and man's unconquerable mind.read · scan

Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21

p. 257Freed, Renzo resolves to flee the duchy and avoid even a sanctuary: 'if I can be a bird of the woods, I won't be a bird of the cage.'read · scan
p. 462–463Beggars are seized and bound, and some flee to live or die elsewhere in freedom, resenting confinement.read · scan

George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41

p. 801–802Imprisonment in chains in Chillon dungeon, barred from earth and air, for religious faith.read · scan
p. 803–804The hunter brother's free spirit withers in chains; the dungeon is a living grave for men made for the hills.read · scan
p. 804The freeborn brother pines and dies in the dungeon; his empty chain is a monument to murder.read · scan
p. 808–809He would not wish captivity on the bird; his chain is loosed and he gains a little freedom to pace his cell.read · scan
p. 809The sight of free nature makes him wish he had not left his chain; the earth would be a wider prison.read · scan
p. 810–812The sonnet hails Liberty as the eternal spirit of the chainless mind, brightest in dungeons; prisoners appeal from tyranny to God.read · scan

Robert Stephen Hawker, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1111–1112Rescue of the imprisoned Trelawny from the Tower.read · scan

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42

p. 1311The villagers are made prisoners and Basil cries they never swore allegiance.read · scan

Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29

p. 28The woman's suicide is compared to love of freedom in a Roman matron.read · scan

Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23

p. 86Sailors seek liberty ashore on Sunday but are denied it by the captain.read · scan
p. 112Sailors kept at work all week are granted shore liberty on Sunday; liberty is likened to escaping from prison.read · scan
p. 112Dana feels the 'sweets of liberty' on shore, escaping confinement and strict rule to be his own master, even for a day.read · scan
p. 119The first liberty-day ends; tired but content, they return more willing to do their duties.read · scan
p. 121–122The half crew left aboard enjoy a quiet Sunday reading and writing home while the others go ashore on liberty.read · scan
p. 124A sailor escapes the ship and is hidden by shipmates in a cave to evade the captain's pursuit and reward.read · scan
p. 124The crew rejoice that the runaway escaped a miserable, cowed life aboard and got home on regular wages.read · scan
p. 269The boy is tricked into shipping, seized and forced aboard against his will, with his protests unheeded.read · scan
p. 269–271Deception and compulsion made the boy's situation intolerable; he could have borne it had it been of his own free will.read · scan

Treaty with MexicoVol. 43

p. 304Officers enjoy liberty on parole and prisoners are not restrained in use of their limbs.read · scan

10d.Caged creatures and lost freedom

Aesop, FablesVol. 17

p. 22–23The wolf refuses comfort and food when he sees the dog's chain; freedom over security.read · scan
p. 27–28Those in a man's power must do as he bids; captivity removes freedom of action.read · scan
p. 33–34A nightingale will not sing in a cage; captive song cannot be compelled.read · scan

Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14

p. 215–216Quixote gives Rozinante liberty, which he himself lacks.read · scan

John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47

p. 809Birds choosing mates freely are called happier than the duchess, who cannot.read · scan
p. 819Caged birds do not live long.read · scan

Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26

p. 7Chained since infancy, he laments exclusion from the freedom all creatures, even birds and fish, inherit.read · scan
p. 7Beasts and birds of prey roam free while man, with higher aspiration, is caged and beats himself mad with rage.read · scan

Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24

p. 56Job's wild ass is sublime through its freedom and defiance of mankind.read · scan

Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6

p. 407–408Fox breaking its chain; Liberty as the theme; free-born creature enslaved; rights of men and freemenread · scan
p. 409–411Fox learned Britain's rights and constitution and owes freedom to scoundrelsread · scan

J. Campbell, PoemsVol. 41

p. 782Love soars only when free; caged and captured its wing moults.read · scan

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17

p. 131–132He escapes the sausage and the fox but liberty is short-lived; he begs the fox to set him at liberty.read · scan

Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17

p. 298–299The Lark, caught and caged, sings mournfully of free roaming and flight.read · scan
p. 299–300The captive Lark laments his lost liberty and the whole world that was his, beating against the wires.read · scan
p. 300–301The bird's heart breaks from want and yearning in captivity.read · scan
p. 304–305At court the Nightingale has liberty only nominally, tethered by silk strings so its outings give no pleasure.read · scan

10e.Service, promised freedom and voluntary bondage

Aesop, FablesVol. 17

p. 24The horse loses freedom by seeking the hunter's help against his enemy.read · scan

William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46

p. 399Ariel serves in hope of freedom, a promise not yet fulfilled.read · scan
p. 399Ariel demands the freedom Prospero promised, citing faithful service without lies or grumbling.read · scan
p. 399Freedom is promised as reward for service and withheld; Ariel has been freed from torment but not yet from bondage.read · scan
p. 430–431Caliban sings 'Freedom, hey-day!' as he leaves Prospero's service, though only exchanging masters.read · scan
p. 450–452Ariel is promised the air of freedom once service ends.read · scan
p. 455Prospero promises Ariel his freedom after this last service; Ariel sings of the free life he will live.read · scan
p. 459–461Prospero promises Ariel he will be free; the spell on Caliban's party is undone.read · scan
p. 461–463Ariel is set free to the elements; Prospero asks release from his bands and the island.read · scan

Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15

p. 335Donne feels he has sold his liberty by accepting Sir Robert's kindnesses.read · scan

John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4

p. 415Corrupt nations love bondage with ease more than strenuous liberty and scorn their deliverers.read · scan

Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23

p. 132Sailors on liberty must return by sundown, being but foremast hands.read · scan

Other references

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10

p. 442Praises the doctrine that perfect liberty best maximizes annual reproduction; French corn export liberty established.read · scan