Timeless Whiggish Principles of Liberty (Mark Tooley, July 11, 2025, Providence)
These days between America’s Independence Day of July 4 and France’s Bastille Day on July 14 should provoke reflection about liberty. Whiggery is the label I prefer for the Anglo-American tradition of ordered liberty. It originates in the Anglo Protestant political ferment of the 1600s but offers universal principles to all. These principles are especially important to remember now.
In 1705 the Anglo-Irish statesman Robert Molesworth, who had lived through much of this ferment, penned “Principles of a Real Whig.” These principles helped define America. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison had copies of his works.
Molesworth’s Whiggery calls for three balanced branches of government, legal equality for all, economic liberty, policies for social harmony, freedom of religion and conscience, legislatures controlling government expenses, naturalization of immigrants into productive citizens, liberty of the press, and legitimate public works such as highways and public buildings, plus controls against monopolies, and a strong national defense.
Whiggery is chiefly about liberty and guarding against arbitrary power. It assumes a Christian anthropology about humanity’s fallen nature and also optimistically assumes humanity’s capacity for providential improvement. It is realistic and hopeful. It assumes that society will prosper most when free people, amid their differences, can exercise their creativity and pursue virtue.