Thomas Jefferson's Advice for Keeping Our Liberties

The 13 Star American Flag outside Betsy Ross' Home, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address was given on Wednesday, March 4, 1801. In this speech, Jefferson outlined the "essential" principles of our Government..." as the "bright constellation."

  "About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations.

• Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political;
• peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none;
• the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies;
• the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad;
• a jealous care of the right of election by the people—a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided;
• absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism;
• a well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them;
• the supremacy of the civil over the military authority;
• economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened;
• the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith;
• encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid;
• the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason;
• freedom of religion;
• freedom of the press, and
• freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and
• trial by juries impartially selected.

 These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

Benjamin Franklin's Warning of the Dangers of Joining Power and Money

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin gave this warning at the Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, 1787.
His speech is reproduced and titled "Dangers of a Salaried Bureaucracy" on bartleby.com, Franklin warned that paying a salary to the U.S. President would sow the seeds of tyranny.
If We the People want to avoid the terrible fate of tyranny and slavery, we must avoid the recipe for tyrants, and keep money and power separate.
Below is an excerpt from Franklin's speech.

Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence in the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice—the love of power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has great force in prompting men to action; but, when united in view of the same object, they have, in many minds, the most violent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor, that shall, at the same time, be a place of profit, and they will move heaven and earth to obtain it. The vast number of such places it is that renders the British government so tempestuous. The struggles for them are the true source of all those factions which are perpetually dividing the nation, distracting its councils, hurrying it sometimes into fruitless and mischievous wars, and often compelling a submission to dishonorable terms of peace.	2
And of what kind are the men that will strive for this profitable preeminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces the best of characters? It will not be the wise and moderate, the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust. It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will thrust themselves into your government and be your rulers. And these, too, will be mistaken in the expected happiness of their situation, for their vanquished competitors, of the same spirit, and from the same motives, will perpetually be endeavoring to distress their administration, thwart their measures, and render them odious to the people.	3
Besides these evils, sir, tho we may set out in the beginning with moderate salaries, we shall find that such will not be of long continuance. Reasons will never be wanting for proposed augmentations; and there will always be a party for giving more to the rulers, that the rulers may be able, in return, to give more to them. Hence, as all history informs us, there has been in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between the governing and the governed; the one striving to obtain more for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people.	4
Generally, indeed, the ruling power carries its point, and we see the revenues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the people are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater need the prince has of money to distribute among his partizans, and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and enable him to plunder at pleasure. There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh—get first all the people’s money, then all their lands, and then make them and their children servants for ever.

A Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence."

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By Lockerz

Near Dr. Martin Luther King's day, here is a link to a speech he gave that is applicable today.

"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." Speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Riverside Church in New York, on April 4, 1967. Via Information Clearinghouse.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2564.htm

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 North Pole Shifts to Siberia

Greetings.
On this day, Wednesday, January 11, 2012, there is news that the North Pole has shifted to Siberia.
Dutch Since [Sincedutch] presents graphics documenting a pole shift, leading to warmer temperatures in the area of the United States, and apparently changing the equator.

While we all can use a break from our energy heating bills, changing the North Pole seems a drastict step, whatever the cause.

Bilbo Baggins, 111th Birthday, Martinmas and November 11th

J.R.R. Tolkien begins his trilogy The Lord of the Rings, with Bilbo Baggins' 111st birthday party celebration. Readers wonder why Tolkien chose 111.

J.R.R. Tolkien's story of hobbits, elves, dwarves and men, dealing with the Ring of Power, starts with the birthday celebrations of Bilbo Baggins and his nephew, Frodo. Bilbo is 111 and Frodo is 33. Tolkien himself steered clear of allegories, and thought of his book as an example of "applicability." Nevertheless, readers often seek for meaning in Bilbo's age, one hundred and eleventy years old.

Musings on Biblical Numerology of 111

The article "Biblical Numerology in the Birthday Part of Bilbo and Frodo: 111 and 33," and credited to Quirino M. Sugon, includes a quote from "The Long Expected Party."

"Bilbo was going to be eleventy-one, 111, a rather curious number, and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took himself had only reaced 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty three, 33, an important number: the date of his ‘coming of age’. (Fellowship of the Ring, p. 22)

Sugon explores possible meanings that Tolkien might have intended. One of Sugon's ideas, seen through a Christian lens, considers the numerology of Lucifer. If Lucifer tries to be greater than God, and uses the number 666, then the number 111 could stand for Bilbo's realization that he is a simple hobbit, not great or a god.

Sugon also looks at Frodo's age of 33, the Hobbit coming of age, at the same as Christ's coming of age and teaching. From a number standpoint, Sugon, by adding 111 to 33 arrives at 144, a number metioned in the Fellowship of the Ring. Sugon considers that 12 x 12 = 144, and explores the number 12 as representing the 12 apostles or 12 sons of Jacob.

Another of Sugon's thoughts is that the repetition of 111 echos the rhyme about the One Ring's three purposes: to rule them all, find them, and bind them in darkness.

Musings on War and the Number 111

Tolkien's experiences during World War I poured out into Lord of the Rings. As noted in the National Geographic documentary, Beyond the Movie, Tolkien was devastated by the horrors of war and the loss of his friends. The Battle of the Somme began on July 1, 1916, with Britain losing almost 60,000 soldiers that first day.

The battle dragged out almost five months, ending November 18. Over a million soldiers died, part of the battlefield filled with rotting corpses. It was in the battlefield trenches that Tolkien began Lord of the Rings. The warscape that Tolkien witnessed resurfaced in the Dead Marshes and Mordor.

Bilbo announces his one hundred and eleventieth birthday. The number 11 does show up in Tolkien's war experiences. Tolkien was linked with the 11th Lancashire Fusiliers, many of whom died in 1916.

World War I officially ended on November 11th, 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

This timeline had been adapted from the feast of Saint Martin (316 to 397/400 A.D.). Martin, originally a soldier, became known as patron saint of conscientious objectors due to his rejection of war. Saint Martin's feast day celebrations often began at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Tolkien Disliked Allegories

In the forward to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien is on record as disliking allegories. "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifiestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." In this case, Tolkien dismisses the notion that he used the one-to-one linking equations of allegory in his writing. Instead, Tolkien allows for "applicabilty," of the reader's bringing ideas to a story, and enriching the story in this way.

"I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."

Readers may never totally understand the numerical choices Tolkien made for Bilbo's birthday. But readers will understand that Tolkien intended for readers to use their freedom in applying their thoughts and ideas about Bilbo's 111th birthday.

References

• "Biblical Numerology in the Birthday Part of Bilbo and Frodo: 111 and 33." By Quirino M Sugon, Jr., Dec. 19, 2009. St. Holbytla's Monastery.
• "Beyond the Movie." National Geographic. 2007.
• "The Feast of St. Martin." Fisheaters.
• The Quotations Page. J.R.R. Tolkien. Formerly referenced the now-deleted The Phoenix Rises. "I Dislike Allegory!: Blog of Rodney C. Johnson.
• "Tolkien: Allegory and Applicability."
• " World War I." By John Garth. J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. By Michael D. C. Drout.
• "Martinmas, Armistice, Veterens Day, November 11." By Teresa Knudsen. Nov. 11, 2009. Suite 101
• Tolkien Gateway: The Battle of the Somme.
• Clugnet, Léon. "St. Martin of Tours." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 15 Sept. 2011

Category
Reading and Literature, Fantasy, War Literature

Photo:

Tolkien in 1916
Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tolkien_1916.jpg

This article by Teresa Knudsen was published on Suite 101 November 10, 2010.
There it remained until January 10-12, 2012, when it was moved to Sweet Suite Writings blogspot to mark the transition from Suite 101, thence to Pirates and Patriots blogspot