The British general election of 1722 was just an ordinary election to elect members of the Parliament. As in all “modern” democracies then and now, the system was designed to favor the politicians in power and there was little difference between political parties in terms of policies. Only the names changed.
The previous Prime Minister was Robert Walpole, and his Whig Party was victorious again in 1722. In fact, Walpole was the longest-serving prime minister in British history. Walpole, like the opposition candidate—Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet—came from the economic and politically elite class.
The 1722 election, though, was a battleground not seen in previous elections and the public was highly interested. However, the Whig Party controlled virtually all parts of the government and used all the resources available to insure the outcome. British elections had always been under the strong influence of corruption and political patronage, but until this time the vote had usually reflected at least a part of the voters’ opinion.
The big difference in the 1722 election was the writings of two men—Scotsman Thomas Gordon and Englishman John Trenchard—called Cato’s Letters after the Roman politician who was strangely ethical and not corrupt.
Gordon and Trenchard belonged to a group called the Commonwealth Men. It was also sort of a political party that had the crazy idea that corruption and lack of morality in British political life was prevalent and wrong. It was “crazy” because nearly all British politicians and thinkers rejected their ideas.
But in 1722, their writings became popular and they weren’t into campaign speeches. “Let us not again be deluded with false promises and deceitful assurances; but let us judge what men will do by what they have done.” When it came to actually voting, Trenchard and Gordon advised, “Throw your choice upon such who will neither buy you, nor sell you.”
While believing that “Our country abounds with men of courage and understanding; nor are there wanting those of integrity and public spirit,” there was also another reality. “In corrupt administrations, your superiors of all kinds make bargains, and pursue ends at the public expense, and grow rich by making the people poor.”
They also had the unusual idea that the people held the future of the country. “Many begin to be tired, sick, and ashamed of those who only sell and betray them. It is yet in our power to save ourselves.”
However, Great Britain ignored their admonitions and ideas, but not so for the colonies that became the United States. Historians have concluded based on the writings and letters of early American colonists, half of the private libraries in the colonies included copies of Cato’s Letters.
Gordon and Trenchard thought that only the people with a high standard of behavior and virtue could protect a country from despotism and ruin. Politicians have not changed in 300 years and neither has the necessity for the people to take responsibility. This almost sounds like “Better Filipinos can make a better Philippines.”
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