Cato's Letters

by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon

Table of contents

• Preface to Cato's Letters
• Cato's Letter No. 1: Reasons to prove that we are in no Danger of losing Gibraltar
• Cato's Letter No. 2: The fatal Effects of the South-Sea Scheme, and the Necessity of punishing the Directors
• Cato's Letter No. 3: The pestilent Conduct of the South-Sea Directors, with the reasonable Prospect of publick Justice
• Cato's Letter No. 4: Against false Methods of restoring Publick Credit
• Cato's Letter No. 5: A further Call for Vengeance upon the South-Sea Plunderers; with a Caution against false Patriots
• Cato's Letter No. 6: How easily the People are bubbled by Deceivers. Further Caution against deceitful Remedies for the publick Sufferings from the wicked Execution of the South-Sea Scheme
• Cato's Letter No. 7: Further Cautions about new Schemes for publick Redress
• Cato's Letter No. 8: The Arts of able guilty Ministers to save themselves. The wise and popular Conduct of Queen Elizabeth towards publick Harpies; with the Application
• Cato's Letter No. 9: Against the projected Union of the Three Great Companies; and against remitting to the South-Sea Company any Part of their Debt to the Publick
• Cato's Letter No. 10: The Iniquity of late and new Projects about the South-Sea considered. How fatally they affect the Publick
• Cato's Letter No. 11: The Justice and Necessity of punishing great Crimes, though committed against no subsisting Law of the State
• Cato's Letter No. 12: Of Treason: All Treasons not to be found in Statutes. The Right of the Legislature to declare Treasons
• Cato's Letter No. 13: The Arts of misleading the People by Sounds
• Cato's Letter No. 14: The unhappy State of despotick Princes, compared with the happy Lot of such as rule by settled Laws. How the latter, by abusing their Trust, may forfeit their Crown
• Cato's Letter No. 15: Of Freedom of Speech: That the same is inseparable from publick Liberty
• Cato's Letter No. 16: The Leaders of Parties, their usual Views. Advice to all Parties to be no longer misled
• Cato's Letter No. 17: What Measures are actually taken by wicked and desperate Ministers to ruin and enslave their Country
• Cato's Letter No. 18: The terrible Tendency of publick Corruption to ruin a State, exemplified in that of Rome, and applied to our own
• Cato's Letter No. 19: The Force of popular Affection and Antipathy to particular Men. How powerfully it operates, and how far to be regarded
• Cato's Letter No. 20: Of publick Justice, how necessary to the Security and Well-being of a State, and how destructive the Neglect of it to the British Nation. Signal Instances of it
• Cato's Letter No. 21: A Letter from John Ketch, Esq. asserting his Right to the Necks of the overgrown Brokers.
• Cato's Letter No. 22: The Judgment of the People generally sound, where not misled. With the Importance and Probability of bringing over Mr. Knight.
• Cato's Letter No. 23: A memorable Letter from Brutus to Cicero, with an explanatory Introduction.
• Cato's Letter No. 24: Of the natural Honesty of the People, and their reasonable Demands. How important it is to every Government to consult their Affections and Interest.
• Cato's Letter No. 25: Considerations on the destructive Spirit of arbitrary Power. With the Blessings of Liberty, and our own Constitution.
• Cato's Letter No. 26: The sad Effects of general Corruption, quoted from Algernon Sidney, Esq.
• Cato's Letter No. 27: General Corruption, how ominous to the Publick, and how discouraging to every virtuous Man. With its fatal Progress whenever encouraged.
• Cato's Letter No. 28: A Defence of Cato against his Defamers.
• Cato's Letter No. 29: Reflections occasioned by an Order of Council for suppressing certain impious Clubs that were never discovered.
• Cato's Letter No. 30: An excellent Letter from Brutus to Atticus; with an explanatory Introduction.
• Cato's Letter No. 31: Considerations on the Weakness and Inconsistencies of human Nature.
• Cato's Letter No. 32: Reflections upon Libelling.
• Cato's Letter No. 33: Cautions against the Encroachments of Power.
• Cato's Letter No. 34: Of Flattery.
• Cato's Letter No. 35: Of publick Spirit.
• Cato's Letter No. 36: Of Loyalty.
• Cato's Letter No. 37: Character of a good and of an evil Magistrate, quoted from Algernon Sidney, Esq.
• Cato's Letter No. 38: The Right and Capacity of the People to judge of Government.
• Cato's Letter No. 39: Of the Passions; that they are all alike good or all alike evil, according as they are applied.
• Cato's Letter No. 40: Considerations on the restless and selfish Spirit of Man.
• Cato's Letter No. 41: The Emperor Galba's Speech to Piso, with an Introduction.
• Cato's Letter No. 42: Considerations on the Nature of Laws.
• Cato's Letter No. 43: The natural Passion of Men for Superiority.
• Cato's Letter No. 44: Men not ruled by Principle, but by Passion.
• Cato's Letter No. 45: Of the Equality and Inequality of Men.
• Cato's Letter No. 46: Of the false Guises which Men put on, and their ill Effect.
• Cato's Letter No. 47: Of the Frailty and Uncertainty of human Judgment.
• Cato's Letter No. 48: The general unhappy State of the World, from the Baseness and Iniquity of its Governors in most Countries.
• Cato's Letter No. 49: Of the Power of Prejudice.
• Cato's Letter No. 50: An Idea of the Turkish Government, taken from Sir Paul Ricaut.
• Cato's Letter No. 51: Popularity no Proof of Merit.
• Cato's Letter No. 52: Of Divine Judgments; the Wickedness and Absurdity of applying them to Men and Events.
• Cato's Letter No. 53: Dr. Prideaux's Reasoning about the Death of Cambyses, examined; whether the same was a Judgment for his killing the Egyptian God Apis.
• Cato's Letter No. 54: The Reasoning of Dr. Prideaux about the Fate of Brennus the Gaul, and of his Followers, examined; whether the same was a Judgment for an Intention to plunder the Temple of Delphos.
• Cato's Letter No. 55: The Lawfulness of killing Julius Caesar considered, and defended, against Dr. Prideaux.
• Cato's Letter No. 56: A Vindication of Brutus, for having killed Caesar.
• Cato's Letter No. 57: Of false Honour, publick and private.
• Cato's Letter No. 58: Letter from a Lady, with an Answer, about Love, Marriage, and Settlements.
• Cato's Letter No. 59: Liberty proved to be the unalienable Right of all Mankind.
• Cato's Letter No. 60: All Government proved to be instituted by Men, and only to intend the general Good of Men.
• Cato's Letter No. 61: How free Governments are to be framed so as to last, and how they differ from such as are arbitrary.
• Cato's Letter No. 62: An Enquiry into the Nature and Extent of Liberty; with its Loveliness and Advantages, and the vile Effects of Slavery.
• Cato's Letter No. 63: Civil Liberty produces all Civil Blessings, and how; with the baneful Nature of Tyranny.
• Cato's Letter No. 64: Trade and Naval Power the Offspring of Civil Liberty, and cannot subsist without it.
• Cato's Letter No. 65: Military Virtue produced and supported by Civil Liberty only.
• Cato's Letter No. 66: Arbitrary Government proved incompatible with true Religion, whether Natural or Revealed..
• Cato's Letter No. 67: Arts and Sciences the Effects of Civil Liberty only, and ever destroyed or oppressed by Tyranny.
• Cato's Letter No. 68: Property and Commerce secure in a free Government only; with the consuming Miseries under simple Monarchies.
• Cato's Letter No. 69: Address to the Freeholders, &c. about the Choice of their Representatives.
• Cato's Letter No. 70: Second Address to the Freeholders, &c. upon the same Subject.
• Cato's Letter No. 71: Polite Arts and Learning naturally produced in free States, and marred by such as are not free.
• Cato's Letter No. 72: In absolute Monarchies the Monarch seldom rules, but his Creatures instead of him. That Sort of Government a Gradation of Tyrants.
• Cato's Letter No. 73: A Display of Tyranny, its destructive Nature, and Tendency to dispeople the Earth.
• Cato's Letter No. 74: The Vanity of Conquerors, and the Calamities attending Conquests.
• Cato's Letter No. 75: Of the Restraints which ought to be laid upon publick Rulers.
• Cato's Letter No. 76: The same Subject continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 77: Of superstitious Fears, and their Causes natural and accidental.
• Cato's Letter No. 78: The common Notion of Spirits, their Power and Feats, exposed.
• Cato's Letter No. 79: A further Detection of the vulgar Absurdities about Ghosts and Witches.
• Cato's Letter No. 80: That the two great Parties in England do not differ so much as they think in Principles of Politicks.
• Cato's Letter No. 81: The Established Church of England in no Danger from Dissenters.
• Cato's Letter No. 82: The Folly and Characters of such as would overthrow the present Establishment.
• Cato's Letter No. 83: The vain Hopes of the Pretender and his Party.
• Cato's Letter No. 84: Property the first Principle of Power. The Errors of our Princes who attended not to this.
• Cato's Letter No. 85: Britain incapable of any Government but a limited Monarchy; with the Defects of a neighbouring Republick.
• Cato's Letter No. 86: The terrible Consequences of a War to England, and Reasons against engaging in one.
• Cato's Letter No. 87: Gold and Silver in a Country to be considered only as Commodities.
• Cato's Letter No. 88: The Reasonableness and Advantage of allowing the Exportation of Silver and Gold, with the Impossibility of preventing the same.
• Cato's Letter No. 89: Every Man's true Interest found in the general Interest. How little this is considered.
• Cato's Letter No. 90: Monopolies and exclusive Companies, how pernicious to Trade.
• Cato's Letter No. 91: How exclusive Companies influence and hurt our Government.
• Cato's Letter No. 92: Against the Petition of the South-Sea Company, for a Remittance of Two Millions of their Debt to the Publick.
• Cato's Letter No. 93: An Essay upon Heroes.
• Cato's Letter No. 94: Against standing Armies.
• Cato's Letter No. 95: Further Reasonings against standing Armies.
• Cato's Letter No. 96: Of Parties in England; how they vary, and interchange Characters, just as they are in Power, or out of it, yet still keep their former Names.
• Cato's Letter No. 97: How much it is the Interest of Governors to use the Governed well; with an Enquiry into the Causes of Disaffection in England.
• Cato's Letter No. 98: Address to the Members of the House of Commons.
• Cato's Letter No. 99: The important Duty of Attendance in Parliament, recommended to the Members.
• Cato's Letter No. 100: Discourse upon Libels.
• Cato's Letter No. 101: Second Discourse upon Libels.
• Cato's Letter No. 102: The Contemptibleness of Grandeur without Virtue.
• Cato's Letter No. 103: Of Eloquence, considered politically.
• Cato's Letter No. 104: Of Eloquence, considered philosophically.
• Cato's Letter No. 105: Of the Weakness of the human Mind; how easily it is misled.
• Cato's Letter No. 106: Of Plantations and Colonies.
• Cato's Letter No. 107: Of publick Credit and Stocks.
• Cato's Letter No. 108: Inquiry into the Source of moral Virtues.
• Cato's Letter No. 109: Inquiry into the Origin of Good and Evil.
• Cato's Letter No. 110: Of Liberty and Necessity.
• Cato's Letter No. 111: The same Subject continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 112: Fondness for Posterity nothing else but Self-love. Such as are Friends to publick Liberty, are the only true Lovers of Posterity.
• Cato's Letter No. 113: Letter to Cato, concerning his many Adversaries and Answerers.
• Cato's Letter No. 114: The necessary Decay of Popish States strewn from the Nature of the Popish Religion.
• Cato's Letter No. 115: The encroaching Nature of Power, ever to be watched and checked.
• Cato's Letter No. 116: That whatever moves and acts, does so mechanically and necessarily.
• Cato's Letter No. 117: Of the Abuse of Words, applied more particularly to the covetous Man and the Bigot.
• Cato's Letter No. 118: Free States vindicated from the common Imputation of Ingratitude.
• Cato's Letter No. 119: The same Subject continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 120: Of the proper Use of Words.
• Cato's Letter No. 121: Of good Breeding.
• Cato's Letter No. 122: Inquiry concerning the Operations of the Mind of Man, and those of other Animals.
• Cato's Letter No. 123: Inquiry concerning Madness, especially religious Madness, called Enthusiasm.
• Cato's Letter No. 124: Further Reasonings upon Enthusiasm.
• Cato's Letter No. 125: The Spirit of the Conspirators, Accomplices with Dr. Atterbury, in 1723, considered and exposed.
• Cato's Letter No. 126: Address to those of the Clergy who are fond of the Pretender and his Cause.
• Cato's Letter No. 127: The same Address continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 128: Address to such of the Laity as are Followers of the disaffected Clergy, and of their Accomplices.
• Cato's Letter No. 129: The same Address continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 130: The same Address continued.
• Cato's Letter No. 131: Of Reverence true or false.
• Cato's Letter No. 132: Inquiry into the Doctrine of Hereditary Right.
• Cato's Letter No. 133: Of Charity and Charity-Schools.
• Cato's Letter No. 134: What small and foolish Causes often misguide and animate the Multitude.
• Cato's Letter No. 135: Inquiry into the indelible Character claimed by some of the Clergy.
• Cato's Letter No. 136: The Popish Hierarchy deduced in a great Measure from that of the Pagans.
• Cato's Letter No. 137: Of the different and absurd Notions which Men entertain of God.
• Cato's Letter No. 138: Cato's Farewell.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 1: That ambitious Princes rule and conquer only for their own Sakes; illustrated in a Dialogue between Alexander the Great and a Persian.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 2: Considerations upon the Conditions of an absolute Prince.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 3: The same Subject continued.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 4: The same Subject continued.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 5: Considerations upon the Conditions of Prime Ministers of State.
• Additional Letter of Cato No. 6: The same Subject continued.