Algernon Sydney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Algernon Sidney (1622-1683)

Algernon Sydney (or Sidney), (January 1623 – December 7, 1683), was an English politician, political theorist, and opponent of King Charles II of England.

A son of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and the great-nephew of Sir Philip Sidney, he is thought to have been born at Penshurst Place in Kent. During the English Civil War, he joined the army of Parliament, but became critical of Oliver Cromwell's leadership. He was also for a time the lover of Lucy Walter, later the mistress of Charles, Prince of Wales.

While writing Court Maxims (1665-6) he was negotiating with the Dutch and French for support of a republican invasion of England. Following the Restoration of the Stuart monarchy, he went into exile, returning in 1677. In 1683, he was implicated in the Rye House Plot, was found guilty of treason, and was executed.

His writings were collected and published posthumously under various titles:

Discourses
Discourses on Government
Discourses Concerning Government (which is the origin of the phrase "God helps those who help themselves").
Discourses Concerning Civil Government

Algernon Sidney is one of the namesakes for Hampden-Sydney College. The College formerly used the original spelling of Sidney. He was chosen because of the role his ideas played in molding the beliefs of the American Revolutionary thinkers.

[edit] Works

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Algernon Sidney

Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses concerning government", London 1698

Literature from and about Algernon Sidney published
Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses concerning government, London 1698 u. öfter; deutsch, Leipzig 1794;
Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses", hrsg. John Toland, 1698;
Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses Concerning Government";
Sidney, Algernon: "Apology in the Day of His Death";
Sidney, Algernon: "The Administration and the Opposition. Addressed to the Citizens of New-Hampshire", Concord, Jacob B. Moore, 1826, ASIN B000IUQ14Q
Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses Concerning Government", ed. Thomas G. West, Indianapolis, 1996, ISBN 0865971420
Sidney, Algernon: "Court Maxims (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)", Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 9780521461757
Sidney, Algernon: "Discourses on Government. To Which is Added, An Account of the...", Reprint, The Lawbook Exchange, New York, 2002 ISBN 1584772093

[edit] Literature

Johnson, J.: "The Essence of Algernon Sydney’s Work on Government. To which is annexed, his Essay on Love.", London, 1795.
Meadley, George W.: "Memoirs of Algernon Sidney" London, Cradock and Joy, 1813
Ewald, A.C.: "Life and times of Algernon Sidney" London, 1872, 2 Bände,
Blackburne: "Algernon Sidney" London, 1885
Jones, James R.: "The First Whigs: The Politics of the Exclusion Crisis 1678-1683" London, Oxford University Press, 1961, ISBN 9780197131244;
Conniff, James: "Reason and History in Early Whig Thought: The Case of Algernon Sidney,” in: "Journal of the History of Ideas", No.43 (1982), pp. 397–416, ISSN 00225037
Wordon, Blair: "The Commonwealth Kidney of Algernon Sidney" in: "The Journal of British Studies/The Historical Journal", Vol. 24, No. 1, 1985, S. 1-40, ISSN 0018246X;
Pocock, J. G. A.:"Englands Cato: The virtues and fortunes of Algernon Sidney" in: "The Historical Journal", Vol. 37, No. 4, 1994, S. 915-935 ISSN 0018246X;
Carswell, John:"The porcupine: the life of Algernon Sidney", London, John Murray, 1989, ISBN 0719546842;
Scott, Jonathan: "Algernon Sidney and the Restoration Crisis, 1677-1683" Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 9780521352918;
Houston, Alan Craig: "Algernon Sidney and the Republican Heritage in England and America", Princeton University Press, 1991, ISBN 0691078602
Nelson, Scott A.:`"The discourses of Algernon Sidney", London und Toronto, Associated University Presses, 1993, ISBN 9780838634387;
Santvord, George Van: "Life Of Algernon Sidney: With Sketches Of Some Of His Contemporaries And Extracts From His Correspondence And Political Writings", Kessinger Publishing, 2007, ISBN 9781430444497;