The Government of the Tongue

As the Preacher saith, “There is no new thing under the sun” (Eccles. 1:9). It seems that one of these things that is not new is episodes of contention and unbrotherly relations between preachers and congregants. In Spectator No. 468 (16 July 1714), Joseph Addison related the following amusing anecdote:

“I remember an empty pragmatical Fellow in the Country, who upon reading over the whole Duty of Man, had written the Names of several Persons in the Village at the Side of every Sin which is mentioned by that excellent Author; so that he had converted one of the best Books in the World into a Libel against the ‘Squire, Church-wardens, Overseers of the Poor, and all other the most considerable Persons in the Parish. This Book with these extraordinary marginal Notes fell accidentally into the Hands of one who had never seen it before; upon which there arose a current Report that Some body had written a book against the ‘Squire and the whole Parish. The Minister of the Place having at that Time a Controversy with some of his Congregation upon the Account of his Tythes, was under the Suspicion of being the Author…”

It is generally accepted that the “excellent Author” of the anonymously published work that Addison refers to, The Whole Duty of Man (1658), was Richard Allestree (1621/22-1681), a 17^th-century Anglican clergyman. Though it may come as a surprise now, The Whole Duty of Man vied with The Pilgrim’s Progress as the most popular English devotional work of the 17^th and 18^th centuries. It went through countless editions. In my opinion, Whole Duty is much more deserving of that popularity than Bunyan’s tedious work. But it now goes largely unread.

I happen to have in my possession a 1675 edition of another work of Allestree’s entitled The Government of the Tongue. Curiously, the inscription of a former owner on the flyleaf reads as follows: 

Presented to the Pastor

of Zion Tabernacle

Hamilton Ontario, with

a request that he will

read, mark, learn, and

inwardly digest the

contents

                  March 1879

 

Ouch. Indeed, there is no new thing under the sun. Parish politics "hath been already of old time."

 

The Spectacled Avenger's Reading List, 2022

 

Well, here we are, almost a year since I have posted on this blog. As usual, I will apologize. But I will also explain myself. For several years, one things that has been a serious obstacle to keeping up with this blog has been work: the demands of my professional life have made it difficult to find the time or maintain the energy to contribute to this blog up to a standard I like to hold for myself.

But over the past few years another – equally serious – obstacle has emerged: I work in a university. Moreover, I work in what is the most left-wing university in my country. Universities today have become the most intolerant environments one can find in what used to be called the free world. And for me, someone of a conservative disposition, this means that it has become a dangerous place. I am in the ideological closet, by necessity. There is a very real fear that something appearing on this blog, however anodyne by current standards of online political discourse, could make my career untenable.

This has had an effect on the content of the blog. In the old days I explored political ideas and put forth opinions here that I dare not do now. Instead, I find myself to have mainly adopted the persona of the harmless antiquarian. This keeps me out of trouble. But I must admit, blogging is simply not as much fun anymore. It does not give me the kind of release I used to appreciate from blogging.

So I will be re-thinking whether The Spectacled Avenger is still a viable project. I have this post, and about three more lined up, so we’ll see how it goes after that. Now, to the post…

As is the custom, I give below the list of books I read during the previous year, with ones I particularly enjoyed in bold. In terms of patterns, it looks like I read a fair amount of 17^th-century English prose (Bacon, Browne, Cudworth, Donne, Felltham, John Smith). The Scottish Enlightenment was also well-represented (Hutcheson, Kames, Robertson, Adam Smith).

 

*          *          *          *          *

 

ANONYMOUS. The Parliamentary Register; or History of the Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons (Vol. XVII). London: J. Debrett, 1785. 

ANONYMOUS. Quoniam Attachiamenta. T. D. Fergus (ed. and trans.). Edinburgh: Stair Society, 1996. 

BACON, Sir Francis. The Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. London: John Haviland, 1625 (facsimile, Menston, UK: Scolar Press, 1971). 

BENTHAM, Jeremy. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. J. H. Burns and H. L. A. Hart (eds.). London: Athlone Press, 1970. 

BOLINGBROKE, Henry St. John, Viscount. Letters and Correspondence, Public and Private (Vol. IV). Gilbert Parke (ed.). London: G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798. 

BOURINOT, Sir John George. Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in the Dominion of Canada (3^rd edition). Toronto: Canada Law Book Company, 1903. 

BROWNE, Sir Thomas. The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (Vol. II: Pseudodoxia Epidemica). Geoffrey Keynes (ed.). London: Faber and Faber, 1964. 

BUCHANAN, James M. and Gordon TULLOCK. The Calculus of Consent (Selected Works of Gordon Tullock, Vol. 2). Charles K. Rowley (ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2004. 

BUCHANAN, James M. and Richard E. WAGNER. Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes (Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Vol. 8). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2000. 

BURKE, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: J. Dodsley, 1790. 

COUPLAND, Douglas. Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures). Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2010. 

COUPLAND, Douglas. Life after God. New York: Washington Square Press, 1994. 

CUDWORTH, Ralph. A Treatise of Freewill. John Allen (ed.). London: John W. Parker, 1848. 

DAVIES, Robertson. The Rebel Angels. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1983. 

DONNE, John. Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions. Anthony Raspa (ed.). Montreal and London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1975. 

DRURY, John (ed.). The New Testament: The Authorized or King James Version of 1611. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1998. 

DRYDEN, John. The Works of John Dryden (Vol. V: The Works of Virgil in English, 1697). William Frost and Vinton A. Dearing (eds.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1987. 

DRYDEN, John. The Works of John Dryden (Vol. VI: The Works of Virgil in English, 1697). William Frost and Vinton A. Dearing (eds.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1987. 

ERSKINE MAY, Thomas. A Treatise upon the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament. London: Charles Knight & Co., 1844. 

FELLTHAM, Owen. Resolves: Divine, Morall, Politicall (3^rd edition). London: Henry Seile, 1628 (facsimile, Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1975). 

FIELDING, Henry. A Journey from This World to the Next. London: Everyman’s Library, 1973. 

FRANCIS, Philip. The Letters of Junius. John Cannon (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978. 

FRONTO, Marcus Cornelius. Correspondence (Vol. II). C. R. Haines (trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929. 

GALBRAITH, John Kenneth. The Great Crash, 1929. Boston: Mariner Books, 1997. 

GASKELL, Philip. A New Introduction to Bibliography. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972. 

GELLIUS, Aulus. Attic Nights (Vol. III). John C. Rolfe (trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993. 

GROSSMAN, Dave. On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1996. 

HAYEK, Friedrich A. The Road to Serfdom (Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Vol. 2). Bruce Caldwell (ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. 

HAYEK. Friedrich A. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960. 

 HAYEK, Friedrich A. The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism (Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, Vol. 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. 

HODDER, Edwin. The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G. (Vol. I). London: Cassell and Company, 1886. 

HODDER, Edwin. The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G. (Vol. II). London: Cassell and Company, 1886. 

HODDER, Edwin. The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G. (Vol. III). London: Cassell and Company, 1886. 

HUTCHESON, Francis. A System of Moral Philosophy (Vol. I). Glasgow: R. and A. Foulis, 1755 (facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1969). 

JUSTINIAN. The Digest of Justinian (Vol. 1). Alan Watson (ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. 

KAMES, Henry Home, Lord. Sketches of the History of Man (Vol. II). James A. Harris (ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2007. 

KATZ, Arthur M. Life after Nuclear War: The Economic and Social Impacts of Nuclear Attacks on the United States. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1982. 

LOYSEAU, Charles. A Treatise of Orders and Plain Dignities. Howell A. Lloyd (trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 

LUCIAN. Works (Vol. VII: Dialogues of the Dead, etc.). M. D. Macleod (trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961. 

MANDEVILLE, Barnard. The Fable of the Bees: Or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits (Vol. I). F. B. Kaye (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. 

MENCKEN, H. L. Prejudices: First, Second, and Third Series. New York: Library of America, 2010. 

MENCKEN, H. L. Prejudices: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Series. New York: Library of America, 2010. 

MILEVSKY, Moshe Arye. The Day the King Defaulted: Financial Lessons from the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 

MISES, Richard von. Probability, Statistics and Truth. New York: Dover Publications, 1981. 

MUSONIUS RUFUS. That One Should Disdain Hardships: The Teachings of a Roman Stoic. Cora E. Lutz (trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2020. 

NARVESON, Jan. The Libertarian Idea. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1988. 

PINCOURT, Charles and James LINDSAY. Counter Wokecraft: A Field Manual for Combatting the Woke in the University and Beyond. Orlando, FL: New Discourses, 2021. 

POPE, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems (Poems of Alexander Pope, Vol. II). Geoffrey Tillotson (ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1962. 

POPE, Alexander. An Essay on Man (Poems of Alexander Pope, Vol. III-i). Maynard Mack (ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1964. 

RAND, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. New York: Plume, 2005. 

RICARDO, David. On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. Piero Sraffa (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951. 

ROBERTSON, William. The Works of William Robertson, D. D. (Vol. I: History of Scotland). London: Cadell and Davies et al., 1817. 

ROBERTSON, William. The Works of William Robertson, D. D. (Vol. II: History of Scotland). London: Cadell and Davies et al., 1817. 

ROBERTSON, William. The Works of William Robertson, D. D. (Vol. III: History of Scotland). London: Cadell and Davies et al., 1817. 

ROBERTSON, William. The Works of William Robertson, D. D. (Vol. IV: History of the Reign of Charles V). London: Cadell and Davies et al., 1817. 

RUSKIN, John. Præterita and Dilecta. New York: Everyman’s Library, 2005. 

SCHELLING, Thomas C. The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. 

SCHOPENHAUER, Arthur. Essays and Aphorisms. R. J. Hollingdale (trans.). Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 2004. 

SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3^rd Earl of. Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (Vol. III). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2000. 

SHAKESPEARE, William. The Tempest. John Munro (ed.). London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1958. 

SHAKESPEARE, William. Richard the Second. John Munro (ed.). London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1958. 

SHAKESPEARE, William. Titus Andronicus. John Munro (ed.). London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1958. 

SHELLENBERGER, Michael. San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. New York: Harper, 2021. 

SMITH, Adam. Essays on Philosophical Subjects. London: T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1795 (facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1982). 

SMITH, John. Select Discourses. London: W. Morden, 1660. 

SPARTIANUS, Aelius et al. Scriptores Historiae Augustae (Vol. I). David Magie (trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991. 

THOMPSON, Sir D’Arcy Wentworth. On Growth and Form (abridged edition). J. T. Bonner (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961. 

THORSRUD, Harald. Ancient Scepticism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. 

TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis de. Democracy in America (Vol. I). Phillips Bradley (ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. 

TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis de. Democracy in America (Vol. II). Phillips Bradley (ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. 

WILLIAMS, Bernard. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University press, 1985. 

WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Private Notebooks, 1914-1916. Marjorie Perloff (ed.). New York: Liveright Publishing, 2022. 

WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig. Zettel. G. E. M. Anscombe and G. H. von Wright (eds.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1967. 

WORTLEY MONTAGU, Lady Mary. Letters. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1992.