19th Century English Radical Individualists

About this Collection

In the late 19th Century in Britain, as the Liberal Party gradually abandoned classical liberalism for various aspects of the welfare state and imperialism, a new group of “old liberals” emerged. They were active in the Liberty and Property Defence League organised by Lord Wemyss. They believed in natural rights, a rigorous defence of individual liberty, opposition to the welfare state, and opposition to war and empire. This group eventually disappeared by the outbreak of the First World War.

Key People

Titles & Essays

A – Z List

History Of Scholarship And Learning. The Humanities

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Language And Literature

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Social Sciences

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Quotes

Parties & Elections

Auberon Herbert discusses the “essence of government” when the veneer of elections are stripped away (1894)

Auberon Herbert

Property Rights

Auberon Herbert on compulsory taxation as the “citadel” of state power (1885)

Auberon Herbert

Property Rights

Auberon Herbert on the “magic of private property” (1897)

Auberon Herbert

Parties & Elections

Auberon Herbert warns that the use of force is like a wild and dangerous beast which can easily get out of our control (1906)

Auberon Herbert

Notes About This Collection

For more information see:

  • The Introduction to Thomas Mackay
  • Eric Mack’s Introduction to Auberon Herbert, The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State, and Other Essays, ed. Eric Mack (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1978).
  • Eric Mack’s Foreword to Herbert Spencer, The Man versus the State, with Six Essays on Government, Society and Freedom, ed. Eric Mack, introduction by Albert Jay Nock (Indianapolis: LibertyClassics, 1981).