Vicesimus Knox
1752–1821
Nationality: English
Historical Period: The 18th Century
Vicesimus Knox (1752-1821) was an English minister who ran afoul of the British authorities in the 1790s with his sermons opposing the war against the French. He was educated at home by his father, attended St. John’s College, Oxford, where he became a fellow, and then was headmaster of Tonbridge School from 1778 to 1812. His main work, The Spirit of Despotism, is an analysis of how political despotism at home can arise under the cover of fighting a foreign war.
Quotes from Vicesimus Knox:
- Vicesimus Knox on the Christian religion and peace on earth
- Vicesimus Knox on how the people pay their taxes more easily during wartime
- Vicesimus Knox on how the aristocracy and the “spirit of despotism” use the commemoration of the war dead for their own aims
- Vicesimus Knox tries to persuade an English nobleman that some did not come into the world with “saddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths” and some others like him came “ready booted and spurred to ride the rest to death”
Titles from Vicesimus Knox:
- Author: The Spirit of Despotism
- Author: The Works of Vicesimus Knox, vol. 5
- Author: The Works of Vicesimus Knox, vol. 6