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Acton and the History of Liberty

Lord Acton (1834-1902) was one of the great historians of the Victorian period and one of the greatest classical liberal historians of all time. His theme was “the history of liberty” and even though he was never able to complete his magnum opus of that name he did write numerous essays, book reviews, and lectures. He also was the inspiration behind the multi-volume Cambridge Modern History.

This reading list is designed to serve as an introduction to his thought.

See our images of Acton at work and play.

• Chronology of Acton’s Life

  This is a brief chronology showing the main events in Acton’s life.

  Source: From Acton’s The History of Freedom and Other Essays, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=558&Itemid=260 on 2008/2/2

• A short Biography

  A short biography of Acton by someone who knew him.

  Source: INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR to John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, Letters of Lord Acton to Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone, with an Introductory Memoir by Herbert Paul, Second edition with additional letters (London: Macmillan, 1913).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1148&Itemid=260 on 2008/2/2

• Acton as a Teacher

  Acton spent much of his life reading and teaching others. His library was donated to the University of Cambridge and is massive, some 60,000-80,000 volumes. Here is an account of his prowess as a teacher.

  Source: Acton’s Lectures on Modern History, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1906).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=587&Itemid=283 on 2008/2/2

• Acton on the Incompetence of Political Leaders

  Acton was close to the Gladstone family and even spent time vacationing with them in Europe. In one of his letters to Mary Gladstone (daughter of the British Prime Minister) Acton talks ab out the danger of having smart, educated people as political leaders:

  They will admit much of my theory, but then they will say, like practical men, that the ignorant classes cannot understand affairs of state, and are sure to go wrong. But the odd thing is that the most prosperous nations in the world are both governed by the masses —France and America. So there must be a flaw in the argument somewhere. The fact is that education, intelligence, wealth are a security against certain faults of conduct, not against errors of policy. There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, Pascal, Cromwell, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Napoleon, Pitt, etc. The result would be an Encyclopædia of Error. They would assert Slavery, Socialism, Persecution, Divine Right, military despotism, the reign of force, the supremacy of the executive over legislation and justice, purchase in the magistracy, the abolition of credit, the limitation of laws to nineteen years, etc. If you were to read Walter Scott’s pamphlets, Southey’s Colloquies, Ellenborough’s Diary, Wellington’s Despatches—distrust of the select few, of the chosen leaders of the community, would displace the dread of the masses. The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. The law of liberty tends to abolish the reign of race over race, of faith over faith, of class over class. It is not the realisation of a political ideal: it is the discharge of a moral obligation. However that may be, the transfer of power to the lower class was not the act of Mr. Gladstone, but of the Conservatives in 1867. It still requires to be rectified and regulated; but I am sure that in his hands the change would have been less violent.

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, Letters of Lord Acton to Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone, with an Introductory Memoir by Herbert Paul, Second edition with additional letters (London: Macmillan, 1913).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/2064 on 2008-03-18

• Acton as the Historian of Liberty

  Acton hoped to write a lengthy history of liberty which unfortunately he was never able to complete. We have a few pieces which show us what it might have looked like, such as the essay on liberty in the ancient world and another on liberty in the early Christian world which are included below.

  Source: From Acton’s The History of Freedom and Other Essays, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=559&Itemid=283 on 2008/2/2

• Acton’s Inaugural Lecture on History at Cambridge University

  In this inaugural lecture Acton lays out his ideas on the nature of history as an academic profession. He planned the original edition of the Cambridge Modern History but did not live long enough to see it published.

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, Lectures on Modern History, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1906). Chapter: INAUGURAL LECTURE ON THE STUDY OF HISTORY*

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/209/41611 on 2008-03-18

• Acton on the French Revolution

  Acton wrote much on the impact of the French Revolution, on its great hopes and its terrible consequences. Liberty Fund has published his Lectures on the French Revolution.

  Source: Acton’s Lectures on Modern History, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1906).

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=589&Itemid=259 on 2008/2/2

• The Influence of America on the French Revolution

  This is one of the lectures which make up the book on the French Revolution. Here Acton looks at the impact of the American Revolution on the French Revolution.

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, Lectures on the French Revolution, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence, with a foreword by Steven J. Tonsor (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2000). Chapter: II: The Influence of America

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/74/45390 on 2008-03-18

• The History of Liberty Part I: In Antiquity

  The first part of Acton’s promised, but never completed, history of liberty.

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907). Chapter: I: THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM IN ANTIQUITY1

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/75/42894 on 2008-03-18

• The History of L:iberty Part II: In Christianity

  The second part of Acton’s promised, but never completed, history of liberty.

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907). Chapter: II: THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM IN CHRISTIANITY1

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/75/42896 on 2008-03-18

• Acton on Machiavelli’s The Prince

  This is Acton’s long introduction to Burd’s Italian edition of Machiavelli’s notorious book on political power The Prince

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, ed. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (London: Macmillan, 1907). Chapter: VII: INTRODUCTION TO L. A. BURD’S EDITION OF IL PRINCIPE BY MACHIAVELLI

  Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/75/42906 on 2008-03-18